The Dreamer's Curse

Entering The Realm

[Chapter 3]

I followed Uncle Jasper into the dining room where Aunt Alice sat. She looked up at us, and the crease in between her eyebrows had smoothed out. She smiled. "Right on time for tea," she called out.

"Actually, Mother, I just found Jane wandering in the old library. Going down—er—memory lane. I do think it's time to send her off."

"So soon?" Alice pursed her lips. "But she's hardly ready. We still have so much to tell her!"

"No sensible person is ready enough for all that is to come. We can prepare her no better than we prepared ourselves. We don't even know what realm she is to enter. There's no better time, Mother," he urged.

"Very well," Aunt Alice sighed. "Come along." She stood elegantly and strode out the dining room. I followed her out, with Uncle Jasper beside me wearing a rather smug grin.

Aunt Alice took us back to the old library and gestured around her. "These books contain each Dreamer's memories – both in the human realm, and in the realm which they find themselves in. See, look, we've got a shelf. I'm there, Jasper's there, and you're there too."

I glanced at my name. "So, what realm am I to enter?" Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper exchanged a glance. I braced myself for what they were about to say.

"We aren't quite sure," Aunt Alice whispered. My jaw dropped. "You see, the Curse is a sly thing. It brings us to the realm it deems appropriate. We can't choose."

"Well, technically, we can—indirectly, of course," Uncle Jasper joined in. "You see, Mother required courage in our realm, and so she was brought to Underland. I required empathy, for I was a terribly disagreeable child, so I was brought to a realm where demons controlled humankind. Your grandmother required a reason to value her humanity, thus she was sent to Dracula. When she became a vampire, she realised how much she loved being human. Your father required a reason to settle down, and was sent to the realm of Sherlock Holmes, where there was never a dull moment to see the value of a peaceful life."

"So you see, Jane, what we need most dictates where we head off to."

I shook my head and pressed my eyes shut. "What kind of a curse aims to help you become a better person?"

"It's not the Curse, Jane," Uncle Jasper said. "It's our reaction to it."

"You see," Aunt Alice said, putting her hand on my shoulder. "The Curse acts as a catalyst. It gives us the ability to achieve what we require most—although in the most frightening way possible."

"But I don't know what I require most."

"You don't have to." Aunt Alice stared at me with her clear blue eyes – eyes, I realised that matched Papa's eyes as well as mine. If genetics dictated who would inherit the curse, then it would explain Henry's avoidance of it. He had brown eyes. Aunt Alice's determined nod pulled me out of my realisation. "You mustn't lose your muchness, dearest Jane, not now."

"Yes, if you were to break the Curse, then all will be well! We'll be able to pass on like normal spirits do," Uncle Jasper quipped.

"Jasper," Aunt Alice said warningly before softening her expression. "Although I too am looking forward to the day I can face my Maker – for these realms are nothing compared to what truly lies ahead."

I stared at the both of my ancestors. Their faces were brimming with so much hope, but held so much anguish. At that moment, I chose to believe in it all. How could I not, when I could feel in my heart and see with my eyes that this was real?