Rusted piles of construction debris and small fires burned against what looked like a low budget backlot sound stage. She shook her head. “The salon. It’s gone. Where did everything go? God, this is just so weird.”
Gareth scowled, perspiration beginning to dot his upper lip. “Stay calm. We can think this through.”
Seffy frowned, annoyed by the word calm. Dream Seffy was handling things pretty well, all things considered. “What’s thinking got to do with it? This can’t be real.”
His respiration increased. “None of this can. And I wasn’t anywhere near you girls when the blast happened.”
“Where were you?”
“Radio Shack.”
“What! Someone could’ve seen you there!”
He snorted. “I know, I know, but they were having a huge sale on computer parts.”
Seffy sent him a chastising look. “You need to decide whether you’re in the closet or out with that whole thing.”
Gareth took in the landscape again. “Nah, it keeps me mysterious.”
She saw the faraway look in his eyes. Mysterious wasn’t the right word. Unattainable was more like it. She bit her lip in dejection.
He turned back to her. “The next thing I knew, there was the blast and I was thrown like a rag doll through space. Or something.”
Or something. Seffy straightened despite the screaming of her ribs. Gareth put his gym-enhanced arm around her, encouraging her to lean against him. She took the opportunity to press her cheek against the soft brushed cotton of his designer turtleneck and inhale his cologne. Hopefully Verity wouldn’t suddenly appear and spoil the moment.
That’s big of you. She could’ve died in the blast. If it was a real blast, that is. Seffy peered around Gareth’s shoulder, unable to process the sight of desert terrain that met her eyes.
“You were with Verity, right?” he said. “Addison said you two were going to tan this morning.”
Seffy shifted at the mention of the ‘V’ word and let out a whimper of pain. Gareth soothed her for a moment, which gave her a chance to think. After all, when did she have a chance to cuddle with a dreamy hunk—even if was pretend? “Um, yes, she was there…but I don’t know what happened to her.” She peeked up at him to gauge his reaction to her words. Why did he care so much anyway? Sure, Verity was gorgeous, but she was more Pamela Lee than Marilyn. Seffy made a face. Maybe that was the problem.
Dammit.
Gareth shook his head as he looked around. “Man, where are we? There’s no way this is downtown L.A.”
She closed her eyes again, knowing she should be freaked, but her head hurt too much to think. Besides, her new tracksuit now had a huge hole in the knee, not to mention a broken zipper pull. Thank God this wasn’t real. On her salary from the clinic she couldn’t afford a new one.
Gareth carefully released her and stood up. “I have to try…to figure this out.”
Seffy noticed the way his Adam’s apple bobbed in the strong column of his throat. “Gareth, this is obviously a dream, right? I mean, if it was a real explosion, I’d be in the salon lobby, or at worst, the parking lot. Not some desert.”
“I don’t know,” he said, his voice hoarse as he stepped away from her.
As Gareth left to search through the rubble nearby, Seffy rested her head in her hands. This couldn’t be happening. She had to be in REM mode after a bender. In fact this event resembled her last unfortunate lapse in alcohol-related judgment. Except in that dream, talking birds and monkeys had abounded. She groaned, telling herself she’d soon wake up—chagrined and in need of Tylenol and white bread—but back in Normal Land. That awkward little chat she’d been having with Verity? All in her head.
Seffy tested her legs to make sure they worked, then checked the rest of her body and didn’t find any wounds. How had she escaped bodily harm? Duh, it’s a dream. You always wake up before you fall. She wrinkled her brow. Except my butt hurts. Struggling to her feet, she attempted a deeper breath. The pain had lessened a bit, but the air felt thick and hot, and tasted like burnt chemicals.
She watched Gareth paw through some rubble, but the debris could not possibly represent the strip mall where she’d been that afternoon, much less an entire city. If this was real and there had been some kind of mega blast, the buildings must have—
“It’s like they vaporized, Seffy!” Gareth yelled in a strangled voice. He hurried back to her and braced his hands against his thighs, breathing hard. “It doesn’t make sense! Verity, the girls. Do you think…?”
Seffy touched his shoulder, trying to be supportive. “Don’t say it.” He looked up at her and she offered a reluctant smile. “Let’s go and see if we can find…the others.”
Gareth straightened and took her hand. His touch made her want him all the more. They walked around fires burning in random spots and nudged through what little rubble littered the ground.
Shielding his eyes from the glare of the pink sun, Gareth blew out a breath. “Are we even in L.A? I mean, where are the fire trucks and ambulances? The skyscrapers? Where are the cars?”
“I know, right?” She stared at the glittering dirt, sage scrub, and angular bluffs stretching to the sherbet-hued horizon. “God, it’s just so detailed.” At his confused look, she shrugged. “Do you, uh, think it was a nuclear bomb or something?”
Gareth shook his head. “Doesn’t make sense that we’d survive. Remember, you and I weren’t even in the same vicinity when the blast happened. And we’re both more or less unharmed.”
“Riiight.” Seffy fought down a rising rush of panic. Maybe abject terror would force her awake. “Uh, you said something about Addison? And was Lani working today?” She rubbed her temple. “My head is killing me.” More evidence of drunkenness. Any minute now this will all fade away. And Gareth will remember he prefers me to Verity. I hope.
Gareth squeezed her hand. “Yes. Lani was working at the spa and Addison was supposed to meet me for lunch at Yoshi’s.”
“Wow, I really could go for some good sushi.” She bit the inside of her cheek at Gareth’s bleak expression. “Sorry, I guess levity’s not such a good idea right now.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “I just want to find our friends and figure out what happened.”
“Yeah.” But this is okay, too, right? We never get to be alone. Addison and Lani are always underfoot and then there’s Verity…and dammit, this is MY dream.
Seffy watched as Gareth flipped open his cell phone. She realized she didn’t have her purse. No phone, no makeup, no saline solution, no money. She wouldn’t be caught dead without her stuff In Real Life, so that just confirmed the obvious.
This was a dream.
Or a dream within a dream. Seffy suppressed a hysterical snicker.
After attempting to make a call, Gareth frowned and shoved the phone back into his pocket. He shook his head. “Nothing. Not even a network busy signal.”
Whoa. Her technology-challenged brain was getting it right even while unconscious.
Gareth looked up at the cotton-candy sky. Seffy watched his brows draw down over his chiseled yet sensitive features. The mellowing light tipped his fashion-mussed dark hair with a rosy glow. He was breathy-sigh handsome and they had nearly a lifetime of memories together. Something Verity couldn’t touch. And here he is. I have him all to myself. Anything goes in a dream, right? So should I jump his bones or play along? Or maybe Dream Gareth is too much like Real Gareth.
He cocked his head. “Did you hear that?”
Heat bloomed in her face. “Uh…what?” My lustful thoughts?
Gareth squinted into the distance.
She listened hard and was able to pick up a far off crying sound. “A wounded animal?” Symbolizing my sad lament that you won’t take what’s right in front of you?
“I think someone is hurt. C’mon.” He gripped her hand and pulled her along with him. Seffy gasped—a little louder than necessary—as her rib cage protested. He led her up and over a hill. Below was more glittery dirt
and some scrubby blue and yellowish-green vegetation. She spotted a flicker of purple through a clump of bushes. The sound got louder. Down the hill they went. Ouch ouch ouch. Okay, time to wake up.
“It’s Addison!”
Seffy squinted at the prone figure Gareth had identified as their friend. The red hair could be called a clue, but lots of people were redheads—
The figure scrambled to her feet at their approach. Damn, it was Addy. This dream now officially blows. Addison was not on her Favorite Persons List at the moment. The redhead been just awful lately. And since she had always been the prickly type, that was saying something. But that still didn’t explain her bitchy attitude. Even the usually calm and serene Lani hadn’t been herself. In fact everyone had been on edge in the last few months…right about the time Verity had shown up.
“Gareth? Oh, thank God!”
They were close enough now to see Addison’s face streaked with glittery grime and her eyes shiny with tears. She glanced at their clasped hands and frowned. Seffy lifted her chin. Even dream Addison intimidated her. “Are you okay?”
Addy motioned behind the bushes. “I’m fine, but I don’t know about her.”
Gareth dropped Seffy’s hand and went to investigate. Seffy followed, wishing she was still connected to him. She found Gareth kneeling next to an outstretched figure. “Lani?”
The brunette lay splayed in the dirt, her teal flowered dress covered in what looked like red diamond dust, her blue eyes wide, staring upwards. God, could this get any more bizarre? “Is she, uh, breathing?”
Gareth patted Lani’s face. “Are you still with us, sweetie?” Addison came around the bushes and crossed her arms over her chest, emitting a sniffle.
“Bonnie Bell.”
Seffy peered at Lani. On a good day she didn’t know whether her xippie friend was right in the head. “Bonnie Bell?”
Lani tilted her head up at Seffy. “Like the pink lip gloss we used in middle school. The sparkly stuff.”
“Okaaay.”
“She means the sky, you dolt.”
Seffy sent Addy a dark look. “Whatever.”
“How did you two get here?” Gareth brushed some dirt from Lani’s cheek.
Addison scrubbed the tears from her face. “I don’t know. One minute I was visiting Lani at Euphoria’s—”
“You mean hitting her up for a free spa treatment.”
“Sef,” Gareth said in a low voice.
“Yeah, shut up, Sef.” Addy took a deep breath. “The next minute there was this huge roar and we were yanked, thrown, whatever, from where we were. We woke up right here on the ground.”
“That’s what happened to me, too,” Seffy said, nonplussed. “How weird is that?”
Turning to Gareth, Addison pushed her hands through her hair. “What happened? Where are we?”
Lani smiled, staring up at the sky. “It was so cool. There was this white light, then an explosive noise, and flashes like disco lights from an 80s nightclub.”
Addison scanned their surroundings. When she turned back, there was moisture in her eyes. “I guess I was too freaked to take in all the details, but yeah, that sounds about right.”
Lani threw her arm over her head and began to sing.
“I am breathing and the earth glows for me right now all at once I’m in this place.”
Seffy’s brows went up. “You’re going to sing? God, all we need now is a herd of unicorns.”
Addison regarded her as if she were insane. Shouldn’t she be directing that look at Lani instead?
Lani’s thready voice ascended. “Misplaced in a different sphere, many miles from earth but what about it? I am breathing, I am breathing I AM BREATHING!”
“Okay, so you’re breathing.” Addy looked at Gareth. “This is what I’ve been dealing with instead of figuring out where the hell we are.”
Gareth’s gaze softened at Lani. “I remember that song, too. But sweetheart, we have a big problem to deal with.”
“Disco,” she whispered. “I miss it.” Lani struggled to her feet and began a slow spin, singing,
“I am breathing.”
Seffy looked around in alarm. “Okay, this needs to stop now. Someone might hear you.”
“It looks like we’re pretty much alone out here in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Yes, Addison, I noticed. But we can never be too careful even if it’s pretend.” Seffy pinned Lani with a gentle glare. “Understand?”
Lani didn’t appear to hear her, but spun into a kind of skip-dance, her arms outstretched. “Don’t you guys hear it?” She twirled past, her feet kicking up a cloud of sparkle dust. “Don’t you remember the old days?”
“Lani,” Addison said, “this is not the time for nostalgia. This is the time for panicking!”
Lani’s blue eyes came to rest on her. “Panic?”
Addison clenched her fists. “Look around! Something bad has happened!”
The brunette pressed her hands together. “Or, this is a new opportunity we’ve been presented with.”
“Have you been sniffing the botanicals again? We’re in the middle of a crisis!”
“Addison,” Gareth said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Seffy tucked her hands in the kangaroo pockets of her top. “Okay, we’re all stressed out. We just need to stay calm and…wake up.”
Addy spun around, her green eyes flashing. “So you’re the leader now? And where’s Verity? I thought she was with you.”
Seffy stared at her for a long moment. “I don’t know where she is.”
The redhead shoved her hair behind her ear with shaking hands. “I just think you’re getting high-handed.”
“We’re in the middle of a friggin’ dream. I’m sorry you didn’t like my tone.”
“You think this is a dream?”
Seffy regarded Addison with mounting fury. “And here I thought you considered yourself the smart one of the bunch.”
Addison rolled her eyes. “God, one of you is mental and the other is just plain nuts. I don’t know which is worse!”
Gareth came up to them with Lani in tow as she continued to hum and swirled her hands about. “Okay, we don’t know what happened or where Los Angeles went, but if we’re all here together, on some level it’s reasonable to think we’ll find Verity, too. So let’s look before it gets dark.”
“Verity?” Lani’s expression faltered and her movements ceased.
Addy crossed her arms, her face pale under the dirt. “She was with Seffy.”
“Look, I don’t have a clue where she is.” Seffy struggled to maintain a blank expression under Addison’s penetrating stare. “Anyway, this is stupid.”
“Interesting,” Addy said. “And I see you didn’t waste any time.”
Seffy blew out a tired sigh. “What are you talking about?”
Addy’s gaze swiveled to Gareth before returning to hers. “You know what I mean.”
Seffy made a face. “I’m ignoring that.” She turned to the others, deciding if she couldn’t wake herself up, she might as well avoid Addison’s veiled accusations. “Let’s go back up onto the hill. We’ll have a good vantage point up there. Maybe we’ll see Verity in the distance.”
“I hope for your sake we find her.”
“God, Addison, what is with you?” Seffy pivoted and marched back up the hill, the soft dirt sending up little glistening clouds under each step. Her throat was parched, her body ached, and now to complete the package, she had a serious pain in the butt following right behind her. Just like in real life—except for that whole sparkle dirt and pink sky part.
When she reached the top of the hill, she did a full sweep and saw nothing but colored sand, rocks, small fires, and inconsequential piles of debris. It just couldn’t be West Hollywood, even in a post-apocalyptic scenario. For one thing, there’d be more survivors. And maybe a burned-out food coach or two.
The others reached the summit and stood following her line of sight.
“No Verity?�
�� Lani asked.
“I don’t see another soul,” Seffy said, moistening her dry lips. The big magenta sun quavered low in the sky. Lightheaded and shaky, she wished she’d splurged on that pumpkin cranberry muffin for breakfast. Instead she’d had ice water with lemon. Dieting never seemed to do any damn good anyway and this just proved it. Then again, a lot of things might’ve changed had she known she was going to survive an explosion-thingie. Seffy smacked her hand against her forehead. Get a grip. This isn’t real.
“It’ll be dark soon,” Gareth said, coming up behind her. “Maybe we should try to look for shelter.”
Addison let out a sharp bark of laughter. “I’m looking. Not exactly seeing.”
“Well, let’s walk toward the sun to make the most of the remaining light,” he said, anxiety bleeding through the evenness of his tone. “Looks like there might be another hill in the distance. Maybe there’s something at the bottom of it.”
Addison pursed her lips. “Fine.”
Seffy pulled in a deep breath, wondering if the air was eco-friendly, and trudged down the hill toward the setting orb. As the others followed, she tried to make sense of their predicament. How could any of it be real? If there had been an explosion, there’d be more evidence—like raging infernos, twisted buildings…dead bodies. And the sky wouldn’t be the wrong color. Ergo, dream.
Pushing a windblown lock of hair from her eyes, she focused on a point in front of her, noticing it didn’t change much over the course of a mile or so. Lani continued to hum that tune, which probably explained why her skin felt full of the crawlies. Verity’s last words rang in her mind. It’s not the end of the world. But it just might be if Lani persisted in bringing up those stupid songs. Some things were best left in the past. As they’d agreed.
“Do you think it runs?”
Seffy turned to Lani. “Huh?”
Lani pointed down the second hill. “There’s a car down there behind those trees. Maybe it can take us home.”
Seffy refrained from pointing out that cars in dream world blast zones didn’t run. They mostly loomed, or in this case, squatted…menacingly.
“Looks like a Caddy,” Gareth said. “An old one.”
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