The Dreamer

Chapter 12

“…Travis! Travis! Wake up!”

            His eyes jerked open, searching for the voice. Sitting up quickly, he stared into the face of his sister, Britt.

            “Travis! Are you all right? What happened?” Britt asked.

            Not knowing what to think, what to do, he focused on calming his breathing. He looked around, nervous, scared, cautious.

            “Am I…?” Travis didn’t finish. Was he still dreaming? He pinched himself, the classic test to see if you were still dreaming. When he only felt pain, his eyes went back to Britt, still scared.

            “What happened to you?” Britt sat next to him on the couch.

            “It was a dream? It was a dream…only a dream.” His thoughts were scrambling to make sense of what just occurred.

            “What was just a dream? What did you dream? You’re sweating and panting!” She got up to pour him a glass of water.

            “It was a terrible dream, a horrific dream.”

            As Britt returned, she replied, “What happened?”

            Travis was about to tell her, as he had experienced it all in deadly clarity, when it began to rapidly slip away. He tried to grasp it mentally, to hold on to anything, but it slipped right through like water through his fingers.

            “It was…” Travis began, but no words came. The terrifying memories left in a moment, leaving him with nothing to remember.

            “Yes?” Britt sat down again.

            “I just…I just had it, and now, now it’s gone,” Travis answered with both disappointment and happiness. He was relieved he wouldn’t have to fight against those thoughts anymore. Having to go through those detailed memories again would have been torture. Yet a part of him was angered that he couldn’t remember. He knew the reason he had the nightmare. It was because of the Fallen Angel, the “thing” that indwelled him. Of that he had no doubt. While he was in the moment of the dream, he knew for sure this was the result of his decision with the Fallen Angel, as he called himself. However, not being able to remember it bothered him. Travis knew something bad had happened, but couldn’t quite remember what. In some ways, that feeling was worse than actually knowing what occurred. At least then he would be at a relative peace because he wouldn’t be worrying about it. Instead he was left with a nagging sense of worry and relief, both tugging at his mind.

            “So you don’t remember anything?”

            Travis shook his head. “No, I don’t. While I was sleeping, everything happened in intense detail and it was disturbing, but now I have no idea.”

            “Oh…” Britt was silent. Travis didn’t say anything either.

            The silence lingered.

            “How were classes?” Travis broke the still.

            “They were fine. Did you pick up your prescription?”

            That reminded him. “Yes, I got them. I got a ride home thought because I was feeling weird while at the pharmacy.” Travis reached to the ground where he had dropped the bottle of pills when he had fallen asleep.

            “What time did you leave for classes this morning?” Travis asked.

            “Around 7:30, why?”