We had been at it for nearly three hours, and though the time had gone by fast, progress was stagnant. 

At first we tried mixing melodies of random songs, but when that was a disaster, we searched for songs we all knew how to play to some extent. However, we got a bit tangential and around eight thirty I realized we had suddenly arrived at a topic involving bikinis and lemonade.

I enjoyed the banter, though I kept to the background a bit. They all seemed really comfortable with each other, joking or jamming or falling into familial silence. Turned out, Malik wasn't a complete asshole. He had the whole elite hipster thing going for him, but Cole had an abrupt way of calling him out on his bullshit. Elijah seemed to work his way in as the middleman when the insults went flying.

It all kind of took me back to the poolside with my own family, and I had to concentrate on strumming an obnoxiously repetitive riff to keep from screaming like I'd been shot.

It was around nine o'clock when Cole groaned, "Well, I'm throwing in the towel, guys. I think this proves Raj's original hypothesis correct." He ran his hand down his face exhaustedly. "This is impossible." 

I scowled at the words on Vicky's back and tried not to agree.

"Hey, ya'll want some beer?" Malik asked, equally crestfallen.

"Seriously, man, now you ask?" Elijah cried with mock irritation. "But I'm driving anyway, so no."

He looked to Cole and me. I just shrugged, deciding not to ask how he came about it. Then I turned around to the keyboard and sighed.

I thought of the last time I had run my fingers over keys like this. Then I tried really hard not to, images of blood and my sister's screams cutting through the relative numbness of my mind.

"Hey, man, you cool?" Malik stood beside me, offering a cold bottle. 

I took it with a nod and chugged half of it down before looking back at the keyboard.

Absentmindedly, I found my fingers landing on the first chords of a song I'd written months ago. And without even closing my eyes, I fell right into a nightmare.