You never know where you'll end up

Harriott walked down the street, Lyle on her left and Aiden on her right. She saw that the sky was red, there would probably be rain later tonight. The three walked in silence, taking in their surroundings. Harriott looked over at Lyle, wondering why he was so silent, he hated being in silence. Lyle walked with his hands in his pockets, his eyes on the ground.

"What's on your mind?" Harriott bumped his shoulder, hoping he would come out of his head. Lyle was on the surface very open and bright, but he could get lost in his own head if he didn't talk to someone.

"I'm thinking of Aubree and our trip." Lyle's voice was tired. This was something on his mind that had been worrying him for some time. Harriott felt her concern mount, Lyle had been hiding his worry, Harriott steeled herself for his burst of emotion.

"You guys will have a great time. Aubree's super excited." Harriott knew Lyle was worrying about Aubree, if he was worrying about her he would say so up front, he was more reserved when it came to Aubree.

Lyle ran a hand through his hair, "I should've brought her with me last time. I'm scared we've grown apart." He pulled his remaining hand out of his pocket, in it he held a gold ring with a pink diamond inside, "I was going to give this to her, but then Ricin came after me." He slipped his ring back in his pocket. He looked at the sunset, wistful air falling over the group.

Harriott looked at the sunset as well, watching as the colors turned more muted and dusk fell over the city, "Aubree doesn't blame you." She smiled at him, "Take her to France and sweep her off her feet."

Lyle let out a laugh, still watching the sunset, "I should've come back. I'm a coward at heart."

Aiden crossed behind Lyle and put his arm over Lyle's shoulder, "You're there when it counts. Just don't run from Aubree this time." Aiden stopped, pulling Lyle to a standstill, "You should get back to her. We can head home from here."

Lyle looked at Harriott, who nodded with a smile. They weren't too far from home now, just 3 more minutes of walking. Lyle gave them a hesitant smile then turned and started to jog back.

"If you're still single when I see you again, I'm disowning you." Aiden called, smiling as he saw Lyle give him a thumbs up as he ran. Harriott watching his retreating form, a bittersweet feeling swimming through her.

"When they come home they might be married." Harriott mused, unsure where that put her. She was used to third wheeling, but would their marriage throw her out?

"They better be." Aiden glanced at her, a soft smile appearing, "Don't worry. They've been in love for years, I doubt this'll make any real difference." Aiden started walking again, arm up against Harriott's, "Who knows where you'll be by then." Aiden added, his voice soft as he was swallowed by his thoughts.

As they walked in a pondering silence Harriott looked at the first stars. She heard crickets starting their singing in the background. It was just her and Aiden. Things had been changing nonstop for months, but in the stillness of dusk Harriott could feel a shift. A shift in the air, in her step, and in her heart. She walked by her brother and could only wonder what the future would hold.

Harriott found herself coming out of her reverie as she saw her house come into view. She had lived in this house her entire life, yet its dark windows and stillness had little resemblance to the home of her childhood. It had been full of light, even when no one was home a light always seemed to permeate from it. There had been the smell of gingersnaps, the sound of laughter. She could almost see little Aiden dashing towards the door as she neared it. She opened it, a draft flew through her hair, she saw nothing but darkness.

As Harriott reached for the light switch she heard a grunt. She turned to look at Aiden, she froze, her blood turning to ice.

A man had Aiden's hand behind his back, a cloth to the face. Harriott froze as she saw the veil over the assailant's face, she couldn't see any jacket or signs of them holding a gene, but they were copying that style. As Harriott saw Aiden's wild eyes she raced to take his pain, braids forming as Aiden was forced to take a pained breath.

Harriott locked eyes with Aiden; his regaining their alertness as he realized he could breathe. Harriott felt herself start to fall forward, her surroundings starting to become black. She saw Aiden rake his foot down his attacker's shin then elbow him in the side. Then she saw nothing but blackness. She felt herself hit the ground before everything went blank.

Darkness, everything was dark. Pounding. Harriott could feel a pounding in her ears, in her head. The pounding was the only feeling she had. Stuck, she was stuck somewhere between dreams and reality, she couldn't feel or control her movements, the darkness surrounding her giving her no hints to her location. She felt as if she was floating, no ground below her and no indicator of falling.

She hung there for what seemed like hours before she felt her toes brush something solid. The solidity kept moving up, and Harriott found herself standing with her own strength. She tried to move her hand in front of her face, feeling the movement but seeing no hint of it. Harriott took a hesitant step, relieved to find the ground underneath her extended forward. She started to walk forward, searching for something outside of darkness.

Harriott saw a light moving towards her. She felt a wave of relief flow through her, she ran towards the light. As she approached the shape of a person came into focus. She came to a walk as she tried to see the boy walking towards her, a lantern being held in front of him. He had white hair that hung long and shaggy, the top almost covering his eyes and the back reaching halfway down his neck. Harriott stared at this hair, on the underneath there were stars, galaxies mapped out on the underside of his hair.

"Who are you?" Harriott asked, unable to understand what she was seeing.

The boy smiled, saying nothing as he gestured for her to follow him. Harriott narrowed her eyes, following the boy further into the darkness. She wanted to know what was going on and this boy was the only link to that. She didn't feel any threatening airs coming from him, so she would see where he wanted to take her.

The two walked together in silence, they walked in the darkness for a while before Harriott saw another hint of light. They walked towards it, this light becoming larger and brighter. Harriott shielded her eyes as the light became a brilliant white. She took a few deep breaths, centering herself as things came into clearer view.

Harriott saw an illuminated space, as she saw only a low table and some pillows she swallowed her feelings of expectations, tasting as they turned bitter with reality. She should've known better then some unknown grandeur, she knew grandeur came with strings. Her embroidered jacket came with the need to take extra pain. Her aunt's priceless watch came with a tracking device. Nothing was as great as it seemed, maybe this simple place was just what it showed, safe and bright.

Harriott walked to the table and sat on one of the pure white pillows. She watched the boy sit down across from her and wait, there were two more pillows so they were expecting company. Harriott sat still, trying to remember what she had been doing before coming to this place. She had been walking home with Lyle and Aiden, then her memories seemed to blank out. She felt no urgency to get back, so she could only hope Aiden didn't need her right now.

"Harriott?" A voice called to her, pulling her from her thoughts.

Harriott looked up, staring as Jay walked into the light, a puzzled and concerned expression taking over his face.

"Jay! What are you doing here?" Harriott asked, wondering why he would be in her dream. This didn't feel like any dream, so he had to be here for a more important reason.

Jay walked to the table, sitting between Harriott and the little boy. He turned to the boy, moving his hands in several different positions before sitting still. The boy nodded and replied with some of his, his lips quirking as he gestured to Harriott. Jay looked at her, a confused smile appearing before he turned back to the boy. Harriott tried to reign in her curiosity, barely restraining herself from blurting out her questions. Jay seemed comfortable here, so she was the guest. She could wait for them to be done.

Jay then turned back to her, "You're quite lost aren't you?" He had his confident smile from earlier back, his confusion seemed to have been cleared up in his conversation.

Harriott shrugged, "I have no idea what's going on." She looked at her empty surroundings, the pure white and black was all she could see, no other colors. Everything felt odd, but not in a bad way, she had no idea where she was, but she didn't feel like she was in danger.

Jay nodded, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "In simple terms, this is your subconscious. It's a plane where you can connect to other people." He paused for a moment, Harriott could see him trying to form his words, "This isn't a plane for most people. Did something happen to send you here?"

Harriott tried to dig into her head again, there was something she was missing, but it kept running away from her, she sighed, "I don't remember. I only remember walking home with Aiden. Now I'm here." She looked at Jay who was staring at the table. He turned to the boy, asking him a question with his hands. The boy responded, pointing to his lantern that he had laid on the ground next to him.

Jay nodded, turning back to Harriott, "It seems like you were sent here because something's going on outside. I think you need to get back, but I'll follow close behind. When you wake up make sure to hit your watch so I can find you." He stood up, holding out a hand for Harriott. She took it, standing up, she turned back to the little boy and bowed to him, wanting to be able to thank him, but he didn't seem to understand her. The boy smiled at her and put his hand on her forehead.

Harriott sat up, sputtering as rain pelted her face, falling into her mouth, she could feel she was already soaked. Aiden jerked awake beside her. His eyes were dark from worry as he rushed to her side. The events of that night returned back to Harriott, she pressed her watch button and smiled at Aiden.

"Help's on the way."