by D. H. Quinn
I am awake in my dream once again. The melded city appears before me once again. I stand at the gate. The gaggle of boys who taunted me before walk into an alleyway so I quickly turn into an alley in the opposite direction. Why am I here again?
The alleyway is a dead end. A moan comes from a figure slouched in the darkest corner. The cloak covers their face. I walk closer, curiosity gripping me. Does this person need help? The figure’s arm lifts towards me and slimy fanged snakes extend from where its fingertips should be. They hiss and rattle at me and snap at my legs. I jump back out of the alley and begin to run then crash directly into one of the boys.
“Watch where yer going!” He pushes me out of his way. They all look at me and freeze. “It’s her again!” one of the boys declares with surprise.
“I am sorry,” I look down at the ground.
“What is wrong with you!” One of the boys points his little crooked finger at me. One of the other boys looks behind me, eyes widening. He nudges the other boys and they quickly disperse.
I turn around and see the creature now on its feet, growing taller with each step. Snakes emerge from all over its body. They reach forward, pulling the body along with them. One of the snakes spits a green sticky substance that lands a few feet away from me. The brick floor dissolves instantly, some kind of acid. Screams emerge from every direction in the city now, citizens run and I should do the same but horror keeps me in place. The creature’s face is visible, hollowed out sockets replace its eyes. Its lips curve upward, revealing fanglike yellow and brown teeth. A mixture of spit and blood dribbles from the left side of its mouth. It’s hair is long and stringy and its body is slender.
The snake with the acidic spit manages to land a shot close to me, splashing onto my leg. I scream as an all consuming pain erupts. The creature screeches angrily and my flight instinct kicks in as I bolt down the street on my aching leg. The pattering behind me indicates its pursuit.
I try to remember the path Arden led me through but with all the twists and turns he took, I cannot remember the correct direction. Jack’s group would help me hopefully. I turn down an alley next to a Chinese pagoda.
The hissing intensifies as I run and I feel like I am making no progress. The creature lands a shot on my back and I scream manically. This is real my mind tells me. The smell of burnt flesh overwhelms me and I gag. I wish I wasn’t aware in this dream.
The alley I ran into is a dead end with nothing but a few non-budging doors. I yank the handles one after another. I place my back against the wall and watch helplessly as the creature slinks towards me, its pace slows as it now knows I am trapped. There is an out of reach balcony above me. This is a dream, I can change things. I think of my desire to sit and how tables and chairs appeared. I easily picture the balcony being lower and it slides down the wall.
I grip the iron bars and manage to pull myself up. Snakes nip at my legs. Another acidic spit hits me, this time in my lower side. I watch in horror as it dissolves a large portion of me. I scream uncontrollably.
My thoughts fly quickly then. I focus on the top of the creature’s head and imagine it being smashed. A large anvil comes from the sky and lands on top of the creature. The snakes seize hissing and lay against the ground, dead.
I want to cheer in accomplishment but my raw and blistering side pulls my attention. My hands float shakily above it as I decide what to do. I distract myself. I examine the brick wall behind me on the balcony. I need to climb down and get out of here. My decision isn’t made quick enough. I am pulled backwards and into the brick wall. A hand muffles my yelp of fear.
My back presses against a body. “SHHH!” A man’s voice urges. He breathes hard and his heart beats fast against my back. I tense, unsure of what is happening. What can I do? Drop something on him too? The thought is unreasonable. I can see through the brick wall and I also see that the anvil I dropped on the creature’s head moves. The snakes twitch side to side and then dart back upwards looking at the balcony. The anvil rolls off the angrily screaming creature.
The man tenses, his grip on me tightens. The snakes dart around the alleyway, examining every corner, as oblivious to this alcove as I was. After a moment, the creature turns and stalks away. The snakes dart every which way, examining every inch of the alley until they are out of sight.
The man releases his grip. Still, I dare not step out of the safety of this small cove. I breathe deeply and the pain hits me again. My hands shake uncontrollably. I look down at my side and wince at the sight. Blood freely flows out of the ever dissolving area. I turn towards my savior and recognize the face.
“Aleksander,” I say under my breath. He huffs. He must have rushed to get here. Somehow, he must have known I was in danger.
He raises his eyebrows in surprise, “you remember my name.” Instead of his previous all black uniform, he wears gray running shorts and a white tee shirt. Sweat slicks back his hair. He looks steadily into my eyes.
“Yes,” I am a little out of breath myself. We stand so close to each other that our noses nearly touch.
“That only works in the cartoons.” A smirk grows on his face. His eyes dance playfully. I glance back at the anvil and grimace at the pain that shoots through me. I cannot respond, feeling lightheaded, I start to tumble forward. Aleksander’s hands reach out to steady me.
“That Mahrt did some damage,” his brow drops as he looks me over. He bends down and pulls out some gauze from a first aid kit that must have been sitting on the floor. He stands, ready to wrap me up.
“Wait, do I need to clean it?” I ask.
Aleksander smiles with just one side of his mouth. “This is a dream.”
“Then why do I feel so much pain?” I wince again as the acid stings me.
“Trust me.” His voice is soft.
He reaches gently at the center of my stomach and lifts up my ragged shirt. He crouches down and then wraps the gauze all around my waist and secures it with a piece of tape. His hand lingers on my body and then he finally looks up at my face to no doubt see me blushing. I pull down what is left of my shirt over the bandage. He wraps my leg as well.
He stands up and clears his throat. He tries to disguise a laugh with a cough but the smirk is evident on his face. “Shall we or would you like to stay this close to me?” He asks and laughs slightly. “C’mon.” He indicates the direction of the balcony. I nod and walk outside first.
“Did you say Mahrt?” I ask curiously, shaking off my embarrassment.
“Yes, a creature of nightmare.” He stops me on the balcony, examining the alley closely and then he jumps down.
I grip the side of the balcony and swing down gently. My side feels better already. “I was told that I couldn’t get hurt much.” At least that is what Arden and Garrett had said.”
“For dream walkers the city can be safe, and the environment can’t hurt you as a human much but nightmares still can,” he walks away and I follow. No trace of the shy and avoidant man from the previous night is present. Replacing him is a man who walks tall with his shoulders back, eyes focused straight ahead. Maybe I changed his personality somehow since I last saw him. I had desperately wanted him to acknowledge me before.
“Dream walkers?” I question. We are back on the main street now. The city people come out once again and resume their everyday activities. The occasional fearful glance still darts across their faces though.
“Yes, dream walkers,” he answers simply. I stay silent hoping for more information and he gives it to me. “They exist solely in your dreams. For the purpose of your entertainment or so we are told,” he shrugs.
“In my dreams only?” I ask amazed that I could have created this entire world and all of these people.
He laughs lightly. “No, they are here for every human’s dreams.” He has a hint of a smile on his face.
“So, you believe you are in a dream. That is the opposite of what your boss thinks,” I say in reference to Jack. Aleksander shakes his head.
We walk quiet
ly for a few moments. We are almost at the alley where Arden had brought me to meet with Garrett. “Aleksander what is it with Jack?” We now stand in front of the alley with the lanterns and my newly added tables and chairs. Aleksander tenses. Arden stands near the door of the building. He has yet to notice us.
“What do you mean?”
“You are like a different person.”
He smiles sadly, “I have to go, before anyone sees me,” he says dismissively. “And don’t go into any alleyways alone”. Arden walks towards us, his hands are in his pockets.
“How did you get back here?” Arden questions, eyes wide. Aleksander left just as quickly as he had arrived.
“I found my way back,” I avoid eye contact with Arden, hoping he would drop the subject.
“There is no way you did and look at your shirt.” He steps closer to me, examining me fully. He gazes at my waist in horror. The bandages are stained a deep red.
“I ran into some trouble but everything is fine now,” I say as calmly as I can manage, the horror of what had just happened to me settling in. Arden shakes his head in disbelief and clear fear. I want to calm his fears as much as my own.
“Arden, I ran into a problem but I promise I am fine now,” I say.
Arden just shakes his head. “You went in the shadows. I heard about the Mahrt, terrorizing the town. I expected it was you!” He sounds accusatory but fearful.
“I dealt with it Arden, the Mahrt is gone for now. Besides you are a dream walker. I am sure you can’t get hurt. I could recreate you somehow,” I say in an attempt to reassure him.
“You are ignorant. I would not be the same if recreated. I would not be me,” he clenches his fists tightly. His mouth draws into a hard line.
“I am sorry Arden, I did not mean it like that,” I reply guiltily.
“Jack wants to see you again. She predicted you would return,” Arden’s face is red and his voice dismissive. I think about the long trip we took to see Jack before and I don’t feel up to it. “She’s in here,” he tells me. Arden leads me to the door and stands aside to let me in. He refuses to look at me.
“I am really sorry Arden,” I say quietly. “I am just beginning to understand this world and all of its complexities.” Aleksander said dream walkers exist for humans but maybe some dream walkers have their own ideas and beliefs and are more conscious than I had previously believed.
I head into the building without another glance at Arden, feeling ashamed of myself. Centered in this room is a large aquarium with a conglomerate of colorful fish. A purple and blue fish darts quickly into an underwater cove made of sand. A few orange fish swim near the top of the tank, their fins stroking the water rapidly. A rather large puffer fish claims its space.
“Kamari, back here,” Jack’s nonchalant voice calls out to me. I head down the red hallway with beige and white tiled floors. The building feels lackluster in comparison to the tent and carnival I had first met Jack in.
Jack is in a room with an open door. A white desk covers a corner of the room. She sits on a large white office chair. Her legs are crossed casually. Her hair is slick back in a ponytail and she wears a form fitting business suit. She appears less glamorous than she had the previous night but somehow more powerful.
She looks behind me at the open door. “Arden did not come with you?” She taps her fingers on the desk.
“No.” I notice her long and clear and claw like nails.
“That boy is delusional,” she informs me. She looks me over, waiting for me to agree with her.
“I suppose so,” I mumble halfheartedly. I had dealt with anxiety my entire life and it seemed to me like Arden has something similar but on a more extreme level. It does not mean he is delusional.
“Did he say anything to you?” she scratches her chin curiously.
“Nothing in particular.” I want to keep our previous conversation private.
“And what happened to your waist?”
“You heard about the Mahrt?” I ask. First Aleksander and then Arden, now Jack. News must travel fast in this city.
She nods, “Yes, about that, you need to not draw so much attention to yourself.”
“As if I had a choice, I did not even know what a Mahrt was until,” I stop myself. I trusted Aleksander more than I trusted her. I don’t want to betray his trust. “Until it attacked me and I heard the city people mention it after.” She narrow hers eyes at my words.
“How did you escape?” She rests her chin on her hand. She looks amused.
“Dumb luck, look I would not have chosen to come here had I known you were going to interrogate me,” I say with irritation in an attempt to deflect. She gestures at the couch in the room and I sit.
“Fine, don’t tell me. I just wanted you to know that I protect the people in this city and that you are clearly a danger.”
“I see but was it not you who led me here in the first place? From my understanding, you sent Garrett.”
“I send Garrett to different places all the time,” she says casually and shrugs. “I could not have expected you to follow him all the way here. Such tenacity.”
“What he said in the forest, and those things that were following me, are they still after me?” As I think of leaving the city I shiver. I picture the plastered man’s face above me, holding me down. Were they Mahrts? They must be creatures of nightmare.
“Yes, they will be waiting for you outside of the city,” she says coolly and a shiver runs through me.
“But if I stay here?”
“I am afraid that isn’t an option. This is a haven for dream walkers, you have a haven in the waking world.”
“You think the waking world is safe?” I question with a hint of surprise.
Jack leans back in her chair. She brings her hands together and cracks her knuckles and then rests her hands in her lap. “In a manner of speaking but us dream walkers have to look out for ourselves everywhere in this world except for in this very city.”
“But you have Mahrts in your city, in your alleyways.”
“Those are not the monsters that concern us,” she says ominously. “The Mahrts do not bother us for the most part unless a human is present and dumb enough to look at them for too long and attract them.”
I ignore her insult, feeling more curious than offended. “Then what is it that is chasing me outside of the city?” A lump forms in my throat.
“Something much worse. A being that can cross the barrier of dreams and the waking world if it so desires. A monster capable of erasing a dream walker’s existence,” she says and her face morphs into concern. She seems to be in a memory of sorts as she gazes at the wall. Their kind has already visited me, they already crossed the barrier. That monster was in my room!
I swallow hard. “And what do they do to humans that they interact with?” She snaps out of her trance like state and returns her gaze to me.
“For dream walkers they take from us physically and mentally, but for humans it is all mental. I don’t know the specifics but from what I have been told they are attracted to the light of a human soul. Once they get a taste of you they want more.”
I pause, taking in the information she gave me. “If this city is for dream walkers why am I able to enter? Have any other humans been here?”
“I did not tell the others but yes other humans have been here long before they existed. I am afraid your entrance is a sign of something worse that is to come. Our barrier in this city is breaking down.” Sadness reflects in her eyes.
“Is there any way to fix it?”
“I am not really sure. The creation of all of this was never explained to us fully and those who did help are long gone,” she responds. “But for right now, you are the only one here, so I suppose we just monitor the situation.” She leans forward in her chair, eyes locking onto mine. “I have told you what I know but please do not mention this to the others for now.”
How can I trust you? I want to ask. How can I believe what you are saying? Shouldn’t
they know their whole lifestyle is endangered, their lives? Instead of asking the million questions that run through my mind in that moment, I just nod. I did not know their world deeply enough to pass judgment on her decisions. I did not know the dream walkers well enough either to know what is best for them. I think back to my conversation with Arden that was less than twenty minutes ago and am reassured with my current decision.
“What would you have me do now?”
“Stay out of trouble. If you keep appearing in our city then you need to wait for one of us and we will lead you to safety. I would make you leave but unfortunately I am not sure that is possible, you may be stuck in this city for a while.”
“You don’t believe that I can exit the city?” I cannot disguise the relief in my tone.
“The thing about humans is when they come into our world they are never in the same spot. You should be in another area and yet here you are. The barrier could very well be keeping you in but I suppose time will tell,” she says. “We can test it if you like but you may not be able to return here.”
I think of what is waiting for me outside of these walls. “No, I am fine with waiting.”
“I thought so. Meanwhile you can help us in a way. You can create things. Report to Arden, he will inform you of what I had in mind,” she dismisses me with a wave of her hand.
Once outside, I greet Arden. Arden seems reluctant, “I suppose your help would be useful,” he says.
He walks off, rubbing his hands together thoughtfully and I follow. Arden looks to be in a better mood so I decide to test my luck. “Arden, what do you wish for in your life?” I ask.
Arden pauses and glances back at me. An unreadable expression crosses his face but then a slow smile spreads across his lips. “Well I have always wanted to live by the sea,” he says and he seems lighter than I have ever seen him before.
“Why don’t you? Is there not a sea area in this city?” Surely something like that exists in a city so vast.
Arden laughs and then leads us to another street. “There is no sea here, the only time I saw it was before and I haven’t seen it since. But it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” his words are choppy as he leans back and forth, head peering into an alleyway. He turns back around quickly, not approving of the path forward.
