What Is A Dream?

Chapter 19

Adela woke with a start. She wasn't in her normal bed. She was in a guest room, it looked like. "Ian?" she asked. He jerked awake and stared at her for a second, then tackled her back down in her bed with a hug. "Ian!" she exclaimed. He got off her.
    "Sorry," he mumbled. "It's just... you're awake."

"That usually happens after sleeping," she said irritably, swinging her legs out of bed and trying to stand up. Adela fell the second she lost the support of the bed. "What the-"

"You've been asleep since December," Ian said. For the first time, Adela got a good look at him. He looked awful. He had dark circles around his eyes and he was paler than usual.

"And when is it now?" Adela asked warily.

"January," he answered. "January 9."

It all came flooding back to Adela. Her perfect dream, then the terrible reality. "Mommy," she whispered. Ian knelt in front of her and held her as she cried. "She was alive," she sobbed. Ian didn't understand so he stayed silent. Adela pulled away and managed to lift herself back onto the bed. "In my dream! She was alive. So was Daddy. I was normal. I went to high school, I had friends, I called my parents Mom and Dad..."

"Del," Ian whispered. Adela looked at him. "I'm so sorry. That was a better world. I know it's selfish to say this, but I'm glad you're back. You're my friend. I need you." She bolted upright. "Del?" Ian asked.

"That's what he said!" she exclaimed. "The man in the park! Ian, he was the faerie that captured me! He called me his protégé. He said that the time in the prison was conditioning me. He wanted me to be stronger! I got the impression that he'd tried it before, but I guess I'm the only one that survived. He called me," she laughed, "a special snowflake. I think he also used the terms 'needle in a haystack' and 'the spark that caught the flame'. Loads of pretentious, cliché nonsense."

"Who was he?" Ian asked.

"He didn't tell me his name," Adela frowned. "But he wanted me to be awake. He has a plan for me, he said. I don't know what it is, but it could have something to do with the barrier surrounding the Earth!"

Ian followed her thought process and immediately shook his head. "No. Absolutely not! You are not going to go to him!"

"I'm my own person," Adela irritably reminded him.

"You're not at full strength," he said. "You were asleep for two months, remember."

"As if I could forget," Adela muttered. "And would you have approved of me going if I was at full strength? No, you'd just think of another excuse why I shouldn't go. Well, I have to, Ian. Whatever is happening, I need to get to the bottom of it."

"Del-" Ian started, then thought better of it. He took a deep breath. "You'll be careful?"

"Like a baby learning to walk," she promised, then winced. "Before I go, I have to ask you something. When I fell asleep, I was listening to my dad talk with Melissa. He said something about a child..."

Ian looked as if he really didn't want to answer. "Your cousin, a boy named Liam." Adela nodded and smiled. He was probably about 6 years younger than her. His father was her mother's brother.

"Of course I know Liam. What about him? Is he here?"

"His parents were arrested," Ian said. "This was about two years ago. Your mother took him in. But when she died, Samuel didn't want to take him here. You weren't awake, and we couldn't persuade him. I'm sorry. Liam's living with your aunt and uncle Patricia and Edgar." Adela gasped.

"What? Why didn't he agree? Liam's the sweetest boy on the planet! Oh, god, those people are awful! Ian, they're abusive to their own daughters! What will they do to their nephew?" Ian put his hand on her arm.