Lucid

by L. E. Fred

  “Ready?” I asked, not even bothering to sit.

  “Yeah.” Mitch stood up, too. He was clutching something that was glowing brighter than both of us. After adjusting myself to the bright light, I saw it was a clipboard.

  “Where’d you get that from?” I just realized that I never saw anything from the real world in these dreams. The clipboard definitely stood out from the rest of the dull ship.

  “Oh, I fell asleep holding onto it,” Mitch explained, looking down at the clipboard. He extracted a pen from the top clamp. “I’m surprised it actually came with me. Well, ready to rock?”

  “I guess.” I backed up to let Mitch exit his seat. The souls watched us as we made our way to the front of the bus. To my immense relief, there wasn’t a driver.

  I froze as I faced the passengers. Looking at all those blank stares really freaked me out. Suddenly, the plan that Tiff and I had devised mere hours before became a haze in the back of my numbing brain. I couldn’t explain what I felt when I saw the souls’ collective gaze. It was just so unnatural.

  “Uh.” I tried to make myself go through with the plan. “If you could all just look up—“

  “Attention, everyone!” Mitch’s booming voice drowned out mine. The souls immediately focused on him. Mitch didn’t even turn to me to make sure he was supposed to start (which he wasn’t.) I could have been invisible for all it mattered, now.

  “If I could have your attention for one moment. We are about to begin our exciting voyage to the moon, but I need to take attendance first.”

  “Why didn’t the woman who came in earlier take our names?” An elderly man piped up from the back. So, I guess even the souls weren’t completely brainless.

  “Well, uh, that’s because—“

  “She was just the welcoming committee.” Mitch interrupted me again. “Since we’re going to be on board with you, we’re taking down names. It’s for your own safety, and it’s merely procedure.” The souls seemed to accept his response.

  “Great! So, if you could just write your names on the clipboard that my assistant will pass around.”

  He handed me the glowing clipboard. It felt warm in my hands, but I didn’t register the sudden temperature change. I had been too busy looking at Mitch incredulously. Now I was just his assistant? I was the first one to discover this horrible place, and I gave him this plan — okay, so Tiff did most of the planning, but she’s my friend!

  “Give them the board,” Mitch muttered to me. I grimaced. He sounded just like the head counselor who bossed me around all the time. Scowling slightly, I gave the clipboard to the person in the first row.

  “First and last name, please,” I said before Mitch could say anything. He wasn’t going to totally dominate the situation. Even though I was scared out of my mind, I still had a problem with being bossed around.

  We were halfway down the bus when the doors opened.

  I saw the lady in blue for the first time, and I immediately saw she was no push-over. She was extremely fit, like a mixed martial arts fighter, with long brown hair she kept in a high ponytail. Her bright, blue eyes showed all signs of being fully awake. She was definitely not a soul.

  She didn't seem quite human, either.

  “Well, what is going on here?” The tone of her voice was kind enough, but her eyes gave away her intent. She knew something was up.

  “Ma’am, we’re just taking down names.” Mitch tried to sound as if this was standard procedure.

  “Hmm, I believe this goes against our visitor confidentiality right, though,” she shot back, her voice slightly colder than with her first remark. The souls stirred, some seemed to be in agreement. The woman’s eyes flickered between Mitch’s and mine. She knew we weren’t souls, either. Her eyes flashed dangerously.

  “Well, we’re finished anyway.” I yanked the clipboard out of a little boy’s hand. “I think we can wrap this up and go home, Mitch.” I walked to the front of the bus. Before Mitch and I could leave, however, the doors closed.

  “Oh, I believe this roster you imposters took should be given to the resort director.” The woman smirked at both of us.

  I saw Mitch was looking for a switch to open the door. I was scanning the bus for that ball of light. It was definitely time to go. With a jolt, I realized I couldn’t find the light. Mitch nudged my arm, and I looked at him. He wasn’t looking for a switch; he was looking out the window. The ball of light that would take us home was right outside the emergency exit. Great, the one time we desperately need the ball, and it’s outside the bus.

  “But we were told to deliver the roster to headquarters.” Mitch was trying to buy us more time by negotiating with the woman. His eyes were flickering up to the window and then to me. I started edging backward ever so slightly. The woman looked at me once, but for the most part she was too busy giving Mitch a cold stare. It looked as if she were sizing Mitch up. Did she think he was a threat? What did she think about me?

  “Well, you’re in luck.” The woman smiled cruelly. “Headquarters is on the Moon, sir, and if you were a Resort employee, you would surely know such simple information — edge any closer to that emergency exit, boy, and I will have to resort to violence.”

  I jumped and looked up fearfully. She had added that last statement in so quickly, it almost sounded like a hiss. Her eyes were focused on me with such intensity, I found myself breaking contact. I looked at Mitch and saw he was barely containing his fear.

  “Yes, I caught you, boys.” The woman smirked. “You were not invited to this Resort, and you were merely trying to steal identities to sneak onboard. Very clever, but it didn’t work, did it?”

  I chanced a glance at Mitch. Did the woman really think we wanted to go to wherever this horrible bus was taking these passengers? Something in her tone told me otherwise. Though her eyes remained cruel, I could tell she was mostly curious. She didn’t know why we were on this bus, but she knew we weren’t souls, either. Still, that didn’t make our situation any better.

  There were a few tense moments in the bus. None of the souls dared to move, much less speak. I think they were mesmerized by watching the three standing figures stare at each other. My heart steadily beat faster with each passing moment.

  “Time to start the ship—”

  “Well, you got us!” Mitch cut off the woman just as I thought I was having a heart attack. I did not want this ship to leave with the creepy woman on it. Apparently Mitch thought the same thing.

  “Finally caught on, have you?” The woman jeered. “Well, it’s too late—”

  “Maybe for us.” Mitch indicated himself and me. “But not for our friend.”

  This caught the woman’s attention. She turned sharply to see my reaction, but I was steps ahead of her. Private school taught me to never look surprised when a friend tells an administrator a lie, especially if I was in trouble, too.

  “There are more of you?” She turned back to Mitch.

  “Yep, our pal Charlie.” Mitch put on a defiant grin. I got the distinct vibe that he was a troublemaker in high school. “But don’t worry; he’s probably got the signal to run by now.” Mitch glanced at me.

  “Go, go!” I half-whispered, waving my arms wildly to no one outside. It worked. With one warning look at both of us, the woman tore out of the ship to look around.

  “Come on!” Mitch ran to the middle of the bus and jumped on the seat, ignoring the souls’ protests. He wrenched open the emergency exit — that was not unlike the little windows on school buses — and touched the light. As soon as he vanished, I followed suit.

  The woman’s scream was still ringing in my ears as I rolled out of bed.

  ****

  The day after the terrible dream was a Saturday, which meant no camp. I was lucky there wasn’t any camp, because I woke up at half-past noon.

  “Well, looks like you’re not dead, after all.” Kyle’s greeting rang through the kitchen. He had nerve. This was the earliest I had seen him conscious since he was in high school (and say
ing that was even a stretch.) He was still in his PJs and busy making two triple-decker BLTs, minus the L and the T and with liberal amounts of mayonnaise.

  “It’s Saturday.” I found my voice came out hoarse and my throat a little scratchy. Surprisingly, Kyle noticed.

  “Dude, if you’re getting sick, stay away from me.” He backed up, even though I was on the other side of the counter. “I’m going to a rockin’ show tonight, and if I start vomiting I swear I’ll—“

  “I’m not sick,” I protested, clearing my throat. “My throat’s just dry.”

  “You don’t look good, either.” Kyle raised his eyebrows. “I mean worse than normal. You’re all pale, and you look exhausted.”

  “What, so you actually care about me?” I only said it to shut Kyle up. I felt a little anxious, though. Did the encounter with the woman do something to my physical body? Was I going to eventually end up like the souls?

  “Hey, did you even hear me?” Kyle’s angry outburst brought my brain back to reality.

  “What?” I asked stupidly. Kyle sighed and finished making his heart-stopping lunch.

  “I said your little girlfriend called,” he repeated as he put stuff back in the fridge. “She seemed really upset that you were still asleep. Better call her before she breaks up with you.”

  “She is not my girlfriend!” I shouted angrily. I was still worried. Tiff might’ve thought I had gotten caught or something worse. Without saying anything else, I returned to my room.

  Sure enough, my cell phone showed I had a missed call. Tiff probably called it first and then called the house after. I frowned as I picked the phone up from my bedside table. I’m usually a pretty light sleeper, so the ring should’ve woken me out of my sleep.

  “Finally!” Tiff exclaimed as she answered the phone. “Don’t do that again! I thought you were turning into one of those shells!”

  “Good morning to you, too,” I replied, taken aback by the lack of any greeting. “It’s not like I chose to stay asleep! Trust me, after you hear what happened last night you’ll—”

  “I already heard it from Mitch.” Tiff cut me off. For some reason, I felt my shoulders tense. So, Mitch woke up before I did. Was he even affected by last night’s events?

  “Anyway, I’m trying to research any groups named Chimera.” Tiff ignored my pause and continued talking.

  “What’s that?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Tiff asked incredulously. I could visualize her rolling her eyes. “That’s the name of the group that scary woman works for! Mitch saw the name on the collar of her uniform. You didn’t notice?”

  “Uh, I was kind of busy trying to find a way to escape!” I said defensively. “You didn’t see that lady when she stepped onto the bus. It was really scary! I just wanted to get outta there as fast as I could!”

  “It’s okay, I’m not saying you’re a wimp!” Tiff stopped me before I could shout any more, which was probably good. I wasn’t mad at her, anyway. “Actually, I think Mitch just got lucky, but still, I want to see if it’s a real organization.”

  “It is real! We saw her!”

  “You saw her while you were asleep.” Tiff corrected me. “I want to see if I can find anything in the real world.”

  “Oh.” I was still getting over the relief that Tiff didn’t think I was a wimp. Not that I was flattered or anything; I was just glad she didn’t think Mitch was braver than I was.

  “Well, do you want to come to my house today, so we can research Chimera together?” I asked.

  “Hey!” Kyle shouted outside my door; he had obviously finished his BBB sandwiches. Two minutes must have set a new world record. “Your little girlfriend can’t come over today. Adam and Fletcher are coming over!”

  “It’s all right.” Tiff had heard Kyle through the phone and the door. He wasn’t exactly soft-spoken. “My house is better, anyway. My mom wants to take me clothes shopping this evening.” I could almost visualize her grimacing. “We can pick you up after that.”

  “Okay.” I hung up my cell phone, stood up, and stretched. It didn’t make sense for me to still be so tired after sleeping for so long. But I wasn’t really sleeping, I guess.

  “Hey, you.” Kyle was still outside my door. He opened it without knocking.

  “What?” I raised my eyebrows. Kyle’s presence in my room usually followed with money being stolen.

  “What are you researching?” Kyle asked, plopping down on my bed. I caught a whiff of his B.O. and made a note to grab the air freshener on my way back from the bathroom.

  “You heard me.” I rolled my eyes. “We’re looking up chimeras. It’s this monster in Greek mythology that’s made up of a lion, goat, and snake.”

  “Gross.” Kyle said it, as if it were a compliment. “Those Greeks told some messed up stories!”

  “It breathes fire, too!” I egged him on. If Kyle was in a good enough mood he’d wonder why he was in my room and leave.

  “But how come you’re looking up this lion thing?”

  “Because…” I thought of something that would bore Kyle. “We have to do a project on a mythological creature, and Tiff and I are partnered up.”

  “Oh.” Kyle remained on my bed and stared at my face. I couldn’t believe he was suspecting something more to my story. He wasn’t a regular Sherlock, that’s for sure.

  “Um… staring contest?” I asked him, breaking the silence. Kyle seemed to snap out of it.

  “Just don’t give your girlfriend your disease,” he teased before leaving my room and slamming my door shut.

  If I wasn’t mistaken, I could’ve sworn that was Kyle’s way of saying he was worried about me.

  .

  Day 3

  Night

  Tiff and her mom picked me up sometime around seven. Apparently, Mrs. Brightly thought Tiff needed a complete makeover; I had to move several bags in order to sit down.

  “Open any and you’re a dead man,” Tiff warned me from the passenger’s seat.

  “Tiff!” Mrs. Brightly chuckled, though. She was a pretty cool mom, as far as moms go anyway. She looked back as she backed out of my driveway. “So, what do you two have planned for tonight? Another video game party?”

  “No, Mom—” Tiff said patiently, “—we’re actually starting our summer homework.”

  “Well, that’s no fun,” her mom said absentmindedly as she drove down the street. “One of these days, I’ll beat your score, Tiff. “Her daughter snorted from the front seat. "Well, your father and I are going to dinner with a few people around eight. Do you want me to order any food?”

  “Chinese is acceptable.” Tiff answered before I even had a chance to think about food.

  “Figured you’d say that.” Mrs. Brightly looked in the rearview mirror at me. “Is that cool, Devon? I really shouldn’t feed her addiction, I know.”

  “That’s fine.” I smiled back. I saw her reflection frown at me.

  “You look a little worn down, Devon.” She turned on the light to get a better look at me. “The circles under your eyes are dark. Are you getting sick?”

  “Erm, I don’t know—” I shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant, “—I guess it’s just the long hours at camp finally getting to me.”

  “Well, you should take a break before school starts,” Mrs. Brightly advised. “Summer is supposed to be for relaxation. I don’t see the need to put you kids to work just yet.”

  If she only knew what other kind of things I had been doing with my summer.

  We finally made it to Tiff’s house. Her dad wasn’t home yet; he was on his way back from another art shopping-spree. Tiff placed the order for Chinese and then pulled me upstairs to her room.

  “Okay, I didn’t notice until my mom said anything, but you do look awful!” She frowned at me. It struck me how much she resembled Mrs. Brightly. “What happened last night?” She sat down on her chair and watched me intently.

  “I thought you heard it all from Mitch.” I folded my arms and sat down on the edge of her futon.
I didn’t mean to sound angry; it just came out that way.

  “Only because he got to me first.” Tiff shrugged. “But I’d rather hear your side of it.” I took a deep breath before reliving my experience. It felt worse having to go through it a second time, even though I was safely in Tiff’s nerd cave.

  “And I guess the worst part of it was that I really thought I wasn’t going to escape.” A chill went through me as I finished my story. “I really don’t wanna go back there again.”

  “I don’t think that’s up to you,” Tiff said as she typed away on her computer. I realized how much she acted like her precious machine. She was all about logic whenever she got uncomfortable around people; so much for opening up to her.

  “I don’t know why you and Mitch are the only two who are lucid in that place, but it must be happening for a reason. I think that you guys should get to the resort the woman talked about and learn about its inner workings.”

  “That’s if we figure out how to get to the resort first,” I reminded her. “We don’t even know if that’s what it really is!”

  “Well, that’s what we’re doing tonight.” Tiff was firing away again. “And, look, Mitch is online. He can help us.”

  I wasn’t too thrilled about working with Mitch again, but three people researching would be better than two. Well, Tiff did most of the researching, as usual. As soon as the food came, I was too busy scarfing down crab rangoons. That was another thing I had noticed; I felt pretty achy and hungry after I woke up from my dream. I guess escaping from creepy ladies in blue suits took a lot out of you.

  “Any luck?” I broke the almost twenty minute silence. Tiff clicked on a page before turning around. She was eating while working and currently had half a piece of boneless chicken sticking out of her mouth. Yeah, Mom and Kyle, I silently thought, you think she should be my girlfriend. Cute.