Zoe sat up in bed. A glance at the clock indicated she had only slept for two hours. Something must have woken her up again. Remembering last night's incident, she kept her ears peeled for any sound from Joan's room.
Sure enough, she picked up the creak from her sister's door. Deciding not to wait this time, she slipped out of bed and went to her door. Peaking out into the hall, she saw Joan walking slowly past. As before, her back was rigid and her arms dangled limply at her sides. Her eyes stared ahead of her, glazed and unblinking, . A tell-tale glow shown from beneath her sleeve.
Overcoming the prickling on the back of her neck, Zoe followed after and seized her sister's arm before the girl could descend the stairs. Joan stopped without any resistance.
"Joan," Zoe hissed, keeping her voice low. "Sis, wake up."
Joan did not react, even when the younger girl shook her arms and patted her face. Finally, Zoe spun her around and marched her back to her room. It felt strange to be putting her taller, more athletic sibling to bed as easily as she would Mikey, but the sleepwalking girl cooperated without fuss.
With Joan once more under her covers, Zoe turned to go, only to pause when the other girl sat up with a small whimper. This time, when her sister tried to ease her back down, she resisted. Her whimpering grew more agitated.
Kneeling beside her, Zoe rubbed Joan's shoulders to calm her. "It's okay," she soothed. "It's just a dream."
Dream-clouded eyes brimming with tears, Joan turned towards her and sobbed, "Faster. I need to go faster. I need to get to the ocean!"
As she tried to claw her way out of her blankets, Zoe hugged her to keep her arms pinned. "Joan!" She cried, alarmed at Joan's growing agitation. "It's just a dream!"
Looking back towards the door, Zoe was about to call for help. Promise or no promise, Joan had to be restrained, and her sister lacked the muscle to keep her down for much longer.
Suddenly, Joan's struggles ceased. Slumping back to her pillow, she sighed once and then went silent. Zoe exhaled in relief. She was tempted to wake her sister up and berate her for her troubles, but her activity had sapped her of the energy to do so.
Getting up, she glared at the snoozing Joan. No way was she going to leave her alone tonight. Closing the doors to both their rooms, she shoved her sister over and slid under the blanket beside her. If the older girl got up again, she would be there to tie her down if necessary. Eventually, she let her exhaustion overtake her.
