by J E Mueller
Magic in a dream world made enough sense to me, but none of this felt like a dream anymore. Something about that was very terrifying and wrong.
“So, what do you say?” Benz said after a few moments. I wasn’t about to give up my hiding spot, which, from the sound of his voice was right in front of him. There was no way he didn’t know I was in here.
He gave it a few more moments before commenting again. “Well, you’ve got time to look at the options. Happy dreaming.” I heard the sound of his fingers drumming on the different counters as he moved away before silence filled the room once more. It seemed like I could leave freely now. Instead, I waited inside the cramped pantry until I started to regret my choice of hiding places.
I had no confidence in any decision here, but I knew I needed to move. I took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. This was no worse than an unpredictable storm. There would be waves, there would be thunder, but like any storm there had to be a reason behind it. I didn’t know where I was, or why I was here, but there was a reason behind it, and I would get to the bottom of it all.
Just as I was about to open the door of the pantry, I heard voices again. My hand stilled on the knob, my heart thumping loudly once more. Was this trouble or something else altogether? The voices steadily got louder until I could finally hear the conversation.
“At least it wasn’t poisonous. This cut could be a lot worse.”
“But why breakfast? How did they break the barrier?”
“It’s not like you need to eat Vad, you’re dead.”
“Whatever, that’s not the point. The point is that bacon went to waste,” Vad was quick to reply.
“It’s hardly even real.”
“You’re hardly even real!” Vad sounded exasperated and tired.
While I wasn’t sure if I was safe, I was fairly certain this group was not particularly threatening. Though I still hesitated to move as I heard them stop talking at the doorway.
“Coast is clear!” someone declared.
“The Tracker is supposed to say that Lems,” the one who was egging Vad on declared.
“And the Tracker deems the coast is reasonably clear,” came a voice I hadn’t yet heard.
“What does reasonably clear even mean?” Vad said.
“Recent entrance… Oh, it’s a Dreamer. Coast is all clear then. Though from the signature they are still hiding. Wonder if they got scared by those darn Steel Oath members.”
“That would make sense,” Lems agreed.
There was general sounds of agreement before anyone tried to talk too loudly again.
“You in hiding, it’s safe to come out!” someone assured me, maybe the one bothering Vad? It was hard keeping track of voices from the pantry.
I still hesitated. There didn’t seem to be a threat, and in fact, they seemed to be the ones who were forced out of the dining room earlier, but still. The whole situation felt weird and wrong. At least it didn’t feel as vile as when Benz was talking to me.
“It’s okay to be scared, or worried, or whatever you are,” the one who called themselves a Tracker declared. “I won’t force you out, but just so you know, I do know you’re in the pantry. There aren’t a lot of places to hide, and I can easily follow trails of Dreamers, creatures, or otherwise.”
Was it a bluff? Likely not. There really weren’t that many options. They seemed all right enough. Not to mention this was a very cramped hiding spot and my legs were feeling terrible from the position I was in.
Carefully, I opened the door and peeked out. For the majority of the group, they weren’t even paying attention to the situation any longer. One girl, I was guessing the Tracker, stood with arms crossed watching the pantry while the others chatted softly among themselves. Two were starting to move toward the dining room as I finally took a step out.
“There we go.” She stated, brushing her curly dark hair off her shoulder. I was right about her being the Tracker. Her voice matched perfectly. “It’s been a bit crazy today, but it would be wrong to assume anything. Why are you hiding, and what’s your name?”
It seemed an innocent enough of a question. I wasn’t entirely sure how to answer it though. “I don’t know where I am, and heard some voices. Something just didn’t sit right with me so…” I motioned vaguely around me. “I decided to hide and see how things played out.” I gave a shrug before adding, “I go by Remi.”
Tracker nodded. “Well, I am Meredith, I go by Mare for short. Did you hear us or was it someone else?”
“It was someone else first, but they left a few minutes before you got here. I wasn’t sure if they were really gone, so I waited.” At least I could be honest about all of that.
Mare nodded slowly. “Okay, that is fair enough. So you don’t know how you got here at all?” When I nodded she continued, “What is the last thing you remember?”
It wasn’t hard to remember the waves rising high and dropping down quickly. It all happened quickly. Melly losing her grip and balance, me rushing to try and save her. I hoped she avoided all the rocks…
“I remember us trying to get a fishing boat back to port. The waves were violent. I tried to help my sister from going overboard… but we went over anyway. I think she made it past the rocks, but I remember hitting them several times.” I glanced down at my legs, remembering the pain and wondering where all the cuts went. When I looked up, I noticed I had everyone’s attention. Great, just what I wanted. Not. “So, um, what’s going on then?” I had no idea how else to ask.
Mare sighed heavily. “It is a bit complicated, but I guess the best way to put it is…” She fumbled for the words and looked around at the others.
A tall, slender girl who looked about my age shrugged at Mare before taking over. “Think of this place like a purgatory. It’s a place for souls with unfinished business, but those who aren’t dead like Dreamers or people in say a coma often accidentally sneak in. This is a place to decide where those actually dead fit in this universe. It’s hard to say who’s really the good or bad alliance here, we’ll both tell you we’re the good faction to fight for, but it’s what you do with the time here that matters.” She shrugged again, tucking a strand of sandy hair behind her ear. “You can call me Clove. I’ve been here the third longest on our team. Our faction goes by Silverwell.”
The name sounded familiar once more and I nodded slowly. Maybe I had visited here in my dreams before. Not to mention, it did make plenty of sense that I could be in some sort of dream induced coma. Still, it all felt too real and not like a dream at all. Maybe it was in fact a Purgatory like place. I shuddered at the thought.
“So, I am possibly knocked out?” I stated more for myself than for an answer. Everyone nodded, agreeing silently that was the most likely of answers. “Okay, what do I do then? What do I do if I don’t wake up?”
Everyone turned their eyes toward Clove. Clove gave an easy shrug. “To put it bluntly, then you’re stuck with us. It’s not a bad place to be in all honesty. It’s... “ She looked from one person to the next. “Best summed up as being stuck in a magical realm different from home.”
“Magical realm? Magic isn’t real,” I replied weakly, not even believing in my own words.
“It’s not?” her face said it all, already knowing I wasn’t able to defend it. She gave me a moment before continuing. “They say a few hundred years ago magic was abundant and slowly started to fade away into nothing. Silly myths and tales right? Or did something bigger happen to the magic?”
I remembered that debate. It was one common topic we argued as kids. The children in the village loved tales of magic. Some grew out of the idea, but it never really left me as possible. The stories had to have come from somewhere, after all.
The facts were plain in the end. There currently was no magic. There was no way to prove there once was magic.
“Okay, say I play along and say there once was magic, even if there is no proof whatsoever that it is possible… how could it just all up and leave?”
“Gre
at question, huh?” Clove smirked wickedly. “Magic was always in our world, just stupidly limited and mundane until creatures called angels and demons made their way to our realm after destroying theirs. Our people praised them and feared them as the creatures slowly destroyed the inner realm until it became unstable, forcing them to move further and further out into layers around our home realm. Finally, they screwed up badly enough that someone decided to rehome them. Taking them away accidentally caused a huge influx of magic, pulling it with the creatures and bringing things down to nearly nothing. The magic slowly died from our home, leaving us boring humans once more.”
I blinked at her. “While that sounds like a great story, and it really does…” I motioned vaguely. “What proof is there of any of this?”
“You’re here, you can feel pain, and yet you have zero injuries from your accident prior to waking up here. What more do you need?” Clove raised an eyebrow and waited for my response.
She was good at this, and all I could do was nod. “That is something to consider.”
“It’s a lot to take in, but…” Mare admitted, jumping into the conversation with a worried look. “I have an odd feeling and am suddenly sensing a lot around us.” She eyed Clove as she said the last part.
“What do you mean?” Clove eyed her tiredly.
Mare turned her attention fully toward me. “Did you happen to catch any names or see anyone earlier before you hid?”
I nodded. At least this was something I had an answer to. “Yes, there were two men. One had a gravelly voice and he called the other guy Benz.”
“Bloody hell,” Clove groaned, throwing her arms up in defeat. “Not his crap again.”
“Are you sure?” Mare asked not wanting to believe it.
“Positive.” How does one mishear a name like that? I suppose anything was possible.
“Let’s move before they re-pick up our trail,” Clove declared, inching toward the door.
The people lingering in the doorway by the dining room groaned.
“Better safe than dead!” Mare declared, and something about her tone made it all too real. Maybe they were right.
“What’s going on?” I asked, not entirely sure I wanted to be in on whatever this was.
“Well, travel with us and we’ll explain when we’re safe, or stay here. I’m not waiting.” Clove shot Mare a look.
“Right. Best trail back.” Mare took a deep breath and was quickly off, walking fast enough that it might as well have been a run.
I followed behind the group as they followed Mare’s lead and went into the dining room then into the main foyer. Suddenly, I stopped. This was exactly where I was dreaming of last night…
My eyes roamed from the front door on my right to the grand staircase on my left. The room was mostly open and had just a few chairs to rest in. I walked over to the one closest to me and touched it, knowing it was real but needing to feel it. The wood was smooth under my fingertips and it struck me that the group I was following was gone. ‘I’m not waiting’ wasn’t just a warning.
I couldn’t hear footsteps or anything now. The foyer was vacant and peaceful, as if nothing ever happened here. Ha. I remembered enough from my dreams to know this place wasn’t exactly as safe and serene as it seemed. There were plenty of little creatures that could attack me here.
In my dreams, people had weapons or magic to protect themselves from the random creatures. I couldn’t remember dream-me with either of those, and apparently, I was still considered some form of ‘Dreamer’ here. Did that mean I didn’t have those things? That you had to be stuck – stuck here to get those? What way was even up anymore?
I let out a sigh and could hear the sound of running footsteps coming from a hall just past the stairs as well as from the dining room I had just left. I took a few steps to be closer to the center of the room so I might have time to react to whatever was coming. Whoever was coming? Which scenario would be better?
Clove appeared just on the other side of the stairs as I heard feet rush through the room next to me. I glanced over to see a man come to a dead stop.
They didn’t so much as glance at me as they glared at one another. The man had a very athletic build and wore clothes more suited to hunting… which seemed to be the dress theme here. His short brown hair was messy, but the cheesy grin that slowly crossed his face the longer he stared at Clove made me concerned.
“Well, are we both trying to make new friends?” I recognized Benz’s voice easily enough.
“As if that’s what you’re here for,” Clove stated cooly.
“You’re right. Gotta dash.” He smirked, blew her a kiss, and then dashed past the hall and up the steps.
“What was that about?” I asked, more confused than not before I heard the sound of something metallic being dragged along a wall not too far away.
“It means he’s running from something, and so should we.” Clove turned and ran back the way she came, giving me no time to catch up.
Still, I sprinted full force as I tried to follow her, turning this way and that. This estate seemed to have endless paths stretching on for an eternity. It made more sense for a dream to have unlimited routes. If this was an actual place, how was that possible?
I supposed magic was the next logical guess, but I hated to even mentally admit that. Stupid real dream world being a different realm.
It seemed to take forever before Clove came to a full halt in a small dead end. The room had powder blue walls, a few cozy, oversized sofas, and one overly large painting that went from floor to ceiling. My eyes lingered on the strange painting. Why was nothing this big or as well detailed elsewhere? The painting was of a rather dainty woman who was either just getting into bed, or just getting up in the morning.
Clove glanced back at me, face turned up in a grin. “So, how much do you still not believe in magic?” She didn’t give me a chance to respond before cackling and walking directly into the painting. For a moment it wavered around her and then she was gone. The painting looked as if nothing had happened at all.
What in the ever living hell did I hit my head on?
Clove didn’t return. The painting remained unchanged as I stared, probably gaping like a fish. I shook my head as if to remove the nonsense from my mind. Nothing changed. The paint continued to remain unmoving, mocking me with its silence.
“Of course, it shouldn’t be moving.” I clicked my tongue and finally took several steps to it and touched it decisively. To my surprise, canvas didn’t meet my fingertips. Instead, I felt something that reminded me of homemade jam. “Why me?” I groaned and forced my arm into the painting before pulling it back out. Nothing seemed to be wrong, so before I could talk myself out of it, I pushed myself into the jam and…
It was just another room on the other side. A large sitting room, with Clove and Mare snickering at my confusion as I fully entered.
“You made it.” Clove smirked, hands on her hips. “See, wasn’t so bad?”
Mare shook her head, “It’s a fairly common rite of passage.”
I nodded dumbly. What was even going on? Did they even know or were they just making up crap just to help themselves accept this existence they were stuck in?
Mare motioned to the room around us. Several sofas were grouped together with little tables around them. Around a dozen people were sitting or lounging about, talking, reading, and one possibly napping. At the end of the room was a hall. “This is what we call home, safety, safe zone, and any form of that. Nothing can get you here. So, let’s have a seat. I’m sure you have at least eight dozen questions.”
There was a spot open nearly mid-room and while the two of them sat, I chose to remain standing. I shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot for a moment before looking at Mare. She seemed to be the more reasonable of the two.
“So, what is this place exactly and how do you know what exactly it is?” Good job, self. That was a reasonably specific enough question.
Mare glanced at Clove but replied, “Wel
l, that’s complicated but at least there is an answer.” She took a breath and sat for a moment, trying to form her answer. “So, this place is another realm created specifically for those who have died and have not moved on.”
I raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as she continued. “It has some oddities to it, such as people in a deep dream-like state can visit, but ultimately it’s just us.” Mare motioned to those in the room. “Dead people who are too stubborn to move on to the full blown afterlife.”
“How could you possibly know that?” I asked when she didn’t add anything more.
“Everything in the universe was created by someone or something. So, this place was created as a home realm for wandering souls. They said it was a better fit than what was once in place for lost and wandering souls prior to the creation of here, wherever here is. We know this because we have met the Creators.” Mare shrugged. “Honestly, I would introduce you to them, because that is so much freaking easier than explaining things, but something happened recently and now no one can find them.”
I recalled Benz saying something about it. “Didn’t that guy from the other team have something to do with it?”
Clove chimed in, “So he claims. He may be powerful and crafty, but there is no way he could have pulled that off.”
Mare nodded slowly, “I have to agree with that. While he is certainly clever, I don’t think he did it, and if he did do it, there is no way he did it alone. Something like that with others involved wouldn’t stay a secret for long, so why don’t we know anything? There has to be another reason, something we are just missing. It’s only been a few months and it’s not the first time they’ve vanished for awhile, it’s just the longest time.”
Clove gave a firm nod. “Exactly. Sorry we don’t have a great answer for you, but there are at least answers. Like it or not, that’s where the facts are.”
