Chapter Four

“What did you say she looked like?” Samantha asked just before taking another bite from her cheeseburger.

After their revolting trip to the attic, Vince decided on buying lunch for her in an attempt to apologize for bringing her there. And during lunch he had replayed everything that had happened in his dream.

He told of Mykella’s red hair and soft skin and green eyes and Samantha grinned. “I got an aunt who looks like that, but I haven’t seen her in years,” she said and folded up her wrapper into a ball and laid it down on the tray.

“I’m sure everyone’s got a relative with red hair and green eyes,” he smiled and finished his lunch.

After he had thrown the garbage into a near-by trash can he went back to their table and pulled out the book and slid it over to her. She grabbed and then opened it. She flipped through the pages and then looked back up at Vince with a smirk.

“What’re you getting at?”

“What d’ya mean?”

She shook her head and slid the book back to Vince. “There’s not a letter on here that’s of any sense,” she explained and he smiled with a nod.

“See, that’s what I thought too. Only,” he took the book and stood up, only to take a seat next to her. “There’s only a couple of real letters on a page.” He looked down and flipped to another page. “Here – this is the one Mykella showed me. There’s a G and an L on the page and that’s it.”

She shook her head while looking at the page. “You’ve got to be shitting me. I don’t see anything but things that try to be letters.”

He shut the book and put it back into his bag after a sigh. “Don’t worry – I’ll take care of the book. You only need to take care of your baby. Deal?”

She smiled at him and nodded. “Yeah, but it looks like you’ve got the easy end of the stick.”

He went back to sit with his father and when he got there he was surprised to see a change. Not only was his eyes open, but he was also moving his head, albeit slowly, and he was even attempting to lick his lips.

He rushed over to his father. He wanted to hold his hand, but the fear of causing more pain stopped him. “Dad?”

Rick moved his head and a tiny pained smile creased his burnt lips. “Ince,” he murmured. The word was spoken as if through a breath. But it was still a word; and Vince knew it. It was his name.

Tears welled in both men’s eyes as they stared at one another.

There was a pact made between the two of them which needed no words. No longer would there be any misjudging. No more not believing just because your friends, or their parents for that matter, hated Richard Hopman and his theories of Orion and the Dreamkillers.

But still, a revelation must be told to his father no matter how much pain he was in. Vince looked down at his father. “I had a dream last night – my mother was there,” he said and he saw his father’s eyes move rapidly in his direction once again, but he wasn’t sure if he saw panic in them. “She told me that she wanted me to help a new Dream Crusader.”

This time he did see panic; for his father’s eyes were moving back and forth quickly. Vince wasn’t concerned that his father seemed worried. But he wished for more information although he knew he would get nowhere. “I wish I knew what a Dream Crusader was,” he said.

Rick’s eyes darted back to his son. “Death,” he murmured in complete clarity that sent chills down Vince’s back.

If a Dream Crusader brings death, then whose death does it bring? Vince shook his head and turned around and walked over to the chair and sat down. Within a minute he could hear the rhythmic sound of his father snoring, and as calming as that sound should be, he couldn’t help but wonder how well Rick Hopman knew his mother. Without any documents to survive the blaze, he had nothing to tell him.

He closed his eyes for a moment, only to open them again at the voice of a woman whispering his name. Once again, he found that he had traveled around the world to the same beautiful cliff with meadow and ocean. And he could also see his mother coming toward him from across the meadow. He wished he could feel that warmth a son should feel when he sees his mother coming for him, but there was no such feeling. Instead there was that remaining black emptiness he often felt growing up motherless.

When she met him, he did not go to meet her; there was a look of concern on her face. She did not attempt to embrace him; she did not attempt to hold his hand. This was business; nothing more, nothing less. “You’re being followed now. I was hoping he wouldn’t find you,” she began while looking around them.

“Who’re you talking about?”

Tracy looked back at him with a renewed look of fear she hadn’t had since her living days. If she hadn’t been found at the last second of life, she would surely have perished. But, she was found and the rest is history. But now, the future of humanity is at stake. “The sleepwalker,” she replied.

The sleepwalker? Where had he heard that term before? And then he remembered Mykella saying that his father had escaped the sleepwalker. “I think he’s been on to us for a long time – he knew Dad,” he said and Tracy gave him a nod.

“His name was Allen Corgan. He gave himself up for Orion a long time ago. I thought he died when Rick and I were young, but I guess I was wrong.” Tracy paused and looked out across the ocean. “Must’ve jumped the time circuit or something.”

Vince shook his head. “How could he be waiting for us all this time without us knowing about it?”

She smiled. “He’s a ghost. He sacrificed himself and has lived ever since in whatever hell Orion lived in.”

“So the fucker’s been living in my house for some time now? Now I feel violated,” he grinned. “Still, I need to know how to get rid of him.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about Allen. You need to use all your energy on protecting the Dream Crusader.” Tracy cautioned and Vince thought of something.

“Speaking of which: what’s this Dream Crusader look like? What’s her name? I think I need to know this if I’m going to find her,” he asked as he, too, looked out across the raging rapids. “I think,” he replied as an afterthought and sighed. “I’m beginning to believe in what you’ve been saying,” and he turned to look at her. “And who you are.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Tracy looked at her son behind a grin. “Her name is Mykella and your job is to see to it that she lives – that’s all. For roughly seven-and-a-half months. Do you think you can do this?”

“Seven-and-a-half months? An odd number.” Vince glanced at his mother for further explanation. But she turned back toward the meadow and began walking.

“Please – just see to it that she lives,” she called back and then disappeared before his eyes.

Vince awoke early the next morning. He stood up and stretched his back. He saw that his father was still asleep and decided on using this time to visit the library for some uninterrupted alone time with the book.

Once he arrived at the library he grabbed a table in the complete back of the second floor – totally secluded. He opened the book, this time, to the first page and closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing.

He closed off all other senses and only concentrated on sight. When he was at peace with his surroundings, he opened his eyes and looked down at the first page and studied it carefully. The pay-off worked, for he saw the letter G quite quickly.

Several more minutes he found the letter L hidden inside the text as well. He took a sheet of paper and wrote down G, L. He stared at the letters he had found and didn’t see any pattern in what he had discovered.

He turned the page and stared a bit harder into the text. He found an O and wrote it down as well. But he was lost when he couldn’t see any other letter on the second page. Am I missing it?

He must have stared at the second page for an hour before his eyes began watering and his head began throbbing from straining his eyes. He admitted defeat and closed the book after a sigh. He leaned back in the chair and rubbed his eyes.

“He’s going after your father – you need to go to him,” whispered Mykella as she leaned over Vince’s head.

He jumped up and stared at her for a moment. He didn’t ponder the fact that he must have fallen asleep in the library. “It’s you I need to protect,” he said, trying not to sound too corny.

Mykella shook her head. “He’s weak; he can’t defend himself. Go!”

Vince fell out of his chair and jumped up before arousing too much suspicion and he sprinted out of the building.

He returned to his father’s room to witness a horrific, yet awesome spectacle. He saw the spirit world become flesh, so to speak, and was closing in on his helpless father whose eyes were wide in terror. Allen was hovering over Rick who had been trying to scream with his hands around Rick’s throat.

Vince ran over to the poltergeist and grabbed the thing’s arms. The thing turned and looked at Vince behind hatred. “You cannot save him. My Lord gave me this job before you were even born,” it said and wretched its hands free.

Vince shook his head. “Not this time, Allen.”

He looked at Vince with confusion in his eyes. He stepped back and straightened his stance. “How is it that you know who I am? Like I said, you weren’t even born in my day,” he asked and shook his head.

“My mother told me,” Vince said and Allen burst out laughing.

“Your mother? Shit, Boy. Your Momma’s been dead for at least twenty years. There’s no way she coulda told you of me.” Allen turned his back on Vince.

Vince charged forward and shoved Allen up against the wall. Allen turned around with a grin on his moist lips. “Your ol’ man couldn’t stop me – what makes you think you can?” he said.

“Because I got something he didn't,” Vince spat as rage erupted, which made Allen laugh again.

“Yeah, Kid? What’s that?”

Vince leaned forward. “This,” he grunted and lashed out at Allen with the dagger he recently obtained.

Allen looked down, horror-struck when he saw the dagger that ended his life so many years ago, and saw his gushing side. What was coming out was definitely not blood, rather grayish pus. He put his hand over the wound and sneered at Vince.

“I’ll be back later – you can count on that,” Allen said and then vanished from the room leaving Vince trembling with the dagger at his side and his father who had begun weeping.

“I’ll be here,” Vince whispered and walked over to his father. “Was that the guy you dreamt about?”

Rick nodded as best he could and Vince returned the nod with one of his own as he turned and sat down in contemplation.

Vince pulled out his phone and called Karl. “Hey, it’s me. I need a big favor,” he waited and then continued. “I need twenty-four hour protection for Dad – I can’t do it all myself. Can you help me?” After he received an affirmative, Vince sighed. “Thanks,” he said and turned off the phone and let a long sigh escape his nostrils.

“Okay. I gotta protect Mykella from something and I gotta help Dad against Allen,” he whispered behind sarcasm and closed his eyes. Lord, if I’m ever going to believe in you, now’s the time.

He opened his eyes and saw that his father was trying to sit up. He sprinted to his side and held out his arm. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” he said and reached out for the Nurse Call button but his father stopped him by grabbing Vince’s hand.

There was a new look in Rick’s eyes that Vince had never seen before: Determination. Perhaps even desperation. But whatever was on the outside, Vince saw that his father was mad as hell and it was this anger that enabled him to sit up and look at his son.

“I’ve been in worse shape,” Rick murmured beneath his bandages. He held up his right hand and Vince knew that he meant his artificial hand. “I had caves crash down on me. I even had an entire castle fall on top of me,” he grinned and shook his head.

“Dad, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” Vince said and Rick shook his head again.

“Doesn’t matter. What matters is that we find out why Allen is here. Why is he in his future,” Rick replied.

Vince agreed but thought of something. “How’re we supposed to find a ghost?”

“He must have been hiding all these years – watching us,” Rick mused and his son lifted his head.

“In the attic. I saw that the closet was open. A bunch of nasty shit was all over the walls,” he said.

“Must be his nutrients.”

He looked down and then Vince brought up the dagger. “Can you tell me about this – when I showed it to him, he had this petrified look in his eyes.”

“He killed himself with that same blade to be with Orion forever,” he said and studied the dagger more closely. “I haven’t seen that thing in years. Wonder how you found it,” Rick replied and let his thoughts run.

“My tires were slashed yesterday and I found this under one of them.”

“Where were you going then?”

“To see you.”

Rick nodded. “Had to have been someone trying to stop you from coming here. Someone like – “

“Allen,” Vince pulled back from his father and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?”

Vince stopped and looked down at the golden dagger and tightened his grip and then looked at his father. “I’m going home.”

It’s not a wise idea.

Vince shook his head. Shit, now she’s talking to my head when I’m awake.

You shouldn’t go back – not until we find out what he’s up to.

“How the hell am I going to do that without finding the bastard?” He didn’t care if he were screaming.

He’s sitting all alone in the dark. He’s wondering why his master deserted him. His Lord has left him to make his way in this cruel world, alone.

Vince’s mind no longer thought along the lines of hatred. His Lord left him here alone as well. These two lonely beings, mortal and immortal, would have to find a way to survive once their battle has ended. When the battle was to come, Vince didn’t know. All he did know is that he must destroy Allen before he kills his father.