The Unfortunate

Fear

"Oough..." Dawn mumbled, her head throbbing uncomfortably. Her eyes were glued shut, and she didn't feel like ever opening them again. Dawn could sense that even if she did attempt to look around, she wouldn't be able to. There was some sort of material on her head, either a bag or a blindfold. Dawn flexed her face and forced her eyes open, blinking rapidly. She was correct in her previous assumption; there was a bag on her head. Her arms were also immobile, her wrists being tied together behind her back. She was sitting in a sturdy chair that didn't budge no matter how hard she tried to push it. Dawn's heartbeat quickened when she heard light footsteps from somewhere in the room, and then the sound of a cough. Panic threatened to claim her, but she refused to succumb just yet. She needed answers, and the best way to get them was to play it cool and comply to whatever the Dreamers wanted. Then she could gage her chances of escape.
"She's awake." A quiet whisper came from somewhere across the room, to Dawn's left. She remained silent, relying on her ears for figuring out what was happening around her.
"No duh... who's gonna talk?" A deeper voice replied, tinged with an accent that Dawn couldn't place. "Blondie? Alexandria?"
"Quiet!" Someone snapped. "Don't use our real names, what if she's going to remember?" They whispered, rather loudly. Definitely a boy.
"Oh! Right, right, my bad."
Someone snickered.
"Shut up, all of you! You're so unprofessional!" A girl barked.
"It's not our fault! We've never had to..." they trailed off, and then started again. "This is new and you being in charge isn't helping!" The boy whined, and he was hit for his remark. "Ow!"
"Get your shit together. And I'm a great second-in-command, thank you." A familiar girl's voice said matter-of-factly. Dawn connected the voice to the blonde girl she saw earlier. "Get your masks on," she commanded. "I'm taking the bag off." Dawn waited in anticipation until the bag was ripped from her face, and she winced as bright light invaded and stung her pupils. Once she could focus, she took a sharp intake of breath. About a dozen people stood before her, all wearing white masks with black hoodies obscuring their heads. They stood there eerily, until the boy with the accent spoke up.
"Welcome to the crib, baby." He visibly winked at Dawn and was met with confusion. The flirt got elbowed by another guy, judging by the broad shoulder span and height. "Ow! The hell!"
A girl stepped forward, wavy blonde hair poking out from inside the hoodie. Dawn recognized this girl from before, she was the one who knocked her unconscious. Even with the white mask covering her face, Dawn knew. The girl wore extremely short cuffed jean-shorts, and they exposed more than enough of her long, tan legs.
"So, as you discovered earlier, we are the Dreamers! Not what you expected, huh?" The girl chirped, leaning in a little too close for comfort. Dawn didn't answer. Her gaze darted over all of the people gathered and she drank in as much information as she could. They weren't as old as she pictured them to be. Most of them were the right sizes to be in their late teens, if not early twenties. Their heights ranged from shorter than Dawn to tall enough to touch the ceiling with ease, so she couldn't be sure about their ages exactly. They also came in all skin shades, from milky white necks to chocolate brown arms. The room they were in, which Dawn figured was their hideout, was large but mostly empty, with a bulletin board on one side and a barren table lined with chairs on the other. The floor was pure, smooth concrete, and the ceiling was a boring beige. There was a door to her right, and one behind her. Wherever this was, it was definitely big enough to shelter a sizable group of people.
The sound of untrimmed claws clicking against the floor brought Dawn's attention to the the Husky from before, sitting nearby and looking innocent. She felt slightly betrayed by it; after all, the dog was the reason she got captured-because it was the one that lured her into a trap. Just the recollection of what happened earlier was enough to release anxiety into Dawn's bloodstream, and she had to take deep breaths to control it.
Slowly, Dawn shook her head, answering the blonde's question. This was not was she expected, but that didn't change the fact that she was still terrified.
"Why did you bring me here?" Dawn asked, secretly wiggling her arms and testing her bonds. Her legs were free, so if worse came to worst she would be able to kick anyone that came close to her...
"First of all, I'm the only one in position to ask questions, you just need to answer truthfully." The blonde chided in an authoritative voice, and Dawn shrunk away but didn't dare break their eye contact. "You were trespassing. You weren't supposed to go through that brick wall and yet, for some stupid reason, you did it anyways. Why?" Dawn swallowed thickly.
"I-I thought...that maybe the dog over there was homeless, and I wanted to make sure that was true before I called anyone. I followed him. He led me all the way to your front door." She explained, adding quickly, "Which, of course, I had no idea was yours in the first place, but, um..." She looked at the floor, not wanting to see their reactions of her next bold statement. "Then you showed up, grabbed me, and knocked me out with a baseball bat." There was an undertone of accusation in her words. Dawn looked back towards the blonde's face. "That's all that happened, really."
The girl, who, from what Dawn had pieced together from their earlier bickering, was the group's second-in-command, was oddly silent. After a few moments, she turned away from Dawn, crossing her arms.
"What do you think?" The blonde inquired, and immediately several voices replied in a flurry.
"She seems truthful." "...Lying." "That's way too simple to be true." "Nah, she's being honest." "I think-"
"Quiet!" The second-in-command yelled, raising her arms. "I was talking to her, not you." The crowd parted and a girl with skin the color of cocoa stepped forward. She had on a zebra striped top and dark jeans, and, disregarding the mask, she sported completely average clothing. Her hair arched around her head in hundreds of black ringlets, framing clear, flawless skin perfectly. The girl in question smiled at Dawn, and for some reason it gave off the comforting feeling of reassurance, as if everything was going to work out. Dawn felt her worry clear slightly.
"I would like to speak to Dawn alone, please." The girl requested, her voice steady and relaxing. "I want her untied so that I may examine her conscience." At that, a few murmurs of apprehension broke out, and this time the blonde did not silence them. She simply gazed back at the darker-skinned girl, as if trying to telepathically communicate something. A tall boy spoke up, for the first time that evening.
"We can't untie her." He argued. "We still don't know what she's capable of." He pointed out, and Dawn could feel the ice in his stare as he looked at her. "She was lying about her story and I'm not going to fall for it for a second, if you let her loose she's going to try to escape. And get the police.."
"Alan," The dark skinned girl began, and his eyes widened in disbelief at the leak of his real name. "This girl has no weapons on her, as you've all seen with your own eyes before. I am confident that she will not attack if she is freed, and even if she were to try, it would be nothing I could not handle." She looked around, challenging anyone else to refute her. "I will do it myself, if no one else wants to." The girl walked up to Dawn and reached for the rope on her wrists, but the blonde raised her hand and paused her movements.
"Stop." The blonde murmured, sighing, "I'll do it." She made quick work on unraveling the knot, and before long Dawn was lightly rubbing her wrists, thanking them both. Still, even though she could move freely now, Dawn was hesitant to stand up, so she remained in the chair.
"I need to be alone with her. These are personal matters and I will call you all back in once we are done."
"You better be right about this." The blonde said as everyone else slowly filed out through the door behind Dawn. "If you need help...just shout and we'll all come running." She continued to eye Dawn warily as she left, closing the door behind her with a heavy click.
Now remained just Dawn and the other girl, all alone together in the wide space. (Oh, but the husky still continued lounging in the corner.)
Now that the more intimidating people were away, Dawn felt her confidence slowly return. She glanced at the door from which they all left, assuming that that entrance led to a room deeper within the hideout. Using that logic, the door to escape was most likely to her right, and once the other person was distracted, Dawn planned to make a run for it.
"Now." The girl said, her back to Dawn. "My name is Rachel, but my friends call me Coco." She made her way to the table and sat in one of the chairs, smiling back at Dawn with an undistinguishable look in her eye. Rachel gestured to the other chair, and Dawn stood up completely, checking behind her just once more to make sure she was clear.
Before the girl could say another word, Dawn dashed towards the door, quick as lightning.
But, somehow, Rachel was quicker. Dawn tripped as something extended just below her knees, and she crashed to the floor. Dawn stayed on her stomach as Rachel stepped in front of her, smiling down and raising a curious eyebrow.
"Nice try, but there's no point in that. The door is locked." She reached for the handle, turning it and attempting to push the door open, but it didn't budge a bit. "See? You can try for yourself, if you don't believe me." Dawn got up, brushing herself off, and without a word she reached for the door and applied all her weight to it. She tried to brace herself against the floor, but even then her feet only slid back and it achieved nothing. Rachel was telling the truth: It really was locked. Dawn should have expected there to be no easy way out. She took a step back and looked back at Rachel, visibly nervous for what was to come next.
"Don't be afraid." Rachel comforted her. "I promise you will not be hurt by anyone tonight. I will not allow that." She was holding a long stick, which must have been what she used to somehow trip Dawn. Although how she was tripped, the girl didn't know, because they stood too far apart for Rachel to have gotten there so quickly, and simply throwing the stick was out of the question, so... just how had she done it?
Rachel held the stick upwards, somewhat similar to a shepherd wielding a staff, and guided Dawn to the table with a secure hand on her back.
"I assume you've met Lucky before." Rachel mused, glancing at the husky. The dog, as if knowing that it was being mentioned, happily ran up to her, licking her hands and legs. Dawn pet him, cooing at the way he tilted his head. Lucky then bounded away and took refuge in the corner, curling up onto a big plush dog bed that Dawn hadn't noticed before.
"First, let me just get rid of this silly thing. I don't believe I need it at the moment." Rachel reached up and took her mask off, revealing her full face in all its glorious beauty. Dawn stared at her wide-eyed, wondering just who Rachel was, and why she was so confident as to reveal her face. The raven warned Dawn, who was still caught up in staring at her face, "I'm going to examine your mind and heart. Try to remain still."
I guess I have no choice... Dawn concluded, sitting down next to Rachel thoughtfully. At least I don't feel super threatened by her. She's actually pretty nice. But...wait, what's she gonna do, again?
"I am a mystic. I have a special gift that allows me to peer into people's hearts and minds." Rachel deadpanned, her expression completely serious. "I wanted to talk with you alone so that I may develop a deeper understanding of your intentions. And so far, you have not disappointed me." She said cryptically.
Dawn bit her lip. "So you're a fortune teller...?" Rachel chuckled good-naturedly at her words.
"I cannot tell you specifically what lies in your future, nor if it contains good or bad fortune, but I can get very close glimpses of your past. And, by seeing your present, I can predict your possible future. So, if it makes you happy, you may place me under that category. Although, the only difference is I am very much authentic." Rachel carefully explained, and although Dawn was still very much confused, she stopped asking questions in fear of getting even more perplexed.
I don't really believe her... Dawn thought, but she didn't dare say it out loud. However, by the look on Rachel's face, Dawn almost felt like she had.
"You do not believe me." Rachel stated, not at all bothered by her distrust. "Perhaps this will change your mind." She reached forward and gently took Dawn's hand, turning it so that her palm faced the ceiling. "I'm going to read your palm. This should tell me all I need to know about your personal information." Dawn felt slightly alarmed at that, unsure if she felt comfortable with a stranger learning all her personal information, no matter how nice they seemed. The girl peered closely at Dawn's hand, tracing the lines and pondering something. All the other girl could do was wait awkwardly, wondering if Rachel was as legitimate as she said she was.
"Um..." Dawn began, but her words died at the back of her throat when Rachel spoke up just then.
"Your full name is Dawn Eloise Altan. You were born on May seventh, in the year two-thousand, which makes you seventeen years old. And also...you are afraid of cockroaches. Correct?" Rachel glanced up at her smugly, and Dawn's mouth hung open. She looked at her hand, checking to make sure that nothing was written there, and then looked back up in surprise.
"Y-Yeah..." Dawn affirmed, still not quite sure how Rachel perceived that from looking at her blank palm. "How did you know all that?"
"All answers will come eventually, I promise. Let's continue." Rachel delved back into Dawn's hand, and then began listing other curious subjects regarding her life. "You are a determined, strong-minded young woman. You stick to your morals and dislike hurting other people, which makes you a very reliable friend and an overall good person." The raven squinted a little harder. "You have two particular close friends which you value highly, and you all attend the same boarding school. You appreciate the small things that most people take for granted, and are naturally trusting-maybe even to the point of being naive. You are positive, although you have a tendency to be clumsy at times." Dawn snorted at that, nodding a bit. "And yet..." The girl continued on, apparently having even more to say. "...you are discontented; something troubles you. You are at war with yourself because you feel like you have nothing to give back to this world."
Dawn was silent at that. She was blown away from the accuracy of Rachel's words. Rachel let go of her palm and looked up, understanding in her eyes.
"Dawn. As I said before, the answers will all come eventually. Have faith in your future. There is big change coming, and, sooner than you think, your beliefs will be tested. Remember to stay true to who yourself, no matter what. This event marks the beginning of a journey." The girl's words made Dawn feel unsettled, and she furrowed her eyebrows, trying to understand.
"I don't understand... h-how are you doing this? What makes you so sure that's even true?"
"It is in your eyes. I can feel it, through my gift, as I've felt for awhile now. It has been a very long time since I've seen a soul quite as bright as yours."
"Oh..." Dawn whispered, staring back into Rachel's deep black eyes. "But..." she simply couldn't find the words to voice her thoughts. She had so many questions, but also so many doubts. Having a load like this dropped on her so unexpectedly, it was difficult to comprehend, especially given whatever ungodly time of night it was right about now. "I'm sorry, I just-"
"Oh, I suppose before you ask me what my secret is, I should return this to its rightful owner." Rachel retrieved something from her pocket and held it out to Dawn. It was a flat, small item, and upon closer inspection Dawn recognized it as her school ID, displaying all of her information, such as her blood type, gender, birthday, full name, and then some. Strange how Rachel happened to have it, it's almost as if-
Wait a minute.
"My...my ID?!" Dawn blurted out. "You had it?! No wonder you knew all that stuff, you...you..." she angrily searched for the right word. "Liar!" Rachel burst into laughter, a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. There was still a glimmer of something unreadable in her eyes.
"I apologize, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity!"
Dawn glared at her in embarrassment, angry at herself for actually believing in the girl's words.
"So where's my other stuff? My phone, my wallet, my bag...Do you have all that, too?" Dawn accused, and Rachel shook her head, still quietly giggling.
"Your items are all safe in your bag, which is in the other room."
"Great." Dawn fumed sarcastically, roughly clutching her ID. She looked back down at her school photo. Then, after a few seconds of rereading all of the information on her card, another thought occurred to Dawn.
This still doesn't explain how she knew all the other stuff...like my fear of cockroaches, my personality, my friends...
"Wait...Rachel, how did you know...?" Dawn looked up only to find that the seat beside her was now empty. The girl's head whipped around to spot Rachel standing by the door, all the way across the room. How did she get there so fast?
"I'll leave that up to your imagination. You're pretty creative. It's just all about the mind." Rachel praised, seemingly unaware of the pure shock radiating from the other side of the room. "Also, you may call me Coco." She reached for the doorknob
Although now there were even more things on her mind, one thing stuck out to Dawn the most.
"Wait, aren't they gonna get angry because of your mask...?" She reminded Coco, surprising herself by being able to forget her anger so quickly.
Coco smiled mysteriously at her, appearing unbothered by her mistake.
"Of course! It would have been terrible if they found out I showed you my face. Thanks for reminding me." Coco winked, slipping the white mask back on. The husky padded up to her and the girl lovingly pet its head, earning a soft, happy bark. "This'll be our little secret. I promise everything that has been said between us will remain confidential. Oh, aside from what's necessary to convince the others that you are who you say you are, though."
"Thank you, too." Dawn echoed, standing up and stuffing the ID into her pocket. "I'm still not sure where you learned some of that from..." she made another disturbed face. "but I appreciate what you've done to help me, Coco." Dawn smiled, and Coco grinned back at her. She felt a little closer to the girl than she had been before. "I just...have so many more questions about the Dreamers." Dawn confessed, idly playing with her fingers.
"I know. Just be patient. Answers may not come at once, or all at the same time, but they will find you. Remember that you are not the one in charge; fate controls all, and it will never let you down." Coco looked back at her. "I'm letting the others back in...be warned." Dawn did not have time to comprehend the girl's mysterious words. She braced herself as the door opened, and at once the room became flooded with silent cloaked figures and white masks.
She took a few steps back and sat back down, feeling a familiar spike of anxiety at the sight of the Dreamers all in one room.
"How was it?" Eager to receive news, the blonde approached Coco as soon as she spotted her, and the darker-skinned girl smiled in satisfaction.
"It went very well. Just as I'd hoped." She said to the blonde, who nodded comprehensively, and then turned to address the entire room. "Everyone, I hereby give Dawn my word of approval. She is not what I know you are all suspicious of her to be; she has never had anything to do with us. So, to fix our problem, I'm proposing a new solution to dealing with trespassers," Coco went on to explain. "You all trust me to some degree, and I am asking you all to rely on that trust. I suggest that after my personal examination of the person in question, we should let them go with no violent precautions. This method is what we need to use today, with Dawn."
Directly following her announcement, arguing broke out in the room. Most members automatically sided with Coco, those who were close with her and believed in her judgment, but a select few were unwilling to take the risks involved in the new method.
"No, absolutely not! She is going to get us all thrown in jail!" Yelled the girl with black hair from Dawn's first encounter.
"After everything we've been through, you still don't trust Coco?" Another girl called back at her, and the two were quickly absorbed in a heated challenge of opinions.
"Yeah, but if she's somehow related to what happened those years ago..." A barely audible sentence brushed Dawn's ears.
"It would be so much easier if we just...sold her, or something!" Dawn overheard someone else shout in exasperation, and she stiffened at the thought. "You know, be done with it."
"Do you even have a heart?!"
"You both need to chill! What we really should be deciding is who's gonna eat the leftover pizza!"
"We should try a lie detector test on the girl, and then make her promise to never tell."
"Those things don't work! She'd obviously just steady her heartbeat and then talk later!"
"Actually, the tests are programmed to detect even the slightest irregular-" The rest of their argument was drowned out, because it developed into a conversation about lie detectors and Dawn wasn't interested in that at the moment.
"Quiet..." The blonde girl growled through gritted teeth, but it came out as a whisper, lost in the sea of louder voices. She cleared her throat, and the person next to her was smart enough to cover her ears. "I SAID QUIET!" Her voice exploded through the room like a bomb, destroying all other sounds. It cut through everything else so well, even Dawn was a little impressed, as well as horribly startled. Breathing deeply, the blonde cooled down a bit. She really did have a habit of yelling, but Dawn supposed it was because the Dreamers had a habit of breaking into conversation. Dawn briefly wondered if the true leader handled them better than this temporary one.
"Alright." The girl spoke once she stabilized her composure. "Clearly, because none of us can come to a simple agreement, we're going to have to contact..." She paused when she remembered Dawn's presence in the room, and seemed to change her words. "I'm going to contact him through the emergency line. This is too important of a decision to make without his input. Any complaints?" The girl slowly surveyed the room, and not a single soul moved. "It's about time." She scoffed and reached into her back pocket, bringing a shiny phone into view.
She's talking about their leader. Dawn thought. This really is a big deal for them... Knowing that made the situation that she was still in ten times more nerve-racking.
After a few seconds of tapping, the blonde brought the phone to her ear, stepping away from the others and silently motioning for them to all move back. Strangely in sync, the entire party took three respectful steps towards the opposite wall. (So they really did follow orders, then.) Everyone, including Dawn and Coco, was dead silent.
After approximately ten seconds, recognition bloomed on the blonde's straight face, and it was clear that someone had just picked up on the other line.
"We have a problem...." The girl began, and she walked over to the door and left the room, desiring a more private location. They all waited in a thick cloud of anticipation, Dawn surrounded by it most of all, and during that time all eyes were on the hazel-haired teenager, the one person that didn't belong. She looked beside her at Coco for reassurance, and the girl gave her a small smile, but said nothing, gripping the staff tightly. Time passed, perhaps an hour, perhaps only five minutes, but whatever the correct measurement was, it sure felt like an eternity of sitting in uncomfortable silence. Dawn considered herself to be a patient girl. She could wait for test results, or grades, or replies to risky text messages, but this? Waiting patiently for a complete stranger to decide whether you would continue living or not - that was asking too much of Dawn. This pregnant silence was killing her. She stared at the floor for the whole of it, her arms wrapped around herself for some sense of security.
Everyone seemed to jolt when the door finally opened and the blonde returned. Dawn stared at her, emotions swirling, thoughts jumbling, body trembling, eyes unblinking.
"He said..." The blonde began, and a few people leaned forward. Dawn could hear her heart pounding in her ears, the blood rushing all throughout her body. Whatever this girl said next was what determined Dawn's fate. "to trust Coco and let the girl go."
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