It Comes and Goes In Waves
Kip had gotten used to a sort of routine that Sissy and himself had set up. On his off days, he normally spent them at Sissy’s house now. She had left him with a key so he tended to show up in the early morning just after she had left for work, would sleep throughout the day there, and then wake up when she came home. He would then hang out until she went to bed that night.
They also had gotten their signal systems down to a tee. They would be able to make this work, Kip was starting to believe. He was also working out a plan if anyone were to notice them. He was sure it wouldn’t be hard to play off. He had fallen for a cute girl in a coffee shop. Maybe no one would read into it that much.
He could only hope so.
This night had been a particularly rough one though. It had ended in Kip doing things he had rather not have had to do. He had been tracking a drug dealer for a couple of days who was giving out some bad product. Kip had tried to arrest him. After a hell of a fight, and Kip almost having some gasoline thrown on him, he ended up shooting the kid. Kip had spent the next few hours filing reports on it before he finally got to get back to Sissy’s apartment.
He showered and inspected the bruising on his middle before he pulled on a tank top and crawled into bed. It took him what felt like forever to finally fall asleep, but he eventually fell off to sleep.
He hadn’t had the nightmare in about a month. Honestly, since Sissy had come back into his life they had sputtered out for a little while. Tonight, it was back though. That same feeling of dread as he walked through the familiar forest. He could smell and feel the heat from the fire before he ever even saw it.
He could feel something in his gut though, just turning. He could hear the trees whispering to him. He was running through the forest at that point, seeing the smoke. He skids to a stop whenever he finally gets there, and he can hear the screaming. He could see two silhouettes in the window, banging on it even though it wouldn’t break. Why would the window not just break?
“You fuckin’ listen to me, weakling.” The voice behind him made him spin around. It sent a chill to the bottom of his spine. He only turns quick enough to see a shadow move behind a tree. He takes a few steps toward where he had seen it go.
“The punishment for both of those offenses are death. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir. I do.” Fuck. Kip instinctively ducks as he hears a gunshot go off, and he wheels again to stare at the burning tree house. The people inside have stopped beating on the window now. They were just standing there, staring at him. They were staring into him.
“Kip?”
He can feel his breathing getting harder, and his legs felt like lead. He couldn’t move. The tree house was collapsing now, but those shadows were walking out of it. They weren’t becoming any clearer, just black shadows walking toward him. He couldn’t even tell if they were a man or woman.
He feels his chest tighten as they get closer and closer. The tree house crumbled and exploded behind them.
“Kip?!” Kip jumps as he feels a hand clap down on his shoulder.
He grabs the wrist of the person it belongs to, and grips it tightly as he’s suddenly on his feet and pushing the person back against a wall. Wall? There are no walls in the forest. It takes Kip a long moment to realize he’s staring down Sissy, in her apartment. He has her wrist gripped in his hand, and the other is balled into a fist. His heart feels like it’s going to come out of his chest, and his body was coated in a small sheen of sweat.
“Fuck. Fuck, I’m sorry, Sissy,” he says as he lets her go. What did he think he was doing? He backs away from her slightly, feeling the bed hit the back of his knees he sits down on it again. He puts his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes to wake himself up more. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to-I mean I wouldn’t ever-”