Visioness

by Lincoln Law

  “Call me a liar if you wish,” he responded, turning away from her. “I know I’m being honest, and that’s all I need to get me by. I am sure you will not go to prison; you will be cared for well. I have my people in position when you need them. Just step forward. Relinquish yourself to my care. I would do no harm to you, nor your sister, when the time comes for me to care for her. You want access to the money? This is fine! I can make that happen. Just hand yourself in.”

  “You have killed hundreds of people,” Adabelle replied. “You put Rhene in danger to save me.”

  “I put Rhene in danger to save you, yes. If I had not woken him and sent him to you, you would be dead. I’ll pretend those harsh words are your way of saying thanks.”

  “You sent those flaming Nhyxes!” Adabelle replied. “You sent them to harm us, to scare us. Don’t pretend you did something noble in waking Rhene up and sending him on his way!”

  “I don’t pretend it’s noble,” Therron replied. “I know what I did was right. I have my own reasons for my actions—mine and mine alone—and you are not in a position to question.” The pair stood there in silence for a time, Adabelle out of breath, Therron entirely too happy to be facing his daughter. “Now, I did not come here to argue. I came here with an offer. It is sitting there if you wish to take it. I have to power to hunt you down, but I may not be so obliging to reveal my connections if you get caught in any other manner than announcing yourself. I must go. Goodnight.”

  Before Adabelle could respond, he was gone, faded to the shadows. Adabelle stood there, breathing deeply, slowly. She took a moment to regain her composure and allowed herself to wake, eyes opening to the cold light of morning. The sky above still rumbled with a distant storm, the threat of rain remaining unfulfilled.

  I can’t risk him having any power in this situation, she thought, staring up at the sky from her uncomfortable position on the ground. I have to do this myself. I have to find the person who stole my money, track him down and get it back. I can’t take any help from him.

  She had a goal in mind now. She knew what she had to do. She took a moment to look down at herself, having forgotten for a moment that she didn’t have long hair anymore, and that her clothes weren’t clean. She had dreamt that.

  You used to dream of being a princess, she thought, laughing quietly to herself. How your dreams have become so simple so quickly.

  Her stomach grumbled. She had to get some food into her. Very simple, she added. She got up from the ground, dusting herself and her blanket down. As she did so, the first few droplets of rain began to spit forth from the sky.

  Well I can’t complain about the timing, she thought, as she ran from the bushes and towards the nearest shelter she could find as to avoid the rain.

  Tall, bald man with green eyes, she thought, reminding herself of who she sought. He’s who has my money; he’s the one I have to steal it back from.

  The problem remained, though: how was she meant to find a single man in a city of 750,000 people.

  I can do this, she thought determinedly. I have to, for Charlotte, so I can be with her again.

  Chapter Twenty

  The Discovery of a Sturding

  Adabelle endeavoured to keep a safe distance from Charlotte and Rhene while on the streets. So long as Therron and his agents were on the lookout, she had to keep her distance. It was one of the few things she could do to keep the pair safe.

  In a city of so many people, Adabelle was shocked how many close calls she had. Wandering the street, moving from park-to-park, pilfering food and stealing a nap when she could, Adabelle regularly found herself hiding after catching sight of Rhene’s serious expression, or a familiar face from the University. The wanted posters advertised a beautiful girl with flowing hair and clean features, and yet while strangers would not see that girl beneath the grit of the street, those that knew her would see right through it. She wondered, if Charlotte or Rhene found her, how would they respond? It was not an idea she relished, really. She imagined the conversation being difficult and awkward. They’d ask for reasons for her abandonment, and she would stammer and stutter and hope for an escape. None would arrive, though, and she would be forced to face those she had abandoned.

  I haven’t abandoned them, she thought, correcting herself. I have to do this to protect them. I need to do this.

  While on the streets, she kept an open eye for the tall bald figure the banker had described. She imagined a shining bald head, stygian eyes sunken deep into the milky-coloured face. The colours of his irises were bright and shone with an inner, demonic light. It sent shivers up her spine, brought her uncomfortable, cold nightmares in the evenings spent under the stars and the elements.

  These nightmares continued night-after-night, joining her fears for her sister, her fears for Rhene. Therron seemed to avoid her for some time, keeping a distance, yet somehow she felt he was still aware of her movements. Still sure of what she was doing. Her actions had never been a secret to the man she’d once known as her father, and now was surely no exception. She may be able to evade the police, but Therron was an entirely different challenge.

  She attempted, in a moment of silent contemplation, to justify his actions in her mind.

  He’s keeping his distance to create a false sense of security, she thought. He’s staying away from me to make me think I might be free for the time. But he knows better; he’s a crafty man. If I deny him that then I am in denial myself.

  He was a powerful man, with connections. Like a puppeteer, controlling his show, he held the strings, moved the bodies from a place unseen to the rest of the world. From the shadows he could watch, from the shadows he could check, and from the shadows he could stay safe.

  That’s it! she exclaimed, rising up from her space in the bushes, nearly bursting with excitement. I can check on Charlotte from the Dream! In there, I can just ensure she’s somewhere safe, being cared for like she’s meant to be. She paused at that thought. I can also check the block, insure she has not cracked the key holding her mind intact. With her moving about—as I’m sure she’s been—there is a chance she may interact with people who have connections to Therron. The key to the mindlock could be somewhere there.

  That night, the sky turned silver with cloud, and then that silver faded to black. The wind blew, cold and biting, before the rain joined it. Adabelle found a park bench under which she could hide. The ground beneath was a concrete foundation holding the bench in place, but the wooden slates were near enough together to block a majority of the rain drops. There was still the bleak, there was still the dark, but in the blanket there was also warmth and in her mind there was hope. She stepped into the Dream from her sleep, dipping under suddenly despite the weather.

  She appeared as she had before running away, with her long hair smooth and shiny, her skin clean, and a scent of vanilla wafting gently about her. Ever since discovering it had been her mother’s perfume, that scent had started to follow her into the dream. She didn’t mind really; it reminded her of an easier day long ago, before her mother was gone.

  From within the Dream, she could gather direction, sensing the minds of those around her. She ran through shifting dreamscapes, traveling through fields of grass, stepping on clouds of alabaster brilliance; she swam through oceans of crystalline water and across deserts swept by rainless storms that rumbled in her mind as if her own body were actually being shaken by those sounds.

  She could feel her sister’s mind in the distance; she knew how it felt after all this time. She felt voids everywhere, really—people who were not sleeping, people who had taken Slugleaf tea; though the latter’s voids felt liquid somehow, as if a hard enough push would break the barrier. Her sister’s void of mind, however, was firm like crystal and black like an abyss. As she reached it, she touched it, and felt the cold stretch of nothing that guarded Therron’s greatest secret.

  If only I could break it, she thought, staring into the dark glass. If only I could release the truth.

  She kn
ew not where Charlotte was living. It looked to be some kind of dormitory, but this one was filled with beds of sleeping girls, all of their dreams so tightly sewn they seemed to cross over in places. Adabelle had heard of people sharing dreams, but she had never considered that physical distance could play a role.

  As she stared at her sister, though, she saw that she looked peaceful here and happy.

  A second later she heard a voice.

  Her sister’s voice.

  Her sister wasn’t asleep. Her eyes were closed, and the blankets were pulled up high, but she was not sleeping.

  She was praying.

  “Adabelle,” her sister whispered. “Adabelle, wherever you are, I’m hoping you are safe. I’ve seen the wanted posters up around the city, and I’m scared if they catch you that I’ll lose you for good. Detective Olin came to me today to ask me some questions, but Rhene intervened and stopped them.”

  Adabelle stopped, taken aback, almost thrown back to her own mind with surprise. “Rhene has stayed,” she whispered to herself. “I could never….” She felt her fondness for this man grow.

  “He told them to leave and to return when it was more appropriate. I know you had your reason for leaving, but I hope you come back at some point. I miss my sister.”

  Adabelle turned away, unable to stay. It wasn’t her place to hear her little sister’s prayers, not while she was unaware of her presence. They were her private thoughts, and not her place.

  “If she can hear this,” Charlotte went on, as Adabelle moved further and further away, “then tell her I love her.” Adabelle stopped, pausing on the edge of the Dream. “Tell her I miss her, and that I hope she’ll come home safely. Thank you.”

  “I will,” Adabelle replied, smiling, “I promise.”

  As she turned back to leave, she found herself facing Therron. She had not noticed the music while listening to her sister’s prayers, but heard it now in a moment of dreadful hindsight.

  “Evening, Adabelle,” Therron said.

  “Therron,” Adabelle replied.

  “Checking on your sister?” he asked.

  “I am,” she replied. “Is that not allowed?”

  “No, that’s quite all right,” he replied. “Shows you’re a good sister. A loving sister. Making sure she’s safe in these troubling times.”

  “Why do you care?” Adabelle asked. “You’re the one who put us in this situation.”

  Therron’s expression filled with tricky mirth at this, and he took a few steps around Adabelle. “Families are complicated things, Adabelle. People growing and living together in close quarters, entirely due to blood ties that keep them bound. It is an odd concept when one really, truly thinks about it, but there it is. You feel connected to your sister because you love her. You feel you need to protect her because of this distance and the uncertainty.”

  “I do,” Adabelle said.

  “And that is the same reason I care. I have my own ends to meet, but I am still a human. At the end of the day, that’s all we are.” He paused here, turning from the shadow lying in the bed, to Adabelle. “I have made mistakes in my life, Adabelle. Many, many terrible errors, and some would argue that I deserve some of the heartache I have been forced to suffer. But if I go through my entire life knowing nothing else but this one fact, I will be happy.”

  “What is it?” Adabelle asked. “This fact?”

  “That despite all these errors, I did something right. There was something I didn’t do wrong. It was fathering you two, bringing you both into the world. I’ve done very little right in my life, but that one thing I did properly, and I am proud to call you my daughters.”

  Though I’d hardly call you father, she retorted inwardly. She would have called a bluff, claiming that he was luring her into a trap, were it not for the fact that no one could lie in the Dream.

  “For this reason, I’d like to offer you an escape,” he said. “A way to be with your sister, to have your money back. You wouldn’t have to worry about sleeping on the street as you have been, or restricting your visits to her to the Dream Frequencies. You could be with her in person once more, under a roof, where—even from a distance—I can make your life easier.”

  “What do you want from me in return?” she asked. There was a catch; there had to be.

  “I have my price for these actions,” he said. “All you have to do is turn yourself into the police.”

  Adabelle scoffed at this. “And take the blame for you actions?”

  “I have my connections,” he said. “I can promise that if you turn yourself in, I can protect you. If the police are the ones to find you, then I cannot promise such a thing.”

  “And why is that?” Adabelle asked.

  “Well it’s a legal matter,” he replied. “It’s always easier to protect someone who has voluntarily stepped forth than for someone who has been chased down and captured.”

  She nodded, seeing the sense in that.

  “There’s that,” Therron said, “and quite honestly I do not like having my agents hunt you. It’s hardly an easy target when you’re running about.”

  Adabelle shivered.

  “With that said,” he continued, “I will now leave you. Think about my offer. It’s a rather fair agreement, really. And make sure you do this before my agents find you. Do the right thing for your sister; step forward. I cannot guarantee protection otherwise.”

  Therron disappeared, just as a familiar voice whispered, “Charlotte.”

  Adabelle turned around. She had never been able to hear people who were awake in the dream before, and yet now she could. She didn’t understand it, but she was thankful regardless.

  Rhene sat on the edge of Charlotte’s bed, one hand resting on her arm, his fingers patting comfortingly. He was not dreaming, so his figure was misted and opaque, and not quite fully formed in the Frequencies. Charlotte’s body, however, was a solid shape of moving glass, turned to darkness by the mindlock.

  “Hello, Rhene,” Charlotte said, sounding slightly surprised. “How did you get in here? I thought they didn’t let boys in here after lights out.” She paused, eyes widening. “That and you don’t even live here at the moment.”

  “I have my ways,” he replied, winking.

  Charlotte smiled.

  “You’re staying brave for me?” he asked with a smile. He looked so handsome when he did that.

  “I am,” she replied.

  “And you’re praying for your sister?”

  “Every night,” she replied.

  “Very good,” he said. “I promised your sister I’d look after you while she was in hiding.”

  He’s lying to her! she thought with a shocked expression. It took a moment for her to realise why. He doesn’t want her worrying. He wants to keep her happy, stop her from trying to find me. If she thinks I’ve gone into hiding, and that I haven’t just run away, she would still have some hope in her; she’d still have something to keep her going.

  “Well I’m happy to hear you’re okay then,” Rhene said. “I just wanted to check that you were okay before I went home.”

  “Where have you been?” asked Charlotte.

  “I had to talk to the detectives,” he replied. “They seem pretty certain Adabelle started the fire, and I don’t think any words from me are going to sway them. They are particularly…err…stubborn.”

  “As most of them are,” Charlotte said.

  The minute of contented silence passed between the two, Charlotte taking a moment to shuffle back down into bed.

  “I’ll be back again to check on you tomorrow,” he said. “Be good.”

  “I will,” she replied. Rhene rose from the bed, smiling at Adabelle’s sister before he left the dark dormitory.

  Charlotte was quick to fall asleep. She didn’t fret at any point, nor did she look too worried. She was concerned, that was true, but she was a smart, mature girl. So often Adabelle forgot she was only four years her junior. She was old enough to be making her own decisions, to not get scared w
hen she was left alone.

  Part of her still felt a strong, irrevocable desire to protect the girl, though. She had to insure her sister’s safety at all times. If Therron or his agents were able to get hold of her, her life would be over. She might as well hand herself over to the police then and there.

  “I should check on Rhene, too,” she thought, running through the Dream Frequencies towards where she could sense Rhene’s mind. He walked down the street at a brusque pace, gently humming as he walked. It seemed to Adabelle, the more of the real world she wished to touch, the more she could see. She could force herself to see the buildings around her, to see the wet cobbles from the rain of the night, the gentle, ethereal glow of the street lamps guiding Rhene on his way.

  Adabelle suddenly realised she had never seen where Rhene lived. She followed him.

  Further down the street she wandered, passing through the Frequencies, yet somehow still bound mostly to the images of the real world. Occasionally she would see the grass field of a particularly strong dream—a beach here, a mosquito-laden jungle there—but mostly she saw Odilla, with its straight broad avenues and the thin, tall alleys that divided the houses, illuminated only by the bars of light shining from the walkways.

  Rhene arrived at a squat, square, plain building. Adabelle recognised it without a second glance.

  “The Dreamless?” she thought. “But…how? Surely not!”

  Yet he went inside, and she followed, passing through the door like a ghost. He went up the halls towards his own private room. Once there, he changed out of his clothes. His torso was exactly as she had imagined it, his chest well defined, his arms large from exercise. She turned away when he removed his trousers, glancing back only once she was sure he was in his bed.

  “You’re a Dreamless,” she thought, suddenly realising why he had been so adamant about him visiting her whenever they would meet. Whenever she had sent a reply telegram, she had simply provided a name and they were delivered to the reply address at the telegram office. That was how it worked. “We weren’t ever meant to be together,” she realised out loud. If she had known that before, she never would have gone on that first date.