by Ginna Moran
A strange energy sucks me back into Jacqueline’s dream. I try to disconnect, but I’m stuck. I search around the imaginary buildings for misplaced things, but nothing has changed.
I jump from the roof and land on my feet in the middle of an empty street. Jacqueline’s dreams are usually eerily quiet and I wonder if it has to do with the fact that I’m not the one dreaming, so maybe I’m missing big chunks of what goes on. I don’t ask her though. It would make it awkward.
Loud footsteps echo and I jog to the end of the block and press my stomach to the wall of a building. I wait a few seconds, listening as the footsteps move closer, and then I peek around the corner.
I can’t believe what I’m seeing. It’s the girl from the club.
Her shimmering, white hair blows behind her and she slides her slender fingers over the red bricks of a rundown building. In their wake, she leaves a burning trail, and it’s like the girl is setting Jacqueline’s world ablaze.
She’s wearing an ivory strapless dress and black lace-up combat boots. She smiles as she looks around, but it’s not happiness. It’s an eerie satisfaction. I count to three before stepping around the corner to face her. She stops and stares at me with a wild glint in her eyes.
My hands shake and I want to turn and run. Years of being taught that supers are horrible, vile creatures crowd my mind and it’s hard to stay calm. This girl won’t hurt me. She can’t...at least I don’t think she can. I refuse to let my fear of the unknown overpower me. This is the first opportunity I’ve had to talk to someone besides Jacqueline. Apart from the board, this girl may be the only person to ever find out I’m here and that I’m trapped.
I clear my throat. It takes a lot in me to speak. “Are you real?” I ask.
Her smile falters and she tilts her head to the side. “You shouldn’t be able to see me.” Panic sweeps across her face and she crosses her arms. She’s afraid of me, too. I don’t know why, but it makes me feel better. It makes me want to comfort her. “That’s impossible. Who are you?”
I step closer. “My name is Hunter Sullivan. I’m a soul trapped inside Jacqueline’s mind.” I reach out to offer my hand, but she doesn’t move.
Her fear melts into surprise and she puckers her bottom lip. “This is the strangest dream.”
I step closer. “I’m not a dream.”
Her gray eyes flash and she smiles. “I love when dream people are in denial.”
She reaches out, a haunted look in her eyes, and grabs my shoulders.
NADIA
Anticipation courses through me when I reach out and grab Hunter’s shoulders. His dream essence will be as satisfying as everything else in Jacqueline’s dream world I’ve come to devour. My fingers dig into the soft cotton of his shirt and he lowers his eyebrows, frowning.
Nothing happens.
I give him a hard shake before letting go and stepping back. Hunter feels so utterly real. His muscular shoulders are firm in my grip and his hazel eyes are the most beautiful color.
“You’re not—not a dream,” I stammer.
He shakes his head. A soft, dark brown curl falls into his eyes. “Nope.”
I wipe my arm across my forehead. “I’m so confused. I need to leave.”
He reaches out and tries to grab my hand, but I’m much faster. “Please, hear me out. Don’t go. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to talk to someone besides Jacqueline.” He looks so sincere that I can’t turn my back on him. His strong jaw twitches when he presses his lips together and he doesn’t break eye contact.
“Can she hear us?” I ask.
“She doesn’t know I spy on her dreams,” he says.
I release a breath and stare at the bulging veins in his arms. Everything is telling me to abandon Jacqueline’s dream and forget about Hunter, but my curiosity is overwhelming. I’ve never experienced anything like this. This soul sees my darkest side—the side people fear the most, and he’s not running away in terror.
“What is she? Why are you here?” I ask, stepping closer again.
“She claims to be a sin-eater. I don’t know much more except that she stole my soul and now I’m trapped,” he says.
I think about his words for a moment. I’ve heard of sin-eaters before, but they are even rarer than nightmare inflictors. They can rip away the soul of a sinful person and consume their sins before letting the soul die in peace. But, I didn’t think they could harbor souls.
“So you’re here for a reason,” I say. It’s not unheard of for a creature to harm a human; most only do it out of necessity. The council does its best to stop creatures from going on murderous rampages, but hurting the occasional human happens. Some creatures have to do so to survive. I’m one of those creatures.
“Yes, but it’s not what you think. I’m a good person.” He shifts his weight between feet.
“You don’t know what I’m thinking.”
We stare at each other, neither of us making a move. He’s assessing me as much as I’m assessing him and his body language gives his nervousness away even though his face is expressionless.
After a moment, he draws his eyes toward the clouded sky. “I didn’t mean to assume,” he says. “It’s just you look so—” He brushes his hair from his forehead. “Frightened.”
I twist my lips to the side. “I’m not afraid of you.” And I’m not. I was just surprised. Keep telling yourself that...
A scream echoes through the abandoned city street and my stomach aches as Jacqueline’s dream calls for me to finish it off. I shift my gaze away from Hunter and see Jacqueline standing at the end of the street with her hand over her mouth. A white van zooms by and barrels in her direction. She’s terrified and I lick my lips, enjoying her fear.
“I’m sorry, Hunter, but I can’t stay here. I’ll ask Jacqueline about you when she wakes up. I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding.”
He rushes at me and grabs my arm. “Don’t!” he yells. “She can’t know you know. Please, I’m begging you. She’ll never return me to my body then.”
I purse my lips. “Okay, okay. Just let go of me. I have to go. I’ll try to come back and then I want you to explain everything.”
I turn away from Hunter and he blinks out of existence. If my hunger wasn’t so intense, I could refrain from destroying the dream a while longer, but I can’t stop now. Not with Jacqueline right in front of me.
I glide to her and watch as people dressed in black emerge from the van and rush her. She screams as they tackle her to the ground and I falter when I see the glint of a familiar knife. It’s the exact one that the HPA agents carry.
And then it hits me.
I know what Jacqueline’s worst nightmare is because it’s mine too.
Jacqueline screams a high pitched, horrifying scream as she sees me saunter closer. Her worst nightmare is the board and here I am acting like one of them. I suck in deep breaths as her world crumbles to dust and then it collapses into darkness.
When I open my eyes, I stare down as Jacqueline flails in her sleep. I can’t get the image of the trapped boy out of my head and now I need to know all her secrets. I want to know what she’s hiding.
I will find out.
Nothing is safe in a person’s dreams.
5. SO MANY SECRETS
NADIA
I’m back in the hallway before Jacqueline wakes up and I hold my hand to the door and knock like I wasn’t just in her room. I hope no one finds out what I’ve done. I’ll get in serious trouble for creating a nightmare without the sleeper’s permission.
I wait an excruciatingly long moment before the door swings open and Jacqueline stands there, mouth wide open in a yawn. She looks so familiar, standing in front of me, and I still can’t put my finger on it. It wasn’t just because I saw her in her dream either.
Jacqueline laughs before smiling, but then her smile falters for a split second before she composes herself. She has gorgeous lavender eyes with thick black lashes long enough to create shadows on her cheeks. She’s wearin
g a deep purple shift dress with black-patterned tights and ankle boots. A strand of amethyst colored beads hangs loosely around her neck and her fingers are adorned with silver rings.
“I’m Nadia,” I say, shoving my hands into my jeans instead of offering one in greeting. “Mr. Soto asked me to take you to the dining hall.”
Jacqueline’s eyes shift back and forth like she’s lost deep in thought. She subtly shakes her head and focuses on me. “Oh, cool, yeah. Mr. Soto said he’d be sending someone. I’m starving from my trip.”
I step back to let Jacqueline out of her room. “Where did you come from?”
Jacqueline’s eyes dart behind me. She pauses for a second before saying, “I was picked up in the city and before that, well, I moved a lot. Nowhere I’d really call home.”
“The city is amazing,” I say. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been there.” I’m not a good liar, but I think Jacqueline believes me.
“I wouldn’t know. I was only there for a few hours.” Jacqueline’s eye color shifts to hazel for a split second before reverting back to lavender. It happened so fast, I’m not sure if I imagined it. I don’t want to ask either way. I wouldn’t want her asking about my physical changes. “I met Mr. Soto at The Haven. Quaint little place. A little too busy for my liking.”
My palms sweat. That’s where I recognize her from. I hope she doesn’t recognize me, or if she does, I hope she doesn’t say anything.
“I’ve heard of that place.” I keep a straight face. It’s hard to mask my emotions. I clear my throat, uncomfortable about where the conversation is heading. “We should probably get going. It’s getting late and I’m kind of hungry too.” I lie about my hunger for food out of habit. If Jacqueline doesn’t know what I am already, I’m not going to tell her.
She’d become suspicious really quickly after a few nightmares and I plan on invading her dreams again as soon as I catch her sleeping. I can’t get Hunter’s image from my head. I wonder if he can see me through Jacqueline’s eyes.
“Sounds good to me,” Jacqueline says. “We can talk more there.”
HUNTER
I can’t believe it.
It’s her.
I didn’t expect her to be standing outside of Jacqueline’s room minutes after she left me in a crumbling nightmare. This is fate, or a very cruel joke, that she’s now walking in front of me and I can’t even talk to her.
I hope Nadia keeps her promise to visit me again. I need to find out if she’d be willing to help me despite my being human. I never thought I’d be asking a super for help, but I’d do anything, say anything, to get out of here.
She’s different than I expected her to be. She’s not a terrifying monster. She’s beautiful, cautious, and almost human-like. I thought most supers stood together against humanity and would help each other out, meaning she’d have told Jacqueline that she met me, but she’s pretending I don’t exist. It’s almost like she’s not influenced by our two different worlds. Maybe she’s been sheltered all her life at this compound. Maybe she doesn’t know about what happens in the real world.
Nadia’s pale blond hair, a few shades darker than her dream persona’s hair, sways back and forth with the same rhythm as her hips and I imagine how soft it would be to touch. Her light gray, long sleeved shirt matches the color of her eyes in the dream and her light denim jeans hug her body perfectly. A sliver of alabaster skin peeks from between her shirt and jeans and I bet it feels as smooth as it looks.
“What is she?” I ask to test if Jacqueline knows about the dream invading girl.
“I honestly don’t know. Maybe a demon or something.”
“Are you afraid of her?”
“No.”
“Are you lying?”
“No!” Jacqueline’s voice echoes in the quiet night and I prepare myself to be thrown into the void. She’s never slipped up before in front of someone, but I think Nadia has her on edge. Jacqueline closes her eyes and thinks, “Ugh! I can’t believe you made me do that!” Her voice booms around me, but I don’t say anything.
Nadia looks over her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
Jacqueline swallows. “I’m sorry. Bug.”
Jacqueline stares at the grass for a moment and picks up her pace so she’s walking next to Nadia. It’s harder to be distracted by me if she’s distracted by someone else. I don’t apologize or say anything either. It’s better if I keep to myself for a while so she’ll forget about her outburst. And then maybe she’ll find out more about Nadia for me. I learn a lot about someone from just their interactions with Jacqueline.
It’s nice looking forward to something other than death.
NADIA
I wish Mr. Soto hadn’t forced me to take Jacqueline to the dining hall. It’s extremely uncomfortable sitting at a table with a plate full of food in front of me that I just push around with a fork instead of eating. I’m too distracted by thoughts of Hunter to even try to act normal.
Jacqueline’s eyes shift from lavender to hazel and I blink a few times and hope she doesn’t notice how intensely I’m staring at her.
Her eyes let Hunter shine through and I wonder if he’s trying to communicate with me. I’m intrigued by who he is and whether or not he’s portraying himself accurately. In dream worlds, I can manifest however I want because I’m not what the dreamer sees. The dreamer sees what scares them most. Whether it’s a person or animal, even a certain situation—I create it to torment them. I don’t like to, but it’s necessary. The hungrier I am, the quicker the dream goes, but the more intense it is. If I visit too often, the sleeper will eventually go insane.
“Well this is fun,” Alyssa says. She twists the ends of her red hair around her index finger. “You both look out of it.”
Jacqueline shakes her head. “What?” She blinks and picks up a fry and then drops it. “I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind.”
My eyes shift to Alyssa and back to Jacqueline. “Is something bothering you, Jacqueline? You’ve been quiet.”
“I was just thinking about how different this place is from the outside world. I don’t feel scared and I haven’t even looked behind me once since I got here. It’s nice not having to worry about humans.”
I stare at my hands. I shouldn’t hold it against her, but I can’t stop my heart from hurting as her words sink in. She doesn’t know that my mother was human—and a good person. She accepted my father regardless of what he was, and even went as far as dying to keep his—our secret—safe from the HPA, the council’s one true enemy.
Alyssa clears her throat. “You have to know all humans aren’t out to get us.”
“I’ve been able to survive because I don’t trust them,” Jacqueline retorts.
Alyssa eyes me and I shrug. I fidget in my seat. I don’t know if it’s worth the effort to continue this discussion. It’d only be fair to warn Jacqueline that the compound isn’t anti-human and one of our very own council members is human, but instead I slide my chair back and stand up. “We should probably get back to the dorm, Lys.” I turn to Jacqueline. “Can you find your way back to the guest apartments?”
She nods, absently nibbling on a fry.
I turn my back on Jacqueline and walk toward the door with Alyssa on my heels. I can’t shake the bad feeling in my stomach created by Jacqueline. Without even saying a word, I know she’s keeping so many secrets. Not only Hunter, but about what her plan is and why she’s really here.
But I’m determined to find out.
HUNTER
I’m disappointed as I watch Nadia and her friend Alyssa walk away. I knew Jacqueline would ruin it for me. She hasn’t even been here a few hours and Nadia already doesn’t like her as far as I can tell. How can I keep reminding Nadia that I’m stuck inside Jacqueline’s head if she doesn’t want to be around Jacqueline?
I want to mock Jacqueline, but I’m still concerned that she’ll lash out at me in the crowded dining hall full of supers.
I’m surprised by how normal this place seems. I expe
cted the world’s worst supers to be holed up here, waiting and planning an attack on the HPA, but these are people just making a home. They’re not even scary like the pictures my mom keeps in a photo album on the coffee table to remind my brother Mason and I about how awful the world supposedly is.
My mom fed me lies about the supernatural world all my life, and I never questioned it because she was so convincing. Maybe they are her truths. I’ll never know if I don’t get back to my body. Even if it wasn’t Jacqueline’s plan, my imprisonment opened my eyes to a new reality.
Jacqueline stands and doesn’t make eye contact with the few supers staring at us. She walks straight to the door and heads out into the cool night in the direction of the guest unit.
It’s going to be a really long night together.
Why couldn’t I be trapped in someone else’s head? Why did it have to be Jacqueline? I’m really starting to hate her.
NADIA
Dinner was so, so awkward. I couldn’t wait to get back to my room. Jacqueline is more closed off than I am and she danced around every question thrown at her. She’s also filled with a disconcerting hatred toward humans. Her abhorrence toward them cuts deep into me and I want to see Hunter even more. He could be a victim of her prejudice.
Someone knocks on my door, but before I can get up, it swings open and Alyssa struts in. Her hair is wrapped in a dark blue towel and she’s in cotton pajamas decorated in light green stars.
She plops on the bed next to me and tucks her bare feet under her. “I’m exhausted.” She leans her back against the wall. “Up until dinner was a lot of fun. I’ve missed hanging out with you, Nadia.”
I rest my chin on my knees. I feel guilty for the last two weeks and how I pushed Alyssa away until I needed her. It was selfish of me and I want to apologize, but I don’t. Instead, I smile. “I wish it wasn’t cut short. I liked being away from here. This place is suffocating me.”
