by J. Clarice
“Ask your parents,” he blankly answered.
Scarlett opened her mouth to retort when a growl reached their ears. Her eyes widened and the hairs on her arms and back of her neck stood up. She inched herself closer to Cain as he widened the shield surrounding them. It thickened and rose. Cain stepped ahead and Scarlett backed away so they were no longer touching.
She wanted to use her power and spread her fingers out to her sides.
“Don’t.”
“Why? And how did you know I was even doing that?” Scarlett questioned as she scowled. He hadn’t been looking at her and no power emerged from her hands yet.
Cain ignored her question and continued walking in an unknown direction. The growls continued and Scarlett made sure to stay close to him despite the huge shield they had. Grunts, bangs, and shrieks quickly filled the air.
The commotion was nonstop and they were headed right towards it. “Cain, where are we going?”
Suprise, suprise! - Ignored once again. Scarlett shook her head when a flash of white light emerged from in front of them. Cain walked calmly while Scarlett jerkily glanced around.
“We’re nearing one of the borders separating the Dark Realm and Ever Realm. The lone nightmares that are stupid enough to try and cross are met by Ever Realm's Guards.” Cain faced forward and Scarlett didn’t want to say anything else. As they continued, more flashes of light and Dreamers began to appear. Small white guns were strapped to their waist belts that weren’t being touched. The main weapon they used was attached to their wrist. They all shot out the same white power that moved as they wished.
“Dreamers don’t have what we have; their bracelets are all the same. Without them, they have to use their guns and other weapons that aren’t as effective.”
Cain guided Scarlett straight down the middle of the ongoing fight. They were perpendicular to the front line of guards. The Dreamers moved backward as they noticed them approaching. Their widespread out defense line became small as they clinched together and aimed their hands towards Cain and Scarlett.
The few nightmares that were in the area noticed and retreated into the darkness as bright lights appeared high behind the line of Dreamers. Their armor was thick and they had helmets that covered their entire faces.
“State your business, Dreammares,” one of the Dreamers spat as they stood defensively.
‘Dreammares?’
Unfazed, Cain looked down at them and didn’t bat an eye at their threatening position. There were close to thirty Dreamers with their bracelets ready for use against the two of them.
“Call for your leader. Tell him I have his daughter.”
Scarlett stiffened as the tension between Cain and the Dreamers intensified. He knew exactly who she was. Scarlett wrung her fingers and clasped her hands behind her back. The Dreamers kept their weapons raised while time edged on. Scarlett leaned towards Cain and was about to ask what they were waiting for when a Dreamer in dark green armor landed a few feet away from them. He rose and kept his back to the line of Dreamers. The man’s face was covered by a helmet that was heavily scarred and had X’s marked throughout it. The Dreamer reached up and removed his helmet.
Scarlett was staring at a face she knew all too well.
“Dad,” she whispered as she took a small step forward. Roger’s warm yet worried eyes scanned her for injuries and exhaled when he didn’t see any. Scarlett took another step towards her father when a hand wrapped around her upper arm.
Her father’s eyes snapped towards the person beside her and hardened. “Cain.”
“Roger.” Cain followed, using the same clipped tone. There was nothing friendly about their exchange.
“I thank you for bringing my daughter to me safely. Now if you’ll release her and let her come to me.” Roger’s piercing eyes stayed on Cain and the threat was clear with his every word. Cain was doing the same and gave no sign of his next move.
“I will gladly do so. But before I leave on my way, I must say, you’ll be needing me soon and you know exactly why.” Cain released Scarlett’s arm and lightly pushed her towards her father. “I suggest you educate her on the ways of things and what she is.”
Scarlett glanced from her father to Cain. With furrowed brows, she puzzled over Cain’s words and moved her way towards her father’s side.
“Something’s coming and I know what for. These attacks are rising.” Roger’s jaw tightened as Cain spoke. “It wouldn’t be wise to turn a blind eye.”
“We will speak about this later.” Roger glanced at Scarlett from the corner of his eye. The weight over his shoulders grew heavier by the second.
Cain opened his hand and his grey circle disappeared into his palms. He kept his eyes trained on Scarlett’s father and as the darkness was about to swallow him whole, he locked eyes with Scarlett.
Her breath caught at his gaze.
There was something else there. She could feel it.
Twelve
Roger grabbed ahold of Scarlett’s hand and pulled her upwards. The darkness they’d been surrounded by changed to the starry space of Ever Realm. They flew high and Scarlett glanced behind to see the wall the Dreamer guards stood in front of. The white bright lights she’d seen were Dreamers using their bracelets to create orbs of light which flowed smoothly like Cain’s and her powers had. The wall backed up to a black rectangular building that gradually blended into the Dark Realm as they moved farther away.
“Dad, what’s going on?” Scarlett asked as she eyed her father. His black hair was ruffled and his eyes stared on in deep thought. With a frown glued in place and furrowed eyebrows, part of Scarlett was afraid to ask her father what was wrong.
“Dad?”
Roger snapped his darkened brown eyes to his daughter’s worried ones. “Not now Scarlett. Wait until we’re back with your mother.”
Scarlett slightly nodded and lowered her eyes. She stayed silent for the rest of the way.
∞
They approached Jenna’s yellow dome house and as much as Scarlett disliked her sister’s color choice, she released a breath at the sight of it. Her father led the way into Jenna’s home and held the door open. Muttering a thank you, Scarlett walked through to be greeted by her pacing mother.
Cher lifted her head and caught sight of Scarlett. She rushed over and gave her a bone-crushing hug. “Where in the Realms did you go, Scarlett?! I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Scarlett returned her mother’s hug and sunk into her arms. She missed her so much. As the past events came crashing into Scarlett, she fought the urge to break down and squeezed her mother harder.
Now wasn’t the time.
Roger stayed by the closed door with his helmet in his hands. “Cher.”
Her eyes snapped up at the sound of her name. Cher glanced at her husband with a small smile on her face before she caught onto his seriousness.
“What’s wrong?” Cher released Scarlett and stood beside her. She took a step forward and dreaded the answer.
“It’s true.” Roger held his head up as he stared into his wife’s eyes. They’d both been dreading the possibility. There was nothing else they could do but be prepared. Cher’s heart dropped and she fisted her hands at her sides and clenched her jaw.
She knew this was coming and she blamed herself.
Scarlett glanced between her parents still lost as to what was going on. Her mother turned to face her. “Scar, baby, there’s something we need to tell you.”
“What else is there?” Scarlett nervously clasped her hands in front of her body. She squeezed and dug her fingernails into her hands.
Her mind went crazy from trying to think of what else they could tell her. Yet, a single thought showed brighter than the rest.
Cher took a step closer. “You’re not just a Dreamer Scar. You’re a Dreammare.”
Scarlett looked up at the ceiling and shook her head.
“You mean I’m what Cain is?”
Cher widened her eyes. “How do you know what Cain is
?”
“The Dreamers called us that when we first got to the front lines.” Scarlett loosened her gripped hands and focused on taking deep breaths.
Softly shaking her head, Scarlett’s mother opened her hands and a dark magenta spark flew from her hands. It went from a tiny spark into flowing lightning that smoothly surrounded her.
Scarlett’s jaw dropped as she took a step back. Her mother’s eyes flashed with the color of her power.
“I am a Dreammare, Scarlett. As are you.” Her mother reeled her power back into her palms. “We are half nightmare and half Dreamer, giving us abilities that regular nightmares and Dreamers do not possess.”
Scarlett’s father walked up to her mother and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You and your mother don’t need special weapons like the rest of us. You naturally have the powers while we need to wear something to acquire it.”
Looking between her parents, Scarlett let out a breathy laugh. “I’m – We’re – half nightmare and half Dreamer. How is that even possible? I saw what those things looked like.”
Cher cringed and shifted uneasily. “As far as we know, the first of us weren’t exactly… willing. From there, our numbers rose and the natural reproducing began. It’s for this reason that Dreamers despise Dreammares. They’re a product of the original mating between a Nightmare and… forced Dreamers.”
Scarlett’s ears rung, she knew they were different, but the way they’d come about downright sucked.
“Dreammares keep themselves hidden as there aren’t as many of us. Dreamers and nightmares both dislike Dreammares and that makes for massacres. As powerful, as we are, the others can’t come out of hiding yet.”
Scarlett took in her mother’s words when a thought surfaced. “Is Jenna like us?”
“No, she isn’t nor does she know. Jenna wouldn’t accept it.” Her mother sadly shook her head as she spoke. “No one else can know of what you are, and you must keep it a secret.”
Scarlett nodded and gnawed on the inside of her lip.
Part nightmare.
Those ugly and hideous creatures that tried to kill her. The first of her kind were made through rape. ‘Who’d want to be a part of that?’
“Aside from your normal training, you’ll be getting extra lessons with me and –”
“Cher.” Roger cut her off and shook his head. She knitted her eyebrows at him.
“What?”
“We talked about this.”
Scarlett’s mother fisted her hands. “I can do it, Roger.”
“You could,” he corrected. “But right now you can’t, we’ve got other things to oversee and you agreed.”
Cher opened her mouth with a slew of arguments ready, but slowly shut it and pursed her lips. She needed to think rationally and not go off an emotional train of thought. “Fine.”
“Scarlett, your training will be overseen by Cain instead of your mother.”
“What?” Scarlett laughed in disbelief. “By Cain?”
“He is the only other Dreammare we trust to get this done. It’ll be immediately after your Youth Dreamer teaching.”
The words registered but didn’t enter Scarlett’s blanked out mind. She turned eighteen with the vision of being able to do as she wished. Traveling the world and meeting other people. Instead, she was in Ever Realm, being treated like a child because she’s the least experienced. She doesn’t know anything so she had to attend schooling and get ordered around.
As far as she was concerned, her Earth life was completely put on the back burner. Over.
Everything hit Scarlett. The seriousness and what being a part of this world meant.
Ever Realm, the nightmares, Dreammares, her parents and… Cain.
Especially Cain.
‘Who even was he?’
The person she’d met on Earth had been much more charming than the one she met moments ago. He was more of a serious ass. But she could also see why. This world sucked the life out of things. How her parents managed to juggle Earth's life and this one was beyond her.
As her parents discussed their next moves for Scarlett, something Cain said came to the forefront of her mind.
“Who is coming?”
Her parents stopped talking and turned their full attention to Scarlett. They briefly glanced at each other and shared a thought.
“Who are you talking about?” Roger asked as his eyes scanned her face.
Scarlett gathered that he automatically knew who she was asking about. She knew her father.
“When you were talking with Cain, he said that he was coming. Who is ‘he’?” Scarlett pressed. Her father clenched and unclenched his jaw before lifting his chin towards her mother.
Cher must’ve caught on to whatever her father tried to convey. “No one you should worry about Scarlett. You focus on your training and learning at Youth Dreamers.”
Scarlett slightly narrowed her eyes at her mother’s final tone but didn’t dig anymore. She knew when to stop and her mother wasn’t going to budge.
She nodded an ‘okay’. Her mother suggested that she go up to the room and get her rest, she needed it. Retreating to her wake-up room, Scarlett left her parents. They were hiding something. She knew it. She also knew she’d find out soon enough, either directly from them or someone else.
In the yellow bedroom, Scarlett headed straight for the giant window in front of the bed and looked out. Putting her hand on the cool glass, she searched for the Dark Realm. It wasn’t visible from where she was. Only a starry dark space met her every view. Scarlett let out a sigh and turned her back to the glass.
A chill met her back and she stiffened. She quickly turned around and spotted a dark figure that stood in the far distance.
“Cain?” she called out. The figure was closer than it had been when she first saw it in Ever Realm. However, having been close to Cain not too long ago, Scarlett deep down knew it wasn’t him. That realization chilled her to the core.
What was out there wasn’t anything that felt friendly… It felt like a nightmare.
Thirteen
Scarlett found herself back under her parents’ bedroom ceiling. It felt like it’d been days since she’d been back on Earth. Turns out, it’d only been a night.
As Scarlett got out of bed, she realized that Dreamers don’t get much rest at all. From being mentally and physically awake in the Earth Realm and only mentally awake in Ever Realm; their minds were constantly up.
How was she supposed to continue back on Earth? She had few relationships and could easily cut those connections off. But what about the rest of her life? How did her parents and Jenna do it?
Scarlett made her way back to her bedroom and changed into a pair of ripped jeans and a baggy oversized T-shirt. At the moment, her appearance was the least of her worries. A knock came from her door and she turned to find Jenna entering her room.
“Hey,” Jenna softly greeted. She walked towards Scarlett’s bed and sat on the edge. “How are you doing?”
Scarlett grabbed her unruly hair and threw it into a bun.
‘I’m great! I only got lost in the Dark Realm, almost eaten by a nightmare, saved by a friend who happens to be a Dreammare. Oh, wait! Turns out I’m one too! Half ugly Nightmare and half Dreamer! A wonderful combination, wouldn’t you say?’
Scarlett settled for, “I’m fine.”
Sensing there was more, Jenna hesitantly pressed. “How’d your second night as a Dreamer go?”
Scarlett inwardly shook her head and wanted to scream.
‘This sucked.’ She opted for something she knew would drift her sister’s attention.
“It was good. I went to the Youth Dreamers and talked to Chad for a bit. He’s not all that bad.”
A big smile spread across Jenna’s face at those words. As shitty as Scarlett was feeling, she warmed at her sister’s happiness. “He helped me around and trained with me.”
Jenna narrowed her eyes. “Trained with you? With your bad arm? How? Didn’t you have your sling?”<
br />
Scarlett stiffened and thought back to when she’d gotten rid of it in Ever Realm. Her supposedly broken arm didn’t hurt at all anymore. She’d have to ask her mother or Cain about how quickly it healed. For now, Scarlett thought of another response.
“He trained with another Dreamer and I watched, and if I did want to try something, he went slowly with me. Also, my arm doesn’t bother anymore.” Scarlett moved her arm to emphasize. “Like seriously, I don’t think it was broken because I feel completely fine.”
Jenna skeptically looked at Scarlett before nodding slowly. “Okay, well since we’ve got a day to kill, I thought we’d be able to go over more things about Ever Realm, and if you had any questions I could answer them over a drink down at the café?”
Scarlett vigorously nodded at the offer. A sandwich and a cup of coffee sounded amazing.
∞
Jenna and Scarlett left their ranch and went to the nearby town. The two sisters chatted like never before. Scarlett missed this feeling– normal. Well, somewhat normal. They talked about Ever Realm but went about it as normal as possible. Jenna told Scarlett of when she first met Chad and how they became partners. In Ever Realm, when Dreamers found their partners it happened to be a serious thing. A sacred bonding of sorts. Scarlett simply nodded as Jenna explained it all. She had no plans of partnering up with anybody anytime soon.
Yet, as much as she pushed it away, a pair of grey eyes came across her mind during the topic. She’d blushed and shaken the thought. Jenna briefly caught the look and raised a brow as she smirked.
Scarlett laughed at her sister’s suspicion.
“So, you’ve already found someone?”
“What?” Scarlett shook her head and rolled her eyes. “No, no I did not. There’s no one.”
“Uh-huh, sure. Keep trying to convince yourself that.” Jenna leaned back in her seat and took a sip of her iced coffee. “I know a lie when I hear one.”
Scarlett barked out a laugh and stuck her tongue out at her sister. Scarlett loved this. The sister talks, shopping, and being back on Earth. It felt like cloud nine.