by M. Kircher
My mouth opens to scream, but Gabe clamps his hand over my lips and his arms encircle me. "Shut up," he rumbles in a low voice and begins to drag me towards the nearest doorway. There are more gunshots, and I realize only the monster-men have guns, everyone else is just a target. The creatures mow down anyone in their path, and blood quickly covers the streets. My body goes limp, and I let Gabe pull me with the crowd toward cover. I have no idea where Evan is.
The people all around us are frantic with fear, and I'm somehow ripped from Gabe's strong grasp. I'm carried like the tide into a dark archway and can do nothing as the sweaty, panicked bodies pack me in.
"Emily!" I hear Gabe call out, but he can't get through. And then I'm alone, in the dark, with a bunch of people breathing what might be their last breaths.
I try to get a grip. "This isn't real. This isn't real," I mutter over and over. It's just a nightmare, and nightmares can't hurt me. And while my mind knows the truth of this, my senses tell me otherwise. This is why I hate walking through dreams; no matter how much you know in your head, your feelings are what always dictate your reality.
Chapter Eighteen
It smells in here. It's hot, and there are too many bodies packed into what must be some kind of bakery. There are loaves of bread stacked all around, and the smell of yeast mixes with sweat. I think I'm going to be sick.
It's so dark inside I can't see much, but I can hear, all too clearly, the gunshots and screaming out on the streets. I feel hot breath on my neck, and then, before I can turn to see who's breathing on me, I'm shoved hard from behind. I stumble awkwardly to the side and a bunch of terrified people with wide, white eyes push me back up. A large man shuffles right up in front of me. His face is close to mine, and I can feel his beard tickle my skin. He starts yelling at me in a foreign language, and even in the dim light, I can see enough to tell his features are twisted with anger. I try to move away from him, but there are too many people in the room — there is nowhere to go. The man grabs my arms and starts shaking me, his angry spittle flying all over my face.
I try to smile and show him I'm not dangerous, but this only seems to enrage the man more. He grabs the neck of my T-shirt and starts to shove me out of the doorway. He wants me back out on the street with the monsters and the guns. He must think I'm some kind of threat, with my strange modern clothes.
My body twists, and I try to scramble away, but my sneakers just slide on the dirt floor. My heart is racing. Mr. Angry Man is trying to get me killed.
I push back against his large, sweaty body, but I can tell it's a battle I'm not going to win. He's just too big and too strong. Just as I'm about to try kneeing him in the groin, the man's head snaps to the side at an odd angle. His eyes roll back into his head, and his entire body goes slack. The crowd pressed inside the small room moves as far out of the way as they can, forming a ring around the man slumping to the ground; he's out cold. The people around me shift nervously and mutter amongst themselves.
I squint in the dim light to try and figure out who just rescued me, and I'm completely shocked when Gabe's perfect features materialize out of the gloom. He yanks on my arm.
"Come on," he prods urgently, and he starts pulling me through the people towards what must be the back of the bakery. I see rows of faintly glowing adobe ovens lining one wall.
"Where did you learn to hit like that?" I whisper as I follow him past wondering eyes. I've never seen an actual fight before, except on a wall screen. We're not allowed to engage in any kind of civilian violence. It's against the law, and most people don't like to get arrested — except, I guess, for Gabe.
"Kickboxing class," Gabe answers shortly, and he elbows an alarmingly fat woman who's shrouded in layers of dusty fabric out of the way. He pushes on a wooden door hidden behind a curtain on the back wall of the room. Thin shafts of light spill through the doorway. Gabe steps out into the light and pulls me after him.
The brightness and the heat hit me like a wall, and for a moment, all I can do is blink.
"Wait…just…a second," I pant and rest my hands on my knees. My sneakers are coated with sand; you can't even tell they used to be blue. In fact, all of me is dust-covered. I am dry and sweaty at the exact same time.
I lift my head and realize both Gabe and Evan are staring at me, concerned expressions on their faces. I shield my eyes from the burning sun with my hand and discover we're in a narrow alley, with two rows of adobe houses flanking either side. The houses provide some measure of shade, but not much. The sun shines mercilessly overhead in the cloudless sky.
"Kickboxing?" I ask, straightening and taking a deep breath. Ooh, the air burns. "Who takes kickboxing anymore? Didn't they get rid of all that violent stuff ages ago?"
I see Gabe's shoulders relax and he grins. The guy must have actually been worried about me. "My folks didn't want me to be a wimp," he explains. "You know, with having scientists for parents and all. They thought I should be well rounded, so they found a guy to teach me self-defense. Comes in pretty handy, now and again."
"Well, thanks." I squint up at him and feel the corners of my mouth tug up into a smile. "What you did was kind of awesome." Gabe's eyes twinkle in response, and my stomach does a couple of flip-flops.
"Are you two finished batting your eyelashes at each other?" Evan's anxious voice cuts through our little moment. His plaid shirt has been removed, and the white T-shirt below is already covered in sweat stains. So gross.
Evan flinches as another gunshot shot rings out, and his eyes dart back and forth. "Can we please leave and find Lily?" he asks nervously. "I'd rather not know what it feels like to be shot to death. Especially by one of those creatures." He shudders.
I shake my head. Mom! How could I have forgotten about her? "Yes. Right. Of course."
Evan motions down the alley. "This way leads out of the marketplace, and I spotted a little circle of what looks like a bunch of ruins just outside the town. Do you think Lily could be out there?"
I consider for a moment, flinching whenever another echoing gunshot sounds from the marketplace. And then something clicks in my mind. Mom's picture was taken with the desert in the background, but she and Dad were standing next to a pile of old ruins. And then I remember something else.
Dad used to tell me a story about one of the times he and Mom got sent on an assignment together. It had been somewhere overseas, and they had been covering a peacemaking story, or something of a political nature. I don't remember all the details. A group of local militia had opened up fire on a marketplace to protest the peacemaking efforts. Dad explained it had been the first time Mom watched a person die. She'd called the soldiers monsters, not understanding how anyone could ever be so callous and cruel. How could I not have remembered this story when I first discovered the picture of them in the desert?
"Em? What is it?" Gabe questions me, and I snap back to the present moment.
"We have to go to the ruins," I announce and start marching out of the alleyway. My parents must have taken the picture before coming to the marketplace. "I think Mom might be there."
"Emily, wait up!" Evan calls out as he and Gabe rush to follow me.
I don't turn around; there isn't any time to waste.
Chapter Nineteen
Word of the massacre in the marketplace has obviously not reached the small crowd of people milling quietly about the crumbling remains of a small pyramid.
Gabe, Evan, and I decide to split up, hoping one of us will spot Mom. I figure if she's here, she shouldn't be too hard to find. Most of these people have dark olive skin, dark eyes, and black hair. Mom's alabaster complexion and glowing blond hair should stick out like a sore thumb.
"Mom!" I call out softly. I don't want to be too loud and draw unnecessary attention to us. A couple of people shoot me annoyed looks, so I duck my head and move to another part of the ruins. "Lily!" I try again, but I can't see her anywhere.
Where could she be? And how much time did we waste back in the market? I have no way of knowin
g how soon I will need to wake us all up.
"Emily! Over here!" It's Evan's voice echoing across the sand, and I spot him in the shade of one of the corners of the pyramid.
"Excuse me, excuse me," I mumble, pushing my way through a couple who are holding hands, and run towards him. I see Gabe running as well, from the opposite corner of the ruins. Both of us reach Evan at the same time.
There she is! Hunched down in the shade of a secluded corner of the pyramid is my mother. My heart leaps. Finally, we've found her. Mom leans against the hot brick wall, and her face is buried in her arms. Evan stands awkwardly over her, one of his hands resting on her shoulder. I see she's wearing khaki pants, a faded purple shirt, and work boots. Something I think must be a camera bag is slung over her right shoulder.
I squat down on my haunches next to Mom and discover she's crying. Deep, wrenching sobs tear out of her throat. I reach out and touch her face, but she jerks away.
"Mom, it's okay. It's just me," I try to reassure her.
She stares at me then, her eyes red and puffy, and tear tracks staining her dust-covered cheeks.
She gulps down a sob. "Who are you?" she asks, and I almost fall over backward in surprise. Her eyes are wild. They dart nervously between Gabe, Evan, and me. Mom scrambles to her feet and starts to back away from the three of us. I can tell she's close to screaming.
"Mom! Wait. It's me, Emily. Your daughter. Don't you know me?"
Mom wipes the back of her hand across her face, smearing the sand and her tears. "I don't know what you're talking about," she sniffles in a trembling voice. "Is this all some kind of sick joke? First Aldo disappears…and now you crazy people are trying to tell me I have a daughter?" Her eyes go suddenly hard. "What's going on?" she demands. "What have you done with my husband?"
Evan holds up his hands and tries to calm Mom down. "Mrs. Dal Monte, please. No one is trying to hurt you or deceive you. My name is Evan Baxter, and I can assure you we've done nothing to your husband. I promise."
"How do you know my name?" Mom all but shrieks at us. This is not going well. People in the crowd are starting to stare.
"What happened to your husband?" I ask in what I hope is a calming tone. But inside, I'm panicking. She doesn't know me. My own mother doesn't know me. This is bad. She's truly losing her mind.
"He disappeared," Mom sniffs. "Just faded away into thin air. What did you do with him?" she wails. "I've searched everywhere. Called his name a hundred times, but everyone just stares at me as if I'm crazy." She buries her face into her hands again and collapses into another round of tears.
"There, there." Evan awkwardly tries to comfort her by patting the top of her head a couple of times. He shoots me a look that screams, "What do I do now?"
I rub the back of my neck and try to think. If I try to force Mom to remember me and realize this is all a dream, she might never wake up. In this emotional state, trying to tell her all those details might completely fracture her mind, or worse. But before I can come up with some kind of plan, the dream decides it's had enough. Or maybe Mom's mind has had enough. I see the people around us begin to slow, and the sand underneath my feet starts to tremble. The dream is shifting. We have no time.
Gabe's eyes widen next to me, and he points at something behind my head. I twist to see what it is, and my stomach drops.
Oh crap.
My mother screeches, and I pivot back around just in time to see her sprint away.
"Evan! Catch her!" I yell, just as a huge chunk of brilliant, blue sky crashes into the desert sand. A puff of dust the size of a baseball field whooshes into the air, and the sky shard shatters into a million blue pieces. Behind where the piece of sky used to be, there is nothing but a gaping, black void.
Evan manages to grab Mom's wrist before she bolts away and wraps her in a big bear hug as the rest of the sky begins to rain down on top of us.
"The dream is changing," I cry loudly to drown out the sound of my mother screaming. The tourists, of course, don't seem to notice that the world around them is falling to pieces.
"What do we do?" Gabe asks as the sand beneath our feet starts to roll and tremble. We all have trouble keeping our balance. Suddenly, a giant hole appears in the desert, a couple hundred yards away from where we stand. The sand starts to swirl around the hole, creating a massive, terrifying sand whirlpool. I know it's not real, but it still scares me to death.
A sharp wind whips up around us, blowing sand into our faces and yanking at our hair.
"Keep together," I yell back, but the wind is too loud for Gabe to hear me, and the falling sky begins to rumble like thunder. The entire landscape, the ruins, the tourists, and the little adobe town, all start to be sucked into the swirling void.
I can tell Gabe is as deaf as I am, so I grab his hand and motion to Evan that he and Mom should do the same. Mom is still struggling to break free from Evan's hold on her, but the guy must be stronger than he appears, because she can't seem to get away. Evan forces her hand into one of his own and lets Gabe wrap his long fingers around the other.
We are all linked now. This is good, because I have no idea where we'll end up next. Slowly, the four of are sucked into the churning whirlpool of sand. The ruins collapse behind us, and the crowd of tourists disintegrate into the wind. We sink down into the desert. It's not a pleasant experience, to say the least.
My eyes fill with sand. My ears fill with sand. My nose fills with so much sand I can't even breathe. I feel like I'm going to suffocate.
As the world becomes one giant, sinking vortex, I feel my mother's fingers flatten, and her hand slides out of my grasp.
"No!" I try to scream, but my mouth is clogged with sand. I am choking and gagging and trying desperately to breathe. I reach out for her, but I all have left of Mom is a fistful of dust.
Chapter Twenty
The first thing I notice is that my face is wet. Wet, but oddly warm. There is none of the shivering chill one usually associates with water.
I wiggle my feet, then my legs, and then my arms. They're all there, thank goodness, and they're all damp. My eyes blink open, and immediately I think I've gone blind. Stark, white nothing stares down at me. I try to focus my gaze and realize bits of the fluffy, white sky are raining down from the blank canvas above me and hitting my face like soft, wet kisses.
It's snowing.
But the flakes are warm, not cold. Confusion courses through my mind. My body is warm too, as though I've been lying outside in the sun on a summer afternoon.
"Uuuuhhhhh," a voice next to me groans, and when I turn my head to the side, a splash of color jolts into view. Evan's corduroy pants and plaid shirt, which is still tied around his waist, contrast so sharply against the sea of white surrounding us that it hurts my eyes to look at him. He blinks once behind his spectacles and rubs the palm of his right hand over his forehead.
"Where are we?" another voice pipes up behind me. Gabe, of course.
I contract my abdominal muscles and grab the backs of my knees with my hands, pulling myself into a sitting position. I start to explain to Gabe that we're in another dream, but the words die on my lips, and I stare around in wonder.
I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Warm snowflakes float down from the white sky above us and melt softly into my clothes. Piles and piles of snow pad the giant field where we lie. And everywhere the air is still and silent. White mountain peaks poke up all around the wide plain and smaller undulating hills climb up into their frosty heights. There is a dense white forest to the right of us, whose bleached tree trunks twist elegantly up toward the sky, their ivory leaves remaining motionless in the warm, still air. It seems to be neither summer nor winter here, just a weird combination of the two seasons. The trees, the hills, the sky, and the ground all blend together in white mush that has my eyes struggling to find a place to rest. I feel a headache coming on, but I can't stop staring in awe at the breathtaking view.
A black shadow suddenly looms over me, and I blink, then g
aze up to see Gabe peering down at me with his deep brown eyes. My heart gives an odd thump. A quick beat of tingly warmth that flows through the rest of my body and makes me feel all giddy inside. Gabe reaches his hand out to me, and I grab on. He hoists me up to my feet, and I brush the strangely warm snow off my pants. Gabe's black leather jacket is still tucked into the back of his jeans, which are totally soaked like mine. They stick to his long, muscular legs like a second skin…
"Um, Em?" Gabe asks tentatively as I shake my head to clear my thoughts. I'm suddenly finding it rather hard to concentrate.
"What? Yeah, sorry," I answer and brush the rest of the snowflakes off my shirt sleeves. I'm trying to avoid eye contact, so Gabe won't see my flaming red face.
"Lily! Where's Lily?" Evan's voice rings out beside me. Her name stabs into my brain and jolts me back from my stupid romantic confusion.