Asleep

26 Broken

Charlie~~

When I enter Cobbs's office, he has already blindfolded Nora. She's covered in drying blood, and her skin is littered in red splotches. Dad wants me to rift her home.

         I have to fix this.

         I shoot a glare at Cobbs to be quiet and picture Nora as she was when she stepped out of my office. The cuts and blood fade, until they vanish, and as they do her pain will fade as well.

         "Nora. It's me."

         "Charlie?" She scoots back into the couch.

         "I'm going to take you home." I place my hand on her shoulder, closing my eyes to picture her living room. She squirms out of my grasp.

         "Nora, please."
         "Don't touch me."
         I recoil, the image of her living room disappearing. She blames me. Of course, she does. I didn't expect it to hurt like this though. Like the floor has opened up underneath me, and I'm falling.

         "I'm sorry, Nora." I grip her arms and rift us into her living room.

         She pushes my hands off her and rips off the blindfold. She turns around in a circle, her mouth hanging open as she takes in her house. "How?"

         "You won't understand."

         "Like I won't understand anything, right? How could you? You told someone about me being . . . different."

         "I didn't—I mean, that's not it."

         "You introduced me to Doctor Pace. To Stefan, and Hewn, and Amant. You work with them." She presses herself into the back of her couch. "Your Doctor Pace's son. Cobbs told me you turned me in."

         "That's not true."

         "You expect me to believe you?"

         "You don't even know what that word means." I grit my teeth and step toward her. I made a deal with Dad to end the interrogation because I had to get her out of that place. And in the end I come out the only bad guy that matters to her.

         For the next two months I have to help Dad orient new dreamers, be the one to deliver the news that they'll be sleeping for the rest of their lives. I have to help force them into the beds and put them under. For each one of those children, I will be the bad guy, the villain, but there in that room with Nora tied to a chair, she was the only person who mattered.

         "I know you're connected to Doctor Pace. You all share the last name. So maybe I do have some idea what it means to be his son."

         "You don't, and I'm not like my dad."

         "If you're innocent, did you know this was going to happen?"

         I can't look at her.

         Last time I was here, her fireplace burned and crackled. Now it's only our voices that fill her house.

         "I didn't know when." I turn my gaze on her as she bites her lip, her jaw trembling. She doesn't look at me.

         I take a step toward her.

         She holds out her hand. "I thought I might have actually trusted you. I thought you even cared about what happened to me."
         "I do."

         "No. I don't know what to believe anymore. I don't know who I am. I don't know who you are. But I know I can't trust you. I won't be coming into work tomorrow. Or the day after. Or ever. Get out, Charlie, and stay away from me."
         "Nora, please."

         There are tears in her eyes. I would tell her the truth, that we're both asleep. That this is a dream. But it's too soon for her. The words won't make any sense. She has no reason to take my word for anything.

         But I'll speed the process up. The sooner she knows, the sooner she'll understand what she can and can't say. Not working for me, she won't cross paths with Dad as often, and one day when our paths do cross again—when Dad grows impatient once more—she'll be past the phase of letting things slip.

         I close my eyes and rift, letting her see me vanish before her own eyes.

I can't remember if I've mentioned this, but there is a Discord for Asleep. Let me know if you'd like the invite!