by Gareth Otton
“Hawk to me,” she said, ignoring the spike of pain as she laced her voice with Dream to make sure he heard. Hawk didn’t hesitate, blinking out of existence and appearing at her side, tail wagging and tongue lolling as he expressed just how much fun he’d been having. Every dreamwalker turned in her direction, eyes focused on her dog, and she knew she was in trouble. Her best course of action was to dreamwalk to safety, but she doubted she’d have the power to come back here and rescue everybody else. She hadn’t got even half the hostages away and knew she had failed them. That failure froze her mind and soon she was targeted by angry dreamwalkers who recognised her as the threat she was.
“Jen. Give this up, this is stupid.”
Jen turned to the voice and was surprised to find Brad of all people squaring off with her. There was a grandfatherly quality about him that Jen had always been drawn to. She hated that he was caught up in this.
He raised his hands as if warding off a dangerous animal and surrendering at the same time.
“None of us want to hurt you, and we don’t want to hurt any of these people. Please, you’re fighting for no reason. None of them were ever in danger.”
“Not even the teacher who was burned so badly he would have died if he hadn’t gone to the hospital?” Jen asked even as she nodded to the man who was still running away after staying behind to make sure the kids got to safety. “He lost an eye because of you, would have lost more if I hadn’t been here to help him. Is that your version of not hurting anyone?”
“The dreamwalker responsible will be punished for his actions. I did not want this, this wasn’t part of Jacob’s plan.”
Even Jen could hear the lack of confidence in his words. This was a man conflicted, and she felt that maybe she could do something with that.
“Brad, you’re a good person. I know you don’t want this. Let me go and let me take these people away. You’ve still got the Prime Minister and Lizzie. You don’t need these people.”
Brad’s face flickered through a variety of emotions, and Jen hoped he would heed her words. However, his attention turned to the other dreamwalkers who were closing in, half of them focused on Jen and half on her dog. Finally he shook his head.
“You should get out of here, Jen. But these people have to stay. I have a job to do and if they behave, they won’t be hurt. I’m glad you got the children out, that never sat well with any of us, but the rest of these people are part of the Borderlands Council. They played a big part in drafting this law and need to answer for that. You don’t owe them anything. Go.”
Jen hesitated and was about to answer when there was a pop. Another followed this, and another, and another. Soon there were countless pops as people burst into existence all over the place, surrounding the giant building and catching the hostages who were running away.
However, though Jen despaired at first, thinking Brad had been stalling while he called in reinforcements, she soon realised that wasn’t the case. These weren’t dreamwalkers, but soldiers, decked out in military gear and carrying guns that even dreamwalkers needed to be afraid of. Amongst every group there was a man decked in black tactical gear and sporting tattoos. The Dream Team had arrived, and they brought reinforcements.
The popping didn’t stop as more people appeared, these without the Dream Team to bring them. Instead there was a tall, lean figure who appeared only for a second before popping out of existence again, appearing a second later with more. Jen was in awe and a little jealous of the speed with which Tad dreamwalked to and from the area, blinking in and out of existence with groups of 20 people at a time like it was nothing. Jen struggled to dreamwalk five people at a time, and always she was left dizzy. It amazed at how far her father had come and she wondered if she would ever catch up.
Before she could dwell on that thought, she realised she was still in hot water. Seeing themselves surrounded, the gazes of the dreamwalkers around her turned hostile and she realised she was the only person standing between them and the ambush that had been set for them. If they could get to Jen, then they might be able to control the situation by using her as a hostage.
Once again Jen changed the channel, but this time she didn’t head home, but went to the newest group of soldiers and the tall man who didn’t disappear this time. When she stepped out of Dream a moment later she was so exhausted she couldn’t keep her legs moving. She crumpled to the ground, or would have if she wasn’t caught by at least four sets of hands as the soldiers reacted instantly. However, they didn’t keep her long before Tad was there, tearing her from their grip and looking her over anxiously. For a second she couldn’t see him as her vision wavered, but finally she smiled and said, “We got them out, dad. All the hostages. Me, Hawk and Amber rescued them.”
Mist rose from Tad before he could answer, coalescing into the shape of Tony, who stared at Jen with wide and frightened eyes.
“Amber is here? Where? Is she okay?”
Jen felt a pressure inside her own head as Amber wanted to be let free. Being with her dad and the safety of the soldiers, Jen didn’t see a reason not to let her out. She relaxed her will and before Amber had fully formed she was already running forward to hug Tony, who returned that hug every bit as hard. However, as was expected for him, Tony soon realised that he was causing a scene in front of a lot of people and stepped away, masking his embarrassment with anger as he glared at Amber.
“What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed be with my parents and the kids.”
“Jen needed my help,” Amber replied, not even slightly intimidated. “And we saved a lot of people. Where have you been?”
“You two will have time to catch up later,” Tad said before turning his attention back to Jen. “You’ve both done a good job, but we’ll talk about the fact that you shouldn’t have been here later on. For now you should go.”
“I can still help,” Jen said. “I don’t want to fight, but I can heal people, dad. I healed a man’s burns a minute ago.”
“Jen, look around, we’ve got this. You’ve done enough. Please go home.”
“On one condition. If you get hurt, or Stella, or anyone else, you call me. Don’t wait, don’t think about the danger, you just come and get me. You got that?”
“Fine, I promise. If I’m hurt, or anyone else, I’ll come get you.”
Jen glared at him, wishing she could read auras so she could at least guess if he was telling the truth or not. However, she decided he might be right, it was time to go home.
“Amber, go with her. This isn’t a place for you.”
Jen looked up in surprise to see the Tony was issuing orders to Amber and that Amber seemed to agree. She expected to see some fight from the ghost, wanting to stay by Tony’s side, but Amber agreed to accompany Jen home. Once again Jen felt a brief knock against her mind as Amber wanted to merge and Jen realised the ghost was doing this for her. She knew how weak Jen was and that Jen couldn’t get home without help. Grateful at the thought, Jen let down her barriers and breathed the ghost in, much to the surprise of the soldiers who weren’t used to this sort of thing. Jen ignored them, took one last look at the dreamwalkers behind her, and was just in time to catch Jacob as he left the building with the Prime Minister on one side and Lizzie on the other, before she finally did as asked and dreamwalked away.
It was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do, not because of the physical effort, though that was hard enough, but because she wanted to hear what Jacob had to say. However, she knew Tad could be stubborn about this sort of thing and also knew that Lizzie was live streaming everything. So the second she appeared back in her room, surprising some of the people who hadn’t yet left, she rushed downstairs and turned on the TV to see what happened next.
36
Wednesday, 30th November 2016
17:01
Tad stared at the spot where Jen had been standing, lost in thought. The last thing he expected to see when he arrived was Jen surrounded by dreamwalkers while hostages ran around like
headless chickens. However, he should have expected it. Of course she wouldn’t sit by while the whole city went crazy and neither Tad nor Stella were anywhere to be found. He hadn’t checked his phone in a while, but expected he’d see plenty of missed calls from her. He was annoyed with himself for not thinking of her sooner.
However, for all that he wasn’t happy to see that she got herself involved, he couldn’t help being proud at the job she did. That she came so far, actually rescuing some of the hostages, was truly impressive. Once again Tad was reminded not to underestimate his daughter, and that familiar feeling of loss came to him as he remembered what he was missing out on by not having that amazing person in his life daily.
“Tad, you with us?”
Tad looked up to find Stella watching with soldiers at her back. As soon as she had his attention, she motioned to the group of people waiting to talk to him. They were the snakes in the Borderlands Council and standing at the head of the group was the one who frustrated Tad the most, Ashley Evans. That a dreamwalker could be responsible for the bill that had potentially caused all this infuriated Tad, and it was all he could do to keep from strangling the man. However, he got control of his temper and asked the question he knew he was supposed to ask.
“Is everybody okay?”
The nods were slow and tentative, but they came eventually. A few faces made it clear that they were not happy at having to answer Tad himself. Those were expressions Tad was familiar with after seeing them so often. They were the faces of closed-minded, stubborn people. Tad could guess what their minds were made up on, and wasn’t in the mood to be told how this was proof of the dreamwalker threat and that their bill was justified. Jacob would never understand how much his actions had disturbed the fragile balance.
“With everyone okay, I think our first port of call is to get you back home. I’ll dreamwalk you to London and then—”
“Actually, I’ll stay. I can help with the situation.”
Tad looked at Ashley in surprise. The man’s expression was one of confidence, and Tad wondered if he would finally reveal his dreamwalker nature.
“Help how?” Stella asked.
The man offered a smile that didn’t look right on his face.
“I have a way with ghosts,” he said, and nodded toward the building where the dreamwalkers were regrouping as Jacob issued orders from just within the entrance. There were a lot of ghosts present who Jacob was sending with their proxies away from the building to get in a better position so this fight would be more even. They needed to counter that soon, but right now Tad was interested in what the politician had to say.
“I need more than that if you want to stay here,” Stella said. “I need to know how best to use you if you actually have a way to help us.”
The smile on Ashley’s face slipped as he looked around at the people closest before nodding, indicating he wanted to speak to Stella alone. Tad had no intention of letting that happen and rushed to follow them as they stepped away from the soldiers.
“Okay, out with it. What is it that you can do?”
Ashley looked at Tad with a pained expression, not liking him being there. However, Tad had no intention of leaving and Stella was losing patience.
“Come on, Mr Evans. I haven’t got time for this. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a situation going on that needs to be dealt with immediately.”
“I understand,” Ashley answered. With a sigh, he said, “I have the ability to draw strength from ghosts. It’s easier with their permission, but I can do it against their will as well.”
“I knew it,” Tad said triumphantly. “I always knew you were a dreamwalker. How could you be a dreamwalker and draft that monstrosity of a—”
“I’m not a dreamwalker, Mr Holcroft,” Ashley interrupted.
“But you just said—”
“I said I can draw strength from ghosts, I never said I was a dreamwalker. There are other things in the world than just dreamwalkers. I thought you might have figured that out by now,” he said with a glance at Stella that said a lot more than Tad was comfortable with.
“Just what are you then?” Stella asked, pushing the conversation on before Tad could get derailed again.
“Again, that isn’t important. The important thing is that I can deal with those ghosts and—”
It was Tad’s turn to interrupt. “You’re not the only one who can draw the power from ghosts.”
Ashley stared at Tad in the manner of a disgusted adult looking at an unruly child.
“For all that you have grown over the last year, you still know nothing. You can freeze those ghosts, and it would last until their dreamwalkers matched their will against yours. It would be a stalemate for a moment and unless you can overpower every dreamwalker here today and use your abilities for other things at the same time, it would be a losing battle. I can draw the power from those ghosts, not temporarily, but in a permanent way. If I wish to, I can drain every single one of those ghosts until they have nothing left and are destroyed.”
Tad was familiar with the concept of drawing power from ghosts, he’d been doing it most of his life. However, he couldn’t understand how the man could claim it would be permanent. One reason Tad got so powerful with ghosts in him was because they were limitless bundles of energy that never grew tired and only needed to merge with him so they could fight off madness, not fight exhaustion. However, he didn’t get a chance to ask another question before Ashley continued.
“And if that isn’t instantaneous enough for you, I can also force those ghosts to move onto the next life.”
Tad stared at the man in shock, dumbfounded that he found someone else who could do that. Tad had not done it since he forced Charles to move on, horrified by his actions and not wanting to take a ghost’s choice away from them. However, he knew from practising with other dreamwalkers that no one else could see that spiderweb of silver light that stretched off into infinity and the next life.
“That would be useful,” Stella said, glancing at Tad with a frown as she understood the impact of Ashley’s words. “Just how can you do this, Mr Evans? I’m still not comfortable allowing you to help us if you can’t tell me what you are and how you can do what you claim.”
“Anything I tell you will just prompt more questions. I will answer them eventually, but for now let me just say I am the same thing that he is,” he said, nodding at Tad.
“You just said you’re not a dreamwalker,” Stella accused.
“And I’m not. However, as I just said, there are more things in the world than dreamwalkers. Are you even aware of your Eidolon heritage?”
For the first time Stella looked shocked.
“Who told you about that?”
“I’ve seen eyes like yours before and encountered a few of the Eidolon in my time. I’m assuming you grew up ignorant of their laws considering your public status, and I’m imagining that is pissing off the Eidolon Council every bit as much as I have from time to time. Once again this isn’t important.”
“What do you mean you’re just like me if you’re not a dreamwalker?”
The man sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose impatiently.
“We don’t have time for this,” he said in frustration. However, when it was obvious that Tad wouldn’t back down he said, “Haven’t you ever wondered why no one but you can see auras? Nor can they see the thread to the next life? Haven’t you wondered why ghosts have been able to restore your vision, even though that is something the body can’t heal on its own? Haven’t you wondered how you somehow locked Mark Patterson into a never-ending nightmare? That isn’t something dreamwalkers can do, Mr Holcroft. I thought you might have figured this out by now, or did you just think you were somehow special?”
Tad stared at the man in amazement, wondering not just how he knew that Tad was the only person who could do those things, but also how he knew about Mark Patterson. Maggie’s ex-husband, the man who had killed her, had been one of the first people Tad used his new powers
against. He’d acted on instinct, furious with the man who thought he had gotten away with so much from killing his wife to crippling Tad’s daughter. He didn’t regret what he did to that man, and hadn’t thought about it in a long time, but now that he looked back on it he wondered just how he had done that.
Taking a person to Dream was easy, but Tad would take their entire body, not just their subconscious. He had no power over the subconscious, he only had power over the person themselves. How then had he locked that man in a waking nightmare, leaving him screaming on the floor in a flat in Edinburgh, seeing things that no one else could see as he was locked in a nightmare for the rest of his life?
“We don’t have time for you to stare at me like idiots,” Ashley said, nodding back over his shoulder toward the Senedd where the dreamwalkers were breaking up. “The time has come to decide whether I stay or whether you’ll send me away with the rest of these cretins.”
Tad wanted to send him away. However, as much as he may dislike the guy, he had answers that Tad needed. He hadn’t stopped to think of the differences between himself and other dreamwalkers, just assuming his own constant need to progress with his abilities was why he could do more. Looking at the situation with fresh eyes, he knew that eventually he would need answers and the man who had those answers was not his ally. Tad wouldn’t be winning any favours by sending him away.
One glance at Stella told him she had come to the same conclusion
“You can stay,” she said. “Stay by my side because we all need to adapt on the fly to whatever is going to happen after trying to talk these lunatics down. For now, I don’t want you sending any ghosts onto the next life, and if you do so without my permission I will come down you so hard you won’t know what hit you. If you can agree to that then you can stay.”
“I can agree to that,” the politician said, and together as a group they turned back to face the quickly mobilising dreamwalkers arrayed around the Assembly Building.