Charlie~~
In Somnia's headquarters, I use the room dedicated to tracking dreamers to look up Nora's location. No one around me would think that this time is any different than the other times I've used the room to locate her. Most of them are aware that she's my job.
After seeing Nora yesterday, I was actually excited for today, which is weird when I'm dreading tomorrow's arrival when I'll orient the latest batch of dreamers. But after tomorrow, my debt will be paid.
A projection appears above the computer's holo-screen of Nora walking past a bakery I recognize. I know where I can rift to that will keep me out of the eyesight of any dreamers.
We can't always see a dreamer's current location, only if they're in view of one of the many security cameras placed throughout the city. Dad's been working for years to find a way to be able to see anywhere within the dream, without needing the cameras. He has yet to be successful and for that I am grateful. I value my privacy from him too much to accept knowing that he could be watching me at any moment.
I rift behind a dumpster, a block from her, but in the direction she was headed.
Raymond told me that he thought someone had followed him to the meeting yesterday. I reached out for the presence of another Lucid and felt one. When that door to the hallway opened, bringing with it light, I was not expecting to see Nora.
Until that moment, I didn't realize I was missing our conversations and that feeling I'd have when I knew I should stop talking but couldn't bring myself to stop.
Ahead of me, Nora waits at the intersection. I step up behind her.
"Hello."
She whirls around, grasping her heart.
What will Dad make of this when he's told I'm talking to her? He'll probably make it pour on us again.
"This arrangement isn't going to last if you plan to sneak up on me every time. Especially when it's dark out."
"You'll get used to it. Maybe."
I take her toward the alley I rifted into.
"I'm not going in there with you."
Fair point. "Then at least just step off the sidewalk. I don't want to just vanish in the streets in front of everyone." I hold out my hand.
She eyes it warily.
"We have to be touching for me to rift with you."
Holding out her hand, she hovers it over mine. "This isn't a trap?"
"If it was would I tell you?"
She purses her lips but places her hand in mine. Her warmth seeps into me, and I thread my fingers through hers.
"What happens if you let go?" she asks.
"I doubt anything bad."
"So you don't know?"
"Just hold on tight." I close my eyes.
"Charlie!"
When I open them, I'm standing in one of my menageries. Tents line both sides of us, their materials in fabrics of purples, greens, blues, reds, and silvers. String lights hang overhead. Above them the sky is black as it always is here, twinkling with stars.
Men and women dressed in costumes that shimmer and sparkle walk past us, laughing, pointing up at the lights, their arms gesturing wildly as they talk.
Nora clutches my hand, inching herself toward me to stay out of the way of the circus performers. "Where are we?"
"My menagerie. Come on." I guide her down the row of tents and turn at a break in them. Wooden stairs lead up to a bridge that overlooks the circus. I take a seat on it, letting my legs dangle over the side.
YOU ARE READING
Asleep
Science Fiction(Free to read + a paid bonus chapter) In a time when kidnapping is a common occurrence, Nora is about to become her father's science experiment. Nora believes she's starting a new job, working alongside her father, but instead, she's trapped inside...
