Forsaken (8 page)

Then his head swung up, and he looked at her. Mirth filled his eyes, and an enormous grin stretched across his face. He wasn’t shivering at all. He was shaking with
laughter!
Probably laughing at her. Her irritation returned, and just as she was about to think of something else to do to him, Hunter was at her side.

There was no movement that she saw. One moment he was on the ground, wet and laughing, and the next he was standing beside her, dry as a duck and holding her arm. It took all of her dignity not to claw his eyes out for what he’d done.

“Before you do anything else,” he said quickly, “realize that I know a lot more than you, and I could counter before you even knew it.” Then he pulled his hand away and frowned. “And you’re still wet.”

Abashedly, Nora realized she was. Could she change that, too? She imagined herself in the same clothes, dry as they had been.

Nothing happened.

She closed her eyes and tried again. When she opened them, her clothes were as wet as ever.

Hunter smiled. “Remember what I said. You are just a reflection, but everything else is part of this world. You and everything that came with you – clothes included – are reflections. Instead of thinking of dry clothes, think of taking the water
out
of them.”

Nora closed her eyes and tried again. This time, like Hunter suggested, she imagined the water being pulled out of her clothing. She saw the cross-weaves of the fabric in her mind’s eye, and thought of tiny little droplets coming out of the clothes and evaporating into the air. As she did that, she realized she was completely dry.

Hunter laughed. Nora looked at him strangely for a moment, but then she began to laugh, too. His laughter was contagious, and being here with him felt
wonderful!

For the first time in her life, she was in full control of nearly everything around her. Her annoyance gone, she laughed with pure joy. This truly was an amazing world Hunter was showing her. An
astounding
world! One that was brimming with endless possibilities. She felt euphoric as she let her laughter sweep her away. She spun around happily, and Hunter laughed even harder.

Finally, with the laughter starting to subside, Hunter looked at her somewhat seriously.

“You did a fantastic job back there,” he said.

“Thanks.” Heat crept up the back of her neck. “At first, I couldn’t believe
you
were responsible for the explosion!”

“Yes, but even though I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you, you handled it by yourself like a pro. Your mind is a lot stronger than I would have thought.”

“What do you mean?” Nora asked, curious.

“For most people, the first time they come here, they panic so much in those flames they seize up and rip themselves out of this world. It’s just like when you wake up in the middle of a nightmare. Your mind can’t handle the pressure, and it wants to escape. You, however, fought it all off
very well
, especially that water touch at the end.
That
was something.”

“Wait, what did you just say?”

“Hmm? About what?”

“About ‘most people.’ Are there others you’ve taken here?”

“Well, yes,” Hunter answered slowly. “Never mind that. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”

“You did.” Nora refused to let him push aside the comment. “Who else have you brought here?”

“Not many, personally,” Hunter answered. “But I’ve seen people here. Sometimes, people stumble upon this place in their own dreams. Everybody has access to it, you know, but most people don’t realize it. In fact, I don’t think
any
body really realizes it. Whenever you go to sleep, you have a chance – however small it may be – of drifting into this place. That’s when you have your most memorable dreams, the ones you’re sure mean something. Because this place stands out so much in your mind compared to your regular dreams.

“I don’t know exactly how it all works,” Hunter admitted, “but from what I’ve pieced together… I think that right
here
, right where we are right now, that this place is a…parallel plane to our regular lives. Maybe to our regular dreams, even. And like I said, everybody has the ability to enter this…plane.”

“Like a parallel universe?” Nora asked.

“Sort of. But not exactly. It’s more like…two sheets of paper held parallel to one another. If one sheet of paper has something drawn on it, and you shine a light through it onto the other sheet, the shadow of the drawing falls onto the second piece of paper. I know it’s confusing – it doesn’t even make much sense to me – but I think that’s sort of how this place works.”

“So our real world is the paper with the drawing,” Nora said slowly, “…and
this
world is the second sheet, with the shadow falling onto it?”

“Yeah, exactly. That’s the best way I can think of it. I know it’s not very elegant, but it’s been useful to me. A bit hard to grasp though, right?”

“No, I think I got it. I have another question, though.”

“Ask away.”

“How did we
get
here? How did you bring me here?”

“Ah.” Hunter smiled. His eyes glimmered with a touch of satisfaction. “
That
. That has to do with what I showed you at school.”

“With your mind-reading ability?”

“That’s right. When we touched hands in the real world, a sort of…wrinkle…occurred. It happened right before all the thoughts came flooding into your head. That wrinkle, I think, had to do with reality
shifting
slightly right before the thoughts came. But I learned that if I time it right – if I let you experience that flood of thoughts
just
as you’re falling asleep – in that last split-second, your mind, and mine as well, shift into this realm. And you come here. The World of Dreams.”

“That’s amazing,” Nora breathed.

“I know,” Hunter smiled. “One more thing you should know; Time flows differently here. Sometimes, it goes faster than in the real world, sometimes, much slower. Usually, though, it’s faster. So everything we’ve experienced so far – from me jumping off the car all the way to this conversation – has occurred in the span of only a few seconds in the real world.”

“Wait, so in the
real world
, we’re both asleep? On top of your car?”

“That’s right. And as soon as we go back, we wake up.”

“How do we go back?”

“I’ll show you. Not just yet, though. What I was just saying, about time flowing differently, that’s more important. Now, do you remember when you took your first step, and you stumbled toward me?”

“Yes, I do.”

“What’d you feel, when it happened?”

“What did I feel?”

“Yeah, like what was that like for you?”

“Um… I felt dizzy. Like I lost my sense of gravity. Kind of like I couldn’t say which way was up and which was down.”

“Did objects kind of…streak together for you?”

“Oh that’s right! Yeah, my vision blurred a bit and all the colors merged, too,” Nora enthused.

“Okay, well, I call that a
glitch
. And what it is, I think, is your body protesting you entering this realm. It’s nothing to worry about, unless it happens in rapid succession and doesn’t stop.”

“Does that happen often?”

“No,” Hunter admitted. “But when it does, you have to watch out for it. Like I said, sometimes time flows faster here than in the real world, but – sometimes – much slower. It’s rare when it flows slower, but you have to be careful then.”

“How come?”

“Because if it flows slower here, you might get caught sleeping for a very long time in the real world. Days, weeks, or even months can pass in seconds. Years, maybe, if you don’t get out fast enough.”

Nora gasped. “Years?”

“Yes. And nothing will wake you. Your only clue to that happening is if those glitches occur over and over right when you get in. If that happens, you need to get out as fast as you can. You never know – every second longer you stay here might be another few hours you’re asleep – or more – in the real world.”

“Has that…ever happened to you?”

“Once, when I was much younger. I came here, and wave after wave of those glitches attacked me. I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t think too much of it, though, once they stopped, and stayed for maybe half an hour. When I got up in the real world, nearly ten days had passed.”

“You were out for
ten days
?” Nora marveled.

“Yeah.” Hunter grinned. “I found myself in the hospital when I woke up. I had no idea what was going on. The doctors thought I had fallen into a coma in my sleep. I gave the nurse quite a scare when I shot to life in the middle of the night.” He laughed. “That’s the only danger for you here. Getting caught when time flows slowly.”

“But you said that doesn’t happen very often?”

“No, it doesn’t. Usually it’s flowing a lot faster, like right now. It all comes in waves, I think. Maybe the best way to think of it is…the scale of time oscillating back and forth. Like a pendulum.” He made a sign with his hands designating one. “When it swings to the very right—” he brought a finger to the right, “—time here is much slower than in real life. And as it falls back and swings to the left—” he motioned with his finger to the left “—time here gets faster and faster, until it peaks as it hits the very left. And then it goes back. On and on again, back and forth, in a cycle.

“Now, one thing I’ve realized,” he continued, “is that it’s not a perfectly even pendulum. Most of the swing is spent in the zone where time is faster here. Only a small sliver—” again, he motioned with his finger “—of the pendulum’s swing is spent in the zone when time is slower here.”

“I think I get it.” Nora smiled. “You explain it very well.”

“Nah.” He waved the compliment away. “You just pick it up very quickly.”

“Maybe. So, what else does this place do? Now that I’ve gotten the entire airplane safety lecture,” she added with a wink.

“Oh, I can show you,” Hunter replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Chapter Ten

~A Watcher~

Exhilaration and excitement coursed through Nora. She’d spent the last few hours exploring this world together with Hunter. Reality really
was
mutable here, and she couldn’t believe the things she could do.

You could go anywhere.
Really
anywhere. You had to know your spot to get to it, though, which meant you have to have been there in real life. Unfortunately for Nora, she hadn’t been any farther than the border of the town where she grew up.

Fortunately, Hunter had.

“Ready?” he asked, after explaining how traveling would work. She nodded and took his hand. Instantly, everything around her started streaking in one direction. Landscapes raced by, towns and cities and mountains and highways and rivers and fields, all flashing by her in the blink of an eye. It didn’t
feel
like she
was moving – there was no wind in her face, no resistance from the air like when you put your hand out the window of a speeding car. But everything around her changed, rushing by.

Finally they stopped, and Nora found herself atop a lush green hill, where wild flowers and grasses grew as far as the eye could see. The sun shone brightly above them, radiating heat onto Nora’s body.

She laughed and twirled around, spreading her hands to feel the flora brush against them. Hunter laughed too, and sped down the hill, taunting Nora to follow. She ran after him, right through the tall grass and colorful flowers. Her toe caught something and she tripped, but the soft dirt cushioned her fall, and she didn’t even bother to get up as she rolled down the hill laughing and giggling.

Hunter was waiting at the bottom. She landed right at his feet, and another fit of giggles overtook her. He pulled her up, laughing alongside her.

“This is wonderful!” she exclaimed, for what must have been the tenth time. “Everything about this place! The feeling of freedom, the absolute control, the endless possibilities…it’s wonderful!”

“Glad you like it.” Hunter smiled.

“I’ve been wondering, is it possible to bring things into this world?”

“Like what?”

“Objects, maybe?”

“You have to know it very well. Like…” he thought for a moment, and Nora jumped as his Camaro fell down behind her.

“Your car?” She raised an eyebrow.

He spread his hands defensively and smiled. “I’ve been working on it for a very long time. You try.”

“On what?” Nora asked.

“Something simple, at first. A purse maybe. It’s just like anything else here, you have to picture it down to its finest details.”

“Hmm. Okay.” Nora thought for a second, and then a heavy book appeared in her hands.

“A book?” This time, Hunter raised an eyebrow.

“No, not just any book.” She threw it to him. He caught it and flipped it over in his hands. “Our
math
book?” He chuckled.