Wicked Dreams (The Dream Chronicles Book 2)

by J. Clarice

  The realization settled over everyone’s shoulders, and Jayden threw her head back while biting her lip. Jasper rubbed his face and Trevor frowned.

  They were in deep shit.

  After cleaning up, resting, and healing their wounds, they sat around to take a look at the Dark Realm’s scroll. The smooth roll of paper with the metal covering its ends didn’t unroll as majestically as they expected. There were no buttons to push or flaps to pull. They each tried filling it with their powers all at once, hoping it needed some sort of energy. It didn’t.

  Scarlett went back through their encounter with Ren and could’ve sworn it was the actual scroll. She seemed so sure, and it hadn’t been easy to retrieve either.

  Scarlett opened her mouth to speak when a presence poked at the string of her power. “Someone’s outside.”

  Jayden armed her bow as Jasper raised his sword and Trevor unsheathed his knives. After her talk with Trevor, Scarlett put a barrier around the building that alerted her of any movement.

  She moved toward the door and found a cloaked figure standing inside the barrier.

  Opening the doors, Scarlett ignited her palms. “Who are you?”

  The figure raised their hand, and Scarlett’s power flared in warning. They slowed their movements and widened their fingertips before pulling back the hood of their black cloak.

  Catlike hazel eyes struck Scarlett, and she snuffed out her power. “What are you doing here?”

  Jude’s blonde curls were thrown into a tightly wrapped low bun. Her appearance would be enough to stand out like a sore thumb, with her light hair contrasting her dark skin. Her blue-gray armor was hidden behind a black cloak that kissed the floor with her steps.

  “I know why you can’t open the scroll,” Jude stated as she began toward Scarlett.

  “How would you know that? How did you even find us?” Scarlett inquired.

  “We forgot to give you a vital piece of information before you left the refuge, and I took off as soon as I could.”

  Scarlett raised a brow. “We passed through a portal-”

  “It got left open for a few moments, long enough for me to gather where you guys landed. Seeing as I was able to find you even though it took me a while, I suspect Queen Ren and her Nightmares won’t be too far behind.”

  Realizing their time was ticking, Scarlett asked the question they all needed to know. “How do we open the scroll?”

  “You need the vital key to open it.”

  “A key?”

  “Not just any key,” Jude sighed. “We need the blood of the one who sealed it in the first place.”

  Unease settled in the pit of Scarlett’s stomach. “Who sealed it?”

  Jude hesitated before ripping off the band-aid. “Edgar.”

  “Well then, how the fuck are we supposed to find him if to open the one thing that’ll find him, we need him for it?” Jayden appeared beside Scarlett as she thought what they’d all been thinking.

  “Downside, we won’t get a peep out of that scroll without that blood. On the upside, we do happen to know of two relatives that share his blood.”

  “No.” Scarlett immediately shook her head at Jude’s implication. “There has to be another way.”

  “I’m afraid there isn’t. We are going to need the help of the very two men you banished.”

  Bitterness filled Scarlett’s mouth as the memory of that moment flashed through her mind. The betrayal and pain that flashed through Cain’s eyes would forever slice her heart. She served him the thing he hated most on a lovely steaming platter. Raxon deserved every second of pain he got, but it came with the cost of giving Cain the same.

  Scarlett wouldn’t know what to do if she saw him again. Things wouldn’t be the same, and she was sure he hated her. The thought had her pursing her lips.

  “If we were to get their help,” Scarlett gave way to the idea. “How would we ever find them in the Nether Realms?”

  “From long ago stories, there is a place that those banished go. It’s difficult to find at first, but apparently you won’t be doing much of the searching. They say the place will find you before you find it.”

  Scarlett bit the inside of her cheek as she contemplated what she’d have to face once they entered the Nether Realm. This bump in the road had not been expected and threw off her focus.

  Before the conversation could be continued, a distant screech pierced the air.

  “They’re almost here,” Jude pointed out as she pulled her cloak over her head. “Unless you guys want a part two with the Dark Realm, I suggest we leave now.”

  Bristled from the fact that they have to reunite with Edgar’s sons, Scarlett released the inside of her cheek from her teeth and glanced back at the others. “We’ll leave now and head for the Nether Realm.”

  While the others moved, Scarlett pinned Jude with her gaze. “No more setbacks Jude, if there’s anything else we need to know about this mission, now is your chance to get it out.”

  Jude’s eyebrow twitched before she loosened her features. “That was all. Get the son’s blood, and once the scroll is opened, it’ll be a straight path to The Mountain.”

  Scarlett closed her eyes before nodding her head. Everyone’s lives were hanging on the Havened Ones’ words.

  The team exited the building with their weapons and seer map in hand. Jayden walked up to Scarlett and handed her the scroll. When Scarlett tried to pull back, Jayden kept her in with her eyes on Jude.

  “I don’t trust her.”

  “I don’t either, but we don’t have a choice right now. She’s our best bet at getting through the Nether Realms. Queen Esma wouldn’t send her right hand for just anything.”

  Satisfied with Scarlett’s whispered response, Jayden backed away and resumed her path beside her brother. Scarlett eyed Jude, who stood with almost as much grace as Grandpa Byrne. She was hiding something, and Scarlett intended to find out what.

  “Let’s head out,” Scarlett called. Her team walked in front of her as they neared the edge of the Dreammare’s Refuge. Scarlett looked out into the lonesome town and the black building above the others before stepping out. Her heart was squeezed by the memories that flashed before her eyes. She would soon see Cain again. How she would react was still beyond her.

  She knew one thing for sure.

  Things wouldn’t be the same.

  They’d be worse.

  

  “I feel hungry.”

  Faces scrunched, and eyes rolled at Jasper’s blurt.

  “You can’t even eat here, dumbass,” Jayden remarked as she stared at her brother.

  “That doesn’t make me any less hungry,” Jasper pouted. “The meals I’d been having back on Earth. I miss those.”

  Scarlett let Jasper’s whines slide. They didn’t need to eat or do the normal human functions to keep up their Ever Realm bodies. It was only their minds there anyway. Scarlett was too wrapped up in hers to think of the luxuries she used to enjoy on Earth. There was no point for her. She was condemned to Ever Realm for as long as her mind lived. Others would see it as a fresh start; she saw it as a never-ending nightmare.

  

  Her mind was clear as the cleanest waters anyone could lay eyes on. Her thoughts in order and her mission clear, Jude wasn’t going to mess this up. Her Queen and her people relied on her to keep her position and maintain poise.

  “The delicious steak and mashed potatoes,” Jasper moaned in longing. “Man, that was quite the meal.”

  Jude internally groaned as Jasper’s words grated her ears. The boy didn’t know when to stop talking, and it was amazing neither of them lost their cool yet. Well, most of them. Jayden was a short fuse, and she was wary of her. Jude made a mental note to steer clear of that one. Aside from Trevor, Jude was the oldest and babysitting three eighteen-year-olds.

  Great.

  Just how she possibly wanted to spend the rest of her days alive.

  

  Kill me now.

  Jayden clenched
her fists and jaw as she tried to drone out her brother’s voice.

  She wasn’t in the mood for any chatter, and he never got the clue until he was slapped upside the head and threatened. She knew she needed to stop being easily annoyed by him, but it provided her a distraction from the thing that hurt her most.

  It was easy – easier to be mad at someone else than dwell on the fact that Liam’s death left a hole in her heart that she didn’t know how to fill.

  

  He knew, damn well, he was a pain in the ass.

  Who else would he be if he weren’t?

  Despite the groans, eye rolls, and curses thrown his way, Jasper knew his stupid banter kept their minds off the inevitable death they probably headed towards.

  Off the worries of the things that left them… not so them anymore.

  Off the fact that this world kind of fucking sucks.

  “Have any of you tried chicken fajitas?”

  

  Trevor just shook his head at Jasper’s antics. Having only known the boy for a few days, he understood what he’d been doing.

  He used to do it himself.

  Before his partner died.

  Alicia – the first woman to have truly stolen his heart and the first to have ever shattered it.

  If it hadn’t been for Cain, Trevor would be a dead man. Plainly said, he owes him a lot, which is why he knew of the risk he took confessing to Scarlett.

  Maybe he shouldn’t have…

  Too late now.

  

  “Why couldn’t you bring me an awesome cloak like yours?”

  Jasper moved his banter onto Jude, who stared straight ahead.

  They were walking along the edge of the Dark Realm, close enough to feel the pull of Ever Realm.

  “You will need to venture through the Dark Realm to reach its entrance. The Nether Realm lies on the edge of where the Dark Realm and Ever Realm meet most.”

  According to Grandpa Byrne’s words, they have to continue along this path until something appeared or happened. Easy enough.

  Darkness filled the area around the end of where their powers reached. With Scarlett’s all-seeing eyes, they were prepared.

  “Because I didn’t, and even if I did, there wouldn’t have been one big enough to fit you and your mouth,” Jude answered as she lazily glanced at Jasper.

  He faked a hurt gasp while bringing his hands above his heart. The smile in his eyes was as clear as the stars. “Ouch, Jude. In all the time I’ve known you, I wouldn’t have expected those words.”

  Jayden ignored her brother’s dramatic display and scrutinized Jude's body language. That woman was preserved and held together like a can of tightly packed sardines. Even Jayden was slightly intrigued by how she did it so well, but she would never admit to it. Whatever Jude was hiding would come out sooner or later.

  They all felt the shift.

  The chilled air of the Realm dropped, and as if a vacuum had been turned on, its suction lightly pulled the surface of their armor.

  It wrapped around them like the cups on an octopus tentacle – warming their skins yet, chilling their bones, coaxing them closer and closer into the place of little to no return.

  The area they were about to enter was one of arrant danger.

  The Nether Realm.

  “We’re here,” Jude announced as they crept slowly along the edge.

  The darkness remained the same, but Scarlett’s vision went dark and her eyes wide.

  “I can’t see anything.”

  “That would be the difference between the Dark Realm and the Nether Realm. It remains unknown to most on the outside, and you’re blind until you fully enter,” Jude informed. “That’s what the explorers who almost went in used to say.”

  Trevor ignited a flare of power in his palm and turned to the twins. “Scarlett, hold before we continue.”

  Scarlett turned back to face the twins and Trevor. Their faces were illuminated by the ray of power they held in their palms.

  “Before we go on, I must remind you both of the life you’re possibly committing to once we enter the Nether Realm,” Trevor’s solemn gaze captured their attention. “Entering the Nether Realm, your mind will be the farthest it’s ever been from your body on Earth and will begin to perish every minute you’re in there. Are you willing to risk the fact that if you’re in here too long, you’ll become havened?”

  “I know what I’m signing up for Trevor.” Jayden showed no hesitation. “There’s nothing back there for me anyway.”

  “I knew what I was getting into also. I mean, it’ll suck that I won’t get to eat-”

  A smack sounded, and Jasper rubbed the back of his head and pulled a face. “Ow…”

  Trevor nodded, respecting their choices before turning back to Scarlett and Jude. “Wherever we go from here is entirely dependent on the two of you. You lead, and we’ll follow.”

  Scarlett and Jude nodded.

  “With that settled, keep an eye out for some kind of drop or hole in the ground. The explorers explained it as –”

  “A black hole that looked like it was eating light?” Jasper asked Jude.

  “Yes. How do you know?” Jude’s brow crunched with surprise.

  Jasper lifted his finger, pointing behind Jude and Scarlett. They turned around to find the hole he’d described in the distance.

  A soft glowing ring disrupted the black ground. It encircled more darkness, but the glow's swirling gave the appearance of it being vacuumed.

  Scarlett slowly began toward the Nether Realm’s entrance and heard the others follow her. The suction on their armor grew as a lull settled over their shoulders.

  “Do you guys feel that too?” Jasper softly said.

  Trevor, Jayden, and Scarlett nodded while Jude narrowed her eyes at the hole that neared.

  “It’s a trap.”

  Everyone whipped toward her, waiting for an explanation.

  “The explorers spoke of a comforting lure that overcame their bodies. The Nether Realm’s entrance spreads its power as far as it can into the Dark Realm, which isn’t very far since it isn’t supposed to be here. It’ll lure the weak-willed, while the strong are able to resist the influence.”

  “Hmm, makes sense.”

  Jayden silently scoffed at Jasper’s remark.

  Ignoring his sister’s reaction, Jasper kept his wide eyes on the vacuum before them. “Are we going to get sucked in, or will we need to jump?”

  The air tightened, and their insides squeezed.

  “Guys… I think-”

  Scarlett’s words abruptly cut off as her body flew into the black hole.

  “Did she just-” Jasper didn’t get to finish his question before Jude disappeared in the same manner. Jayden and Trevor gaped as they hesitantly took a step forward.

  “The entrance is an actual vacuum,” whispered Jayden and she wiggled her fingers. They all stared into the black hole dreading what lay on the other. Without another word, Jasper ran forward.

  “See you guys on the inside!”

  “Here goes fucking nothing,” Jayden cursed while Trevor shook his head. They followed Jasper’s route, and the Nether Realm yanked their bodies like rag dolls in a tornado.

  

  Grey met Scarlett’s sight as her eyes fluttered open. She wheezed as she blinked to adjust to the lighting. Regaining her breathing, she turned her head to find it… everywhere.

  Grey sand coated the ground and the hills that rose not too far away. In the distance were black and gray spotted mountains that appeared small, but she was sure that they were giants once close. The sky was a white grey as if it were a cloudy day on Earth. If it hadn’t been for the bleak surroundings, she would’ve thought the Nether Realm’s entrance landed them there.

  Scarlett gathered herself to her feet. For as far as she could see, it was gloomy with not a single being in sight.

  “Guys?” she called as she took a step, only for her legs to give out. Scarlett landed on all fours and cried
out as her wrists and knees panged with sharp pain. She rolled onto her back and realized her body hadn’t felt right. Her limbs ached and weighed down as if filled with lead.

  Scarlett grunted as she tried to move her wrists in circles and clenched her teeth as the stab reappeared.

  “Trevor! Jayden!”

  “Shut up!”

  Scarlett quieted as she swiveled her head. “Who’s there?”

  Her words were hushed, and she squinted her eyes before catching a flash of black amongst the sand. It was gone before she could confirm it. Trained on the area, Scarlett saw it again.

  ‘Who are they?’

  The person appeared closer with each flash, and bobbing grey figures focused into Scarlett’s vision. They blended with the terrain and moved silently.

  With her eyes occupied, Scarlett didn’t take notice of the single tree that appeared fifty feet away. It heard her shouts and knew she was fresh. It wanted to get to her first and didn’t have to use any antics since she wasn’t aware. The tree was the loveliest shade of dark green with a dark brown covering its bark. A little brown ovoid hung from a branch's tip accompanied by hundreds of sisters and brothers hanging from the other branches.

  It was a pinecone tree.

  Entirely unsuspecting to the unknowing eye.

  The ones that didn’t know… they’d get close to the tree. They’d be thinking they were heading toward something familiar, something of safety.

  Only they weren’t.

  That tree was death.

  The tree slithered its way to Scarlett, who couldn’t do anything but lay on the ground.

  Behind the tree was its true form. Blood from its victims oozed through the bark and dripped onto the sand, only to be quickly covered with no trace left.

  The drag of the tree reached Scarlett’s ears. She spun her head around, and her eyes widened in wonder at the sight of green in the grey space.

  It stood still feeling the weight of her stare. The second she blinked; it slithered a great distance before stoning.

  Scarlett creased her brows at the tree's new position. She could’ve sworn it’d been farther away.