by K M Frost
“Your girlfriend?”
He nods, then looks over at me quickly and steps away. “It’s not like what Leah thinks.”
I bring my arm back to my side, silently relieved I don’t have to keep comforting him. “What do you mean?”
Is she his girlfriend or not?
“Leah thinks it’s all goofing off and staying out late at night.” His words start to come faster. “She thinks that’s why I’m late getting here sometimes.”
I hope he’ll just continue on his own (honestly, I’m hoping he’ll drop the whole thing and we can get back to being guys). But when he doesn’t, I decide we might as well get this over with.
“And that’s not why?”
Rick laughs without humor. “I wish.”
I bite my lip when the silence returns, and decide I’m not brave enough to press again. Instead, I look up at the stars, at the trees all around, at the dead leaves on the ground—anywhere but Rick’s tortured face.
Finally, Rick takes in a deep breath. “Marianne is a cripple.”
I glance over at him, but he’s still watching the stars.
“She’s always had a lot of health problems, but the past few weeks she hasn’t been able to leave the hospital.”
I’m careful not to look at Rick, opting to scan the forest surrounding us instead.
“She’s been in and out for months, but never for this long.” He sounds like he’s talking to himself. “Today she had a seizure. The doctors were able to help her, and it looks like it was a one-time thing, but no one really knows. Even the doctors don’t know what’s wrong. All I want to do is help her, but I know I can’t. So I just want to get away. I want to go where I don’t have to face it anymore. I want to come here and not have to go back to reality.”
His voice trails off to nothing, and for the next few minutes we stand there in silence.
I lick my lips and shift my weight, uncomfortable with the silence, but also uncomfortable with Rick’s emotional story. A part of me insists I stay quiet and eventually he’ll drop the subject, but another part of me insists he’s my friend and I can’t let him face this alone.
The noble, foolish part of me wins. Without looking at Rick, I force myself to speak.
“A couple days ago I made a bully at school really mad. All I wanted to do was avoid facing him for the rest of my life. I told myself I could run away from it forever. But eventually I had to face him, and when I did, it didn’t turn out the way I thought it would. I didn’t get beaten to a pulp, and I even stood up to him. And best of all, I got a friend out of it, who I might not have got to know so well if I’d avoided facing the situation forever.”
Rick looks down at me. The tears are still on his face, but they’ve stopped falling.
I force myself to meet his eyes and ignore the grief there. “All I’m saying is sometimes we think something’s going to be worse than it actually is, and sometimes we even get something good out of it that we never could have expected.”
He watches me for another moment, then he looks up at the stars again. “You’re saying I should stick this out. That maybe Marianne will be alright and I should be with her every step of the way.”
I hesitate and then nod quickly. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” As long as he snaps out of his depression and stops crying, I’ll take it.
Rick nods too, determination flashing in his blue eyes. “You’re right. Marianne is too important to me. I don’t want to waste any of the time I have with her, no matter what happens.”
I smile, relieved to see him getting back to normal.
“Thanks, Jonas.” He’s completely sincere, and he puts a grateful hand on my shoulder.
I try not to squirm, and I have to hold back a relieved sigh when he releases me. I hope he won’t be weird around me now . . .
Rick swipes the last of the tears from his face and grins. “If you tell anyone about this, kid, you’re dead.” He punches my shoulder playfully, but just hard enough to show he’s serious.
I grin too, because I’ll never admit to comforting a guy. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”
Chapter 14
We find nothing, though we walk through the trees for hours. Rick’s back to his regular self and as passionate as ever. I wonder if Leah and Stewart are having better luck than we are.
Rick makes a frustrated sound. “There’s not even any water nearby.” He doesn’t have to tell me that—I’ve been thirsty for an hour. “What kind of idiot builds a shelter so far away from water?”
“Maybe we should’ve asked Rogue.”
I realize too late I shouldn’t have brought up the Entity hunter.
Rick mutters something under his breath. I’m pretty sure it’s about Rogue, and I’m also pretty sure it’s very rude.
My feet ache and my throat is dry. “Maybe we should head back. Leah and Stewart might have found something.”
Rick sighs, but he nods and turns. I follow him, glad he seems to know where he’s going. I lost track of the lean-to a long time ago.
We’ve only taken a few steps when Rick suddenly groans and collapses.
“Rick!”
My stomach clenches with fear and I roll him over, but he’s unconscious. I have no idea what happened, but I do know I’m now completely lost and alone.
I ignore common sense that tells me Leah and Stew are probably too far away to hear—that, in fact, Entities are probably the only ones who will hear me—and I yell as loud as I can. “Someone! Help!”
I shout a few more times, but no one comes running. I try to swallow my fear, but it doesn’t leave me.
Kneeling beside Rick’s still body, I peer fearfully at the darkness surrounding us. I know I should probably leave and try to find help, but I also know I’ll probably never be able to find this spot again.
Before I can make up my mind about what to do, I feel a sudden presence and I whirl toward it.
“Rogue!”
“What happened?” He kneels at Rick’s other side.
“I don’t know.” I’m lightheaded with relief and fear. “We were just walking, and then he collapsed.”
Surprising me, Rogue grins. “He woke up.”
I look quickly down at Rick’s face, but his eyes are still closed. Then I realize what Rogue’s saying.
Suddenly, I feel like a huge idiot. “He woke up in reality. That’s why he collapsed.”
Rogue nods, still grinning. “He’ll be just fine. He might have a bit of a headache, but other than that he’ll be fine.”
I blow out my breath in relief and Rogue stands.
“Wait.” I reach out to stop him. “I’m lost. I got so turned around I have no idea where the shelter is.”
For a second I wonder if he’ll even help me, but then he reaches down and, with a grunt, hefts Rick’s limp body over his broad shoulder. “Come on.”
I scramble to my feet and hurry to catch up.
I stay right next to Rogue as he walks confidently though the trees. It never occurs to me to distrust him—I just assume he’ll lead us right to the shelter. And he does.
Sooner than I expected, we’re at the lean-to.
Rogue lays Rick down inside. “You might want to stay with him until he wakes up. He’ll probably be a little disoriented.”
“Thanks, Rogue.” I hope he can tell how sincere I am.
He grins and then disappears into the shadows.
I settle in beside Rick for who knows how long. I sit there for a long time and drift in and out, and it’s really strange. One moment I’m in the Reality Dreams . . .
And the next moment I sat up in bed. I looked around my room in surprise and realized I’d fallen asleep in the Reality Dreams. I also realized Rick might need my help, and I closed my eyes and drifted again . . .
I open my eyes and see the shelter’s roof overhead. Feeling disoriented, I try to shake the drowsiness from my body. I shift my position and glance down at Rick. He’s still asleep. My eyelids start to
get heavy . . .
I rolled over in bed. This was ridiculous. I had a job to do. Rick needed me, and I couldn’t even stay awake—or asleep? My determination rising, I firmly closed my eyes and forced my body to fall back asleep . . .
I sit up with a jolt and growl lowly. It’s too quiet. I need to do something. I don’t dare go off and leave Rick all alone here, but I need to do something with my mind.
After a moment of deliberation I decide, though it’s pointless, working out equations from my Calculations and Statistics class will at least keep my mind busy.
So I sift through the dead foliage on the ground and find a stick about the size of a pencil, and I begin to create and solve in the dirt beneath me, losing myself in the equations.
“If you’re having that much trouble in C&S, you could have told me.”
I jump at the sudden, unexpected voice.
I’d been so engrossed in my work, I didn’t notice Leah and Stewart until she spoke from nearby.
She grins. “I can tutor you.”
I glare to hide my embarrassment and discretely rub the equation out of existence, just in case I really did make any mistakes.
I toss the stick aside. “It’s your fault I didn’t learn anything today anyway.”
“I didn’t tell you to watch me draw.”
Stew interrupts excitedly. “You can draw?”
Leah smiles at him, but then she nods at Rick. “What happened to him?”
“Rogue said he woke up in reality.”
Leah snorts. “Typical. He allots a task to us and then sleeps on the job.” She shakes her head. “He’s probably off smooching Miss Marianne.”
I feel my jaw stiffen. “I doubt that, seeing as she’s in the hospital.” The words are out before I can censor them.
Leah’s face goes blank and I know she had no idea. I also remember I’d promised Rick I wouldn’t say anything about it. I close my mouth and look away, hoping she won’t say anything.
She makes a few indistinct sounds before getting any actual words out, all teasing gone from her voice. “Why didn’t he say anything?”
I squirm. “I don’t know. But I promised I’d keep it a secret. Please don’t say anything to him. It’ll only make it worse. Just let him handle it.”
“Just let him handle it!? What do you—?”
But she bites off the end of her sentence when Rick moans. We all look at him and he winces, gingerly touching the back of his head.
“What happened?” He sits up and groans, his face twisting in pain.
I ignore Leah’s fierce expression and answer him calmly. “You must’ve woken up in reality. You went down too fast for me to catch you. Sorry.”
Rick waves aside my apology quickly, almost impatiently, his eyes bright. “One of the doctors woke me up.”
I glance quickly at Leah and Stewart, but either Rick doesn’t realize he’s talking about this in front of them, or he just doesn’t care.
“Marianne woke up and was able to pass their tests. She’ll be going home tomorrow.”
I grin in relief. “That’s great, Rick.”
He grins, too, brimming with joy. “I guess you were right, Jonas. Sometimes things do turn out better than we expect them to.”
I’m glad things did this time.
Rick seems to remember that Leah and Stewart are there and he forces his grin down, adopting a neutral expression. “Any luck?”
Leah shrugs, still watching Rick carefully. “Nothing too interesting. Honestly, I have no idea why the Entities are afraid of this place. Other than being really boring, I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
Rick nods, satisfied—if a little distracted—but I still have a question.
“Did you find any water?”
Stewart answers with his toothy grin. “Oh, you bet. We found a whole river!”
Rick and I look at Leah in surprise.
She purses her lips. “Well, I wouldn’t call it a river, exactly. But we definitely found water.”
Rick’s smile is back. “I think we have enough time for one trip down to this river before morning.”
I smile, too. A drink sounds heavenly right now.
Leah takes the lead and we all file out of the lean-to. After a minute, Stew insists he knows the way from here and asks if he can lead. Leah agrees, and Stewart urges us forward excitedly.
The next minute, we’re stepping up to the bank of a stream nearly three times as wide as the one by our old cave, and it’s moving at least twice as fast. But it tastes just as good.
I gulp down the cold, clean water until I can’t drink any more.
Once we’ve all had our fill, Rick stands up to lead us back to the shelter, and there’s a noise behind us.
We all scramble to our feet.
Leah’s foot slides on the wet bank in her hurry, and I reach out quickly to steady her. But my focus is on the shadow coming toward us.
Rick mutters a curse when Rogue materializes, a grin on his dark face.
“Glad to see you up and about.” The Entity hunter saunters forward until only a few feet separate us.
My pulse starts to normalize, and I realize Leah’s regained her balance. I release her arm, though she seems to have forgotten me.
Rick frowns at the Entity hunter. “What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s just that the last time I saw you, you weren’t, shall we say, here?”
Rick glances at me for an explanation.
“Rogue found us when you woke up. He carried you back to the shelter.”
Rick turns back to the Entity hunter with a bewildered expression. “Why?”
Rogue shrugs. “I guess you kids are kinda growing on me, and I didn’t want you to get eaten by something.”
At first I think Rick’ll make some comment about how he’s not a kid, but he surprises me—surprises us all —by stepping up to Rogue and reaching out a hand.
Rogue stares at the hand in astonishment, but then he grins and shakes it firmly. “Truce?”
Rick smiles too. “Truce.”
Chapter 15
When I thought back over my week on Saturday morning, I realized it had been one of the longest weeks of my life.
I’d been to the Reality Dreams a total of seven times. We still hadn’t found anything all that exciting, though honestly that’s not why I kept going. When I was in the Reality Dreams I had friends. It was nice to enjoy their company, to laugh and pretend like I was a normal kid. At least until morning.
School was a beast, and Instructor Grey had been worse than ever before, but Leah made it all bearable. When she wasn’t poking fun at instructors, she was scaring Ethan just by looking at him. I never knew that having a friend could be so much fun.
But now it was the weekend, and I didn’t have to worry about school or bullies for two whole days. Was there anything better? I was pretty sure not.
To start off the day, Mom made a big breakfast, and since Dad didn’t have to go into work today, we spent the morning together, laughing and eating until we were so full we couldn’t eat any more.
After cleaning up the kitchen, Dad took us outside for some yard work. I’m not a big fan of yard work, but doing it as a family . . . Well, it didn’t seem so much like work.
After that was done, Mom packed a lunch and we walked to a shaded grove not far from our house.
We spent the rest of the afternoon picnicking—food, games, and more laughter.
By the time the sun started to slip down in the sky, we were all so worn out it was kind of hard to believe today had been a day off.
But we trooped home with smiles on our faces, the warm sun shining on our backs.
I hadn’t thought about the Reality Dreams much today, but once I was back home and the picnic gear was put away, I started to wonder what was waiting for me when I fell asleep tonight.
So when Mom and Dad announced it was time for bed and Ellie started complaining, I hurried to obey, eager to finish off today in the perfect way.
> It seemed to take Mom and Dad forever to get Ellie into bed, and then to come to my room to say good night. But at last, my light was off, the house was quiet, and I was drifting into the Realty Dreams . . .
* * *
When I wake up, the other Reality Dreamers are waiting. They look as excited as I feel. But we wait for the customary amount of time, just to be sure everyone’s safely asleep.
Then, after a quick trip to the river (we’re still at Rogue’s shelter), we head out.
We’re looking for a new shelter—have been for the last two nights—but so far we haven’t found anything. Rick says it’s dangerous to stay in one place for too long, and I can tell he’s getting anxious.
I end up walking next to Rogue tonight—Rick takes the lead and Leah and Stewart keep their distance. The others still don’t really trust the Entity hunter, but I like him. Sure he’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s only ever helped us.
And I’m probably a bit biased—he did save my life, after all.
Either way, I follow Rogue into the trees without complaint. With every step, I can feel the excitement building inside me. What will we find tonight?
The sky is overcast, and I have a feeling it’ll be raining before long. Hopefully we can find our new shelter before then.
I can hear Leah and Rick talking a few feet ahead. Talking helps to pass the time while we walk—plus, it helps me feel like the night isn’t a total loss when we don’t find anything.
“So, Rogue.” My voice seems loud in the relative quiet. “Where is it you’re from again?”
The Entity hunter tosses me a sideways glance, then looks forward again. “Mourett.”
“Mourett? That’s pretty close to Capernia, isn’t it?”
He shrugs. “Not sure. Haven’t been around much the past while.”
“Oh, yeah. You spend most of your time here, don’t you?”
“That’s right.”
I hesitate, frowning. “But, what about your family?”
“What about them?” His voice is hard.
I almost drop the subject, but then he looks down at me again, his blue eyes as piercing as ever, and I’m afraid of what he’ll do if I do drop it. Either way, I’m treading on dangerous ground and I need to be careful.
