The Dream Crashers ✓

15 - The Ruins

It seemed to be night time in the dream, and a thick fog had settled.

Pulse racing, I made my way up the stone staircase where clusters of ivy and moss wound around the deteriorated railing. Trees, with bare branches like long, spindly fingers, towered above my head as I approached the dilapidated building.

The grey brick walls and marble columns were smashed in, giving the ruins a sense of eeriness. The ceiling had long since caved in, leaving the building wide open from above. It looked like a huge battle once took place here.

There didn't seem to be any other sign of life.

That was, until I saw a bright glow out of the corner of my eye.

"Rory, what are you doing in her dream?" Seth asked, stepping out of the light at the bottom of the staircase.

"Still stalking me, I see."

"I'm serious."

She isn't here, I realized. I sighed in defeat and turned to face him. "I'm looking for answers."

Seth crossed his arms and gave me a disapproving glance. "You can't just go crashing into a potential enemy's dream without letting us know. It's dangerous."

"Strange. Why do I recall someone else doing exactly that?" I said, touching a finger to my temple, pretending to think of who it could've been.

Seth rolled his eyes, but a hint of a smile was tugging on his lips. "I am much more experienced than you. And I was merely observing you. Plus, we don't know what's up with Lucy and her father. She might not even have anything to do with all this demon crap."

I stared at him skeptically. "It's strangely convenient that she's a Crasher while her dad kidnapped mine after finding out about his abilities through the stupid psychiatric center. Maybe she uses her ability to hunt us down in our dreams, and then he sends henchmen out to do the dirty work."

"It could be," Seth said, shrugging. "But we can't prove anything yet."

"So what do you suggest we do about it?" I asked, throwing my arms up in frustration.

Now it was his turn to stare at me skeptically. "Are you sure you're here about that? And not just because of what happened with Luke?" Seth said gently.

"If I can kill two birds with one stone..."

Without listening to his response, I climbed over a pile of crumbling bricks to get into the ruins. It was dark inside. Instinctively I conjured a flashlight to help us see.

I heard Seth's intake of breath from behind me. I swung the light beam around and aimed it at him. "What is it?" I whispered, looking around apprehensively.

"You—" he started, pointing at the flashlight. "How did you do that?"

I looked down at my hand. "What? Don't you guys all do this?"

"But it's not your dream!"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Seth was staring at me in disbelief. "Don't you remember how you switched clothes with Mara, and she couldn't change it back? Because we can only control our own, and even then, we have limited control. This is insane. I thought you just had unlimited abilities in your dreams, but I had no idea it transferred to other dreams as well. You're so damn powerful."

"I didn't know you guys couldn't do this," I said.

"Not even in the slightest. The others will be so mind blown," Seth said, shaking his head in awe. "You don't know how glad I am right now that you're not a demon. We'd be so royally screwed."