Chapter 3
In the hospital, Adrianna lay in her deep coma. There was no medically logical explanation for why she wouldn’t wake up. She looked pale but serene. It had been four days since Adrianna had slipped into deep sleep. Dreama spent as much time as she could by Adrianna’s side. All the while, she wracked her brain trying to find a way to snap her friend out of this. The thought of calling Henry occurred to Dreama more than once but she recalled the notion with the extreme elasticity. It snapped back into her mind as quickly as it had made its way to fruition. Bringing Henry into Adrianna’s presence could confuse her astral self and cause the process of working through the issues she had been sent there to resolve to take longer. No. If there was a way for Dreama to fix this, it would be within herself.
Henry didn’t need Dreama to tell him something was wrong for him to know. He felt it when Adrianna tried to sever their bond. He had forgotten about her, or at least he thought he had. He left for the mountains to go camping at his old spot, just to get away. He had become lost in nature when he felt it and her presence popped into his head. He was surprised and overwhelmed all at once. All of a sudden, he couldn’t breathe. Memories flashed through his mind in quick succession. He doubled over in pain, choking on the air he could no longer grasp. Spots formed in front of his eyes which grew greater in volume and density as the pain increased. He couldn’t get away. There was no one around to hear his agony. Henry was alone, the way he usually liked it, but he needed someone. He needed her. Need was debilitating to Henry. He hated the feeling. It crippled his pride and induced that trapped sensation which he hated the most. As he lay incapacitated on the hard ground of his campsite, Adrianna filled his mind. He couldn’t stop the thoughts and feelings that flooded his entire being. She reached for him and he was powerless to stop her. After a few hours, the pain ebbed. It was there but it was dulled. She remained with him but she was placated. Henry closed his eyes in relief. The night had closed in on him as he had writhed. He let the subtle light from the moon and stars envelop him. He welcomed the deep sleep which came then. The world around him faded. Life itself faded but he did not die. He slipped down, down to a place he’d been before. A place he’d seen once in his dreams.
Adrianna was still fixated on the mist which approached her when night fell. She had been unsure if night would come at all. She didn’t know the rules there. She didn’t know what to expect. The darkness was thick but the stars could shine through the heavy air which covered the expanse across the stream and had begun to invade the space around the weeping willow tree where Adrianna sat. She felt a new presence there. It was not a sudden addition to the atmosphere. Rather, it was a gradual sort of fading in from something as intangible as the air in her midst to something as easy to grasp as the tree she leaned against. It was close. It was familiar. It terrified her. She wasn’t ready for this. She knew with the smell that made its way toward her that it was Henry. It was like leather and wood mixed with fresh cut grass and clean earth. He had always been an earth child and everything about him reflected such. He was close but she could not see him. Her breaths became muted, short. Her head was swimming. She panicked.
Dreama saw a sudden change in Adrianna. One moment she was lying still as she had for days and the next she was squeezing her eyes shut tighter. There was some strange new life in her and it was noticeable. Adrianna’s cheeks had color in them soon and Dream gasped in shock and fear at what was happening. She hated feeling so helpless and she wanted so badly to know what was going on in the astral plane which Adrianna was trapped in. She had to know. She had to help. Dreama couldn’t take it anymore. She lay back in the hard chair that had become comfortable to her over the many hours she had spent sitting in it. She let her head rest against the hard back. A few deep breaths and calm thoughts put her in a relaxed state that she was very used to. The truth was that, despite her neuroticism, Dreama was actual very skilled at meditating. She had more control than most and could navigate the astral plane with an unheard of precision. She closed her eyes and put one hand on Adriana’s lifeless fingers. To Dreama’s surprise, Adrianna grasped her friend’s hand. It was as if she knew Dreama was there, as if she was screaming for her assistance. After this abrupt exchange, it took Dreama a few moments to recompose herself. She was now more sure of her plan than ever. Adrianna desperately needed her help. She was facing pain and stress that she didn’t know how to deal with and she couldn’t do it alone. “Hang on. I’m coming,” she whispered before slipping into the unknown.
