Verita's Chronicles, The Dreamer

Chapter 9

- Heeenryyyy...

- Mmmh.

- Heeeenryyyyy, open your eyes, Henry.

- How ?

Henry blinked, letting himself be overcome by an unusual light – no, not a light, but rather an infinite darkness, devoid of any shape or color. In this strange world, he discerned nothing, and at the same time, there was nothing to discern. The ground, almost liquid, of a viscous blackness, paradoxically solid enough to support him upright.

- It always does this the first time.

- The first time ?

Turning around, he found himself face to face with the young man he had seen almost a week ago, or perhaps five days precisely. The same strange being, but this time he was not captive to a foreign dream. Black eyes, fragments of metal piercing his face, a living snake tattoo on his skin. Up close, he looked like a rebellious teenager, an amused smile stretching across his face.

- Yes, welcome Henry, welcome to your head.

- My head ?

- Yes, to be more precise, in your own darkness.

- I don't understand.

- It's not important at the moment.

Suddenly, a garden table emerged between the two young men, flanked by two chairs. What was strange was that it was completely black, similar to the mysterious material making up the rest of this universe.

- Come sit down, don't worry, I don't bite, at least I won't bite you.

Henry walked slowly towards the table, sitting down with palpable hesitation.

- And why not me ?

- Because I need you, in fact, I want to learn more about you.

- And why ?

- Because you interest me, you are special, Henry. Your power, your connection with this world that only I could explore, all this arouses my curiosity. You're not like me, but you're close.

- so you lured me here.

- no actually I came here by myself. You see, Henry, just like you, I can get into people's heads. Only since you don't dream I had to improvise and I ended up deciding to enter the place where a dream should take place and here we are. It's a kind of empty area of darkness, your darkness. And I have as much control as I want as a bonus.

-And what exactly are you?

At that moment, the mysterious teenager's smile faded briefly. He looked at the sky, seeming to think for several minutes before answering.

- I'm not sure myself. But for now we just have to say that I'm a living nightmare

-And what should I call you?

- Oh yes, that's true, I forgot. My name is Claec, it's a pleasure to meet you.

- I don't know if I can say the same thing. My last memory of you is not the best.

- Not wrong, but it's best never to trust the first impression. Actually, I just wanted to see who you were. You have to understand that until now, I thought I was the only one who could travel into other people's dreams. But there you are, completely conscious while you're asleep.

- So, I am indeed asleep.

- Yep, and you're not easy to find. It took me three days just to see where you came from. And since then, I've been looking for the best time to talk to you, hoping that it won't reach you before me.

Claec's language and behavior were very similar to those of an immature child. Smiling and impulsive, he absolutely did not hide his emotions, reading himself like an open book. Even in his posture he seemed childish, cross-legged on the chair with his elbow on his knees and his head resting on his hand.

- But hey, maybe, tell me Henry, have you talked to people about me?

Henry hesitated to answer, having indeed mentioned Claec to Elaine, although she had barely touched on him.

- No need to lie to me, I know, I can see that you are hesitant, just tell the truth and save us the trouble.

- If you say so, yes, I mentioned you to the director of my orphanage who then took me to the Caleutist church and spoke about it to the fourth brother. But they went to another room to talk and then asked me if I had anything else to say. I didn't mention you again after that.

- Well, please don't say more about me. I don't want my existence to be known to the wider world.

- If you want.

After that, there was a prolonged silence. Henry didn't really know what to say, even wondering why Claec had summoned him if he had nothing important to reveal to him. Finally, it was Claec who broke this silence.

- You're not talkative, it's not funny. You remind me of a friend of mine, always thinking and never talking.

- I'm not even sure why you brought me here.

- You have a problem with your ear, I told you that I want to become friends. We can chat together, and I have lots of answers for your questions.

- My questions ?

- I saw in your mind, humans, you don't understand them. Their beliefs, their mentalities, their secrets, I see all that and I can help you understand them.

Humans, Claec, talk about them as if Henry wasn't one, even if he understood why. He never understood them, although he observed them all the time, studied them, he still did not understand their reaction and the way in which they act. And Claec saw all that, and can teach him. Maybe it's not such a bad idea.

- Mmmmmh, I see you're hesitating, so you know what, I'll let you think about it and I'll go over one of these four again.

He was about to get up when Henry quickly raised his voice.

- No, wait, let me think about your proposal, but don't leave yet.

- If you want.

He sat back and crossed his arms on his raised knees, displaying a smile similar to that of a child at play.

- In this dream, five days ago, who was this man?

- The owner of the dream? Pff, an alcoholic idiot who has been bothering me for months. He stalks me to stop me from having fun and feeding myself. That night, I reached for him in his sleep, but instead, I just managed to pull you in.

- You have fun and feed yourself, but how?

At that moment, Claec gave a cold laugh that sent shivers down Henry's spine, he who had managed to remain almost completely impassive.

- But with fear, of course, the fear and nightmares of humans. I play with their fears, and their feelings nourish me.