Dreamer

Chapter One

Chapter One

The second I walked through the doors of Alden-Conger High School I was immediately an outcast. I guess I just had a creepy aura or something. Not that it's surprising- I'm definitely not normal. I'm an Aislingeach. But, since that's kind of a mouthful we just call ourselves Dreamers.

It's kind of confusing to explain what a Dreamer is, but I'll try my best. The people and creatures in our dreams are real; we can communicate with them. But, only a Dreamer can, and only a Dreamer's dreams are real. If a Dreamer is hurt in a dream, they're hurt in "real life" too. Dreamers can build things in their dreams, make buildings, forests, et cetera. The only thing they can't create is people and creatures. Some Dreamer's can also take someone to a dream with them, if they want to. These Dreamers are called Carriers. Then there are Illusionists; Dreamers that can enter other people's dreams (Dreamers or Humans) whenever they want to, and can alter the dreams of Humans. There are Bridges, who can bring things from their dreams into the real world, too. They're pretty hard to find these days.

And then there are the Tormenters. Tormenters are the opposites of Dreamers- they're the people who dream nightmares. They can change any human dream into a nightmare, and strong Tormenters can even alter the dream of a Dreamer.

Lastly, there are the Dreamers that appear once in a generation. Supposedly the most powerful of all Dreamers. The Composites. They have the powers of a Carrier, a Bridge, and an Illusionist. And, they can either be Dreamers or Tormenters, although they usually don't know until they're eighteen. Before then they have the powers of both, although not to the extent of a full fledged Dreamer or Tormenter. Once they hit eighteen, they change to just one, and they can't decide which.

Unfortunately, humans get a pretty bad vibe from us, so it's pretty hard to make friends. Pairs of cold, unfriendly eyes burned into me as I walked down the hallway to my locker, number 117. I reached it without anyone speaking to me, and I knew better than to try to speak to them. It would be suicide.

There was a small, blonde-haired girl with her head buried in locker 118. I ignored her and began spinning the combo on my locker. When she heard the sound her head snapped up to look at me, her eyes widening when she realized who she was standing next to. I gave her a small grin and waved my hand.

"Hi."

She was gone in seconds. Shrugging, I pulled open my locker and shoved my bag inside. I checked my schedule; First Bell - English. I pulled out my black English binder and headed off to class, trying to ignore the staring gazes of my new classmates.

My English teacher was a total bore. He had a monotone voice that droned on and on. We were "learning" about sentence structure. Yippee. Lucky for me, I had already covered this unit in my old school. I let my mind wander, my eyes threatening to close. The thing about Dreamers, we're always tired. When we dream, it's basically the same as being awake, so we never really get any good sleep, because we're too busy dreaming. Also, I really didn't want to fall asleep in the middle of class, surrounded by people who already hated me.

I could feel my eyes beginning to close. I blinked rapidly, trying to wake myself up. It's not like anyone would really be able to tell if I was sleeping - I had sunglasses on. But, if I started snoring or something, that would be really embarassing.

Mr. Welsh droned on. Someone tapped their pencil on the desk. The flimsy windows rattled in the wind. My mind wandered off to my old school in Pennsylvania. I had actually made a friend there. She was the only person who wasn't completely freaked out by me, and although she was a bit uneasy around me at first, we slowly became close friends. She didn't know I was a Dreamer though - I'm not supposed to tell humans. They're not supposed to know about us, that's why they're subconsciously repulsed by us. My parents say it keeps us safe, but I think it's annoying.