Chapter 305: Neighbor
When Emily had arrived at the small town of Joy, she had not really expected much to change. But after all of the emotional strain that she had been through. Plus the exhaustion of travel. She had expected to at least get a little bit more sleep than she was used to.
No such luck.
After finally managing to go to sleep, at five o’clock in the morning, by six, Emily was up and about. The memories of her latest nightmare still fresh in her mind. For this particular nightmare, there had been no running.
No enemies chasing her in the dark. She had not been drowning, suffocating or anything else. But even so, she had still been unable to shake the feeling of dread.
Of danger lurking in the shadows. She had been in a glass cage underwater. But there had been enough air in it for her not to start struggling to breathe. But she had not been alone beneath the waters. Her father had been there. Only he had been on the other side of the glass, immersed in the dark waters. He had not said anything. He had just looked at Emily, his palm flat against the glass and no matter how hard she had tried she had been unable to hold his hand.
That dream had been different in the sense that instead of trying to live, to breathe.
Emily had been actively hitting the glass. Kicking at it and even throwing her body against it, in an effort to reach her dad. Wanting to just be held by him one more time. She had been unsuccessful in her attempts, and she had woken up crying, alone in a strange bed.
But now the nightmare was behind Emily and she was getting ready to face the day. It was Tuesday morning. And no doubt the people from the factory workers to those who did other jobs around the town were also getting ready for the day.
Her assumptions on the town’s habits were proven correct. When she finally managed to make it out to the town proper, and was greeted by a place that was literally buzzing with life. The day before most people had already been at work. So she had not seen anyone.