The Girl Who Could Not Dream (26 page)

“Christina.”

“Christina, have you seen any other prisoners? Maybe a man and a woman who kind of look like me?” She tried to keep her voice calm and even. If Christina had been here a while, she might freak out easily.

“Her parents,” Ethan clarified.

Christina shook her head slowly.
She must be in shock,
Sophie thought. She wondered how long she'd been walled off in this room. Weeks? Months? Sophie felt a surge of pity.

“Can we go home now?” Lucy sniffled.

Sophie held out her hand toward Christina and hoped she looked friendly and kind. She didn't have much practice with that. “We'll help you go home too. Come with us.”

Still shaking her head, Christina was looking at Sophie as if she had sprouted tentacles. “But I . . . I don't understand.”

Slowly and clearly, Sophie said, “We're rescuing you.”

“Y
OU HAVE A PET MONSTER
,” C
HRISTINA SAID.

“He's not a pet,” Sophie said. “He's my friend.”

At the door, Ethan said, “Guys, we should get out while we can.” He retreated to check the hallway, and several rabbits hopped with him.

Christina looked at the bunnies at Sophie's feet and at Monster, wrapping his tentacles around Sophie's waist. She took a tentative step toward Sophie. “Are you . . . Are you like me?”

“Like you? What do you mean?”

Instead of answering, Christina scurried across the room to the desk. She yanked open a drawer and with shaking hands held up several empty blue bottles. “I thought I was the only one. But you have a monster and multicolored bunnies, and I didn't dream them.”

Madison poked Sophie. “Hey, she's a freak like you.”

“I can't dream my own dreams,” Christina said, eyes fixed on Sophie, full of hope. “And when I drink someone else's dream . . .”

“. . . you bring things to life.” Sophie felt a lump in her throat, and her eyes felt hot. All her life, she'd thought she was the only one, and then Mr. Nightmare came . . . “Mr. Nightmare isn't the one like me.
You
are.” He'd kidnapped Madison and Lucy to have dreams, her parents to distill them, and Christina to bring them to life—everything he needed to produce an endless supply of monsters to sell.

Sophie started walking toward Christina, and Christina walked toward her until they stood face-to-face, inches away, staring at each other in wonder.

At the same time, both of them began to talk. “How do you—” “What do you—” “No, you go first.” “No, you.” “I never—” “I thought—” And then they both began to laugh, covering their mouths to silence the sound. Tears leaked out of Sophie's eyes. It wasn't Mr. Nightmare! It was this girl!

“Very nice bonding moment,” Madison said. “Can we leave now, please?”

Lucy tugged on Sophie's sleeve. “I want to go home!”

“Come with us,” Sophie said to Christina. She held out her hand again, and this time, Christina took it with a tentative smile. Together, they plunged out into the hallway and hurried toward the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, Monster splayed out his tentacles to stop them. “Let the rabbits go first,” he whispered. “Just in case.”

The bunnies hopped past them and down the stairs.

After a few seconds, Monster nodded, and they all crept single-file down the stairs to the living room. Everything seemed quiet. The rabbits grazed on the carpet. Sophie peeked into the dining room, the bathroom, and the kitchen. All empty. Her parents must be in the basement—maybe there were more rooms like the one Madison had been in, or maybe they'd been moved into Madison's cell. Just because they weren't there before didn't mean they weren't there now.

Light swept across the living room. Pushing aside the curtain, Ethan looked out the window. “He's back! We have to leave!” He pointed to the kitchen. “Back door!” Madison, Ethan, and Lucy bolted through the living room to the kitchen.

“Not without my parents!” Sophie said.

“No choice,” Monster said, tentacles flailing, propelling her into the kitchen. “I'm sorry, Sophie. We'll find a way to rescue them later.”

Christina caught her arm. “Wait! There's a monster on guard.”

Reaching the door first, Lucy flung it open. Outside on the patio, Sophie saw Glitterhoof had the muscled guard still pinned on the ground. The winged pegasus raised his head when he saw them and spread his wings. Seizing on the distraction, the guard spat the rabbit clothing out of his mouth with such force that the tiny top hat sailed into Glitterhoof's face.

Startled, the winged pony reared back, lifting his front hooves off of the man's shoulder. Roaring, the man punched his hands together, and his body began to expand like a balloon. His muscles bulged bigger, and his feet stretched.

Lucy began to scream, and Madison quickly shushed her.

The man's face contorted, bulging until it looked as if it were made of rocks.

“Other way!” Ethan cried, and they ran into the living room—Ethan, Lucy, and Madison, followed by Christina, Sophie, and Monster.

Before they reached it, the front door was thrown open, and three lizard-like monsters with red scales and green tongues barreled inside, followed by Mr. Nightmare. Everyone retreated to the kitchen and ran again to the back door. Madison was fastest.

Glitterhoof galloped toward the house, and Madison tossed Lucy onto the unicorn's back. Before she could climb on as well, she was pulled away by the enormous muscle man. “Get her out of here!” Madison yelled to Glitterhoof.

With Lucy clinging to his mane, Glitterhoof took to the skies.

Sophie felt someone grab her arm and turned fast. It was Christina. “Quick, hide!” Christina said, and pulled her into a bathroom. Monster ran with them, as did the rabbits. Christina slammed the door shut and leaned against it, ear pressed to the wood.

In the kitchen, Ethan and Madison screamed. “Let go of me!” “Let me go!” “Get your hands off me!” “No!” And Sophie heard Mr. Nightmare and the muscle man shouting too, as well as the growls, hisses, and cries of the monsters. She wanted to run out and help them, but Monster wrapped his tentacles around her wrists.

“Stay safe,” he whispered in her ear. “You can't help them if you're caught.”

The rabbits huddled around her ankles. Pressed against the door, Sophie and Christina listened. Soon, it was quiet. Doors opened and then slammed shut. Sophie reached for the knob, and Monster again wrapped a tentacle around her wrist.

“There's someone still in the kitchen,” Christina whispered.

Sophie heard a chair scrape across the floor.

“We have to wait until he leaves,” Monster whispered.

Side by side, Sophie and Christina sank onto the floor of the bathroom. Still listening intently, Sophie didn't hear any sound from the kitchen. She hoped Lucy and Glitterhoof had gotten away. She didn't know where Glitterhoof would take her. Maybe they would go for help. Or maybe that was too much to hope for—he wouldn't know where to find help, and Lucy was most likely hysterical.

They sat in silence.

If there were a clock, she would be listening to each second tick. As it was, she listened to each breath they took—first panting, and then slower. They breathed together, waiting, listening.

In a whisper, Christina asked, “How long have you known what happens if you dream?”

“Since I was six,” Sophie said. “You?”

“About the same. My father used to find and sell dreams to dream shops—”

“My parents own a dream shop!” Sophie whispered back.

“I'd had a really bad day at school, I remember. I didn't have any friends because other kids were . . . not like me. You know.”

Sophie did know. Oh yes, did she know!

“My dad snuck into my room and gave me a dream bottle. He'd bought it from one of the shops he worked for.” Christina was whispering so softly that Sophie had to lean close to hear the words. “I think he thought it would cheer me up. Mom never would have allowed it. She was dead-set against anything to do with dreams. They used to fight about it all the time. Anyway, I drank it, and a monster appeared, and my parents freaked out.”

Sophie nodded. “Mine freaked out also. But I drank it on my own. I was curious.”

“I was curious too,” Christina said. “Other people talk about dreams all the time. I thought it was like an enchanted journey, like to Narnia or Oz, and I wasn't invited. But it's not like that.”

Outside the bathroom, a cabinet door creaked open and then shut. Sophie listened for another sound—footsteps, voices, the chair, but she heard nothing else. Climbing up onto the back of the toilet, Monster examined the window. It was frosted and small. He tapped around the edges. It wasn't the kind of window that could open. Even if it could, Sophie doubted she could fit. Maybe the rabbits could . . . But breaking the window would draw the attention of whoever or whatever was in the kitchen.

“You know what I like about not dreaming?” Christina whispered. “Waking up and feeling clear. I'm never confused after a dreamless night. But the times I drink a dream . . . It's like my brain feels fuzzy. It has to reorient itself. And it gets worse if I drink a lot of them. Imagine what happens to a brain if you dream every night!”

“I felt that way when I made them.” Sophie pointed at the rabbits. “Felt like my brain was stuffed with fluff. And my head hurt afterward.” She thought of all the monsters she'd seen here and wondered how badly Christina's head had hurt.

“Exactly,” Christina said. “When you don't dream, you can see the world clearly. Your brain doesn't lie to you. You don't mix up memories and dreams.”

Sophie nodded. She'd seen her parents mix up things like that—a conversation that one claimed to have had, an errand they dreamed they'd run. It must be scary to not be able to trust your own mind.

“Still always wanted to have a dream of my own, though,” Christina said with a sigh. “Just one, and that would be enough.”

“Me too.” Sophie had never said these things to anyone except Monster. It felt like the words were pouring out of her, lightening her as they drained away. “You ever try not going to sleep?”

“Yes. You ever try to scare yourself so badly in hopes you'd have your own nightmare?”

“Yes!” Sophie had to fight to keep her voice to a whisper. “Did you read books right before going to sleep and imagine them as you closed your eyes, hoping you'd dream about it?”

“All the time.”

“What were your favorites?” Sophie asked.

“
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,
” Christina said.

“
Harry Potter.
All seven of them.”

“Definitely.
A Wrinkle in Time.
”

The kitchen faucet was on. Water sloshed, a steady stream, and then shut off. Sophie heard footsteps again and held her breath, listening hard, hoping they'd exit the kitchen, but they didn't. She exhaled.

Christina whispered again. “When I was little, I thought maybe I did dream but just didn't remember it. I used to set the alarm clock at random hours, trying to catch myself mid-dream. Never worked.”

“I tried eating weird food before bedtime,” Sophie confessed. “Bananas with ketchup.”

“Sometimes I left the TV on all night,” Christina said. “I thought I'd hear the dialogue in my sleep and it would be my dream. Never worked either.”

Climbing down off the toilet, Monster crossed the bathroom and squeezed between them to listen again at the door. Both Sophie and Christina fell silent, listening as well. Voices drifted from the kitchen, muffled by the door—two men. Sophie guessed it was Mr. Nightmare and the muscle man, who was actually a monster.

“Were you really kidnapped?” Christina asked.

“Not me,” Sophie said. “That man, Mr. Nightmare, kidnapped Madison and Lucy and tried to kidnap Ethan because they have vivid nightmares, and he kidnapped my parents because they're really good at distilling dreams.”

“But not you?”

“Guess he doesn't need me.” Sophie didn't add,
Because he has you.

“Then maybe he won't chase you if you run.”

Sophie squeezed her hand. “I won't leave you here. Or anyone. We'll all escape.” Beside her, Monster had perked up, interested, as if waiting to hear if Christina had an idea. She might, Sophie thought. If she'd been here a while, she might know about their captor and possible escape routes.

“You're friends with kids who dream?”

Sophie hesitated. “I don't know if they're really friends . . .”

“Dreamers aren't like us,” Christina said, as if quoting a favorite saying. “They have weak, messy minds. When they sleep, their fear wins.”

Sophie wasn't sure about that. Her parents weren't weak, and neither was Madison. After being bound and gagged in the basement, Madison still was brave enough to come back here—she even comforted Lucy, rather than falling apart, when they ran into more monsters. And Ethan seemed to think clearly even when presented with something he thought was impossible—he'd been the one who had the idea of dreaming up the dinosaur and of coming back. If they'd been a little faster searching the house, it might have worked.