None of what these two intruders said made sense. Israel just knew that whatever electrical node or weapon they had used on him was fading a little. He had to fight against it or he’d be dead. Or worse.
Israel fought against the sleepiness, trying to lift it off him as if it were a pile of coats. It was working. Kind of. He was able to struggle meekly as they dragged him to the couch and pulled him onto it. If they were going to hurt him, why the hell would they lie him on the couch?
“See? He’s already fighting the DreamWalker,” Jordan said, sounding amused. “There may be some of his old self left in him.”
What the hell was DreamWalker? Was that a kind of Taser gun?
Balthazar bent down at Israel’s side, his whole face almost taking up Israel’s entire range of vision. For a second he thought he saw a shimmer of blue across Balthazar’s cheekbones. He blinked and it was gone. His eyes must be playing tricks on him.
“Comfy?” Balthazar asked before stepping back.
If they were here going to hurt him, why would they care if he was comfortable? The sleep had slid off enough that his eyes were fully open now but his body still felt like lead.
Israel tried his best to glare at Jordan as he settled down in one of the armchairs, his gaze steady on Israel’s face. There was something about this guy that irked him. A cocky arrogance about him that made Israel want to punch him right in his pretty-boy face.
Balthazar perched on the far arm of the couch, lacing his fingers together on his knee. “Now,” he said in a tone that made Israel feel like he was seven and about to be lectured. “Jordan’s going to…er, let you up, but only if you promise not to freak out and try to point any more guns at us.” He shuddered. “Lord, do I hate guns. If I wanted to be filled full of little balls, I’d—”
“Wave if you agree, Israel,” said Jordan, cutting Balthazar off.
He knows my name. How does he know my name? Any thoughts that this was just a random break-in were gone. They wanted him for some reason.
Israel channeled all his strength into his right hand and slowly lifted up his middle finger.
“You were always a charming one,” Jordan muttered as he flicked his palm out towards Israel again.
This time the feeling that thundered through Israel was cool and refreshing. He felt the sleep being lifted off him and the lightness coming back to his bones. He kicked himself into the farthest corner of the couch, then swung his legs out so they were flat on the floor and he was sitting. His gun was still by the front door, too far away to be any damn use. He’d have to play along until he figured out a better plan. “You’ve got my attention. What do you want?”
“We need your help,” Jordan said. “That is to say, someone very dear to us…and you, needs your help.”
“This is about Alyx,” Israel guessed.
Balthazar pursed his lips. “How to explain…”
“We don’t have time to sit around being pleasant and recanting history like old school chums at a reunion,” Jordan cut in. “Alyx is running out of time.”
A realization broke through into his mind. Whatever they had done to him, they must have done to Alyx. That’s why she wasn’t waking up. Israel’s fingers dug into the arm of the couch. “You did something to her. You put her to sleep and now she’s not waking up.”
“Settle down,” Jordan said, lifting a finger in a warning. “We didn’t do anything to her. We’re trying to help her. Or at least, help you, help her.”
“You see,” Balthazar said, “Alyx is trapped in a kind of DreamScape and—”
“He doesn’t know what a DreamScape is,” said Jordan.
Balthazar crossed his arms, his dark features snapping to annoyance. “Let’s see you explain it.”
Jordan turned to Israel. “Alyx is trapped in a labyrinth inside her own mind. Only you can get through to her and help her get out before it’s too late.”
“Trapped in a labyrinth?” Israel repeated.
“Yes.”
“In her own mind?”
“Exactly.”
Israel stared at Jordan. He hadn’t pegged Jordan as a lunatic, but then again, these days sometimes you couldn’t tell. “What the hell have you been smoking?”
Jordan threw his hands in the air. “Mortals,” he muttered.
“I knew we should have made Vix come here instead of trying to contact the Elder,” Balthazar said. “She’d know what to say to convince him.”
Who the hell was the Elder?
Jordan snorted. “We don’t have time to wait ’til he’s convinced. He’ll figure it all out soon enough.” Jordan palmed the air again. The wave that hit Israel was like the first, hot and heavy. He fought against it. But it was no use. This time an ocean crashed down over him and he felt himself getting sucked down.
Down,
down,
into darkness.
Chapter Four
Israel landed on the ground with a thud. His eyes felt glued shut and his cheek pushed into the musty-smelling carpet. He let out a groan as he tested his fingers. His body felt stiff.
What a weird dream. Those two strangers, their weird conversation…something about Alyx and labyrinths. Then that terrifying Taser gun thing Jordan had. Israel must have thrashed around so hard he rolled out of bed and was now lying on the floor of his bedroom. He couldn’t remember getting into bed after he got home… Did his bedroom always feel this drafty?
“Where the hell did you come from?” It was a familiar female voice.
Israel started, tearing his eyes open and pushing himself up to sitting. Blood rushed to his head and his fingers gripped into the carpet fibers. No, these weren’t carpet fibers. He was sitting on a rug. But his bedroom didn’t have a rug in it.
That’s because this wasn’t his bedroom.
Israel stared around the cavernous room. It seemed to be a windowless underground vault, made entirely of carved stone, patches of dark moss breathing moist air back into the place. It would be totally dark if not for the dancing flames in iron torches bolted onto the pillars.
There was Alyx, looking very awake and unharmed, standing a few meters away from him and staring down at him, mouth open.
His heart kicked up a notch.
She was just as beautiful here in his dream, her eyes glowing like two emeralds. She was still wearing the same black pants, blouse and jacket as she was at the cathedral, but she seemed unharmed.
“Alyx?” He pushed himself up to standing, wobbling lightly as he took to his feet.
He might still be dreaming but his heart wasn’t reacting that way. He could feel the thud of it against the inside of his ribs.
She nodded, her eyes wide. “I know you. You were at the cathedral… You’re Israel.”
She remembered my name. Say my name again.
“Why am I dreaming about you?” she muttered almost to herself.
“Hang on a second. I’m the one who’s dreaming.” Or at least, he thought he was. Israel began to feel the weighty sense that something else was going on here.
“No,” she said slowly. “You’re part of my dream.”
He frowned. “No…you are part of my dream.”
She frowned at him. “You’re really argumentative for a dream.”
“I’m not the dream.”
“At least you’re easy on the eye.”
Israel froze. “Did you just objectify me?”
Her cheeks slightly reddened but she put on an unaffected air and shrugged.
Israel opened his mouth but Alyx interrupted him. “If you make a crack about being my dream guy I will slap you.”
Israel closed his mouth. He was about to say that. “Tough crowd,” he muttered.
He heard a crack from above. It was déjà vu all over again. This time he didn’t even stop to look up. He lunged for Alyx shouting at her to “Move!” His body collided with hers and she let out a scream. There was a crash of rock against the stone floor just where they had been standing.
They hit
the ground with an audible grunt and kept rolling. When they stopped, Israel found himself lying partly on top of her. Her hair pooled all about her face as she looked up at him, her plump pink lips parted and her breath sucked in between them… “Israel,” she whispered.
He could do it, he could just lean down and kiss her right now, something he’d been wanting to do since he first saw her. His heart began to gallop at the thought and his mouth went dry.
“Israel,” she said, but louder this time.
“Hmm?”
Kiss me, her hooded eyes seemed to be whispering.
“Get off me.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…” Those golden flecks in her eyes were stunning. Like flecks of gold suspended in an emerald sea.
“Israel.”
“Yeah?”
She arched an eyebrow and glanced down at their bodies. He was still on top of her, the curves of her lean body underneath him making him painfully aware of how he was reacting in turn…like an imbecile.
“Oh. Right.” He rolled off her, heat on his cheeks, his movements feeling thick and clumsy. Flustered. He was flustered. Since when did he get flustered around girls? Even girls as beautiful as Alyx.
She’s different.
You don’t know that. You don’t even know her.
He pushed himself up to sitting and as discreetly as he could, he glanced over to her sitting up, brushing herself down. Her cheeks were flushed, or was that just him projecting?
Her eyes darted to his before widening. He’d been caught staring but even then he couldn’t seem to make himself look away.
There had been other girls who were objectively as beautiful, but none had ever had…this ethereal glow about her skin. This pull. There was something about her…that sang to him.
A noise of stone on stone from the crash site caught his attention and he finally tore his eyes away from her. There was a pile of stones lying in the middle of the floor. Israel looked up to the ceiling. Part of the keystone had fallen in…
“Oh my God,” Alyx gasped as the noise sounded again. “It’s moving.”
Israel’s gaze snapped back to the pile of rocks. It was moving. In fact, it was looking less and less like a pile of rocks and more and more like…some sort of creature, with squat hind legs it was standing on and limbs it was stretching and a head it was now shaking, dust scattering in a small cloud about him. And a tail?
Israel leaped to his feet and peered at it.
“What is it?” Alyx asked Israel as she moved to his side.
“It’s a lizard,” Israel said. Some sort of stony-skinned lizard, with a beard and a tail and spikes all the way down its spine. “Stay back. We don’t know yet whether it’s dangerous.” Israel stepped in front of her, ready at any moment to push her out of the way if the thing attacked her again.
“It doesn’t look dangerous.”
Most girls would be squealing and climbing all over him when faced with a mouse. This thing with sharp-looking claws and spikes almost crushed her and she didn’t think it looked dangerous? What the hell would look dangerous to her then?
“I’m not a lizard,” a squeaky voice said.
Israel snapped his head towards the creature. Its beady gray eyes looked up at him with what appeared to be a stern look on its face. Did it just talk?
The creature’s mouth opened, revealing a row of very sharp-looking teeth, and its hands flew up to its throat. “Angel’s Breath! Is that my voice?”
Alyx gasped. “It’s a talking lizard?”
“I’m not a lizard.” The thing repeated in its almost child-like voice.
“What kind of lizard talks?” Israel asked.
“I’m not…” the lizard looked down, holding out its arms as if it were inspecting itself. “Hells and devils… Of all the things to manifest as, I had to manifest as a two-foot stone dragon. And not even a very wise looking dragon.”
“He’s an angry talking lizard,” said Israel.
The lizard’s stony foot stamped onto the ground and its arms crashed to its hips. It glared up at both of them. “For Angel’s sakes, I am not a lizard. How do you even command any respect at this height?”
“What are you?”
“I’m the Elder.”
The Elder. That name rang a bell…but just as the recognition came it floated out of Israel’s grasp like mist.
“What’s an Elder?” Alyx wrinkled her nose. Even that tiny movement was adorable.
“Not what, who? I am the Elder.”
The Elder. Recognition rang through Israel’s mind.
“I knew we should have made Vix come here instead of trying to contact the Elder,” Balthazar muttered.
Israel inhaled sharply as the memory of the two strangers in his living room crashed into his mind. That’s where he was before here, wherever here was. He had been in his living room with Balthazar and that annoying Jordan guy. Or perhaps that had been part of this crazy dream, one that was obviously continuing. A dream within a dream.
“I’m here to help you,” the Elder said to Alyx. “I’m not even supposed to be here so I don’t know how long I can stay.”
“Help with what?” Alyx asked.
The Elder turned his steel gaze on her. “To get you out of here before it’s too late.”
She frowned. “Get out of what? What’s too late?”
“Alyx is trapped in a labyrinth inside her own mind,” said Jordan. “Only you can get through to her and help her get out before it’s too late.”
A sinking feeling began to grip Israel. Somehow he was now in the labyrinth with Alyx. In her mind.
No. He refused to believe it. It was impossible. It couldn’t possibly be real…
Could it?
“What do you remember happening before you woke up here, Alyx?” the Elder asked, continuing to brush dust off himself.
“How do you know my name?”
The Elder made a tsking sound. “Why is the lizard talking? How do I know your name? Why are you asking all the wrong questions? What I know and who I am isn’t important. What was the last thing you remember before you woke up here?”
Alyx’s forehead furrowed.
Israel could remember. He’d never forget it, not as long as he lived. He was about to answer for her but the Elder caught his eye and gave him a shake of his head as if to say, let her come up with the answer.
“I… I was meeting someone,” she began. “At Saint Paul’s Cathedral.” She turned to look at Israel. “But you were there instead. And we talked but then…” Her eyes went wide. “You called ‘look out’. I felt pain. On my head.” Her fingers went briefly to the back of her skull. “I woke up here.” Her face tightened, her eyes narrowing. “What did you do to me?”
“He didn’t do anything. It was the consequences of messing with fate,” the Elder muttered as he shook his head.
“Fate?” Israel said. “What are you talking about?”
“There’s no such thing as fate,” Alyx said.
The Elder sighed, disappointment clear in his stony face. “If only we had more time…” Louder, he said, “Alyx, a bolt of lightning struck the cathedral, breaking off one of the gargoyles. It struck you, knocking you out. Israel rushed you to the hospital, where you still are, in a deep coma.”
“What do you mean ‘where I still am’? I’m not in hospital. I’m here,” she frowned, “wherever here is.”
“You’re both there and here.”
Alyx shook her head. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
Despite this weird, strange logic, Israel knew that the Elder did make sense.
“He’s right.” Israel said, his voice quiet. “I spoke to the doctors, I…” He wasn’t going to admit that he pretended to be her fiancé to get access to her room. He cleared his throat. “Dr. Novak. She said that you were in a coma. That you weren’t waking up. Then these two guys showed up at my place, told me I needed to help you escape from your coma, and they put me under. That’s when I woke up here.�
�
“You’re both nuts,” she said, stumbling back from them. “I can’t be in a coma, I…”
“Alyx,” the Elder’s voice was low and calm, “this might sound crazy but you know, deep down inside you, you know this is the truth. Now, even if you didn’t completely believe me, would you take that risk? Do you want to die?”
“Wait, what?” Israel said, sweat breaking out on his skin. “Why would she die?”
“Alyx is somewhere between life and death right now. A human being is not supposed to be here for too long.” The Elder turned to Alyx. “If you don’t wake up soon, then I’m afraid you’ll pass over to the other side.”
Fear gripped Israel. He knew that it would be nothing compared to what Alyx was feeling at the threat of her own death. Israel looked over to her, ready to comfort her, to catch her if she fell in a broken heap. She was standing there with her chin up, stoic and calm. She was unafraid at the prospect of her own death. Unbelievable. She was unlike anyone he’d ever met before.
“Why can’t I just wake up?” she asked the Elder.
“Have you tried just waking up?”
“No.”
The Elder cocked his head, pieces of tiny stone scattering from his horned skull. “Go on then.”
Alyx frowned as if in concentration for a few tense seconds. She snapped her head towards Israel. “Scare me.”
“What?”
“People wake up if they’re scared.”
Israel frowned. Scare her. That didn’t sound so hard. He lifted his hand into claws and revealed his teeth and tongue, all while growling.
Alyx stared at him for a second, then snorted. “I said scare me, not act like an idiot.”
Israel lowered his hands, a touch of heat coming to his face. That didn’t work. What would? He got an idea. He reached out and pinched her.
“Ow.” She yanked her arm back. “What was that for?”
“Pain can wake you too.”
Alyx glared at him as she rubbed her arm.
“Sorry. I thought it might help.”
“Well it didn’t. Wait a minute…” she said, her eyes going wide. “I felt pain. You can’t feel pain in a dream…”
The Elder was nodding his head.
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