Dream (The Waking Sleep Book 2)

by Lucy Adler

  She glanced up at Helena with a timid look on her face, shrugging her shoulders as she did. She wasn’t sure what to expect.

  The older woman leaned forward, her long, silvery hair shimmering in the sunlight as a few strands touched the snow.

  “No one is ‘normal’, Daria,” she said with a soft smile and a gentle tone. “You have to lay that burden down.”

  It wasn’t so much that Daria understood exactly what Helena meant - it was more that she felt it, right in the pit of her stomach. And it was a curious feeling, like excitement at hearing joyful news mixed with the shock of hearing someone expose your darkest secrets. The two rivers of emotions merged within her, carrying her forward.

  “I’d like you to lie down,” Helena said. “Dig out some of the snow. I want you to lie on the ice, flat against the lake.”

  Daria obeyed, carving out a space for herself. Then she laid down. Despite her warm clothing, the chill of the ice crept in around her neck and the backs of her legs. But she did her best to ignore it.

  “Now, I want you to listen closely and carefully. I want you to listen deeply.”

  “For what?”

  “Just be still.”

  Daria closed her eyes, partly to help her focus, partly because the sun was shining in all its strength, without a cloud in the sky. She tried to slow down her breathing by taking a few long breaths and relaxing her body as much as possible.

  She wasn’t sure how long it took.

  Minutes? Hours? She lost track of time.

  But she began to hear something.

  At first, it sounded like water droplets falling in a cave, their gentle splosh echoing off its walls.

  Then another sound stirred. Like wind rushing through the same cave.

  But it wasn’t howling, or blowing.

  It just... was.

  An ever-present whoosh that sounded as if the wind were all around her yet moving neither here nor there.

  Then a final sound arose. Like the gentle reverberations of a distant bell, echoing and rolling through the depths of the ocean.

  She could almost feel the waves of sound washing over her, then receding.

  Washing, then receding.

  Daria allowed the three sounds to perform their symphony for her.

  And she smiled as she lay on the ice, the sun warming her face.

  ____________________________

  “That was really all coming from the lake?”

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? People in the Former Days used to say that Yellowstone Lake sang in winter.”

  “You’d never expect that from here,” Daria said, looking back for a second as they trudged up the shoreline to the road.

  “So,” Helena said with a huff as she pushed her way through a snow drift, “tomorrow I’ll have you spend the day with Livy. She’ll talk to you about your visionary abilities and help you understand them better. Then, after that, I’ll have you spend some time with Brett exploring something new.”

  “What’s his ‘thing’?”

  “Oh, it’s pretty fun!”

  “You’re not going to tell me?”

  “All I’ll say is, if your friend Aurora were here, I’d have her teach you about it. She’s something of a prodigy in that particular area.”

  “I’ve been wondering about what she can do. Alright, now I’m super excited!”

  They waited by the road for maybe ten minutes before Livy showed up to take them back to the settlement, where they warmed up with some hot tea and a tasty dinner.

  ____________________________

  “Sounds like it was a pretty awesome time.”

  “Yeah, definitely!”

  Daria, Brix, and Jake sat together in her room, catching up with each other before the day was over.

  “I knew you’d like Helena,” Jake said.

  “She’s an interesting woman,” Daria replied, stretching out and resting her legs on Brix, who was sitting on the end of her bed. “But what about those greenhouses?” she asked her. “I’d still like to see them. It blows me away that they can grow food up here!”

  “Oh, yeah, they’re cool,” Brix said, a little apathetically. “I guess they bring up heat from the ground through tubes or something, then there were some fans and lamps and plants. Oh, but it was hot in there. I had to take off my coat. And Brett looks great in a t-shirt!” she said with a flick of her eyebrows.

  “Poor Brianna,” Daria said, shaking her head. “She’s smitten!”

  “Not like you ever said anything similar about a certain person who shall go nameless... but who just so happens to be sitting on the floor of your room right now?” her friend replied, giving her a challenging stare.

  Daria kicked her with her heel as both she and Jake blushed.

  “And besides,” Brix continued, “apart from a few sports, you never saw guys in t-shirts back in Progress. The standard wardrobe wasn’t exactly flattering on anybody!”

  “That’s true,” Daria conceded, remembering how many times she used to sigh as she put on her grey school uniform. “Well, I think I’m ready for sleep,” she added with a yawn. “How about you guys?”

  “Looking forward to it!” Brix said. “I’m sure it’ll become a chore at some point, but it’s still kind of exciting,” she laughed.

  Dara glanced over at Jake.

  He almost seems sad. Or is he just tired?

  “You alright?” she asked.

  “Oh yeah, totally fine,” he said, giving her a smile and a quick thumbs-up. “I think I’m just ready for some rest, too.”

  ____________________________

  The three of them shared a bathroom just a few doors down from their bedrooms. Brix was the last to use it that night.

  She brushed her teeth, then spent a few minutes staring at herself in the mirror. She pulled her curly red hair back, then to the left, then the right. She twisted it to make it thinner, then pushed it up at the back to make it look bigger.

  “Meh, I’ll decide in the morning,” she finally whispered to herself as she tied it back in a loose bun to keep it from getting in the way while she washed her face.

  She leaned down and splashed a few handfuls of water on her cheeks. It was cold but it felt refreshing.

  Then, as her right hand came back down to the sink to turn off the tap, she got a shock that sent adrenaline coursing through her system.

  Her fingers were changing.

  Grey, then black, then translucent. Wave after wave, rolling up from her fingertips to her wrist, then beyond to her forearm.

  “What the hell?”

  She tried to grab her arm with her other hand but then realised that both were now pulsing with the same bizarre energy.

  She grabbed the sides of the sink. She could still feel the porcelain but it was different now.

  It was almost as if she wasn’t in control of her hands.

  Or, rather, she wasn’t the only one controlling them.

  Brix looked up at her face in the mirror. Beads of sweat covered her forehead as her heart raced.

  Then she noticed her eyes.

  More waves washed over them, just like her arms.

  Grey, then black, then translucent. One after the other, her eyes in constant, fluid motion.

  And even though she could still see, it was different now.

  It felt as if she were sharing them.

  As if someone else were seeing through her.

  Then a series of images flashed across her vision. Fleeting snapshots flickering on and off.

  That old guy from the Grayson home, the one that had questioned her about Daria. A dark street corner. Then a black chair in a laboratory. Then a syringe and a vial filled with purple liquid.

  Brix closed her eyes as tightly as she could, trying to shut out the images. She dropped to her knees and leaned over until her forehead touched the floor.

  “Please stop! Please stop!”

  She rocked back and forth, hugging her arms to her chest.

  “Pleas
e, please, please...”

  Suddenly, a wave of nausea welled up inside her. She spun around and lifted the toilet seat just in time as she vomited so hard, she thought her stomach would come up with it.

  Her head felt light and dizzy.

  She glanced down just as her hands turned back to their normal colour.

  She eased herself down until she was lying on the floor, her body weak and trembling, every joint aching.

  Then she fell asleep.

  9

  Year: 47

  (13 years ago)

  JUST ROUTINE STUFF

  01:41

  01:42

  01:43

  The minutes felt like hours as Lena stared anxiously at the clock beside their bed.

  01:44

  Just one more minute. She tried to stay perfectly still.

  01:45

  The clock came to life with a mind-numbing mix of squealing and chirping.

  She waited a few seconds.

  Her husband stirred, then reached out and turned off the alarm on his nightstand. It had gone off at the exact same time. She waited another second or two, then turned off hers.

  “Good morning,” he said, rolling over with a long sigh and greeting her with a smile.

  “Good morning, my love,” she replied, blinking her eyes a few times as if she were dispelling the haze of sleep from them. “I’ll get some breakfast started.”

  “That would be lovely.”

  She tried to remember what it was like getting out of bed after her 45. The lag was different on Sendrax than without it. How quickly did she used to move? It felt like a distant dream now.

  “Actually, honey,” her husband called to her from the bathroom down the hall, “I’ll just take some toast and juice. I just remembered I’ve got a meeting first thing. And they usually have breakfast for us.”

  “Ok, sounds good!” she called back.

  They only spent five or six minutes together at the table that morning before she was kissing him goodbye at the front door.

  “I’ll be back to pick you up around seven. Will you be ready by then?”

  “Of course.”

  “It’s exciting to be going to the Assembly this year as one of the panel, instead of the one being inducted.”

  “I’m so proud of you, Charlie!”

  They kissed again and then she locked the door behind him.

  As usual, she watched his car pull out of the drive. Then she waited fifteen minutes just in case he forgot something and came home again.

  It had become her routine and her body was used to it. The only difficult part was lying awake during his 45, trying not to wake him up and trying not to fall asleep until after he left. His morning was the end of the day for her.

  It was 02:01. She set her alarm for 11:00, then set her husband’s for 17:00, so she wouldn’t be late getting ready for the evening.

  Then she shut the door, pulled the blinds, and climbed back into bed.

  ____________________________

  She was staring down at herself.

  So peaceful on the bed.

  She walked down the hall and into the living room, then she looked out the front window.

  It was a beautiful day, the sun shining brightly, not a cloud in the sky.

  GO.

  She followed the impulse and walked out the front door and into the street. She was still in her pajamas and slippers but there was no one around. Not even a car passing by on the road.

  GO.

  She stretched her arms out at her sides and leaned her head back.

  She gave herself to the voice within.

  Her body rose through the air, climbing higher and higher.

  She didn’t look around, or back down at the ground.

  She kept her head back as she ascended, past the winds that carved pathways through the sky, past the highest heights where birds dared to fly.

  LOOK.

  Her climb had ceased and she lowered her head now, glancing around her at the almost infinite expanse stretching out in every direction.

  Then she looked down.

  The white and grey city sparkled in the sunlight of the clear autumn day. It’s network of roads extended like veins through a living thing, pulsing with the movement of people and their plans. She could almost feel its breath rising up through the sky and warming her face.

  And there was a humming sound.

  Faint but distinct.

  A vibration, perhaps?

  Just then, she noticed something pass between the sunlight and the city.

  A shadow cast from the East.

  She looked toward the horizon and saw a cloud. An unnatural cloud, moving of its own accord, without concern for wind or weather.

  It swirled and churned as it glided across the landscape.

  And it grew darker the closer it came to the city, until its blackness seemed to absorb all the light in its path.

  As it arrived at the limits of Progress, she noticed something else.

  A tail, like a river of ink, followed it, dripping upon everything below. Dripping and staining, until a streak, much like the cloud itself, marred the earth.

  She looked back down at the city beneath her.

  The cloud was within it now, twisting and weaving between the buildings, wrapping itself around them. It crept its way to the very centre, then spiralled outward.

  Then she watched in horror as the ink-like substance dripped and ran down every structure and every street, staining them until they were so dark, their forms were difficult to discern from one another.

  And instead of the white and grey city sparkling in the light of the autumn morning, she now watched as cracks formed across its blackened surface. A million - no, an innumerable web of fractures radiating out from the centre until the city collapsed under the weight of itself.

  And, as it breathed its last, a foul stench rose to meet her.

  ____________________________

  Lena sat up with a gasp as the alarm clock scared her awake.

  As she reached to turn it off, she realised that it wasn’t hers. It was her husbands. Which meant it was now five o’clock in the evening.

  She had slept almost fifteen hours.

  Her legs were weak as she tried to get out of bed. They wobbled a little as she made her way into the bathroom to get ready for the evening.

  She leaned over and splashed some water on her face a few times, then rubbed her hands on her cheeks.

  As she looked up at herself in the mirror, her hands still on her face, she paused.

  “What the...?”

  It was only a flash. But she was sure she had seen it.

  A purple glow, illuminating her eyes.

  She blinked but it was gone.

  ____________________________

  “Stunning, as always, Lena!”

  “You’re too kind!”

  The older man kissed the back of her hand and then continued to mingle with the other guests.

  “Thanks for not minding,” Charlie whispered to her. “You know, staying later than normal.”

  “You’re a rising star, dear. You mustn’t deny your fans!”

  He laughed and gave her a quick kiss on the side of the head.

  “I’m going to catch up with that group over there. You don’t mind if I leave you alone?”

  “Of course not. Have fun!”

  Lena refilled her glass at the drinks table, then made a slow lap around the large conference hall. The conversations of dozens of men in black suits and women in grey dresses rose up and echoed off the vaulted ceiling.

  But then, beneath the words and laughter, she heard something else.

  The humming.

  From her dream.

  Low and faint but unmistakable.

  Her body suddenly felt warm as panic began to grip her. All she could see in her mind was the cloud, the blackness, the inky tail staining everything until the city crumbled into nothing.

  She walked as quickly as she could
to the bathroom, not wanting to make a scene by running.

  She locked the door and looked in the mirror.

  “Oh my...”

  She touched her face as she stared at her purple eyes, pulsating with some mysterious light.

  She blinked. And blinked again.

  It wasn’t fading.

  “How can I... What’s happening to me?”

  She grabbed the sides of the sink and closed her eyes as tightly as she could. She tried to think about Charlie, about home, about their wedding day. Anything to make the moment pass.

  But it didn’t pass.

  It only grew stronger.

  She opened her eyes again. She was staring down at her hands on the sink as they suddenly began to darken. Then flecks of purple appeared peppered throughout, like stars in the night sky.

  “No, no, no...”

  She lifted her hands and moved them around. They felt lighter but brimming with energy at the same time.

  She didn’t want to understand it, though. She just wanted it to stop. She needed it to stop.

  The panic kept growing in her chest as her heart felt like it would leap out at any second.

  She was sweating now and her knees were shaking.

  Before she could catch herself, she let out a scream.

  “No!”

  Then everything faded to black and she collapsed on the floor.

  ____________________________

  “There she is!”

  She felt a hand gently stroking her head.

  “Oh, Lena, I’m so glad you’re alright! You scared me half to death. You scared the whole crowd half to death!”

  Lena looked around the room as everything came into focus. She was in a hospital bed, and Charlie was standing beside her.

  “What happened?” she asked.