Chapter 7
At first Daniel couldn’t tell if his eyes were shut or open, but then he realized that it wouldn’t matter either way, because the room was too dark to see anything anyways. Daniel wasn’t really sure it was a room in the first place, seeing how he couldn’t see any walls.
Then the space around him started getting brighter, but with a strange orange lighting. It was much like tilting your closed eyes towards the sun. Small smoke-like designs of red and yellow ran through the orange randomly, and just as Daniel couldn’t stand it much longer, the light disappeared, leaving the sole personage of his father, David Straight. While he couldn’t see any light source, his dad was still lighted quite well.
“Hello, son.” He said in his smooth baritone voice.
“Dad… I thought you were dead?” Daniel said, confused.
“I am. You’re dreaming.”
“I guess that explains why I can’t see myself,” Daniel said, “I see you and nothing else. Where are we?”
“I told you… we’re in your dream,” He said. “You should really work on your listening skills.”
“Well, yeah, but can’t you go places in your dreams? I don’t think I would take a weird black room over a nice beach house somewhere to talk to my dead father.”
“You can go places, but not yet,” His dad said. ”You’re not strong enough.”
“What does that even mean? Never mind. I’m not sure why I’m still talking to you. You’re just an image my mind created because I miss you and the only place I can see you are in my dreams. You’re not my dad.”
“Well, you’re only half right,” David said, “Your dreams are the only place you can see me, but I am not and image you created in your mind. I am your father.”
“Ugh, this is still really confusing,” Daniel said, “I feel exhausted and I don’t think my mind is working very well. That’s a strange thought; can you still be tired when you are asleep? In your dreams? Huh.” Daniel said, contemplating his self-pronounced question.
“I won’t lay everything down on you in one sitting… you’ll learn everything eventually,” His dad said. “How is Erik? Your mom? Are they both alright?
“Wouldn’t you know, since you’re dead and all?” Daniel said, “Well, Mom’s missing. I think she’s dead, but Erik doesn’t think so. He’s fine. Uncle George is staying with us.”
David Frowned, “Melody’s missing? I’m sure Gibbet is behind this.”
Daniel was stunned, “Gibbet? Who’s Gibbet?”
“My murderer. You’ll meet him soon enough. Don’t worry about it though; he’s not the type to confront people when he first meets them. He likes to toy with his food before he eats it.”
“Thanks for the comfort, Dad. My confidence is soaring.”
“Are you still practicing that violin I got you for your birthday?” David said, ignoring Daniels Sarcasm.
“Well, kinda. I keep having lessons but I don’t really practice. The violin buzzes and all the cats within three miles start wailing when I play it.”
