by Gareth Otton
Yet again she felt sick as she thought of her restraint. Simple metal with an intricate design that crippled her both physically and with Dream. It shackled her to this place as much as a lock kept a prisoner behind bars.
She was done crying about it though. Done feeling sorry for herself. Instead, she turned her attention to the homework Dr Burman set and was using her laptop to research terms she didn’t understand. She was reading through an article, but the content wasn’t sinking in. She had been reading too much and her mind was exhausted. She needed a break and before she could think better of it, she navigated to YouTube to see what newest videos might pop up.
She was surprised to find a notification that Lizzie was hosting a live stream in less than five minutes. Lizzie didn’t do that often, and never in the middle of the day. She wouldn’t start a live stream this early unless it was an emergency. For that to happen on Merging Day gave Jen chills. She clicked on the thumbnail and was taken to the waiting screen before the video started.
She anxiously chewed on one of her nails as she thought about how she was supposed to be on a class trip to Cardiff Bay today. As the centre of the Merging Day activities, she was sure that if there was trouble, it would be there. Her mind flashed through all the possibilities and settled on maybe the children of ADaM causing trouble. They had been quiet recently, but were most likely to cause a scene on a day like today.
As the clock turned twelve, Lizzie’s usual graphics opened her show in a sequence that lasted only five seconds before a video feed faded in that was not in Lizzie studio nor featuring Lizzie herself. Instead Jen saw Jacob, her dad’s friend, looking into the camera.
She struggled to sit a little straighter and stared at the screen.
“It has been a year since the Merging, the creation of the Borderlands, and the introduction of unlimited possibility for this world,” he said without smiling, his radio announcer voice perfect for TV. “This world has been given and incredible gift that all we had to do was embrace and let it lead us to a brighter future. In the first weeks after the Merging we saw countless dreams come true and a jump in innovation that could genuinely change the world. Yet, here we are a year later and where is that change?
“Innovations like those in solar technology never saw the light of day. They were crushed to keep the status quo. I’m sure we’ll see them when they can figure out how to monetise those changes and not upset the people who currently hold all the power in the industry, but they’re not taking advantage of the opportunity they were given. That is also true with so many other industries and so many other advantages we could have been making use of right now.
“A whole year to transform this world for the better, and instead we make it worse. We sit on the cusp of a new era where a modern country will actually make a class of people subhuman in the eyes of the law. Rather than seeing dreamwalkers as the gift they could be, this country attacks them, leading the way for every other country the world over.”
“Shit,” Jen whispered just loud enough to make Hawk look up. Jen barely noticed, her eyes glued to the screen as she had a bad feeling about where this was headed.
“Dreamwalkers, like myself, have hidden in fear for our lives as we waited to see how this would play out. We’ve now got our answer. No matter how much we can benefit the world, it looks like we are going to be punished instead. But we will not accept that fate quietly. As of today, we are taking matters into our own hands.
“Cardiff is now a safe haven for dreamwalkers. The UK will pass all rights to it over to us, and they will remove their military and policing assets immediately. This is now a place of Dream where we will embrace the good that has come from the Merging and keep dreamwalkers safe from people who want to oppress us, control us, or eradicate us.”
The camera zoomed out, showing more of the background behind Jacob and a few more faces.
“As you can see, I am here with the Prime Minister to confirm the fine details. Before the day is over we will have an agreement in place and you will hear it here first, so keep an eye on this channel. A new day is dawning for the world, a new age that is brighter than anything that has come before. All we need is the nerve to embrace that change, and as of today that’s exactly what will happen with Cardiff leading the way.
“Thank you for your time, and here’s to a brighter future.”
The picture faded to black as the livestream ended. For nearly a full minute Jen didn’t move, staring at the dark screen with wide eyes and an open mouth. Did she really just see that?
Everything Jacob said rushed through her brain and she wondered what he was playing at. The claims he made were so outlandish that even at her young age she knew they couldn’t be right. More than that, she had seen the Prime Minister standing with his aide and Lizzie. None of them looked happy, and Jen was sure they were there against their will.
“What is he thinking?” she asked herself, knowing this couldn’t end well.
Hawk lifted his massive head to look at her, but he didn’t have answers. As much as Jen loved the big guy, he was no substitute for the people in her life at times like this and she could really do with someone to talk to. Though she knew she shouldn’t, she reached for her phone moment later.
Tad’s phone rang through to the answerphone three times before she gave up and tried calling Stella. However, when she had at the same result, she threw a phone down in disgust. What she wouldn’t give to be able to dreamwalk and find the answers herself. However, that option wasn’t open to her, and she had never felt more like a prisoner.
It had been so long since she felt this helpless that she had forgotten what a normal person might do in this situation. Unable to think of anything better, she turned to her laptop and started searching the news sites to see what people had to say.
Naturally, every site was talking about what was happening in Cardiff, many of them playing back Jacob’s clip and discussing it, while others were in Cardiff Bay to film what they could from a distance. Most of these cameras only showed the outside of the Senedd building, and even though the building was mainly made of glass, it didn’t help see what was going on inside.
With growing frustration, Jen flicked between YouTube livestreams, news websites and Google searches, but couldn’t find the information she wanted. She knew a lot of the people involved in this personally, whether it was Tad, Stella, Lizzie, Jacob, or even the Prime Minister himself. She felt she deserved answers about what was happening in these people’s lives.
She only stopped searching when she found a video that showed something different. Dreamwalkers led a group of kids off a coach and were herding them toward the Senedd. These children were familiar to Jen, especially when she saw the faces of Amanda, Katie, Faye, and even the bruised face of Robert. This was the class trip she was supposed to be on.
Though Jen had mixed feelings about them after what happened, she didn’t like the idea of them being caught up in this. Her eyes were fixed to the screen in horror as one teacher, Mr Dwight, shouted at the man who was yelling at the kids to stay in line and not cause trouble. The argument quickly turned into a fight that the teacher could never win.
Mr Dwight lunged for the nearest dreamwalker after he grabbed one girl to shove her back in line. The dreamwalker reacted without mercy. There was a flareup of bright light that blew out the camera for a moment, then when the camera refocussed Jen gasped in horror to see the teacher on the floor, screaming as flames consumed him. The footage quickly turned away to a view of the studio as the network cut the feed.
“What the hell is going on? Shouldn’t someone be doing something about this?”
Again Hawk looked at her, his eyes carrying a lot of meaning that Jen couldn’t decipher. She needed someone to talk to, some way to help, but with this thing on her wrist and no one answering the phone, she didn’t know what to do.
Groaning in frustration, she racked her brain for an answer, but none was forthcoming. She was caught up in a spiral of frustration and
helplessness, always thinking of the same few ideas. Who did she know who she could turn to right now? She couldn’t go to her foster mother because that woman wouldn’t let anywhere near this. She didn’t have many friends since the school incident, so she couldn’t turn to them. Jen felt truly alone and wallowed in that misery before shaking it off when she realised it wouldn’t help.
Suddenly she remembered one more option and grabbed her phone, dialling a number she hadn’t called before. After five rings Jen thought she wouldn’t get an answer here either, then suddenly the phone picked up and Tony’s mum said hello.
◆◆◆
Jen looked up as she heard the knock against her window, then waved for Amber to come on inside.
“Where’s Tony?” Jen asked as soon as the young woman was in her room.
“I don’t know,” Amber replied, looking worried. “He was supposed to come over this morning but changed his mind and texted to say he was spending the day with Tad. I’ve been trying to reach him since, but there’s been no answer.”
“Did you go by dad’s house?”
“There’s no one there other than Growler.”
Jen sat up straighter.
“Growler was home? He doesn’t let dad go anywhere by himself. What the hell is going on?”
“That’s what I wanted to ask,” Amber said. “I don’t know what to do, Jen. I’m getting really worried. What is that guy talking about on TV? He’s a friend of yours, isn’t he?”
“A friend of dad’s. He is one of the dreamwalkers that used to go to the meetings. I thought he was a nice guy. What’s worrying me is that I have seen no sign of Stella nor of dad through all this. This is the sort of thing they would normally be involved in, and if Tony’s with dad then you know he’s involved as well. For them not to be there…”
Jen let her words trail off as with every word Amber was looking more uncomfortable. She was looking so agitated that it led Jen to ask a question she’d been wanting to ask for months.
“What’s going on between you and Tony?”
The question was blunt, but she wasn’t in the right frame of mind to ask more politely.
If Amber looked uncomfortable before, she looked sick now, clearly not wanting to answer. However, Jen didn’t give her a break as she’d been wondering this for months and if she was going to trust Amber to help, then she needed a better idea of her motivations.
So she let the silence hang and Amber squirm until finally she got answers.
“There’s not much going on between me and Tony, just friendship. I wanted more, but he won’t budge. He thinks I’m too young and no matter what I say I can’t get him to change his mind.”
Jen wanted to tell her she dodged a bullet and should run. However, there was something about Amber’s tone that told her the young woman wouldn’t react kindly to that advice. The truth was that Jen didn’t believe that advice herself. As much as Tony could be a pain, she knew that his unpleasant personality was just armour to the outside world, and a good person lived beneath it. If Amber could see that and was willing to put up with Tony’s shenanigans, then who was Jen to change her mind. If anything, she should try to change Tony’s because he was a better person when Amber was around.
None of that matter though, other than to tell Jen who Amber was and why she cared so much about Tony’s fate. It was enough that she felt that she could trust her, and enough that she could try the crazy idea that came to mind while waiting for Amber to get here.
“Okay, we’ll figure out how to get Tony to come to his senses another time. Right now, I don’t know where dad and Tony are, nor what’s going on with anybody. But I don’t want to sit on the sidelines and wait for things to happen when I think we can help.”
Amber looked up sharply and tapped her chest as if to say, “Who me?”
“What can we do?” Amber asked.
“You can help me get rid of this for starters,” Jen said that she tapped the bracelet on her wrist. “Then we can figure out what to do from there.”
“I don’t think there’s anything I can do,” Amber said, looking at Jen’s wrist. “Maybe I could find some bolt cutters or something, but I don’t know where to even start.”
“No, I think we should go about this a different way,” Jen said, trembling as her nerves got to her. However, when Hawk nudged her as if in support, Jen swallowed hard and pushed those feelings down. “I want you to help me get this off by making me stronger. Has Tony ever spoken to you about Proxies?”
Amber’s eyes widened in surprise as she guessed what Jen was thinking, but she slowly she nodded.
Jen licked her lips and swallowed hard before saying, “In that case, this is my plan…”
◆◆◆
It was no round room that Jen went to, but a sweet shop she hadn’t seen in a long time. The last time she was here she had been with Maggie and the results left her crippled. Her dad was quick to blame himself about his part in the Merging, but he never would have been there had Jen not being so stubborn and listened to his advice.
She swore that day never to get another ghost, but that was only a small part of the reason. The other part was the mind-numbing terror that went along with someone having control of her body while she was locked away, unable to act.
However, Jen had no choice. She had no access to Dream thanks to this thing on her wrist and knew of only one way to get out of this. She had to become strong enough to break it. Without Dream, there was only one option for that.
Before they were dreamwalkers, they were Proxies. As Joshua King showed, you didn’t need to be dreamwalker to be strong. They had practised with Mitena’s dreamcatchers and knew that for some reason Proxy abilities didn’t work the same as dreamwalker abilities. The benefits of having ghosts inside you were unaffected by the dreamcatchers. Tad suspected this was because dreamcatchers stopped external connections to Dream whereas a merged ghost was internal.
As Jen stared at the new jar of sweets on the shelf, the ones that when tasted would contain Amber’s memories, she thought of that theory and knew that if this was going to work, she had to trust it.
Taking a deep breath to control herself, she reached for that jar and pulled out the first sweet. Before she could lose her nerve, she popped into her mouth and her mind exploded with memories that were not her own.
30
Wednesday, 30th of November 2016
13:15
Stella leaned out the open window and the eyes of twenty dreamwalkers and thirty ghosts looked up in unison.
Stella wasn’t sure if the dreamcatchers would protect her when leaning out the window, but they were getting nowhere by waiting inside. More than that, Miles had shown them Lizzie’s live stream and Stella knew her team was the only chance to get this mess sorted. Before she could turn her attention to that, though, she had to sort the trouble at her own house.
“Who’s in charge here?” she shouted.
A man stepped forward, his face purple with rage as he glared at her. He was the same man who melted Harry’s head and there was something familiar about him, like Stella had met him before. She wondered if Tad had introduced them at one of the dreamwalker meetings she attended to try to recruit help.
“Who are you?” Stella asked.
“Open your doors and take down your dreamcatchers,” he replied. “End this peacefully. There’s no other way this goes well for you.”
For all his talk of peace, his tone promised something darker. Stella suspected he planned for everyone in the DTHQ to get the same treatment as Harry.
“How about we just talk and you tell me why you’re here?”
“Talk?” he spat. “Did you want to talk when you destroyed my ghost? All we wanted was to take the dreamcatchers down and subdue you peacefully. Do you even understand what you people did?”
Stella wondered how angry she would be if someone she knew was wiped from existence. She had only experienced merging with someone once and knew how deep that bond went, so it must be
ten times worse for him. She had also seen what happened when Charles was taken from Tad. She knew losing that bond was like losing part of your soul. She would have to tread a fine line between sympathising with that anger and not letting it excuse his actions.
“I do,” Stella said. “And I’m as disgusted as you are. However, you already dealt your retribution to the man responsible and your ghosts should never have attacked in the first place. You talk of subduing us peacefully, but by attacking at all you were the aggressor, not us. We were just defending ourselves.”
The man opened his mouth to argue, but Stella cut him off, not wanting to give him the upper hand as she addressed the rest of the dreamwalkers.
“Surely you realise how crazy this is. It won’t end well. Think about what you’ve done. You invaded a country and taken its leader hostage. Whatever complaints you have, that’s a massive overreaction. It’s an act of terrorism. People won’t stand by and accept that. I don’t know what you’ve been told but—”
“Enough!” The angry man screamed. “Your mind is too small to comprehend the truth. The Borderlands belong to us. It’s a place of Dream and dreamwalkers should rule it.”
“Rule it?” Stella asked. “Jacob talked about security? Which is it? Are you here for safety, or to invade and play king?” Seeing the expression of doubt on some faces, Stella developed an alternative theory and ran with it. “I think a lot of you have been sold false promises by a snake oil salesman playing on your fear. I know the vote happening tomorrow makes you nervous, and I know of the problems you faced with the children of ADaM and the dreamcatchers. Remember, I was there to help take them down. It’s a scary time, and maybe you’re willing to believe anything to feel safer.
“But look at what you’ve done. Was this what you wanted when you set out this morning? Did you expect to put your ghosts at risk? I don’t condone their destruction, but you had to expect repercussions to your actions. People won’t sit back and let you take their homes from them.”