Jillian Spectre & the Dream Weaver

by Nic Tatano

  I'm trying to process the cold, calculating Ryan I've never known when I hear the key in the door and the doorknob turn. "Here she comes."

  Ryan and I are standing over Trip, who is lifeless on the floor in an expanding pool of blood. Jake and Roxanne run to the other room and peek around the corner.

  The guys quickly put in their earplugs.

  The door opens and Aspen's face drops immediately as she takes in the scene. "Oh my God, Trip!" She runs to him and kneels down, taking his face in her hands. She leans her head against his chest. "He's not breathing!"

  "That's generally the case when you're dead," says Ryan, without a hint of emotion.

  She whips her head around and glares at me. "What did you do?" she asks in a guttural tone.

  "My boyfriend kicked his ass," I say, casually, patting Ryan on the shoulder. "Taught him a lesson. I think he got the point. Somehow I don't think there'll be a round two. He'd carry him out but you can take out the trash yourself."

  "You're gonna pay for this—"

  "Hey Aspen, think fast!" Jake's voice makes her turn around as he sends a marble paperweight flying into her forehead. She drops to the floor, next to Trip, unconscious.

  Aspen is stretched out on the floor, flat on her back, still out cold with a small red welt near her hairline. Roxanne is straddling her, sitting on her stomach. Jake has a death grip on her wrists while Ryan holds her ankles. I'm kneeling next to Roxanne, a bit weary from helping Ryan but amazingly I still have enough juice left for one more round.

  Roxanne playfully slaps Aspen's face. "Wake uuuuppppp," she says, like a mom rousing a small child. "C'mon, earth to Aspen. C'mon, honey, we're gonna have a sing-along. Let's do Kumbaya."

  Aspen's eyes flicker open, then widen quickly as she sees Roxanne on top of her. "Muse!"

  "That's right. I'm your worst friggin' nightmare. Get ready to be inspired."

  Aspen struggles to get away but the guys hold her firm. She cranes her neck and sees them, then looks at Roxanne. "You wanna go? Fine. Then leave the men out of it." She starts to sing a few notes, watching Ryan for a reaction that doesn't come. "What the hell?"

  I shake the half-empty bag of earplugs at her. "They can't hear you, Aspen. There's this marvelous new invention called earplugs. Maybe you've heard of it. Or maybe you should have read your Greek mythology and learned how Odysseus beat the system."

  She glares at me, then turns to Roxanne. "Fine. Let's go, bitch."

  Roxanne gives her the death stare. "Bring it."

  Roxanne turns and winks at me while giving me a sly smile. I put my hands on her shoulders and send energy into her body, all I've got. There's no point in saving anything at this point. She turns back to Aspen, then starts to sing what I know is the beginning of her favorite song, Bad to the Bone. "Buh-duh-DA-duh-da-DUH."

  Aspen's eyes widen in fear as Rox locks onto her and I know she's headed into the girl's subconscious. She maintains her hypnotic stare for about a minute, then Aspen's mouth slowly opens and her head starts to shake. Roxanne remains steady, unmoved, as her eyes focus on the siren. Finally Aspen's entire body begins to tremble and she lets out a loud scream. Just like her mother.

  Roxanne doesn't stop staring at her. She's still locked in.

  Aspen opens her mouth to scream again and nothing comes out. A look of pure terror washes over her face.

  Roxanne relaxes and I know the session is over.

  Aspen tries to scream again. She turns to me and tries to talk but her voice is gone.

  I cock my head to the side and widen my eyes. "Aw, Aspen, are you trying to tell me something? Speak up, I can't hear you."

  "Let her go," says Roxanne, as tears begin to roll down Aspen's cheeks. "I'm done. And she's done." Ryan and Jake release her.

  Aspen clutches her throat.

  I put my arm around Roxanne's shoulders as I look at Aspen. "By the way, Aspen, this is my sister."

  "Her powers are gone?" asks Ryan.

  Roxanne nods. "I plucked her feathers and wore 'em like a hat. In her subconscious, I mean. A mute siren is kind of an oxymoron, don't you think? This one can still hear, though." She turns to Aspen. "Hey, maybe you can get a gig as a Central Park mime."

  Aspen bites her lip and closes her eyes, sobbing silently.

  "So, Bad to the Bone did her in, huh?" asks Jake.

  She shakes her head and smiles. "Nah, I went with Elton John. I figured The Bitch is Back was more appropriate."

  The world begins to spin a bit and I feel myself growing faint. "Almost forgot," I say. "Need your cell phone."

  Roxanne hands it to me and I call Fuzzball.

  "Everyone okay?" he asks.

  "Yeah. It's over. Cleanup on aisle five."

  "On my way."

  I hang up, hand the phone back, exhale and lean back. Giving my energy to both Ryan and Roxanne, along with the incredible emotion of the last few hours, has me exhausted. "Guys, I am seriously fried."

  My fumes run out, and the world goes black.

  Chapter 20

  I hear a hollow voice from what seems to be very far away. "Wake up, sweetie."

  A hand touches my shoulder and gently shakes me. My eyes flicker open and I see Mom sitting on the edge of my bed. "Hey, Mom."

  "Sleep well?"

  "Yeah, like a rock. How long was I out?"

  "About a day and a half."

  My eyes widen. "Oh my God! I've never been out that long."

  "Fuzzball says when you factor emotion into things, it takes longer to recover. Roxanne and Ryan came by and filled me in. After what you've been through, I'm not surprised."

  She hands me a glass of juice and I quickly drain it as I'm parched. "So what happened? I mean, after I came back here?"

  "Fuzzball made the situation go away. He got Trip's death listed as a cerebral hemorrhage even though it wasn't. He didn't have to do anything to cover up Aspen."

  "Why would he have to cover up the fact that she lost her voice?"

  "Because she's dead."

  "Aspen's dead? What happened?"

  "Jumped out of a moving car as they were taking her to The Summit. Got hit by a bus."

  I should feel something but I don't. Even though she was a blood relative.

  I'm never telling Mom about her relationship to me. The fact that she was the same age as I am confirms that my father was cheating on my mother.

  "Anyway," says Mom, "you need to get your ass in gear. Take a shower, do your hair and put on something nice. Sebastien's picking us up in an hour and taking everyone out to dinner."

  "Good, I'm starving." I throw back the covers and swing my legs out of bed as Mom starts to leave the room. "Hey, Mom?"

  "Yeah, sweetie?"

  "I'm a little confused about Ryan. About something that happened when I went back."

  "About what?"

  "When he took on Trip…went into his mind…and Trip died. It was like Ryan was a different person. I've never seen that side of him. He was, I don't know, almost cold about the whole thing. About the end result. He watched it and didn't even react, showed no emotion at all. Like he was turning off a light."

  Mom comes back into my room and takes my shoulders in her hands. "Jillian, the Ryan you grew up with was a boy. He's a man now. And he's a man who protected the woman he loved. He'd do anything for you. He'd do anything not to lose you. And the fellow that died would just as soon have killed you both and not batted an eye."

  Nothing quite like lobster for your first meal after you've slept thirty-six hours or so. Breakfast of champions.

  The mood isn't festive, but more one of relief. I mean, let's face it, people died. But they were very bad people who would have killed us given the chance. And done God knows what to the rest of the planet.

  Sebastien is at the head of the table, while I sit opposite him with Ryan to my right. Roxanne and Jake are on one side of the table while my Mom is next to Fuzzball on the other. I still haven't had the chance to talk to Ryan about what happened and how he manag
ed to take down Trip. Still, I'm fat and happy after my favorite crustacean, a fried calamari appetizer and a huge slice of raspberry cheesecake. Ryan offered to split one but I wanted my own. And then, of course, mom reaches over with her fork, calls "tribute" and steals half of it anyway. Roxanne comments that I'm so obsessed with food I was probably Italian in a previous life.

  Sebastien finishes his last bite of cheesecake and places his fork on the plate, then takes a sip of coffee. "I must say, you four young people have renewed my faith in your generation. And Ryan, your bravery and inspiration were nothing short of phenomenal in defeating the dream weaver."

  Ryan smiles and nods at Sebastien. "Thank you, Sir. I appreciate that."

  "Yes," says Fuzzball, raising a glass in Ryan's direction. "You're not a fireman but you're one of New York's bravest."

  "What am I, chopped liver?" asks Roxanne.

  "I was about to get to you, young lady," says Sebastien. "Considering the outcome the last time Cruise took on a muse, you are to be commended for putting your life at risk."

  "You're the toughest girl I know," says Fuzzball. "Anytime you wanna join the force, let me know. You'd kick ass."

  She folds her arms, smiles and nods. "Thank you, that's much better."

  "Okay," I say, dabbing my lips and putting my napkin on the table. "Since I've been out cold for a day and a half and everyone else seems to know what happened, how about filling me in?"

  Everyone laughs as Ryan turns to me. "Where do you want me to start?"

  "You know what I don't understand? Why wouldn't Trip, if he could control everyone's dreams, just make us forget each other like he said he was going to? Why go through the whole thing of attacking you and convincing me to make a deal in order to spare you?"

  "Because the one type of paranormal person not affected by a dream weaver is a mind reader. We're immune. When he told you he was going to make me forget you, he lied. He knew he couldn't control my dreams or reality, so he had to make me so afraid that I'd let you go. And threaten to kill me if you didn't go along. I guess he told you that so you'd think I would be risking my life to try and get you back."

  "It worked. But how did you come up with the idea of using the ID card?"

  "When I read Trip's mind I discovered the weakness of a dream weaver."

  "Yeah, you said that, but you didn't have time to tell me what it was. So not being able to control you was the weakness?"

  Ryan shakes his head. "No, not at all. That was just a factor of his powers. The weakness was that his mind had to remain pure. He was the one person who couldn't receive any input from anyone else. It was as if his brain had a deadly allergy to any outside force. Reading his mind would have no effect. But adding something to it would be devastating. So even though he was one of your father's minions, ironically he was the one person in the country who could never have an ID card. He was terrified of even touching one of those things."

  "Okay. But he never touched it."

  "Indirectly, he did. One of the rarely used talents of mind readers is connecting two subjects. Sort of like a go-between for a Vulcan mind meld. Anyway, I connected him with your father's engrams in the ID card. The tech guys at The Summit were pretty sure you could get the engrams by touching it even if the card wasn't activated, which made sense since it was natural to assume not every person who got one in the mail would activate the thing. So I took a shot and it was true. I connected him with the engrams in the card. Once that invaded his brain, it destroyed his ability."

  My eyes widen. "Oh my God! That was a hell of a chance you took."

  "That's why he's so brave," says Fuzzball.

  "Did you know he would die?"

  Ryan shakes his head. "Hell, I didn't even know if it would work. But it was the only shot we had."

  I fold my arms. "And speaking of taking chances, you were supposed to go into his mind the minute Jake distracted him by breaking the vase. What was the deal with punching him in the jaw?"

  "I figured he'd be easier to deal with if he was unconscious."

  "After what he did to you, why did you think you could knock him out?"

  "You know those boxing classes I started taking? Well, my instructor tells me I'm a natural, that's he's never seen faster hands. He also told me something about guys who like to get physical. The ones who don't mind getting hit in the head take up boxing. The ones who do mind, go for wrestling. And he said even though a wrestler might have a size advantage, he might also have a glass jaw."

  "Might?"

  "Yeah. Might."

  "Suppose you didn't knock him out?"

  "Jillian, I couldn't live without you. If my plan didn't work, I didn't care what he did to me because you'd be out of my life. And he'd take your life from you. We'd both be basically dead anyway."

  I bite my lower lip as my eyes begin to well up.

  "Okay, that's enough, you two," says Roxanne. "Before I get a cavity."

  Thankfully, my food obsession has never been affected by this whole ordeal. The smell of the hot, steaming pizza is making my mouth water as I knock on Ryan's door.

  He opens it and smiles. "Well, this is a surprise. Thought you were beaming over later?"

  I pull the receipt off the box. "Let's see, you ordered a double supreme, extra cheese. And one redhead wearing a short skirt who's in a romantic mood."

  He gives my outfit the once over and scratches his chin as his face scrunches up. "I dunno…the skirt might not be short enough."

  "Hey!"

  "Get in here." He pulls me in, shuts the door, puts the pizza on a table, takes me in his arms and kisses me.

  "I figured it was your last night in the dorm before Christmas, so it might be your last pizza for a while."

  "Funny. But we do have pizza at home, you know."

  "And it would be our last chance to sleep together."

  "That's something we can't get at home. It'll be a rough two weeks."

  I lean up and kiss his cheek. "So, come on, let's eat. Pizza's getting cold."

  He furrows his brow.

  "Yeah, it's the real me. I'm staying for breakfast, too."

  Ryan slides into bed shirtless with pajama bottoms. Moonlight spills through the window as a strong winter wind makes the glass vibrate a bit.

  "Cold outside," I say, snuggling closer. "You know, down the road when we have a house, I'd love to have a fireplace in the bedroom."

  "Great idea. Though you're hot enough."

  "Thank you, kind sir. You're not too bad yourself."

  I rest my head on his chest and run one hand across his stomach, then up to his shoulder.

  And suddenly I feel it. An attraction much stronger than anything I felt with Trip.

  The sensation steals my breath. "Oh. My."

  He lifts his head and looks at me with concern. "You okay, Sparks?"

  I lean up and look into his eyes. "Everything's different now, isn't it?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "You. Me. Us. It's not the same as it was."

  "Is this some sort of redhead logic that needs a translator?"

  "No, silly. It's just…you look different to me all of a sudden."

  "Yeah, I get that a lot. Must be the haircut."

  I rest my chin on his chest. "Stop it, Ryan, I'm trying to be serious.

  "I'm sorry. I'm not sure what you're getting at. Is this about sex? You having second thoughts?"

  "No. I still want to wait. You okay with that?"

  "Sure, no problem. Though sleeping with you raises temptation to another level. But you're my girl, you love me, that's all that matters. I can wait."

  "Thank you. I realize it's harder for a guy."

  "That is an incredibly poor choice of words, Sparks."

  I seriously blush and crack up as I lose my train of thought for a moment. He smiles at me, melts my heart.

  "Okay, enough jokes," he says. "So what was on your mind? I can tell something is bothering you."

  "We haven't really had a chance to talk
about what happened. I mean with Trip."

  "I went over it at dinner."

  "Not that part. The part before. When he attacked you."

  "It hurts to think about it even though you healed me. But if you wanna talk about it, I don't mind. It does have a happy ending."

  "Ryan, I wanted to tell you that I only agreed to go with him because he was going to hurt you even more. After you passed out…I totally lost it since I thought you were dead. Then after I found out you weren't he said he was going to finish you off. Considering what he'd already done, I assumed that meant he would kill you. And they were going to make me watch. That's why I agreed. They told me they'd spare you if I gave myself to Trip."

  "You don't have to explain yourself, Sparks. You were putting my life before your own."

  "It was just so hard to see you being tortured."

  "Trust me, it didn't feel real good either. If I could've gotten my hands free I would have punched him. But he was smart pinning my arms like he did and picking me up so I couldn't use my legs."

  "You were smarter."

  "In the end, yeah. But damn, that guy was incredibly strong."

  "I still cannot believe you bet it all on one punch. You realize that for the third time this year you risked your life for me. That guy could have killed you."

  "Actually, I thought I was dead when Aspen told him to finish me. He gave me this look right before he squeezed me for the last time…this look of pure evil…I really thought he was going to kill me and I knew he had the strength to do it. I was already in serious pain and his grip was so strong around my chest I could barely get any air. And when he leaned back and put his shoulders into it…I felt like I was being crushed by a python. I mean, he broke my ribs with his bare hands. I've never felt so helpless."

  I bite my lower lip and my eyes well up a bit. I run my fingers through his hair as I look into his soul. "I really thought I'd lost you, Ryan."

  "Well, reports of my death were greatly exaggerated. But I thought I was a goner. I was so close to him I did get a quick glimpse into his mind and saw that he'd once killed a guy by breaking his back."