17 Dreams

Chapter 8: Deep Sleep

Time and space always change, but there is something which is eternal and changeless. For example, the world and time, past or future, nothing exists for us in sleep. But we exist. Let us try to find out that which is changeless and which always exists - Ramana Maharshi

"Can she...can she hear us?" Michael asked.

"She's too deep into her dream to hear or feel anything basic from the outside world. So she can't hear us talk or touch her. Look, the line is green. Which means her dream is steady."

"You said if her dream gets too violent, only she can wake herself up."

"Yes. If her brain can't process that much violence, she'll be sucked into her dream."

"Like, physically?" Jake asked.

"No. She'll still be here, but she'll get sucked into her dream mentally. So she'll be here, physically. But she'll be there, mentally."

"How do you prevent that from happening?" Claire asked.

"There's a few tactics to wake someone from a deep slumber, but my best personal opinion is music. Being able to hear your favorite song or sound helps someone stay calm and bring themselves back to the real world. And now, we watch."

Laura said as she pointed to the screen which was connected to the tablet that was programmed with the patches on South's head.

I found myself back in the basement. But instead of continuing where I left off last time, I'm back at the very beginning. Why am I here? Oh, right. My dreams are the key to ending this.

Back at the hospital, Laura seems to have noticed that South's readings of her brain didn't make sense.

"Huh."

"What's wrong?" Michael asked.

"South's readings, they don't make sense."

"How so?"

"Normally someone in a deep slumber isn't aware of anything from the outside world."

"Meaning?" Claire asked.

"It means that South is completely aware that she's in a deep slumber."

"Is that a risk? Being able to know what you're seeing is not real?"

"I...I don't know. She shouldn't be aware that she's in a deep slumber, but for some reason she is. We can only hope her dreams don't get too violent."

Everyone began to watch as South continued on with her dream.

I found myself completely free and able to move around. I remember that my last dream ended with the lights being cut out. I remembered which room I was in so I headed straight towards there. Once I found the room, I opened the door and I quickly went towards the desk. I'm supposed to find any clue that would help me find the next target. I started searching frantically. If my memory serves me right, it won't be long until Jason shows up.

"Come on, South. Find something."

"The line is going yellow, she's freaking out. She's getting stressed." Laura said.

"We have to wake her up." Jake said.

"Not yet. We still need to see if she finds something."

I then went to search the file cabinet. Jason was watching everyone before he killed them, there's got to be a name here somewhere. I was looking frantically until I found a file, with my name on it. Not what I was hoping to find but it's something.