POV: Jessica Black

“So what? There’s some sort of dream virus going around?” Melissa said as she flopped herself on her bunk, “Jeez, if it's not one thing it's nine others with you demi-humans.”

“Hey!” Jennifer cried from her desk, “What do you mean by that?”

“You heard the same thing I did. There's always something weird going on.” Melissa said.

I was finishing brushing my teeth and spat out mouthwash, “We don't know if there's actually something going on.” I stepped out of the bathroom and leaned on a desk, “We just heard some of the boys talking about stuff.”

“Still, it sounds scary.” Jennifer turned her body to face us, “I've heard of stuff that can attack people in their dreams.”

“There's no point in worrying about stuff like that. It's rare and heavily monitored. If there is a dream eater then it's already being handled.”

Jesse scowled from her bunk, “Dream eater?”

“Yeah, anything that attacks people's sleeping minds is called dream eating.”

“How do you know that?”

“I…” a sharp pain stabbed behind my eye. The library's worth of knowledge planted directly in my head was reaching for its missing parts. The parts that lied in The Black Book. I shrugged off the pain, “I just do.”

“Jessica! Are you okay? You look-”

“I'm going to bed. Goodnight.” I practically jumped up the ladder to my bunk. Laying my head down the sharp pain dulled into a manageable ache now that I was closer to its source.

I hated this book. I hated how it wouldn’t let me get rid of it. I hated how it was the source of my pain and my comfort. But even I needed to sleep, and so I did. Using one of the few boons I gained from The Black Book that laid under my pillow, I willed myself into my own mind.

Most nights my slumber was perfectly mundane. I would have dreams I vaguely remembered in the morning or nightmare that would jerk me awake. This night had me fully aware of myself and my state of consciousness.

My starting point was the Class J homeroom. Completely empty except for the teacher's desk and myself sitting in a desk centered in the room. I blew out smoke from a cigarette I apparently had and said to myself, “Fuck.”

Staying aware in your sleep was rarely a good sign in the world of magic. Sure, visions of the past, present, and future came to spellslinger in their dreams, but actually engaging with the dream world was considered a very not fun thing to do. Dreamwalking is what it was formally known as, and it was discouraged outside of professional settings. After all, if you think your dreams are weird, imagine dealing with someone else's version of weirdness.

I'm stalling, I thought to myself, I'm just trying to avoid boogeymen. I pulled a drag off the dream cigarette. It burned quickly and pulled easily. Like it knew I was using it as an excuse and was offended. I flicked it away and got up. I don't remember what happened to the smoke as I headed to the door.

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

The classroom door was itself. Just a wooden door that slid open. Pass it was open air and sunlight. Stepping through I entered what seemed like a train yard. Dozens of box cars sat around waiting to be used. I tried to look beyond them, but the world turned to a fog of blended colours. I kept walking along the most well-defined path until I came across a group of people around a fire pit made of a barrel. Arriving at the pit I realized I wasn’t in Progress City as the night was void of stars. Only the flickering light of the fire pit gave any detail to the situation. A young girl with three older figures. Two were only shadows, but the final one was well-defined in its shape. They all looked at me and I recognized the girl as Melissa.

She looked at me with her meanest look and invited me to the fire, “Come on if you’re coming.” Her voice seemed younger.

As she patted a place for me to sit I looked her over. She was dirty with raggy clothes and an even smaller frame. I then realized that my body had changed. I was slimmer, shorter, and my breasts were gone. My fourteen-year self was now at most ten. I didn’t know if that was something to be concerned about or not.

I thought of what to say. I didn’t want to break Melissa’s immersion and risk waking her up. I don’t believe being in someone’s dream when they stopped dreaming would be good for me. “Where are we going?”

“South,” Melissa answered, “With winter coming early we need to head to warmer climates. Even if we only make it to Maryland it’s better than Massachusetts.”

“Boston has plenty of warm places.” The defined figure said.

“Yeah, but Boston also has people from Boston, so no!” Melissa snapped and the figure along with the two shadows laughed.

Melissa pouted as they laughed. I suggested, “What about Progess City?”

“Yeah, we can go there too. That is home now, isn’t it?” Melissa pulled on her school uniform. She was still the smaller size, and her uniform was resized to fit. “I guess that’s the plan.”

Melissa stood up and dusted herself off, “You ready, Jessica? Dawn is here.”

I joined her as she started to head off. The figure joined us, but the shadows faded away as the light of dawn colored the sky. I remained my younger self as did Melissa. The figure was an old man in a hooded cloak. Limping with a cane he kept up pace just fine. The sewer’s slick floor seeming to have no effect. Maybe he was experienced. Maybe it was just the logic of dreams.

The scene change dawned on me. Looking around I saw we were surrounded by brick and concrete with a foul underground river flowing a tunnel. When had we changed scenes? I pushed the question away. This wasn’t strange for a dream. It was perfectly normal for things to change and shift around. I was only confused because it wasn’t my dream I was experiencing. I was dreamwalking, and I needed to figure out how to get out without losing a part of myself.

Another I realized was that Melissa recognized me. We were in a memory from before we met. Back when she was a homeless orphan. Before she was adopted by Odin. So then her memories were blending around, but then why was I so young? She had never met me before our first day at school.

I looked myself over. I was still wearing my all-black-everything with blue jeans. I couldn’t see my own face. I needed a reflection. I looked around for a puddle that was clear enough to act as a mirror, but the rocky floor was too rough to hold water.

I stopped in my tracks. We had shifted again. I don’t know when but we were now in a cave with jagged walls. Walls that were narrowing in.

“Quite the predicament.” The figure said startling me. His voice was far stronger than before and I think he was taller. He continued speaking, “I had hoped my Melissa would have been protected with my shadow over her, but alast I think it had marked her as a valuable target.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked as the sense of dread came over me, “Are you actually here?”

“You’re talking to the ghost of a shadow. A tool made to be used.” He turned to me. “Though this phantom would like to ask you, take care of Melissa.”

A screeching sound came from behind us.

“The hell was that?” Melissa asked. I looked back to her. She had returned to her full, slim, still tiny stature. Her standard defiance was lined with fear.

“Come on!” I shouted as another screech came from the darkness behind us. Grabbing her hand I pulled her along deeper.

It was a stupid move, but it was also my best option.