Chapter 2
Do you ever wake from a nightmare and, for a moment, you forget what is real and what was just a bad dream?
I wake with a start, disoriented and not entirely sure where I am, and just as I’m coming to my senses, reassuring myself that it was all just a dream, I realise that I’m on board the cold, dark tour bus, and that this is really happening.
Dylan's shoulder is still beneath my head, and for a moment, I can't believe I was able to fall asleep in such an awkward position. I'm wide awake now, and anxious to learn that things don’t seem to have improved.
I shift, relieving Dylan from his duties as a human pillow/radiator.
‘Uh, sorry about that,’ I mumble, laughing awkwardly.
Dylan being Dylan, he just laughs.
‘That’s okay,’ he tells me. ‘You didn’t miss much and, in good news, I have the solution to all of our problems.’
I rub my eyes as I sit up straight. Glancing around the lounge – which is even darker than it was before – I realise that Mitch isn’t here.
‘Where’s Mitch?’ I ask.
‘He went in the ambulance, with Fred,’ Mikey explains. ‘He banged his head, he was bleeding. They sent the emergency services for him, and said one person could go with him, so Mitch went. Don’t worry, they said Fred will be fine, but he needs treatment. He’s in the right place now.’
‘I did ask if we could go too,’ Dylan tells me. ‘But apparently it’s a rescue ambulance, not a minibus .’
Dylan says this in a mocking tone, as though he’s repeating what someone said to him, that he doesn’t believe is a reasonable reply.
‘Mitch said he would send someone for us, when he could, but it sounds like the snow is bad everywhere,’ Mikey continues. ‘So we just need to sit tight here, until someone comes to get us.’
‘Oh God,’ I blurt, because, honestly, I feel so claustrophobic – which is ironic, given how out in the open we are.
‘Like I said, it’s all good, I’ve got the solution to our problems,’ Dylan says again.
It’s not that he doesn't sound confident it’s just that – and please, keep in mind, that Dylan is my best friend and I love him – Dylan isn’t usually the person who comes up with solutions to problems, in fact, he’s almost always the person who causes the problems in the first place.
‘Go on, bro,’ Mikey says.
You can hear in his voice that he feels the same way as I do. Neither of us expects to hear a genuine solution. The chances it doesn’t involve smoking or drinking are slim – in fact, I’d throw sex in the mix too, were it not for the fact that I’m the only female here.
‘Well, I heard Mitch say we were near somewhere called Lundsgill,’ Dylan explains. ‘So, I figured, there must be someone there who can help us out.’
‘You know someone in Lundsgill?’ Mikey asks in disbelief. ‘Because I don’t even know where Lundsgill is.’
‘Somewhere between Glasgow and London,’ Jamie points out.
‘We know that much, you idiot,’ Taz replies. ‘We’ve been on the road a while so, I’d say we were back in England, at least.’
‘That’s not important,’ Dylan insists. ‘What’s important is that I’ve found us someone to stay with.’
Oh God, I hate the sound of this already…
‘What, like a B&B?’ Mikey asks.
‘No – that was the first thing I checked, obviously, there’s only one and it’s full,’ Dylan tells us. ‘So, I went on Twitter.’
There’s a sentence that never precedes anything good.
‘Twitter?’ I repeat back to him. ‘Like… Twitter-Twitter?’
‘You sound like a bird,’ he replies with a laugh. ‘Yes, Twitter – with so many fans on there I figure there must be someone nearby who can help us out. It turns out there is someone – a fan – who lives in Lundsgill, and she says she can put us all up at her place.’
‘You want us to go and stay with some random fan?’ I blurt in disbelief.
I thought the story was weird when he said Twitter but I didn’t imagine it getting this much stranger.
‘Yeah,’ he says proudly, either not picking up on my tone or choosing to ignore it. ‘And she’s fit too.’
Dylan holds his phone up for the boys to see her profile picture. She’s young, blonde, and wearing a lot of make-up. It’s not a great quality picture, and she’s hiding her face underneath a thick fringe, but I guess she ticks all of Dylan’s usual boxes: willing and alive.
‘So, what, we can all stay with her?’ Mikey replies. ‘She must have a big place?’
‘Fit and rich,’ Jamie says excitedly.
I roll my eyes. Everyone on this bus knows that, if she’s interested in anyone, it will be Dylan, then Mikey, and then probably Taz, if we’re being honest. I’ve spent a lot of time with The Burnouts and Jamie is definitely the least popular. I’m sure it’s a looks thing, for some people, but bassists are also usually band members at the bottom of the list. It doesn’t help that Jamie’s personality isn’t great either. He has this entitlement, that many band members have, to female attention. Sometimes I wonder if that’s the only reason he’s doing this.
‘What if she’s an axe murderer?’ I chime in.
‘How often do people turn out to be axe murderers?’ Dylan says with a scoff. ‘You watch too many movies.’
Yes, I’m the one who is being crazy.
‘I don’t like the sound of this,’ I say. ‘I’m not sleeping in some random girl’s house – especially not one you found by tweeting. Dylan, even by your standards, this is a terrible idea. You guys must agree with me?’
I look between Mikey, Taz and Jamie, to see if any of them are on my side, but it seems like they’re coming around to the idea – or, to be honest, like most of them were on board to begin with.
‘Nic, it's this or freeze our butts off on this dark, cold bus,’ Dylan tells me, his tone more serious now. ‘And to top it off, our phones are gasping their last breaths because we've been using them as torches. We’re not going to have light for much longer. Best we get to safety now, before we run out completely.’
I sigh because I suppose he’s right about that, and I know we do probably need to go somewhere, but a random girl’s house? Really?
I cross my arms, contemplating the absurdity of the situation.
‘So, what, we're just going to blindly trust some fan we've never met?’ I confirm. ‘That’s the best we can do?’
‘I don’t see you finding us anywhere to go,’ he says with a smile. ‘And have you ever known me not land on my feet and come up smelling of roses?’
Well, that’s certainly true. That might be the smartest thing he’s said all night.
‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ he pushes me.
‘We could all get murdered in our sleep,’ I offer up. ‘That’s the worst thing that could happen.’
‘Nicole, we’re freezing,’ Mikey says, his voice soft. ‘I think we might need to take our chances. Mitch said he would send someone for us, as soon as he could. So, for now, I think we just need to do what we need to survive the night.’
As I look to Dylan I can just about notice that wild glimmer in his eyes, the one he often gets right before he does something ridiculous.
‘Come on, Nic, just think of all the adventures you would have missed out on, if you didn’t listen to me,’ he says to me – practically goading me into agreeing.
Dylan’s argument isn’t exactly compelling but Mikey’s certainly is. I don’t fancy a night on the bus, in the cold, the dark – in the middle of nowhere. I can’t believe I’m saying this but, the axe murder risk seems pretty balanced, whether we’re here or there, so may as well be warm while we’re getting chopped up, right?
I glance at Taz and Jamie, who seem oddly unfazed by this questionable plan.
‘Fine,’ I relent. ‘But if I do wind up getting murdered, and somehow you don’t, Dylan King, then I swear to God I will haunt you forever.’
Dylan just laughs.
‘Fair enough,’ he replies. ‘I’d miss you anyway.’
‘Right,’ Mikey says, clapping his hands together. ‘Let’s dress up warm and grab our essentials.’
Dylan jumps to his feet with an excited spring in his step.
‘We’re going on an adventure,’ he tells me, his wide eyes catching the light from my torch.
Well, I think it’s pretty safe to say that, the nightmare I thought I had woken up from earlier, I am still very much trapped in.
Here we go…