The Divide

by E. J. Mellow

  “Robert,” she says in her breathy authoritative tone, and goose bumps erupt on our skin. “I’m Elena.” She extends her hand for us to take, and when we’re connected, our power jumps in our chest. Robert pulls his arm back, startled.

  With a blank expression, she tilts her head in an assessing manner. “You’re not how I imagined you to be.”

  “How did you imagine me?”

  A hint of a smile. “Not as tall.”

  By the way Robert’s heart—our heart—thumps wildly in our chest, I can tell he’s attracted to her, and I squirm awkwardly.

  “Let me show you around.” She leads us forward, explaining the purpose of this facility, that it’s where they monitor dreams and select those with potential, check the status of nightmares on Earth and the general mental well-being of our population. Robert and I already know most of this because all Dreamers were briefed on Terra’s purpose, but we never realized that such a specific facility existed or that Elena, a single person, provided a central role in the monitoring process. But what we really can’t wrap our head around is why we’re only being shown it now. Thankfully, Robert asks.

  “Dreamers are only given access to this facility when our findings forecast an abnormally high amount of nightmares,” Elena says.

  “Can you explain that in layman’s terms please?”

  She glances over her shoulder. “I thought I did.”

  “Uh,” Robert falters to reply.

  “I’ll try again.” Elena’s eyes spark, amused. “We believe a war is coming that’s bigger than the ones that normally constitute receiving a Dreamer in Terra.”

  We stop, our blood running cold. “Like a World War?”

  She nods.

  “But Earth just went through one of those.”

  “So did we.”

  “But…but how can—are you sure?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. The rapidity of human minds filling with nightmares is staggering. You needed to see this facility—see for yourself what we’re dealing with in order to prepare.”

  We glance around, now noting that a majority of the orbs are pulsing the sickly red-black. Robert takes in a deep breath, a million thoughts about what would happen if he fails consuming his mind. I wish I were able to let him know I understand his fear, that he’s not alone, but I can only watch as we continue to walk forward again, Elena resuming her tour.

  “What do you do here?” Robert asks after traveling down several more rows.

  “I’m the closest mortal connection Terra has to all of this.” Her delicate hand gestures to our surroundings. “And all of you.”

  “So you are mortal, not a god?”

  She studies us, a curiosity alight in her eyes. “I’m mortal in Terra’s standards, yes.”

  “And in Earth’s?”

  The quirk of her mouth is answer enough, and we swallow.

  “Come.” She surprises us by threading her cool fingers in ours. “We have more to see.” I want to flinch away at the odd intimacy, but Robert’s a mass of barely contained male hormones, excited by the gesture and internally marveling at the silkiness of her skin. Really, dude?

  “Were you seeing all the dreams?” Robert asks. “Earlier when I arrived?”

  “The ones deemed of interest.”

  “What do you do with them?”

  “You already know the answer to that.”

  Robert tugs her to a stop, a bold move in my opinion, and she glances up with a raised brow. “No, what I meant was, what do you do with them, Elena?”

  She blinks, momentarily stunned by his question, and then slowly, with a look of intrigue, her lips curve up. “I dream.”

  The scene suddenly skips away, the orb-filled room replaced by more memories, more time. The year is now 1941, and we’re angrily pacing in a white room. The door huffs open, and four Vigil file in followed by a lady in white. Our heart jumps at the sight of her.

  “Elena, you can’t keep me in here. I need to be woken up!” Robert barks out while stalking toward her. The guards move between us. “I’m not going to hurt her, you fools!”

  Elena lays her hand on one of the male Vigil’s shoulders, and a jealous spike runs through us. “It’s fine. Let us speak.” The men and women hesitate for a moment before filing out.

  When we’re alone, the energy in the room shifts, and I wiggle uncomfortably in this body again, feeling the attraction it has for the woman in front of us.

  “Hector told me what’s happening on Earth. What happened yesterday with the bombings. America is in this war now. I need to get back.”

  Elena begins to circle us, and we stand rigid, focusing on a nondescript point in front. “You will in two days’ time,” she says.

  We aren’t happy with this answer. “This is ridiculous! You can’t keep me locked in here.”

  “Actually, I can.”

  Anger sparks within us, and our Navitas pushes out, but does nothing. We growl in frustration that this room’s equipped to strip our power.

  “I don’t enjoy keeping you in here, Robert. I need you to help us just as you want to help your people. But I fear if I let you out, you’ll do something foolish again to try to return.” She stops in front of us. “Did you really think you’d survive one of our portals?” Her intense cerulean gaze collides with ours.

  We ignore her question. “Then don’t hold me in here like a prisoner. Help me.”

  “I’m trying to.”

  “How is shoving me in a depowering cell helping?”

  “What if we didn’t find you when we did? What if you actually tried to cross through to your dimension like that? Did you even stop to think what that action could have meant for your body there?”

  We’re silent, taking in her words.

  “No, just like the hothead you are, you were all action before you thought of the consequences.” She looks away disappointed, and for me—Molly—the first time I’ve ever seen her angry. “You’re only your conscious self here. Don’t ever forget that. If you went through that portal from our side, your mind would have been eviscerated. You would have left your body back on Earth an empty vessel, mindless and in a coma you’d never wake up from. Do you understand?!”

  I shrink back at her uncharacteristic rage, but Robert merely steps forward, wrapping her in our arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “You’re right. I didn’t think.”

  Elena nuzzles closer, and as her sunflower fragrance encircles us, I hit up against all the walls of Robert’s body, trying to extract myself. What are you doing?! This is Elena! Alien, creepily omniscient, I-am-in-no-way-capable-of-having-romantic-feelings Elena!

  “You have no idea how terrified I was when Hector told me what he thought you were going to do. I was afraid…afraid I’d be too late.”

  “I’m sorry,” he says again as we run our hands along her back. “I didn’t mean to worry you, but I have responsibilities at home as well as here. You know this.”

  She tilts her head to look at us. “Yes, but you also know you can help Earth by helping here, more so in fact. Stop the monsters in Terra, and you’ll stop them everywhere.”

  “It’s not always that black and white. You don’t know what it’s like to have two homes. Two places you care about,” he says softly as we gaze at her with love. I want to run away from the desire I have to touch her hair and feel how soft her skin is. I retreat further into Robert’s body when we move in to do so. Stop! I scream. We’re not allowed to touch her! But Elena doesn’t seem to mind when we tuck a lock behind her ear. Her smile is radiating, and our lips break into joy upon seeing it. Then we’re moving in, closer and closer, and she’s letting us. My heart rattles around frantically when our lips touch, and my soul seems to sigh at the connection. I’m at home with her in my arms. I’m safe with her by my side. Oh, dear lord in heaven. Talk about a mind fuck.

  Time shoots forward again, to which I am eternally grateful, except now there’s been death, destruction, and lost hope in both our worlds. World War II rages on jus
t as the battles do in Terra. We’re exhausted, never able to rest, as we’re a soldier both awake and asleep. It’s too much, too tasking, and we fear we won’t survive it. How can this possibly end with us still alive?

  Slumping on the bed that’s in our DCC quarters, we look into the mirror across the room, and I take in this Dreamer’s face for the first time.

  What I see shatters me into a million pieces.

  It’s not the hollowness of Robert’s cheekbones or the despair written across his features that is the shock. It’s that I know him, though a very different version.

  My Robert is fifteen pounds heavier, with thick-rimmed glasses, wrinkles, and hair that is no longer brown, but white.

  We roam our appearance in the reflection. Him exhausted, me obliterated, and then we look up again, and I stare into my eyes, eyes that are my grandfather’s.

  — 27 —

  I GASP, MY chest arching forward as I’m unlocked. Once again myself, I squint at the sudden brightness.

  Holy shit. My grandfather was a Dreamer. Hector knew him, Elena…

  Finding her beside me, I flinch back and scramble to figure out which emotions are mine and which belong to Robert. I’m completely discombobulated. They had a relationship, were in love. What does this mean? I study her blank face, the way her cerulean gaze shrouds—an arctic sea hiding what lurks below. There’s a look of warning, however, telling me not to broach a particular topic dealing with the heart.

  “Are you okay?” Dev asks.

  “You knew,” I whisper, unable to look away from Elena. “You knew who he was to me.”

  She barely blinks. “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” My reality is once again warping, once again making me feel like I know nothing of who I really am.

  “It wasn’t of consequence before.”

  I bulk. “Wasn’t of consequence? He’s my grandfather!”

  “Who is? What’s going on?” Dev places a hand on my shoulder.

  “The last Dreamer was my grandfather.” I glance to him before returning to Elena.

  “What? How? What does this mean?”

  “It means Molly is the first direct descendent from a past Dreamer.”

  Dev and I are silent for a moment, and then we’re talking at once—Dev asking how this is possible again and me repeating my question of why she never said anything before.

  Elena briefly closes her eyes while taking in a deep breath. It’s the first I’ve seen her need to find her bearings. Welcome to my world, sister.

  “I don’t know how this is possible,” she begins. “I also don’t know if this means we’re about to get hit harder than we ever have before.”

  The room grows out of focus for a second before it slams back. Oh God. “Because Terra wouldn’t need someone as strong as me otherwise?” As if he knows I need something grounding me, Dev finds my hand and holds tight.

  “That would be my theory,” Elena says. “But I also have another.”

  “Is it happier? I only want to hear it if it’s happier.”

  “It is.”

  I let out a breath.

  “Remember how I told you that all Dreamers leave some impression behind in Terra, some influence that changes us?”

  I nod. “You think this could be what I leave behind? Something to do with my lineage?”

  “I researched in every one of our history books and found nothing like this. No other Dreamer has ever come from such a direct bloodline before. I can only hope the purpose is a positive one.”

  “Hope, huh?” I worry my bottom lip. “I don’t know if hope will help me sleep at night.”

  “No, but I’ll be here,” Dev says, his hand tightening in mine. “And I can protect you a lot better than hope.”

  —∞—

  The streets are quiet as Rae and I make our way to my apartment from the bookstore. It’s barely five in the morning, and Manhattan is still a slumbering giant, this small pocket of early morning its snore before the city rolls out of bed.

  “Your grandfather?” Rae asks for the tenth time.

  “Yeah, my grandfather.”

  “In all of Terra…” He runs his hand through his hair. “So what are we supposed to do?”

  “I don’t know about we, but I need to go see him. Elena didn’t explain why he never told any of us.”

  “Um…probably for the same reasons you haven’t told anyone.”

  “Good point.”

  “Especially back then,” Rae continues. “He would have been lobotomized for sure.”

  I frown, wondering if this is why my parents think he’s losing it. After all these years, is he no longer able to hold in such a secret? Is Terra actually the “nonsense” my mother says he’s spouting on about? My impatience grows to get home and find out.

  “There’s one positive thing that’s come out of this though. He’s the first Dreamer I’ve gotten solid evidence of living past Terra.” I glance to Rae. “Do you know what happened to the rest of them?”

  Rae’s about respond, when he suddenly stills. Every muscle in him is strung tight as he grabs my shoulder and forces me to stop. “What the—” I snap my mouth closed when he brings his finger to his lips. He swivels so I’m behind him, and he peers into the alley we stand in front of.

  “What is it?” I whisper, trying to peek around him into the darkness.

  He takes a step forward and almost seems to sniff the air. After a moment more of standing like a statue, his shoulders relax and he nudges me forward, still glancing around with alertness.

  “You’re scaring me. Did you see something?”

  “More like sensed.”

  The hairs on the back of my neck rise. “What kind of sense?”

  “The we’re being followed kind.”

  I look behind us, but the street is empty. “Funny, I felt the same way a couple of weeks ago.”

  “What?” Rae whips around me. “When was this? Did you see anyone?”

  “No, no one. It was just a feeling. Nobody was there. Relax.”

  “Molly, you need to tell me when things like that happen.”

  “Sorry, yeesh, I didn’t know. But it’s not like I’m in danger here, from the Metus anyway. What? You going to protect me from being pick-pocketed?”

  He doesn’t appreciate my attempt at levity. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m going to protect you from. My job is to make sure you don’t so much as get a splinter.”

  “What about a paper cut? I’d rather you make sure I never get one of those. They are way worse.”

  Again, no laugh. Man, is this mic on?

  “One thing’s for certain.” Rae shuffles us forward at a quicker pace. “You’ll need to invite Becca to stay this weekend.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Because there is no way I’m letting you out of my sight right now, and it would be a little weird for me to stay at your parents without her there. I’d rather us avoid lying to Becca when we can.”

  “I agree with you there, but isn’t this why you have other trained Vigil? To trust for things like this?”

  “Oh, it’s not them I don’t trust.”

  I balk. “Wha—me? You don’t trust me? I’m not going to run out looking for danger, Rae. I get enough of that when I’m asleep.”

  “It’s not only the trouble I’m worried about.” He eyes me from the side. “Let’s just say, I don’t think my guards would make it past some of your booby traps when they try waking you up for your runs.”

  I purse my lips. Damn. I thought I’d get a break this weekend, and by the knowing look on Rae’s face, he knew what I thought. These are the moments when I wish I were back in Terra so I could whip up a storm cloud to follow him around all day. Poop on Earth and its nonmagic ways.

  —∞—

  “Road trip!”

  “Bec, we’ve been driving for an hour and a half. That declaration can’t be said with the same enthusiasm after an hour and a half.”

  “Sure it can. R
oad trip! See, same enthusiasm.”

  I roll my eyes and glance to Rae in the rearview mirror. He’s hiding a smile while looking out the window. We just got back in the rental car after a pit stop to fill up on junk food. The week at work dragged to get to this point, and at night, even though Dev helped in taking away some of my sadness, every time I was greeted by Alec’s replacement, I was hit with a wave of pain, a wave of regret. I practically burned rubber tearing out of the Holland Tunnel to leave New York, impatient to talk with my grandfather and desperate to find some hope in what’s quickly feeling like a hopeless cause.

  “This was a great idea.” Becca opens a bag of chips. “I haven’t come home with you in a while. It’s long overdue.”

  “Yeah, my parents were excited to hear you were coming and that you were bringing your boyfriend,” I tease. Becca and Rae just titled themselves a few weeks ago, and one would have thought he asked her to marry him, by her reaction. But I guess being someone as independent as her, it kind of was like that.

  Becca flashes me a coy smile. “So your gramps has moved in with your parents for a while?”

  I nod. “He’s been there for the past couple of weeks. They thought it made sense since they were basically driving over to see him every other day. My mom says he seems to be better since the move.”

  “I’m sure. Who wouldn’t want to be around their family when they’re his age?”

  “When’s the last time you saw him?” Rae asks from the back.

  “It’s been a while, maybe since before my birthday.”

  “But you were home last weekend.” Becca’s forehead wrinkles in confusion.

  Crap! Rae and I lock eyes in the mirror.

  “Oh, yeah…well, um, he was back and forth at the doctor’s the whole time. We weren’t really on the same schedules. So I didn’t get any solid quality time with him, ya know? He probably doesn’t even remember I was there.” My heart tumbles in my chest as I try to remember all the lies I’ve told Becca. There’s too many to keep track. I only hope she doesn’t bring up my recent visit to my parents. I didn’t even think about that! I grind my teeth in frustration and glare at Rae. He shoots me a meek grin, apology written all over his face. Couldn’t trust me, my butt. This weekend just got a lot more complicated.