Dreamwalkers: The Awakening

CHAPTER 11

I set the journal down on my lap. The story is heartbreaking. I don't want to experience William's profound sadness and loss. I know they'll never wake up. They're lost and he'll never find them.

"You okay over there?" Zoë asks from the driver's seat. Overly affected by the story in the journal, I can't offer more than a shake of my head.

As we near Portland, the traffic picks up again. "Time for a pit stop," she announces. "We need gas." She exits the highway and turns into a large truck stop.

"I'm gonna get snacks and drinks. Anything in particular you'd like?" I ask her as I step out of the Jeep.

"Chamomile tea, please."

As I head toward the coffee shop, I'm taken aback by a streak of bitter cold hidden in the wind. It sends a chill through my body, prompting me to zip my jacket and slip my hands inside my pockets.

The walk to the door seems longer than I'd thought. Every step I take feels like I'm getting further away instead of closer, as if the parking lot is growing and stretching. My legs begin to feel heavy, almost impossible to move. The wind grows stronger with each passing second, roaring over my ears as it whips my hair around me.

I turn around, contemplating heading back to the car, only to find a completely deserted truck stop. Zoë would never leave me. How could this have happened? It hasn't been more than just a few seconds since I left the car.

The wind stops, bringing the buzz of the overhead fluorescent lights to the foreground. With a rush to my steps, I move toward the store, seeking safety within its confines.

Muffled screams flood my ears as they break the eerie silence, stopping me dead in my tracks. I hesitate for a second before changing my course and heading to where the scream came from.

Rounding the corner of the building, my heart drops when I see Zoë in the arms of the dark walker. Her wrists are bound tightly together and her arms restrained to her chest. One of the dark walker's gloved hands covers her mouth and the other holds the blade of a hunting knife to her throat. He looks into my eyes and smiles wickedly. "Just the girl I was looking for."

I'm frozen with fear, my heart thrumming at top speed, propelling blood through my veins with the force of a waterfall. My mind is a mess of racing thoughts, scouring my subconscious for the required information on how to free us from this situation.

"Let her go," I command not sounding at all frightening.

He smirks. "I'll make a deal with you. We can trade." His face transforms and suddenly, it's not the dark walker holding Zoë hostage. It's Charlie. "Give yourself up and she goes free."

A gasp escapes me when his face changes. Is this how I've been seeing Charlie? How does the dark walker even know about him? Playing with my emotions, he begs, "come with me, Emma. I need you. Please."

"No," I say in a huff of air. "This isn't real."

Like a bolt of lightning it hits me, I must have fallen asleep. Nothing in the past few minutes has been normal. I must be dreaming. The stress of this evening must have been weighing heavily on me—so heavily that I couldn't even recognize a dream.

A voice reverberates in my ear, calling my name in long, drawn out letters. It gets louder and louder and I appear to be the only one who can hear it. Finally, it sounds normal, like someone standing right next to me. "Emma!"

I jolt awake. The Jeep is pulled onto the shoulder of the highway. Zoë, frantically calls my name as she shakes me. "Emma! My God, are you alright?"