Welcome to My Nightmare

by K N Thompson

  “Come, take these notes to the room listed. Your classes will need to work a little differently,” he explains, handing a note to each student and collecting their names.

  “I’m glad your aunt helped me out,” Lydia says under her breath, a relieved expression on her face.

  “Ok, now that that’s sorted, turn to chapter one of your textbooks,” Mr. Tesla orders, standing in front of his desk.

  I crack open the book and flip through the table of contents until I find chapter one. Power Jewelry and Its Importance. I skim through the chapter as the teacher talks.

  “Who can tell me why our jewelry is so important?” Mr. Tesla asks, looking around the room.

  A Caballine girl in the front room raises her hand. “It allows us to focus our power, and it amplifies our abilities,” she answers when called upon.

  “Correct. It’s also interesting to note how stones pick their owners, not the other way around. Some Nightmares, very few mind you, never find their focus,” he explains.

  The class continues on with a lecture about our jewelry and how important it is to wear it. He also mentions the relation of size of jewelry to potential power of the wearer. As he says this, several sets of eyes stare at me. Doesn’t look like I’ll be able to fly under the radar here.

  “Finish reading chapter one for class on Wednesday,” Mr. Tesla announces.

  The bell rings and I gather my books and head to the hallway. Lydia and I compare schedules just outside the door as Ryland appears next to me.

  “We have mind control next,” I tell him.

  “That’s on the other side of the building,” he groans. “Want to cheat and I can teleport you there?”

  “If we do that, how are we going to find the class on our own tomorrow?” Lydia asks him, raising an eyebrow.

  “Well, you won’t have that class tomorrow, but I could always teleport you again on Wednesday,” he chuckles.

  “I’m game,” I blurt, then internally smack myself. Why do I sound so eager?

  “Great, take my hands,” he grins at us.

  Lydia and I grab his hands and in a split second we are in front of a new door.

  “Gotta run, see you after class,” Ryland smirks before disappearing in a mass of tendrils.

  “Oh girl, that boy has it bad for you,” Lydia shakes her head, smiling at me.

  “I think he’s just being nice. Alfred told him to show me around,” I get defensive.

  “Whatever you say,” she rolls her eyes as we enter the classroom.

  We seem to be the first to arrive and start towards the back of the classroom.

  “The front row is empty,” the woman sitting behind the desk says with a mischievous smile. Her black dress sets me at ease. It’s nice to know that Dissidents can be teachers too.“How are you doing, Lydia?”

  “Great, Mrs. Bradbury,” Lydia smiles.

  “How do you know her?” I ask quietly.

  “She’s the one who rescued me,” Lydia says.

  I turn around and take a seat in front of her desk as Lydia sits next to me. I feel awkward chatting this close to the teacher, so I pull out the book for this class, Introduction to Unwanted Thoughts.

  “Growing up in the human world, you have more experience than most,” the teacher smiles at us. “Dissidents are usually the fastest studies.”

  I smile back at her, unsure of how to respond as the other students file into the room. Soon all the seats are full and the bell rings again, signaling class to start.

  “My name is Maya Bradbury, you can call me Mrs. Bradbury, and welcome to Mind Control. How many of you have spent time around humans?” she asks.

  Lydia and I both raise our hands. It’s hard to tell how many other students do, sitting behind us.

  “Excellent. The first few weeks we will study theory, then we will venture into applying those skills to humans,” she explains, standing up and standing in front of us.

  “Now, to start we will take a test. This is just to see what you think you know coming in. It won’t be graded, this time,” Mrs. Bradbury explains.

  She grabs a stack of papers off of her desk and passes them out to the front row. When she reaches me, I take one and pass the rest behind me. I grab a pencil and start on the first question.

  Who’s minds can Nightmares read? Oh, I know this one. We can only read human’s minds, I write. Working my way through each question, I find I don’t know many of them. When I reach the last one, I have no idea how to answer. What all can Nightmares do with mind control? I think about it for a minute, then write, anything they want. I’m glad these aren’t graded yet. I put my pencil down and wait for further instructions.

  After a few minutes pass, Mrs. Bradbury tells us to pass our tests to the front, and she walks by and collects them all.

  “Now that that’s out of the way, your homework is to read chapter one,” she announces just as the bell rings.

  I gather my things and follow Lydia out into the hallway where Ryland is already waiting. “Ready for lunch ladies?” he asks.

  “Lead the way! I’m starving,” Lydia announces.

  “Take my hands, the line grows fast around here,” he winks as he holds his hands out.

  We grab his hands and black tendrils instantly surround us.

  14

  We're close to the front of the line when we appear in the dining hall. Ryland winks at me when I look at him.

  My cheeks heat, maybe Lydia is right, maybe he likes me. We grab our food and search out a table.

  “Would you ladies mind if I sit with you? I have to show you to your next class anyway, I figure we could get to know each other better,” he says, a hopeful look in his eyes.

  My eyes feel as big as saucers and my mouth falls open.

  “Sure,” I tell him hesitantly, sitting my food down and dropping into my chair.

  I look over to Lydia who is no help at all. She wiggles her eyebrows up and down over her googly eyes. Gah, could I have gotten paired with a goofier roommate? I think to myself and start to smile. I hadn’t realized just how much she reminds me of Sam. My smile falters for a moment until I stuff the memories down.

  “So Whisper, how are you enjoying your first day so far?” Ryland asks between bites of his lunch.

  I jump a little, surprised by his question. “Oh, it’s been great, thank you for taking the time to teleport us around,” I smile shyly and return to my food.

  “It’s no problem. I have enjoyed hanging out with the new girl,” he says smiling cheekily.

  “So are you in any clubs or extracurriculars?” I ask, hoping he doesn’t think I’m being to nosey.

  “I sing in the Glee Club, and I play football,” he chuckles at the surprised looks we give him.

  “Wow, that is impressive, not many guys would admit to being in Glee Club. Do you just sing or can you play any instruments?” I question, interested in what he has to say next.

  “Thanks, my friends tease me about it all the time. But when we are sitting around a campfire on our yearly camping trip they always ask me to bring my guitar so I can play them some tunes,” he says, his cheek reddening.

  “Are there any clubs you might join?” he asks, finishing his meal.

  “I enjoy reading, so I have thought about Book Club,” I respond, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. We stand and carry our trays to the drop off.

  Way to go full on geek Whisper, I think to myself not paying attention to where I am going. I bump into a couple of girls in front of me. They turn around and sneer down their noses at me.

  “Oh! Excuse me, I didn't mean to bump into you,” I tell them, putting on my best sorry face.

  “Watch where you’re going, Dissident,” the tall brunette snaps.

  “Yeah, don’t you know an Empyrean when you see one?” the light brown-haired girl replies with her nose in the air.

  Their eyes narrow on my jewelry. Great here we go, I think to myself.

  “How did you get that focus jewelry? Steal
it? We all know Dissidents are all poor cattle that piggyback on the born Nightmares in this community,” the brunette spits at me.

  I recoil, taking a step back colliding into Ryland’s hard chest. I freeze, feeling a low rumble against my back as he speaks.

  “Jewelry envy, Alexis? You’re just pissed because your jewelry is less adequate compared to hers and you talk so highly about being born, but should I share your secret? And Kelly, you wouldn’t even know what being an Empyrean is. Your dad left you to be raised by a Fury,” his voice booms, catching the attention of those around us.

  Alexis’ face blanches. She shakes her head and runs off in the other direction with Kelly on her heels.

  I feel a bit bad for her, but then again she is the one that got nasty with me first. It’s not like I ruined her dress or asked Ryland to stand up for me. Although I must admit, it feels great to have a little backup. Lydia nudges my arm, bringing me out of my thoughts.

  “Are you all right? You look a little more pale than usual,” she takes a deep breath.

  “I’m fine. I got use to students like her in the human world, just didn't think a little bump would set her off so bad,” I reassure her as we walk out of the dining hall.

  “Whisper ignore her. Even though most of the students here aren’t very welcoming to the sevenths, our house always sticks together. Now where are we off to next?” his brow pulls together, creating a cute crease.

  Good Lord Whisper, get your head out of your hormones, this is so not the time for that. I mentally smack my forehead and roll my eyes.

  “Oh, um, the class for just sevenths,” I tell him not sure of the name of the class.

  “All right ladies, please take my hands,” he smiles. He seems to enjoy this. We disappear in a cloud of black inky tendrils and arrive in front of a black wooden door.

  “Here we are ladies. I will catch up with you after class,” he winks before teleporting away.

  I look over at Lydia and shrug my shoulders. We enter the class and most of the seats are empty. We quietly walk in and take our seats towards the front.

  “Hello again ladies, I hope you’re having a great first day. Are you finding your way to your classes all right?” Mrs. Bradbury says with a knowing smile.

  “Yes ma’am. Ryland has been showing us to our classes. Teleporting really comes in handy,” I smile back.

  More students arrive and take their seats, the late bell rings, and the teacher closes the door.

  “Good afternoon, my name is Maya Bradbury, but you may call me Mrs. Bradbury or Mrs. B. Since this is the first day of class, let's take a minute to introduce ourselves,” she says, pointing to the first row.

  Once the intros get to me I stand up, making sure not to step on my long dress. “Hi, I’m Whisper,” I say and quickly take my seat again.

  Staring at my desk, I feel my cheeks warm. I’ve always hated talking in front of a crowd, even if it’s just to say my name.

  “We will begin with a question and answer session. Being first years, I’m sure you have a quite a few things you would like to know. Remember, the only stupid question is the one you don’t ask,” she grins.

  The first student raises their hand.

  “Yes, Violet please ask your question,” she tells the small timid girl in the front row.

  “How does the entrance to the school work?” she asks in a small voice.

  “Our forefathers left us these safe havens called Pocket Universes and we often move the main entrance as another layer of safety. All of our cities and this very school are tucked away from danger. It’s one of the reasons you can’t return home to your human families. There used to be those among us that had the ability to bend space into itself, sadly that ability has been lost over time,” she says with a sad look, making me wonder if she had to leave someone behind at some point.

  “Ok who’s next? Anyone? Ah, yes Lee?” she says, pointing to the thin boy with messy hair in the corner.

  “How long do Nightmares live?” he asks, slumping down in his seat.

  “Nightmares have a thousand year lifespan, but after maturity we appear to be twenty human years of age until our two hundreth birthday. After that, for every one hundred years we live, we age ten human years. For example, a Nightmare will look thirty years old at the age of three hundred,” she says raising her eyebrows and nodding her head.

  “Mrs. Bradbury, when does a Nightmare mature?” he asks a little more boldly this time.

  “Most Nightmares will mature around twenty years old,” she answers as she looks across the class.

  So that’s why Aunt Nellie looks so young; she’s three hundred years old and looks amazing. I place my elbow on the desk and prop my chin up waiting on the next question.

  “Do Nightmares use the same money as humans do?” Lydia pipes up from beside me, causing me to jump.

  “Yes, that’s a very good question! Our currency is made up of the chrysos, mydia, aspar, and the junat. Chrysos are the largest and made of black gold. The mydia comes next. Two mydia make up one chrysos and they’re made of silver. Next comes the aspar which are made of copper. Four aspar make up one chrysos. Last we have the junat. It takes ten brass junats to make a chrysos. I hope this helps a little as you learn to navigate the new world around you,” she nods to Lydia.

  Mrs. Bradbury looks at the clock. “Ok we have time for one more question before class is over. Who’s it going to be?” she asks.

  After waiting a few minutes, I raise my hand and ask “Can you explain the powers of each house?”

  “Ok, first let’s talk about what all Nightmares can do. We can feed off of nightmares, teleport, read minds of humans, change memories, we all have black tendrils, and we can put people to sleep,” she pauses to give us time to let that sink in.

  My eyes widen, the night at the Halloween slumber party with the Japanese exchange student... then the night I went into my sister's dream... that was all because I’m a Nightmare. The color drains from my face; I was feeding on my sister.

  “I know the thought of feeding on humans is a bit startling, but don’t worry, when we feed, we also cause sleep paralysis. This happens, so the human is not harmed during the feed process. There have been some reports that when a nightmare leaves the chest of the human they are feeding on, they may experience a sense of falling, tiredness and a loss of energy, but our feeding does not hurt them,” she says.

  “Moving on to your question, Whisper. Each of the houses have different powers. Starting with Caballine house, they shape shift into big black horses with fiery red eyes surrounded by black tendrils when they teleport. They can’t cause nightmares only feed off of existing ones and must sit on the human’s chest to feed. Those in Fury house don’t shape-shift but can turn any dream into a nightmare and also has to sit on the human’s chest to feed. Empyrean house can astral project, but they can’t cause nightmares to happen and can only feed off of existing nightmares. Dissident house can be a little tricky, you guys are not sorted into your respective houses making you stand apart. Dissidents tend to be much less powerful than born Nightmares and take classes that best suits the skill they would have been sorted into.” The sound of the bell brings us back to reality. “For homework, please read the first chapter in your books,” she adds as everyone stands to leave. Lydia and I stand gathering our things and walk out together, Ryland is already waiting for us.

  “Hi ladies, how was your class? Mrs. Bradbury is an awesome teacher,” he waves to her. “Let’s get you to your last class of the day. I’m sure you have tons of homework.”

  “It’s not too bad yet,” I say, then look at Lydia. “Meet up again after this class?”

  “Sure, see you two later,” she replies then looks at her map and skips off down the hall.

  15

  “You ready for this?” Ryland asks, holding out his hand to me.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” I reply as I take his hand.

  The black tendrils wrap around us, and when they clear, we a
re in front of a bright, red door. I pause in front of it. This is the class I’ve been dreading all day; the one that points out just how different I am.

  Ryland opens the door, “Are you coming?”

  “Yeah, right behind you,” I reply, shuffling in as he holds the door open.

  We are the first to enter the room. The middle is bare with all the desks pushed up against the walls. Ryland sits on top of one of the desks. I move next to him, put my books down, and stand awkwardly in front of them. A few minutes pass by before the door opens and the three other guys who helped collect me walk in.

  “Hi, Whisper,” Korbin says.

  “Hi,” I reply, feeling shy.

  “I can’t believe I have to waste my time with this,” Max growls. He turns and looks at me, stopping in place. I feel uncomfortable under his intense gaze. “Figures it would be you,” he sneers.

  “Back off Max,” Ryland growls at him.

  “Remember who you’re talking to cattle,” Max moves forward and gets in his face.

  “Settle down you two,” a teacher wearing a red dress says as she walks through the door.

  “Yes, Mrs. King,” the boys say in unison.

  “And you must be Whisper,” Mrs. King gives me a mischievous grin. “My name is Charlotte King.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I reply as I look her over.

  She’s a tall, skinny, younger woman with fiery red hair that has even brighter red and black streaks running through it.

  Finn walks up beside me and whispers in my ear, “Watch that one. They don’t call her the demon wookie for nothing.”

  I quickly cover my mouth to hide the laughter threatening to escape. Mrs. King raises her eyebrow at me but says nothing.

  “As soon as Mr. Wells and Mr. Poe get here we will get started,” she explains.

  “Wait, why do we need three teachers?” I ask.

  “You’re such a unique situation that we don’t know how else to address your studies. To my knowledge, no Nightmare has ever possessed more than one house trait,” she answers.