Sunday, 15th September
12:00 AM
The spring night air was cold at this hour, even without any wind, soon it will become warmer when summer hits in a few months, Ashley preferred the summer over winter any day. A red tent was pitched by the same lagoon that the three close friends were when they discovered Ashley's situation was… Different. A situation where she had strength far greater than an ordinary fifteen year old. Inside the little tent were Sam and Nathan sitting with their legs crossed on top of their sleeping bags. Nathan was busying himself by rolling a cigarette while Sam was picking up his old Samsung phone that he always called his keeper. He checked the time displayed on the lock screen and suddenly perked up.
'It's twelve Nathan.' Sam whispered.
'Finally' He rolled his eyes and put down his unmade cigarette. 'Is she dreaming yet?'
Ashley was lying on her back on top of her own turquoise sleeping bag with her eyes closed shut. She appeared to be in a very deep, relaxing sleep. Sam moved closer to Ashley to investigate.
'I think so.'
Sam turned his attention to her face, particularly her shut eyes. They were moving as though her eyes we darting around frantically behind her eye lids.
'Yeah, she's in REM. Which means she-' Sam began.
'Dreaming, yes I know, you've told me twice now…' Nathan said with annoyance etched in his tone. '60 minutes is the fastest she's ever made it to REM.'
Which was true. When the three of them had started their mission, Ashley would take roughly 90 minutes to reach REM but each time they practiced, she only got faster.
'Okay Nathan, start the timer for 10 minutes.'
Nathan quickly typed in his phone to begin the timer. Ashley's eyes continued to dart around, leaving the boys wondering what exactly she was dreaming about… hopefully she was aware enough to stick to the mission at hand, or else this would all be for nothing. Again.
The trees in this forest were absolutely magical, a home to dozens of tiny lizards scurrying their way along the bark. The tree's trucks were so large you couldn't even wrap your arms around it. Even 3 people holding hands couldn't do so. Fireflies were emerging from the foliage as Ashley walked toward them. She wore a pale blue dress, something she would never actually wear. Ashley began wondering how she managed to find a place like this. How did she get here? Where was she before this? Something wasn't right here… I'm dreaming! She concluded.
What did she have to do now? There was something very important, but what was it? Maybe if she walked further through the forest it would come to her.
She'd been walking for what felt like an hour or so and she was starting to feel bored, and when you're bored in a dream, it will start to fade therefore, waking you up.
'Ugh!' She dropped down to her knees in frustration and shouted. 'What am I supposed to do?'
A little golden bird chirped from above somewhere in the trees. Ashley immediately scanned the area with her eyes, searching. She let out a whistle, the same tune it had sung to her. The golden bird swooped down, just missing the top of her head, glistening as it did so. Ashley got to her feet fast and chased after it, her bare feet digging into the damp soil with each step. She was picking up enough speed to keep up with the bird when she remembered what she needed to do.
'Hank! I need to find Hank!'
Being distracted by the realization that this world wasn't real, she tripped on a root causing her to fall face first into the dirt.
'Ahh!' Ashley cried.
The pain was mainly in her nose but that's not what was bothering her. It was the fact that she was, once again, able to feel pain in a dream. Dreams are meant to be painless, yet she's been feeling pain throughout all her dreams lately. Nothing major, just something small, like stepping on a prickle but this one hurt. Her nose was bleeding rather substantially. With one hand she pinched the bridge of her nose and the other hand she used to pick herself up off the ground. Why did she have to deal with this right now? Especially when her goal was to search for Hank. Another chirp sounded from ahead. Ashley looked up to find the golden bird perched up on top of a golden framed mirror. Both the bird and the frame appeared to be identical in colour. This was no coincidence, the bird was trying to tell Ashley something. Her nose had stopped bleeding but appeared to be broken as it was bent in the wrong direction. She pushed the pain aside and began approaching the mirror slowly. It was drawing her to it, it felt as though this mirror was important, like it would assist her in some way. With curiosity, she stood before it looking over her reflection. Of course what the mirror reflected wasn't entirely accurate. It never is in a dream. Her freckles were gone and her eyes were no longer ocean blue but rather grey.
'Follow me…' Ashley's voice whispered.
Only, Ashley didn't speak at all, the voice that spoke to her came from inside the mirror. Ashley's reflection smiled mischievously and reached out her hand expressing a "come here" motion. Weird. Ashley's reflection had never behaved like this before, like the being on the other side of the mirror had a mind of its own, even its own voice.
'How?' Ashley questioned.
The being turned away and with her back to Ashley, began to walk away.
'Wait!' Desperation was evident in her voice.
Ashley scanned the mirror. Maybe there would be a door handle, or something? She lifted her arm and pressed it against the surface of the mirror. It was cold to the touch. Colder than she had expected, cold as ice. Then something odd began to occur. Her hand and the mirror were no longer making contact, instead, her hand was passing through the mirror's surface. Soon, she moved enough that her whole arm was inside the mirror. Now, it too felt ice cold.
once she had half her body inside, she drew in a short breath, closed her eyes and pushed the rest of herself through the cold icy mirror.
Ashley opened her eyes once the cold had subsided. Her clothes had changed. She now wore, ripped blue denim jeans with a grey tank top that had a golden sun printed on the front. It was definitely a step up from the dress she was previously wearing. Unfortunately Ashley was still cold. Not as cold as it was inside the mirror but still enough to have the hairs on her arms stand up. Ashley turned her attention from her clothes to her surroundings. Instead of being surrounded by that magical forest and those enormous trees, she was now standing somewhere that wasn't at all familiar. It was dark and there were buildings everywhere, reaching higher than she'd ever seen with her own eyes. There were people swarming the footpaths, each of them rudely bumping shoulders with each other, mindlessly walking. The roads had several lanes and were filled with countless vehicles passing by. Each driver appeared to have their own agenda, however, dream characters had no agenda. How could they? Okay, enough of that. Ashley shook her head. Back to the task at hand. To find Hank. Why would the mirror bring her here? Was Hank somewhere nearby? It would be impossible to find him amongst a crowd such as this. Impossible? Maybe not. Ashley glanced up at the wallscapes and had an idea emerge in her mind. If she couldn't find Hank, maybe the dream characters could. Ashley pictured Hank in her mind, his wispy hair, tanned skin and his unusual eyes. One was light blue while the other was a deep green. Ashley focused hard on Hank's appearance and also the billboards. Suddenly all the screens had Hank's face plastered on them with a caption below, urging people to call the police if they had and information on his whereabouts.
For a while, Ashley walked alongside the road watching the dream characters to see how they behaved.
'Mummy…' A little girl called out, pointing at each of the wallscapes. 'Who's that man? Is he famous?'
A small girl, missing her two front teeth, had her brown hair in two ponytails and was curiously wondering why this man was so important.
'No honey, Hank, is a bad man-' the tired mother began explaining but Ashley had moved out of earshot.
She didn't really care what the dream characters had to say because they weren't conscious. They didn't have thoughts, feelings or beliefs, they were just figments of the mind. Therefore, anything they said was completely made up. A lie.
'Leave us alone!' the mother shouted. 'Don't hurt us again!'
Ashley stopped in her tracks and turned around, now intrigued by this lie. The mother had darkened tears trailing down her face while holding her Daughter close to her. She appeared to be shouting at someone Ashley couldn't see. Someone lurking in the dark alleyway.
'I never hurt you. You have to remember this.' A deep voice suggested. 'Remember… me'
'Somebody help!' She cried.
Ashley began approaching the situation even though her task was to find Hank. She hadn't forgotten about the mission but needed to be careful to not lose her lucidity. Maybe the scene this lady was causing, could point her in the right direction. People were still rudely bumping into Ashley's shoulders and blocking her line of sight. Were all city slickers this ignorant? Ashley hadn't really ventured far into the city, she was quite content living in Rockwood, despite everyone knowing each other. This meant gossip traveled fast. Focus Ash. She thought to herself. Once Ashley had finally made it to where the mother was screaming, she was no longer there. Ashley scanned the area for her and noticed the figure in the alleyway walking away with his back to her. Figuring out who it might be was difficult as it was too dark to make out any details.
'Hey!' Ashley called out.
The figure stopped and turned around.
'Who is it?' A man's voice demanded.
Ashley was hesitant to reveal her name but realized who the voice belonged to.
'It's me, Ashley'
She lifted her palm and conjured a hot, bright orange fireball in her hand to cast light and prove it was truly her. Hank started walking toward Ashley with substantial speed. His face showed signs of tiredness.
'What are you doing? Didn't you listen to what I said? You can't be running around showing off the curse like that! It's too dangerous.' Hank Grabbed her arm and in doing so, extinguished the flame.
It was dark again and Ashley's hand was losing its warmth.
'Who was that woman screaming?' Ashley asked.
'Are you listening to me?' He spat.
Ashley didn't want to listen to another lecture. She was more curious about who the woman and child were and why they were so afraid of him. Also, why did she say, don't hurt us again?
'it sounded like she knew who you were.' Ashley persisted.
Hank clenched his jaw unsure whether he wanted to tell her anything at all. Zed had ruined his life. He'd taken everything from him, everyone from him. It left him wondering around in the shadows, hiding. Zed could always make things worse, if he wanted. And of course he wanted to, he thrived on hurting people, both physically and emotionally.
'Her name was Anna.' His voice had changed drastically. 'And the little girl, Scarlet. Zed took them from me.'
'Took them?' Ashley fished for more information.
Hank suddenly became paranoid. He looked over Ashley's shoulder and then over his own.
'Not here.' he extended his arm. 'Grab my hand.'
Ashley was suspicious to what he wanted her hand for.
'Come on!' He said in frustration.
She grabbed his hand. There wasn't any time to waste, the boys would be getting her out shortly and then we're back to step one. Hank instructed her to hold her breath, close her eyes and relax her limbs.
'Here we go.' He mumbled.
'What'd you say-' Ashley began before all the oxygen was ripped from her.
It was bright and things were spinning fast. Just like a ride she went on when she was eight. Except she wasn't enjoying this ride. She didn't know where she was anymore, only that Hank was with her and she needed to keep holding his hand. Her eyes were firmly shut but her urge to breathe was increasing at an alarming rate. Somehow she knew they were no longer in that alleyway anymore. They were on their way to somewhere else.
Ashley opened her dream eyes. She was staring up at a blue sky with patchy clouds quickly passing by at a speed that made no sense. How were they moving with no wind?
'Come on, we don't have all day.' Hank snapped as he stared down at her.
Ashley had landed on her back and the spinning had finally stopped but she still felt the urge to throw up. Slowly she sat up and got to her feet which were now bare. The soil felt so real between her toes, it was easy to lose yourself in a lucid dream by how realistic everything could be. Ashley had been here before, there was the meadow again and there was that same tent that she'd woken up in when Hank had rescued her.
'Why are we here again?' Ashley asked inspecting her surroundings.
'This is a secure place from Zed.' Hank explained. 'he doesn't know where here is as it isn't a real place, I created it.'
'How does that make it secure?'
'It's nearly impossible to find someone in a dream when the location doesn't exist. That's why I had to bring you here.'
'We teleported here.' Ashley pieced together. 'I've never tried that before.'
'Ahh, well it isn't the easiest part of dream manipulating.' Hank said proudly.
Ashley stared off into the distance distracted by her thoughts.
'There is something troubling you, isn't there?' Hank said firmly.
'Where do I begin?' She mumbled. 'I don't know what's happening to me, I can do things that shouldn't be possible. I'm strong… unbelievably Strong. Somehow I was able to bend a metal table with my bare hands.'
She didn't ask for any of this. Sure it made her usual mundane life more interesting, a lot more interesting. If things could go back to the way they were before the bus accident. Save the other students, the burden of letting them die bothered Ashley to tears. How was she supposed to live a normal life after that? Especially with the events that followed.
'It's started already?' Hank rubbed the back of his neck with worry in his voice.
Ashley snapped her head around and glared at Hank.
'What has started already?'
'The transfer.' He turned away.
'The transfer?' She could feel anger building inside her chest. 'What the hell is a transfer?'
Hank knew what was happening which made her furious that he had been keeping things to himself. Information that involved her.
'It's a process which happens after you come back from death. When you die, the soul moves on to the afterlife, a place very similar to the dreaming realm. Coming back from the dead causes a crack in the barrier between the waking world and the dreaming realm. When this happens, the power a lucid dreamer has, can cross over from the dreaming realm to the waking world. There are three key ingredients one must possess to unlock these abilities. You must have the Zed-34 vaccine in your system when you die, you must be able to lucid dream and you must be younger than twenty, roughly. Without these three combinations, the abilities simply won't develop. Hence the rarity of the curse.'
Ashley's anger only grew worse.
'How could you know this and not tell me? I fit all of those combinations and yet you kept this from me! I didn't ask for any of this! I just want a normal life!' Ashley's face was red with rage.
'Calm down' Hank demanded 'It's the way it is-'
'Don't you dare tell me to calm down! You're no help at all!
Without thinking Ashley extended both arms directed to Hank, and her hands became uncomfortably ridged. She had the anger inside her chest and felt its warmth rush down her arms then to her fingertips. Suddenly She kinked her neck to the side and Hank was sent backwards, his back collided with a tree on the edge of the meadow a few meters away. Ashley was shocked that she'd done that to Hank but felt no regret. Her anger was far too intense to feel sorry for him. Now, Hank too was furious. How dare she? A ignorant child thought She could take on Hank? Did she not know what he was capable of? Hank was getting to his feet and saw Her standing there with her arms now by her sides but still staring down at him. In an instant, he had his hand around her throat and had her in the air high enough that only her toes could touch the ground. He had moved with speed so fast that she only blinked once and he had already closed the distance between them. Her face had gone from red to nearly a blue.
'Don't you ever, do that to me again!' His jaw was clenched hard as he spat. 'Who do you think you are? Some privileged little naive girl who thinks she could take me on? I escaped Zed, lost my wife and child by doing so. I Don't need your attitude!'
Ashley had lost the ability to breathe and speak, wheezing was the only sound that she could make.
Ashley. A voice spoke. A voice that wasn't in this realm, one she recognized.
Things were starting to fade and the colour had gone from her vision. She was waking up.
Ashley? Sam's voice called again, this time more urgently.
Ashley stared Hank in his stern, weird eyes. Ashley managed to conjure enough effort to tell him one last thing before she would wake.
'Fuck you.' She gasped as she closed her eyes.
'Breathe, Ashley! Breathe!'
Everything was dark, but somewhere in the darkness, someone was calling her. She leaned into that and did as that someone told her to. Inhale. Ashley thought. No, it was stronger than a thought. She willed it to happen even believed it would happen. Ashley was grateful that Hank was no longer there. Could she open her eyes? That's what she needed to do. It was difficult but she managed to open her eyes. Even though they barely opened she saw two figures either side of her. It was too blurry to make out anything else. Her eyes shut again. It was tempting not to fight this severe tiredness, just to give in and sleep that extra five minutes.
'Open your eyes Ash.' the voice sounded panicked, Nathan's voice.
Why? Its nice here. Ashley began to feel her troubles coming back. Hank, the mission, Zed, Her so called abilities, The curse. They felt unbearable compared to the bliss she had been experiencing. Now she could wake. Her eyes opened, blinking rapidly as she adjusted to the brightness.
'Welcome back.' Nathan sat backwards in relief, whilst holding his forehead.
'What happened?' Ashley could barely speak, she couldn't breathe normally and it hurt so badly.
Ashley was looking at her surroundings, remembering where she was. Where her real body was. Not the dream body that was being strangled by Hank.
'You weren't breathing Ash. We tried waking you up but it wasn't working, you were in there for twenty minutes rather than the ten we decided on and, hold on-' Sam stopped and stared at Ashleys neck. 'Your neck. Ash, what happened to your neck?'
She reached up to touch her neck and winced in pain once her fingers made contact.
'Hank…' Ashley muttered quietly, it hurt too much to say anything else.