Every Waking Dream

by Lauren Eason

  “Ais, how are things going with the school newspaper?” Jason asked, changing the subject.

  “I’m lousy at it. They want me to write an article about the game tonight, but I don’t know too much about the sport,” I admitted.

  “You could interview me,” Jason offered. “I could walk you through how the game was played and give you all the information about the players.”

  “That would be a huge help!” I exclaimed, feeling a little relieved about the assignment.

  “What about Sunday?” Jason asked enthusiastically.

  “Sounds like a date,” Max joked. Ben threw a fry at his face to shut him up.

  A blush crept into my cheeks as I nodded, fiddling with the straw of my drink. Jess checked her watch and leaned around Max to tap me on the shoulder. Jason noticed the gesture and flagged down our waitress for our checks, speeding up the process.

  We filed out of the booth as I threw down some money for Jess and me with a tip. The others paid their parts, and we headed outside into the crisp air towards our vehicles. While Jess and Raven jumped into the car, Jason lightly tugged on my jacket, holding me back.

  “Hey, I wanted to tell you that what you did for Raven back there was one of the most inspiring things I’ve seen this past year,” Jason admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know that doesn’t mean much coming from someone like me. I’ve done things I’m not too proud of—”

  Leaning in, I gently pressed my lips to his, silencing his thoughts before backing away. His expression of shock made me worried I had done something wrong, but before I could apologize, Jason brushed my hair behind my ear. Lightly pulling me towards him, he returned my gentle kiss with a passionate one of his own.

  “Hey, Jason! We don’t have all night!” Max shouted. Jason pulled his lips away, pressing his forehead to mine. A smile spread across his face as he released me.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow night for the dance,” he said before turning away to confront his brother and friend.

  I lightly touched my lips with my fingertips as tingles rushed throughout my body. Taking off my jacket to cool down from the rush of heat, I made my way back to the car, where Jess and Raven quickly looked away. The car shook from the force of them moving back into their regular seats away from the fog they had exhaled on the windows while watching Jason and me. Rolling my eyes, I got into the driver’s seat and sped off into the night.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Gabrielle was chained to the piano in front of her as her hands rested upon the keys. She was helpless inside the dark room with a beam of light shining over her from somewhere far above. I glanced around me towards the edge of the light, trying to peer out into the darkness for any sort of clue that could help me find her.

  I heard her soft sobbing as I turned around to face her, hands reaching out of the darkness for her but recoiling back once touched by the light. The beam was slowly closing in on itself, and I knew she had summoned a nightmare through whatever fog her subconscious mind was enshrouded in.

  Rushing by her side, I knelt down to see her face as I tried to push her hair back. My hand glided through, ghostly inside Gabrielle’s head. She couldn’t see me, and she couldn’t feel me. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and tried to focus my energy on my fingertips so I could touch her, even if it was of little comfort.

  I gently laid my hand over hers on the piano keys. At first, I couldn’t feel anything, but then I saw the slightest twitch of her fingers as she realized she wasn’t alone. Gabrielle lifted her head to look over the top of the grand piano as the hands kept reaching for her.

  “Gabrielle,” I called to her. She snatched her hands away from the piano and stared around her frantically as if she had heard me calling her name.

  “Gabrielle, where are you?” I asked, trying to get her to say something.

  “It’s so dark,” she cried, burying her head in her hands.

  “What else?” I asked. The beam narrowed even further as her fear took root inside her mind. It was only a matter of time before I lost her again.

  “A room with no windows,” she cried as she slid away from a hand inching closer to her. “Help me!”

  Her screams rang out through the darkness as hands wrapped around her, pulling her into the void around us. Instead of the dream ending, the beam of light dimmed until I was plunged into darkness. Fingers slithered around my arms as I tried to fight the ghostly hands as they held my wrists and ankles hostage.

  My mouth opened as a silent scream escaped my lips. Another hand pressed itself firmly over my mouth, stifling my voice as I cried against its palm. Tears slid from the corners of my eyes as I tried to wake up but to no avail. I squeezed my eyes shut, thrashing around violently as a body pressed itself against my chest and thighs, keeping me still.

  “Aislin!” a voice shouted through the darkness.

  “Aislin, wake up!” Raven yelled, her hand over my mouth pressing me down into the comforter of my bed. I ceased my violent movements and fell silent as Raven stared into my eyes. Her expression was one of fear as she removed her hand from my face and rolled off me onto the bed by my side.

  I panted, trying to catch my breath from the nightmare as I rubbed the tears away from my eyes. While I was getting better at interacting with people in my dreams, they became more real. It was this concept that I had always been afraid of, and now, it was finally becoming a reality.

  “What did you see?” Raven asked, staring at the ceiling.

  “I finally saw Gabrielle, and she’s in trouble,” I answered, sitting up in bed. “She said she was in a dark, windowless room. That’s all I could get before the hands snatched her away.”

  “Hands?” Raven questioned. “Where were they coming from?”

  “I don’t know. They weren’t attached to anything—just the darkness,” I replied. Standing up, I walked over to my window and leaned against the frame, looking out over the backyard. “I think she’s close. I can feel it, but I don’t know where.”

  “Ais...” Raven sighed, walking over to my desk chair to take a seat. “I know how important this is to you and Jess, but I can’t watch you spiral down into depression. These dreams are taking a toll on you. I didn’t know how badly until now.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, turning to face her with my arms crossed over my chest. “You’ve seen worse than that.”

  “Ais, you were having a seizure,” Raven revealed. “I thought you were going to die if you didn’t wake up.”

  “What? I was?” I knew that I sometimes would sleepwalk, but I hadn’t realized I was seizing.

  Raven nodded solemnly. “Maybe you should consider getting back on your medication.”

  “If I do that, I’ll never find these kids,” I said, walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge in front of her.

  “I understand you have this vendetta, but—”

  “No, you don’t understand,” I interrupted her. “This is the one thing I can control in my life. This is my one chance to do something meaningful with this curse, and you’re asking me to give that up?”

  “This doesn’t define who you are, Ais,” Raven reassured, leaning forward and putting her hand over mine. “I know you want to find this girl, but I don’t want to lose you to do it.”

  Her words weighed heavily on my mind as she sat in my computer chair, lightly spinning herself back and forth. It was like every time I started to feel normal, my dreams would suck me back in to remind me that I wasn’t.

  “Let’s focus on what today is, and I’ll think about it,” I negotiated.

  Raven stopped spinning in the chair. “Right. We have a ball to get you to.”

  I chuckled under my breath, shaking my head. “I’m a far cry from Cinderella. At least she wasn’t obsessed with hunting down a potential serial killer.”

  “But she did have a Prince Charming, and so do you,” Raven replied, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

  Smacking my forehead, I let myself fall back onto the bed
as the door to my room opened. Turning my head, I saw Jess come in and smile at us. “What are you two up to?”

  “About to head out to do a little shopping at my house. I’ve got too many dresses,” Raven replied, checking her nails. “Want to come?”

  “Of course!” Jess beamed as I groaned, placing my arm over my eyes. “Oh, come on, Ais. You’ve yet to do anything befitting of a typical teenaged girl.”

  “I went to a football game,” I smirked.

  I felt the bed shake beneath me as Jess jumped on top of me, knocking my breath out. Raven joined in as they both pulled me up and pushed me out of my bedroom door towards the bathroom.

  “Hurry up! We’ll meet you downstairs,” Raven shouted as she shut the door behind me.

  I quickly showered and brushed my teeth before slipping into some suitable clothes. Heading down to the foyer, I saw Jess and Raven waiting for me with my car keys already in hand. Raven held up the key on her index finger as I passed by. Snatching it from her, we all filed out to my car.

  “Buckle up,” I said as I pulled the car out towards the stretch. Slamming on breaks, I saw Susan in my rearview mirror on the sidewalk right in front of our driveway. She waved before walking up to my driver’s side window.

  “Aislin, thanks for delivering those flowers last night. It was such a big help for me,” Susan said with a large smile. “What are you girls up to?”

  “We’re going shopping for the dance tonight,” I answered.

  “Oh, well, that’ll be nice. Raven, I saw your step-mother at the shop yesterday. Is everything okay?” she asked, concern present in her voice.

  “Mm-hmm,” Raven answered. “As far as I know, but you’d have to ask my dad.”

  “Oh, Mr. Mason? He’s such a lovely man,” Susan smiled. “Well, have a nice day!”

  Raven’s smile disappeared from her face as Susan walked off towards her house. I finished pulling out into the road as we headed towards Front Beach Road.

  “Has Susan even met your dad?” I asked.

  “I...hadn’t thought so,” Raven answered as her brows furrowed. “He’s hardly ever in town. Maybe he and Denise had dinner with her at some point.”

  “Are Susan and Denise close?” I questioned, pulling up to a red light.

  “Not that I know of, but I’m obviously out of the loop here,” Raven admitted. “Let’s just make the most of today and find you a dress.”

  As I waited for the light to change out of our neighborhood, police cars sped past me down the road with their lights flashing. Raven and Jess turned to see where they were going as their sirens waned in the distance.

  “I’m not chasing them down,” I said as I rested my elbow against the car window and leaned my head against my hand.

  “You’re right,” Raven said, settling back into the passenger seat. “We’re going to be normal today.”

  “I’m texting Detective Highwater,” Jess announced from the backseat.

  “What?” I asked, twisting around in my seat. The car behind me honked as the light turned green. With a scowl, I took a left, continuing on our path. “Since when did you start texting him?”

  Jess ignored my question. “They’re raiding Steven’s home.”

  “No way!” Raven said as Jess showed her the texts. “About time.”

  “You think they’ll find anything?” Jess asked as she sat back in her seat.

  “If they do, it’ll be broadcasted on the evening news,” I commented, pulling into Raven’s driveway. “Did he say why now? I told him over a week ago about what we found in Steven’s home.”

  “Maybe that’s how long it took him to get a warrant,” Raven offered as she unbuckled her seatbelt to lean over me. She typed in a passcode on the intercom allowing for the gates to roll open along the tracks. I pulled the car in and parked outside her front door.

  “I’m going to call him,” Jess stated as we approached the door. Her phone was in her hand as we entered the large foyer, following Raven up to her bedroom. Jess sat on her bed as Raven pulled me towards the closet door.

  She opened it like a gameshow host revealing a full walk-in closet with rows of clothing, shoes, and accessories. It was more organized than I would’ve guessed as I ran my hands over the dresses she wanted me to look at.

  “I’m not even sure I want to wear a dress,” I said skeptically, plucking at the chiffon on a nearby gown.

  “Are you kidding me right now? Every girl wants to feel like a princess for at least one night,” Raven answered.

  I stared at the price tag of another. “This is a little much for me.”

  “Please, I’ve never worn them. It’s not going to hurt if one of them goes missing,” Raven insisted, pulling a purple dress off a hanger. “This one’s cute.”

  Raven sashayed around with the dress held up to her chest. I placed my hand on hers, pulling it down. “I’m not trying to be cute.”

  “Jess and I both saw that sneaky little kiss,” she teased, my face igniting a flame red. “You deserve something good in your life. Besides, this’ll be our last big thing together for a while. Humor me.”

  Raven pushed the dress into my hands and moved on to the next one. I held up the dress and laid it down on a shelf as she sifted through more colors, textures, and styles. My eye was drawn to a simple, elegant satin dress. It was short with spaghetti straps. There were no embellishments, but the dark green fabric had a metallic sheen that caught the light.

  “What about this one?” I asked, pulling it off the shelf.

  “That one is nice. A little plain though,” Raven remarked, spreading out the skirt. “I think I have a jewel-encrusted belt that would make the waistline really pop.”

  “I like it the way it is,” I stated, holding it up to my figure.

  Raven smiled, running her hand along the smooth fabric. “You’re right. It’s perfect for you. Now let’s find you some shoes.”

  She spun around and glanced over the racks picking out a pair of classic black pumps. Jess rushed into the closet from the bedroom, her phone clutched in her hand.

  “Steven set the fire!” she exclaimed. Raven and I snapped to attention. “He’s the one who burned down the Ocean Blue Lounge.”

  “What? Why? That doesn’t make any sense. He was working there,” I pointed out.

  “Detective Highwater couldn’t tell me much else, but he said it looks like some sort of cover-up,” Jess explained.

  “Wait a minute,” Raven stated, walking back out into her room. Sitting down at her desk, her computer screens came to life as her hands flew across the keyboard. “I was looking into that Hunter Mathis character who owns all the properties. Not only does he own your housing development, but he also owns a lot of local shops.”

  “What does that have to do with arson?” I asked, trying to follow.

  “It’s not about the lounge. It’s about the person who was running it,” Raven declared. “Remember on the news they said that Sheridan Lee was the only person who was hurt during the fire?”

  “Yeah?” Jess and I answered.

  “I read an article recently where they discovered she put in her resignation a few days prior. It was supposed to be her last day working under Mr. Mathis. I think whatever Mrs. Lee knew about, he didn’t want it to go public. That may have been the actual job he hired Steven for, not to play jazz music like we originally thought,” Raven revealed, pleased with her investigative skills.

  “We need to talk to Lee,” I said. “She’s the only one who really knows.”

  “I’m sure the police have already asked for a statement, Ais. She’s not going to talk to complete strangers about some massive conspiracy,” Jess pointed out.

  “Maybe she doesn’t have to...” Raven said, tapping her chin. “What if you took a nap?”

  “Come again?” I asked.

  “I see what you’re saying!” Jess exclaimed excitedly. “What if I went to the hospital and let you know when Mrs. Lee is sleeping so you could do your dream walking thing?”
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  “I don’t think we have to go through the trouble. Lee’s been in a coma since the fire,” Raven explained.

  “Guys, I can’t even connect to Gabrielle fully. What makes you think she’ll say anything in her dreams?” I asked skeptically.

  “Ais, you can do this. Besides, she may be harboring a guilty conscience. Maybe you can listen in or persuade her?” Raven stated, trying to inspire some confidence within me.

  “I thought you had other plans after Homecoming?” I asked Raven, not forgetting about our chat a few days before.

  “I’ll be there in spirit,” she smiled. “You’ll have to fill me in once you and Jess make the magic happen. Just be careful.”

  “I’ll ask later,” Jess commented, “but for now, we all better get dressed before we miss this ball.”

  Raven loaned Jess a dress to wear for the evening. The sun hung low in the sky as we tried on our gowns. Raven snapped a few pictures of us as we waited for our time to leave. While doing so, I got started on the newspaper article from Raven’s computer, emailing myself the outline and first draft. I hoped Jason could fill me in on the other details tomorrow, a one on one session that I looked forward to.

  As much as I tried to convince myself that I didn’t have time for any trivial matters such as boys, my stomach tied itself in knots whenever I was near Jason. I feared it would happen more often now that I had brazenly kissed him. It was a moment I hadn’t put much thought into until after our lips touched.

  Thinking about it sent a tingle down my spine. As comfortable as I was talking to him, I couldn’t trust myself to give up my secret. Thinking about what happened with my neighbor Charlie had left a scar over my heart, one that I didn’t think time would ever heal. I didn’t think I’d have the strength to go through that kind of rejection again, especially from someone like Jason.

  “It’s showtime, ladies,” Raven declared, rising from her bed. We followed her down to the foyer and out the front door. Getting into my car, I let myself forget about Hunter Mathis, Sheridan Lee, and Steven. I couldn’t control what they were doing at this very moment, but I could control how I wanted to spend this night.