by Gareth Otton
“I came straight here from school,” Jen lied, trying her best to make it sound like she didn’t know why the woman was upset.
“Really? Dr Burman, has she been here since half-past three?”
Dr Burman looked between them both, slowly catching up to the situation. Jen could see the gears in his head turning as he made his decision, and deflated when she saw it wouldn’t go her way.
“No, she was here on time just as we agreed. Six o’clock.”
“I see. Well, that isn’t what we agreed,” the woman snapped. “We only agreed that you could do this if you started playing by the rules. No more running off or hiding. You were going to come straight home after school and we would bring you here ourselves. Now, get your things. We’re going.”
“What? No. I’ve got another hour left,” Jen protested. “You promi…”
Her words trailed off as she realised how futile it would be to point out the woman’s promise when she ignored her own by breaking their stupid rules.
“I don’t care how long you’ve got left. You’re coming home now, and I will talk with John about whether this was even a good idea. You need to learn that there are consequences to your actions.”
“It’s not my home,” Jen grumbled.
Jean’s eyes narrowed. “Well, it is mine, and while you are staying in it, you will live by my rules. I’ve tried being nice. I’ve tried being patient. But right now there are police out, yet again, looking for you. You can’t expect to get what you want when you keep doing this.”
“Get what I want?” Jen asked, tears welling in her eyes. “I want to go home, where I belong. I want to see my dad. I don’t want to see you or John ever again. You don’t get to take me from my home and then treat me like the bad guy when I never did anything wrong.”
She was shouting by the time she finished and Jean backed up a step, the hardness slipping from her expression.
“We’ve been over this. You may have done nothing wrong, but your dad did—”
“He was just doing what my parents asked him to do.”
Taking a deep breath and regaining her composure, Jean sounded more like her usual self; calm and collected.
“That may be true, but he still broke the law. You’re not old enough to understand yet that what he did was—”
“I’m not stupid. I know what laws he broke and they’re stupid too because they don’t take ghosts into account. Dad’s was the best place for me, and now you’re punishing him for doing the right thing.”
“While you were with him, you were seriously injured—”
“I already said that was my fault!” Jen screamed. “When will you get it into your thick head? Dad tried to stop me from taking on a ghost, and there was nothing he could do. It was my fault for not listening.”
“You were injured because you were exposed to dangers you shouldn’t have been exposed to while in that man’s illegal care. Since then you have been in danger multiple times for the same reason. Whatever the case, what is important here is that the authorities have asked me to look after you until everything can be decided. Now, whether you like that is irrelevant. While you are under my care, you will abide by my rules.”
Jen tried to say something else, but the woman spoke over her. “No, you’ve said enough. Get your things, we’re leaving. Where’s Hawk?”
She looked around like he was hiding somewhere, though Jen didn’t know where a dog so large could hide in this office. She had convinced him to find something else to do while she was here, knowing he wouldn’t be allowed in a hospital. She didn’t know what he did when he wasn’t with her, but she wasn’t worried about him. Hawk could more than look after himself.
“Mrs Newman,” Dr Burman spoke up for the first time. “I have to ask that Jen stay here a little longer.”
“She has to learn there are consequences—” Jean began, but the doctor cut her off.
“I understand. I’m not trying to interfere. But, there’s another matter of importance we need to discuss.”
He told her about Jen’s incident calling over Dream and the tests he wanted to perform. When he explained how serious he was, all the fight left the angry woman.
“It could be that bad?” she asked, casting a worried look at Jen.
“Judging by how quick she recovered, I suspect there’s no lasting damage. But I would like to be certain.”
Jean agreed, transforming from angry to frightened in an instant and leaving Jen feeling more awkward than ever. Deep down she knew the Newmans didn’t deserve her aggression, but she couldn’t help herself. They might tell themselves they were helping her, but they would always be the people that took her from her home. It didn’t mean she had to make life so hard for them though, and as she saw Jean’s worry for her health, Jen’s anger was replaced with shame.
As she was escorted out of the office and towards the elevator that would take her to the relevant floor so she could get tested, Jen was barely paying attention to what was being said as she instead focused on the lump in her throat and tried her hardest not to cry.
10
Sunday, 20th November 2016
16:46
They picked a pub nestled in the Welsh countryside, hoping for privacy, but Tad underestimated the Sunday lunch crowd. Eyes turned his way as he ducked through the door, and his skin crawled from the attention. He tried to ignore it as he searched for Jacob and Joseph.
“They’re over there,” Tony said, pointing to a table large enough for ten people.
Heads turned to follow Tad’s progress through the pub, and a stunned barmaid let the pint she was pouring overflow as she watched him.
“My god, what I would have done for your platform when I was alive,” Thomas whispered from one step behind Tad. The ex-politician had spent the last week catching Tad up on the proposed bill, so Tad invited him out, hoping they could let off some steam.
“You’re welcome to it,” Tad muttered. “It drives me crazy.”
“A bit late now, lad. Best figure out how to make the most of it. If I had a fraction of your fame, I would have been running the world by now.”
Tad ignored that comment as they approached the table and Jacob stood up, offering his hand for a shake.
“Tad, it’s been too long,” he said, ignoring his hand and pulling him into a hug.
“I know, sorry about that. I’ve been meaning to catch up, but I’ve been so busy and—”
“Say no more,” Jacob interrupted. “I’ve just missed you… we all have. The meetings aren’t the same without you.”
Despite Jacob’s acceptance, Tad cringed as he was reminded of yet more responsibilities he had let slip.
“We waiting on anyone?” Joseph asked, looking around expectantly.
“No, this is it,” Tad said. “Guys, this is Thomas Farandon, a new friend of mine. I hope you don’t mind him tagging along.”
“Of course not,” Jacob said. “To be honest, I expected more.” Turning to Tony he asked, “That girl of yours come to her senses?”
“She’s not my girl,” Tony snapped. “Amber’s just a friend.”
“Sure she is,” Jacob answered, rolling his eyes and sharing a look with his brother. “Told you he was too much of an idiot to lock that down. He talks a big game, but there’s no follow through.”
“Hey, it’s not like that,” Tony protested, blushing. “She’s only sixteen. I’m not… She’s not… That’s just too young.”
“You’re only fourteen,” Jacob pointed out.
“I’m thirty,” Tony snapped, but Jacob just laughed.
“You look like a fourteen-year-old, talk like a fourteen-year-old, and you’re throwing a tantrum because we’re teasing you… just like a fourteen-year-old. I think you’re safe, kid.”
Tony was about to cause a scene, but Tad was saved from that embarrassment as an older man in a check shirt and jeans arrived with a small notebook.
“Can I get you any drinks?”
Both Tad and Jacob ord
ered soft drinks, and the man turned his attention to Tony.
“I’m not drinking. Apparently I’m too young,” Tony said, glaring at Jacob and Joseph.
“The rest of us don’t drink,” Tad explained when Tony’s comment confused the man. “They won’t be eating either. Please feel free to add the cost of a couple of meals to our bill to make up for the seats you lost with the table.”
This wasn’t the first time Tad dined out with ghosts, and he always felt guilty for taking up space while not buying much. It took a few seconds for the man to catch up.
“You’re all ghosts?” he asked, looking first at Tony, then Thomas and finally Joseph.
“Afraid so. That going to be a problem?” Tad asked, having dealt with that before as well.
“No problem. I just… Sorry. I’ll be right back with your drinks.”
Red to the top of his bald head, the man hurried back to the bar and whispered excitedly to the barmaid. Uncomfortable by their chatter, Tad turned his attention back to Jacob.
“So how are things? You back in your house?”
Jacob shook his head. “I patched it up and sold it on. With everything that’s happening, I couldn’t stay there and I could do with the money to keep me going while on the run.”
“On the run?” Thomas asked.
“Jacob thinks the world’s out to get him,” Tony answered bitterly, still upset about being mocked.
“Just because I’m paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me,” Jacob answered with a calm smile, not rising to Tony’s bait. Then, before the ghost could respond, Jacob asked a question of Tad. “What about you? How goes things with the Borderlands council? You still think there’s a dreamwalker buried amongst those snakes?”
“I’m not sure,” Tad said, thinking of eleven council members he’d rather forget. One man had bugged Tad from the start. Ashley Evans, a slim-faced man in his mid-fifties who wore suits that cost more than Tad’s old car, acted strange whenever Thomas spoke. As most meetings happened in London, well outside the Borderlands, he shouldn’t be able to see Thomas unless he was a dreamwalker. He was never obvious about it, but Tad had suspicions.
“There’s definitely a dreamwalker in that room,” Thomas said. “I can feel the pressure even when Tad’s not present.”
“Pressure?” Jacob asked, intrigued.
“It’s like that feeling you get when you’re in the presence of someone dangerous,” Tony answered before Thomas had chance. “A ghost can always tell when a Proxy is nearby, even if we can’t tell who it is.”
“I didn’t know that,” Joseph said, sounding doubtful.
“You’ve spent your whole afterlife with him,” Tony said, nodding at Jacob. “We only know there’s a dreamwalker nearby, not how many there might be. As you’re always around Jacob, you’ll never feel different.”
“I’m not always around him, but I’ve never experienced that before.”
“Then maybe you didn’t encounter a dreamwalker. They’re not common.”
“So this guy is a dreamwalker?” Jacob pressed, bringing them back on track.
Tad hesitated, then shook his head. “I don’t know. I know what Thomas is saying, but there’s something off about him. I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Well, if he’s responsible for that bill then he better not be one of us,” Jacob said, his voice slipping into a dangerous register. “Selling out his own people like that…”
He let his sentence go unfinished as the bald man returned with their drinks. He asked for their food orders, and both Tad and Jacob both opted for the roast beef. They waited until the man was out of earshot before Tad returned to their conversation.
“I don’t know who is responsible yet,” he admitted. “There hasn’t been a meeting since I found out about the bill, but trust me, I have strong words for all of them.”
Jacob shared a look with his brother before saying, “You understand now, right?”
“Understand what?” Tad asked.
“Why I’m running. Why I’m advising all dreamwalkers do the same. I always said this would happen, it was just a matter of time.”
“It’s not law yet,” Tad protested. “This is just an overreaction by people who are scared—”
“Don’t sell me that tired line,” Jacob interrupted, leaning forward as his temper slipped. “You’ve been saying that from the start, but look what’s in that bill. That’s not an overreaction, that’s people reducing us to sub humans so they don’t feel bad when they wipe us out. You need to wake up, brother. A self-serving asshole is the only kind of person who goes into politics. To put up with the bullshit of political life, you’ve got to be someone in love with power. Even that Prime Minister you like so much is the same, he just hides it better than most.”
“Hey,” Thomas protested. “I used to be one of those politicians. Don’t tar us all with the same brush.”
“Really?” Jacob asked, not backing off in the least. “You telling me you never made a decision that benefited you more than it served the greater good?”
Thomas’ indignant expression slipped, and Jacob laughed bitterly.
“I thought so. See. You can’t trust any of them. They’re snakes,” Jacob said to Tad.
“Even if they are, they’re not representative of everyone in Britain.”
“They don’t have to be,” Joseph said, picking up his brother’s argument. “There’s not exactly a referendum on this. The self-serving assholes are the only people who will vote on that bill. I guarantee every one of them is looking at the Borderlands as a giant opportunity. They just need the uncontrollable elements out of their way.”
“You, my friend,” Jacob continued where his brother left off. “Are an uncontrollable element. All of us dreamwalkers are.”
Tad sighed as his headache returned. He was naïve to think a catch-up with friends would take his mind off his troubles. So far Jacob was just making things worse.
“Just think on it,” Jacob said, noting how Tad was reacting. “You’ve been advising caution from the beginning and I respect that. But this is proof, brother. I was right all along.”
“It hasn’t passed yet,” Tad protested one last time.
“If you wait for that, it’ll be too late.”
Jacob’s words were the last spoken on the matter as the bald man returned with two platters containing heaping servings beef, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, vegetables and gravy. Jacob’s eyes lit up as the food was placed in front of him, and he turned a smug smile in his brother’s direction.
“How much do you wish you were still alive right now?”
“That looks so good,” Joseph said mournfully. “I never tried Yorkshire puddings.”
Jacob noticed Thomas looking confused and said, “Joseph was a foodie when he was alive.”
“So you tease him about it?” Thomas asked, appalled.
“Of course. He’s my brother. What else would I do?”
“I hate you sometimes,” Joseph replied, and Jacob chuckled. Despite the seriousness of the topic a moment earlier, Tad smiled with them. This sort of banter was why he came, and he just wished all their conversation could be so light.
For the next hour, as he and Jacob polished off their meals and a decadent helping of apple crumble with custard, Tad got his wish. Conversation turned to more palatable topics and Tad finally relaxed. This was what he needed, easy friendship with people who knew what it was like to be a Proxy, who had ghosts of their own, who could relate to the strangeness of Tad’s life.
However, neither of them had unlimited time and soon they were standing in the beer garden, bringing their conversation to a close.
“This has been fun,” Jacob said.
Tad smiled and nodded. “Yeah, we should do this more often.”
“I agree. Maybe when things calm down, we can go back to making this a weekly thing.”
“Hopefully I can start coming back to meetings soon. Maybe we could do lunch before it or something.�
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Jacob hesitated, looking uncomfortable.
“Actually, I wanted to talk about that. I’ve had to cancel the meetings.”
“What? Why?”
“Less people were turning up every week, the meetings were becoming unproductive, and I didn’t know how to save them. Eventually it was just the regulars like Brad and Sandra, but I see them all the time anyway so I called it a day.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise me not coming would have such an impact.”
Jacob laughed.
“Don’t get a big head. I think it has more to do with everything happening rather than you not being there. The leaked footage from the dreamcatcher fight outed a lot of dreamwalkers. The fallout has been chaotic for all of us.”
Tad cringed again, unable to help feeling like it was his fault.
“There you go stroking your ego again,” Jacob said, reading Tad’s reaction. “You’re not the centre of the universe, Holcroft. Not everything is your fault.”
“That time it was.”
“No. We all knew the risks. You did the right thing coming to us for help. No one blames you for what happened.”
“No one?” Tad asked.
“Well, almost no one. The point is, people have been preoccupied. Maybe I can start the meetings again when things cool down, but for now…”
He let his words trail off and shrugged.
“It’s alright. I’m sad we couldn’t turn it into what we hoped, but maybe now wasn’t the right time,” Tad said. “You did amazing keeping it up as long as you did. I appreciate it.”
Jacob waved the comment off like it was nothing, then looked at his watch.
“I have to go, brother. Keep safe. Remember, call me if you need anything.”
“I will do, and likewise,” Tad said, shaking his friend’s hand in farewell. After shaking Joseph’s hand a moment later, the American dreamwalker and his ghost vanished, leaving Tad, Thomas and Tony alone in the cold of a Welsh winter.
“I don’t trust him,” Thomas said as soon as Jacob vanished.
“Don’t take his comments about politicians to heart. I think he’s been stung in the past and he’s holding a grudge.”