Borderlands (The Dreams of Reality Book 5)

by Gareth Otton

  “Which means we can drop one of these little things anywhere and never have to worry about changing the battery or placing solar panels,” Lizzie finished for him, realising just how useful this would be. “How good is the picture and sound quality?”

  “That’s the best part. This camera unit is the same one we used the other day, just on a different device, so it’s comparable to what we saw before. But Mitena has some ideas of how we could build other dreamcatchers into this thing that would augment the way the camera works to get even better results. Imagine crazy zooms and microphones that could pick up a whispered conversation on the other side of the street. We’re a long way from that, mind you, as the trouble is finding the right materials for the dreamcatchers and then testing them out so that they don’t overload. It’s a fine balance that doesn’t scale well because the smaller we make stuff, the more fragile the material and—”

  “Miles,” Lizzie interrupted. “Is this ready to use now? Could I give this to Deacon and get these installed as soon as possible?”

  “Well, this one’s a prototype,” Miles admitted. Then with a grin he added, “But the six I posted around the studio to test out are all working fine. We could give him those and he could be up and running in no time.”

  “That’s awesome,” Lizzie said. “This is going to be so much better than the last cameras we used.”

  “And it doesn’t stop there,” Miles said, still gushing with excitement. “Think about it, figuring out how they can be used for this is just the tip of the iceberg. This proves that Mitena’s dreamcatchers work with technology. The possibilities of that are limitless. Trust me Lizzie, this is the start of something huge.”

  Lizzie did trust him, and she also saw what he was talking about. The reporter in her started getting excited at the possibilities they offered, and she made a mental note that she needed to do a story on this. But for right now she had another story to worry about.

  “You installed cameras in the studio?” she asked. “Where are they?”

  “Not in, outside. I wanted to see how they’d hold up to the weather. Here, look.”

  Before she could stop him, he had his computer fired up and was clacking away on the keyboard at a blisteringly fast pace. Windows popped up, showing her the view outside her studio. As promised, the images were crystal clear, which was why it was so easy to spot the movement on one camera.

  “What’s that?” Lizzie asked, pointing to the window showing the entrance to the gravel covered carpark outside the barn.

  “That looks like one of Trevor’s guys,” Miles said, frowning as a man in full tactical gear stepped into view.

  “No, he’s not part of the Dream Team,” Lizzie said when she saw the face on the camera. Even partially covered by a helmet, it was impossible to miss a face like that. It was too perfect, and those eyes were so vibrant they were almost glowing. “It’s one of the eidolon...” she whispered, her words trailing off as another figure stepped into the frame.

  This man was also dressed in tactical gear, though he didn’t fill it out as well as the first man. He was too slim and a touch too small for combat. More than this, his right arm was encased in plaster to keep it immobilised from what must have been a bad break. Seeing his face stunned Lizzie to silence. It was instantly familiar and had her clutching her stomach over the near invisible scars that were all that remained of her stab wounds.

  Goosebumps formed and she was overcome with a cold sweat as fear rushed through her. The last time she saw that face, she’d been stabbed almost to death. Only a little copper-haired miracle worker had kept her alive.

  “That’s Deo,” she whispered in horror. “He’s here to finish the job. He’s here to kill me.”

  17

  Wednesday, 28th December 2016

  09:39

  “We need to get out of here,” Lizzie hissed, stepping away from the desk and expecting Miles to be one step behind her. Surprisingly, he grabbed a seat and settled down, his fingers flying over the keyboard and new windows popping up on his monitor that flashed black before running through logs of digital text that looked like nonsense to Lizzie. A second later, one of those windows opened into a full screen desktop that had nothing to do with her own studio set up.

  “What are you doing? We need to go?”

  She hated the panic that made her voice wobble, but the sight of that man approaching her studio made her gut twist in sympathy for a wound that was long healed. The truth of the matter was that she had spent the last few days buried in work to distract herself from the memory of her attack. Thanks to Jen, she could almost chalk up the experience as a bad dream. But the sight of Deo here at her studio was enough to remind her just how real it was.

  “Miles!”

  Miles flinched, turning to face her with an apologetic expression.

  “I’ll just be a second. Don’t worry, we have time,” he said, pointing at the monitor containing the windows showing outside. “I just want to pass these feeds on to the Dream Team so they can come deal with this. This is an opportunity we can’t afford to pass up.”

  “Opportunity? Miles, they’re here to kill me.”

  “But they’re not going to,” Miles answered, hearing something in her voice that made him stop what he was doing and turn around. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the desk so he could take her other hand as well. He didn’t speak until he had her full attention. “Lizzie, you know me. I’m not a hero. I wouldn’t be sitting here if there was any chance those guys could get in here before I could escape. This isn’t like last time where that guy attacked you before you could even think about fleeing. We know they’re coming and you can get us out of here with a thought. But if I can get a team out here, we might be able to capture these guys, stop them coming after you again, and maybe learn something about their plans while we’re at it.”

  Lizzie heard the words, but her furiously pumping heart made her want to ignore them. If Miles wasn’t holding her hands, they would tremble uncontrollably. Even now she was tempted to dreamwalk away. With him touching her, there was nothing he could do to stop her taking him too.

  But he was right.

  He wasn’t the sort of person to put his life on the line, and if he was willing to stay, then there must be something to this.

  “Imagine the story this will make,” Miles continued. “You’re going to get all of this on the new cameras. This isn’t security footage, we’re talking HD resolution. This could be your biggest episode yet.”

  Lizzie didn’t want to analyse why those words more than anything else Miles said broke through to her. She instead concentrated on how Miles was right. If they got the Dream Team out here, maybe even Tad, then they would have the clearest footage of anyone ever captured of the Dream Team in action. How could she possibly turn that down?

  Miles grinned as he recognised the impact of his words and let her hands go, spinning around so he could put his fingers back to use, the clicks of the keyboard coming so close together it almost sounded like machine gun fire.

  “Ring Leon,” Miles said. “I think he should be here for this.”

  Lizzie agreed and fished out her phone. However, before she had the chance to unlock it, it lit up with a picture of Leon’s face.

  “Lizzie, you alright?” Leon asked as soon as she answered. “I just got a text from Stella that you were in trouble. Where are you?”

  “At the studio. Deo’s here and—”

  She never finished the sentence as there was a pop beside her and the call abruptly died. Apparently phones couldn’t handle dreamwalking ten miles in an instant.

  Leon looked around frantically, then rushed over after spotting them, his eyes wide as he searched the shadows of the studio, expecting an attack.

  “What’s happening?” he asked. “Stella’s text didn’t have much detail.”

  “Because she didn’t know what was happening herself at that point,” Miles said. “I’m still updating the system while Trevor’s guys are lear
ning the location so they can jump in.”

  “So what is it?” Leon asked, frustrated that he still didn’t know.

  “Deo,” Lizzie answered, pointing at the monitor.

  Leon looked up and swore as he watched Deo and five other guys closing in on the barn entrance.

  “Shit. They’re all eidolon. Tell Trevors they need to come in prepared to face six dreamwalkers. It’s not the same, but at least that way they’ll be ready for anything. Bring Tad if you can.”

  “On it,” Miles said, his fingers relaying Leon’s words into the emergency system. It had only been a couple of minutes and Trevors’ guys would still be learning the location, having never been here before. Lizzie was tempted to go get them and speed this up, but seeing how calm Miles was being about all this finally had an effect. He was right, they could flee any time they wanted. That gave her the upper hand, and she liked the idea of turning the ambush around on this arsehole.

  As she let some of her fear go, she slipped into reporter mode, suddenly finding the software Miles was using very interesting. This was the first time she had seen the inside of Miles’ system and could see how the tactical guys got their information for an event like this. Most importantly, she just discovered by Leon’s words that Stella hadn’t shared the secret of the eidolon with the Dream Team yet. He had told them to come ready for dreamwalkers, so they must be keeping it a secret for some reason.

  She logged all of that in her mental notebook as she noticed a flicker of movement at the edges of one camera, telling her the first of Trevors’ men arrived. She pulled up another chair and sat next to Miles, her eyes glued to the screen that showed the appearance of five more men in other locations around the perimeter of the barn.

  “That’s all they’re sending, just six guys?” Lizzie asked.

  Another pop behind her made her spin in surprise to find Trevors and six more guys appear on the main set where she did her interviews. As pleased as she was to see them, she added another mental note that she needed to speak with Stella about getting some dreamcatchers set up to stop anyone doing that in the future.

  “Where’s their likely point of entry?” Trevors asked as he approached, his voice deadly serious.

  “Over there, but there’s also a door back here,” Miles said, pointing with his finger both times. Trevors nodded and sent two of his people to cover the rear exit while moving to the main door with the rest of his men. Lizzie watched in confusion as they set themselves up in a semi-circle around the door, guns at the ready but not going outside.

  “What are they waiting for?” Lizzie asked, starting to rise from her seat before both Miles and Leon stopped her. Miles grabbed her hand, and Leon pressed down on her shoulder with much more force than Miles could muster. It was like being held in place by a block of concrete.

  “Don’t interfere, they know what they’re doing,” Miles said.

  “But they’re just standing around like they’re going to let them break in. Why don’t they go out there and take them now? That way I won’t need to buy a new door.”

  “Just trust them. They know what they’re doing,” Miles repeated.

  She was about to argue, but then movement caught her attention and she looked back to the monitor.

  The eidolon were closer to the barn now and more of the cameras had picked them up. Lizzie saw six eidolon in total, including Deo, and they hadn’t noticed anyone behind them.

  “Just shoot them,” she muttered, torn between wanting this over as quickly as possible and also wanting to have a good show. She knew that if they just shot them, she couldn’t air a second of this, but she didn’t want to take any risks with Deo.

  Miles opened his mouth to say something, but then all hell broke loose outside.

  One of Trevors’ men stepped on the gravel in the carpark, making the six eidolon jump. They spun, guns out ready to fire, but they didn’t get chance before a man stepped out of nowhere and an instant later one of Trevors’s men dropped to his knees, his throat open from ear to ear, gushing blood. Lizzie watched in astonishment as the person who killed him casually walked up to the next of Trevor’s men, who was watching his colleague with a panicked expression. He just stood there like an idiot while the previously unseen seventh eidolon stabbed him in the eye.

  Lizzie couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Though Trevor’s men had noticed the deaths of their colleagues, none of them were watching the man as he walked towards the next of Trevors men like he was invisible.

  “Shit, it’s an Overlooked,” Leon swore before spinning to face Trevors. “You need to get out there, now. Use the cameras on your phone and don’t trust your eyes. They’ve got someone who you won’t see without a camera.”

  “You heard him,” Trevors barked at his men who didn’t waste a second. They rushed to the door and threw it open fast, making the six original eidolon jump in surprise and spin again. This time one of their guns barked as they fired at Trevors’ people, but they were soon rushing for cover as Trevors’ people opened fire in return.

  “What the hell is an Overlooked?” Lizzie asked without looking away from the screen and the carnage unfolding. One of the eidolon had taken a bullet to the head and was down, but two others were moving at lightning speeds, almost dodging the bullets. Deo and one of his pals had taken cover behind Lizzie’s car, and it was a good thing that she dreamwalked everywhere these days because it was instantly covered with so many bullet holes that she doubted she’d ever drive it again. Lizzie watched in horrified fascination as the final of the original six eidolon took a bullet to the face, but shrugged it off. Only a trickle of blood showed that the bullet had even broken the skin.

  “What the fuck?” Miles muttered, stunned.

  “They’ve got a Tough as well,” Leon said, ignoring Lizzie’s earlier question. “I’ve got to get out there.”

  “What?” Lizzie demanded, jumping to her feet and rushing after Leon like she could stop him. “Let Trevors’ guys deal with it.”

  “They don’t know what they’re dealing with.”

  “But you do?” Lizzie demanded. She tried to grab his arm and pull him back, but she’d have had more luck trying to stop a moving train. Leon easily pulled free and piled on the speed, rushing at the door so fast he almost blurred.

  Lizzie tried to go after him, but Miles grabbed her arm and held her back.

  “Where the hell are you going?” he demanded, looking at Lizzie like she was crazy.

  “He’s going to get himself killed.”

  “And what do you think would happen if you go out there? How about we let the people with super powers handle this?”

  As much as she hated it, she had to admit he was right, and followed Miles back to the monitors. Another of the eidolon had been killed in the time she was away, but two more of Trevors guys were also down.

  “They’re all the new guys,” Miles muttered, horror in his voice as he watched his colleagues lose their lives right in front of him. “They didn’t have enough time to train with their dreamcatchers,” he explained to Lizzie. “They shouldn’t even be here.”

  Lizzie didn’t answer as she saw the sneaky person who Leon called an Overlooked approaching another of Trevor’s men. However, this time Trevors shouted a warning and the soon to be victim spun around, eyes wide as he searched for his attacker. Lizzie couldn’t believe how his eyes passed right over the man three times before he admitted defeat and dreamwalked away.

  A knife passed through where he had been standing a moment earlier and the strange man that everyone was ignoring cursed in frustration. One of the nearby Dream Team members raised a gun toward the sound and the strange man ducked to avoid a bullet that rushed overhead.

  However, he couldn’t stop the next bullet that came from Trevors’ gun. It took him in the temple, then in the shoulder, then in the chest as Trevors unloaded into the man to make sure he was down. Lizzie glanced over to see that Trevors was holding his phone in one hand and was looking at the screen while aimin
g his gun. Not taking any chances, he continued to turn the camera, scanning the area for anyone else who might be hiding. There was no one else though, and his distraction at searching for that made him a sitting duck for the guy who just shrugged off a bullet to the face.

  “Watch out!” Lizzie screamed at the monitor, horrified that Trevors was helpless as the big man raised a gun in his direction. They were only outside and Lizzie’s voice carried, causing Trevors to spin just in time to look down the barrel of the gun that was about to take his life.

  However, at the last moment Leon was there, shoulder barging the giant hard enough to send him clear across the car park before slamming into the ruin of Lizzie’s car. Windows shattered and the metal folded around the falling giant as he collided with it, making the two eidolon behind it jump up and rush away, both ducking as they started taking gunfire again.

  Lizzie held her breath as the bullets whizzed buy, hoping for one of them to hit that arsehole Deo, but they never did. Instead, everyone focused on the other man. Holes appeared in him one after the other as bullets tore through him and soon he was down and out. But no one turned their guns on Deo. No one seemed to care as Deo backed away into the corner of the carpark and climbed the fence.

  “They’re letting him get away,” Lizzie whispered in horror. Then, when she realised what she was saying, she jumped to her feet. “They’re letting him get away!”

  Before Miles could stop her again, she sprinted for the door, uncaring about the gunfire and determined that Deo be taken down.

  “Lizzie, no,” Miles shouted, but she didn’t listen. She burst into the sunshine, having to cover her eyes against the low hanging winter sun. Flinching from the light was the only thing that saved her life as a bullet whizzed by and splintered the wall of the barn behind her.

  She screamed and flinched again, looking with wide eyes for where the shot had come from. She found the man just in time to see him lining up another shot, his face determined. The muzzle coughed fire, and Lizzie realised this was the end. She should have listened to Miles. What was she thinking running out here?