So entangled in my thoughts, I almost didn't hear the sound of someone knocking on the door.
Even though it had been hours since I discovered the letter, I still felt adrenaline pumping through my veins. Knowing that my father didn't willingly leave, I was overcome by a renewed sense of hope. The hope was soon followed by a wave of dread because the alternative meant that he was kidnapped and locked away somewhere, unable to get help.
And how did his kidnappers manage to get him to leave a note telling us he ran off?
I pulled open the door to find Luke on the other side, grinning goofily, like usual.
"Oh, hey."
"Why do you look so surprised to see me?" he asked. "Didn't I text you to say I was coming?"
I moved aside so he could enter. "Yeah. I guess I forgot. Plus, it's almost midnight. I didn't think you'd come over this late."
"Always knew I was a priority in your life," he said, amused. "And I wanted to eat dinner with my family and get cleaned up first. They wanted to make sure I was okay after what happened at school today. I had to throw away my clothes from the attack. Everything was torn and messed up."
"Yeah, same here. It's been a long day. After that horrible stuff that happened at school and then...well, just some other stuff." I slumped onto the couch and hugged a pillow to my chest.
Luke sat down next to me. "You seem to always have stuff happening lately. What's going on?"
I sighed. "Connor threw a tantrum today because he caught Mom cleaning out Dad's office and—" And then there was a fluttering sensation in my stomach as I was reminded that my Dad didn't actually leave. Connor was right earlier when he said Dad was going to come home.
"...and your brother throwing a tantrum makes you smile, why?"
"Was I? I'm just a little happy because having to be around Tantrum Connor beats having to be around Zombie Connor. At least it means he's not numb anymore," I mused.
"That's one way of looking at it. I can take him out this weekend for some exercise or something if he needs a distraction. Do you think he'd like that?"
"I think he misses you. He was asking about you today." I eyed my best friend suspiciously. "Luke Bennett, how is it that you always know what to say?"
"I just live under the assumption everyone misses me. It's a blessing and a curse, really. Sometimes I just want some peace and quiet by myself, but the ladies just can't seem to help themselves. They just throw themselves at me. Can you believe it?"
"I really can't," I said, chuckling.
"Too much charm can be a bad thing too, believe it or not."
I smacked him with the pillow. "You're an idiot. But speaking of charmed ladies, how was your talk with Lucy Pennington?"
Almost immediately, his eyes lit up. "Dude, seriously, she is so awesome. I've always dreamed of what it'd be like to talk to her, but I couldn't believe how easy it was. I thought she'd be like all the other girls who were freaking out and crying, but she was so composed. She was even trying to make sure I was okay, although I was perfectly fine."
"Were you? I could've sworn I saw you tearing up a little. Remind me, was it before or after Mara knocked you to the ground?" I teased.
"Oh, shut up. By the way, what the hell was up with that? Does she carry blades with her everywhere?"
"Kunai knives," I corrected.
"What?"
"They're her kunai knives. And yes, she does carry them with her everywhere."
"That girl is straight up batshit crazy," Luke said, shaking his head. "She looked a little too happy killing those birds."
"Mara is harmless. Well, mostly harmless. If you don't get on her bad side."
"She needs professional help."
I couldn't help but laugh. Luke was so familiar and so safe. Laughing with him felt like the only constant in my world that felt like it was constantly turning upside down. I let my head fall casually onto his shoulder and shut my eyes. "I can't wait for this school year to be over. I feel so tired all the time."
"It's already Wednesday night. Only two more days until the weekend," Luke said helpfully.
"Two days is so long," I mumbled.
Luke stifled a yawn. "Now you're making me tired."
"Then be quiet and sleep. No one's stopping you," I muttered.
His shoulder was too comfortable. Before I knew it, I felt myself drifting off.
---
This shouldn't be happening.
My body felt warm as it started emitting a bright glow, preparing me for crashing into another dream. My previous lessons with AJ taught me how to control when I transported, so I was surprised to find myself being pulled into another dream. I tried to reign in my panic and ground myself to my dream, but I was fading out.
I was overcome with a jittering sensation as the warmth flowed throughout my limbs. Everything around me vanished, and I felt the familiar pull of leaving my dream. Suddenly my feet came into contact with the ground as I landed in another place.
Every dream I've visited has been a mini-adventure, every experience remarkably different. I've visited dreams that were beautiful and tragic and terrifying, but I've always felt very detached from them, like I was just an observer. This one was different though. Even though I could still feel that I was a visitor in this dream, it seemed so achingly familiar, it could've been mine.
But it wasn't.
As I looked around, I realized that the sleeper behind this dream seriously lacked imagination.
The sky was a navy blue and sprinkled with stars. The ground was covered with unruly grass, dotted with trees and brush. And that was it.
"Hello?" I called out. "Is anyone there?"
I hadn't been expecting a response. But then I heard—
"Rory?"
My eyes widened in surprise as I looked for the owner of the voice. "Luke?! Is that you?"
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
I watched as he limberly swung himself down from a tree branch. He was dressed in the same clothes as he was wearing when he fell asleep on my couch.
"So this is what you dream about," I said, looking around again. "For someone who is so interesting, your dream sure is boring as hell."
"What? Wait, why are you here?"
"Unhappy to see me?"
"Not at all, but you should probably go. Lucy is coming soon. We always meet here," he said, smiling boyishly.
I raised an eyebrow at him. "You dream about her too? Jesus Christ, Luke. You have a problem. I still don't get what you see in her. Besides this afternoon, you've never even spoken to the girl."
"We talk here all the time. Are you jealous?"
"As if," I scoffed.
"You should probably go."
I don't know why it never occurred to me to visit the dreams of the people I knew. Now I was curious about what Mom and Connor were dreaming of. Maybe I would pay them a visit afterwards.
Grinning evilly, I asked, "Before I go, are there any subconscious messages you want to divulge? Any dark secrets lurking around in that odd brain of yours?"
"I have no secrets when it come sto you. Itell you everything, and you know that. You're the one who's been hiding things from me."
The grin immediately disappeared from my face. His comment stung because of how true it was. "What?"
"I don't know what's been going on with you and those new kids at school, but it sucks that you won't include me in any of it. I'm your best friend, and I think I've earned the right to be the one you tell your secrets to. Not them," Luke said.
"I didn't know you felt this way."
"I can't unload on you. You have things hard enough without dealing with my insecurities. But you should know that you can trust me, Rory."
"Oh, Luke," I said softly. "I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you and I want you to know everything about me, but I'm doing this to keep you safe. You and my family. I'm involved in some bad stuff and I don't want you to get hurt."
"How can I keep you safe if you won't tell me what's hurting you?"
My heart was beating out of control. "You've done so much for me, Luke. It's time for me to keep you safe."
I thought he was going to say something else, but then he turned to look at something in the distance. I followed his gaze, but I didn't see anything.
"What?"
"Lucy's here," Luke said. "You should go."
"Okay. I'm gone. I don't want to see anything from your dreams that will scar me for life," I muttered, concentrating on crashing into my own dream. Just like earlier, the warmth started from my chest and spread to my extremities, basking me in light.
And right before I disappeared, I casted another glance at Luke. He was just standing in the field, reaching an arm out to nothing.
Was she invisible?
But then I saw her, stepping out of a light that seemed like it was coming from within her.
I couldn't believe what was in front of my eyes.
Lucy Pennington was a Dream Crasher.
---
The next day, I rode to school with Luke because we had both woken up on my couch. I texted Seth that I would meet him at school and that I had something urgent to tell him. The whole ride there, I was shaking.
"Are you cold?" Luke asked, reaching to turn on the heater even though it wasn't cold at all.
"No. I'm fine."
"Are you nervous about something? It's like you can't sit still."
"Just with all the bird attacks, school just doesn't seem like a very safe place," I said, rattling off the first excuse that popped into my head. I was getting better at lying to him, and I hated myself for it.
"Oh, right. I'm surprised school's open today. It's disappointing," Luke said, shaking his head and sighing. "We almost died yesterday, but that's not good enough to get school cancelled."
"They have extra counselors coming in for people who need to talk," I said.
"Perfect. I'll see if I can schedule a session during last period so I have an excuse not to see Mr. Grant. Sitting in the front royally sucks. His breath reeks and I swear to God, he purposely tries to spit on me."
"I didt tell you not to sleep..."
The second we pulled into the parking lot, I raced out of the car and told him that I'd see him at lunch. I met up with the other four around the side of the school. Elijah, who had on a new pair of glasses, was practically jumping up and down with excitement because he had news of his own, but he told me to speak first.
They listened with slack jaws as I told them what happened.
"Are you sure?" Mara asked skeptically. "First you see a demon in the real world, and then suddenly Miss Perfect Hair and Skin is one of us?"
"Could it be that he was just simply dreaming about her?" Seth asked.
"Maybe he saw the way you entered the dream, and subconsciously projected it onto Lucy," AJ offered.
"I'm pretty sure of what I saw."
"Actually, she's right," Elijah said. He had kept quiet for the most part, but he was now almost bursting with eagerness.
"Thank you," I said gratefully. Then paused. "But why?"
"It goes hand in hand with what I found out. I've been doing some research on the crest from the letter, and it turns out that the Center of Psychiatry is funded by a larger company-- Pennington Corporate."
"Lucy's father owns that company!" I said excitedly.
Mara cursed and dropped her face in her hands. "Why is this so complicated? There is never a straight answer. Even when we finally make connections, nothing makes sense!"
"I feel like the answer is right in front of us, staring us blankly in the face, but we just can't see it," Seth said.
"So far all we know is that somehow, Lucy's father is involved with the psychiatric ward, which is involved with the thugs, who are involved with my father's disappearance."
"You make it sound so simple," Elijah said, smiling. "You left out everything related to demons."
I sighed. "What if we can't handle this? We're just five teenagers. Maybe we should consider calling in the police. Maybe they can help find my dad."
"As if they'd believe us. You thought you were going insane and you still didn't want to listen," Seth said.
"So what do we do then?"
"It appears we're at a dead end," AJ said solemnly.
"Great," I mumbled, kicking a rock out of frustration.
"Going over what we know," Seth said, "Rory's father was admitted to the Center of Psychiatry because he thought he was going crazy, but in reality, he was dream crashing. He was probably taken by the same men who attacked us at the construction site, so I'm willing to bet they know that you have powers."
"They wanted me because I had something 'more valuable than money,'" I recalled.
Seth continued. "But what I'm confused about is how Lucy and her father are involved. Elijah, was the crest for the psychiatry ward or for the Pennington Corps?"
"Definitely Pennington."
"So they're kidnapping people with our abilities?" AJ asked.
"For what? It's not like our powers can be harnessed to do anything useful," Mara scoffed.
"Indeed. But what about the demon that Rory saw? Next to a Pennington van?" Elijah asked.
"What if they're using us to reach out to demons? Since they can't control dreams to talk to them," I offered.
"Then it doesn't explain how they know about the demons in the first place. And that leads me to wonder whether or not Lucy's father knows about his daughter's abilities, especially if he is kidnapping Dream Crashers, for whatever reason," Seth pondered.
"I never knew there were so many of us that it could cause a situation like this," AJ said.
"This is quite a predicament."
"We need to get closer to Lucy. Can we do that through Luke?" Seth asked.
"If she's dangerous, we are not helping him get closer to her!" I said, appalled at his suggestion.
"Nothing's going to happen to him. He doesn't have abilities, so he's of no importance to them," AJ said bluntly.
"Ever hear of a hostage situation?"
Elijah said, "You've been classmates with her for a long time, I'm guessing? And she has never once harmed you or your friend. You shouldn't be afraid of her. Also, they know about you, yet they've never tried to hurt you at school. There's probably a reason for that."
"Demons are assembling and they might have found a way to cross into our world," Seth said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "We need to do what we can to save people. There's more at stake than one person, Rory. And I'll try my best to keep him safe, but it's a risk we need to take."
"Hell no. I'll do your training and I'll distance myself from my family and Luke to keep them safe, but this is one thing that is not going to happen," I said. "He is so stupidly in love with her, and he's only going to get hurt if she is part of some evil conspiracy. It will break his heart and I don't want anything to do with that."
The four of them stared at me, but I wasn't going to waver under their fierce gazes. There was no room for negotiation, and I needed them to understand that. Mara had her jaw clenched, but surprisingly, she didn't say anything. Elijah and AJ looked disappointed, but it also looked like they understood my position.
Seth's blue eyes, stormy with emotion, never left mine. Finally, he relented. "Fine. I get it. We'll find a different way to get to her."
"Thank you."
"What now?" Elijah asked.
Everyone automatically looked to Seth.
He was leaning against the building, his eyes looking up at the sky. "Honestly, I have no idea."
---
A/N: So I had a really hard time writing this chapter. I'm still not completely happy with it, and I'll probably come back to edit it in the future. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about the mystery :)
LIke always, please vote and comment if you enjoyed it! I really appreciate your feedback. Thanks for reading and have a lovely week everyone.
Dedicated for florespink. Thank you for all the supportive feedback :)
xx