Dream Seeker

Dream Seeker-Chapter Five

"What are you doing?" Gael shouted, staring wildly at David. The old man pointed towards his house, throwing Gael over his shoulder.

"David, what are you doing? You can't let this happen." Gael fought back panic.

"You made a good choice," The old man said with a wink. He carried her off to a weather beaten shack. Gael kicked and scream all the way there. By the time the men reached the house, she hung her head in defeat, refusing to make eye contact with the others.

Marie finally broke free from David's grip and slapped him across the face. "How can you let them rape her?" she attempted to slap him again but he grabbed her arm.

"Listen to me, I know you think I'm crazy, but they were going to kill her. We got to learn more about this place before we start picking fights with the locals. We don't know how long we're going to be stuck here."

Marie laughed, shaking her head." You're an idiot. This place is a waste land. What more do you need to know? These people are desperate and we don't know of what they're capable. We can't let them have Gael. She's the rift guide. If these loonies shatter her psyche, what do you think the rest of the mission will be like?"

Without replying, David turned around and walked into the house. Shamefaced, Marie did the same.

The doctor monitored Gael's heart rate with close attention. The brain waves signaled a red flag on the computer screen. Carl knew it was too soon to disconnect her and struggled between what to do.

Death during dream seeking was a horrible experience. It was impossible to hurt the physical body while in astral form but dying while astral projecting had a monumental psychological effect on the dream seeker's psyche. They were able to feel and experience everything as if they were awake.

The old man took the lead. David's eyes remained on Gael with cold stillness. She didn't know what he was thinking, or why he didn't put a stop to her suffering.

Gael was allowed to go to the bathroom while David negotiated his compensation with the old man. Marie asked to go with her but Gael declined, she needed time to herself while she gathered her thoughts.

As she washed the grime off her body, a sudden thought entered her mind. Jonathan would have given his life to protect her. She collapsed on the floor. Jonathan was gone and she would probably never see him again. The thought made her body shake with emotion. She refused to lose hope. Jonathan had never lost hope on her.

He had helped her forget the painful childhood memories concealed in the depth of her mind. She was adamant in not letting the past define her so she had blocked most of it. Remembering the psychological tricks Jonathan had taught her, she erased the old man and boy from her mind and replaced them with a new memory of Jonathan. After convincing herself that Jonathan was out in the forest waiting for her, She slid through the jagged edges of the cracked bathroom window. Her white dress torn and soiled.

She ran barefooted across the opulent forest with a steady mind. At one point, she tripped down a hill, but in spite of the cuts and bruises hurting her, she got right back up and continued to run. Her destination was unknown; she could have ran until she dropped dead, it did not matter. All that mattered to her was finding Jonathan and she was not giving up hope until she knew for certain he was irretrievable.

As the other dream seekers walked out of the house, Pax swung around the bag of coins the old man had given them for Gael.

"I can't believe she ran," David said." Does she realize this isn't real? Her real body is safe and sound at the lab."

"She felt every bit of it. Didn't you see her face? She was in hell." Marie said with a horrified look on her face.

David removed his glasses, stared at them and threw them on the ground. Stepping on them, he scowled at the others. "She'll be fine."

Before Marie could respond, Pax cut in. "The rape is bound to stay with her, don't you think?"

"I'm not claiming the plan was perfect, but we should be focusing on the fact she's lost in the forest. We don't know how many creeps live here. So, instead of arguing with me, help me find her." David stomped away and the others trailed behind. They knew he was the most knowledgeable among them, and although , they did not know how he had obtained his knowledge of the rift, there was still some trustworthiness in him despite all that had happened.

Several minutes later they found a torn piece of cloth from Gael's dress hanging on a branch.

Pax felt the cloth in his hand. "I think we've found her."

Marie scanned the area. "Gael, where are you?" The only response back was the sound of chirping insects.

David crossed his arms. "Gael, we're doing this for you." He said, sternly.

Marie shot him an angry look and carried on walking.

Gael heard them calling for her as she rested against a tree.She didn't want to see their faces. She felt betrayed by all of them, but most of all by David. She felt disgusted thinking about how he had watched the men rape her. The more she thought back to it the more she wanted to confront him. She stepped out of her hiding place and revealed herself to them.

Pax and Marie ran towards her as David lagged behind with a frown on his face. Gael walked passed Marie and Pax, approaching David. He stood his ground as she raised her hand, holding it in midair then dropping it. "Why?"

"Why is irrelevant-"he began.

She took another step forward, their faces almost touching. "Why?"

He gazed at her. "Would you have preferred I let him kill you instead?"

Gael tried to hold back the tears in her eyes. "Why did you just sit there while they raped me? Tell me why."

Marie placed her hand on her arm and Gael pulled away.

"I need to know why." She said, pleadingly." I need an answer from you. Did you enjoy it, huh?"

"Of course not." David said, looking disgusted by the implication.

"So why did you just sit there?" she grabbed his shirt and shook him.

David's face changed from irritation to compassion as he embraced her. Gael struggled at first by pressing her hands against his chest and pushing until she had no energy left in her but to surrender to his firm hold. She cried on his shoulder, clenching and releasing her fist.

"You could've easily dragged us all out of dream state, but you didn't. You knew it was our only choice at the moment," He whispered into her ear." But I promise I won't let anyone hurt you again."

She looked up at his face."You made me feel weak, and for that, I will never forgive you." She withdrew and turned to the others.

David looked intently at the back of her head, his eyes glimmering with frustration.