Infinite Loop - Chapter 30

The Dreams Don’t Stop

Chapter 30

There was only the faint light coming from the porch of the dark motel office and the road going into Nashua was quiet as Warren went to Amber’s room. Following the outline of the gravel drive, he made his way to the other side of the small L-shaped building. He knocked on the door twice before he heard her soft footsteps.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“It’s me,” he told her. “We need to talk.”

The door opened, and he entered a duplicate of the room he just left.

“I saw your light on and noticed you crying,” he said.

Amber, her eyes bloodshot, just nodded with a sniffle as she went to her bed. He couldn’t help but see how the pale slip she wore accented her figure. She covered herself with the bedspread.

He slid the chair closer to the foot of her bed. The effort hurt worse than he thought.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, although he knew the words were insufficient when he stated them.

“You came over here this early to ask me that? I’m just grand. What do you think? I’ve got no idea what’s going on and what I should be doing.” She told him.

Amber didn’t like the bitter sarcasm in the tone, but so be it, she decided.

“I’m not sure how to tell you this,” he began, then stopped.

“Do you have something to talk about or not? I’m tired,” she said wearily.

“Ok, I’ll start at the beginning. Now, you’re going to think I’m totally crazy,” Warren warned, waiting for her to respond.

She just looked at him, the expression of annoyance on her face. He slowly stood up and started a slow pace at the foot of the bed.

“It’s about the nightmares,” he started.

“What do you mean? What nightmares?”

“Are you telling me you’re not having any?” He gave her a probing stare. She lowered her eyes, remaining quiet.

“Do you remember shooting me?”

Amber reacted, putting her hand over her mouth with a gasp before she immediately denied it.

“I’m on the run from the law. I’m tired,” she told him. “Of course, I’m having strange dreams.”

“Like dreams where you seem like you’re in another time? Or people you know but can’t remember their name, at first, only to see them in another dream where you remember them as close as any friend or lover?” The reaction on her face confirmed what he said. Amber remained quiet.

“Everything is hazy at first,” he assured her, “but the nightmares will continue, some more realistic than others.”

“Look, even if I have some awful nights, it means nothing,” she replied. “As soon as we settle this, I’m sure everything will go back to normal.”

Warren smiled at her sympathetically.

“I used to think so.” He gingerly sat in the chair.

Amber’s temper flared.

“So, this is what you came to over to talk about, my dreams? That thug Harry hit you too many times in your head,” she told him. “You need to go back to bed, and I need to get some sleep.”

“I haven’t told you the craziest part yet. You see, I didn’t realize it until a few minutes ago,” he admitted. “I saw how upset you looked in the window, and it reminded me of your ankle.”

“My ankle? You are off your rocker,” Amber said empathically. He couldn’t believe where the conversation was going.

“Take a look at the outside of your left ankle. Go on, look,” he maintained. “I’ve seen it twice.”

Warren watched as she pulled back the bedspread and looked at the small heart tattoo on her ankle. Almost out of habit, she rubbed it to make sure it was permanent.

“Now tell me where you got that?” he said confidently. He paused a moment. “Come on, where?”

She stared at the small, almost cartoonish picture.

“You don’t remember, do you?” He challenged her.

“I told you I’m tired,” Amber explained, then stopped.

“I think you have too much class to be hanging down the docks looking for tattoo parlors with the sailors,” Warren told her with a grin. “And I don’t think your dad would be happy if you were in the carnival that comes through town?”