Wakers: Sayonara Sleep

by Michaela Hoffman

  “Okay hotshot, what’s the holdup?” he said.

  At the entrance, Nez had stopped in his tracks, breathing slowly, eyes fixed ahead. Beyond the treetops, the dawn was turning the horizon pink. Bands of yellow flared upwards into the blue sky. This was Nez’s first sunrise.

  Chapter 28

  Two side-streets later, Jax demanded to be set down.“You fell before,” Nez countered.

  “If I do again, leave me and run,” Jax shot back. So Nez lowered him carefully to the ground. My carrying position was changed to forward cradle. Jax continued fleeing with Nez, but still eyed him skeptically.

  “I don’t know which side you’re on,” he said.

  Nez laughed, peering at my spiritual body. “Why don’t you ask her?”

  Jax inspected my lifeless physical form, jolting with every step Nez took. “Aren’t you funny.”

  “Nez,” I sighed. “He can’t see me, remember?” After an inner light-bulb illuminated, Nez explained the basic situation to him. Jax however, remained unconvinced.

  “If she’s a ghost, tell her to say something to me,” Jax challenged, crossing an intersection. “So I know it’s really her.” Nez waited for me to speak. Jeez, of course he would ask that. What kind of sign did Jax need? A foghorn? A banner? Toilet paper tumbleweeds skittering across the road? Finally Nez repeated what I had told him:

  “She says ‘your fly is unzipped, and so is your mouth. Fix them.’” Jax studied the air-space near Nez’s head in wonderment.

  “You’ve reached a new level of crazy you know!” He yelled, primly fastening his pants.

  “She says ‘just woman-up and go along with it.’” With a face marked with determination, Jax sped up to Nez’s side.

  “Let me carry her,” he said. When they stopped at the bridge, Jax was breathing with his hands on his knees. Adamant he would not provide the next direction without a turn hauling the heavy doll. Nez rolled his eyes and looked sideways at me.

  “Oh just let him,” I said.

  “He’ll slow us down.”

  “Then you can just carry him carrying me.”

  “That is wildly inefficient.”

  When neither I nor Jax relented, Nez reluctantly handed me over. Jax crumbled instantly by the extra weight. He wobbled forward and over the bridge. Max exertion was a show while he went up the slight incline. I face-palmed, only to find that my invisible hand impaled my forehead.

  “If you don’t pick up the pace, I will carry you carrying her,” Nez threatened, walking beside him with the same painful slowness. Jax started jogging. But after a few feet, he grew winded, stopped, and cursed under his breath. Though I knew where he was coming from, this was just getting ridiculous. Before I could relay anything to Nez, he scooped up my body from Jax and took to running again. Jax rested a moment before catching up to him.

  “I’m sorry,” he said between breaths. “I just… want to be the one to save her.” Well that steamed my broccoli. Near-death by a reverse damsel in distress moment.

  Nez shook his head and smiled. “Once we get her back in this body, she’ll save herself.” Surprise spread across Jax’s sweaty face and he processed this for a few moments. The lighted lettering of Silver Heights appeared in sight, and they both accelerated to reach the destination point. Morning sunlight was spreading across the lawn.

  “Jax,” Mauricio said via earpiece. “Police and SWAT are heading over to Silver Heights right now. Hold on until they get there.” Oh, music to my ears!

  In the meantime, we needed to find Ms. Kazuya so we could stash my body at her place. She spotted us first and walked quickly out of the dining room. “We need to hide Lava,” Jax said, panting. “And fast.” His words betrayed him, as he clearly needed another rest break. Ms. Kazuya touched my face and looked up at Nez. He timidly met her eyes.

  “You must be Lava’s dream-friend,” she said. “Thank you for bringing her back to us.” When Nez lowered his gaze, Ms. Kazuya placed a hand on his cheek. “You are a good man.” To punctuate the moment, the floor began trembling. Ms. Kazuya reeled sideways and Nez caught her. Above us the chandelier rattled. Plates and glasses fell noisily in the dining room while residents began screaming. Then, just as quickly as it began, everything grew still again. I’m pretty sure no one on the news predicted an earthquake today.

  Jax pushed past Nez on his way to the stairwell. “Is anyone else done with today?” He asked. Shortly after, my body was lying on Ms. Kazuya’s sakura blossom quilt. She placed a cold wash cloth tenderly over my forehead and bandaged my arm where the IV was removed. My spiritual body hovered above, still speaking to my physical body. For the love of beet juice. When did I develop a psychological complex so intense that my own body rejected me?

  Nez told me to concentrate and be patient with myself. He also offered suggestions as to what to say and think about. To the misinformed outsider, he was talking to open air; so when my uncles and Bru arrived, Ms. Kazuya had to explain some things. Together, they went over the events that had just taken place in Ganji Lab. Jax was still shaky and Ms. Kazuya sat him down at the kitchen table for some tea. During one of my conversations with Nez, Ms. Kazuya came over.

  “Excuse me,” she said, clasping her hands. “May I ask her something… through you?”

  “That’s fine,” Nez said. “She can hear you. You just can’t hear her.” He pointed to the airspace I was floating in. With a small smile, Ms. Kazuya whispered loudly in my direction.

  “Can you bring me back a fantasy man-hunk too?” From the adjacent room, Jax spilled tea down the front of his shirt. I laughed out loud, a reaction also produced simultaneously in my physical body. This was of particular interest to Nez and me.

  “Maybe I’m thinking too much,” I said. “Am I semi-connected?” There was a knock on Ms. Kazuya’s apartment door. Neighbors were calling from the other side, so she opened it. They told us strange people had appeared in the dining area, asking where Ms. Kazuya’s apartment was. Alarmed, I flitted my spiritual self into the hallway to see what was going on.

  A band of white coated scientists was booking it in our direction. Uh oh pistachios. The neighbors hurried out. But before Ms. Kazuya could lock the door, scientists were forcing it open from the other side. Fortunately for us, we had Uncle Mason. His temporary solution was to press the door shut with his boulder belly. All right, what next?

  “Nez,” I said. “Can you use your water powers here?” If yes, this would be super fantastic.

  But he sighed and shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he said. “I tried when we were talking to the Sea Mistress.” Well, that plan was kiboshed. How else could we buy time? Jeez, my puppet-ized state was causing such a mess. What was I supposed to… hold on. If we were still playing by Dad’s Waker rules, the reconnection with my body had greater meaning. It was a feat of sorts. An obstacle of the mind to overcome. Okay. When did I feel the most grounded to myself in the past?

  “Nez,” I said. “Have Bru sing the Falconbridge Family Song.” Uncle Mason was struggling to keep the door shut alone, so Nez, Hugo, Jax, Ms. Kazuya, and Bru rose to help him. When Bru began singing, her voice was a smooth alto outpouring:

  “This is our family, where you can be you.

  On good days and bad days,

  we are here for you.

  When awake, or when sleeping

  know our love is true.

  And if we part, for any reason

  carry our hearts with you.”

  My spiritual fingers started stretching towards my body, like a splaying aurora borealis. Meanwhile my physical body began radiating like a mini sun. Nez told her to keep going. The second time he also joined her in song. As did Jax, my uncles, and Ms. Kazuya. My entire upper torso began to lightray towards my physical body, like succumbing to a moontide pulling force. It was working. Their harmonies were powerful and lovely. I could almost detect my father’s tenor voice resonating with theirs.

  Suddenly Ms. Kazuya’s door rocketed open and in came a cluster of
men and women wearing white coats. When they all stopped singing to fight them, our progress had dissipated. My spiritual form reverted to normal. Nez quickly noticed my physical body dimming. He continued to sing while pinning two scientists to the floor. The rest of my strange family followed suit, though their voices were shaky and off kilter due to the intense multitasking demands. My uncles used a cool catapult move, where Uncle Hugo would bounce from Uncle Mason’s belly and launch into the stomach of their opponent, essentially knocking the wind out of them. Ms. Kazuya shelled out her taekwondo skills, Bru stomped on a lot of feet, and even Jax was impressively getting out of choke holds.

  They were all pushing themselves for me. Defending me. Because I was as motionless as a mannequin. When I looked towards the bed, my physical form was glowing again. But to my shock, she was actually moving on her own now, rising to her feet with contenance devoid of emotion. My spiritual jaw dropped. What in high honeydew?

  Someone was at the open window, reaching out for the “doll” Lava. As my puppet self walked towards the window, I called out to Nez in panic. He stopped his battle to intercede in this one. Nez pulled the white coat into the apartment, and when he fell to the floor, Uncle Mason sat on him. Everyone cheered while the intruder writhed furiously beneath him.

  “This is what we call a ninja ass-ass-in,” Mason boasted, patting his cushioned buttocks. Though that white coat was thwarted, my physical body was still climbing out of the window. Nez pulled her back into the room and she began swinging at him in full force Kibo mode.

  “Graaaah they must be controlling me like a puppet now,” I said. “We’re running out of time. Keep singing everyone!” Before Nez could relay my message, they broke out in song again. This time, their words sounded more united than before. Nez kept evading her jabs and he, too, continued singing. The stoic doll version of me was pretty savage in physical combat. She actually came at Nez with the kitchen knives. But to my relief, as more and more of my spiritual body webbed towards the physical one, I noticed her strength waning.

  Nez finally managed to disarm her. Then he pinned her down on the kitchen table. It took his whole body weight to restrain her as she fought against him. He was singing calmly in her ear. It then dawned on me that my spiritual self neglected to sing. So I, too, began to do so, floating above my body.

  Though I had decided to make peace with my past, I still hadn’t yet made peace with myself. Both Waker and Real versions, the dreamer and the realist. It was time for me to unite the two, instead of preferring one version over the other. To accept myself wholly as I was. Enough as I was. The divided life ended here. Right Dad?

  From an upward space, I funneled down into her throat. Filling up her chest. Bringing new life and will into familiar fingers. It took a moment for me to realize I was in my own body again. In my supreme happiness, I embraced Nez. And to his shock, kissed him.

  “Thank you for everything you’ve done,” I whispered into his neck. Then, acknowledging the others, I pumped a fist into the air. “I’m back!” I said. On cue, a group of police officers rushed into the apartment. When they took the intruders away in handcuffs, we all breathed a communal sigh of relief.

  Chapter 29

  “Lava, do you hear me?” Mauricio was on the other end of my earpiece.

  “Yeah. Where the hullabaloo are you guys?”

  His voice was becoming scratchy. The others kept quiet so they could overhear. “At the police station. They’re trying to ID the bodies… over one-hundred. And they won’t wake up. But anyways, did SWAT show up?”

  “Just the fuzz,” I said, locking the last window in the apartment. “They’re coming back soon to take us home. Had to take people into custody first.”

  Another voice came through, broken up by static. It was Detective Zatorre. “Just hide and wait for them,” she said. “No heroics. Got that?”

  “Like pneumonia on a crowded bus.” She fizzled out before responding. Simple enough instructions. Within a few moments, a cloudy fog drifted in through the ceiling vent and filled the air around us. Everyone was hidden from me. Then I heard glass shatter. As we called out to each other, a cloth was pressed to my nose and I tumbled drowsily to one side. When my lucidity semi-returned, I was on the sloped roofing of the second floor, the one beyond Ms. Kazuya’s window. And now it appeared to be her broken window.

  “Lava, can you hear me?” Mauricio said through the earpiece.

  “Still here,” I said.

  “The SWAT supervisor just called. There was an explosive accident near the bridge. Their whole team was caught in it. Reinforcements have been dispatched to help you guys. They should be there soon— be careful okay?” An explosion? Wait, was that what that earthquake was? I tried to get up, realizing that my body wouldn’t move. My limbs were completely paralyzed. Well. Freaking out would do little to help the situation. So I tried to think instead. At least my body was propped up by the side of a dormer window.

  I startled at the sight of Bensimhon. She was sitting in front of me, rolling a glass vial in her fingers. The wind moved through her blonde hair and for some reason, it reminded me of Kiki from Nez’s memories.

  “What to do now,” she said. “With no lab. No team. And no Nightworld.” Bensimhon tossed her head back and laughed. Her sound gave me goosebumps. With the gloved hand, she pulled a knife from her pocket. It was pressed to my throat. “How about this,” she said. “I’ll steal something precious from you. So we’ll be even.”

  A band of police and SWAT team members called to her from the ground. They stood right below us on the pool deck, armed and ready. When I let out a breath, Bensimhon started laughing again. She held up the glass vial and waved it at them. “Let’s chat first,” she said. “This is a chemical explosive from my lab. if you shoot, I’ll drop it, and everyone will be killed.” Well, this was a marvelous turn of events. A few of the officers lowered their firearms. “Ask your comrades if it works. That is, if any of them survived the accident.” No way. She caused the SWAT team explosion! I needed to get away ASAP. But my body was still useless. What the hell did she drug me with?

  Then all around us, windows were opening. The Silver Heights residents began throwing things at Bensimhon: can openers, reachers, shoe orthotics. At one point, someone released a small yapping dog. While it nipped at her heels, Bensimhon held the vial overhead. “Do you all have a deathwish?” She yelled. “I am holding—”

  A pair of dentures struck her in the face. “Leave our Lava alone,” someone called out. “Or face the wrath of her family.” Bensimhon wiped saliva from her cheek, which was not hers, visibly incensed. She approached me again, but slowly. Being pelted by a lifelong supply of knickknacks was clearly not impressing her.

  I felt a tug from behind, and began sliding down the roof. Thankfully, we stopped right on the ledge. It was then I realized I was in Nez’s arms. My uncles, Bru, Ms. Kazuya, and Jax were looking up at us from the pool deck below. Police officers were beside them. And some help they were turning out to be.

  “Are you here to join the fun?” She quipped, pointing the knife at Nez. He held me tighter. “Actually Lava, this is perfect.” Bensimhon threw the vial into the air and caught it. “Rather than your life, there is something even more precious I can take from you.” She slashed Nez’s side and he winced. Within moments, blood was dripping from his skin. I whispered in his ear and Bensimhon laughed. “How sweet, your last goodbyes,” she said. “Almost as touching as when your mother died.” Nez looked up at her, eyes sharpened. Bensimhon’s lab coat rippled in the wind. “But Kiki chose her fate,” she said. “If she had done one thing for me, I would have lifted her death sentence.” Bensimhon crouched down, holding the knife to Nez’s neck. “But she wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t give her son to science.” She leaned in closer to him. “It’s always your fault, isn’t it?”

  When Nez dropped me, my mind went back to Nestutha. After I had earned my trinket, Queen Piria said something meaningful to me: Next time, remember: to zuczeed,
bee truzting whenever zou fall.” Trust in the fall. As I careened downwards, that was the best thing I could do. And it was what I whispered to Nez, because I trusted what would happen after.

  I landed in my uncles’ outstretched arms. They both had reached out for me. To my surprise, some movement had returned to my neck and arms at this point. The drug must’ve been wearing off. Meanwhile, above us, we heard the sound of roof shingles breaking. Nez was avoiding her jabs. Even while wounded, he had impressive speed. But he just couldn’t wrestle that knife away from Bensimhon. When she cornered him, a brave SWAT officer shot her in the arm. Well, it was about time they did something useful.

  After that, a pulsing vibration jolted my whole body. Nightworld returned to me, or rather, I returned to it. As if by dream or teleportation. The sights, sounds, smells of it were real again. The moon overhead, gaping and full while glowing birds flew past it. My father appeared before me, extending his hand. When I reached out for it, everything around us began cracking like glass. Nightworld’s beauty was breaking, shattering into a bottomless abyss. Shards cut me as they fell into it.