The Dream Stalker

15) "I Hope This Works"

I appeared in the World-Between-Dreams at the same exact time and location as both my Sub-Guardians did. It happened that way every time we visited, but it still felt strange how it worked like that.

We spotted Horacio in the distance with his gross, fleshy baboon butt turned towards us, and so we walked over to him. He didn't notice our presence at first for he seemed too engrossed on studying a Dream Orb in front of him.

"Whose dream is that?" I asked.

Horacio shifted his gaze onto me. "No one of any importance. I noticed our Dream Stalker in this area only several minutes before your arrival, and the previous night too, yet none of these dreams seem to have been disturbed."

I couldn't help but shudder. If the Dream Stalker was in the World-Between-Dreams just minutes ago, what would happen if we ran into each other? Would he attack? Would he not...? I had wondered why the Dream Stalker didn't do just that, instead of waiting inside other people's dream, but I had begun to reason it must be impossible for us encounter each other in the World-Between-Dreams. But apparently not.

I stared into the Dream Orb that Horacio was studying. It took a while for the flashes of images to slow down to a comprehensible speed, but when they did, I quickly realized whose dream I was peering into-Greta.

"What do you mean none of them have been disturbed?" I questioned. "I saw this girl in school today, she was showing the same symptoms that McKenzie and Boone had when the Dream Stalker imprisoned them in their dreams!"

"But if she is imprisoned then why isn't her Dream Orb red?" McKenzie asked with furrowed brows.

It was then that I realized the guy was right. Greta's orb looked identical to every other Dream Orb and was clear-not pulsing red like McKenzie's and Boone's were before I saved them.

"This doesn't make any sense," I said, thinking aloud more than responding to anyone.

Had we jumped the gun? It could very well be that Greta had just came down with something that had nothing to do with the Dream Stalker. If that was the case, then I found I was sort of relieved; it meant that the Dream Stalker was still inactive and no one was in any danger-well, at least, not yet.

Horacio resumed his assessment of the orb, watching it intently. He almost reminded me of a fortune teller. Except, he was a monkey and not a middle aged woman wearing a beady turban and gaudy jewelry.

McKenzie put his hands behind his head. "Well, it looks we don't have anything to worry about."

"Maybe. But maybe not," Horacio said ambiguously. "Wait here, I have something I must check." The monkey reached out his hand and touched the orb. In a flash, Horacio was gone.

I stood back and eyed the orb. What exactly was Horacio doing in there? He couldn't be looking for the Dream Stalker-could he? None of it really made any sense to me the more I thought about it.

Soon, I turned to watch my friends. Boone was leaning against a nearby column, while McKenzie held out his hand and summoned his frying pan. He swung through the air as if fighting invisible enemies, and made whooshing sounds with his mouth alone. His immaturity would have been comical if not for the severity of the situation.

The howl of a vicious sounding animal echoed from further along the chamber, and McKenzie's frying pan suddenly vanished.

"What was that?" I asked slowly.

I tried hard to summon my sword but nothing happened. I tried once more and got the same results. Nothing was bringing me the sword. Boone seemed to be having the same problem with summoning his katana. McKenzie, however, was not even attempting to resummon his frying pan, and instead, was walking towards the direction the howl came from.