NEW FLESH

CHAPTER TEN: FRIGHTFUL DREAMS

MARGO had decided to take advantage of Mitch's ignorance, stepping out into the hall she proceeded to knock on Annika's door, it took the slightly older woman but ten seconds to open it, "does the shower in our bathroom work?" she glanced out into the hall from where she stood in the doorway, "yes, there's towels in the closet if you need them." without waiting for Margo to reply she closed the door the sound of it locking behind her ringing in the girl's ears.

The door to their room was cracked ajar the agent pushing it open as she stepped inside, she quietly shut it behind her careful to make sure she hardly made any noise, Mitch sat on his bed looking through his bag. Margo made her way to her bed scooping her bag off the floor beside it.

She unzipped the top of the dark blue duffel rummaging through the contents until she found what she usually wore to bed, dropping her bag onto the floor and kicking it beneath the bed, she stood up and made way for the door leading into the adjoining room- the bathroom- as soon as she stepped inside- just far enough so she was past the path of the door- she closed the wooden door behind her.

While she undressed, Mitch sat on his bed finally revealing what it was he'd had clutched in his hand, it was a polaroid version of one of his favorite parts from the video he'd taken that day on the beach, a photo of him and Katrina pressed together, smiling at the camera lens as if everything that was about to happen didn't exist, they were in their own little peaceful universe, where no one could harm them or tear them apart.

That didn't exist in this universe, in reality, she was dead, and he was dying, on the inside.

But now he had a shot at revenge, and he was going to take it. He tucked the photo away into his pocket, checking his watch, he realized he would have plenty of time before lights out, he retrieved his weapon from where it was concealed along his waist and slid it under the pillow behind him.

He leaned back in the bed his back hitting the wall as he adjusted himself, about fifteen minutes later, Margo opened the bathroom door steam billowing out as she left the room cracking the door on her way out.

Mitch let out a sigh pulling his bag into his lap quickly unzipping the top, he looked through it for a few brief seconds before pulling out two articles of clothing, he set his bag on the bed and headed into the bathroom disappearing into the steam.

Margo listened as the shower started the sound almost lulling her to sleep, she retrieved her book from her bag drying the ends of her hair with the towel she had in her hand, after a few moments of bunching her hair to try and remove as much water as possible she laid down her head resting against the softness of the pillow.

She flipped through the pages stopping when she found the one she'd earlier dog eared, she let her eyes follow the words absorbing them as if she was reading the book for the very first time, before she knew it, Mitch was exiting the bathroom his dirty clothes balled up in his hand.

He cracked the door closed behind him just as Margo had done when she had finished, she looked up from her book immediately frowning as he shoved the articles in his fist into his duffel bag, "put on a shirt."

He looked up from his bag almost as if he hadn't exactly heard what she'd said, "why?" she glanced at him her eyes quickly returning to her book, "because, just like your sweatpants, I'm seeing too much." he looked down trying to pick out what was wrong with his pants, he let out a grumble quickly heading back into the bathroom when he realized what exactly she meant.

She let out a sigh turning to the next page in her book while he did whatever it was he needed to do, she could only wonder how he and Josh would've gotten on had they still been sharing a room for the night.

He would have probably gotten his ass kicked by Mitch for his remarks alone, and then for always talking, and next but not last, for cracking jokes at the older boy's expense, she would have to hear one of his jokes in the morning, one specifically about her roommate.

It took but fifteen minutes for him to reappear from the bathroom his eyes set on his bed, Margo set her book down on the nightstand between their beds turning off the lamp once she saw he had successfully settled himself.

He didn't move staring at the ceiling for a good while before he drifted off into the void he called nightmares, Margo, however, slept with a clean mind preparing for the next day, when the real fun would begin.

It was towards one or so in the morning when Margo woke up, she couldn't remember what had woken her, but she knew it wasn't something to get out of bed over, turning onto her other side she glanced over Mitchs form wondering when he would wake up, without much warning he began mumbling in his sleep, something about running, he was telling someone to run. He let out a quiet sound between a yelp and a cry as his nightmare continued on leaving the girl intrigued as to what he was struggling against in that mind of his.

He shot up in bed quickly climbing out and clambering onto the floor, Margo saw him reach for his gun and in a heartbeat had ripped herself from the bedsheets almost rubbing her knees raw as she slid across the wood pulling Mitch away from his bed.

She adjusted her legs beneath herself so they were tucked out of the way, holding Mitch close to her she listened as he let out shaky breaths his cries turning more into hushed whispers, she ran her free hand through his hair the other wrapped around the front of his torso, he held onto that arm clutching it like it was a float in the middle of the ocean.

"It's okay." she whispered twisting a lock in between her fingers, he let out another sniffle a few seconds after her quiet whisper one of his tears hitting the warm skin of her arm, "you're okay." she mumbled again resting her head atop his as she continued to run her fingers through his hair.

She let a few minutes pass, more for his sake than hers before she spoke again, "do you wanna talk about it?"

Mitch loosened his grip on her arm turning to look at her, "it was Katrina- and the beach... there was blood- so much blood." she watched as he tried his best to put on a brave face letting Margo pull him closer once again, he was staring at the door now his head lying against his roommate's shoulder as she rubbed the back of his head.

"We all have nightmares" she paused for a brief second, "we just have to remember they're not real." he nodded his head reaching his hand up to wipe his tears from his cheeks, he knew he would look absolutely terrible in the morning- he was worried that they would figure out what had happened- he sat up meeting Margo's gaze, "I'm sorry for waking you up." he stood up quietly walking back to his bed.

Margo removed herself from the floor her gaze lingering on Mitch as they both climbed back into bed, she slipped beneath her covers her eyes never leaving him as he laid on his back staring up towards the ceiling, "Mitch." he didn't turn to look at her but she knew he'd heard her, "I'm not mad you woke me up." and with that, she turned over in bed and closed her eyes.

Once Mitch heard her steady breathing and motionless body he turned on his side to watch her, he wondered how someone so eager to kill could be such a comfort in fear, he shook his head to himself turning again so he was laying on his back.

When she woke up for the second time that morning bright light was shining through their bedroom window causing her to raise her arm to block her eyes, the door to their room opened and she turned to figure out who the intruder was slightly relaxing when she realized it was only Mitch.

He held two mugs in hand slowly crossing the room only to stop beside her bed, he held out one of the two mugs to her watching as she scooted into a sitting position and hesitantly took the warm mug in both her hands, she peeked over the edge of the cup glancing from the white glass to Mitch, he let out a sigh sitting down on his bed.

"It's not poisoned." her eyes fell to the mug bringing her lips to the edge of the glass, she took a small sip the coffee warming her mouth, "Hurley told me you take it with sugar and milk so I added some." he took another sip from his mug watching as she glanced over at him, "you didn't have to bring me coffee." she spoke.

His eyes flicked over to the floor- almost exactly where she'd held him the night prior- before meeting her gaze, "I know." he mumbled taking another sip, she nodded her head trying her best not to meet his lingering looks, she took a few more sips before she set her mug down on the nightstand and pulled her duffel bag out from under her bed.

She looked through the contents for a few minutes unable to locate what she was looking for, "do you have an extra shirt?" he paused almost spitting out his coffee at the question, he licked his lips riding them of the coffee that was now dripping down the light pink skin- the action concealed by the other side of the mug- he nodded his head setting his mug down beside hers on the nightstand.

He reached under his bed pulling his bag out, she watched him as he did this relieved when he pulled a t-shirt from the depths of his bag and held it out to her, she took it in her hands setting it down beside her as she looked for the other two articles of clothing she was going to need, "thanks." she mumbled, he nodded his head in acknowledgment picking up his mug to take another sip.

She located the remaining articles of clothing she was searching for and carried them with her to the bathroom, Mitch turned to watch as she clicked the door shut the sound of her locking the door behind her replaying in his head.

He stood up bringing both his own and Margo's mug with him as he crossed the room disappearing past the door into the hallway, meanwhile, Margo removed the pair of shorts she'd previously been wearing and changed into a pair of loose jeans along with Mitch's t-shirt.

She returned to the bedroom confused as to where her roommate had gone, she glanced to the nightstand noticing both mugs were gone, she walked over to her bed returning her clothes from the night prior to her bag. As soon as that was out of the way she made for the door quickly descending the stairs, she could hear people talking, Annika and Stan, the smell of coffee lingering in the air she could only assume Mitch was in the kitchen with them.

Gently hopping off the last step- quietly enough that she was unheard- creeping down the short hall that led off into several different rooms, she made her way to the kitchen that bordered right onto the dining room, peeking inside, she could see Mitch was there making more coffee. She stepped inside sidling up beside him, he glanced up at her currently pouring sugar into her mug, "you almost finished yours, I thought you might want more..." he trailed off returning his gaze to the cup.

"Thanks." she mumbled watching as he dipped a spoon into the mixture and slowly stirred for a few moments before handing it to her, she took it with ease bringing it up to her mouth and taking a sip, she let out a content sigh nodding her head, "that's pretty good." he gave her a half-smile picking up his mug and entering the dining room with her.

Stan and Annika both turned to look at them as they entered, Stans eyes grazed Mitch's naked torso moving on to look at the shirt Margo was wearing, he pointed to it meeting her gaze, "where'd you get that?" she glanced down at the shirt shaking her head, she raised a finger to Mitch, "I didn't have any." she added, Stan raised an eyebrow before frowning.

Margo's mouth dropped open as she realized what he was more than likely thinking, "it's not like that- we didn't-"

"Rapp, go put on a shirt." he sighed, "yes, sir." he handed his mug off to her disappearing around the corner, "Lee-" he began, against her better nature she interrupted him, "I promise nothing happened, I just didn't pack enough clothes, I thought we'd be done by now."

Stan rubbed at the creased lines on his forehead, "go throw your shoes on, once we've got everyone down here and finish up we're heading out to get this over with." she nodded her head quickly disappearing the same way Mitch had moments before.

NEW FLESH

CHAPTER TEN: FRIGHTFUL DREAMS