Sleep Keeper

by Wilcox, April

  “I do too, my love. You have no idea how much. I don’t know if I will ever meet my child,” he frowned.

  “Don’t say that. You will, I promise.”

  “Since when did you become so optimistic?” he teased.

  “I don’t know, since no one has tried to kill me lately,” I jabbed back as a joke, but it left the air hanging in an unsettling silence.

  “Speaking of killing, have you heard from your brother?” Apollo interrupted.

  “Apollo!” Orion scorned.

  “What?” he asked innocently.

  “It’s okay,” I laughed. I adored Apollo’s candor. “No. Haven’t seen or heard from him since… well, you know.”

  Apollo frowned and meandered away.

  “Oh, I almost forgot. Leyland sent a package from Anhawk for you… or actually for the baby. It’s back at home,” Orion said.

  “That was sweet of him. I… ohhh!” I moaned and cradled my belly.

  “What is it?” Orion voice was alarmed.

  I took several deep breaths. “I don’t know, I just had a cramp… but it went away.”

  “It just went away?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I feel fine now. It’s been happening off and on all day. The doctors say it’s common in this week. I think I just need to sit down. My back is killing me. Can we go back to the cabin?”

  “Of course,” Orion replied and put his arm around me to support some of the weight. “Hey! Apollo! We’re heading back!” Orion called.

  “Okay, I’ll meet you later!” Apollo hollered back.

  I transported us back to the cabin. I’d been able to do it more frequently these days with practice, but only when I’m touching Orion. I sat on the couch while Orion went into the kitchen to get me some water. I stretched out my legs to rest my aching feet. I felt unusually uncomfortable and shifted restlessly. An aching tightness started in my back and radiated around to my abdomen. It felt like it was squeezing my insides to death.

  “Ohhh...” I moaned and curled to my side.

  Orion jolted in and fell to his knees, “What’s wrong?”

  “Cramping…” I huffed out.

  His panic-stricken face turned white at the realization of what was happening. “We need to get you… somewhere,” he stuttered, his eyes darting around the room.

  I found his sudden distress and confusion quite adorable. “What did you have in mind, the shower?” I teased.

  He gave a hardened glare, “I’m glad you think this is amusing. Wait an hour and we’ll see if you still agree,” he shot back.

  That was a low blow.

  “Relax, I feel fine again. Besides, I read these things take hours, even days. My body hasn’t even woke up yet,” I reassured him.

  “Still, I would feel better if we went to the doctor’s office,” he insisted.

  “Ugh, fine,” I grumbled and he helped me to my feet.

  I suddenly felt something warm and wet against my legs. I never had to pee in this world before. My face flushed with humiliation. I stood petrified, especially when I realized that it wasn’t stopping. Orion’s face was mortified. The humiliation washed away by an intense pain that made me buckle.

  Orion gasped, “I think your water broke! We need to get you to a doctor,” he urged. “Take us into town.”

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  This was becoming a little too real for me to mess around. I took his hand and focused on the town’s border, but nothing happened.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. It’s kinda hard to focus.”

  “Well try harder!”

  I sighed in irritation and focused on the border. With my eyes still a blur, another debilitating pain swept across my stomach. I cried out in pain, bent over and sucked in deep breaths.

  “I thought this was supposed to take a long time?” he asked.

  “I don’t know all the rules! Besides, I pictured myself giving birth in my world! Who knows how it works here! Oh, why am I not waking up?! Oh no… am I in labor while I’m asleep?! What’s happening to me?!” I shrieked.

  I started to panic and everything began to spin.

  “Calm down,” Orion grabbed my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. “You’re fine. Just relax…”

  “Relax?! Easy for you to say! I want to wake up now!” I demanded and started pinching my arm profusely.

  “Alexis, stop it!”

  “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” I yelled and started slapping my cheeks with both hands.

  Orion threw up his arms and groaned, waiting for me to snap out of my hysteria. My tirade was rudely interrupted by another pain that sent me to my knees.

  “This seems too fast. I’m calling the doctor,” Orion announced and hurried out of the room.

  After the call, Orion moved me to his bed and paced the room anxiously. The shuffling of his feet was greatly irritating, but I managed to bite my tongue. The contractions increase significantly in duration and intensity as the hour passed. With each contraction, I vowed that it was the worst pain I had ever felt, but was disappointed to discover that each subsequent contraction was even worse. How could a cramping muscle cause this much pain? I pictured a scalding dull blade twisting into my lower back and abdomen every several minutes, ripping my insides to shreds.

  “I’m sorry,” Orion murmured and held my hand.

  His constant apologies were also freaking me out. All I could think about was how much I wished Mom were here.

  “I want to go home,” I cried.

  “I’m sorry, my love.”

  “Stop saying that!” I snapped.

  Finally, an elderly gentleman doctor arrived with two young female assistants in tow.

  “How’s my patient doing?” he calmly asked.

  “Not good,” I sobbed.

  “Let’s take a look.”

  “Wait, I think I need to use the bathroom,” I said as a sudden urge to poop hit.

  “Oh, that’s a good sign,” he replied as he lifted the blanket.

  Orion’s mouth dropped open.

  Just then Apollo strolled into the room, “What’s going on in… oh gross!”

  I was seriously contemplating dying from embarrassment. Luckily I didn’t have to look at Apollo because he disappeared out of the room in a heartbeat.

  “Looks like you’re ready to go. The baby’s crowning,” the doctor smiled.

  “Wait, I need drugs. Please!” I begged.

  “No time now, darling,” he answered.

  “What do you mean ‘no time’? How long does it take to poke a needle in my arm?! Owe!” I screamed and bore down.

  “The next time you feel the urge to push I want you to relax your upper body, inhale and focus on pushing from the top of your abdomen as you slowly exhale,” he explained calmly.

  “Huh?” I grunted.

  Everything sounded blurred from the pain. I let my body take over and pushed for what seemed like forever, but Orion assured me later that it was only twenty minutes. Suddenly, an overwhelming urge took over and I involuntarily bore down and pushed. The pain was excruciating and burned with a ferocious intensity. I screamed and begged for it to stop. Within a minute, it ended and I heard the sweet wailing of my baby.

  “Congratulations Mom! It’s a boy!” one of the assistants cheered.

  Tears rolled down my cheeks and Orion kissed them away. They laid the baby on my chest and he instantly settled down. He looked up at me with steel blue eyes. My heart melted and all the pain I had endured quickly ceased.

  “Have you picked out a name?” the doctor asked.

  I looked over at Orion.

  “Well, I was thinking of Jason,” he suggested.

  I smiled, “Jason is perfect.”

  An overpowering wave of exhaustion hit me and I closed my eyes for a moment.

  I awoke feeling surprisingly refreshed. My body no longer ached but my mouth was utterly parched. I let out a soft yawn and peeled open my eyes.

  “Hi honey, did
I wake you?” Mom whispered.

  “Mom?” I muttered and rubbed my eyes.

  “I’m here, Alexis.”

  I focused my eyes and saw Mom sitting on a chair next to my bed. I glided my hand down my perfectly flattened stomach.

  “My baby!” I gasped and jumped out of bed easily.

  “Calm down!” she ordered and grabbed my arm. “He’s with Orion in the other room.”

  “Huh?” I turned my head and surveyed the room. I was still in Orion’s house.

  “But… you…” I sputtered.

  “I’m here with you.”

  “How? Why? I don’t understand what’s happening.”

  “Calm down. I was sleeping when I heard you moaning. I came in to check on you, but you were gone. I searched around the house and couldn’t find you anywhere. I checked the garage but your car was still here. I went outside, but the neighborhood was quiet. I thought this might be the next logical place,” she explained.

  “Logical?” her choice of word was puzzling. “I don’t understand. Am I missing?” I gasped.

  Mom chuckled, “You’re not missing, you’re just not dreaming.”

  “Is that… possible?”

  “Anything’s possible,” she shrugged.

  “How do you know I wasn’t kidnapped and am actually dreaming right now?” I cross-examined.

  Orion walked in holding Jason and let out a subdued laugh, “Why am I not surprised by your hypothesis?”

  I crossed my brows and frowned.

  “Will you just relax… you’re always so pessimistic. That must be from your father,” Mom insisted. “My body crosses over as well, Alexis.”

  I turned toward Orion. “Do others cross over in body too?”

  He gave a shrug, “I don’t know… but you aren’t ‘others’ Alexis. You belong here,” he said, as he laid my sleeping baby in my arms.

  His light brown hair glistened against the sunshine that peaked in through the window. His delicate rosy skin was smooth and pearly. I leaned down and kissed the top of his head. He smelled amazing.

  “My angel,” I whispered.

  Months pasted by and my body never returned to my old world. Mom visited often. I asked her numerous times to teach me how to cross over between worlds but she says she doesn’t know how she does it. She told my friends and family that I found a job in another state and had moved to start a new life. I had lost touch with most since Mitchell’s death, so no one really questioned my lack of communication; which was good, but also somewhat sad.

  I still hadn’t heard from Jeremy, but he hadn’t been a stranger to stalking my nightmares. Mom became tense and quiet whenever I brought up his name or questioned his disappearance. I knew in the pit of my stomach that he was still lurking around somewhere. Maybe he was somewhere in this world... or maybe somewhere in between.

  Half sleep keeper, half sleep walker, but full dream stalker.

  Epilogue

  There was a flash of light, and instantly she was standing in the forest. Flames danced wickedly from the trees and nearby brush, sending billows of smoke into the dark sky. The air was thick with ash and death, but she couldn’t taste anything.

  “Quit fooling around and finish her,” he growled.

  She locked onto those dreadful blue eyes that returned to torment her children. She tried to scream but fear choked her throat.

  “Not yet, I want to bask in this moment of victory.” Jeremy took a deep breath and exhaled sharply, “Now I’m ready.”

  “No,” she whispered, as the realization hit her like a dagger to the heart - Jeremy had crossed-over.

  She watched from afar as his face twisted in a wicked grimace. He picked up a knife from a dead body at his feet. Alexis stood several feet away, frantically looking for a way to escape. In an ill-fated attempt at defense, Alexis grabbed a large branch as Jeremy charged forward.

  “No! Don’t hurt your sister!” Martha screamed - but it was no use. No one could hear her.

  She tried to run to her daughter’s aid, but couldn’t move. She watched helplessly as Alexis swung the branch at Jeremy, praying that it would render him unconscious. Her ill-fated attempt had failed and his knife sliced across her stomach.

  “Jeremy stop!” Martha begged but the words just echoed in her head.

  Before Alexis could flee, Jeremy punched her and she fell back to the ground. He kneeled over her. With a twisted face she didn’t recognize, Martha watched her son plunge the blade into her daughter’s chest, over and over.

  “No!” she screamed in unison with Orion.

  Pain flooded her heart and suffocated her chest. She couldn’t take a breath. She fell to her knees. Her vision blurred and she gasped in agony as she watched the life disappear from her daughter and grandchild. Pressure intensified in her head and rang through her ears. Surrounded by screams, yet all she heard was a high-pitched tone. Through drenched eyes, she watched as Orion’s body lit up like a star, emanating bright light that caused the others to shield their vision.

  Orion broke free from Erebus’ hold and crashed to the ground, landing firmly on both feet. His face was turned in a snarl of fury. He rushed over to Alexis’ corpse and drew his sword. Leaping into the air, he plunged his sword savagely into Jeremy until all that remained was the hilt.

  “No! Please!” Martha sobbed as Jeremy’s body fell on top of Alexis’.

  She heard his sinister roar as Erebus pressed closer. Orion charged forward but he was no match. Erebus raised a hand and Orion’s body ripped into shreds. The others screamed… Martha’s vision collapsed and she was encased in darkness.

  In a blink, she was back in her bedroom, alone and trembling. She stood frozen, trying to let her mind catch up with the vision her eyes just witnessed. Confused and panicked, she rushed to her phone and dialed Alexis’ number… but there was no answer. She quickly phoned Jeremy, but got the same response.

  “Oh no, my children,” she whimpered.

  Her legs wobbled and she crumbled to the floor. To lose her son, daughter, and grandchild in one moment was more than her mind could bear; yet she knew she had to calm down and focus if she was to intervene with God’s plan.

  In her mind, it was no secret that Erebus’ hand was controlling her beloved son. To destroy the puppet master would mean his soul would then be freed. The only way to save her children was to go back to the gruesome world that she vowed to never enter again. She would need to act fast to save Alexis, but to save her son, she would have to take down the man who stole her innocence a long time ago. She would have to kill Erebus.

  Without a second thought, she fished the gun from under her mattress and loaded the barrel, just like the shop owner had showed her. She threw on a jacket and shoved the gun into its pocket. Hoping it wasn’t too late, she lowered herself into her meditative pose. She straightened her spine and closed her eyes, letting the trepidation melt away. Deep steady breaths helped relax her mind as she focused on the scene of her vision.

  Several minutes ticked by.

  She inhaled deeply and a burning sensation filled her nostrils. She opened her eyes to her son’s twisted face scowling from above. The reflection of fire flickered off the blade as it sliced through the air with immense power. Martha grabbed Alexis firmly on her shoulders and yanked her back. Suddenly, they appeared fifty feet away. She looked out across the forest and immediately spotted him. Raw hatred crept through her veins as she locked onto his location. She released Alexis, and in an attempt to save her son, drew out the gun.

  Before Alexis could comprehend what was happening, Martha was standing behind Erebus, her shaking arms thrown out in front of her. As she stood at his back, the only thought that encompassed her mind was revenge. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger.

  A loud pop filled the air and her ears rang from the gunshot. Erebus’ body thrust forward as the bullet forced its way through his back. He fell to his knees, gasping for air.

  The others tumbled from his malignant hold and crashed onto th
e ground. One of the men soared through the air toward Erebus. With a swing of his sword, Martha saw Erebus’ head fly off its body and wobble on the ground. She stared into his decapitated eyes and watched his soul diminish into nothingness. A sense of peace washed over her.

  Alexis began to vomit and a blonde girl ran over to console her. The other young man sprinted toward Orion with his sword in hand. Her daughter was safe and the evil hold on her son had been released. Her last remaining task was to save Jeremy from his fate. Before Orion could look up to meet her gaze, Martha disappeared. With everyone distracted over Erebus’ demise, Martha appeared behind Jeremy. She wrapped her arms around his body and took him back to her world.

  She released her hold and jumped back against her bed. Jeremy whipped around and swung the knife, slicing wildly into the air.

  “Jeremy stop!” Martha cried.

  Jeremy paused, confused. “Mom?” he whimpered as he dropped the knife.

  “Oh Jeremy,” Martha cried and wrapped her arms around him.

  “Mom, I don’t understand… what’s happening?” Jeremy choked out and moved his hand to his temples.

  “Shhh, its okay, baby. Everything will be alright now, you’ll see,” she whispered as she cradled his head in her arms.

  “But Erebus…”

  “He’s dead now. He can’t hurt you anymore,” she spoke softly while holding him close.

  Jeremy pushed away violently, “What?! Dead?” he sputtered.

  Martha caught herself against the dresser. “Calm down, son. It’s over. You’re safe, you’re free,” she said as she held her hand out to comfort him.

  Jeremy’s head was spinning out of control. The man behind that voice that had comforted him all those years was gone. The only person who ever truly understood him was now dead - at the hands of his mother. His hands balled into fists as he tried to fight the urge to rip the flesh off of her bones. A low growl hissed from his clenched teeth and his body shook with fury.

  “Did you hear me, Jeremy? You’re free now,” she spoke.

  Conflicting flashes of rage and excitement raced through his blood as he replayed the words his mother had spoken. You’re free… you’re free…