Dream-state

Chapter Two - Lina.

Chapter Two – Lina.

     His bedroom lit up. He had finally found his phone and turned on the torch. His breathing was heavy and shaking. It was just a nightmare...

He carefully stepped out of bed onto the hardwood floor, creaking under his weight. Near the doorway, he found the light switch, and flicked on the light. As the room lit up properly, he could see there were no hairless creatures, no threats, no forest, but also no redhead girl.

He shook his head and opened his bedroom door. He shared a third-floor apartment with his best friend, Darren. It was a nightmare for Darren coming home on Friday nights, all those steps after all that liquor, made for some entertainment for Scott, but resulted in a lot of bumps and bruises for poor Darren. "Daz?" Scott whispered loudly.

He got no reply. He must be asleep.

Scott headed through the hallway towards their tiny kitchen. It wasn't a brilliant place, but the rent was cheap, and it was just about big enough for the pair of them. He decided to get himself a glass of water, although after that dream he wanted something stronger. It was 3:13a.m. and he had to be up for work in the morning. He took another drink of water, brushed his sweaty brown hair back out of his face, and quietly made his way back to his room.

He sighed as he sat on the edge of his bed, the room in darkness. It was just a nightmare, he reassured himself before he laid down, pulled over the blankets and turned onto his side. Another sigh before he closed his eyes.

The rest of the night was uneventful, no more nightmares. Although he did tell Daz about it over breakfast. "That's pretty cool."

"Cool?" Scott repeated. "There was nothing cool about it. I woke up drenched in sweat."

Daz chuckled. "Pansy." He took another spoonful of cereal, dripping milk onto the small kitchen table.

"Honestly, I don't know what's going on lately. That girl is in all my dreams."

"So, you've never actually seen her? In real life, I mean."

Scott shook his head. "A couple of weeks ago I had a dream she ordered an espresso." He picked up his glass of orange juice and took a sip. "You never know, maybe she'll actually come in the coffee shop one day."

"You're obsessed with an imaginary girl, you do realise that?" Darren laughed.

"Shut up, man. I gotta go, say hi to your brother for me, he'll probably be gone by the time I get home."

"I will. See you later."

Darren was left alone in the small apartment. His brother Mark was supposed to be coming to spend the day with him, on their day off from work. Darren worked as a mechanic, and his brother was head chef at an Italian restaurant.

As soon as Scott closed the door, Darren got out his phone. He dialled a number and waited. A woman's voice answered. "He's having dreams. I think now might be the time to-"

The woman cut him off. "When I say he's ready." The line went dead.

     It was another typical morning at the coffee shop. Kev and his wife had been in for a flat white and an americano. Christina had dropped a cup, a couple in the corner nursing their hangovers started arguing about the night before, someone had stunk out the toilets. Nothing unusual.

Christina handed him a to-go cup. He looked at her blankly. "What's this?"

"Espresso to-go. For the lady with the red hair, by the window."

His head shot up, he searched the areas around every window. But there was no redhead girl. "Oh...She must have left." Christina shrugged and took the espresso back.

"Maybe she went to the bathroom." Scott suggested. "I'll keep it here. What was she wearing?"

"Like a beige coat, light beige I guess you could say."

"I'll definitely keep an eye out for her." He smiled.

His eyes darted back and forth, scouring the room for the redhead girl. She fit the description perfectly, This could be the espresso girl he'd been dreaming about. But now, he couldn't find her.

Six hours later, and the redhead never appeared. He was making his way home, trying to get I touch with Daz, but there was no answer on the phone. He burst through the door of his apartment, "Daz? You home?"

Silence. He must have gone out with Mark somewhere.

"What do you mean he's not ready? He's dreaming about you. His mind is clearly open to that world. He's aware of it whether he knows it or not."

"But he still thinks it's just a dream. What would he really think if he knew the truth? I've been intercepting his dreams to make him see me."

"Maybe try appearing to him in person. If he can see you in the real world, that's when you know he's ready."

"See, Mark understands. I know you're excited, I know you've been itching to show him this side of life for years, but you were born into it. Scott wasn't. He's different. He'll be scared, he'll need to train to fight these things, to take back what's ours. We need to do this slowly, we don't want to freak him out or make him think he's gone crazy."

"So...make him aware that our world exists before telling him anything more?" Darren asked. His blond hair flopped over one eye, he blew it away and flicked his head. Black bands on his fingers reflected the light in the foyer.

"Yes. But...It may be difficult. Leave it with me. I know what I'm doing."

     "How was your day with Mark?" Scott asked when Darren got home. 

"Yeah, was nice. We went to the bar for a few-"

"Something strange happened today. At work." Scott looked up from his hands that were trembling slightly.

"What happened?" 

"Christina took someone's order. But when we went to give it to her, she was gone. I asked what she looked like. Christina said she was a redhead wearing a light beige coat." His eyes suddenly met Darren's, wide and unblinking. "She was there. But i never saw her, and she never came to collect her drink."

"She probably just changed her mind." Darren shrugged.

"Gets weirder... The drink vanished too. It was on the side for a while, just in case she came back for it. Then when I went to get it to throw it out a few hours later, it was gone. No signs of it in the trash...Just gone."

"Strange. But maybe one of the other staff there threw it away."

"I thought that. So I asked. It was only me and Christina behind there today, Deb stayed in the office and Jen was just on table service. None of them remember throwing it out."

"You know what I think?"

"What"?

"Sleep. You didn't sleep great last night. Also, maybe you're stressed. Anything bothering you?" Darren seemed concerned.

"Just this whole redhead girl thing. That's all." Scott sighed. "I'm sure it's nothing. Like you say, maybe I'm just overtired, or stressed about something." He said, but even he didn't believe that.