The Dreams

The Very Beginning

Poison.  That one simple word haunting me every time I close my eyes.  It all started the day they came.  Till then, they have been lurking in my dreams each night.

I live in a drab gray and brown orphanage in a busy town called London.  My parents died in a car accident when I was seven.  Although it's been five years I remember the crash quite well.  I don't dream about that though, I think my dreams are visions.  The dreams say I'm the chosen one and I'm the only one who can defeat the aliens.

"Henri," the caregiver calls knocking me out of my daydream.

"Breakfast is ready, dear."   Climbing out of the moth eaten sheets, I find that the dorm room is once again empty.  I shove my frigid hands into my pockets as I step out into the cold February weather for the walk to school.   I walk into the dark, shadowy, one story building.   Everyone's eyes glaze right over me, lost in the fog of a Monday morning.  I've avoided making friends, since the last time.   Since, my only friend had found out about the dreams.

I wake in an ice cold sweat, my face is burning.  Turning on the light, panting, sweat rolls down the back of my neck.  I roll out of bed and begin pacing.  Tonight, the aliens were shape shifters and my dream was my view into reality.  This isn't real.  Our world is fake, and somehow we were sent here.  The disembodied voice from the dream, advising 'Trust no one' is still branded into my mind. I don't know what to believe anymore.

The bell blares, signaling another long day of school, and my struggle to find a seat begins.  I snag a seat in the back, next to a pretty girl with long black hair and warm green eyes.  She gives me a dimpled smile and asks me a question.

"Are you afraid of your dreams?" Great, I've never even seen her before and she already has me labeled as the dream boy.

"No," I lied.

"Yes you are I see you in my dreams all the time.  I'm scared too."

Is this a joke? She offers me her hand.

"I'm Karina Bell.  Come to my house and I'll tell you everything I know."  I take her hand and reluctantly agree.  Attempting to follow the complicated address she gave me I finally find the house.  It's a brightly lit two story with a pool full of dirty water.  It's painted yellow with dead flowers that lay in the front.

I walk up the cracked stairs and I raise my fist to the splintered door.  Words of warning pop into my head.  Trust no one.  Taking a deep breath and letting curiosity win over, I knock.

"Hello," I call.

"There you are," she whispers.  She takes my wrist and steers me in the direction of the living room.  The room was only lit by the remaining red light of the setting sun.

Sitting on the stained carpet she starts to explain, "My dreams are of shape shifting aliens.  They lived on Earth before humans came.  Then, humans became too powerful, they moved on a different planet, waiting for their army to rise. But now they're back, and we are the only ones who can save the human race.

My mouth drops open, "That's insane, I have visions just like that."  Karina then tells me that she found out her parents died last month.  She shows me their photographs and a silent tear courses down her cheek.  We talk for hours.  It's around midnight when I finally leave.  I walk home guided by the light of the busy city.  I realize that I was supposed to be back hours ago.  Transitioning into a run, fear burrows into my mind.

Sure enough, the orphanage is locked up tight.  I bang on the doors, begging them to let me in but there's no answer.  I'll have to stay outside tonight.  I sit on the ground, leaves scraping my skin with every movement.  I slowly drift off.   Not even an hour later, I'm awakened by the hoot of an owl overhead.  I see something or someone move in the shadows.  Adrenaline creeps across my skin.  The wind is rustling the bare branches of the trees.