Asylum

Dream Walker

Briefly, Ren whimpers, his crossed arms tightly wound. His brown brows furrow in agony, and I rest a hand on the side of his face, mentally urging him to sleep soundly. The sight of him in pain like this makes me...sad, as well. I don't know if it's because of The Swap or because I've grown attached to everyone who's broken out of Asylum.

His face relaxes and I find myself relaxing, too. I drop my hand and close my eyes, miraculously falling back to sleep.

I'm in bed, sleeping between the gold and red sheets when my door creaks open. In comes Xavier, who must be Ren's older brother. I assume he's mad at Ren for killing their father. He must've been close with that man to become so enraged that he wants his little brother dead. And Ren must be so sorry and so hopeful that Xavier will see that it was an accident, since he keeps coming back to this home.

"You killed Mom...now Dad...I have to kill you before you hurt me or Malakai. You're nothing but destruction. The prophecy was right." Xavier crawls on the bed and picks up one of the pillows. Calmly, he raises it in the air before smothering my face in it. He straddles me in place, using the pillow to suffocate me. "Just go, little brother."

I claw at his hands and try to rip away the pillow, but it's no use. Xavier is far stronger than I am. One of my hands gets pinned under Xavier's knees as the other find the side of his face. In a state of panic, I don't feel my hand heat up to supernatural temperatures far past 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Suddenly, I'm released from Xavier's clutches as he screams in agony. Something drips down my hand as I jackknife up and stumble, falling out of my bed. "My eye! My eye!" Xavier shouts, crying and cupping the side of his face, which oozes blood and eye juice from a now-empty socket. I burned his eye out.

"Brother!" I shout, reaching for him. "Forgive me! I'm so sorry, it was an accident!" I try to embrace him, but the second my hand touches his skin, there's a sizzle as I only burn him more. "I don't want to hurt you, Xavier!"

"You're going to pay!" Xavier demonically screams, glaring at Ren with one eye.

Terrified, I run away and to a room full of weapons. I grab a sword and take off through the night. Outside, there's a large pavilion that leads to the stairs on the grassy hill. Here, Xavier waits for me. His face is bloodied and blistered, and there's no light in his eyes. "It ends now, Ren."

The elderly men and women gather, watching with indifference. "Master Walker," one of them says to Xavier. "We urge you against this."

"Silence!" he demands, roaring at them and baring his teeth like an animal. "This has to be done. You have to pay, Ren."

There's no running now. I hold up my sword, accepting this final battle. Xavier and I dance all around the pavilion, the only sounds of the night are the clanging of metal, the grunts from the two of us exerting all our force, and the horrific threats from Xavier. We battle for at least an hour. Both of us are tired, but neither are going to disengage in this fight and ruin our honor.

We continue our clash, moving in the opposite direction of the grassy hill. A storm overhead has finally unleashed its wrath. The wind blows in the direction of Xavier, sending raindrops in his eye and wind ripping through his hair. "It's your time, brother," Xavier discloses, swinging his sword in a giant arc.

The dual continues, me pressing Xavier farther and farther away from the stairs. We near a drop-off cliff. Somewhere in the distance, there's the sound of rushing water beating against rocks. I assume there's a river down there.

I spin and bring my sword down against Xavier's, knocking him off balance. He struggles for footing, but with everything drenched in the storm, he only slips backwards. His sword flies out of his hands and he falls into the ambiguous abyss. Barely managing to grip the cliffside. Gasping, I drop my sword and dive towards him, trying to grab him to haul him up. "Get away from me!" Xavier denies. "It's not fair. It's not fair! I'm supposed to be the powerful one. I'm the one who's supposed to live in this world. Not you!"

"Xavier, let me help you!" Despite his telling me not to, I dip down and grab Xavier's arm, trying to pull him up. He rears that arm back and punches me in the face. I'm sent sprawling backwards. Quickly, I recover my wits and scramble back to Xavier. "You'll die!" I yell at him, hovering over his dangling body. Below him, there is a dark abyss that heeds no end.

He looks at me, his one eye narrowed in malice. "I'd rather die than live in a world where monsters like you exist." Then, to keep his honor and die on his own terms, Xavier lets go of the jagged cliff.

"Brother!" I shout, lunging for him. I only manage to snag his necklace, which comes off in an instant. There is no scream as Xavier plunges into the chasm. There is not thud when his body hits the ground. There is only the inevitability of his demise.

"Master Walker," one of the elderly say. "Master Walker." They get closer as I crouch low, clenching Xavier's necklace – a necklace that I see Ren wear all the time. "Master Walker!" they shout. I realize they're talking to me, now. I just never responded because Master Walker was always my dad, then my brother. "You must get inside. You can catch a cold out here." That phrase...about catching a cold...Ren's said that on more than a few occasions. Wordlessly, an elder drapes a jacket over my shoulders and guides me to stand. I recognize the jacket as the one Ren often leaves for me.

"Where's Malakai?" I croak in the rain, water pouring in my mouth.

"He's run away, Master Walker."

"Find him," I demand.

"Our duty is to tend to those prophesied before those like your brother," the elder states.

"Then tend to me and find him!" I shriek, pulling the jacket tightly around my shoulders. "Please..." I beg.

"Let's make you some soup, Master Walker..."

I wake up feeling shaky and disturbed. Something wet feels cool on my cheek and shoulder. Wiping my face, I realize that tears have fallen from my eyes. On my shoulder, a tearstained Ren appears pained once more. Delicately, I wipe his tears. Even though his dreams are horrendous and leave me feeling in turmoil, he needs the rest. We have a long day and night ahead of us.

My other hand is squeezed as Ren sucks in a breath. Looking down at it, I see he's clutched the one I dropped in his lap earlier. Frowning, I scramble to dream up an idea to ease his agony. But what is there to do? The only one who can fix wounds like Ren's is himself.

After experiencing Ren's dreams, I do have a few questions of my own. Ren said his mother moved away when he was young. Was that a lie? And what prophecy was he talking about? Who were those elderly people in Ren's old dojo? Also, do I tell Ren what I know? Would it help him be more open about how he feels about his past? Or would he clam up at the mention of it? And if I told him I knew what he did and the consequences that followed, I'm sure he would demand that I tell him all about my own past, and that's not something I want to do.

A flight attendant strolls down the aisle, pushing a compartment cart along with her. She sees Ren and smiles the way you'd smile at a baby. Reaching inside a drawer, she pulls out a blanket and drapes it over us. Even though I don't want people to get the wrong idea about Ren and I, I can't deny the warmth the blanket gives me.

My eyelids grow heavy again and I vanish into a slumber full of stolen memories.