Sleeper (The Waking Sleep Book 1)

by Lucy Adler

  Easy peasy.

  But in that moment, she wasn’t feeling anything. The voice had been so strong, so crystal clear. But now that she had listened to it and passed through the Veil, she wasn’t hearing anything. Just stars and stillness.

  And her mind began to rebel.

  I don’t even know how long this is taking. What if Dr. Reston and Eric and whoever else are carrying me off to some prison cell and I don’t even know it?! I could literally be tied up or chained to a wall somewhere by now! Maybe he’s filling a syringe, getting ready to jab me in the neck like he did to Aaron. This is ridiculous!

  Daria turned around and took a step back toward the Veil.

  I’ve got to do something!

  She reached her hand forward, ready to pass through again and return to her waking self, when that single word popped back into her mind.

  It returned with such force, such violence, that it made every other thought seem shameful. As if merely to think them were a greater humiliation than anything a thousand mocking classmates could heap upon her, or ten thousand grumpy track coaches.

  TRUST.

  Trust what?! Nothing’s happening!

  But she was trapped. Trapped between returning to herself and being at the mercy of Dr. Reston, or pressing forward into something she could sense but not understand. Only the latter offered a flicker of hope, not just for her but for her friends as well.

  So Daria turned around again and faced the stars, the comets, and the vastness of light and darkness.

  And she started walking.

  _______________________

  Dr. Reston saw the rage brewing in Daria’s eyes. He could see it in her lowered brow and her clenched fists. She was rallying herself to resist him.

  But then, in a brief second, he saw all of it fade and her body relax on its feet. Her face emanated peace while her hands loosened and dangled freely at her sides before eventually rising in front of her, palms up.

  “No,” he said shaking his head, “I don’t think so, Ms. Grayson.”

  He stepped forward to lay his hands on her. He intended to grab her by the shoulders but, as he reached over her hands, his own body was suddenly restrained by something.

  He felt himself shoved backwards, though Daria hadn’t moved an inch. He stumbled a few feet before recovering his balance. Then he stood up straight, pursed his lips, and squinted.

  “Ok, my dear. You’ve brought this upon yourself.”

  The doctor spread his arms wide as he continued staring at the silent, motionless girl before him. His breathing grew heavier, like a bull preparing to charge the matador’s cape.

  Then the darkness followed, just as it had at the Saxon home. The bulbs in the corridor were still shining but their influence was confined to the fixtures themselves, like the lights of a distant city on a dark horizon. The doctor’s entire form was engulfed in shadow, with the same flecks of red once again scattered throughout.

  He took a few steps forward, then moved his right arm swiftly toward Daria.

  But he wasn’t pushed back this time.

  This time, he placed his hand directly on her forehead.

  The red stars began flowing in an endless current from every part of his body, down his arm, and into his finger tips. It was as if they emerged from some bottomless spring at the core of his being and were pouring into an equally bottomless well deep inside Daria.

  And her body began to shake.

  _______________________

  All concept of time had vanished. Daria had no idea if she had been walking for three seconds or three hours. Or three days. The voice was yet to tell her otherwise, so she continued to walk and wait.

  That is, until suddenly, out of nowhere, the crushingly oppressive shadow from her nightmares on the mountain returned to her. It arose more swiftly this time, surrounding her in its stifling cyclone and obscuring her vision of anything else.

  Its crushing had been gradual before, almost as if it were trying to intimidate rather than harm. But this time, it came with unbridled malice, and Daria could sense it. It not only wanted to consume her, it was going to consume her.

  She struggled, trying to break free, but to no avail. There was nowhere to go as it pressed in on every side, even from above and below her. It wasn’t long before she was so completely restrained by it that the only fight that remained was for her last few breaths.

  Please... please... help... me...

  Daria had closed her eyes in what she thought were the final agonising moments of her life. But then, something began brewing within her and she felt the most bizarre sense of certainty. The sense that she was exactly where she ought to be in that moment, and it filled and refreshed her like a drink of cold water on a hot afternoon. She couldn’t see it but when she opened her eyes again to face the Crushing, they glowed with the ancient light of the purple stars that still surrounded her, just beyond the darkness.

  She took a deep, defiant breath. Then another. And another.

  Something instinctive overtook her, and without planning her movements, she simply knew what she needed to do. It was just as Jake had said it would be: “You’ll begin to sense where it wants to go, and it will sense what you’re capable of - sometimes before you know it yourself.”

  Daria raised her right hand, palm out, like a policeman stopping traffic. And just like a driver who doesn’t want to lose their licence, the shadow obeyed. The whirling quickly ceased, and what had been an overwhelming assault suddenly dissolved and receded into the nothingness from which it had come.

  But the movement wasn’t over. The instinct compelled her and she continued to respond to it. Only, this time, it beckoned her to sit.

  And so she did, crossing her legs and resting her hands on her knees.

  Then she closed her purple eyes and focused.

  She saw the corridor, from a vantage point somewhere just above and behind her physical body, which was still standing opposite Dr. Reston. She knew it was him despite the fact that he appeared similar to the dream figure she had seen from Corey the night of her escape. However, he was lying on the floor now, several feet away from her, as if he had been hurled backwards by some great force. And he was just beginning to stir.

  Finally, he rose up and faced her again. The darkness faded from him and he was just a man, scowling at her in his grey suit covered with his long white lab coat.

  But the movement still wasn’t over. Daria sensed one final step remaining. And she listened.

  She shifted her focus to Jake and Brix, straining with every fibre of her being. Though, on the outside, her physical body remained still, in the dream-state she reached out with her hands, one toward each of her friends. And as she continued to focus all of her energy, their bodies began to change.

  At first, it was just how it happened for Jake. The deep blackness, the rift opening around them - around all three of their bodies. Only the silver and gold stars were purple this time, and Daria’s comets drifted in and out of the rift, giving the feeling that they weren’t just vanishing as Jake had, but that they were being carried away by something.

  Dr. Reston observed the scene but knew there was nothing he could do. He watched as each one passed through the rift that surrounded their body, the cold metal of the corridor unable to contain them any longer.

  And then, with a final flicker of light and the almost imperceptible whooshing sound of the last purple-tailed comet, all three of them were gone.

  27

  Month: 4 | Day: 5 | Year: 60

  NOT ONE BEFORE THE OTHER

  The fire alarm had cleared away the guard who normally kept watch outside the entrance to the prison. Of course, everything was still locked up. If you were unlucky enough to be tossed into the Institute’s secret holding cells, you certainly weren’t considered a high enough priority to save in the event of a fire.

  Corey wasn’t sure how much time he had at this point. The alarm could be switched off any minute now and the facility’s staff return to wor
k. He needed to be quick.

  Unfortunately, though not unexpectedly, the entrance to the dark, dank tunnel that led to the cells was protected by a security door, much like the external and internal access points on either end of Corridor F. It couldn’t be kicked in like the normal office doors. So Corey got to work overriding the lock display, just as he had taught Jake to do.

  In a couple of minutes, the door cracked open with a clunk. He ducked inside, but before he could start jogging down the tunnel and looking for Aaron, his eyes had to adjust. He reached out and felt the rough stone walls on either side and rubbed his shoe along the concrete floor beneath him.

  “Aaron? Aaron?” He figured he might as well let him know he was coming.

  But there was no response.

  Corey’s eyes were just able to see the gentle curve ahead of him in the tunnel, and he started making his way deeper inside.

  “Aaron! It’s Corey! We’re getting you out of here!”

  Still, nothing.

  As he rounded the bend, he saw a door made of iron bars on his right. He tried to look inside.

  “Aaron?”

  No response, no movement.

  He kept going and came to a second cell, again guarded by a door of iron. He tried to focus his eyes as much as possible.

  “Aaron?” he called into the darkness, squinting and craning his neck.

  He didn’t hear anything but he was certain he could see the rough outline of someone lying on the floor.

  “Aaron, it’s Corey. Wake up!”

  Whoever it was, they didn’t move.

  He tried the door, grabbing the iron bars and shaking it as violently as he could, but the lock held firm. He felt it with his fingers, trying to see if it was a traditional keyed lock or some kind of sensor that would require a wristband. His index and middle fingers eventually found the opening where an old-fashioned key would fit. Corey decided to run back down the tunnel and see if maybe, just maybe, the guard who had been on duty had left the keys lying at his station.

  It was a small desk, just to the right of the security door, pushed up against the wall and paired with a wooden chair that didn’t look particularly comfortable. It was empty with the exception of the guard’s work tablet. Then he leaned down and saw that there was a drawer just under the surface.

  “Could it be...?”

  The drawer opened with a jingling sound as a ring with five keys slid around the inside.

  “Poor guy’s gonna get fired,” Corey laughed to himself as he grabbed them and ran back down the tunnel.

  It took three attempts before he found the right key for the lock. The door swung open and hit the wall with a bang as he hurried through and got down on his knees beside the mystery prisoner.

  It was definitely a man, and he was lying on his stomach with his arms stretched out above his head. Corey knew he didn’t have time to waste, so he rolled the man over and tried to identify him with what little light reached the inside of the cell.

  Sure enough, it was Aaron.

  “Come on, man, we gotta go!” Corey said, trying to poke and prod him awake. But Aaron was unresponsive.

  “What did they do to you?”

  Corey knew time was slipping away. He had figured that even if things in the facility had returned to normal, they might be able to escape through the ventilation ducts. But with everyone awake, they would have to be extra quiet - and dragging an unconscious body behind him wasn’t going to help. Not to mention that there would be no way to get Aaron up and into the ducts in the first place.

  “Alright... alright...” Corey whispered to himself. “We can do this. I’m not going to leave you here.”

  He grabbed Aaron’s arms and pulled him up into a seated position. Then Corey leaned down next to him and tried to roll Aaron over, so that he was lying on Corey’s back, arms dangling over his shoulders. With a grunt, he started to get up, lifting Aaron along with him.

  Mr. Barrymore was definitely heavier than Brix, at five-ten and a little overweight. It was cumbersome carrying him and Corey couldn’t move quickly, but he did his best to shuffle along down the dark tunnel, until they emerged at the security desk. There was an elevator that connected the lower level with the rest of the facility, but it required a wristband that Corey didn’t have. So his only option was the stairs.

  By the time they reached the first landing, a quarter of the way up the stairwell, Corey already needed a break. He had barely even noticed that the fire alarm had stopped while he was inside the cell. He did his best to let Aaron fall gently to floor, leaning him up against the wall and then sitting down next to him. He was breathing heavily, trying to put the doubting thoughts out of his mind.

  The only problem was, he knew the doubts were right.

  There was no chance he would be able to carry Aaron all the way out of the Institute without being stopped. It was impossible.

  Corey closed his eyes tightly and knocked his head back against the wall in frustration. Then he took a few forced, angry breaths, and got up again. He wasn’t going to stop trying.

  But just as he was raising Aaron onto his back, he heard the door above them open, and several sets of footsteps begin to descend the stairwell. There were voices, too.

  “Ah, so they vanished before you could taser them, eh?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Yeah, these ones put up quite a fight... until Jonesy here shot the big one in the leg. That seemed to quiet him down! And it made the small one snap right out of her little trance, I’ll tell you what!”

  There was laughter, then the second voice spoke again and Corey recognised it.

  “Don’t be so proud of yourselves,” Dr. Reston replied, “they shouldn’t have gotten as far as they did in the first place. You’re all failures.”

  Silence followed for a few seconds, then the doctor continued.

  “But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get a chance to prove yourselves soon enough.”

  Corey knew there was nowhere to go. He was trapped. It wouldn’t be long before they rounded the next landing and caught sight of them down below. But his fear was magnified all the more as he wondered what they were talking about. It had to be two members of his group.

  His mind was racing as he considered trying to fight. He thought he had enough energy left to enter the dream-state and make a stand against them. But then several words resonated in his mind: “...until Jonesy here shot the big one in the leg.”

  He glanced back toward the cells.

  Maybe they could hide in there?

  But it was already too late. The group rounded the landing to the next flight of stairs, and someone spotted them.

  “Well, well, well,” Dr. Reston said with a smile, “isn’t this a heart-warming sight!”

  Corey looked down at the floor in front of him and sighed.

  “You just couldn’t leave him behind, could you?”

  Corey didn’t answer.

  “Family bonds, eh?” he laughed, “Often the source of our greatest trials... and the motivation behind some of our noblest deeds.”

  Corey looked up at him now and their eyes met.

  “That’s right, Corey Lee. I did some research after you mysteriously disappeared during the Grayson girl’s escape.”

  Dr. Reston, who was now standing beside him, paced a few steps along the landing, his hands folded behind his back.

  “Seems your real name is Barrymore.”

  Corey closed his eyes with another sigh and let his head rest against the wall.

  “I want you to know that your little rescue has all been for nought.”

  The doctor stopped pacing now and looked down at him.

  “What have you done to them?” Corey asked quietly, his eyes still closed. “And where’s Daria?”

  “She’s missing, I’m afraid. But not to worry! I have a hunch we’ll find her very soon. Very soon, indeed,” he repeated with a devilish grin.

  “As for these two,” he continued, gesturing to
ward Max and Aury. They were both unconscious, and Max’s left leg was covered in blood. “My experiment on your brother here should yield better results for them, you’ll be happy to know!”

  Corey squinted in confusion and the doctor replied with mock sympathy.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you knew. You see, I gave your brother here a dose of our newest treatment for the disease you all suffer from. However, it seems as though I gave him a bit too much. I’m guessing he has... oh, maybe until dawn.” Dr. Reston paused a moment, then shrugged his shoulders, raised his hands, and said, “Oops.”

  Corey’s heart sank. All of the adrenaline of the last hour seemed to evaporate in a single moment, and his body felt like it was crashing. His hands trembled and his legs felt weak, even though he wasn’t standing on them. Dizziness suddenly gripped his head and the stairwell felt like it might collapse upon him.

  “Your other friend, a Mr. Jake Livingston, was actually my first patient. In fact, I have you to thank for that, as you well know. I wonder that you were so willing to bring him here and put him at such risk.”

  The shame on Corey’s face pleased him, and he continued with his monologue.

  “However, the effects of the drug took far too long to set in for my tastes. I was hopeful that increasing the dose might make things a little more immediate, shall we say. But it appears as though I overestimated.”

  It was all too much for Corey to take in. The combination of emotional stress and physical exhaustion made him feel as though he might pass out at any moment.

  “Again, not to worry, though! There are plenty more lab rats to work with!” Dr. Reston said, gesturing once again toward Max and Aury. “We’ll do our best to get them fit and healthy, you have my word.”

  Corey was drifting off now, his eyes closed, head slowly leaning to the right.

  He had failed.

  Failed them all.

  Then he remembered the doctor’s words: “She’s missing, I’m afraid.”

  He didn’t have her yet.

  Corey opened his eyes and rallied himself one last time.