I gasped. How did Aura know about the nightmares! And why did the name Rumridge sound so familiar.
"I think so," I replied quietly.
Aura just stared in shock.
"How close?" She breathed.
"Excuse me?"
"How far into the dream are you," she managed to spit out, "how close are you to being eaten... Alive."
I gulped. She wasn't crazy. Just last night I had the dream with the beast saying dinner time.
"I think I'm pretty close," I mumbled, frightened.
"How close?" She repeated.
"Maybe a couple of nights. She just said it was dinner time" I explained.
Aura quickly grabbed my arm and escorted me to a back room.
"YOU MUST NOT SLEEP TONIGHT!" She demanded.
"Why not?" I asked, although I half knew the answer.
"The dream, the nightmare, will grow." She paused, "I'm sorry for yelling but I need to make this clear. If you die in that world... Your not going to wake up in this one."
I put my hand over my mouth and started breathing slowly.
"So it's a real place?" I asked.
"More than you know," she said grimly.
"How do you know?" I said curiously, "How do you know anything about Rumridge."
"My sister was like you, a gentling" she started.
"A gentling? What is a gentling? I asked.
"It's complicated, but basically their people chosen by the universe to fix lands in need of help by experiencing them at there worst so they are motivated to fix them. It used to be a choice, and the nightmares would subside if the gentling wasn't interested but soon they all quit and the universe made sure gentling's experienced the nightmares until they fixed, or destroyed, the harmful land. Some end badly."
"But why me?" I questioned.
"Gentling's are very similar to humans, except you can travel between worlds at will." She said, "gentling's are placed on earth, not born here."
"So your telling me I'm an alien." I asked raising my eyebrows.
Aura laughed. "Anyway my sister, not blood of course as I'm human, was having the same dream about Rumridge about 7 year ago. She started telling me about them and then one day she never woke up. I guess you were chosen to complete her mission."
"I'm so sorry," I said, reaching out my hand to her shoulder.
"Don't be, it's not your fault."
"So what exactly is my mission?"
"Simple. Travel to Rumridge and kill the beast, which will destroy that whole world."
"Any idea how to do this?"
"Not one," she said sadly.
