The Dream Machine

Fourteen

FREDERICK

I clutched my heart. It wasn't beating. So-called "Bob" was standing in front of me. No more pain was flooding me, yet my body was still damp from sweat. 

"Have you agreed to cooperate?" he asked me for the millionth time. 

"Never," my same reply. "what have you done to my heart?"

"You're dead," Bob answered, "I killed you."

I started, but then paused, and started again "Then why am I still here?" I'm confused now. 

Bob scoffed and looked at me in the eyes, "Because I didn't really kill you. I just stopped your heart. To Sandler and George, I killed you. The funny thing is, they still don't know what's going on." 

"If you can do anything while you're sleeping, then why didn't you just make Sandler fall asleep and brainwash him? Heck, why aren't you just brainwashing me?" These were all valid questions. The dreamscapes that I experience bring forth a lot of questions to be answered by others, but this time, I was the one asking the questions. 

Bob cleared his throat and answered"One, I can't fully control people. All powers have limits, and ours is that we can only change what's physical, not mental. We can't change human nature or emotions. For instance, I can stop your heart and make you get the mother of all headaches, but I can't make you think that I'm your Savior. You hate me too much already. Besides, I can't touch Sandler. His power is way too strong. He's got it all bottled up inside of him, never going to explode. Plus, anyone who touches him can't be controlled either."

"Why are you telling me this?" 

"The way I see it, it doesn't matter what I say to you. Either way, in a couple of days, Sandler will be mine, and you'll just be a lazy ambassador footnote." 

"What do you want me to do?" I had to know. None of this made sense.

"My mission is simple. Bring Sandler here, and I'll do the rest."

"And if I don't?"

"How long would you say that we've been speaking?"

"I don't know, five minutes?"

Bob was about to blow my mind, "You see, although I may not be able to change people's emotions, I can do anything I want with everything else. Though it may seem like it's only been five minutes since we started talking, but really, it's been four days on the outside. Your friends think you're dead."

"I must ask you again, if you can do anything, why do you need Sandler?" 

"Sandler has no limits. I'm not a cruel person. I don't wanna blackmail people into getting what I want. I just want to manipulate them into thinking they need to do what I need them to do. Sandler has no things pushing him back, he can change the mental factor of people. In fact, he doesn't even have to be asleep to access his powers. That's how powerful he is. Can you believe that a dumb kid like him could be the key to total power? A random teenager with the great responsibility of being able to rule the world if he pleases? I don't know what's going on in his life, but I have to say it must be going well." Bob finished, and I was about to prove him wrong. 

"Are you kidding me? His life isn't that great. His parents have to work night shifts just to keep things normal. His best friend just started dating his true love just to piss him off. Yet...there are things that keep his life at bay. The right friends, me and-" 

"You think you're his friend? You're that creepy guy that drives the green van! You're not his friend!" Bob spat at me. 

I was not gonna take this, "Bring me back."

"Do you agree?" 

"No," 

"I'll bring you back anyways, but remember this, if you don't do what I say, bad things will occur to people close to Sandler. "

For the thousandth time, I was confused, "What do you mean?" 

Bob replied softly, "When someone rises from the dead, someone else must take their place." 

In blink of an eye, I was back, laying down on that stupid basement bed. I sprung to life. Sandler and George were hovering over me, screaming. George literally hit me with a tennis racket that was lying against the stairwell. "What was that for?" I asked them, rubbing the place where the object had ambushed.

"We thought you were dead!" Sandler yelled and wrapped his arms around me, "I thought I was gonna lose connection to the first person who was just like me." 

George soon uttered, "You're a stalker!" he pointed at me accusingly with the racket. 

Sandler released quickly and said, "Yeah, what's with those pictures on your labtop? Seriously, dude. That's messed up." 

"Yeah, that's wei-" George was interrupted by the action of him fainting to the ground. 

"Well he's shell shocked," Sandler concurred. 

Bob's word were ringing my mind, "Wait a minute," I bent down and listened for his heartbeat. Nothing. I started doing CPR on him: chest compressions, checking for breathing, even mouth-to-mouth. Nothing was working

"Frederick, what are doing?!" Sandler was on the same level of confusion that I was, ten seconds ago. 

"George is dead," I breathed, "for real this time," 

Sandler looked at me. He just stared at me, but he suddenly understood. His best friend had just lost his life.