Carmen was walking down the street past midnight, alone. It was cold and she wrapped her arms around herself to keep herself warm. ‘Fuck, where did I park my car?’ she asked herself. She saw a tall woman standing under a streetlight, looking up at the sky. Carmen walked past the woman but when she did the woman grabbed her arm. ‘Hey!’ Carmen shouted as she turned her face to the woman. ‘Get off of me!’ The woman’s face was covered with bruises and she had a deep cut in her eyebrow. She looked at Carmen without an expression on her once beautiful face. ‘L-Lucia?’ Carmen stuttered as she recognized her. ‘You did this to me Carmen,’ Lucia said, her voice a angry whisper. Carmen shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes in disbelief and shock. ‘I thought you cared about me. But you are just like them. Why didn’t you help me Carmen? Why?’ the woman asked. Carmen swallowed. ‘I didn’t do anything,’ she said calmly and she tried to walk away. But Lucia tightened her grip around Carmen’s arm and stepped closer to her, her face only inches apart from Carmen’s. ‘No, you didn’t. You just left me,’ Lucia said and she wrapped her hands around Carmen’s throat. Carmen shook her head no, and tried to catch her breath. ‘Look at me Carmen. You did this,’ Lucia said louder, looking intensely in Carmen’s eyes and the grip around her neck tightened. ‘No,’ Carmen cried, ‘I didn’t do anything bad, I didn’t!’ She struggled to get herself free but Lucia was too strong. ‘Do you keep telling that yourself Carmen?’ Lucia whispered, ‘so you can still be happy?’. ‘Let me go! I didn’t do it!’ Carmen cried.

‘Carmen!’ Shane shouted as she shook Carmen’s body in order to wake her up. ‘Carmen, calm down! It’s just a bad dream’ Shane said as she wrapped her arms around Carmen’s shoulders and took her in her arms. Carmen opened her eyes, looking at Shane’s concerned face. ‘It was just a nightmare. You’re all sweaty,’ Shane whispered and she smoothed Carmen’s hair out of her face. Carmen cried and buried her head in Shane’s neck. ‘Ssht.. it’s okay.. Just a stupid dream,’ Shane whispered repeatedly as she held Carmen’s shaking back tightly. She could feel Carmen’s warm tears on her shoulder. She rocked the two of them slowly back and forth, until Carmen finally fell asleep again.