The Child Dreamer: A Dead Dreamer Prequel

Chapter Nine: A Bloody Fate

"I want to seal this door," I said in response.

Lorcan nodded. "Of course. But might we eat first? It took us a while to hike here. I need my energy."

My left hand began to tug at my fingers on the other as I was anxious to begin. "Of course."

"I know you are excited to attempt this. I can practically feel it radiating off of you. But this takes practice. It took Kieran quite a few tries before he was able to perfect the seal creation. The voices frightened him at first, but now he is able to suppress them. Isn't that right, Kieran?"

The boy only nodded, his eyes never leaving the squirrel cooking on his stick. He said nothing as he moved the squirrel from the flames to begin picking at the meat. Lorcan seemed please as his lack of speech.

"I've made sure to walk far and wide to collect as many spirit as possible so you are able to seal this doorway tonight. Kieran confirmed there should be enough within to give you the power you require," he said confidently.

I nodded. "I remember how the boy did it yesterday. It should be no issue."

Lorcan pulled his squirrel out of the flickering flames and picked at the meat as well. "Maybe so. But we will have to see, won't we? It's one thing to be confident. It is another entirely to be arrogant."

His words reminded me of Catori. Although they were using different ones, they were pretty much repeating each other. Both believed me to be arrogant. And I was, rightfully so. I was arrogant because I had a reason to be. My power alone was proof of that.

When they finally finished eating, Lorcan stood, wiping the dirt and bits of meat off of his jacket. "Come now, Kieran. It's time."

Lorcan moved to pack up some of his things, as the boy moved to lay down on the ground beside the fire. I watched as his soul slowly manifested, standing over his sleeping body. Only then did he acknowledge my presence. I attempted to smile at him in reassurance, but my smile only caused him to flinch; which only made my smile grow.

Before he even pulled it from his pack, I felt the pull of the orb. It was as though all of my being knew it was supposed to be with the orb. It was meant for me. I wanted to touch it, to become a part of it. But I fought the instinct, instead never moving closer as Lorcan pulled it out.

The glow was as brilliant as the last time. Neither of us moved as Lorcan stepped towards the smoldering fire. "Are you ready?"

I nodded. "Always."

The boy hesitantly moved towards me. "You-You will want to, um, pull the energy and not let it pull you."

My hand lifted to silence him as I glared down. He flinched. "I do not need your help."

Lowering his head, the boy stepped backwards, obeying my orders.

"George..." Lorcan warned.

My eyes met his icy blue ones. "I can do this on my own."

The moment my hand touched the orb, I nearly lost myself. In that second, my head exploded, hearing all of the fresh new voices as they cried. Only one voices was louder than the rest. It wasn't crying for freedom like the rest. It only cried for power; power to continue surviving. Whatever was at the center was no longer human or even demon; it merely existed and craved other spirits to survive.

When I was able to focus my energy to pull the spirits into me, the strange being did not come with the rest. It merely cried as I stole it's energy away. My mind was so focused on the energy I now held, glowing in my hand, that I didn't realize the wind had picked up around us. The voices wailed and cried to be freed. Instead, I pushed them towards the door as I had seen the boy do before.