Asleep

72 Privacy

Charlie~~

I rub at my face as I walk alongside Stefan who's on the phone with Sabine as we make our way through the halls of the eastern facility.

Nora did it. She woke the master dreamer after I was woken up. Any dreamer who was in Somnia is now awake. Those who weren't are still asleep, but there aren't many of them, and it won't be a problem to wake them up.

From Stefan's tone, it's clear he's furious.

When Dad ordered someone to wake me up, Kyle was the closet to me as he was already in our room. He swore, told me I was unbelievably reckless, and then asked if I was okay.

Stefan was at our door minutes later.

"No one is going to ask to go back to sleep," he snaps into his phone.

"Some of us won't have a choice," I interrupt. "There will be times when the nightmares will force us to seek out the dream."

Stefan repeats to Sabine what I said.

No one has any idea where Dad is. My phone has been blowing up with messages from my siblings and Dad's employees.

I clutch my phone in my hand. "And people have built lives in there. Some will want to stay."

My brother runs his hand over the top of his head. "I hope you're happy, Charlie."

"You, Hewn, Sabine, and Amant have a chance to be in charge."

He shakes his head and goes back to his conversation with Sabine.

The Hall is alive with more activity than ever before. I have to stop for a moment when I walk in to process it all.

The dreamers are out of the beds, some walking around in a daze, others yelling at the oneirologists, who have started to move toward the outskirts of the Hall, retreating as some dreamers approach them.

Stefan's face slackens, looking daunted by the task before him.

"You have to give them a choice. It's the only way to move forward."

He holds the phone away from his face. "Dad's going to kill you," he says to me before he moves deeper into the Hall and returns to his conversation with our sister.

Nora is somewhere in that mess of dreamers and scientists.

A fist punches my arm, and Avery steps up beside me. "Thanks."

I let out a deep exhale, taking in her appearance, and seeing that she looks fine. "There's no need to thank me. I wanted freedom just as much as you. Are you okay though? Dad said—"

"They didn't hurt me. They refused." Her gaze shifts behind me. "Nora."

I turn. Rubbing at her arm, Nora stands beside an empty exam table, about three beds away.

"You actually did it," my sister says to her, awe coating her voice as she walks toward Nora.

Color tints Nora's cheeks. "Is this when you tell me you should have believed in me all along?"

"Did you believe in yourself all along?"

"No."

"Okay then." Avery laughs and then leans forward, planting a quick kiss on Nora's cheek. "Take care of him." She rolls her left shoulder back, a gesture to me.

Nora's blush deepens, and Avery waves at me. "Ricky's at the western facility. I'm—I need to make arrangements to get out there before Dad can try taking control again." She grabs a tablet from the top of one of the machines that connects a dreamer to the various dreams and leaves.

"Hey," Nora says.

"Hey."

She steps toward me.

"Is being awake everything you dreamed it would be?"

She gives me a wiry smile. "I don't know yet." She places her hand on my arm, her fingers closing around it. Being in a t-shirt and not one of the uniforms, I'm not wearing long sleeves like her and can feel every bit of warmth and softness her hand offers. "You feel different."

I raise an eyebrow. "Bad different?"

Pursing her lips, she shakes her head and squeezes my arm. "I can't explain it, but it's a good different. I never noticed in the dream—everything felt real, tasted real, smelt real, but now it's clear those things were all just copies."

"I'm the same person out here that I was in there."

"I know." She wraps her arms around me and leans her head on my chest. "Your dad?"

"Missing but the security footage is being combed over so we should have an answer soon. There's someone I want you to meet."

She pulls away, grimacing. "Is there anyway I could shower first? I feel absolutely gross."

I laugh and hug her again. "You feel and smell real. And I feel like there's enough beauty in that."

Though if she meets her dad without me giving her the chance to clean up, she might kill me, and now that we are no longer in a dream, she can very well do so.

The master dreamer will be locked inside his chamber. I could take Nora to the part of the facility where I live and then go and get her dad who must be horribly confused right now.

"I haven't showered in two and a half months. I'd feel bad subjecting anyone else to this smell."

I grimace. "About that . . ."

*****

Nora is horrified as I tell her she's been given sponge baths, but once we walk into my room and she sees the miniature models I've made, she seems to push all thoughts about sponge baths to the back of her mind.

"It's your circus." She peers at it on its place on one of my shelves, her face a gleam of wonder and delight. "And the jungle. And the lodge." She knots her hands against her stomach as if to keep herself from touching them. "They're incredible."

"Compared to the ones in the dream?"

"They're different talents."

I hand her a clean shirt from my drawer—I don't have anything in the way of pants that will fit her—and then show her into the bathroom I share with Kyle and Tyler. I let her know the best place to turn the faucet to and tell her that I have to go check on something.

About five minutes later, I find the master dreamer mid-pace in his chambers, an em-pen lying on his bed. Stopping, he breaks into a grin that's directed at me. His eyes are the same blue as Nora's, and their hair is an identical shade of brunette, but his has streaks of gray. His hair is long, almost to his shoulders, but not as long as it should be for how long he's been asleep. Dad must have had it cut over the years. Kiernan's full beard doesn't go far past his jaw. Where Nora's face is usually hard, tightened in contemplation, his is soft.

"Charlie."

"You know who I am?"

"You freed me." His voice is hoarse from years of sleep. "And you are dating my daughter, aren't you?"

My cheeks warm. I wasn't expecting this meeting to be that sort of meeting. "How do you . . ."

"I couldn't do much as a master dreamer, but I could see any part of the dream I wished." He arches a brow. "It was a little bit like being a god without the power."

He's a guy's worst nightmare. A dad who's always watching.

He laughs, and it turns into a cough. "Rest assured that I look away at times."

I clear my throat, ready to get back to the important topic at hand. "Are you ready to meet your daughter?" 

How do you think this meeting will go?