For four days, Hollis waited. More or less, he concentrated. Ambrose was in and out infrequently, and when he did return, he gave the boy an update of his time left, hence, four days left. With each update, he grew more and more frustrated. While neither of them had any more ideas, this one was feeling wholly futile. Was he really going to sit here and reminisce about home and hope that he missed it so much he'd wake up? It sounded moronic, and it felt equally. Was there really any hope at all? Some people just never woke up from comas. Some never woke up, and some did. He was probably just one of the former—no two ways about it.
Hollis exhaled, then inhaled slowly. He closed his eyes and listened to the whisper of the artificial breeze and the faint mutterings of the dreams that floated through the air. He had hoped something would come through from Mayura again. Maybe that was the key to all of this. Then again, it was feeling just as hopeless as everything else. The only thing he might get out of that is telling her—without waking her somehow—to convince the doctors not to take him off life support yet, but what were the odds of all of those criteria coming together properly?
If she didn't wake up, great. If she was able to remember his instructions, even better. If the doctors listened and kept him on life support, that would be amazing! But all of this seemed unlikely.
This is pointless. I may as well give up right now. With a sigh of dismay, he dropped his head to his knee. I have the motivation, I think. But beyond that, what can I do?
Ambrose was consistently telling Hollis that he was working from the outside, but he never went any further into what exactly he was doing, and Hollis didn't have the guts to ask. I guess I should just wait to see what Ambrose is doing. I don't have anything else to do...
He stared off into the distance, the grass brushing by his legs and the tree shielding him from the rays of the sun. He wasn't sure how long he was going to wait, but he intended to do so. It was one of his better talents, despite the sudden increase in his socialization.
Hollis waited for over an hour, his mind having wandered. He was quite nearly returning to his original state of asking pointless questions with no answers, but he kept himself preoccupied with the faces of those he knew and missed. The major difference between the original Hollis and the current one: This one had people waiting for him.
Despite his initial objective to sit and wait, this idea that he had people waiting for him re-motivated him. He couldn't sit here and wait.
With a solid nod, he climbed to his feet and looked over at the dreams that went by. He had to pay more attention. He needed to put his plan into action. If Ambrose really was working on something outside of here, he needed to kick his butt into gear too!
How long he watched the dreams pass by, he was entirely unsure. He kept his eyes peeled, his ears open, yet he couldn't find any with people he had recognized. He would have preferred Mayura, but he would take any with his parents as well. They would likely be regular visitors to his room, so a chance to talk with either of them would be beneficial.
Still, nothing.
Perhaps he truly was wasting his time?
Can I really afford to give up now? I just...
"Just a little...longer..."
His cheek fell into his hand as he stared at the dreams lazily after dropping down to the grass. His eyes had fogged over from exhaustion and lack of hope. It all felt like one giant waste of time. As he watched the imagery, that familiar voice he had so desperately sought out rung in his ears. With renewed energy, he peered around for the source. After taking a moment to calm, he pinpointed it and ran over. The voice echoed from another gloomy image. The room was grim and the lighting poor which enhanced the oppressive atmosphere tremendously, even from where Hollis stood. Sucking in a deep breath, he entered.
The oppressive atmosphere he had observed from afar grew to suffocating proportions when he entered the dream. The shadows hung over the walls like flies on a corpse, and the sounds of beeping seemed muffled and sickly. A bed sat in the middle of the pale green room and Mayura sat to the side, staring down at the boy sleeping under the pale, thin blankets.
A hospital room? She's dreaming about...
Straight away, he figured out what was going on. His time was running short. If he didn't wake up soon, his life support would be shut off. He needed to hurry. For his, and his family's sake!
He went to take a step forward, but his legs wouldn't listen. He stood in the dark corner like a stalker as he stared into Mayura's back as she muttered to the sleeping boy.
"You'll wake up, Hollis, right? Can you hear me?"
He felt a sharp pang in his chest. Dreaming about something like this? That's just... He shook his head, sucking in deep breaths and slowly releasing them as he prepared to try and take that step. He counted to himself. One...two...
His legs shook, but they wouldn't move. Okay, he thought. Maybe something else would work. I don't want to scare her, after all!
As she continued to mutter to the Hollis lying in the bed, the Hollis who was standing in the corner reached out and felt a chair next to him. It wasn't in the shadows, so it wasn't as creepy as he looked, so he sat down in it.
She still hadn't noticed him.
He needed to ease himself into her conversation without startling her. He needed her to feel like he was a part of this dream. This was all easier said than done, though. How was he supposed to go about this? He strained his ears to listen in to everything she was saying, but he wasn't sure how to speak without scaring her silly.
Oh!
A thought suddenly hit him.
She was muttering away to the sleeping boy when she heard a soft 'tap' from behind her. She turned and saw the figure of that same youth sitting behind her, his leg was outstretched, and his eyes seemed to be closed as he lounged in the seat quietly. Suddenly, his eyes opened up and those faint, misty blue orbs almost seemed to glow from the casting of the impossible, sickly lighting. She watched him with a tilt of her head as she seemed to try and process what she was seeing. "Hollis?" Her voice came out small as her gaze passed over every part of him.
He smiled. He was relieved that she wasn't startled like she had been before. She was still dreaming, so he had time to get to work. He leaned forward at a slow, and steady pace and climbed up to his feet. He circled around to the opposite side of the bed, his gaze traveling along the sleeping form in the bed. It resembled him in every way and this sight made his stomach turn. He wondered if that's how Ambrose felt seeing the killer.
"Mayura," he began. He seemed to have her full attention. Her focus was locked on him and nothing else, so he went on. "I need you to listen to me. Can you do that?"
She remained silent before rising from her seat, her brows furrowed, but her sights never left Hollis. "Yes. What's the matter?"
Hollis was surprised she was being so cooperative, but he recalled that this was a dream, and she probably didn't have any real control over how she would respond. She wasn't thinking about the circumstances of anything, she was just reacting to react, really.
He moved around to her side of the bed and took her shoulder in one hand. "Mayura, this is really important, okay? I need you to remember this."
"What's going on?" Suddenly, her eyes shot open. The light brown seemed much more intense in this lighting, they almost glowed orange. "No! You're not actually..."
"I'm not dying, Mayura," he answered with haste. "I...I'm still alive and well. But if we don't hurry and the life support is turned off..." He took his free hand and grabbed her right shoulder. "If I'm not awake in two days, you need to tell the doctors to extend the time! I need more time so that I can wake up, alright?"
"Can I do that?"
"I... Maybe? I need you to try, though!" He nodded as he spoke, and Mayura mimicked this awkwardly. "I'm still alive, I've been alive! This entire time, I've been here. I'm going to get out, I promise."
Her eyes were wide the whole time and her mouth was left ajar as she listened to him intently. She almost seemed to be confused but she said not a word and simply nodded along with what he was telling her. "You understand everything I'm saying, right, Mayura?"
"I...yes, I do."
"Do you think you can remember all of this when you wake up?"
At this she clammed up again. She remained speechless for a moment before she finally gave him an answer. "I... Are you... You're... Are you real?"
"Yes, I am!" He drew in closer to her, his excitement nearly bursting from his body as he felt the untamable need to hug her but resisted. "I'm—I've been here, dreaming this whole time."
"Dreaming," she repeated wistfully.
"Yes. That's why I'm here now. Whatever you do, do not just pass this off as another dream. Everything I've said is really important!"
"Hollis?"
"Yeah?" His face had grown red and his voice breathy as his excitement and agitation increased. He was feeling a medley of emotions as he prayed over and over that she would remember everything and take it as a serious sign. Both of these things were massively important!
"Hollis," she repeated. "You're a Somnium?"
Should she be conscious enough to ask a question like that? He wanted to let the question go, but he couldn't leave her hanging like this. He was reluctant, but he answered nonetheless. "Y-yeah. I probably couldn't be here otherwise."
"I don't remember you ever telling me that."
Of course, he didn't.
He remembered fully. When the Somnium hit the news, it seemed like hysteria. People all over were angry that people were doing things like this. Privacy was being invaded and no one seemed to be able to stop it. He recalled the day his family caught a segment about it on the news. He sat there on his phone playing Tetris, minding his own business though listening in to catch every other word. He recalled perfectly his father's grumble and his mother's scoff.
"To think people are like this," his father had commented tiredly. He was a bitter man when it came to other's etiquette. He wanted people to be as courteous and well-behaved as him and his daughter. Any breach of that was none better than a fly in a pile of crap. He could handle his family, but any outsider seemed to be no more than trash in a dumpster if they weren't up to his standards. He was a strict man, but he upheld his own morals and beliefs, and Hollis had admired that in him. Despite the fact he knew this comment hadn't been aimed specifically at him, he still felt a sharp pain drive through his chest.
"It'd be best to just get rid of these people," his mom commented coldly. "The fact that people can do this stuff shows that we've gone too far."
"That seems a little far, dear." His father hummed as he gazed up at her from his book.
"I didn't mean to sound like that," she corrected. Hollis's mother was quite similar to his stepfather, except she'd never shied away from telling people how she felt. She was brute and tough, and she let people know just what she thought of them. Though she wasn't as stingy as he was about etiquette, she was much more uptight about how people treated her family. One wrong move, and she would fly off the handle at them. This trait was one Hollis had always found admirable in her, and one he never hoped to acquire. He saw how people acted to someone who was upfront about their thoughts, and he didn't want to deal with that himself.
Her thin hand slapped her husband's shoulder. "I just think the police should take care of these little brats. Nowadays, everyone is being tracked. How hard could it be to find every last one of them and take them in?"
Hollis could tell she wanted to go off about the trackers, but she noticeably resisted. She seemed to shiver slightly as her gray eyes scanned the television. "I don't like the idea that these freaks can do whatever they want inside anyone's head..." She paused before glancing between the children. She whispered, "What if something happens to them?"
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Hollis had lifted his phone higher, though he hadn't noticed this at first. He felt heat surge through his face and his heart pounding around wildly in his chest as if it wanted to run away. If he told them he was a Somnium, what would happen? He wondered, but his heart was clearly against this train of thought.
Don't tell them! He liked that idea. It's not like it mattered, right? They had no reason to know, so what was the point in telling them?
He sucked in multiple deep breaths as he tried his hardest to focus on nothing but his game. Tap tap tapping away as he tried to drown out the noise around him.
A freak? Am I really a freak? Of course, it's not really normal to do this... His swallow felt heavy, like a baseball going down his throat. No one will know. No website searches, no mentions at all. Keep it to myself.
Got it.
Hollis's grip on her shoulder had tightened, and when he realized, he released her. "I know," he said in a low voice, his eyes dropped to the tiled floor. "I..." Before he could find any further words to explain, Mayura had pulled him in for a hug. Hollis was shocked. This was a dream, but the way she was responding seemed so natural for her. It made him feel warm and comforted, like everything would be alright.
"It's alright," she cooed softly. "I'll remember everything." As she spoke these soft words, Hollis could hear a muffled, booming noise emanating from around them, as if the sounds were coming directly through the walls. No, the noise was coming from the door behind them. Hollis glanced around before looking down at his sister. She didn't react, but her eyes had opened and she was peering around as well, as if she was searching for the source of that sound. The more Hollis listened, the more he realized that sound was a voice. Someone was calling for her.
Hollis pulled away from Mayura, his eyes drifted back to her after taking one more look around the room. "Thank you, Mayura," he said softly. "I'll try my hardest to get out of here." In return to his response, she nodded. He took slow, steady strides as he approached the door. There was no void in the room at all, so the only way out had to be through that door.
As Hollis fell through the white, empty space, he felt a sense of trepidation crawl through him, but the moment he recalled the Somnium Killer being caught— Shyed—his worry went away. Things were looking up.
Eventually, Hollis dropped his door and landed back in his mindspace. Before he left, he had a terrible sense of failure lurking within. Now, his determination had skyrocketed. He felt like there was finally some hope he could cling to. Still, he had to pray that the doctors would follow through with her request, but if he hurried to work his way out, that wouldn't be a problem.
Yep. He was feeling ready to give his all. There was hope!
Hollis's eyes had fallen shut as his head rested against the trunk of the tree. The position of the sun never changed, so when he wanted to sprawl out in the warmth while resting against the tree, he had to sit on the west side of its trunk. He had passed out while conjuring up memories to try and force himself awake, yet he had waited for so long, and gotten so bored that he had fallen into that dreamless sleep he had taken to since living in the void. He was blissfully unaware of everything around him, which had been nothing. Then, as he lied there, a large hand pressed to his cheek. It remained there for a moment, then it gently slapped his cheek. After a moment more, it slapped harder and this woke the brunette with a start. The owner laughed with playful innocence as he rested his cheek in that same hand.
It was, of course, Ambrose who was squatting in front of Hollis, their forms only inches apart. Hollis's eyes remained bright and wide, as if he couldn't fully understand the situation. In fact, he couldn't. After blinking once, then twice, his look of confusion melted away to that calm, cool exterior he typically adorned. "Ambrose?"
"Ding ding~" His eyes squinted to near crescents as he cocked his head in a childish manner. For whatever reason, he seemed to be in a very good mood today, and this show of playfulness made Hollis smile.
"What's with you? You seem pretty happy."
"Yup." Was Ambrose's sole reply. "How are you doing here? Is everything working out? I figure that if you're sleeping now, you've been busy, right?"
"Yeah, I guess." He shrugged as he sat upright. He wanted to lean forward, but Ambrose was so close it would quickly become awkward and horribly claustrophobic, so he decided to play it safe and stay back against the tree. "I got to speak with my sister and told her everything."
"Ho? That's great." He smiled, though it still looked more like a sneer. "Things are going nice on my end so far. We've just gotta wait a little."
Hollis was confused by this, but once again, decided to let it go for the time being. "Alright," he began, eyes shut. "I think I'm going to try again right now. Just..." Hollis paused before letting out a weak sigh, his head dropping. Ambrose watched with intrigue, but said nothing. He simply smiled.
Hollis closed his eyes and began to think deeply. He recalled all of those memories again, all of the dreams from Mayura he had encountered since being here. He thought and dug deeper. As he did this, his sense of everything around him had promptly faded as he became enveloped in the thoughts of his loved ones. Ambrose, though, was fully aware. He watched Hollis with a growing sense of awe.
Floating around suddenly were small blocks of light that occasionally flashed images that seemed to be drawn from Hollis's memories. Ambrose had never seen anything like this, and he was stunned beyond words. He knew he couldn't wake Hollis, or the sight would vanish. He couldn't say anything, or he would wake Hollis still.
He smirked. He didn't need to bring this up. Hollis would probably become worried if he was told about this after all. He came off as cold and stoic, but Ambrose knew well that the boy thought deeply, sometimes too deeply. He dropped his head back to his palm and watched with a playful sneer.
The medley of images fluttered by like reflections on a diamond. They shimmered and glittered as the youth watched them. He felt like he shouldn't be seeing this, but he was naturally curious, and he couldn't help but continue watching. Besides, when did he ever care about people's privacy? He wasn't going to start now. Especially given whose memories these were.
He watched with intense interest as the scenes played out before him, scenes of love and family, scenes of sadness and isolation, scenes of rage and anger. The more he watched, the more a lump grew in his stomach. Ambrose turned and shut his eyes.
They sat there for a while more, and eventually, the flashing images faded away as Hollis's body swayed gently. Ambrose peeked over and noticed this. Grabbing the smaller boy's shoulder, he whispered softly, "I think it's time I get going."
Hollis's eyes popped open, and he blinked over and over before asking, "Going?"
Ambrose nodded. "You only have three days left. I'm going to go and wait outside, alright?"
"Wait?"
Ambrose smiled, but said nothing in response to this. "I'll be going. If things don't work out, we'll think of something else, right?"
Hollis wasn't sure how to respond to that non-question and simply nodded. Ambrose's smile broadened and he gave Hollis rough pats to his shoulder before coming to a stand. "Good luck!"
The youth had sat under the tree for an extended period of time, continuing to lose himself in his thoughts and memories. He hadn't much of an idea of how much time really went by, but he felt his fears growing more and more as no progress seemed to be made. He started to wonder if all of this was really just one big fruitless endeavor.
Piece by piece, his hope was beginning to crumble, and he felt the need to open his eyes and give up now. He was ready to quit and was thinking of waiting to see what Ambrose had planned, but he didn't want to hold out and simply pin all his hopes on him. That again would make Hollis feel weak.
His head dropped and he slowly started to open his eyes, but as he did, he felt something warm on his wrist. The heat slowly ran down onto his hand where it grew more intense. He felt an inkling of concern and couldn't keep his eyes closed any longer. He looked down at his hand, but found nothing, yet the heat still lingered.
"What...is this?"
The room was quiet. The only disturbance was the beeping from the machine next to the bed. Her form was completely motionless, and from behind she appeared to be sleeping. But alas, she was awake, her gaze set firmly on the brunette in the bed before her. She moved not a single muscle, she barely seemed to breath. Forget sleeping, someone may believe she's dead. She watched him like a cat watches a bird, it was as if she was expecting him to do something, but he didn't. He stayed put under his covers; his eyes shut softly as if having pleasant dreams. She remained motionless, not saying or doing a thing. Even when the door behind her opened up and footsteps entered the room, she gave no reaction to this. The footsteps stopped in the doorway and waited. Noticing this, she blinked, her gaze drifting backwards, though clearly, she couldn't see who this was. If it had been a family member or a doctor, they would have said something instead of just standing there behind her. She was starting to feel wary.
Then, the person spoke. "Who're you?" His voice was lazy and seemed to harbor no interest in her, regardless of his words. With a gulp, she pushed herself to turn and look back. "I'm his sister. And you are?"
"Hmph." He scoffed. "I guess it makes sense you'd ask that." Without another word, he wandered over to the bedside, his sights focused with a look of interest on the one lying before them. In a low voice, he said, "I know your brother. Hollis." He smirked. "We're good friends, you know?" He glanced to her chair, but said nothing. Mayura slid further away from him, her brows furrowed low over her eyes as her form tensed. The young man leaned over the bed and, with gentle, methodical motions, pressed his hand over the sleeping youth's wrist. A small smile pecked at his lips, but he extinguished it quickly. His hand slid down the youth's thin wrist and paused atop his hand.
Hollis flipped his hand over and looked at it closely but still saw nothing. It was warm and it felt oddly comforting. He stared at it in silence for a moment longer before an impossible thought ran through his mind. There's no other explanation... Could this be that thing Ambrose was talking about?
But how could he do such a thing? What was he doing, anyway? Hollis shook his head, then looked at his hand again. He opened and closed his digits, yet the feeling still remained. Somehow, it felt even warmer. This has to be some kind of sign! If he's reaching me in here, that means I should be able to reach out there! Hollis nodded to himself, reassured himself. He had to keep going. This had to be some kind of breakthrough! If he pushed just a little harder...
He closed his eyes, his mind focused heavily on the presence in his hand before returning to his family, his sister. He knew they were waiting, and clearly, so was Ambrose.
He focused.
He remembered.
He thought.
Ambrose!
The feeling in his hand seemed to change. The heat that was on the back of his hand had moved and now it settled in his palm. Though he observed this sensation, he didn't dare open his eyes. The longer he sat like this, the more vivid the feeling became.
As he started to focus on this sensation, his thoughts diverged. Having initially focused on his family, his life before, they transformed into the thoughts that had transpired into the events from this last month or so. His time re-learning about Somnium, meeting Ambrose and his colleagues, surviving the killer and then hunting the killer. He remembered, and then he felt a unique tingling running through his body, one he could never possibly describe in mere words.
It feels like...I'm breaking? Though this was his first thought, it didn't hurt in the least. In a way, he found it to be refreshing. His eyes remained closed, but another feeling ran through his body as he heard words uttered into his ear.
"Can you hear me?"
"Ambrose!?" Hollis immediately opened his eyes. That sudden feeling he had vanished, and his eyes, which had, for only a moment, been a bright, electric blue faded away to their misty, watered down hue. He knew something had happened, and he screwed it up!
Feeling agitated, his next response was riddled with passive anger. "Ambrose? Where are you? What are you doing?" Though he looked around, he didn't see him anywhere. Now that he thought about it, Ambrose's voice sounded a little odd. Where was he?
That mischievous, impish laugh echoed throughout the mindspace. "I'm not there if that's what you're thinking. I'm...here."
Hollis perked his brow as his eyes scanned the sky. "Where's that exactly? And how are you doing this?"
"I'm in your hospital room, where else?" Hearing this, Hollis's breath hitched. He hadn't expected that answer for whatever reason, but he didn't speak up. Ambrose continued. "I'm awake right now, but I'm using my chip to speak with you through a voice call sort of feature. Well, it's not a feature, but we found it and can use it, so why not?" He sounded like he was trying to hold back his laughter. He only barely succeeded. "Anyway, the fact that this is working is a good sign. You're almost there, guy."
"I bet I'd be a lot closer if you hadn't interrupted me."
"Ouch. Your tone hurts me physically." He chuckled a few times before humming. "I'll let you go then. You should be here in a second then, right? I'll be waiting."
Hollis's mouth fell into a deep frown, and he didn't respond. He turned his head and closed his eyes, trying to ignore those last words.
He returned to that original position and in no time at all, those same lights emerged and that feeling he had felt returned. He was stunned that it came back so quickly, but he knew this was good. As he did this, he clenched his fist further, the warmth still present in his palm.
The feeling of peaceful breaking grew and evolved before he felt as if his whole body was weightless, nothingness. Like he was floating.
Then, he was wholly solid again.
The sudden heft of what was momentarily weightless startled him, but he felt so heavy he didn't want to move. His eyelids were like cement and he didn't feel like he had the strength to open them, but he persisted.
"Hollis?"
That voice...? That's...
It was Mayura!
Now he really needed to get up! He continued to push his eyelids up, struggling to open his eyes. He felt like he had no strength in him, but he kept going. He turned his head as his vision sluggishly returned to him. He only saw black at first, but then colors of all sorts returned. He felt like he needed to squint to see, but his eyes were only barely open, so that wasn't an option. As the colors began to form shapes, the image at his side formed a vaguely human shape.
This shape wasn't Mayura, it was someone else, someone with much lighter hair than her dark brown. Someone bigger.
Before he could get a good look at this person, they moved away and then...
"Oh my gosh! Hollis!!" Mayura leapt over and the warmth that he had grown accustomed to left his hand.
Hollis blinked once, then twice. Mayura's face took up his whole vision now and her features were beginning to clear up. Those large, light brown eyes were filled with tears and her short, ebony hair was a mess as she shook her head side to side. "Hollis...I'm so...so happy!" She leaned down and pressed her face to his. He was feeling suffocated by this encounter, but he went with it. He hadn't felt such contact in a long time, not from someone who didn't mean him harm, anyway.
While he was tied up by his sister, he glanced around the room. Her body completely covered everything to his left, so he peered to the right. It was a pretty room. He'd never been in a hospital before, so he was pleasantly surprised. Though still, he didn't get to see Ambrose...
He scoffed, but Mayura hadn't noticed this. Hollis suddenly heard the door open and close, but no one said anything, so he assumed the one he saw, likely Ambrose, had left. An ember of disappointment sparked within him, but he ignored it. He still had time, right?
"Holly..." Mayura looked up at him as she wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Thank you...so much."
"Hm? What for?" He cleared his throat. It felt and sounded like he hadn't spoken in a long time.
Mayura smiled gently as she glanced behind her before dropping into the chair. "Hollis, thank you for telling me...you were still alright. I'd been...we'd all been so scared, you have no idea..." She chuckled clumsily as she wiped her eyes. "I'm so glad you're alright! Um..." She glanced back once more before returning to Hollis. "Your friend was here...and he helped explain everything to me."
"My friend?"
Mayura nodded, her eyes wide and unblinking. "Yeah. He said he was. He knew your name and everything... You know him, right? He..." Before she could finish, the door opened up and his parents, their eyes wild and their faces bright red with excitement, ran into the room. The air was bursting with emotion as all three clambered around the bed. There were rivers of tears and then laughter and hugging. There was so much, Hollis thought he would faint.