A world where time is eternal and all are immortal. A majestic city full of possibilities. The only catch, once you arrive, you can't leave. That is the Dreamworld.
After falling into the Dreamworld, all Ashlyn wants to do is return home to her f...
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Ashlyn gulped, watching the flickering screens, following Kailee and Granger out into the hallway. She was afraid that if she got too close to the screen, some paranormal activity shit would go down and pull her in. Granger had no fears as he pushed across the hall into her bedroom, banging on the flickering screen.
"Stop messing with us, and just fucking show your face already!"
"Granger," Kailee warned.
Ashlyn turned to see a bar of soap in the girl's hands. When the hell did she get soap?
Granger just rolled his eyes, reaching down and yanking the soap out of Kailee's hands. He sent it flying across the room in protest.
"Don't you start, this is your fault!" Kailee gulped as she nodded her head, agreeing with Granger's words.
"Now, now, still as much an ass as always," a voice chuckled as they took shape on the screen.
Granger whirled around, frowning at the sight of a former coworker. "Hello, Wade."
The guy sighed, shaking his head. "And he still can't get my name right."
Ashlyn studied the guy on the screen. He was at least in his late teens, or maybe his early twenties. He had flaming red hair that tickled his ears and wise brown eyes on a wrinkle-free pale face.
The sound of computer keys being rapidly clicked echoed on the screen as a series of screens and sound feeds appeared in the top right corner. Ashlyn found herself completely fascinated as Clay manipulated the screens, showing stuff faster than her brain could process the random words and numbers. She glanced over to Kailee, who looked lost as last year's Easter egg as she watched. Granger was the only one who appeared to understand what was going on, nodding with each new screen appearing for a few brief seconds before fading away.
"So, is that her?" The guy nodded his head over at Ashlyn as he worked.
"Does it matter?" Granger snapped.
"So, what name did he give you?" the guy asked.
Ashlyn's head fell forward, her jaw dropping open in utter confusion at his question. A small smile appeared on the guy's lips at her reaction. "Just wondering. By the way, the real name's Clay Gallagher."
"Oh, um, I'm Ashlyn Keys."
Clay nodded as he continued moving his hands rapidly across the screen, opening and closing new windows, typing out commands into the computer as everyone observed.
"You'd finish faster if you chatted less," Granger snapped.
"True, but I like to enjoy the moment." Clay winked as he responded with a devilish smirk.
"You really love typing, don't you?" Kailee questioned, her head tilted to the side in curiosity watching Clay's fingers.
Ashlyn reached out patting Kailee on the shoulder while Granger only sneered her way. Clay nodded his head in agreement as he continued to type. His shoulders shook as he silently chuckled to himself.
"Well, I can't stop them from coming, but I did get Calian assigned to conduct the questioning and memory reversal."
"Wait, memory reversal?" Ashlyn gulped.
Clay nodded his head in agreement, a sly grin on his face. There was a loud banging sound radiating from Ashlyn's front door causing the whole apartment to vibrate. Clay took this as his cue to exit, the tv returning to the fake vision of the sky.
"I'll get it!" Kailee stated. She went running towards the door, swinging it open before Ashlyn or Granger could stop her.
Ashlyn followed behind Kailee, freezing at the sight of the two standing outside the door. She thought Granger and Kailee were total opposites when paired side by side, but this duo gave them a run for their money. The man looked like he could have been a bouncer in his previous life with his curly black hair cut as short as possible, the muscles in his tan arms practically bulging as he stood with them crossed, a glare on his face.
The young woman beside him wore her blonde hair in a stick straight lob, cat-like blue-green eyes studying everything with interest as her small frame leaned against the door frame with hands in her pockets.
"Chavez and Hannah, it's been forever since we've had the chance to hang!"
Hannah broke out into a smile as she ran to hug Kailee breaking from the cool front she tried to portray. Chavez sighed, shaking his head and subtly nodding towards Granger. Granger suspiciously eyed him, never saying a word.
"Oh, is she the Rememberer?" Hannah pulled away from Kailee, her attention falling on Ashlyn.
"No, she's just some random chick I picked up in the middle of Beast country," Granger sarcastically replied. "If you didn't jump the gun in retrievals, this wouldn't happen."
"Wait, you were the one sent to get me?" Ashlyn asked.
"You idiot, why did you tell her about our job?" Chavez snapped.
Ashlyn jumped at the sound of his deep voice laced with a Spanish accent. He had a commanding tone in his voice and she had a feeling that he didn't play games or let people walk all over him. She felt bad for those poor souls that he was assigned to collect even if they couldn't remember him.
"It slipped while we were getting cozy in the laundry room."
"There was nothing cozy about that," Ashlyn protested, "more like trapped and suffocating."
"Did he try to stick you in a dryer too?" Kailee asked as she innocently fluttered her eyelashes.
Ashlyn shook her head frowning as she glanced over at Granger. The other two looked at Granger with shock. Granger began to protest only to be interrupted. "Just kidding, see I made a joke!"
"And the Scarecrow strikes again."
Ashlyn whipped around to see that Clay had arrived on the screen in the living room. Before the Retrievers had the chance to say anything, he exited the screen once again.
"I'll have a talk with him later. We have another mission first," Chavez stated. "Come on, follow me."
Ashlyn gulped as she followed Chavez out of her apartment. She wasn't going to dare argue with this guy. He could easily drag her there if he had to. Kailee and Granger began to follow too, but Hannah stopped them with a shake of her head.
"Nope, we can't have you two interfering. Especially since he's still on probation."
Ashlyn heard Granger coming up with an interesting plethora of curse words as she walked away, letting Chavez lead her towards the elevator.
~~~~~
More strange new characters met Ashlyn in this chapter. How would you react if a random guy suddenly appeared on your tv?
Who is this Calian that was mentioned? Stay tuned for the second half of the chapter to find out!
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