Proxy (The Dreams of Reality Book 1)

by Gareth Otton

  Miriam wasn’t happy, but she was outnumbered. Caught between Maggie and Jen, she finally gave in.

  "Thirty minutes," she said. "Any longer and we'll get Letty. Okay?"

  Jen wanted to say it wasn't okay. She didn't need Letty at all, not just in thirty minutes. Maggie gave her a look which told her not to push it so she smiled at Miriam and nodded. As a bonus, she kissed her on the cheek and hugged her. Miriam was a sucker for a hug. Jen knew she missed human contact, and she always gave in when Jen hugged her.

  When she stepped back Miriam was still scowling, but Jen could see she was fighting to keep it in place. She didn't say anything, just walked from the kitchen leaving Jen and Maggie alone.

  "Thank's Mags," Jen said, adopting Tad's nickname for the woman.

  Maggie smiled and offered her hand for a high five. Jen grinned and eagerly slapped Maggie's hand. Maggie accepted the high five and strolled to the kitchen counter, not making a big deal of the gesture or their bonding moment. Jen hated herself for trying too hard. Maggie was so cool. She needed to be more like that.

  She took a seat on the other side of Maggie.

  "How did today go?"

  Maggie shook her head. "Like shit." Jen had to fight back a grin. Tad never let people swear around her. He always treated her like a baby.

  "That bad?"

  "Yeah. We could go inside and follow Mark, but we couldn't touch anything. Makes breaking an entering pointless when you can't rifle through people's stuff or kick your murdering scum of an ex-husband between the legs.”

  “You’d do that?” Jen asked in awe.

  “In a heartbeat.”

  “It would be hilarious. He would just be walking around one minute and then the next he would be on the floor crying for his mummy without knowing what happened.”

  Maggie grinned. She had a pretty grin, and such big dimples. Jen hoped she looked as pretty as Maggie when she was older.

  “I never thought of that. That would be fun.” She sighed. “I could use some fun. It’s been all drama here the last few days.”

  Jen snorted. “That’s because Tad’s moody recently. He doesn’t have any fun.”

  For once Maggie didn’t side with her.

  “You should take it easy on him. I know dads can be hard to get on with sometimes, but they mean well. Besides, he’s got a lot going on. He’s worried—”

  “Yeah. Well he’d be less worried if he let me help out. If he let me Proxy, I could stop him getting so stressed out and keep him safe.”

  Maggie smiled in a way that made Jen think she must have said something she shouldn’t have. She looked away, blushing furiously.

  “You don’t think he trusts you?” Maggie asked.

  “Well, he doesn’t. He never lets me do anything.”

  “You know, Tad was three years younger than you when Charles came to him.”

  “I know. It’s disgusting. He was nine and I’m twelve, but I’m still not allowed any ghosts.”

  Maggie laughed. “You don’t understand. I’m not saying it was a good thing. I’m trying to tell you how hard it was. He was nine and had no other Proxies to help him learn. Charles has been around for a long time, but he only sees things from the eyes of a ghost. Tad needed to learn how to do everything by himself. Being that different is a lot to cope with, especially when you’re young. Tad got bullied a lot back then. He also struggled to cope with the stress of Charles in his mind.”

  “It’s not as bad as Tad says it is,” Jen argued. “I’ve had two ghosts before and it wasn’t that bad.”

  Maggie arched an eyebrow and Jen blushed. Okay. It had been bad. That first night she had been exposed to memories that no child should ever know of her parents. She knew all their thoughts and their secrets. Some were worse than others. The ones about her were worst of all.

  She had been an accident. Her parents had been happy before she came along and didn’t know how to deal with a baby they didn’t want. They kept her because they felt it was the right thing to do, not because they loved her. They loved her by the end, but she hadn’t realised how much of a burden she was. Especially when they thought she was crazy.

  She couldn’t remember the ghosts she talked to as a child. They just seemed like people to her. They’d always been there and were easily forgotten. For her parents, every time they caught her talking to one it was like a stab in the heart.

  After that first night it wasn’t as hard having them around. She didn’t have to look in their memories and she could try not to remember what she had seen. But the damage was done. She would never admit it, but she was glad when Tad advised them to move on.

  “Okay, it was a little overwhelming, but it got better. After a couple of days it was almost as though they weren’t even there. Besides, I’m older now. I can handle it. I’ll be thirteen in seven months.”

  Maggie’s smile showed just how little she was impressed by that fact. Jen slumped.

  “I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m saying that Tad has his reasons. It was hard, he had to learn by trial and error and sometimes it didn’t go well. I think it might be time to cut him some slack. He’s trying his hardest.”

  Jen wasn’t listening. She tuned out as she thought of Tad learning on his own. He didn’t need an adopted father to teach him. He got himself a ghost and learned what he needed. That was what she should to do.

  She was so caught up in the thought that she missed Maggie asking her a question. She was saved from having to answer when Tony burst through the wall.

  Jen took one look at his usually smirking face and knew something was wrong. She wasn’t the only one. Maggie was off her chair in an instant and called for Miriam.

  Miriam appeared a moment later, her expression hard. She took one look at Tony before arriving at the same conclusion. Something was wrong.

  “Jen,” Tony said. “You need to come with me.”

  “What’s wrong?” Miriam asked.

  “Tad’s hurt. It’s bad. Stella called an ambulance, but he needs to be with us. We can do a better job than those doctors.”

  Tony usually acted as though everything was a joke. He got on Jen’s nerves from time to time, but she usually liked that about him. None of that humour was there now, and that worried her.

  “What do you mean he’s hurt?” Maggie asked. “And who’s Stella?”

  “The cop working the disappearances,” Tony said before turning back to Jen. “Come on. I need you quick. Stella’s called for backup and there'll be ambulances soon. You need to let Stella see us so that we can convince her to get Tad out of there.”

  “Why can’t you take him out of there?” Maggie asked. It was Miriam who answered.

  “Ghosts can’t touch a Proxy when they’re sleeping or unconscious. Unless we have their permission, we can’t get anywhere near them. It’s like a natural defence or something. I don’t know.” She was already moving towards a stunned Jen who was still sitting on the stool, frozen in place.

  Tad was hurt? She always knew this would happen. He kept hunting ghosts and trying to find missing people when he was just a teacher. Of course he would get hurt.

  She jumped when Miriam touched her shoulder.

  “Jen. I need you to concentrate. You need to call a taxi.” She turned to Tony. “Where are we going?”

  “A pub called Hidden in the city centre.”

  Miriam nodded and turned back to Jen. “I would do it, but I can’t. You can make us visible when the taxi gets here so I can do the talking, but you need to get us that far. Can you do that?”

  Jen hesitated, fighting down panic. Tad was hurt and needed her help. She only calmed down when she felt Miriam grip her a little harder.

  “Jen, Tad needs us. Can you do it?”

  Jen nodded.

  “That’s my girl.”

  Tuesday night in November wasn’t busy, so they had no trouble getting a taxi. Getting to the city centre took ages though, and Jen was sure they would see flashing lights by the time they arrived.


  Amazingly, the only flashing lights were TVs flickering in the pubs. They had somehow beat both the police and the ambulance to the scene.

  Jen paid the driver with Tad’s emergency cash before he asked for it. It had taken her a long time to get over her shock that something had happened to Tad. Now all she could do was worry and try to get there as quick as possible. She was out of the taxi before the ghosts and as soon as she saw the backlit sign for the bar called Hidden, she ran for the alley beside it.

  She skidded to a stop when she reached it, her eyes going wide. There were four big men sleeping in the alley. One was sprawled against a wall, another curled in a ball on the floor, and two more were laying on top of each other.

  The sight of them were shocking enough. What terrified her was the pretty woman. She was soaking wet and knelt low over a shape that Jen recognised all too well.

  Tad looked smaller laying down. The woman had his head cradled in her lap and she was sheltering his face from the rain.

  The first Jen realised that she had stepped into the alley was when that woman looked up. She stared at Jen with wide, unseeing eyes that slowly focused as she came back to herself.

  “Don’t come any closer, sweetheart. This is a crime scene. The police will be here soon.”

  Jen ignored her, coming closer and staring at Tad.

  “Didn’t you hear m—”

  “What happened to my dad?” Jen asked. It was the first time she ever called him that. She didn’t notice. All she saw was Tad’s face and blood… lots of it.

  He had a big bruise on the side of his face and his hair was wet and sticky. She looked down and saw more blood coming from a tear in his coat.

  This was worse than what she imagined. It looked like he would die. Jen felt tears in her eyes and that made her angry. She was nearly a woman. She couldn’t cry like a little girl. She wiped them away with the back of her hand and turned her anger on the woman.

  “What did you do to him? What happened?”

  The woman was momentarily speechless.

  “You’re Jennifer?” she asked. “Why are you here?”

  The question stoked Jen’s anger, and she took another step closer.

  “I asked first. What did you do to him—”

  “Jen, calm down. It'll be okay.”

  They both turned in surprise to the new voice. In her anger she had not seen him and had lost control of her powers, unintentionally making Charles visible. Stella jumped, her mouth dropping open but unable to speak.

  “This isn’t Stella’s fault. These men attacked them. Stella got hurt as well.”

  He tried to hug Jen, but she pushed him away. “Why were they after him? What did they want?” Charles didn’t answer quick enough and Jen put the clues together fast. Miriam may not be her ghost, but Jen had learned a thing or two about putting together clues from her.

  “They weren’t here for Tad. They were here for you.” She turned back on Stella who flinched away from her accusation.

  “I didn’t know this would happen,” she said. “I tried to—”

  Jen wasn’t listening. All she could think of was that Tad was hurt, and it was this woman’s fault. She took another step closer, ready to hurt her.

  A hand on her arm stopped her. Not Charles this time, but Miriam. The other ghosts had caught up.

  “Jen. This isn’t her fault,” Miriam said. Her voice was so calm. How could she be so calm when Tad was laying there and there was so much blood? “Remember what we’re here for. We need to help Tad?”

  “Oh my God. Inspector Winslow… No… No, it can’t be. You’re dead. You’re—”

  “Hello Stella,” Miriam interrupted, her voice still annoyingly calm. “Never mind me. I need to know if you’ve called this in.”

  The woman blinked and straightened, growing more confident.

  “I called it in, but there’s been an incident on the other side of the city. The ambulances are tied up and the uniforms on route will take a while.”

  Miriam smiled. “That’s good. It mean’s we’ve still got time. Now, what I’m about to say will sound strange.”

  “Stranger than my dead boss standing in an alley with two guys who appeared from nowhere in the middle of a fight and disappeared the minute Tad was knocked unconscious? Weirder than Tad’s daughter somehow being here within minutes of this all going down?” She looked to the final figure and her eyes widened further. “Holy shit. Is that Maggie Patterson, the murder Kate’s working? What the hell is happening?”

  “I’ll explain later,” Miriam said. “I promise. But for now, you need to trust me. Can you do that?”

  Stella hesitated, frowned, but finally nodded. Again Miriam smiled. How was she so calm?

  “Right. The first thing you need to know is that we can help Tad better than any doctor. You need to trust us.”

  Stella shook her head.

  “No. He needs to go to the hospital. He’s so cold and—”

  “It’s raining, Stella. He’s bound to be cold. But he’s not dead. Trust me. I’d know. But if we don’t act he might be soon. Is your car close?”

  “What? My car?”

  “Yes. Is it close?” Stella nodded. “First, we need to get Tad to your car. Then you need to wake him up, just for a second, but he needs to be conscious. He has to give us permission to help him.”

  Stella looked confused. “I don’t think I… No. We need to wait for—”

  “For fuck sake,” Maggie said, interrupting Stella and Miriam. “Look lady. This is a messed up situation and we’re clearly not getting through to you. Maybe this will help.” She took a step to her right and pushed her hand through a wall. Stella yelped. “See that. We’re not alive… well, except for Jen. We’re ghosts. Tad here is like a medium on steroids. We need you to trust that we can use our ghostly mojo and can make him better.”

  Stella looked overwhelmed and not at all convinced. She was about to say something when Jen spoke up first. She only said one word, but it was enough.

  “Please.”

  Whether it was her tone, that she was the only living person there, or if Stella had just given up, she finally nodded.

  Stella slid out from underneath Tad and moved to help lift him. Jen went to his legs. Even between the two of them they didn’t make much headway. He was a dead weight and far too awkward to carry.

  That was when a thought struck Jen. It was instinct. She concentrated on touching Tad and thought about their shared dream. Was he dreaming now? Could she reach him?

  She closed her eyes, searching within the core of herself for her Proxy abilities. She sent out a questing thought for Tad’s mind.

  She found it instantly. It was as though his mind was waiting for her this whole time. She delved into that thought and found herself once more in that round room where Tad had taken them the night before. He was laying on the floor looking dazed. Just like last night, she could tell that though his eyes were open, he saw nothing.

  He turned towards her the second she materialised. It was freaky.

  “Tad?”

  “You shouldn’t be here, Jen.” He sounded tired and turned away again. “You should be in school.”

  Jen almost laughed. He was delirious.

  “Tad, you need to listen. You need to let Miriam, Tony, Charles and Maggie touch you.”

  “Don’t change the subject—”

  “For God’s sake, Tad! Listen. I need you to please, let them touch you and give them permission to come into you.”

  “I don’t know. It’s been so long since I was here alone,” he laughed. It was high pitched, and he sounded drunk. “I like being alone. It’s… quiet.”

  “Please, Tad. For me. I really need you to do this.”

  He sighed. For the longest time he said nothing, and she thought he had forgotten she was there. Finally he said, “Fine. If it’s that important to you.”

  Suddenly Jen felt the world shift, and she knew it had worked. Four shadows appeared on the walls. T
hey were tall and rectangular, the places where the doors to the ghost’s memories would go.

  “Can I get some peace now? I’m so tired.”

  Jen didn’t answer, she just whispered the word excitare and came back to herself.

  “What did you do?” Charles asked the second she was back in the freezing, dark alley. He stared at Tad in amazement, as did Miriam, Maggie and Tony. Only Stella looked confused.

  “I just spoke with Tad and got him to lower his defences. He’s also given you permission to join with him when we get him somewhere safe.”

  “I didn’t know you could do that,” Tony said. “Well done, Jen.”

  She felt immensely proud of herself and couldn’t help but standing a little straighter.

  “What are you talking about?” Stella demanded.

  They just waved her off and got back to work. With the ghosts able to touch Tad it was much easier. Thanks to the rain there weren’t many people on the streets so they weren’t spotted as they carried him the short distance to Stella’s car.

  It was more of an effort to manoeuvre him into the back seat of the Mini, but they managed.

  “Right. That’s great, Stella. Now I need you to do me one last favour,” Miriam said. “I need you to look after Jen while we get to work. Once you’re finished here, take her to Tad’s house and stay with her until Tad wakes up. Can you do that?”

  Stella was done questioning things and just nodded.

  “I don’t need a babysitter, Miriam,” Jen protested.

  Miriam ignored her. “Thanks Stella. I really appreciate this. I promise, come the morning you’ll have your answers. But for now we need to work.” Turning to Jen she added, “Be good for Stella. Do it for Tad.”

  Her final words took the remaining fight from Jen and she nodded. Miriam smiled one last time before turning her attention to Tad. Each ghost faded, their forms became little more than light mist that Tad breathed in.

  “Oh my God,” Stella said in what sounded like a groan. It was the sound of an exhausted woman at the edge of breaking.

  At that same moment sirens wailed in the distance. Hearing them, Stella perked up.

  “I need to deal with that,” she said. “Are you going to be alright waiting in the car?”