Follow the Hummingbird (The Dream Tamer Chronicles Book 1)

by Elena Carter

  Mike gave Tina a reproachful look and headed to the kitchen.

  “Did you decide to be a mole?” He switched on the light. “Are you aware it’s the middle of the day?”

  He set the bags on the counter top and pulled the heavy black-out curtains to the side. It didn’t change much, since the curtains revealed closed blinds underneath them.

  Mike opened the blinds, and Tina moaned as the rays of sunshine hit her eyes.

  “Oh, come on, T. Cut it out. Come back to the world already, would you?” Mike grumbled.

  Natalie walked over to Tina and gave her a proper hug, her hands now free of the heavy bags.

  “It’s okay. Everything is okay. God, you scared us,” she murmured against Tina’s shoulder.

  Tina hugged her back. “My head hurts so much. I can hardly move.”

  “Let’s take care of that. When was the last time you ate? Or drank?” Natalie pulled back, still keeping her hands on Tina’s shoulders.

  “I don’t know. I don’t even know what the date is.”

  “We brought your favorite lemon chicken.” Mike took the boxes with Chinese food out of the bag and put them on the counter top. “We also got you milk, eggs, bread, cereal, and orange juice.”

  “Any chance you brought me a coffee?”

  “Not that you deserve it, but yes, we did. A tall cappuccino, your all-time favorite.” He handed her a paper cup with a Starbucks logo. “Here you go. And we got a bottle of red wine for us. Much needed. I would have even gone for something stronger, but Nat didn’t let me.”

  “I don’t want to end up carrying you home.” Natalie laughed. “Besides, I have kids to go home to, remember?”

  “How’re my M&Ms?” Tina took a sip of her coffee.

  “Can’t help but smile every time you call them that,” said Mike, his mood lightening with every minute.

  “They’re good. I asked Mom to watch them, since Tod is at work. They were asking about you. Mallory and Mr. Rabbit made a drawing for you. Just a sec.” Natalie reached for her purse and took out a folded sheet of paper. She handed Tina the drawing. “Monica keeps asking when Auntie Tina is coming over.”

  “God, I love those kids. I really should visit more often, Nat.” Tina unfolded the drawing and beamed while looking at the plush rabbit holding pink cotton candy on a stick and a little girl with curly blonde hair next to him. “Aww … that makes my heart melt. She is so talented.”

  “She told me the idea was hers, but it was Mr. Rabbit who drew it.”

  “Of course it was.” Tina folded the drawing with a smile on her face after taking one more glance at it.

  Mike finished putting the groceries in the fridge and turned around. “Okay. Wine opener, glasses, and can we all please sit down already?”

  “The top drawer on the left,” Natalie said, while reaching to get the wine glasses off the top shelf. She knew her way around Tina’s kitchen well, but given her petite height she had to stand on her toes.

  Mike grabbed the bottle and the wine opener and headed toward the living room. Natalie and Tina followed, carrying the glasses and boxes of Chinese food.

  They put the drinks and food on the small hall table, and Mike and Natalie flopped on the soft cushions on the dark blue sofa.

  Tina curled up on the armchair in front of the sofa. “You know, guys, I’m already starting to feel better.”

  “Yeah, I’m feeling better too, since I can see you’re okay, but it doesn’t make me feel less angry,” Mike said. “You have no idea how much you scared us. Now, eat your food, then take your painkiller, and then tell us what the hell is going on with you.”

  “Oh, come on. Chill already.” Natalie elbowed him jokingly. “Let her eat in peace … and cheers!” She raised her glass.

  While Tina was eating, Mike updated her on the work situation. “I reassigned the two articles you were supposed to start. As for the health one, I keep extending the deadline because I know you’ve done something on it already. You have, haven’t you?”

  “It’s almost finished,” Tina said with her mouth full.

  “I could have finished it for you, if you had sent me what you had … but otherwise my hands are tied.”

  “Thank you, Mike. I really appreciate it. You are the best boss in the world.” Tina wiped her mouth with a napkin and threw it into the now empty box. “Your help and patience mean so much to me. And I really am sorry. I had a bit of a rough time, but I’ll get myself together.”

  “If you share with us what the rough time was all about, maybe we can help. That’s what we’re here for.” Mike ran his hand through his slightly disheveled auburn hair that could have used a trim.

  “I don’t know. I’m here to have a glass of wine in peace. So speak for yourself.” Natalie laughed. She was trying to lighten the mood, but concern shone in her eyes.

  “You guys are the best.” Tina reached for the painkiller on the table, put two pills in her mouth, and washed them down with a big gulp of coffee. She leaned back and shrugged. “I don’t even know how to explain it or where to start.”

  “You could start with telling us what you’ve been doing for three days,” Mike said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

  “Sleeping.”

  “Sleeping?” Natalie and Mike asked simultaneously.

  “Uh-huh. You know, I’m starting to realize how strange and wrong it was. It was like I couldn’t wake up. I mean, I was waking up all the time, but I couldn’t get up. I would go back to sleep. It’s like they weren’t letting go …”

  “They?” Natalie raised her brow.

  “The dreams. I know it sounds crazy. But they kept pulling me back there. Something. Or someone. And I wanted to be there, too. I didn’t want to wake up.” Tina shrugged. “I mean, physically, I feel terrible. I have an excruciating headache, a stiff neck, my back hurts—my whole body hurts, actually—and I’m dehydrated and exhausted … but I think I liked it there. Well, not all parts of it …”

  “What do you mean? Did you have nightmares again?” asked Natalie.

  “I can’t say they were nightmares, but they weren’t pleasant either. Some of them had places from my dreams back when I was a kid.”

  “You remember your dreams from when you were a kid?” Mike raised his eyebrow.

  “Some. I used to remember more, but as I grew up, it got harder and harder to hold on to them—they’d vanish as soon as I opened my eyes, and only some strange feeling would be left. A feeling of something important missing. I have no idea how to explain it …” She paused, biting her lip.

  “Some of these places,” she continued, “I didn’t remember until I saw them in my dream. I knew I’d been there and seen it before. Like those dreams with mixed up apartments. I haven’t had them since I was a kid, you know what I mean?”

  “Nope.” Mike shook his head while Natalie furrowed her eyebrows.

  “Have you ever had one of those dreams where you need to get somewhere, but you can’t? Like, I walk into the building and I need to get to a certain apartment, but all the doors look strange, and they all have weird numbers—they’re not in the right order.” Tina pulled her knees up to her chin. “I take the elevator to the floor I need. I come out to see the strange numbers on the doors that don’t make sense. So I go back down, thinking that maybe I pressed the wrong button, but the numbers have changed when I return, and they’re still not in order.” She sipped her coffee. “I go back down again and decide to take the stairs this time. But as I go up, some steps are missing. There are huge gaps I can’t jump over. The staircase starts moving. I’m trying to hold on to something, so I don’t fall. But there are no walls, and when I turn to go back, there are no steps behind me anymore. There’s emptiness. Nothingness. The fear grows inside me, I try to make a step, but there’s nothing to step on, and as I start falling, I wake up. But I can still feel the sensation of falling. And I know that if someone was watching me sleep, they would have seen my body was actually moving.”

  “That s
ounds pretty scary.” Mike took a sip of his wine. “I’m afraid of heights, so I totally understand the fear you must have felt.”

  “It’s one of those unpleasant dreams I used to have regularly when I was a kid. Now they’ve returned. Usually, I’d only get one of those a night, but this time, I kept returning to the same dream, the same building, the same elevator. Because I really needed to get into that apartment. Every time I opened my eyes, I knew I had to go back. I knew he was waiting for me there.”

  “Who?” Mike and Natalie exclaimed, again simultaneously.

  “Greg. He was calling me to that apartment. I think he needed my help.”

  “Why do you think Greg needed your help?” Natalie asked.

  Mike gave Natalie a disapproving look. She saw it, but ignored it.

  “I don’t know how to explain it, Nat. I didn’t see him this time, but I felt him. I knew he was there. As well as in the other dreams—the more pleasant dreams. There was a cool one where I went outside, and people were staring at the sky. The sun was shining, and the sky was the bright blue you get in the middle of spring. But the most amazing thing was there was a cloud that looked like a dragon. ” Tina’s eyes brightened. “However, it wasn’t a cloud shaped as a dragon. It was actually a dragon made of a cloud. It was alive. It moved. It was scary and beautiful at the same time. I wanted to take a picture, but I couldn’t move. And I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I don’t know if I was paralyzed, or just afraid that if I move, the beautiful creature will disappear, will melt in the sky like a marshmallow in hot chocolate.”

  “Wow … wish I could have seen that,” Natalie said.

  “And throughout it all, I felt Greg’s presence at my side,” Tina continued. “I didn’t see him, since I couldn’t take my eyes off the dragon, but I knew he was there.”

  “How did the dream end?” Mike asked.

  “As usual, I woke up. For just a second, though, before drifting off into another dream.”

  Silence filled the room for a moment.

  Mike cleared his throat and said, “Look, I’m apologizing in advance, because I know you’re not going to like what I’ll say. But I think this is serious, and if not treated, could threaten your health and your life. It’s called depression—”

  “Mike.” Natalie raised her hand.

  “No, Nat, let me finish. I’m not saying this because I’m a jerk. I want to help. Because if—God forbid—something bad happens, something we could have prevented, I will not forgive myself, and neither will you.”

  “Mike, I know. But I’m also trying not to—”

  “Hurt her feelings?” He turned to face Natalie.

  “Yes, hurt her feelings.” Natalie returned the glance.

  “Hey! She is actually here, and she doesn’t appreciate being talked about in the third person.” Tina waived her hands in the air to attract their attention.

  “Sorry,” Mike said. “My bad.”

  “It’s okay. I understand you’re worried, and I know what it looks like. And, believe me, I’m worried myself. After all, it’s my sanity we’re talking about here.” Tina closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

  Mike pinched the bridge of his nose, “We’re not talking about—”

  “Wait, let me finish. You know I’ve been seeing a doctor. There were times when I felt I was coping. And there were times when I felt I was falling apart. I’ve been on this emotional rollercoaster for a while now, and I know what I’m talking about. I was also afraid of dipping into depression, especially when these dreams started a while ago. I didn’t want to share. I was embarrassed, I guess … plus was trying to figure it out for myself first.”

  “Embarrassed?” Natalie rolled her eyes. “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I shouldn’t have been. Not with you, guys.” Tina glanced at her friends, her expression apologetic and questioning. “Again … I know how this sounds. But there have been more and more signs lately that these weren’t just dreams.” She peered through her lashes at Natalie. “Nat, remember I told you about that dream with the swimming pool?”

  “Are you kidding? Of course I do,” Natalie replied.

  Mike raised his eyebrows in a silent question.

  “I had this dream, where I was trying to pin a hummingbird brooch on my clothes. I pricked my finger, and it fell and broke. When I woke up, there was blood on the finger that had been bleeding in the dream. Don’t you find it strange?” Tina bit her lip and glanced at Mike.

  “Hmmm … it is strange. I mean, what else could it be? Was there anything sharp in your bed? No, that’s stupid, why would there be. Anything on your nightstand?”

  “No, Mike.” Tina sighed. “There was nothing sharp. And I didn’t move. I woke up, clenching the blanket, and there was blood on my thumb.”

  “Could you have been sleepwalking?”

  “Oh, come on, Mike!” Natalie rolled her eyes. “Why can’t you listen and believe? Stop playing Scully.”

  “I do. I am. I mean, I’m not! You know what I mean … I’m just looking for an explanation.” Mike rubbed his forehead. “You know I want to help. I’m just trying to be objective.”

  “I understand how strange it sounds, Mike,” Tina interrupted. “And I know that if it wasn’t happening to me, I would be reacting the same way as you. But in this case, I know it’s happening. I’ve seen it. I’m not hallucinating. I’m not walking in my sleep. Hell, I wish I was because at least I would’ve had some exercise. You can’t imagine how stiff I am after these last few days.” She scoffed. “But, seriously, something has changed. My dreams have changed. They feel different. And this bird—”

  “The one from the pool?” Natalie asked.

  “Yes. Well, maybe not exactly that one—it was destroyed before I had time to study it in detail. But now, in almost every dream, there is a hummingbird. And not only in my dreams.”

  “What do you mean?” Mike asked.

  “It’s everywhere I go. In everything I do. I turn on the TV, and there’s a program about birds. I go to a coffee shop, and there’s a picture of a hummingbird on the wall. Last week, a woman with a young daughter was asking me for directions on the street, and there were hummingbirds all over her daughter’s dress. I couldn’t reply at first. I kept staring at her kid. I think she decided I was a weirdo and started to worry about their safety.”

  “Oh, dear …” Natalie sighed.

  “I know you’re gonna hate me,” Mike started carefully, “but I’ll still say it. It could mean you’re starting to notice it now, to see things you otherwise would have ignored.”

  “I don’t hate you. And, I thought about that at first. But there are too many little signs now.”

  “Signs of what? What do you think they mean?” Natalie wrinkled her forehead.

  “I don’t know. That’s what I want to figure out. I think they’re leading me somewhere. Trying to tell me something.”

  “And that something is somehow related to Greg?” Mike asked.

  “Oh, yes, definitely.” Tina got off the couch and headed to the kitchen. “I need a drink. You guys want anything?”

  “Could you bring me a napkin, please?” Natalie asked. “There was a bunch in the bag from the Chinese place.”

  “Sure.” Tina took out the napkins and froze, staring into the bag.

  She reached in and pulled out a promotional leaflet lying on the bottom of the bag.

  “What’s this?” she asked her friends.

  Mike turned around. “Ah … some girls at the supermarket were handing them out. I always take them, but don’t want to throw them in the garbage in front of the people who give them out. Why? Anything interesting?”

  Tina plodded back without saying a word. She stopped in front of Mike and Natalie and showed them the leaflet.

  It was an advertisement for a travel agency.

  COLIBRI TRAVEL. Live your dream!

  Next to the company name and slogan, with the ocean and palm trees in the background, was a picture of a hummingbird.
>
  Mike and Natalie stood outside Tina’s apartment, waiting for a cab. Natalie stared at her shoes and sighed.

  “I really want to help her, but I don’t know how.”

  “Does she still refuse to live with you guys for a while?”

  “Yes. I stopped asking after about a thousand times.” Natalie sighed again.

  “It would have been better for her.”

  “I know. I wouldn’t worry about her as much, I would always be there for her, and the girls would keep her entertained.”

  “That’s for sure.” Mike nodded with a smile. “Look, Nat, I know you think I’m being harsh, but I’m really worried. This whole dream story is strange, okay? I don’t know what to think of it. But, if there’s a chance she’s in trouble and needs help … I don’t want to screw it up.”

  “I guess …” Natalie sounded tired.

  “Look, if there’s something weird going on, she needs help. If it’s her depression manifesting, she needs help. She needs us in any case. And knowing her, she’s not going to ask for help. We have to think of something.”

  “Like what? There’s our cab.” Natalie pointed.

  Mike nodded and stepped closer to the curb.

  “I don’t know. I mean, think about it, she’s alone here again.” Mike opened the door and they climbed into the cab. “She said she’d be okay—she said she’d be working—but at some point she’s gonna go to sleep again. And who can guarantee it won’t be another three-day marathon?”

  “Nobody. And another marathon could cause some serious damage to her health. Another reason she’d be better off with us.” Natalie nodded.

  “Exactly. You know what, let’s try again to convince her. And meanwhile, we’ll monitor her all the time. Deal?”

  “Deal. How many missed calls before we start panicking? I mean, taking action?” Natalie chuckled.

  Mike rubbed his chin. “Two,” he said. “Two calls within an hour. If she doesn’t pick up or call back, we get a hold of each other and go there ASAP—either together or whoever can make it there first. Deal?”