Dynamite

Chapter 16: Dynamite

"Today is the day," Jake thought in his bed. "Nathan is supposed to have his mind taken over today. I hope that the lucid dreaming worked." Jake looked over at Rose, who was still sleeping. "But if not, I'm prepared." Jake looked over at a chair that had rope on it. If Nathan did have his mind taken over, he was going to keep him strapped to a chair before an idea of some sort would be thought of. That way, nobody could hurt him and he couldn't hurt anyone.

Gavin, Adam, Tony, Jess, and Nicole all had spent the night at Jake and Rose's apartment. They wanted to be there for Jake, Rose, Emma, and Ethan as early as possible to help them. They had decided spending the night would be their best choice.

"We really didn't need you all to spend the night," Rose tiredly sighed. "I mean, willing to help us with this was a large enough favor."

"But we wanted to spend the night so that we were here immediately when we woke up," Adam laughed. The others nodded in agreement.

"Emma, do you think Nathan's woken up by now?" Rose asked.

"I don't know... he isn't responding to any of my texts," Emma answered. "He probably is still sleeping. I should go over there before he wakes up."

"I'm going to drive you," Ethan quickly offered. He grabbed his car keys from a table and started to walk out of the door.

"Let me go with you," Adam blurted. "I mean... you'll need an adult with you, right?" Emma and Ethan nodded.

"We're all going," Jess decided. "We all want to help."

"What is this, a home invasion?" Ethan laughed. "We'll be fine. We're just bringing Nathan here before he wakes up, just so that nothing happens to his family or anyone else."

"We'll call you if we need backup," Adam added quickly, seeing the worried looks on everyone else. "See you later!" Adam, Emma, and Ethan left the apartment.

"Jake... are they going to be ok?" Rose asked. Jake nodded and held Rose close to him.

"Why wouldn't they be?" Jake questioned. "Nathan hasn't answered any of Emma's texts, which means he probably is still asleep. Emma, Ethan, and Adam are going to bring him back here, and if they need any extra help they'll call us." Rose still looked worried. "Adam's with them, they'll be ok."

~~~~~~~~~

When Emma, Ethan, and Adam arrived at Nathan's house, they knocked on the door. There was no answer. He had a mom, a dad, and an older sister. They wondered why none of them answered the door. Then they realized that the door was unlocked. It brought more suspicion and confusion to all three of them.

Emma was the first one to step inside, then Adam, then Ethan. The house was dead silent, as if nobody was in it. Adam suggested that he searched the main level while Ethan searched the basement and Emma searched upstairs.

Nobody and nothing was found until Ethan heard a noise in the basement from a closed closet door. He cautiously opened it to reveal... Nathan's parents and sister. They all looked relieved to see him.

"...Where's Nathan?" Ethan asked. His parents and sister all exchanged worried glances.

Emma walked into Nathan's room. Nathan was sitting on his bed, staring at the empty wall in front of him. He then mysteriously turned his head. A small smirk appeared across his face.

"Hello sweetheart," Nathan chuckled.

"Nathan... are you ok?" Emma asked. Nathan smiled and nodded. A voice in his head told him, "Don't listen anymore! These aren't your actions or your words!" Then a second voice growled, "Keep quiet! Listen to me. I am the one you must listen to." Nathan mentally was extremely confused, but he seemed to follow the second voice without any thought.

"I'm fine," Nathan chuckled. "I'm simply... a little tired." Emma nervously smiled. She felt like something was off, but she didn't know what it was.

"Adam!" Ethan quietly hissed as he ran upstairs to the main level. "I found Nathan's family. They're downstairs hiding there. They told me something about Nathan... we seem to be too late." Adam covered his mouth with his hand.

"Emma's upstairs... do you think Nathan's up there?" Adam asked. Ethan shrugged. The two of them hurried up the large flight of stairs.

"You know Emma, it has been a month since Nathan had that dream about me," Nathan chuckled. Emma thought, "Wait... Nathan is talking in third person? He never does that. Unless... the leader Dubleka has taken over what he says."

"Nathan is my slave," Nathan continued. "I tell him, and he commands me. If I want something, he'll achieve it... all it takes is a simple request." Nathan laughed sharply. "You probably are very confused."

"Why are you talking in third person about yourself, Nathan?" Emma asked, hoping she didn't already know the answer. But she did.

"Because I am not Nathan," Nathan simply answered.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked nervously again, even more terrified then before. Nathan laughed sharply again, but it lasted longer. The laugh reminded Emma of a fuse on a stick of dynamite. The laugh started out fizzing slowly, then it got louder and faster. Then, the laugh exploded.

"I'm Nathan on the outside, but on the inside, the leader Dubleka has taken over!" Nathan laughed. Emma grew pale with fear. There was a change of the way he talked in-between his sentence. When he said, "I'm Nathan on the outside, but on the inside," he sounded terrifying, dangerous, strong. That was the leader Dubleka. But when he said, "The leader Dubleka has taken over!" there was fear, desperation, and sadness in his voice. That was Nathan.

"Emma!" Ethan called. Emma looked over at Ethan, terror written all over her face. She didn't even have to say anything; he knew. Ethan ran towards Adam.

"Call them," Ethan stated. Adam dialed his phone and waited for Jake to answer.

"The Dubleka... has taken over Nathan," Adam sighed. "We need everyone over here immediately." Jake hung up his phone. He, Rose, Nicole, Tony, Jess, and Gavin shoved themselves into Jake's car and sped towards Nathan's house.

By the time they reached the house, they thought they were too late. They barged through the front door and gasped at the sight.

Adam was in the corner of the room, looking like he was on the verge of passing out. Ethan had a baseball bat in his hand, standing on both of his feet, but he looked extremely hurt. Nathan was floating in the air, like he was an eagle. Emma was in Nathan's arms.

"Emma!" Jake yelled.

"Run Dad..." Emma whispered. "Everyone, escape... before it's too--" Emma's words did not leave her lips in time. A white flash filled the house. It was like everyone's minds had gone blank.

Emma, Ethan, Jess, Gavin, Tony, Nicole, Jake, Rose, and Adam all shared the same blank canvas in their dream. They huddled together in a line, with the exception of Adam still unconscious, while a figure stood in front of them.

"Hello everyone," the figure greeted. "You have been taken here and you all share the same conscious now... it is almost like a dream. The difference is... this dream isn't going to be very light-hearted." The figure was familiar to everyone.

It was Nathan, being controlled by the leader Dubleka.