Asleep (Completed)

Chapter Eight

I didn't wake up really. I just opened my eyes and I was back to the beginning. I had the familiar curly black hair from my first dream and I felt the same even. I sat up in my bed and looked over to see Luke. He was still mostly nude but I didn't mind. I was clothed and that's all that matters. I smiled brightly and poked his bare shoulder but nothing happened. I shook him by his bicep but nothing happened. He was dead. I jumped off the bed and ran around the perimeter of the bed. He was definitely dead. Actually, I checked his pulse and he was asleep. He's breathing and his heart is beating but he can't wake up. Maybe I'm somewhere like this. Maybe I'm on a bed somewhere, asleep and unable to wake up. I didn't die in my last dream though which makes me suspicious.
I decided to leave Luke alone and look around the room. It was mostly white and blue like in the dream. It was nice and the window had a great view. The apartment wasn't cheap but it was worth every penny for sure. Especially with Luke here, it wasn't like I was paying the rent alone.
I studied the window for a minute. It was night time outside so maybe Luke is just a heavy sleeper!
No he's not! Something's wrong with him!
I looked around the room to see the ubiquitous lamps. There was the same dull lamp four times around the room. Nothing about them changed. Not the position, not the light bulb, not even the way the cord curved while it traveled to the outlet. It was quite odd but I decided it wasn't a big deal.
I walked out of the bedroom and to the kitchen. It was clean but there was a pizza box with cold pizza in it from a few nights before the dream happened. I looked inside the fridge and there was nothing. Not even a crumb or a pittance of food at all. I was too indisposed to check around the rest of the apartment. I knew nothing would happen in the bathroom, closet, or dresser so I decided not to check there.
I walked back to Luke. He had not moved at all. I looked in the mirror behind me and noticed I really did look exactly the same as in the first dream. Perhaps this was the real world.
I walked back to the kitchen where the front door was and grabbed my brown jacket. It looked like lizard skin but it was obviously fake. I gripped the front door and began to turn the knob. I think the first place I'll go to is the hospital to see if Allandra made it. I hope she did after all my toiling but there's no way I should get my hopes up. I walked out the door and was astonished at what I saw. The door closed shut behind me and I couldn't open it back up.
It was the food court for the starship that I was the pilot of. I looked around at the familiar area and smiled brightly.
I remember the lunch ladies and my horrendous boss but the whole room was empty.
I saw Jo sitting at our table in the corner. I remember when everyone ignored her, and I remember when she asked to sit at a different table. As mentioned earlier, I'm not sure how I feel about her. I feel strongly for her but more than that. I was going to take care of her and make her happy. I wanted her to feel loved and feel like she meant something, but that all sounds an awful lot like I'd be her girlfriend more than a friend.
I walked over to Jo and sat next to her. It made me tear up to see her. I loved seeing her naturally platinum blonde hair flow down her back in a beautiful way. My hair was ginger at the moment and looked sort of odd so I was definitely jealous. Jo wore her usual, a green shirt and black skinny jeans. She looked nice but she was asleep like Luke. I checked her breathing and her pulse, both were fine. I tried waking her up by poking her but nothing. She just sat in the chair and slept; she was leaning over the table and resting herself there.
I felt like crying my eyes out. I remember her death very clearly when I really thought about it. She was smiling when she died. She didn't die happy, I assume, but she died with forgiveness. She forgave my sin and it was beautiful. If only I could wake her up.
I decided I needed to examine the situation better. I carefully picked her limp body up and placed her on the table. She still didn't wake up and didn't even twitch. Her body remained still but that was okay. At least I could examine her better.
Eventually, I realized that she's in a sort of coma state but I'm sure I could wake her with enough force.
I didnt want to do it but I slapped her across the face.
I sort of felt the slap also and my headaches came back, along with the white light.
She made a soft moaning sound and I gasped in excitement. She was being faced with reality in a physical way which made her start to wake up. It wasn't enough though. I would need a lot more than that and I'm not sure slapping her would work. I didn't want to punch or kick her though.
After a while of trying other things and failing miserably I decided it wasn't worth it
I climbed off the lunch table and looked around the room. It was so quiet here that it made me worry.
I walked over to the door that leads to the kitchen and took in a deep breath. My hand turned the knob and I stepped through the door.
Now I was back to the room where we were held prisoners on the pirate ship. I came in through the bathroom apparently which is odd but it still worked. Orchid was on her bed sleeping as the rest did. Her black hair was actually in a ponytail and her pale face was exposed. I always told her to put spray tan on but she never listened. She wore a black shirt with a black skirt. Black fish net tights covered her legs.
"Orchid?"
No response.
I sighed deeply and walked over to her. I sat down next to her and nudged her roughly. She didn't fidget like Jo did when I tried to hit her. She was more problematic and wouldn't cooperate. I did get her to twitch though but it was strange. I twitched the same way.
I studied her some more and but saw no actual difference between Jo and her. Orchid seemed normally asleep and just wouldn't wake up. I sighed and looked around the room. It was dull like I remember and pretty empty. Orchid was sleeping on the bottom bunk of the whole bed which was odd since she always slept on the top one.
I walked out of the bedroom to the hallway that connected the two bedrooms. When I walked to the other bedroom there was no one there at all, and the door to the same bathroom was still shut. The whole room seemed still like everything else in this dream. The wooden walls didn't even creak under the pressure of the water which was strange. Was the ship even in water? It was a weird dream so maybe it's just an illusion. The whole thing seemed too weird for me and I decided to go back to the hallway. The door out was there, duller than ever. I didn't want to leave behind Orchid. I didn't want to see sleeping Thomas either. He was innocent in the whole dream so he deserves to be left alone.
Then again, everyone could be a figment of my imagination. Who's to say all these people aren't just perfect people I imagined? It would make sense and it would also explain why I have such a strong emotional attachment to them.
I faced the door out and took a deep breath in. I harshly turned the knob and walked through. This time, I got a headache while walking through the door. It was really strong and I almost couldn't stand it. Literally, I could barely stand!
I appeared in a normal looking hospital room that looked exactly like the one where Thomas was. Coincidentally, Thomas was there and he was sleeping peacefully as always. His braid was still there and his hippy look still cheered me up. I remember him talking about having a girlfriend. I was happy he did because he deserved to be happy with her. The contraptions around him were all off though and I thought it would be cool to have a mini study session.
I tried turning on the heartbeat sensor but it sort of hurt, as if my dream didn't want me to. I gave up on it eventually and turned on the other life scanning machines. Those machines told me how his blood is holding up and what's wrong with him. Using the knowledge from my first dream, I determined that he's just in a state of coma just like the rest. I looked around for something to shock him with but there was basically nothing.
After a while I just gave up and looked around the room for any other escape than the main door. There was a window.
I tried to open the window and it did work. Outside was just the usual. There was a blue sky and a road. The whole city seemed empty and tired. Wind howled and hissed through the window and I sighed. I technically could just through the window and get this all over with but why would I? I could see Burt, my true love, once more.
I brought my head back into the room and looked over at Thomas. His robe was a different color than what I remember in the dream. It was purple when I was freaking about the virus killing humanity. Now his robe is blue.
It probably wasn't something to stress about though.
I ran my fingers through my short hair and sighed.
"This is stupid. When will my nightmares end?"
I walked through the door that would usually lead to hallway.
I ended up in the parking lot where I was a zombie. It was pretty empty in the parking lot. Creepers still covers all of the entrances and there were cracks where there should be.
I looked down at my hands to see that I was a zombie once more. My skin peeled off at certain points and seemed to flake off like glue would one a child's fingers. My skin was pale and almost purple.
I couldn't see Donovan at first. The parking lot was completely empty. But when I started walking around and really studying the place I saw the little child on the floor. I ran up to him and hugged him tightly. I remember what Burt did to me over this kid.
I studied Don's body and noticed that his bullet wound was still there, just not bleeding. He seemed completely alive and asleep. It was odd. You'd think there was a purpose to this but I wasn't seeing it yet. This was a form of torture in a way. There was nothing for me to do except mourn for all of my losses. Yet, the funny part is that I haven't cried in this dream yet. These weren't losses I faced. This was life.
Life was about death and losing others. I'm not sure if that's how it works in real life but I know that in my world people are constantly dying. I've learned my lesson about what's been happening. I learned not to love anybody because you'll just end up losing them.
In fact, I smiled when I saw Don's fair hair. I grinned when I saw his cute little tan jacket. I giggled when I hugged him. He was here and that's all that mattered. I was given a chance to properly say goodbye. I didn't do this for the rest yet so I would do it here.
I started from the beginning. I stood up, walked over to the ledge of the parking lot, sat down with my legs dangling in the breeze, and spoke.
"Luke, I'm sorry you had to die because of Burt. It wasn't fair. I almost cured the virus though. You should be proud to know that your girlfriend still has feelings for you..."
I didn't want to continue because I felt myself getting teary eyed.
"Jo... Oh, gosh, what should I say for you? I cared about you a lot and I knew you didn't deserve death in such an unnatural way. I could've saved you but I wasn't thinking. If I just kept you hid..." I paused to sniffle and wipe a tear away, "If I saved you, I would've hugged you and told you that you mattered. I would've gladly sacrificed myself for you..."
I took in a deep breath and looked down at the ground below me. I couldn't believe it but I was thinking about jumping off. My nightmares would be over and the struggle would be along with it. The pain and sorrow would be gone and I would be able to rest peacefully.
That wasn't fair for the brave souls that died though, so I refrained from jumping.
"Orchid, you were the best sister ever, I swear. You were so funny and light hearted. You were flirty with all of the boys and it was so hilarious when you actually got them to fall for you! You even managed to get Burt on your side and attract him with your ways. I wish I had your mystical powers but I suppose I'm just not good enough for them."
I wiped away more tears from my dry face.
"Thomas, gee I was an ass to you. I didn't mean to force you to give me to infection but it was sort of necessary. It was a good thing that I managed to create an antidote at the last second!"
I stopped for about a minute and then continued. This was a lot more difficult than I anticipated.
"Don..."
I looked over and slowly stood up. I sniffled loudly and ran over to the little kid, tripping on myself occasionally.
"Don, I'm so sorry that I left you to die. You were a great kid and I'm so ashamed of myself!" I cried out and hugged him tightly.
I couldn't take much more of this.
I took in deep breaths and used his shirt as a way to wipe the tears from my face. I stood up, leaving him on the floor, and walked away.
I walked to the main entrance where the most creepers were. I ran through the vines and ended up in the barn.
The barn looked the same as how I left it. There were many hammocks slowly swinging in the breeze and there was nothing out of place. The couch was in the same position as well as the pillows. The bar had the same amount of beers too.
Speaking of beers, I walked over to the box of beers we always kept and took one. Now there was four left instead of five. I cracked open the bottle and chugged the alcoholic beverage.
Then, I noticed Drake on the floor. I sighed and placed my bottle of beer on the counter and walked over to him. He looked safe and he smiled as he slept. That's all that mattered. At least he was happy. I studied his body and he seemed to still have the stab wound but it was mostly healed. Perhaps he was in heaven, this was his heaven. He was sleeping in the barn and dreaming about whatever he wanted. That seems like a perfect idea for heaven if you ask me.
While spending my time with Drake I prepared a speech for him too.
"Drake, I'm so sorry you died! I tried to save you and all.. Ugh, and you died knowing that your father cheated on your mother..." I growled and then stood up.
I was still angry at Burt for...being himself.
After a while of finishing my beer and just walking around I decided to leave the barn. I had no business there after apologizing to Drake. The whole place reminded me of how Burt was a jerk. I remembered how Bunny looked at him and how he looked back. I can remember how his eyebrows perked and how he stood taller. He never did any of that for me.
I sighed and started singing the only song I knew. It was about being lonely and sad which is what I was. I was so lonely now. All I was doing was visiting the dead.
I walked out of the large barn doors and ended up where I woke up in the next dream.
The large room where I woke up next to thirty other people was empty. There was no one there, not even Burt. That was a shame because I really wanted to kick him in the crotch.
I looked around at the wooden walls and beige everything else. The floors were beige, the chairs were beige, and even he only painting there was beige. It was funny to think that I was in England right now with a war happening outside supposedly. There was probably no one outside to begin with. Maybe my dreams were fake. Maybe I couldn't die because everything and everyone were fake. I decided not to think about it too much and just walked up the stairs to where Burt and I talked that one morning.
He was there, just laying on the floor. He slept peacefully and didn't move. He was exactly like the others.
I walked up to him very slowly, counting three breaths between each step, and then poked him.
I was surprised to see him actually move and twitch a bit.
I giggled a bit and shook him like crazy. He woke up and growled.
"What do you want? I'm trying to-"
I stopped him with a huge hug. I could feel the warmth coming from his chest. I could feel his pointy shoulders and his muscular biceps. He was alive but how? Had he survived the bullet wound from the soldier that shot him?
"Burt, you're alive! How?!"
"Becky, get off...!" he laughed and shoved me away.
I chuckled and studied him. His beard was even the same length, only a slight stubble. His hair was also the same length. He even looked the same completely.
"Burt, you died!"
"No, I can't die. I have a greater purpose for you," he mumbled and his expression turned dark.
His eyes turned a bright white like in my headaches. I could feel his hands on my shoulders but he wasn't touching me.
With the wave of his hand, I was launched at the wall and pinned against it. My limbs were spread out and seemed to be chained by something invisible.
He walked up to me and growled like a dog. His eyes only got brighter until they blinded me. I groaned and struggled against his power. He slowly got up and walked over to me.
His hand was laid on top of my cheek and he started at my eyes.
"Becky, you wanted to know what real life is like? People die all the time. You're dying, or you will be. You're in a coma," he explained and I listened attently to what he said.
I couldn't believe something so strange.
"Then, how am I having these dreams? You can't be real," I replied.
"Your mind is trying to keep you alive as long as possible. It's torturing you so you'll keep fighting," he fluidly said.
"I'm still Burt but you won't want me to be," he sighed and his eyes calmed down.
He had his nice dark eyes again and I felt relaxed. He smiled and sat down on the ground a few feet away from me.
"I have a family in real life. I have a wife and kids. I'm a mechanic and a doctor. I'm very skilled and happy. You should be happy too. I'm letting your suffering end. Soon, you'll be like the others. You'll be able to see your friends and be happy with them. And remember, I am sorry."
He was speaking nonsense to me and I just wanted to slap him. I tried to get to him to release me but he refused. He kept saying it wasn't time yet and I would ask why. The same conversation happened a million times it felt like.
Eventually, I calmed down and looked around the room. There was a pot of flowers on a bedside table. I don't remember that being there at all and I don't remember knowing that flowers could looked so pretty. The flowers were a beautiful deep red and they were roses but they seemed to be dying a bit. They probably just needed water or something like that.
"If you're going to be an ass, could you at least water the flowers?" I asked and he shrugged. He reached into her jacket to find the bottle of water that I poured over his wound. It was full of water again somehow.
He poured some water of the roses and they all died.
"They were like you. They were on the brink of dying and when given another chance to live they'll die anyways."
I sighed at such a weird metaphor. I wasn't in the mood for his parts of speech so I just started struggling a bit.
"I'll let you go soon, I promise, just calm down. It's not time."
"You keep saying it's not time. What does that even mean?!" I shouted loudly and cried a bit.
Tears fell from my eyes and dripped onto the ground. I was being held captive by the man I loved after I saved him. My headaches started coming back also. I felt horrible at that moment.
Suddenly, I was let down and I smiled. I could move around and breath properly. I felt a lot better when I could move around.
"Becky, I want you to know that I'm sorry for everything I've done and I'm sorry for doing this. I have to pull the plug on you, there's just no way you'll live..." he mumbled and started approaching me.
The headaches came back to me in the form of actual pain I could feel my lungs blistering and my blood boiling. I was trying hard to stay standing but the only thing that held me up eventually was Burt's hands on my cheeks. He was crying as well as me. He stared at my eyes for a moment and before I could reach forward to kiss him or hug him my eyes closed.
I could see total darkness for the first time ever. I could enjoy the intense fright of being all alone. I loved it. I loved knowing that it was over. I loved knowing that I didn't have to run away from myself anymore. I had realized that this whole time I was just trying to stop my imagination. I was trying to stop having everyone die and it was killing me in return. I don't even know who I am yet but I know I'm Becky and I know it's over. I cried but only from happiness and fright. I wasn't sad to leave, I was ecstatic about it. I was relieved that I was dying but not because of Burt. Why was he here? Why couldn't it have been Jo? I really wanted to see Jo alive more than Burt I think. Don't get me wrong, I love Burt still, but Jo didn't cheat on me at least
Oops, I'm suppose to let that go... Anyways...
I could see all of their souls in bloody cages of bones and flesh. I had sinned too much and now I was with the others in hell. They had all done bad things.
Luke had probably cheated on other girls in his life and possibly me. He sat in a large cage all alone and cried out sadly.
Jo was in a very small cage, forced to hug her own knees. The bars jabbed into her skin and gave her large cuts. She had probably fought back to the ones who once fought her as a sin.
Orchid was in a heart shaped cell and we all know what she was in hell for. Many things...
I was surprised why Thomas or Don were in cages.
Blake was the only one not in a cage. He was chained to a large wall of flesh and dead bodies though.
Then, my vision of where I was heade turned into white light. I saw Burt's face once more and felt his nice lips against mine. I would die happy.
My eyes closed once more as I slipped away. I smiled widely because my suffering was over.
And then I never woke up.