Waking from hibernation
驚蟄 [19] / [20]
Cynthia called Saint Michael's prison, where Lucas was booked, and asked for an interview with him. The prison officer who got the call answered in an apathetic voice, demanding that she send the official document requesting an interview. They confirmed the date of the interview. It would be possible only if Lucas gave consent to be interviewed and answer questions.
Neither Cynthia nor Alexander could erase the thought of the cases they were now working. It was the third working day after their long vacation, which of course was unintended. Getting back to work after such a long absence is always very tiring. Alexander wanted some refreshment with Cynthia. They were off until the day after tomorrow.
Though they were only back for such a short time, a lot had happened since, and they had a lot of loose ends to pull together. The next hurdle was the interview, and, while waiting for Lucas to confirm or deny the request, Alexander took the opportunity for a much needed break, and the first night back home, they slept hard. Cynthia and Alexander laid together, resting peacefully.
But even as he slept, Alexander’s mind worked, remaining restless. Lately, his dreams had returned to a state of normalcy―if dreams themselves could ever really be called normal―and the nightmares plaguing him following his attack dulled and went away. But, after the past few days, he started to have odd dreams: not horrifying, as before, but just strange. However, tonight was different. Perhaps spurred on by the cases he and Cynthia were currently evaluating, it seemed that the storm had yet to subside completely.
He was walking in a very dense wood full of various kinds of big trees. It was so dense that he could barely see ahead of him. He walked while pushing his way by hand through drooping branches. It seemed late in the afternoon and the sun was setting, and it was very bright with a blood hue.
He knew that the sun would set soon, and he was hurrying to somewhere unknown. He just wanted to get out of this dense and unfamiliar wood. There was no sign of any life, neither small animals which could be easily seen in the forest, nor any pedestrian. Even the wood looked dead. there wasn't any movement in the trees. All was lifeless.
He recognized a figure that seemed human. The figure was about half a mile away in front of him. Alexander wanted to get close to it, feeling sudden relief someone existed there besides him. He raised his walking speed. But the figure didn't get closer to him. It looked to get even farther away from him gradually. He got rid of a very big and stiff branch blocking his line of sight, and the figure was gone. He stopped.
