APOCANGELICA Wild Beasts

Chapter 2

 "Last night I had a dream."

"Do you mean that you were back in the Pangaea?"

"No. I really dreamed. I can differentiate when I move in Pangaea and when I simply dream. Indeed, it's been a few days that when I fall asleep I stay here without being able to go into Pangaea."

"What do you usually do to get there?"

"Nothing strange: I close my eyes, I relax and focus. And then pufff! And I am there. Well, in these last few nights I did everything as usual, but the only thing that has been happening is that I fall asleep. A deep dreamless sleep... Even last night I fell asleep, but this time I dreamed of."

"All right. Would you like to tell me about it?"

"Well, there was a white dove flying free in an immense blue sky. Suddenly, from a white cloud descends a huge hand, wrapped in a black glove. It grabbed the dove securely. It could have crushed it, but instead the hand merely held it firmly, thus depriving it of its liberty. Forced it to remain with its wings closed. The dove cooed and bend its neck to the right and left so as to call some higher power that could help it, anyone... but no-one came."

"Then?"

"Then I woke up."

"The reading seems to me quite clear."

"Aha!"

"Do you often dream like this? I mean with a strong component of repression?"

"I never dream! This is the first time in years."

"We all dream, Ada. The dreamlike activity is indispensable for the mind in order to rearrange all the thoughts, the emotions and the stimuli experienced during the day. It's just that when we wake up, we don't remember all the subjects of the dreams and in such a case, we simply complain about their absence, but the fact is that we have lived the dream, nevertheless we do not remember it."

"Okay, then what do you read out of my dream, Doc?"

"Ada, let's do one thing, you think about it a bit and give me your interpretations tomorrow, okay with you?

*

"We all dream" Ada kept thinking coming out of the huge dining room.

With a slow pace, she started her usual afternoon walk in the Asylum garden. The more independent patients were granted considerable freedom within the estate of the clinic, substantially consisting of a central building and two wings, of which the eastern part was reserved for the accommodation of the patients, while the western part was kept for the office purpose and the actual hospital itself. Further, there was a large garden and the area of the clinic was enclosed by a high perimeter wall made of solid white stone. The garden was used for the purpose of long walks that Ada used to do, a bit to gather ideas for her daily search to find ways to exit from the maze in which she felt locked up, and a bit to escape the entertainment activities that the clinic staff promoted in order to keep the patients engaged between the consecutive therapy sessions. Each day, for over twice a day, Ada walked along the perimeter of the high wall, as if to gauge the breadth of her confined world.

On reaching the area that lay farthest from the buildings of the clinic, she entered into a scrubland while fondly moving the lush fronds and sitting on the lawn. She leaned back against the tree trunk. That was her secret corner and every day there she took refuge for a couple of hours. There, alone with her thoughts, far away from everyone, she would regain a glimpse of that peace that was denied to her since her birth and which forcibly pushed her to escape into her own personal world: the Pangaea. In that verdant earth, perpetually bathed by a warm summer sun, she was finally able to feel free in the truest sense of the word. Free! As free as she could never be in the other world, the real one!

*

That evening Ada lay on her soft bed with a sort of discomfort: the dream of the last night came back to her mind and caused a sense of distress which she subsided only when she finally stepped back into the Pangaea. She had difficulties in falling asleep but eventually she succeeded and after many days, she could enjoy the sun, the breeze and the scent of the roses, violets, gladiolas and orchids.

To drive away the last shadows of uneasiness that she felt, she walked for a long time completing a long trip around the woods to return to the proximity of the rock tower.

To rest from the long walk, she sat on a low and flat boulder to make plans to explore the woods that she had skirted. She stretched out to enjoy the warm sun. Through closed eyelids, she felt a shadow taking away the warmth of the sun: something was protruding there. She opened her eyes slowly, expecting a cloud denser than usual, but the dark thing that stood between her and the sun had borne the outline of a human figure.

Ada sat up shockingly: a man was upright on his feet, a step away from her. Behind him she saw others: standing still on the tall grass arranged in a semicircle, and all were staring at her with serious and grim expressions that made her feel uneasy.

They were nine. They were wearing boots with side straps, clingy pants and a jacket with front flap. Footwear and dresses, as a whole, they had a martial appearance which reminded her of a kind of military uniform with immaculate whiteness.

Those nine white spots stood out in the bright greenery of the bush with a disconcerting alieness.

The man who was looming over her made a grimace: a caricature of a smile that he had inadvertently turned into a sardonic sneer. He was a man of about fifty years, blue eyes and wavy gray hair, lean but well built. A coat of arms was imprinted on the white jacket at the location of heart: a white dove and a hand in a black glove that grabbed it firmly and prevented it from opening its wings. Ada made a jump.

"Hello, little girl" the man said coldly, while staring at her with piercing eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked, trying not to shake the voice.

"We are Angels."

"Angels?"

"Of course," he said, somehow widening his two large feathered wings in dirty white color from behind his back. "Your guardian angels."

Ada remained stunned. "And what do you want?" she asked, when she recovered from the surprise.

"To protect you, of course!"

"From whom?"

"From the evil."

"The evil is you!" Ada said on the spur of the moment, standing up, not knowing what had suggested such a thought, but repenting of having it manifested so openly before securing an escape route.

"Good and evil are two concepts that are completely subjective" the man continued. "Let us therefore say simply that you're coming with us. We will protect you from the bad ones."

"I will not come" rebelled Ada.

"You have no choice, little girl" said the other patiently.

Ada turned away and began to run. The tall grass rustled as she passed through them. She was already out of breath after a few tens of meters because the fear squeezed her chest in a grip that was cutting her breath. She did not bother to look back at her pursuers: she was sure to have them behind, she could hear them banging their wings furiously with their claws extended towards her, in just a moment they would have grasped her, ruthless and relentless. She was hoping desperately to be able to get to the woods to hide herself there. The trees were just a few meters away when the shadows over her darkened the sun and surpassed her, in the next instant, five men landed between her and the woods, the other four landed behind her and to the sides. She was surrounded.

Ada stopped panting and turned around to stare: the white feathered wings sprouting from behind their backs kept folding back until they finally disappeared and there they were all nine with their cold and ruthless looks. The angels advanced towards her while narrowing the circle. Ada found herself lost.

Suddenly she got an idea. She closed her eyes, clenched her fists and concentrated. Immediately the feeling of the grass beneath her feet vanished and she felt the soft pliability of a mattress and a feeling of familiarity wrapped her. She opened her eyes: she found herself standing on the bed in her room.