Dream Seeker

Dream Seeker- Chapter Four

The doctor connected the participants to a network of computers keeping their ventilation and circulation in check. Peripheral IV lines delivered continuous fluids into their blood stream, preventing dehydration. The doctor dismissed the staff members and armed the alarm system. No one else was allowed in the room with the dream seekers.

Sitting back in his maroon armchair, he examined the holographic images arising from the computer. The dream seekers unconscious bodies floated in space. Doctor Murray sent a subtle mental stimuli to the receiver connected to their caps.

The experience was similar to moving against a water current.

"What is going on?" Gael tried to say but the sound of her voice broke in fragments. She swam towards Marie and pressed her mouth against Marie's ear." Marie, where are we?"

Marie shook her head. She cupped the side of her mouth with her hands, leaning over Gael's ear. "I don't know for sure. Possibly in your mind."

Gael pulled away. In need of a concrete answer, she swam towards David.

"David." Her words sounded clear in the interior of a 13th century high gothic cathedral. David was standing across from her, unable to hide the bewilderment in his eyes. Gael didn't need to look back to know Marie was standing behind her.

"What is this?" Gael climbed down the altar, pulling up her long dress. She dashed down the aisle, ignoring the buzz and stares coming from the spectators.

She heard footsteps behind her. An old woman grabbed her arm and pulled her around.

"¿Como eres capaz de harceme esto?" The woman said, her body shaking in anger.

"I don't understand." Gael tried to look for the others among the crowd but the woman grabbed Gael's chin and turned it to her.

"Eres una malcriada.No puedo creer que le puedas hacer algo tan cruel a Patricio."

Gael pulled away, running out. The others followed closely behind. An entire crowd of people yelled at her from the steps of the cathedral what she believed to be insults in another language.

She ran along the cobblestone paved streets, her heart hammering agaisnt her chest. She slipped into a dark and smelly alley, kneeling down on the wet pavement to catch her breath. The sound of footfalls echoed agaisnt the walls, a group of people passed the alley in pursuit of the runaway bride.

"Gael."

"Marie." She whimpered, standing up." What's going on?"

"Didn't the doctor tell you? We're using your conscious to travel the rift. You brought us here."

"I don't any of those people. I couldn't even understand what the woman was saying."

David arrived shortly after, doubled over out of breath.

"Wow," He exhaled." That was fun."

Marie glared at him, but he didn't seem to notice. "Everyone at that church was about ready to kill you."

Marie elbowed him on the side gesturing towards Gael. David looked at Gael's face and immediately stopped laughing.

"Can someone please explain to me what happened?" Gael yelled.

"I'm not sure why they were after you. I think the locals are under the impression we're contemporaries." David said, removing his spectacles and wiping them with a white piece of cloth he pulled out of his suit jacket. He placed them back on and scratched his head. "We should explore further. There's a reason we ended up here."

"Or maybe, just maybe, the doctor's playing tricks on us." Gael didn't need anyone's approval to voice her opinion on the Doctor. She was convinced he put them there to test them." He's up to something, and I don't trust him"

There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Marie cleared her throat and everyone turned to her. She shrugged.

"Do you think he's here?" Marie said.

"What?"

"Jonathan, is he here?"

She took a few minutes to answer.

"This place is too hostile. He can't be here."

"That's ridiculous." David said, walking down the alley, forcing the girls to follow.

"What do you mean?" Gael shot back.

He increased his pace as they tried to catch up. "He could be anywhere. He could be in the middle of world war three for all we know."

She sprinted up next to him. "I think I would know where my boyfriend is. Thank you very much"

David stopped and turned to her with a scowl. "Get off your high horse and listen to what other people have to say." His voice was flat but it carried a lot of pent up anger in it.

Taken a back, Gael looked intently into his green eyes but his gaze did not falter.

"I didn't mean to seem that way." She said.

He made to reply but the words failed to formulate as he looked away.

"So, what do we do now?" Marie asked. David had established a dominant role.

"First thing, find out where we are and why the rift led us here." He stopped abruptly, making Gael crash into him.

"Judging by our surroundings, I think we're somewhere in Spain." David pointed at a stone fortification dominating the sky line "Toledo, Spain to be precise."

Marie clasped her hands. "Ooh, I always wanted to go to Spain."

Gael's mouth hung half open as she absorbed the site of one of Europe's oldest cities.

David turned to her. "Do you know if Jonathan had any connections to Spain?"

"He was half Spanish," She said.

"Do you think his ethnicity has anything to do with what just happened?"

"We talked about celebrating our marriage contract in Spain." Had she forgotten? She felt like parts of her memory had been temporarily deleted.

Everything turned into a blur.

The doctor watched Gael's face from his maroon chair; a tear had fallen from her eye.