"AGH!"
I shoot awake.
My entire body jerks upright as air floods violently into my lungs. For a moment I can't even breathe properly. My heart pounds so hard it feels like it's trying to punch its way out of my chest.
Shapes slowly come into focus around me. The same cabin. The same bed I'm lying in.
I'm back…
I take several deep breaths as I look around the room.
Kai is sitting in a chair near the center of the room. Isabella is staring down at me with wide eyes.
They both look… tense. Way too tense. Almost like they're waiting for something.
Isabella's hands are slightly raised, like she doesn't know whether to reach out or pull away.
Kai's posture is stiff, his usual relaxed attitude gone.
They're looking at me like I'm about to explode screaming.
What's going on? Why are they staring at me like that?
That's when I realize.
Lena is standing near Blair.
Close enough to grab her if she needs to.
Blair is sitting upright on her bed, one hand gripping the side of her head. Her eyes are fixed on the foot of the bed. They aren't moving or blinking.
- Isabella: "She… She woke up screaming. It was completely different from how Lena and Kai returned. She looked tormented."
"…"
Blair looks… broken.
There's fear all over her face.
I don't know what to say. And for some reason, that only makes me angrier.
Then her eyes lift, landing on me. And something changes in them.
She freezes, her expression tightening. Like she's just seen a monster.
- Kai: "Honestly, I was kinda scared you'd do the same!"
He lets out a little chuckle. It dies almost instantly.
Suddenly, Blair's voice cuts through the air.
- Blair: "Ayden…"
Concern and fear fill it.
My eyes snap over to her.
- Blair: "You… You said we killed you."
I grit my teeth.
Of course she remembered that part.
I avert my gaze to the floor.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
It's the only lie I can think of.
Blair doesn't answer right away.
I can feel her eyes still on me.
- Blair: "You look like you do."
I don't respond.
Because there's no response that would get me out of this.
Silence fills the room, with Kai eventually breaking it.
- Kai: "Sooooo... What happened?"
- Blair: "Nothing."
She shuts him down immediately. Not taking her eyes off of me.
I decide to follow her example and shift the topic of discussion.
"How's Christy doing?"
- Lena: "Same as before. What do you plan to do?"
Same as before. Still trapped and useless. Something I have to fix.
Of course.
The same problem.
Again.
No one else does anything.
No one else even understands what's happening.
And somehow, I'm the one they question.
"I'm going to enter her dream."
- Kai: "Now?!"
"Right now."
- Isabella: "You really need to rest Ayden."
"I'm fine..."
- Lena: "You don't look so good..."
"I said I'm fine!"
My voice echoes through the cabin as I slam my fist into the cushion beneath me. A dull thud echoes through the wooden frame. Pain shoots through my knuckles.
The room goes completely still.
Lena flinches first. Almost like a cat getting yelled at. Isabella takes a small step back away from me, like she wasn't expecting the outburst. Even Kai leans away slightly in his chair, raising his hands a little in surrender.
The only person who doesn't move is Blair.
But she doesn't look the same. She's staring at me.
Just… watching.
Like she's trying to understand what I am.
My breathing slowly steadies as the adrenaline fades from my chest.
"I-"
I stop myself before apologizing.
What am I trying to apologize for? Ever since the start they've been sticking their noses in my business. What's it to them anyway?
I sit there staring at my feet, feeling conflicted.
For a moment, it feels like I'm not in my own body.
Like I'm somewhere above myself, looking down.
Watching.
Seeing the way I'm hunched over. The way my hands won't stop shaking. The way I almost apologized for something that wasn't even my fault.
Pathetic. This is why I hate you… You spineless bastard.
The silence stretches for a few seconds.
Then Kai clears his throat awkwardly.
- Kai: "Right… okay."
He scratches the back of his head.
- Kai: "So we're just gonna pretend that didn't happen?"
No one answers him.
I look down at my hands.
They're still shaking slightly.
So that's why…
Why I wasn't allowed to say anything. Why he stopped me.
This.
This is what happens.
They don't understand.
They never will.
All it does is make things worse. Makes me look insane. Makes them afraid.
My fingers curl slowly into my palms.
Fine. Then I won't say it again. Not to them. Not to anyone. I'll deal with it myself. Like everything else.
I stare down at my hands.
Never again.
I realize sitting here isn't going to change anything. It doesn't even make the shaking in my body or the festering headache go away. Maybe a byproduct of using Soul Touch so many times?
Whatever. Screw this. I want out of here. Now.
I get up and step toward Christy's bed.
Her face is pale.
Sweat beads across her forehead as her body twitches slightly in the grip of whatever nightmare she's trapped in.
I reach toward her hand.
Then hesitate.
For a moment my hand just hangs there.
Everything flashes in my mind. The chaos. The blood. Everyone blaming me. Her standing in front of me.
Her eyes locked on mine like she had already decided.
"We can't risk it."
No hesitation or doubt.
Then dying. Again.
My jaw tightens.
…And now I'm the one saving her.
I shake my head and swallow hard.
Just force it down. Focus. Finish this. Get out of here. For Nia.
I place my hand on Christy's wrist.
Soul Touch.
The world disappears and reforms around me within a fraction of a second.
White.
Endless.
Looking around, there's nothing.
No walls. No sky. No ground. Just a blank expanse stretching in every direction. And silence.
I'm standing in it.
Looking around, I notice something.
The endless nothingness that surrounds me feels reminiscent of somewhere I've been before. Specifically, the place I met Alice.
"…Again?"
My voice feels swallowed the moment it leaves my mouth.
No. This is different. There's no fog. Alice isn't here either. Something's not right…
Suddenly, a voice calls out to me.
- ???: "Ayden?"
I immediately recognize the voice, turning to face the owner.
"Christy..."
Isabella's POV:
Ayden falls onto the ground before any of us can reach him. For a while, no one says anything. Almost like his outburst earlier caused us all to lose our voices.
The only sound is the quiet creak of the cabin settling and Kai shifting beside him, like he's deciding whether to touch him again or not.
I can't stop staring at him.
- Kai: "Man. That caught me off guard."
- Lena: "Yeah…"
- Blair: "I don't see why. He looks like the type to snap easily."
Kai turns sharply toward her.
- Kai: "Okay lady. What's your problem? You've been acting real bitchy ever since we all got in this cave."
- Lena: "Yeah! Why are you so mad at Ayden?"
- Blair: "That's none of your business."
Her tone is flat, but it's clear to me and the others that she's hiding something.
- Kai: "Does it have something to do with your dream?"
- Blair: "No. Stop asking."
She answers way too quickly. And she isn't even looking at any of us while saying it.
Instead, her eyes flick over to Ayden's unconscious body on the floor.
Almost like she's judging him.
Why is she being like this? What happened in there? Ayden was also acting strange…
Blair cuts through the silence, speaking in a low tone. Somber.
- Blair: "I'm not sure what he is… But I know for a fact he's hiding something."
- Kai: "Like what?"
He speaks quickly, his voice showing clear restraint. He's pissed.
Blair squints, almost as if she's unsure herself.
- Blair: "I-I don't know. Maybe his stats, name? Anything. He seems to know a lot more about our situation. How is that possible?"
Kai looks to the ground deep in thought. She blinks slowly as she continues.
- Blair: "What if he's the reason we're stuck here?"
Suddenly, Lena bursts off the floor, putting a hand to her chest, shaking.
- Lena: "That's impossible! Ayden couldn't be at fault! If he was… He would never have stayed with me after finding out what I did..."
Her voice trails off, almost like something is weighing down on her chest. It rips me up to watch her suffer like this.
Lena… If she talks about it, maybe it can help relieve some of the pressure.
- Isabella: "If it's okay, Lena… Can you tell us what happened?"
Her mouth hangs open, pausing for a second. Like she's thinking of her next words.
- Lena: "My friend, Irene… She committed suicide. Right in front of me."
A sharp intake of breath ripples through the room. Kai curses under his breath, and even Blair's expression falters for just a second.
My hand flies to my mouth before I can stop it.
That's… that's something no one should ever have to see. No one should have to carry that.
Her mouth curls in as she bites her lip. She's holding back tears.
- Lena: "It broke me. But Ayden was there, showing up right afterwards. He didn't really say anything, only apologizing."
She looks up at me, forcing a smile.
- Lena: "I'll never forgive myself. I failed as a friend. I failed as a person. But at least for that moment, I wasn't alone."
Her eyes flicker to the floor as she whispers something under her breath. I barely catch it.
- Lena: "…He did something my own friends couldn't…"
There's a faint, broken smile on her face. Not one of happiness. Something quieter. Sadder. Like she's trying to convince herself it meant something.
Poor Lena. I wish we could have done something for her. But I guess Ayden did already.
- Blair: "And how are you so sure he wasn't watching?"
That caught all of us off guard, everyone staring at her. However, the person who was struck the hardest seems to be Lena, as she starts blinking in confusion.
- Lena: "What?"
- Blair: "You said he showed up right after your friend died, right?"
- Lena: "Yeah? So what?"
Her voice is shaking slightly.
- Blair: "So he just so happens to find you the moment your friend is already dead, right when you're at your lowest? That's convenient."
The word almost ingrains itself into my mind. Convenient. It makes it seem like all this is Ayden's fault. It rubs me the wrong way.
- Isabella: "Ayden's not like that! He would never let someone die like that."
I say this without thinking. Of course I wouldn't. Her accusations are outrageous.
Blair's eyes snap toward me, scaring me a little.
- Blair: "And how do you know that?"
I falter. I don't have an answer.
- Isabella: "I-I just do…"
Lena's head snaps up, eyes wide, anger cutting straight through her grief.
- Lena: "Ayden was helping me. He saved me."
Blair doesn't respond right away. She just watches Lena, eyes sharp, like she's dissecting every word she just said.
- Blair: "I still find it suspicious."
Kai exhales loudly, dragging a hand down his face before cutting in.
- Kai: "Can we not do this right now? He's literally right there. What if he can still hear us?"
- Blair: "What about you?"
Kai's head turns toward Blair. He doesn't look annoyed or anything. Just… tired.
- Kai: "I was with my family. My two brothers, and my mother who abandoned us. It was a pretty nice dream, but I realized it isn't the real world. That my real brothers are probably waiting for me. So Ayden helped me get out. He told me how to."
He speaks as if it's all facts. That he had to leave that world. For his brothers.
They have a great brother…
- Lena: "See? Ayden is trying to help us."
- Blair: "But how did he know that was the only way?"
His voice wavers slightly, like even saying it out loud makes his stomach turn.
- Kai: "He… He did it before. In his own dream. He didn't tell me any details, but I could piece it together."
Blair doesn't say anything in response to that.
Lena speaks up from the back, pain filling her voice.
- Lena: "…So he did something awful like that to himself?"
Kai nods his head.
- Kai: "I don't know how anyone sane could commit to something like that without knowing 100%."
- Blair: "But isn't that what you all did? Listening to his words like that."
- Kai: "Maybe… but what other choice did we have? Not even mentioning the fact the actual guy behind all this spoke with us. The Dreamer. It was clear that wasn't my real home."
- Blair: "What do you mean The Dreamer?"
- Kai: "You never met him? Real bastard, causing all this. Either way, Ayden isn't at fault for this. I can vouch for him, even if it doesn't change how creepy he is…"
No one says anything after that. The silence lingers, heavy and uncomfortable.
And then it clicks. What Blair said earlier, when she first woke up and saw Ayden.
- Isabella: "Oh right! You said something earlier. About Ayden. What do you mean when you say we killed him?"
- Lena: "That's right! I had the same question."
- Blair: "…"
Her gaze drops slightly, shadows settling in her eyes.
- Blair: "I don't understand what he was saying either. He was spouting nonsense to make me remember our situation."
I raise an eyebrow.
- Isabella: "What do you mean?"
- Blair: "I couldn't remember anything. He tried explaining everything to me. Then his words became… weirder. He started talking about stuff that never happened. Stuff that couldn't have happened. About how it was our fault he died."
Her words sink in slowly. I replay them in my head, trying to make sense of them.
Beside me, Lena's eyes widen, her mouth parting slightly in disbelief.
- Lena: "But… that makes no sense."
- Blair: "Exactly."
She answers almost immediately, like she'd already come to that conclusion long ago.
- Lena: "So why do you think it's true?"
- Blair: "I don't. But he does."
Her eyes drift back to Ayden, lingering this time.
- Blair: "There's something about him. Something he's hiding. That's why I don't trust him."
The room goes silent. Everyone seems lost in their own thoughts.
Kai presses his fingers to his temples, rubbing them slowly like he's trying to push everything out of his head.
- Kai: "This shit is too much man…"
I look at him again. At his face. At how still he is. And none of what they're saying lines up with what I feel. I don't know him. Not really. But I trust him. Completely.
The thought comes out of nowhere. It doesn't feel logical. It doesn't even make sense. But it's there. Strong, certain. And that's what bothers me.
Why? Blair doesn't trust him. Kai is clearly freaked out by him. Lena's unsure, even if she doesn't want to admit it. So why am I the only one who—
I stop myself.
That doesn't make sense. It shouldn't.
And yet…
- Kai: "Can you guys help me carry him? He's like a sack of bricks…"
- Isabella: "Oh! Yes. Of course."
I move before I can think about it, kneeling beside him again. Closer than before. For a second, I hesitate.
Then I reach for him anyway.