“This is the best breakfast in the Nightmare world,” Max says as he opens the door, a bell announcing our entrance.
Inside there are tall red booths lining the wall with several tables scattered about with red vinyl and metal chairs surrounding them. It feels like a scene out of a fifty’s sitcom.
We slide into an empty booth. I glance up as the swinging double doors to the kitchen area open and a cheerful older woman approaches us. The smile on her face is warmer than the platter of fresh donuts she's carrying in her hands. Her grey hair is done up in a fifties style bouffant, which compliments the sock-hop style outfit covering her short, round frame.
"Max, how is school?" She stops at the corner of the bar that stretches across the middle of the dinner, setting the pie on an empty, crystal platter. "And who is your friend?"
“Hey Bertha. School is school, you know how it is, and this is Whisper.” He grins up at her then turns to me. “Bertha makes the best pancakes you’ve ever tasted.”
“You flatter me too much, kid. I’ll give you a few minutes to browse over the menu. Do you know what you’d like to drink?” She asks, holding a small book of paper and a pen.
“Coffee please,” I reply immediately.
“Same for me. Cream and sugar too.” Max winks at the woman.
She walks off to get our drinks and I open the menu and browse over the offerings. Everything sounds so good but since Max bragged on her pancakes, I decide I want those, eggs, and bacon.
Bertha returns with our coffee and I mix in cream and sugar while Max orders his food then when it’s my turn I order, my mouth waters just picturing the amazing food in front of me.
“So, you come here often?” I ask, trying to make small talk.
“That sounds like a cheesy pick up line. Are you flirting with me, Whisper?” Max shoots me a grin that makes butterflies dance in my stomach. Man, I’m falling hard for this boy.
“I mean, do you want me to?” I bat my eyelashes then laugh at how silly I must appear.
“I’ve never met anyone quite like you.” His eyes focus on me intensely. I feel like I could get lost in their depths.
I’m not sure how long we’ve been like this when Bertha clears her throat.
“And they call it puppy love.” She shakes her head smiling as she places our orders in front of us. “Enjoy you two. If you need anything else, just holler.”
My mouth waters as I pour syrup on the fluffy pancakes. When the first bite hits my tongue, I groan in pleasure at the sweet buttery goodness.
“Told you it was good.” Max grins as he shoves a bite in his mouth.
We quickly devour our food, making small talk between bites and by the time Bertha comes back to check on us, I’m stuffed.
“Can I get you kids anything else?” She smiles at us with a knowing glance.
“I couldn’t possibly eat another bite. It was all amazing.” I tell her.
“That’s it. Can you put it on my tab?” Max winks at her.
“You got it. Have fun, you two.” She chuckles as she walks off.
We get up and leave the small diner. Once we are on the street, I loop my arm through his. “So, what are we going to do now?”
“I have it on good authority my house is empty, so I thought we could nose around. Hopefully find something to help the cause.” His face grows serious.
“Let’s go then.” My stomach tightens. I’m going to see where he grew up and hopefully get some answers finally.
Max grabs my hand, lacing his fingers between mine and we teleport in front of a large, two story white house with Greek columns holding up the porch.
“You grew up here?” My eyes widen as I stare at Max.
“I told you my dad was a businessman.” He shrugs. “It’s not as nice as it seems. We may have stuff, but I would hazard to guess there was more love in your house.”
“Come on; let's see what we can find.” Max leads up the steps and through the solid black door.
Stepping into the foyer, I can already see his family values their wealth. It’s much like Coventry’s house with everything on display. I follow Max down a wide hallway that is lined with garish artwork. Everything about this house screams Cast your eyes upon my magnificence! I roll my eyes and chuckle internally. Max opens a door to the right and we slip inside then he engages the lock.
“Just in case any of the house staff are around.” He winks.
I twirl around and take in the room. The large dark oak desk with an overstuffed leather chair takes up the bulk of the room. The dark wood floors and wood paneled walls make the room feel small to me. It’s apparent that his dad wouldn’t let anyone else design this room.
Max opens a drawer on the file cabinet next to the wall and pulls out a small key.
“This opens the desk drawers.” He points to the small keyholes on each one when I walk around to meet him.
He opens the top drawer, pulls out a thick folder, and sets it on the desktop. And gestures for me to have at it.
I open the folder and go through the transactions one by one. Max was right. He’s buying up property in all of the pocket universes, including the Dissidents. But what does it mean?
“Is there anything else?” I ask when I finish thumbing through the folder.
“Let’s check it out.” Max shrugs opening the next drawer.
We spend the next hour combing over the office and finding nothing new. I sigh in frustration as we replace everything where we found it when the phone rings.
I freeze as the answering machine picks up. I didn’t know that voicemail could be heard without calling into it.
“My dad’s old fashioned.” Max gives me a knowing glance.
We listen as it beeps, and Coventry’s voice fills the room. “The plan is in motion. Once all enlistees are moved out you can finish buying their properties and build your resorts. Thank you, old friend for all of your support.”
“Well, that answers one question, but raises so many more.” Max groans before glancing at his watch and grinning. “Let’s get out of here, it’s time for something fun.”
“Where are we going?” I stare at him like he’s grown two heads.
“We’re going back to the entry point. Come on!” He grabs my hand; his face lights up with excitement. I giggle as his tendrils wrap around us and we teleport back to the entry point. We run through and my jaw drops open.
“The best part of this place in winter is this.” He gazes upward, his eyes sparkling.
The darkening sky is full of dancing bands of greens, purples, and pinks. I have seen pictures of the Northern Lights but experiencing it in person is something altogether otherworldly.
“We got really lucky! It’s rare to get all the colors dancing. Most of the time it’s just green.” Max’s face lights up with joy. “I’m so glad it decided to work out tonight.”
His eyes lock onto mine and his expression changes. He’s staring at me as if he wants to eat me. I step forward, feeding off of this tension between us. He takes the cue and grabs the back of my head, crashing his lips to mine. His tongue teases at my lips begging for entrance. My insides turn into jelly as the kiss deepens. I cling onto him for dear life. He is the oxygen I need to breathe.
He suddenly pushes away panting. “Whisper, we need to stop.” His eyes are full of regret.
“But…” I start to protest.
“If we don’t stop now, I don’t think I’d have the strength to. Besides, we would get frostbite on our asses.” He chuckles, trying to make light of the situation.
“Fine you win.” I stick my lower lip out, but deep down I know he’s right. I’m not even sure I’m ready to take that next step. And with four guys in my life, I think we all need to talk about that before it happens. Life is way too complicated sometimes.
“Let’s get back. Thank you for coming with me today. It means a lot.” Max leans in as if to kiss me again but pulls back at the last second. “Sorry, better not start that again.”
I grab his hand and we teleport back to the academy, my heart sinking when we walk through the entry point and my familiar prison comes into view.
“I don’t want to go back to my room. Can we go to the library and work some instead?” I bat my eyelashes at Max.
“Anything for you.” His voice grows husky as he grabs my hand.
We arrive in the secret library to find Finn hard at work. The fragrant citrus scent of orange dusting spray and parchment hit my nose. I smile as I watch since he hasn’t noticed with his back turned to us. Max clears his throat causing Finn to jump, a plum of dust rising in the air. Finn bends over and sneezes before pivoting and meeting my eyes.
“I just started. I was hoping to make some progress in cleaning the place up.” He points to the half shelf he has cleared.
“Why don’t we bring the rest of the gang in to help us. We could have this place shining like new in no time.” I suggest.
“Let’s go grab them.” Max saunters over and playfully smacks Finn on the shoulder.
They both wrap themselves and teleport out, leaving me behind safely. I walk over to the shelves we’ve already cleaned and examine the titles. There are books on everything from history to specific gifts they possessed. A wealth of knowledge at our fingertips, but little time to read it. I hope Finn is a fast learner because I will need his help to sort through this and find what we really need to focus on. The memories from the stone are helpful, but they can only contain so much knowledge. There has to be a lot here we can use.
Finn returns with Ryland and Sam. Watching their eyes grow wide as they take in the room makes a smile spread across my face.
“This is so much more than I imagined. It’s going to take a while to get it cleaned up.” Sam spins around as he examines everything.
“It won’t take long if we all work together. We should get the floor cleaned so we can set books on it when we tackle the shelves. There’s not enough room on the desk for us all to work at once.” Ryland points out.
“But it will just get dirty again as we clean.” Finn’s forehead bunches together and he tilts his head. “Isn’t that inefficient?”
“Maybe a little, but it won’t take long to clean it again. I wish we had a window to open to air it out a little bit.” Ryland gazes up longingly at the stained-glass windows.
“If wishes were wings, we would all fly,” I step closer and wrap my arms around him. “But we can totally do this.”
Max appears with Lydia and Korbin in tow. Lydia rushes up to the bookshelf and runs her finger down one of the clean spines. Her face drops when she sees the language, but quickly replaces it with a smile.
“I can’t wait to see this place cleaned up. I only wish I could read them.” She glances back at the shelves longingly.
I wonder if Treyton would teach her as well. She needs a purpose, and this would mean so much to her. I’ll have to ask him when we see him tonight. There must be some way I’ll be able to convince him.
Ryland grabs a broom and starts sweeping the floor. Sam’s eyes land on the mop propped up in the corner and a mischievous glint shines through as a smirk grows across his lips.
“I’ll be right back.” He winks at me before disappearing.
I go back to the shelf Finn was working on and pick up a rag and start dusting off the books, sitting them on the desk. Sam returns with a bucket of hot sudsy water.
“Watch this.” He waggles his eyebrows.
An inky tendril streams from his chest and wraps around the mop. Sam waves his hands around as if he’s conducting an orchestra, and I watch in rapt fascination as the mop plunges into the soapy water then leaves a wet trail as it stalks behind Ryland. Before long, Ryland joins in on the fun and the boys make quick work of finishing their chores.
“Can I do a shelf while we wait for the floor to dry?” Lydia bounces, itching to get to work.
“Sounds good to me.” I point to the rags.
She grabs one then starts on the other side of the room. We work rhythmically and when the floor is dry, the guys all pick shelves and join in. After a couple of hours, I take a break and stretch, my back muscles tight from the repetition.
I step back and inspect our progress. There are only two shelves left to go! With all of us working this went much faster than I had imagined. I smile at the thought of digging into the books.
Finn notices me standing in the middle of the room and walks over to join me.
“It’s coming together.” He nods to the bookshelves. “Maybe you should start going through the catalog the original librarian left with his journal and find those books. We can reorganize them based on what’s been gone through, then we can go through the other ones and add them to the list when that’s finished.”
“If we are lucky, they are already organized like that.” I point out.
“They might be, but we can’t assume.” He runs his hand across the back of his neck. “I learned the alphabet last night and a few simple words, but I won’t be much help yet.”
“That’s ok. I wasn’t expecting you to be fluent overnight.” I wrap my arms around his waist. “Why don’t you hand me stacks and I’ll check them off the list. Then we can sort them into two piles. One’s that are listed and ones that aren’t.”
“That would work.” He smiles, his blue eyes lighting up.
He grabs a stack off of a clean shelf and piles them in front of me while the others finish off the last shelves. I pull out the catalog from whoever ran this library and started with the first book. I can’t find it on the list, so I set it off to the right then pick up the next one. Bingo! It’s on the second page so I start a second pile to my left. I work through the pile and my spirit falls. It appears Finn was right, there was no real organization going on.
As the other’s finish, they clean the floor one more time before saying their goodbyes, leaving Finn and I alone together. We work through one last shelf before I call it quits.
“Thank you for helping me with this.” I stand up and stretch, a big yawn escaping. “But I think I need to stop for the day.”
Finn checks his watch and his eyes widen. “Whisper, it’s nearly eleven at night. We should have stopped hours ago.”
“That explains my sore back.” I chuckle as I walk over to him.
I wrap my arms around him and lay my head on his chest, listening to the beating of his heart as he snakes his arms around my waist. I gaze up into his cornflower blue eyes and see a mix of desire and indecision. A small smile plays at my lips as I stand on my tip toes and pull his head down to meet mine.
Our lips meet tentatively, his soft kisses holding back. I try to deepen the kiss as he pulls away.
“I want to revisit this, but aren’t we supposed to meet in our dreams with everyone?” he asks breathlessly.
“Crap, you’re right. I’ll see you soon.” I give him one last squeeze before teleporting back to my room.
I quickly rush through getting ready for bed and lay down. I close my eyes and let out a big yawn, drifting off to sleep much faster than I thought I could.
Midnight Rising comes into view and I smile at what I see. There are double the students today and Ryland is already directing them in how to use the tendril to move things.
“See, we have your back.” Sam stands next to me and grins. “Just remember to lean on us.”
“You’re right.” I lean over, letting my shoulder bump into him.
As I watch the students work on their new skill, I notice Treyton sitting towards the edge of the crowd and smile. When we finish, I can ask him about adding Lydia to his students.
I sit down and lean back against the tree while the practice continues. All but four of the students were able to conjure their tendrils. I close my eyes and search for Aunt Nellie, wanting her to see this.
“Whisper, this is fantastic.” She exclaims as I open my eyes. “We should bring the adults over now and start working as a team.”
“You’re right.” I stand up and brush the dirt off
my butt. “Why don’t you go ahead and get everyone here?”
“On it.” She winks.
The meadow fills up as the adults congregate behind the sitting students. There are so many of them. At least one hundred! It seems it’s easier to rally adults than students… or we are just being more careful because of our setting.
“I still object to students joining this cause.” A middle-aged man calls out from the back.
“They have as much to lose as the rest of us. More so if you think about it.” A woman answers him. “We’ve had our freedom; they are about to lose theirs before getting to experience it. We should at least give them a chance.”
I step forward and Aunt Nellie joins by my side. “Thank you for coming tonight. As you see, we have come up with a way to give us an edge. We would like to teach those of you who are able as well. I know we are young, and for some of you it’s hard to trust us. But I hope you will come to see we can be a valuable asset. Coventry is already training these students to be in his army. They should be allowed to fight against that.”
“But what if they are hurt?” The man pushes his way to the front of the crowd. “We’ve lived our lives; you are just starting. We shouldn’t ask you to risk that yet.”
Ryland steps up beside me before speaking.
“It needs to be ours to take. Coventry doesn’t see us as anything but a resource to be used. We already are pushed to our limits daily while training in his warfare. We are made to fight each other and every day they expect us to become more violent. It won’t be long until we are returning to our room bloody.” Ryland steps up on my other side. “Uncle Jasper, I know you think you are protecting us, but there isn’t anywhere safe right now.”
“Jasper, listen to the kids. They might be onto something.” A little white-haired woman smacks his arm.
“Show us your trick.” He sits down.
“Thank you.” I take a step forward. “If you can all sit down, we will walk you through the steps.”
The adults space out and sit down and relief breaks the tension in my shoulders. I sigh as the muscles relax.
Obstruction By Nightmare (Academy of Broken Dreams Book 3) Page 9
