Chapter 24
"Curly fries are underrated," said a bored Zachary, laying back in one of many of the library's deeply cushioned chairs. They had just finished their math class and Nicolas, Patton and Zachary were all sitting around a circular table in different types of seats—with Nicolas getting the most comfortable looking one—in the room that held a world of books. Azure was scanning through the Fiction line while Ravi's astonished eyes constantly flicked between all of the smooth, dark mopane shelves that flooded with various stories. He still stood at the entrance where the others left half an hour ago.
Patton, sitting in a small armchair much like Zachary's, looked over to the Abbycat and made a thoughtful expression as if to really contemplate whether curly fries are underrated. Azure was trying to get Ravi's attention standing next to one of the shelves, beckoning him over but to no avail. She finally went over and grabbed him forcefully by the arm and took him away.
Without realizing it, Nicolas was drifting off into sleep, frequently finding his head drowsily dropping every few minutes.
"Are you okay, Nicolas?" asked Patton, making him slightly jumped at the sudden noise targeted to his ears. Not saying a word, he nodded in confirmation that he was fine. Patton smiled and went back to what he was doing, leaving Nicolas frazzled.
Ravi and Azure came back with a stack load of books occupying their hands (up to their shoulders) and slammed them down on the table, both out of breath but high-fiving each other victoriously. Zachary stared at the books with concerned eyes. Then, he let out a brief giggle.
"Yeah, you can knock yourselves out with those," he said airily, grinning. Azure frowned at him, "These are actually for all of us," she replied in an annoyed tone. His smile was quickly knocked off of his face.
There was a change in Ravi's behavior once he sat down and cracked his knuckles. He took a book from the pile and became a recluse in his own world once again. Patton carefully examined the pile, not really touching it until he found what he liked, then moved the other books out of the way to get it. He seemed much more attentive to the book and his surroundings, unlike Ravi.
Nicolas, however, now fully deep in slumber, was having peculiar dreams. He was in a crib in a dark room, obviously a baby, considering how small he felt, and was viewing two men's silhouettes just west of the doorway to his supposed room...
He heard the two men laughing, then one said, "And Holling said that it was a bad choice getting involved with you... My pocket says otherwise!"
The laughing went on for some time, breaking the atmosphere right up until a familiar voice uttered through the laughter, "That's the way you live, and the reason you die!"
The silhouette of the man who said it then detached a weapon out of its body of shadow, then two gunshots cut the air with the most unforgiving bangs imaginable. Nicolas felt this urging wave of crying out, and his infantile screams did make its way out through his lungs.
The man's silhouette began to get bigger, bigger and bigger until his dark figure slowly crept halfway around the doorway, his face unable to be seen. As he revealed himself more and more, an uncomfortably fast and audible heartbeat became more apparent to Nicolas. Faster, faster, faster, louder, louder, louder until his heart felt as if it was going to fall out of his chest.
A sudden lightning strike in the dream flung Nicolas out of his sleep as if he had just been thrown back into reality. He gasped for air painfully and held his chest, attracting perturbed looks from his friends. Patton was the most worried, hurrying his hand over to Nicolas's shoulder and constantly asking if he was alright. "Please don't lie to me!" said Patton softly, "If you're troubled, I'll listen!"
"You look like you just saw Death himself!" chimed Zachary, who was now standing up and as far away from the stack of books on the table as possible. Nicolas's breathing started to slow along with his heartbeat, but he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling he now had in his stomach. What could that dream mean? he thought, Who were those men?
The mere feeling of not being able to answer these questions made Nicolas want to marry his diary and run away with it forever so that he could get this anxious feeling off of his chest and onto its pages... Away from everyone.
End of Chapter
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Love ya'll,
nobodyimportant out—
