+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
11\u2013Take A Permission First\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeline:\u00a0<\/p>\n
It had been a week since I got here. I was mostly working from home. I didn\u2019t see the other three assholes most of the time. Usually, I ran into Graham in passing because he was literally everywhere. And when Elgin came around with Baxter, Baxter was the one who pushed back against me the most.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Honestly, it upset me because what Baxter and I had was different from my friendship with the others. With him, it was more emotional. We\u2019d sit together, share our problems. That was the main way we connected. There were good moments too. It was just different. So when he fought me so hard and so negatively, it made me realize what big fuckers they all were. They were only nice to me so they could use me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, so what kind of symptoms are you feeling now?\u201d I heard Graham ask the child, and I rolled my eyes. He shot me an annoyed look.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We had finally come to one of the kids to start our interviews, because now we were at the point where we were supposed to talk to them and gather as much information as we could.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I heard you\u2019re having dreams. Sometimes dreams are like movies. It feels like you\u2019ve been pushed into an alternate universe, right?\u201d I asked, trying to smile for the kid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was probably only three, and he looked so malnourished. His mother told me he had been having these nightmares for a while.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, they\u2019re scary,\u201d he said softly, clutching his mother\u2019s arm and hiding his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sighed. I didn\u2019t have luck with these kids. This wasn\u2019t just our first interview. Graham and the others had already spoken to plenty of kids in the area, but they weren\u2019t very talkative. They were terrible at explaining their dreams, which made sense since they were basically babies. Even the seven\u2013year\u2013olds couldn\u2019t string words together. I could tell it was either from the sickness or the curse. Could\u2019ve been anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sighed again and gave his mother a soft look. She seemed worn out, like she had been waking up with him night after night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, do you know what this is?\u201d Graham asked, pulling something from his pocket. It was a small stash of six pills, all glowing red.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are going to help, okay? They\u2019ll make you sleep better and give you good dreams, at least for a while.\u201d The last part he said quietly to the mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGive him this pill for the next few weeks. We\u2019ll see if it works on him.\u201d Graham finished. I already knew what the pill was. It was the one I came here for. It would slow the child\u2019s sickness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you so much,\u201d the woman said, looking at Graham with nothing but gratitude.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nothing. I wish I could do more,\u201d he told her in a softer tone. He looked upset too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I mean, who wouldn\u2019t be. These kids didn\u2019t deserve this kind of life, this torture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We finally got up and started walking away. It was just Graham and me inside the house. Elgin had been waiting outside in the car. When he saw us come out, he stepped forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, how did it go? Any other information you got from the child?\u201d he asked, directing the questions straight at Graham instead of me. So I didn\u2019t answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese kids can\u2019t explain anything clearly. And since most of them are already in later stages-\u201d Graham trailed\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
# Take A Pamussion First\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
off, giving Elgin a sad, displeased look.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen maybe we should interview someone in the early stages. That way we\u2019d understand how it starts and where it comes from.\u201d As soon as I said that, both of them turned to look at me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of the kids have ever been able to say anything in the beginning stages. It\u2019s like the sickness stops them. Only when it gets worse are they able to tell anyone,\u201d Graham explained and I sighed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWait a minute. What about your own children? What stage are they at?\u201d Elgin suddenly asked me and my body stiffened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t answer them because I was busy glaring at them down. Then Graham added,\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, Gina seemed to be having it for the first time. Didn\u2019t she say she wandered around the woods for the first time in her dreams? So, it must be Gina\u2019s first time.\u201d He said it calmly, and I clenched my fists because he wasn\u2019t wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The symptoms the others talked about were slightly different. It seemed like it was true. My kids were in the early stages, at least Gina was. As for Bodhi, I\u2019d thought it was extreme. I could tell he was different from the other kids. The other kids couldn\u2019t talk about their pain or their symptoms in the early stages. However, Bodhi had been talking about them to his two little siblings, Elara and Gina. Gina told me about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So what was really going on with my kids? Why could they say it so quickly? While I was thinking, Graham was up to something else.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s decided then. We\u2019ll interview Madeline\u2019s children.\u201d That snapped me out of my frozen state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I don\u2019t think that will be possible. I don\u2019t want to involve my kids like this,\u201d I argued, feeling bad for saying that instead of immediately being ready to help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As soon as I said that, Elgin and Graham looked at me with disgust. I know it sounded wrong, but I couldn\u2019t tell them exactly why. I didn\u2019t want those two around my kids. When their looks got harsher, I decided to run away, like I always did. That seemed like a good plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUm, will you please excuse me?\u201d I said, and once I felt like I had no other excuse I sped up, leaving them behind and getting into the car. Thankfully I got home before they could call me or anything. That was odd, they didn\u2019t seem like people who would just let it go, but I was glad they did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once I got inside, I found my three babies playing in t\u00a0<\/p>\n
living room with Legos.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you building?\u201d I asked. Bodhi came running and hugged my legs, while the other two were their usual sassy selves so I had to go to them to hug them. I reached Elara, kissed her forehead, then kissed Gina on the cheek.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, are we going to have lunch here?\u201d Graham asked. My body stiffened when I heard someone else come in behind me. My eyes widened when I saw Graham and Elgin in my house\u2014without my permission, without even asking if I was okay with the interview. I shot up from my knees, staring at them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
BIG SALE: 3500 bonus free fou you\u00a0<\/p>\n
P\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
+25 Bonus\u00a0 11\u2013Take A Permission First\u00a0 Madeline:\u00a0 It had been a week since I got here. I was mostly working […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-no-daddy-novel-by-novelnozi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}