by Lucy Adler
Angela reached into her bag and pulled out her tablet.
“Call the doctor.”
“Calling Dr. Charles Reston,” a voice responded.
She waited until the call went to voicemail, then she hung up. Rather than record a message, she quickly typed one out to him:
They’re here. Corridor F.
Angela got in on the driver’s side, tossed the tablet onto the back seat, and glanced over at Julia with a smirk. Then she started the car and drove away.
_______________________
“She’s taking a while.”
“Do you want me to check on her?”
“Maybe that would be a good idea,” Jake replied. But just as Max started down the hall to find Julia, everyone’s wristbands began to flicker.
It was Corey.
They were coming.
Jake looked at Max who was gesturing back and forth between the direction Julia had gone and the door where they expected Corey and Daria to return any minute now. His facial expression was asking, ‘Wait or go?’.
“Just stay here,” Jake replied, “I’m sure Julia will come back once she sees it.”
“Guess this means you’re up again, chief!” Aury said excitedly.
Jake just looked at her and laughed. Only Aury could lighten the mood without making you lose focus.
Of course, in that moment, Jake welcomed any excuse to put off thinking about what he had to do. He was still feeling the effects of his earlier translocation. Normally, when he was getting proper sleep, he could do that at least three or four times in a day, depending on the distance, before he’d feel depleted and in need of a rest. Now, however, he was struggling even to find the desire to do it again.
Nevertheless, he did his best to focus. He sat down this time, instead of getting on his hands and knees, wondering if perhaps a more comfortable position would help him expend less energy. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the door.
In the depths of his mind, he approached the Veil. But instead of transitioning from waking to dream-state in one fluid movement, as most experienced sleepers were able to do, he felt a strange resistance. It was like his inner self was trudging through wet cement, each otherwise routine step now feeling heavier and heavier.
Instead of the Veil welcoming him, beckoning him to pass through it and access the strength and power that awaited him on the other side, it now felt almost as cold and impenetrable as the metal floor beneath him. And that wasn’t his only challenge. His own fears now began clouding his mind, trying to pull him back from the threshold of the dream-state. Back to the waking world.
He felt like he must have been struggling for an eternity. Surely Daria and Corey must be waiting for him on the other side. Or maybe he was too late and they had already been captured.
But just as he was on the verge of giving up, he rallied himself one last time.
For her.
He was sure his physical body must have let out a yell as he strained with every fibre of his being to press through the Veil and enter the dream-state. And as he passed through, he gave himself over to the gift inside him, allowing its will to consume him if need be. To take every last bit of him, if it meant making sure that Daria was safe.
From the outside, it had only taken a minute or so longer than normal. Aury and Max watched as Jake faded into shadow and disappeared from their sight.
Then they waited.
And waited.
The door wasn’t opening and they were starting to worry.
“Something’s wrong,” Max muttered.
“What do you think it is?” Aury asked nervously.
“I don’t know. But something’s wrong.”
Max paced back and forth a few times, looking at the locked doors, then back down the hall where Julia should have returned by now.
Then he stopped pacing and put one hand on each of the doors.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to open them. The only reason we needed Jake to be sneaky about it was because this mission was supposed to be done quietly, right? Well, it’s all Pete Tong now, ain’t it? Who cares if we add to the noise?”
She couldn’t disagree with him. And even more, Aury was scared for their friends.
“Do it,” she said with a nod.
Max closed his eyes, his hands still resting on the doors. He stood perfectly still for several seconds before anything happened. But eventually, something did start to happen.
Whereas Jake’s body, and Julia’s hand earlier that night, had turned to shadows punctuated with silver and gold stars, Max’s body didn’t change appearance. Instead, as he remained motionless, a shadowy figure began to emerge from him. It was humanlike in shape but its substance was like a distant galaxy rotating in the depths of space. Streaks of gold appeared, vanished, then reappeared amidst swirling clouds of light and darkness, all of it contained within a form that was a foot or so taller than Max himself. And, just like him, it positioned itself with its hands pressed against each of the double doors.
Then, as Aury watched in anticipation, the various points of light that illuminated the blackness of the dream figure suddenly began to coalesce into a single, bright orb at the centre of its being. And in one swift motion, the orb divided and travelled down both of the figure’s arms and hands until it collided with the doors.
Despite their weight, the impact of the orbs caused them to swing open with such force that the latches securing them to one another simply snapped in pieces. The doors themselves smashed against the walls on either side, bouncing off of them a few inches before they stopped moving completely.
It was probably less than ten seconds from the time Max had closed his eyes, until the doors flew open. And as quickly as the dream figure had emerged, it returned to him, and he opened his eyes again.
“Woo-hoo!” Aury said with a few claps of her hands, “Well done, Maxy!”
Their celebration was short-lived, however, when they both caught sight of Jake.
He was lying face-first on the floor, and he wasn’t moving.
“Jake!” Max leapt forward, then got down on his knees beside him. “Jake! Are you ok?”
Aury gasped and joined him next to their friend.
“Jake!” she cried, placing her hand on his back and rubbing it frantically. “What happened to him?”
“I have no idea,” he replied as he felt for a pulse on Jake’s neck. His heart was still beating, slowly.
“What should we do?” Aury asked. Her voice was beginning to sound more frightened by the second.
Max shook his head as he tried to think clearly. Corey should be back with Daria and Brix any second now. They couldn’t leave Jake lying on the floor. They were going to have to get him ready to move.
Just as Max was deciding how he would carry his friend to safety, they heard several voices coming down the hall. But then they both realised that it was from behind them, from the direction of their exit, not from the facility.
Aury’s eyes widened in fear as she looked at Max. He looked back at her, then down at Jake. Then he glanced behind them as the voices, now mingled with the sound of footsteps, grew louder and louder.
He placed his hand gently on the side of her head.
“I think we may have to fight, kiddo.”
Aury’s heart had been almost beating out of her chest. But now, as she stared up into Max’s eyes and felt his hand on her face, it started to settle. Even though things were only getting worse, and she had no idea what was about to happen, she felt peaceful.
“I’d tell you to hide in the closet or something, until this was over,” he added, “but I know you wouldn’t listen to me.”
“You’re right,” she said with a smile.
Then the voices and footsteps finally materialised around the corner, and they both turned to face them.
26
Month: 4 | Day: 5 | Year: 60
PERFECTLY NORMAL
Daria wished she could pause
the moment and explain things to Brix. She wished she could tell her about sleepers, the Dark, the lies of Progress and of Dr. Reston, and the visions that had led them to this moment. Of course, Daria wasn’t exactly an expert herself. But she couldn’t help thinking that for Brix, the terror must be compounded by complete and utter confusion.
The three of them stood in silence, about twenty feet between them, as Daria’s eyes moved from Jake to the doctor.
“What did you do to him?” she called out.
“Believe it or not, my dear... nothing. Well, at least not recently, anyway,” the doctor replied, the smile on his face growing more ominous.
“Why is he lying there?”
“You’d have to ask him about that, I’m afraid.” Dr. Reston leaned over and poked at Jake’s body. “Though, I’m not sure he’s in much of a state for conversation right now.”
He stood up straight again and looked at Daria as he stepped over her helpless friend and moved a few feet closer.
“I knew you’d come. You saw it, didn’t you? The message I sent?”
The message he sent? But, I thought that was a vision...? Like, a good thing, not a message from a lunatic.
“You see, after your stay with us here at the Institute, we’re connected now, Ms. Grayson. You and I.”
What is he talking about?
Daria didn’t know what to think. But she knew how she felt.
“We’re nothing! You’re a lying monster and I’m a sl--”
She cut herself off before the word slipped out.
“A what?” he replied with mock curiosity.
Oh crap. Well done, Dashy.
“It’s ok, you can say it out loud. It’s not like I didn’t know it all along.”
Daria didn’t want to say it, though. The last week had turned her world upside down, and yet it suddenly began to feel like a passing dream. One of those old-fashioned dreams from the days before Sendrax, where people would often imagine absurd and ridiculous things that rarely coincided with reality. There was so much she still didn’t know. And now, what little she thought she understood seemed to be slipping away in a haze of doubt and fear.
She looked at Jake again, still lying motionless behind Dr. Reston.
I really need you right now.
The doctor took another step closer to her. Then another. She and Brix responded with a step backward, and then one closer to each other.
“What happens now?” Brix whispered.
“I’m not sure,” Daria replied, shaking her head.
“This guy’s like pure evil, isn’t he?”
“Pretty much.”
Just then, the fire alarm finally ceased, and there was silence in Corridor F.
“Ah, that’s much better,” Dr. Reston said, taking in a deep breath. “I presume that was a part of your little stunt here, eh?”
Daria unconsciously took another step back.
“You don’t think you’re going to flee into the Institute, do you?”
He’s right. Where do we go? What happens now??
“Alright,” the doctor said, taking another step towards them, “as much fun as it’s been to stand around and chat with you ladies, I really think it’s time for us to get back to work.”
“Us?” Daria repeated.
“Yes. Us. You’re both coming back inside with me. Now.”
Dr. Reston’s tone changed from menacingly playful to just plain menacing. His eyebrows lowered and his evil smile flattened into a cold scowl.
“Screw this!” Brix suddenly burst out, “We’re leaving!”
Before Daria could stop her friend, she lunged forward, fists clenched, yelling angrily as she charged at their enemy.
There was only about ten feet between them, and Brix had summoned every last ounce of strength and energy to close the gap and collide with the doctor as quickly as possible. But she only made it halfway there. Just a few valiant strides, before she was stopped dead in her tracks.
But by what?
“Thank you, Brianna,” the doctor said, looking her in the eyes, “that’ll be all for now.”
And with that, Brix crumpled to the floor. It was like she was a robot and someone had flipped the switch to ‘off’. Daria gasped and her body jumped with fright.
What the --?!
She took a half step toward Brix, intending to see if she was ok. But then she hesitated. The doctor was almost within arm’s reach of her now and she didn’t want to take her eyes off of him.
“Does that kind of power impress you, Ms. Grayson?”
“Hurting my friends? No, not really.”
“Don’t be so shortsighted,” Dr. Reston replied with a growl. “This girl is a mere drone. And your boyfriend back there,” he said with a flick of his head in Jake’s direction, “he’s just a naive, misguided child with an overinflated sense of purpose.”
He was now definitely within arm’s length of Daria, and she felt frozen in place.
“But you,” he continued, “now you’re something much rarer. A diamond in the rough, shall we say. And I could help you realise your full potential. All you have to do is trust me.”
As the doctor reached out his hand, his final words resonated in her head, sinking down into her chest and her innermost being.
TRUST.
The word rose up inside her like an island forming in the sea. Then, as if the island were coming to life with flora and fauna, more words followed. They were crystal clear and almost seemed to ring in her ears.
PASS THROUGH THE VEIL.
NOW.
How? Am I supposed to just lie down and nap?? I don’t understand!
But it had quickly become overwhelming, flooding her every thought, her every sense. It was like the voice was wrapping itself around her like the darkness had in her dreams. Only instead of crushing and restricting her, the voice beckoned her forward, just like the first time she had encountered the veil, on the mountainside with Jake.
But I was asleep then. What do I... how does this work...?
TRUST. PASS THROUGH THE VEIL. NOW.
It seemed the definition of absurdity.
The doctor was standing directly in front of her, his hand held out, probably offering her the last chance she had at a peaceful captivity. And there were her friends, their lifeless bodies punctuating the stark metal corridor like exclamation points on the end of her fears.
And what was she supposed to do? Close her eyes and... dream?
It had all made so much sense up at the cabin. But now, face to face with Dr. Reston in the bowels of the Institute, it seemed like the most foolish thing she could imagine.
But then memories started to flood her mind. Strange memories - not because they were of strange events but because their timing, coming to her at such an intense moment, was completely unexpected.
The skittering sounds of laughter crept over her like thousands of spiders crawling up her skin. The voices of her classmates seemed to fill her ears, one after the other, their jokes and insults blending together in a cacophony of mockery.
Then, as they faded, she began to recall the track field behind the school. But more specifically, the last time she had run there. The day of her massive face-plant - the one Jake had just so happened to have seen. She could almost feel the impact again, and taste the dirt on her lips. But more than that, she could hear, clear as day, her coach shouting at her.
‘Dasher! What’s your problem?’
‘Dasher! Don’t make me ask you again! Finish your laps!’
Then, slowly, his voice changed as the recollections of her humiliation on the field gave way to a deeper pain. Now, filling her ears, the only sound she could hear was the voice of her father.
‘You think this is a joke, Daria?’
‘Are you trying to prove something?’
‘It’s not ok.’
‘We gotta figure out why you’re doing this to yourself.’
Then her mother’s voice capped off her father’s, like the cherry on top of
a sundae.
“Why don’t you want to succeed?”
As the final words lingered in her mind, a new emotion began to form in her. From a place even deeper than the pain and embarrassment, she felt the fountains of her soul break forth.
At the same time, Daria suddenly realised that her shoulders were slumped. She stood up straighter, her feet shoulder width apart, arms hanging at her sides. She lowered her brow and clenched her teeth and fists. She looked back and forth at both of the doctor’s eyes, not so much staring into them as imposing herself upon them.
TRUST. NOW.
Then, in one breath, Daria let go. She released her clenching. She allowed her shoulders to loosen and her brow to lift. She raised her hands in front of her, palms up.
And then she closed her eyes.
_______________________
The blackness of the Veil stood before her.
The insistence of the voice drove her forward.
PASS THROUGH.
And so she did, entering once again into the place of darkness and light, the place she had first entered on the mountain when Jake knelt beside her.
And once again, she saw the ancient purple stars and comets, swirling and shimmering around her.
What now?
She was still vaguely conscious of her physical body standing before Dr. Reston, vulnerable and alone. But her awareness of it was as of a photograph, a still image frozen in time. She had no idea what was happening ‘out there’. But somehow, oddly enough, she wasn’t afraid of that - of him. She was only anxious. Anxious because she had no idea what she was doing.
Or what the gift inside her was planning.
Then, just as those other memories had flooded over her only a moment ago, new ones from the recent past came to mind.
She heard Max first.
“...if you end up in a right Two and Six, you’ll know what to do.”
Then Aury.
“You just feel it, and then you go with it. Easy peasy.”