Chapter 171Hands to Avoid

I awoke to a strange sensation. Soft, gentle hands were caressing my skin. Thin, warm fingers that left trails of tantalizing sensations on my skin. One hand lovingly caressed along my back and my side, even the gentle slope beyond. The other hand caressing the back of my legs with fingertips. It was a wonderful way to wake up, a heavy breath escaped my lips.

But something wasn't right.

The bed was different, I knew. The hands felt wrong, different. They weren't hands I had felt before. But they touched me in ways that felt amazingly good. Was I still in my clothes? Who was touching me?

It came back to me in a flash. The bed, where I was. I sat up immediately, pushing the hands away as I realized it was Nuru touching me. My hands covered my breasts as I felt the air brushing against them. I pulled up the sheets to cover me and looked at the scared eyes next to me.

Guilt.

"I-I'm sorry, Miss Amy. I-I didn't mean to hurt you." Tears were growing in her eyes.

First I had to calm down, calm her down. "It's... It's okay, Nuru. You didn't do anything wrong. It just confused me waking up." Bravely I held the sheets with only one hand, caressing her face with the other.

She calmed down a little and moved to snuggle against me. She was still so insecure sometimes. I hugged her back, still a big uncomfortable with my unexpected nudity and keeping the blanket between us. Fortunately, she didn't make a problem out of it.

But I had to ask. "Why did you caress me?" I asked it softly, without any anger in my voice.

She sobbed slightly. "I-I don't know... I-it just happened. I've never been close to anyone like this... The others never touched me..."

I smiled at her. "I... It's really alright. I don't want you to caress me like you did anymore, but it's good to hug me or to hold me, alright?"

She nodded eagerly and, to strengthen her silent words, gave me a strong hug. I held her for a while, thinking of what to do with her. I could understand she wasn't used to intimate contact. And she'd been close to me many times, most of them incredibly respectful and warm. I guess I fell asleep too fast last night so she undressed me. It was more natural for her...

Even if I still had some problems with it. It was becoming less. I mean, it was just nudity. It wasn't sexual or weird.

It would help if only I could convince myself of that. I wasn't doing a very good job of that yet. But learning, step by step.

I really wanted some clothes now. "Come, let's get dressed."

Nuru nodded dutifully and slipped out of bed, getting her dress and putting it on with her back toward me. I knew she did it out of respect and I valued it. She never looked around, too busy with her own clothing. She was finished before I even got out of bed but she just kept standing with her back to me politely.

Clothes welcomed me, folded neatly, ready for me to use. And I did. Now that I was really getting up, I smelled the soft smell of dinner being made downstairs. It brought worries to my mind I'd rather avoid. I wouldn't be able to eat dinner and I'm sure my mother would ask me questions of why I'd slept all day. To be honest, I was lucky that I used to be such a light sleeper and got my parents to buy heavy curtains for my room to make it properly dark in here. Never thought it would be useful...

My thoughts really tried to avoid the whole telling-my-mom-or-not issue. If it wasn't so serious, it would be funny. I couldn't really tell her, could I?

"Mi... I mean, Amy?" Nuru turned around as she felt I was fully dressed.

"Something on your mind?"

"Well... You spoke in your dreams and it reflected my own."

"About what?"

"Well, it was like you were speaking my dreams. You spoke of two girls going into a house and not being able to get out. You spoke of how the time passed, hours without definition. Someone speaking to them, but it was inaudible to you. As if you heard them through a pane of glass... or something. I wasn't sure either, it was a dream without vision, just a dark room with echoes I couldn't place."

I gasped, it was so annoying dreaming and not knowing any of it. "Did I mention names?"

"eh..." Nuru appeared to think. "I think you did... But I'm not sure if it was a name or just a few words. 'ku a fall' or something."

"Khuna and Valerie" This couldn't be true.

"I'm not sure."

So Janus was right, they were being trapped, or in a trap already. But was my dream the present, the future? From what I'd heard dreams can go both ways in time. Your subconscious, knowing much more than you do, talking to you in imagery you may understand.

My mom called up. "Amy, Nuru, dinner is ready."

Now I had two big problems to deal with. I still didn't know if I could tell my mother, and not eating after I'd just slept for a day would seem very odd as well. On top of that, either my friends were going to be in serious danger, or were already.

What options did I have?