The Dreamers Caught in a Nightmare (ONC 2024)

Chapter 2: OSA's prized possession

Alora

I'm tired. It's been eight months of continued training and figuring out my powers. I think I deserve a break. Being the OSA's new asset doesn't help. But I also understand the need to quickly advance through my training — which is merely being devised and adjusted as I progress because they haven't had someone like me before. It's for the missing dreamjumpers, the dreamers. We can't slow down while they keep disappearing. I know that. That's why I joined the organization.

I'm the dreamcatcher because I can see dreamjumpers who are invisible. Thanks to me, we've been able to discover people of the opposing group of dreamjumpers who have been hiding in the shadows. But as quickly as we reveal them in the real world, they disappear from our sights. Never to be seen again in another dream. We are on the enemy's heels but they seem to always know when we are about to make our move. It's frustrating work. I thought my first ability would have been more fruitful by this time.

However, it's not as frustrating as my second ability. The one that the OSA is currently honed in on. I've been gifted by a curse with the ability to turn back time. We discovered it a few weeks after I had been rescued by Reve. They think it's a consequence of the battle. Many of our dreamjumpers received their own special gifts or curses, however you see them. Reve thinks that I can turn back time because of him. But I think we can't rule out the possibility that I got the ability because of "Mr. Red-Head". Maybe it was his curse for kidnapping me that gave me the gift. A gift that for now is not as exciting as you would think turning back time would be.

It's the afternoon and I'm in my personal training room. Reve is with me, standing in the center of the black padded floor. At the periphery standing off the mat and watching us are the five superiors in charge of my training. One of them has a tablet on which he writes his notes on our progress. Through a microphone he speaks to the superiors observing us through the video cameras in the room. Our head trainer, Cora, stands in the middle of the line. She is a tall, blonde woman who always keeps her hair in a tight bun over her head. The superiors always stare at us with their expressionless faces, but I have learned how to read Cora by the way she speaks to us. She is the only one who doesn't speak with the characteristic monotone voice of a superior. Perhaps it is because she is our trainer that she is allowed to break that rule. No one would be motivated to do anything if their voice of support were as plain and somber as that of an old preacher with no spark. I think Cora uses that small allotment to break from her rigid confines of being a superior and allows herself a small moment to express her inner feelings.

"Do it again, Reve," she says firmly.

Reve throws out a punch that would have hit me square in the face. I dodge it today because my instincts and evasive skills have immensely improved. But the first time he had done so unexpectedly and left a bruise on my face, I was able to rewind time and erase the purple mark his fist had left. At the time it was an accident. Reve never tries to actually hurt me. But now since then he's been instructed to do it purposefully. It's one of the only ways we know that it can make me turn back time.

"Alora, we won't be able to turn back time if you keep dodging his attacks." There is annoyance in Cora's voice.

"Maybe there is a way of turning back time without me getting hurt."

"You won't actually be hurt if you turn back time." Her tone taunts me.

Reve doesn't like this arrangement any more than I do. But there is no fighting with the superiors about it. If I learn how to master time, I can prevent dreamjumpers from being kidnapped. I'll never be able to go far into the past. That is a fleeting dream no one believes. But when you're in a race with your enemy, even five minutes make a difference. Dreamjumpers out in the field have reported our enemy suddenly snatching dreamers before their very eyes. So minutes do matter. The enemy is becoming bolder with their kidnappings now that they know the secret is out. But with their bandannas covering half their faces, the culprit is never recognizable. They are sneaky, conniving, and powerful people who move swiftly when they act, so even the most qualified dreamjumpers can be outmaneuvered.