The Dreamers

5: The Pit

She looks at Mira and Damion nervously.
"The apocalypse?"

"Please follow me, Ms. Curtis. I'll explain everything."
He looked at Mira.
"Find another 2nd grade to cover for me for now."

Damion walked out of his office while Serena followed close behind.
"I'm aware you know Pyro, yes?"
Sh nodded.
"He has been having to go around Dreamix absorbing nightmares left and right. He's the only one of us capable of doing that."

She nods.
"Yes. I'm aware."
They get into the elevator, and it goes down. "Where are we going?"

"A place only a few people in this building are permitted."
She glanced at him. He was so professional about everything. His cold nature kind of made him handsome.

Serena snapped back and looked away just as he noticed her staring.

"So, how have you been, Serena?"

That's right. He was her ex's brother.
She pondered his emotions. Was he mad at her?!

"Oh, I'm doing fine."

"Just so you know. My brother is completely to blame for what happened. You shouldn't feel any guilt for leaving him."

She smiled softly.

"Your brother isn't a bad person. He just made some bad mistakes."
She said that, but she knew she was lying. She couldn't stand Giddion for the way he treated her, but she would never tell his brother.

He looked at her sad expression, "Is everything alright?"

"Well, my mom and dad have been on my ass about getting married."

He chuckled a little and replied.

"I don't know you too well, but something tells me you'd rather not."

She chuckled, "I'm not opposed to marriage, but I would want to marry someone who I could love as much as they love me."

He looked at her, "I agree. I know what it's like to be with someone you don't want to be with. You should find the one who makes you happy."

He smiled warmly. His cold, professional aura had disappeared once he talked to her. She liked it. Cold and secretive once and then warm and sweet the next.

"T-Thanks," she looked up at him, "I always thought that we could be great friends."

He felt shy as he gazed out at the view of the city. He spoke softly

"I agree."

Suddenly, the city view was gone.

"Are, Are we going underground!?"

He nodded, "A have a theory about your situation. If what I'm thinking is true, then that means only good will come from this."

The elevator finally stopped. The door opened to a safe locked door.

The security pad scanned his eyes, and the door opened.

They passed through many giant doors. Each door asked for something different. A keycard, thumbprint, passcode.

"What is past these doors!?"

They made it through the doors. A giant room was on the other side. A high ceiling made entirely from concrete. In the room was a giant pit. It was so dark, she couldn't see anything below it.

"How deep does that go?"

Damion took a pen from his pocket and dropped it in.

"Well, It's essentially supposed to go on forever, but there is eventually a bottom."

"What's it for?"

"It's for 1st grade Dreamers like Pyro. You see, 1st grade Dreamers are the only Dreamers that can absorb nightmares. However, they can only absorb so many at a time. So they all used their stored nightmares to create this hell hole. That is, before they all perished. Pyro is the only one we got left."

"Has Pyro ever been in there?"

Damion got quiet.

"Yeah, he has. But, he doesn't talk about it."

"Oh..."

What did Antonio experience down there. What was he not telling her. She looked in the pit. She could feel this dark, intimidating aura. It felt cold. It must be scary. That many nightmares are all in the same deep pit.

"Best not to worry about him. He's strong," he takes her hands and gazed into her eyes, "We're here for you."

She smiled softly.

"What are we here to do?"

"Well, only Dreamers can be awake in the dream realm. There's no possible way you could have done that unless you were a dreamer."

Her eyes widened, "A dreamer!? Come on, Damion. Don't be silly. I'm born of an all human family."

"We have plenty of human blood Dreamers. You're not alone."

She was still trying to process this all but continued.

"The pit is actually the perfect place to use dreamer abilities. This many nightmares triggers the natural instinct of dreamers."

She takes a step closer to the pit.

"Ok, I'm ready."

"Close your eyes and focus your mind on a single point."

She closed her eyes and focused. She felt this power surging from the pit.

"Can you feel it?"

"Y-yeah, it's like.... preassure."

"Don't let go. Fight it."

She focused harder. The power made the whole room circualte wind. It was powerful. Damion tried to stay put. He put his arms up, blocking his eyes as dust flee around the room.

She fought the pressure, not letting the nightmares get to her. She could feel her eyes and hands. They were glowing. Damion watched closely as he could see her glow. Black

"Black!?"