River Of Horrors - A Schlattbur Story

PART 6 - CONNECTION

RIVER OF HORRORS

PART 6

───── ❝ CONNECTION ❞ ─────

"Did you seriously have to wake us all up at 6:00AM for this?"

The whining came from Tommy, as expected.

"For once, I actually agree with him," Schlatt mutters wearily, his words slurring with morning fatigue. "Why do we all have to be awake at this time?"

"Because statistically, they say your brain works the sharpest early in the morning," Wilbur pokes a finger to the side of his head, as if physically gesturing would make his point clearer. In contrast to the rest of the boys, he was as awake as an owl. "And besides, I would like to get this over and done with as soon as possible."

But that's actually just an excuse to hide Wilbur's terrible sleep schedule and insomnia, which had been recurring frequently as of lately. Wilbur had kept vigil in his bed for the past few days, getting only an hour of sleep at most. Even when he would sleep, he'd wake up at a completely random time — sometimes 4, sometimes 6; whatever time it would be, it all resulted into one common outcome: it was impossible to go back to sleep after.

And so, today was one of the days he had found himself waking up early — 5:10AM, to be exact. He knew there was no way he could go back to sleep, so he got up and made himself poached eggs and toast for an early breakfast. During this period, he'd been in deep thought, mulling over the recent events.

Mid-way through taking a sip of his tea, he suddenly recalled a memory:

The River of Horrors. . .
when I went to the river with Tommy, I collected a sample of the water in a container.

Of course, the sample! He still needed to show Connor and Ty their nightmares. Before when he collected it, he just wanted to know out of curiosity.

But now...

         'Will I lose my mind like that thing?'

The night he had spoken with Wilbur; the conversation they had still lingered distinctly in the back of his mind.

No, now he doesn't just want to know their visions; he needs to know. If what Wilbur saw really was a foreboding apprehension of a possible future... then that must mean the other's nightmares will have a similar connection, right?

         'Ty. . .'

         'There's no way... he would have survived that...'

He recollects Tommy's vision, too. Did it also have to do with what Wilbur had seen? After submerging himself deep in his internal spiral of queries, he finished the last of his tea. He sat up from the table and decided he couldn't wait any longer. He was going to get his answer now.

Hence, what had led him up to present time — at exactly 6:02AM, Wilbur stands behind the desk in the Specimens Laboratory with his hands cupped around the glass jar of water. In front of him are the other four boys, all wearing the same tiresome expressions on their faces.

"Wilbur," Tommy asks him, mildly puzzled, "didn't you tell us that we were going to abandon the 'River of Horrors' mission and focus on the virus?"

"I said we were going to put it on hold, not abandon it," he replies back, sounding a bit more irritated than what he intended. "This is something really important. I have a strong gut feeling that all of our nightmares might be linked in one way or another... Which is why I need you two—"