It was the snow that tipped Cat off to the fact that she dreamwalking, and not her own dream this time. Kass often dreamed of snow. It snowed most of the year up there in the far north. Cat figured this replica must be of a warmer time of year though, for the snow was mostly melting and here and there she could see patches of green starting to poke through. Normally it would be cold, but Cat chose not to feel it. She was in control here, or at least she could be. Right now this image was a conjuring of Kass’s mind mingling with another reality. Cat could change it if she wanted. She didn’t. For now she wanted to know what Kass was dreaming about. Where was Kass?

Cat looked around but she could not see her. She had to be close though. The dreamer always was, and the snow made Cat certain that this was Kass’s dream. She been nosy enough times to recognise the sorts of places Kass dreamed of, although she hadn’t been unintentionally pulled into one before.

Empty swing-sets hung silently nearby and the surrounding streets were devoid of any activity. Kass’s dreams rarely involved a lot of other people though. Places that could be bustling in real life ended up eerily empty in her head. Cat wondered if it was a product of Kass’s lonely childhood or if that was just what the streets had really been like during the northern wars. Was this a war zone?

She walked slowly toward the playground’s steel gate. She half expected kids with grenades to pop out from the bushes or a nearby building. Child soldiers weren’t an uncommon occurrence in Kass’s head either. But the most startling thing that happened was a bird suddenly lifting off from a rooftop.

Cat scanned the tops of the rooves. She knew what Kass had done during the war, what her job had been, who some of her targets had been.

‘All’s fair in love and war,’ Cat mused, but she found it hard to imagine. Kass was an enigma. So easy to make blush or glance away shyly, and yet, when push came to shove she could be a ruthless and an effective soldier, almost like a switch had flipped. It made Cat want to poke at all her buttons, and see how far she could push her, if only so she could figure out, just who the real Kass was.

Around her, brick buildings were filled with bullet holes and had large gaps in then. Definitely war time then.

As she turned the street corner, a door to her left and not much further ahead, swung inward, opened seemingly by no one.

“Are you in there?” Cat asked the empty air.

It was the most likely place for Kass to be now, so Cat took a step inside. She was swiftly grabbed by someone and yanked into a nearby room.

“Shh,” Kass whispered to her as Cat turned to face her assailant.

Realising it was Kass, Cat relaxed and rolled her eyes. But Kass was too focused on something else to notice her reaction. Dreamers also tended not to notice Cat as much unless she wanted them to. Usually that was the default. She was surprised that Kass had registered her presence as much as she had. Cat wasn’t really putting much effort into controlling that at the moment though.

Kass was dressed head to toe in black and holding an expensive looking rifle. It was currently pointed down at the floor. It wasn’t the sort of rifle one fought with indoors, rather it was the type used to make a long distance shot. Kass’s favored weapon. Of course it wasn’t really physically here. None of it was, not really.

To Kass it was real though. Kass didn’t know she was dreaming.

Cat could make her aware of it but right now she wanted to see how it played out. “Who are we hiding from?” she asked.

But Kass just held a finger to her lips and then beckoned Cat to follow her further into what looked like a kitchen. There was no furniture and they moved though the room swiftly. They then stepped through a large hole in the wall, over rubble, and into the neighbouring apartment. Down a long hallway they travelled. It stretched out unnaturally long but Cat doubted that Kass noticed. Nor did she probably register the change in floor as it shifted from wood to dark blue carpet. Then Kass led them both into a room.

This room had a bed, but no mattress, just empty wooden slats. And a wardrobe, large enough to hide the two of them. It was wooden and kind of creepy looking. It loomed over the rest of the room. After pausing to survey their surroundings, Kass stuck her head back out into the hallway.

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Cat did the same.

There at the end of the hallway stood a boy. He was young, maybe ten or twelve. Cat couldn’t be sure. He was wearing all black, just like Kass. A child soldier? Of course it was a child. It was always a child in Kass’s dreams, except for that one time it had been an adult vampire. Or occasionally other soldiers, groups of them. But often, far too often it was children.

He was holding a knife in one hand. It looked like it was dripping something onto the carpet but he was too far away to be sure. He started to run toward them.

“Quick!” Kass grabbed Cat’s hand and pulled her toward the wardrobe.

Cat groaned. “That’s a terrible hiding place.”

But if Kass heard her, she showed no reaction.

Inside the wardrobe they hid, waiting for something.

Eventually they heard laughter coming from outside. Gentle, playful laughter, like a child having fun.

Cat watched as Kass slowly push open the door. Cat did the same and soon the pair of them stood in a different room. Three beds, all kid-sized. Toys scattered about, cars and trucks and a plastic dinosaur. Walls decorated with drawings and mismatched artwork.

A small boy knelt in the middle of the room with his back to them. It was the same boy but younger. He was drawing something on the ground.

He giggled. And then he turned. His mouth was smeared with red, blood by the looks of it. His eyes were a cold blue, just like Kass’s eyes. His hair, a sandy brown, like his father’s had been. He smiled but his eyes were mean. There was something about those eyes that sent chills through Cat’s bones and for the first time that night she felt afraid.

Cautiously she took a step around to the side to see what he had been playing with.

It was a bird. A dark black bird, it’s blood smeared across the carpet.

“Marc?” Kass said as she took a step towards him.

Cat knew him too. She’d seen this kid before, in photographs, like the one Kass kept in her wallet, and other times in Kass’s dreams. Or perhaps nightmares was the better word.

The kid sneered at her and turned back to the bird. He raised his hand high above his head, and then he brought the knife down. He giggled as he stabbed the bird again and again, and then he turned to his mother with smile as if daring her to punish him.

“That’s fucked up,” Cat remarked. Not wanting to see what the boy might do next or how things would progress from here, Cat sighed and said, “Kass you’re dreaming. Wake up.”

As Cat put her magic into ending this nightmare, Marc suddenly leapt to his feet and lunged forward toward Kass. A flash of silver vanished into darkness.

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Kass awoke to see green eyes surrounded by dark black hair, staring down at her. For a moment she thought it was Sirius. But the angles of the face were all wrong, sharper and more feminine. And there was no beard. That was when she realised it was Cat leaning over her, studying her, from barely inches away.

“Haven’t you ever heard of personal space?” Kass asked, her heart beating rapidly, as she tried to pull herself out from under Cat. She was glad that it was probably too dark for Cat to see the blush that had crept into her cheeks.

With a thoughtful look, Cat pulled herself away. “What were you dreaming about?” she asked from her side of the tent.

Kass pulled herself upright and then paused. She didn’t actually know. She couldn’t remember, but if Cat was asking... “Were you in my head again?”

Cat shrugged but the twitch of he mouth said Kass had it right.

Kass sighed softly. “I don’t remember,” she admitted. After a moment’s silence she asked cautiously, “What did you see?”

Now it was Cat’s turn to look uncomfortable. “Probably better you don’t remember.” Her eyes dropped to Kass’s bare shoulder then and her eyebrows knotted together. “You’re bleeding.”

Kass glanced down. “Shit.” At least it didn’t seem to have stained her white singlet or much of her sleeping bag, although it was hard to tell about the latter.

Cat turned on a lamp and searched about for a first aid kit. Finding one she handed it to Kass and then watched as Kass delicately wiped the cut.

It wasn’t deep and it hadn’t bled much but it weirded her out that she didn’t remember getting it.

“Was I dreamwalking?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

Why did Cat look so guilty? Kass gave the woman a wary look.

Cat sighed. “That’s probably my fault. Most people don’t end up in the dreamworld unless a dreamwalker or other dream creature pulls them in. If I wasn’t here, that probably would have been a regular dream.”

Kass frowned. “It doesn’t look so bad.”

“Mmm, that was a little too close. Guess I’m not the only one who has nightmares,” Cat added.

Kass paused. Cat was often very open about her own shitty childhood, to a shameless degree, almost like she enjoyed the way talking about it made some people uncomfortable. But to admit to nightmares and in that tone, suddenly felt a lot more intimate and raw.

“Yeah,” was all Kass could think to say. She wondered just what it was that Cat had seen to make her be so gentle now. Her voice was still rough. There was a natural edge to it that never went away but for once there was not an ounce of snark in the tone.

Kass could still feel her heart beating. Whatever it was she had dreamed about, something had gotten her blood pumping. She checked the time. As much as she knew one day she’d have to face the things that tormented her, tonight was not that night. Even if Cat was willing to listen, even if they had all night, she wouldn’t know where to begin.

“Looks like it’s about go time anyway,” Kass remarked.

Cat nodded and without question or smart comment she went about getting ready, almost as if she knew exactly what Kass needed and that tonight there had already been enough boundaries pushed.