The Wait- Part Two

"Lissa!"
Someone was calling her name. It sounded urgent, and Lissa tried to pull back the fog sleep brought to her brain. Her first thought was that of anger for being interrupted while she was having such a wonderful dream.
"Lissa! Wake up!!"
She now recognized the voice of her mother and Lissa's eyes snapped open. Her eyes automatically trying to focus, she was immediately assaulted by the burn of smoke and her eyes began to water. Her throat thick and irritated with the sting of inhaling the black smoke that was filling her room.
"Mom, what's happening?" Lissa was terrified. She couldn't see anything but felt the small hand of her mother pulling at her, urging Lissa's body forward. Stumbling down the staircase, Lissa could only trust her mothers guidance.
The old farmhouse was crackling and they could hear the creaks and groans coming from the house as if it knew what was happening and was determined not to go down without complaint. Lissa and her mother barely made it to the front porch before they felt the shaking. The house, their house, began to shake and sway with ferocity. They got onto the dewy grass just as they heard a huge crash. Lissa turned just in time to see the part of the house that used to be her room, collapse.


Lissa woke with a start. She could feel the tears on her face and absently wiped them away. She wondered when she would finally get a good nights sleep. There were so many questions about the night that brought them here. She had tried on many occasions to talk to her parents about it, only to have her questions brushed off or completely ignored. It did nothing for the trust issues Lissa found herself having with them and everyone else who called this place home.


Swinging her legs off the edge of the bed, Lissa's foot touched something odd. Looking down, she sees the book of disappointment she had come across the day before. She may as well take it back and pick out a new one. Picking it up, she thumbed through its pages and saw something that startled her so much that she dropped the book back to the floor. Lissa snatched the book back up and opened it. Hands trembling, she turned the pages. She read the words over and over again. . Not quite believing what her eyes were registering. Lissa grabbed her arm and gave it a healthy pinch. Wincing, she at least can rule out sleepwalking. There it was. Her dream, played out before her on the yellowed pages.

"How can this be?" Lissa had to out if she had finally lost her mind. She had to find Joshua.

Joshua. How to begin to describe her friend and the only person Lissa felt understood what she was going through here? Maybe it was just because he was going through the same things too. He and his family had arrived a month or so ahead of Lissa's. The night her and her parents were ushered inside, Joshua had stood back long enough for them to get settled but then bombarded her with questions of the outside and how they got here. What had happened since he and his family arrived? Did she know anything about this place before that night? Like her, the Andersons house had been attacked and they barely made it out before their house had burned to the ground. His parents were both retired professors from the University upstate and since he was a late in life baby, they had made the decision to use their vast knowledge to home school him. That had both fascinated and disgusted her. I mean how do you have friends and do all the normal teenager things without actually going to school. She felt sorry for him at first and even though he was sure to pick up on it, he never said anything about it. She assumed since they were the only two teenagers there, they were destined to be close. Better to have a friend who understands you than an enemy who does. Plus he was a great listener. They have become extremely close in the four months since Lissa had arrived and now she sees him as her best friend and cant even imagine life without him.