Chapter Thirteen - Whatever gets you through the night

I have a hard time sleeping. The minutes crawl by. After a while I think I smell something strange but maybe it's just my imagination. After a while as I stare at the ceiling, it disappears and I can see the sky and all the stars. The walls disappear and I'm standing in the woods. There's nothing here but trees. I should be afraid but I'm not. I start walking and run right into Jake.

"Nia," Jake says, "We've been looking all over for you. Where have you been?" This can't really be happening. I can't really be in the woods. Jake just looks at me waiting for an answer and after a few minutes I have to answer.

"I've lost my entire family. The thought of starting humanity over with you scared me and I needed to get some fresh air." I answer.

"Well, I'm glad you're safe. We were all worried about you. I understand that you're scared but we'll figure it out together." Jake says.

"Then Katy appeared, the older Katy and transported me back to the village. But it wasn't the village I remember, this village was different." I tell him.

"It's okay. You're safe now." Jake assures me, "Let's just go back to the project station and you can get a good night's sleep"

"What did you say?" I ask him. We've never called the Assembly hall the project station before. Something isn't right but I can't figure out what.

"I said we should go back to the Assembly hall so you can get a good night's sleep." Jake says again.

"Did you say project station before?" I ask him.

"Of course not. I said Assembly hall. What's the project station?" Jake asks.

"Forget it." I tell him. We walk back to the Assembly hall. When we get there, Lisa and the preacher are waiting for us.

"We were right about Katy," Jake tells the preacher, "She can still time travel. She can also travel to different futures."

"How do you know that?" The preacher asks Jake.

"Because Nia said that Katy took her to the village but the village was different." Jake answered.

"Different How?" The preacher asks.

"The village had phones and cars and things like that." I tell him.

"Nia, how did you get back here?" The preacher asks.

"I can't remember." I tell him.

"Look, why don't you get some sleep and you'll feel better in the morning." Jake tells me.

"Okay" I say back as Jake walks me to my room. I lay down. The bed is comfortable and soon I am fast asleep. When I wake up, the walls are a soft blue. There is nothing in my room except a bed. I realize I'm still in the big city. I remember being in the woods. It seemed real but it must have been just a dream. After a while someone comes and takes me to a room that has long tables in it. I am told to sit down. There are other people here also sitting down. I am brought a tray that has oatmeal in it and some burnt toast.

"Eat up" says the person who brought me the tray, "This is your breakfast." The person walks away before I can answer so I start eating. The oatmeal is bland and doesn't taste very good. I make myself eat it anyway. After I am done eating my breakfast, I am taken to a large room that has toys in it and left there. I look at the other people in the room and notice the blank stares on their faces. It's a little bit creepy. I sit in a chair that is against one of the walls and keep an eye on everyone.

After what seems like forever, I am told the doctor wants to see me so I get up and follow another person I don't know to a small room. The small room has two chairs in it. In one of the chairs sits the doctor and the other chair is empty. I am told to sit down.

"So Nia, did you sleep well last night?" The doctor asks me.

"I slept all right" I tell him back.

"Well, it's your first night in a strange place, it's completely normal if you had trouble sleeping." He offers. I don't say anything back.

"Okay," the doctor says finally, "Tell me about your sister?"

"You want me to tell you about Katy?" I asked him.

"Yes, you mentioned that Katy brought you back to the village. I would like to know more about her." The doctor says.

"Okay, Katy is really smart. She's way smarter than me. I'd never tell her that to her face but it's true. She can remember anything. She's kind and sweet. It makes fighting with her really hard because she's so nice. When I got back to the village, she even let me sleep in her bed."

"I see" said the doctor, "How old is Katy?"

"22 maybe. I'm not sure but I think she's 22." I answer.

"It says here that Katy is 15." The doctor says. "Why do you think she is 22?"

"I don't know" I tell him.

"Who is older?" The doctor asks me, "you or Katy?"

"I'm older." I said.

"And how old are you?" the doctor follows up.

"I'm 17." I answer.

"If you are 17 and you are older than Katy, then how can Katy be 22?" the doctor reasons.

"I don't know." I answer, "That is weird, but for a moment I really thought Katy was 22."

"Do you still think Katy is 22?" The doctor asks.

"Of course not. That would be silly." I answer him.