Dreamer (The Dream World Chronicles Book 1)

by Camille Peters

  I knew I was being irrational—my newest realization had left my mind whirling, making it impossible to think. But deep down I knew Darius would never do anything to hurt me, a truth that was only confirmed by each of his gentle, soothing touches along my cheek and in my hair, before he took my hand, carefully intertwining our fingers.

  “Oh Eden, I care more about you than about winning Weavings, infinitely more so. Why do you think I helped you for so long? Didn’t it mean anything to you?”

  What was he saying? Could he truly feel such soft, wonderful feelings about me? He was a Nightmare who had always cared most about himself; it’s what made him Darius. Any other would cause the Universe to become unhinged, tip the balance in new ways I couldn’t even begin to understand, but which I desperately wanted to.

  But no matter what he felt, I couldn’t deny my own feelings any longer. The seed had been planted the moment we’d met, and it had only bloomed with every interaction. I no longer cared that I wasn’t supposed to feel what I did for him; it didn’t change how I felt.

  I loved him.

  “Eden?” he whispered.

  So many questions filled the way he said my name. I ached to share my feelings with him. But even though I couldn’t speak, he must have seen the emotions in my eyes. His gaze lit up, and in it I felt his own silent answer, one that caused my heart to swell. He gently cupped my chin to raise my gaze to meet his before slowly leaning down to press his lips softly against mine.

  My first instinct—the fearful part of me that made me believe I couldn’t possibly deserve to be cherished by Darius after what I’d done—was to shove him away, but I couldn’t, not with him holding me like this. I stopped fighting and let myself melt into his kiss.

  All the feelings I’d been suppressing—feelings I knew I shouldn’t have for a Nightmare, particularly my weaving partner who was oh-so-good at being annoying and conceited and infuriating and yet perfectly sweet and wonderful—all rushed to the surface. Being held by Darius felt like the most natural thing in the entire Universe, like there was nowhere else I was meant to be. I wanted our kiss to extend into countless forevers.

  Slowly, almost unwillingly, he pulled away. His hand caressed my cheek and he stared unblinking into my eyes, his own aglow. “Are you alright?”

  Heat tinged my cheeks but I found myself smiling as I nodded. He pressed his forehead against mine.

  “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

  His hands pressed the base of my back, gently molding my body against his. I melted into his embrace and nestled closer to inhale his sweet caramel apple scent before lightly tracing the outline of his black spiderweb tattoo extending from his neck. He leaned against my hand and kissed my palm before his hold tightened, cradling me as if I was something infinitely precious. Warmth seeped from his touch and spread over me like I was immersed in a hot bath, and all the anxiousness and pain that had been plaguing me slowly faded away.

  I wanted to remain cradled in this perfect moment forever. But even in the midst of my perfect contentment, I was faintly aware of Bolt’s whistles and of Stardust returning. She made a choking noise of shock and disgust when she saw us embracing.

  “Get away from him, Eden.” She rammed into Darius to break us apart. The impact tipped over my weaving bag, scattering thread, flowers, and several bottled dreams onto the floor. The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the room. In the brief, taut silence that followed, I knew everything was over.

  The storm hit like a volcanic eruption as the magic from the dreams exploded, pushing us against the wall with its incredible force. Sizzling power swirled through the room like a fierce hurricane, leaving no surface undisturbed.

  It was as if the real world had been swallowed up and consumed by a dream. Bright pink hearts and rose petals from Angel’s romantic rain—contained in the jar Darius had just returned—fell like snow, books soared around the bedroom, and stars transformed one by one into butterflies. The world from Angel’s recent candy land dream materialized all around as lollipop trees grew along the walls, gumdrop bushes crowded the corners, candied flowers sprouted from the furniture, and a thin river of lemonade twisted around Maci’s cradle and seeped through the cracks in the floorboards.

  I was faintly aware of Stardust’s shouting and Darius’s swearing, my attention eclipsed by Maci as she stirred from sleep, her drowsy blue gaze taking in her now enchanted surroundings. She blinked, seeming to sense, even at her young age, that the rules of reality had been broken. Her gaze took in a pink heart that had fallen into her cradle before her attention was drawn towards the ceiling, where more continued to fall. Her eyes locked with mine, and with a cheerful giggle she stared up at me. My stomach lurched.

  I’d been spotted.

  Darius gasped and desperately stood in front of me in an effort to shield me, but with him invisible to her, the attempt was futile.

  After a few moments of gawking curiously at me, the novelty of seeing a floating stranger and dreamlike objects in her bedroom evidently wore off. Maci scrunched her face and began to cry, her screams reverberating around the magic-drenched bedroom. Seconds later, the sound of Maci’s mother’s approaching footsteps pounded on the stairs.

  I was vaguely aware of Stardust tugging my arm and of Darius’s frantic shouts. Slowly, his blurred form came into focus, his eyes wild as he pointed towards the window. “Her mother’s coming. You have to leave.”

  I couldn’t move. Hypnotically, I watched the dreams interact with the Mortal World, my heart pounding furiously as my mind tried to fully comprehend the consequences of this moment.

  “Hurry, get out of here.” Darius pushed me towards the window. “I’ll take care of everything.”

  When I remained unmoving, Stardust scooped me up and flew us outside, where we hovered near the roof, out of sight but close enough to hear Maci’s bedroom door burst open and the exclamations of surprise and confusion from her mother.

  The magnitude of what had just happened washed over me. I buried my face in Stardust’s frothy body and sobbed.

  All my efforts to belong, as well as all my hopes I’d painstakingly stitched together since arriving, had unraveled. I could feel the last grains of sand trickle down the hourglass measuring my time here, drawing my stay to a premature close. How could I have deluded myself into believing I could ever fit into the Dream World, especially when I’d never before fit in anywhere else?

  It was over. I had failed.

  Who was I? Did I belong anywhere?

  We were halfway to the Dream World when the summons came. Stardust spotted it approaching us and sped up to avoid it, but it immediately gave chase. Stardust darted this way and that, changed directions mid-flight, even flew in loop-de-loops, but nothing could evade the summons’s persistent pursuit. My fate was sealed.

  “Don’t worry, I can outfly it,” she panted.

  And although the idea of running away was appealing, I knew I couldn’t escape, especially when I had nowhere to hide.

  “It’s alright, Stardust,” I said, and she finally slowed.

  The summons skidded to a stop and bounced impatiently against my hand, heavy and imposing when I picked it up. With a deep breath I slid open the message I knew would change my life forever. It twirled out and formed into ribbons of cursive scrawl:

  The Council is waiting. Come immediately.

  Chapter 34

  Flickering lanterns lit the familiar Council Chamber, casting dancing shadows across the solemn Council, who encircled me like a tight noose. Head Dreamer Galaxy stood in the center, his grey eyes flashing as he studied me, the Investigations Team draped behind him on both sides like a small army. A protesting Stardust had been ejected from the chamber by two burly Investigations Team members, leaving me alone, where I’d been waiting for over an hour, my nerves escalating with each passing minute. Finally Galaxy rose.

  “Dreamer Eden.” His voice echoed ominously off the glass walls that imprisoned me. “The Council de
tected a massive surge of magic from within the Mortal Maci’s bedroom on Earth, magic that defies the natural laws of our world by being able to be seen by both the young Mortal and her mother. Such magic is beyond our current knowledge, as normally Mortals are incapable of seeing magic. We don’t take such unusual power lightly.”

  Trinity’s words echoed in my mind. The Council is afraid of any magic different than their own, especially when it’s of far greater power. Goosebumps prickled my arms, as if all the glitter on my skin bit me with icy teeth.

  Two Investigators stepped forward, their arms laden with sweets, fallen stars, and glowing hearts; an enchanted book managed to wiggle from their tight hold to flutter towards the domed ceiling.

  “We’ve had quite a night trying to clean up your mess,” Galaxy said. “One we’re still seeking an explanation for. Luckily, the child is young enough that she’ll soon forget the event, but her mother is a different matter entirely. After she fainted, we sent our most skilled Weaver to create a dream as similar to the magic she witnessed as possible in hopes of convincing her that tonight’s events were nothing more than a dream. In addition to this peculiar magic, we’ve just been informed you possess an even stranger power: the ability to see and enter dreams.”

  The Council hummed at his words and horror seized my furiously pounding heart. No…it couldn’t be true. Darius would never…but there was only one way for the Council to have learned these secrets—from the Nightmare I’d foolishly given my heart to, and now he’d broken it into a thousand pieces.

  But the part of me that loved and trusted Darius still didn’t want to believe it. It couldn’t have been him; my heart refused to accept it. I desperately tried to think of anyone else who could have betrayed me and my mind immediately latched onto Blaze and Trinity. But my denials died in my throat when Galaxy revealed a black notebook, encrusted with silver spiderwebs.

  My heart stilled. I’d seen that notebook several times before—it was full of all the evidence Darius had accumulated about me, one whose magical charm could only be unlocked by Darius himself. His involvement was unmistakable.

  I stood frozen, numb with disbelief. I could still feel the warmth of my realization that I loved him, the comfort of his arms around me, the shadow of his kiss. To think I’d actually believed that anyone could ever feel such sweet, precious feelings towards me…but it’d all been a lie. From the very beginning, Darius had set me up, and like a fool I’d fallen for it.

  “This is full of unusual information about you, Dreamer Eden. I had no idea Nightmare Darius had managed to dig up so many secrets in the time he’s been investigating you, all of which are quite…enlightening, this one in particular.”

  He flipped to a marked place in the center of Darius’s notebook.

  “Upon your arrival, you failed to mention a particularly condemning bit of information: your relation to the Nightmare Ebony, who, due to her use of dark magic, was suspended and subsequently disappeared on Earth.” He shook his head. “And to think I actually believed your ridiculous story of having been a rare Weaver born outside this world who gained her powers through self-study.”

  My hands tightened into fists and hatred burned within me, not just towards the backstabber Darius, but for the entire Council, who smirked mockingly from their perches, as if relishing my humiliation.

  Galaxy seemed indifferent to the anger raging like a tornado inside me. He thumbed through the pages of Darius’s notebook, leisurely reading my long-hidden secrets. He paused, his eyebrows raising at something evidently interesting.

  “More condemning evidence. Investigator Cedar, do you have proof to back up this particular claim of Nightmare Darius that Dreamer Eden can not only see and enter dreams, but actually capture them?” He tilted the notebook towards Cedar, who nodded briskly.

  “Certainly, Dreamer Galaxy.”

  With a snap of his fingers, the gold Council doors swung open, and a member of the Investigations Team bustled in, arms laden with dream jars from my room. My heart plummeted.

  “We conducted a search of her dwelling and found these jars of magic, all tested and belonging to Dreamers who’ve reported thefts this past year,” Cedar said. “One also matches the description of the jar that Head Nightmare Ember confiscated from the suspect, one she reports was later stolen.”

  “They’re not—” I began, but Galaxy nonchalantly waved my denial away and motioned towards the Investigations Team.

  “Search her.”

  Cedar snatched my bag before I could peep in protest and sifted through it with intense vigor. He scooped out a single jar, cracked but not broken, the sliver of a golden dream captured within flickering like sunlight. His brow furrowed as he examined it.

  “Bay, run a test to determine whose magic this is.” He handed it to an Investigator with penetrating crimson eyes and returned to my bag. After rummaging through my dream flowers, he pulled out the reality rose and my nightmare flower, the last of the damning evidence.

  Gasps broke the thick silence as everyone stared in wide-eyed horror at the flowers clutched in Cedar’s grasp. It took a moment for Galaxy to find his voice. “It was you. You’re the one responsible.”

  I frantically shook my head. “No. I mean, I didn’t know. I didn’t mean—”

  “Don’t deny it, the evidence is indisputable,” Galaxy thundered. “You, a supposed Dreamer, have a nightmare flower in your possession, which undoubtedly links you to the nightmare flowers that have been popping up like weeds all over the Cultivating Fields. What’s more…” He seized the reality rose from Cedar and held it at arm’s length like Darius had done. “Unless I’m mistaken, this is from the Ebony Market. Confirmation, Investigator Cedar?”

  “Indeed it is. The Investigations Team has been trying to pinpoint the market’s location for years.” He now pored over Mother’s notebook, which he’d discovered buried at the bottom of my bag. “Dreamer Galaxy, this notebook contains detailed notes about some of the contraband plants we’ve been trying to track down.” He switched back to Darius’s notebook. “It appears Nightmare Darius found traces of them while searching the area he found Dreamer Eden.”

  Galaxy seized the notebook and searched it with a hungry fervor. “Of course, this plant must have come from Ebony herself—or one of the Nightmares thought to be her accomplices, with whom you were spotted conspiring at the border the other day. There’s no room for doubt.”

  I struggled to speak through the tears clogging my throat. “I don’t know anything about any of those plants.”

  “Lies,” Galaxy hissed. “As the daughter of their creator, you undoubtedly know all about the Ebony Market, and probably even had a hand in growing these illegal plants which corrupt Mortals’ dreams. So typical for a Nightmare.”

  My stomach clenched. “I’m not a Nightmare.”

  “Unfortunately, you indisputably are,” Galaxy said. “Magical children always inherit the same magical identity as their parents. Ebony revealed her true Nightmare colors long before she was suspended, so as Ebony’s daughter you’re just like her—not a Dreamer at all, but a Nightmare as dark as they come.”

  My horror escalated. I wasn’t a Nightmare; I couldn’t be. Nightmares were dark and evil creatures, and that didn’t describe me.

  But even as every part of me yearned to deny it, memories of my past Nightmarish behavior pierced my mind with doubts: the moments of sick pleasure whenever I instilled fear into the villagers’ hearts, the times I’d considered covering my mistakes with lies in order to stay in the Dream World, doing the impossible by creating a nightmare flower in Dream Realm soil, my frequent thefts that robbed Dreamers of their dream dust, how each of my attempts to help the Dream World had ended in disaster…even my own powers were out of the ordinary, defying the natural laws of magic. Could they really be dark magic?

  “Test complete.” Investigator Bay handed my dream jar to Galaxy with a respectful bow. “This magic belongs to Dreamer Angel.”

  “Ah, the Dreamer you
’ve lived with all this time?” Galaxy stroked his chin. “She’s just recently reported another large dream dust theft and insists we take action against her weaving partner, Nightmare Blaze, but it appears he was nothing more than a red herring. You’re the dream dust thief.”

  I ached with every fiber of my being to deny it, but I couldn’t contradict the horrible, haunting truth.

  “I can see the truth in your eyes, Dreamer Eden—or should I say Nightmare Eden.”

  I shuddered at the address, one that both felt cold and uncomfortable, and yet…also a part of me. “I swear it was an accident, I didn’t mean—”

  Galaxy held up his hand and I fell silent; after all, I was guilty, never mind my innocent intentions. “Stealing requires deliberate action, and Nightmares are deliberate in everything. There’s nothing accidental about it.”

  My eyes burned with tears as Galaxy continued listing the accusations against me like he was reciting passages from the dictionary. I wanted to continue to fight, but my throat had sealed, as if my spirit had finally given up.

  Galaxy returned to the condemning notebook. “Nightmare Darius records that you learned to cultivate from your mother, Ebony, whose training would give you the necessary skills to plant nightmare flowers in the Cultivating Fields, which you had ample opportunity to enter as a supposed Dreamer. Because you have the ability to steal any magic you need, you’ve likely lost Weavings on purpose so your Mortal would be saturated with nightmares, giving your true world, the Nightmare Realm, more power. You’re undoubtedly also connected to that strange magical fire that erupted in that Mortal village several months ago that we originally attributed to your mother, and there’s already proof that you had a hand in the threat at the flying colors as well—”

  “No, you’re wrong.” Tears streaked my cheeks, but they did nothing to soften the Council’s unrelenting and unjust attack.