by J E Mueller
Where the hell was I?
Truly scared now, my eyes darted from one open doorway to the next. I couldn’t hear anything coming from either.
Carefully, I forced myself to take one step after another into the dining room. Something clearly had happened there, and maybe, just maybe, there would be a clue as to what I had gotten myself into.
I placed my hand on the doorway to steady myself before fully looking in. The only new piece of information I could see was a giant claw mark on the table closest to me. On the far side of the room was another entrance way, which if I had to guess, was where everyone ran off to. Whatever left that mark likely followed them that way.
I turned toward the other doorway and debated what to do. The creature came from one way and left the other… Pretty easy to rationalize, but were there more? I needed an exit.
Looking back into the kitchen I could see several windows. Moving to them, I saw that outside there wasn’t too much nearby. No signs of buildings or anything that looked like home. Just a garden along the windows and then in the distance plenty of forest.
Did someone bring me here to heal and I got knocked out again? That did seem to be the most likely thing, but where were all my memories between then and now? Amnesia didn’t work like that. Did it?
I gave the latch on the window a tug and tried to open one. Nothing. I moved to the next, and then the final one and still nothing. What kind of rubbish place didn’t have working windows? This whole situation made my skin crawl.
“In here,” I heard a deep, gravelly voice say from down the hall.
Something inside me made me freeze. I didn’t know that voice.
“Hide,” I heard a different voice call inside my head.
I don’t know what made me listen but I moved. Looking around, I saw a pantry and shoved myself inside. The smell of grains filled my nose and I wished I had taken a better look before shutting the door.
“I know I heard something here,” I heard the voice say once more. The sound of heavy footsteps made their way from the hall into the kitchen.
A few moments passed slowly as I heard the footsteps go from the doorway to the windows, back to the doorway once more. “Someone has been here!” the voice declared.
“No kidding,” another voice said. I hadn’t heard anyone else enter the kitchen and was surprised by his presence and bored tone.
“Don’t ya mock me,” the first voice stated, going from annoyed to angry in an instant.
The other man gave out a tired sigh. “We had Aalis and Noll lure that hell beast in here and you really think someone just stuck by? Of course someone was just in here, but they’re gone now or dead.”
“‘Course I know that, Benz, I know all ‘bout that,” Gravel for voice replied, annoyed. “There’s been a warp in.” What did that mean?
“We’ve no cause to worry about dreamers. They’re gone too soon.” Benz’s voice dripped with disinterest.
“This one smells tainted.” Does he mean me? How in the seven hells am I tainted?
“How so?” Benz finally sounded intrigued. Yes, do explain.
There was a pause as Gravel tried to gather his words. I could picture his gesturing as he struggled to figure out what he wanted to say. He settled on, “They be nearly dead, but not dead.”
“So they are likely knocked out. Maybe a coma. They are still a Dreamer and will likely be fine. Medicine in most places saves people. There’s very few areas where they’d just be left for dead,” Benz replied, sounding once more unimpressed.
None of that information helped me.
I considered this information while the two men argued. Were they implying this wasn’t really my home world or just a dream? But they seemed to agree I was a ‘dreamer’ so what was going on? It was clear at least that this odd pair was trouble for me.
“I can still smell ‘em!” I heard Gravel shout.
“Oh no, the little Dreamer is hiding from the two scary men.” Benz yawned. “And what is your plan? Find them and then what? What time waster do you intend to go with?”
“Well… we could…” Gravely Mc-I-think-I’m-clever voice stumbled over his words. “Capture ‘em and maybe use ‘em as bait?”
“Why would they want to save a dreamer who could likely wake up before anything were to go on?” Benz asked simply. “They know their kind just as we know ours.”
Kind? Was no one human here? I really didn’t like the sound of this place.
Angry gravely voice man grumbled, swore several times, and seemed to stomp off. His steps could be heard getting further and further away.
I didn’t take this to mean I was safe by any means. I wasn’t sure if the other guy, the one I never heard enter in the first place, left the room. Part of me wondered if the voice would come back and tell me if I was safe or not.
2
Instead of wondering for much longer, I heard the sound of things being moved around the kitchen. Slowly the activity seemed to get closer and closer to my hiding place before stopping altogether. My breath caught in my chest. Was this Benz still? Or another unheard person? I wondered if he could hear my heart beating as it threatened to break my ribs. Could it do such a thing in whatever world this was? I really hoped not.
“Now, Caton is an idiot,” I heard Benz say, much too close for comfort. “But he is our best tracker. So, that means someone is here and near enough to hear me. I won’t waste my time finding you, but you might be interested in our alliance. If you’ve been here before you probably know there’s a bit of a squabble going on. Silverwell versus Steel Oath are of course the main factions but there’s also The Creators and their allies. For the most part, that last group leaves things be. Or they did until we broke the group up.”
I could hear the smile in his voice as well as something sinister in the way he said it. The names of the factions did ring a bell but I was having trouble placing where I could have possibly heard them from.
“Slowly, our alliance has started to win. But what could there be to win in this world? Well, I’ll tell you, little Dreamer. There is power. A power you have never experienced. A magic that is real and gone from most of our once living lands. I can easily show you that magic and give you the aid you need to become a strong member of our group. Since you’ve stayed so well hidden even from our Tracker, I bet you’ll do very very well with just a little training.” Benz paused.
Magic in a dream world made enough sense to me, but none of this felt like a dream anymore. Something about that was very terrifying and wrong.
“So, what do you say?” Benz said after a few moments. I wasn’t about to give up my hiding spot, which, from the sound of his voice was right in front of him. There was no way he didn’t know I was in here.
He gave it a few more moments before commenting again. “Well, you’ve got time to look at the options. Happy dreaming.” I heard the sound of his fingers drumming on the different counters as he moved away before silence filled the room once more. It seemed like I could leave freely now. Instead, I waited inside the cramped pantry until I started to regret my decision in hiding places.
I had no confidence in any decision here, but I knew I needed to move. I took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. This was no worse than an unpredictable storm. There would be waves, there would be thunder, but like any storm there had to be a reason behind it. I didn’t know where I was, or why I was here, but there was a reason behind it, and I would get to the bottom of it all.
Just as I was about to open the door of the pantry, I heard voices again. My hand stilled on the knob, my heart thumping loudly once more. Was this trouble or something else altogether? The voices steadily got louder until I could finally hear the conversation.
“At least it wasn’t poisonous. This cut could be a lot worse.”
“But why breakfast? How did they break the barrier?”
“It’s not like you need to eat Vad, you’re dead.”
“Whatever, that’s not the point. The point is that baco
n went to waste,” Vad was quick to reply.
“It’s hardly even real.”
“You’re hardly even real!” Vad sounded exasperated and tired.
While I wasn’t sure if I was safe, I was fairly certain this group was not particularly threatening. Though I still hesitated to move as I heard them stop talking at the doorway.
“Coast is clear!” someone declared.
“The Tracker is supposed to say that Lems,” the one who was egging Vad on declared.
“And the Tracker deems the coast is reasonably clear,” came a voice I hadn't yet heard.
“What does reasonably clear even mean?” Vad said.
“Recent entrance… Oh, it’s a Dreamer. Coast is all clear then. Though from the signature they are still hiding. Wonder if they got scared by those darn Steel Oath members.”
“That would make sense,” Lems agreed.
There were general sounds of agreement before anyone tried to talk too loudly again.
“You, in hiding, it’s safe to come out!” someone assured me, maybe the one bothering Vad? It was hard keeping track of voices from the pantry.
I still hesitated. There didn’t seem to be a threat, and in fact, they seemed to be the ones who were forced out of the dining room earlier, but still. The whole situation felt weird and wrong. At least it didn’t feel as vile as when Benz was talking to me.
“It’s okay to be scared, or worried, or whatever you are,” the one who called themselves a Tracker declared. “I won’t force you out, but just so you know, I do know you’re in the pantry. There isn’t a lot of places to hide, and I can easily follow trails of Dreamers, creatures, or otherwise.”
Was it a bluff? Likely not. There really weren't that many options. They seemed all right enough. Not to mention this was a very cramped hiding spot and my legs were feeling terrible from the position I was in.
Carefully, I opened the door and peeked out. For the majority of the group, they weren’t even paying attention to the situation any longer. One girl, I was guessing the Tracker, stood with arms crossed watching the pantry while the others chatted softly among themselves. Two were starting to move toward the dining room as I finally took a step out.
“There we go.” She stated, brushing her curly dark hair off her shoulder. I was right about her being the Tracker. Her voice matched perfectly. “It’s been a bit crazy today, but it would be wrong to assume anything. Why are you hiding, and what’s your name?”
It seemed an innocent enough of a question. I wasn’t entirely sure how to answer it though. “I don’t know where I am, and heard some voices. Something just didn’t sit right with me so…” I motioned vaguely around me. “I decided to hide and see how things played out.” I gave a shrug before adding, “I go by Remi.”
Tracker nodded. “Well, I am Meredith, I go by Mare for short. Did you hear us or was it someone else?”
“It was someone else first, but they left a few minutes before you got here. I wasn’t sure if they were really gone, so I waited.” At least I could be honest about all of that.
Mare nodded slowly. “Okay, that is fair enough. So you don’t know how you got here at all?” When I nodded, she continued. “What is the last thing you remember?”
It wasn’t hard to remember the waves rising high and dropping down quickly. It all happened quickly. Melly losing her grip and balance, me rushing to try and save her. I hoped she avoided all the rocks…
“I remember us trying to get a fishing boat back to port. The waves were violent. I tried to help my sister from going overboard… but we went over anyway. I think she made it past the rocks, but I remember hitting them several times.” I glanced down at my legs, remembering the pain and wondering where all the cuts went. When I looked up, I noticed I had everyone's attention. Great, just what I wanted. Not. “So, um, what’s going on then?” I had no idea how else to ask.
Mare gave a sigh. “It is a bit complicated, but I guess the best way to put it is…” She fumbled for the words and looked around at the others.
A tall slender girl who looked about my age shrugged at Mare before taking over. “Think of this place like a purgatory. It’s a place for souls with unfinished business, but those who aren’t dead like Dreamers or people in say a coma often accidentally sneak in. This is a place to decide where those actually dead fit in this universe. It’s hard to say who’s really the good or bad alliance here, we’ll both tell you we’re the good faction to fight for, but it’s what you do with the time here that matters.” She shrugged again, tucking a strand of sandy hair behind her ear. “You can call me Clove. I’ve been here the third longest on our team. Our faction goes by Silverwell.”
The name sounded familiar once more and I nodded slowly. Maybe I had visited here in my dreams before. Not to mention, it did make plenty of sense that I could be in some sort of dream induced coma. Still, it all felt too real and not like a dream at all. Maybe it was in fact a Purgatory like place. I shuddered at the thought.
“So, I am possibly knocked out?” I stated more for myself than for an answer. Everyone nodded, agreeing silently that was the most likely of answers. “Okay, what do I do then? What do I do if I don’t wake up.”
Everyone turned their eyes to Clove. Clove gave an easy shrug. “To put it bluntly, then you’re stuck with us. It’s not a bad place to be in all honesty. It’s... “ She looked from one person to the next. “Best summed up as being stuck in a magical realm different from home.”
“Magical realm? Magic isn’t real,” I replied weakly, not even believing in my own words.
“It’s not?” her face said it all, already knowing I wasn’t able to defend it. She gave me a moment before continuing on. “They say a few hundred years ago magic was abundant and slowly started to fade away into nothing. Silly myths and tales right? Or did something bigger happen to the magic?”
I remembered that debate. It was one common topic we argued as kids. The children in the village loved tales of magic. Some grew out of the idea, but it never really left me as possible. The stories had to come from somewhere afterall.
The facts were plain in the end. There currently was no magic. There was no way to prove there once was magic.
“Okay, say I play along and say there once was magic, even if there is no proof whatsoever that is possible… how could it just all up and leave?”
“Great question huh?” Clove smirked wickedly. “Magic was always in our world, just stupidly limited and mundane until creatures called angels and demons made their way to our realm after destroying theirs. Our people praised them and feared them as the creatures slowly destroyed the inner realm until it became unstable, forcing them to move further and further out into layers around our home realm. Finally they screwed up badly enough that someone decided to rehome them. Taking them away accidentally caused a huge influx of magic, pulling it with the creatures and bringing things down to nearly nothing. The magic slowly died from our home, leaving us boring humans once more.”
I blinked at her. “While that sounds like a great story, and it really does…” I motioned vaguely. “What proof is there of any of this?”
“You’re here, you can feel pain, and yet you have zero injuries from your accident prior to waking up here. What more do you need?” Clove raised an eyebrow and waited for my response.
She was good at this, and all I could do was nod. “That is something to consider.”
“It’s a lot to take in, but” Mare admitted, jumping into the conversation with a worried look. “I have an odd feeling and am suddenly sensing a lot around us.” She eyed Clove as she spoke the last part.
“What do you mean?” Clove eyed her tiredly.
Mare turned her attention fully to me. “Did you happen to catch any names or see anyone earlier before you hid?”
I nodded. At least this was something I had an answer to. “Yes, there were two men. One had a gravelly voice and he called the other guy Benz.”
“Bloody hell.” Clove groaned, throwi
ng her arms up in defeat. “Not his crap again.”
“Are you sure?” Mare asked again anyway.
“Positive.” How does one mishear a name like that? I suppose anything was possible.
“Let’s move before they re-pick up our trail,” Clove declared, inching toward the door.
The ones in the doorway by the dining room groaned.
“Better safe than dead!” Mare declared and something about her tone made it all too real. Maybe they were right.
“What’s going on?” I asked, not entirely sure I wanted to be in on whatever this was.
“Well, travel with us and we’ll explain when we’re safe or stay here. I’m not waiting.” Clove shot Mare a look.
“Right. Best trail back.” Mare took a deep breath and was quickly off, walking fast enough that it might as well have been a run.
I followed behind the group as they followed Mare’s lead and went into the dining room then into the main foyer. Suddenly I stopped. This was exactly where I was dreaming of last night…
My eyes roamed from the front door on my right to the grand staircase on my left. The room was mostly open and had just a few chairs to rest in. I walked over to the one closest to me and touched it, knowing it was real but needing to feel it. The wood was smooth under my fingertips and it struck me that the group I was following was gone. ‘I’m not waiting’ wasn’t just a warning.
I couldn’t hear footsteps or anything now, the foyer was vacant and peaceful, as if nothing ever happened here. Ha. I remembered enough from my dreams to know this place wasn’t exactly as safe and serene as it seemed. There were plenty of little creatures that could attack me here.
In my dreams, people had weapons or magic to protect themselves from the random creatures. I couldn’t remember dream me with either of those, and apparently I was still considered some form of ‘Dreamer’ here. Did that mean I didn’t have those things? That you had to be stuck stuck here to get those? What way was even up anymore?
I let out a sigh and could hear the sound of running footsteps coming from a hall just past the stairs as well as from the dining room I had just come from. I took a few steps to be closer in the center of the room so I might have time to react to whatever was coming. Whoever was coming? Which scenario would be better?