UNFAZED - Book Three In The Unknown Identity Series

Chapter 17 - Dream Device

The day went by so slow, like it always does for me. It consisted nothing of movie watching on Netflix and popcorn wars between me and you know who, distracting us both from the movie that we really didn't even pay attention to anyways. Is it bad that I don't even know what the title of the thing is? I hope not, because I clearly wasn't listening when Keith was listing off the names of different movie selections.

It was around five now, the sun still in the sky, but not for much longer. Will had returned here to grab some stuff but immediately ran off again, not bothering to tell where, only saying a 'goodbye' before he rushes out the door as if the building was on fire.

The movie we were watching is now a black screen with tiny white lettering that I can barely read from where I sit on the corner, squished between the arm of the couch and Keith who's resting against me...I have no problem with it...sort of, maybe.

The room is quiet. Nothing but the faint sound of the songs playing from the credits sounding from the speakers tucked behind the small TV that rests on top of the table against the wall directly in front of us. The quietness of the room was comfortable, but it was short lived.

"So...do you want to talk about that dream? You know, now that you've given it some time to sink in." Keith states from out of the blue.

"Uh...sure, yeah."

"Maybe if you talk about it perhaps you wont think about it all that much."

I highly doubt it.

"Maybe." I shrug my shoulders.

"What happened in the dream that made you wake up the way you did?" He questions. I suddenly regret wanting to talk about this because now I feel nothing but pain and glumness. It feels as if all the happiness has just some how miraculously evaporated from my body like water does when it touches skin.

"All what happened was, um-"

"It's okay, take it slow. I get it if it's hard, just tell me what you feel comfortable telling me, I wont pry any further more than you want." I smile at him and his understanding of how it's hard to speak for the fear I might cry hysterically all over again as I did last night.

"Well, I was in a room..."

***

I slowly explained to him every detail that happened, descriptively telling the way I saw the things around me, the way I heard them and felt them. I told him everything from the part when Walker appeared in front of me to the Shadow Men showing up and then to...Jo-Je and the ultimatum he was telling me. I struggled to push the tears back, the dream felt so real...as if it were in reality.

Keith's face turned sympathetic then subsided into anger quickly. Though I know the anger isn't toward me, it still made me flinch because I haven't seen him this upset before since the fight with him and Bennett at the school dance. Horrible mistake.

He wasn't talking, just staring directly at the ground in front of him, fury building up inside of him. He's clenching his fists so hard to the point were his knuckles are turning white and the muscles in his arms shift.

"Keith, what's wrong?"

"What did he do to you when he took you away from me?" He demands suddenly. I'm taken aback by this.

"I-I-"

He slices through my words, "what did Walker do to you when you were gone for that week. What did he do to you to make you have these dreams?"

"I-I don't know. Nothing that I know of."

He seems unsatisfied. "Did you ever pass out when you were there, like faint or anything."

I think back to the torturous days, "Yes."

Keith abruptly stands up, running a hand through his brown tufts of hair, whispering curse words under his breath.

"Keith, whats wrong? I don't understand what the big deal-"

"He implanted a device into you Scarlett!" He shouts, and I once again flinch. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell it's just-"

"I know, it's alright," I calmly say, gazing into his beautiful brown eyes that glint and sparkle in the light in every way possible. "What is this 'device'?"

"It's something that NanoTech uses to control one's dreams, memories, and who knows what else. Scarlett, I was trying to ask you about this unusual dream because I'm afraid that he placed one in your shoulder blade when you were asleep."

"Oh..."

"Yeah..."

"Wait a second, how come you know so much about this device?" I question.

"Because, I had one."

"What do you mean you 'had' one? Do you mean that they can be removed?

He nods, "Yes, I had one, and I cut it out." He says while pulling back his shirt collar to reveal a small scar in the shape of a slim oval on his lower neck. "I cut mine out as soon as I figured out I had one. That device has the power to control the mind and manipulate memories, which it doesn't seem like it has done yet, fortunately. But it also gives the controller the power to play dreams that are torturous in the person's mind."

I nod, "But I've had a dream like that before though it wasn't exactly the same and wasn't as detailed as this one was, how's that possible?"

"That one you had before was created b your own mind as a way to try to solve a problem that can't be solved, that what the brain does and that's why we have nightmares, to solve problems that can be big or small, obviously ours was big and still is. But this one that you had last night, it's completely fake and was created to make it feel real. It's dangerous, we need to get it out." Keith says all the while striding over to the kitchen to grab something from one of the many drawers.

"Keith, one problem, how are we gonna cut it out?"

"With this," he holds up a small professional cutting knife. My eyes widen in shock.

"Oh you are not coming toward me with that thing!"

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~AlexisJadeS22