Closer

A Chapter by Joshua Kyle

What is "The Truth?"

Chapter Four Closer.

Darkness. It starts in darkess. Inhale. Exhale. Remember. Its just a dream. My eyes open. Its just a dream. The vast plain of darkness before me shifts. This is my world. Shapes begin to form. Inhale. Exhale. I stand up. "Light." I speak. The familar yellow orb appears in the sky. The thing about lucid dreaming is, you have the power to create anything you could wish for, but you always know its a dream. I stare at the landscape before me. A small white house, with a freshly painted green door. Mom and Dad stand smiling, covered in paint. I turn away. No dream could ever replace them. I close my eyes. Inhale. Exhale. "Think of where you want to be..." I take a step forward and fall off of a cliff. The wind stings my face, I force my eyes to close. Inhale. Exhale. Salt water soaks my skin. I open my eyes to stare out over the ocean. I stand at the bow of a three mast pirate ship. I gasp at the tropical islands and the dazzling blue water around me. I make my way down the worn wooden planks. The waves crash against the ship, causing salty geysers to crash onto the deck. "So August," I tell myself. "We have a pirate ship, but where are the pirates?" I sit down on a barrel and fold my arms. My eyes wander the beautiful ship, but I soon tire and stare at the planks on the deck. "Thats weird." I mumble. My eyes tracing the lines. "They form a pattern." My eyes go wide. The deck is half moon resting in a triangle. The wind blows across the water. I shiver. It's cold now. The deck groans and black clouds slowly creep over the sun. Shadows subtly appear in the corners. I close my eyes. Inhale. Exhale. I open my eyes. Rain pours down in an unending deluge. The ocean tosses the ship like a piece of paper in the wind, as lightning tears the sky open. "This isn't happening!" I yell. "I won't lose control!" A gust of wind knocks me off my feet, I look up to the sky. "Five minutes of sleep is so not worth this s**t!" I swear under my breath. I stand, only to be thrown against the wall as the ship is ripped out of the ocean by a giant hand with needles protruding from the tips of its fingers. The clouds part, revealing a set of lips twisted into a wicked grin. "Boo." I cover my ears and scream. "Get out of my head!" Shadow laughs. "Make me." I close my eyes but my feverish gasps just leave me breathless. "I'm getting closer August." Thunder rolls over the ocean and the rain pours harder. "I will find you and take what belongs to me." My mind races. I need to focus, I glance to my left and then my right. A bent nail. Perfect. I grit my teeth and drag it through my skin. Pain makes everything clearer. Slip it under the skin. Its just a dream. I stand, now dripping blood, in control. "Go away." The storm clouds contort and twist around Shadow, forcing him through the tear in myndream. The cut glows brightly as my chest heaves and sinks. The ship falls through the air, he screams and contorts his face in anger. "I'm getting closer." The clouds dissapate. "You cannot escape forever." I close my eyes. The boat shatters on the rocks. Pain shoots through my body. Inhale. Blood and saltwater fill my lungs. Exhale... A whisper. "Closer." My eyes open. Chair. Tile. Waiting room. Willow.

Shadow slumps against a wall in the dark alley. He clutches his head. "Damn you August." The moon cloaks the streets in a eerie glow. "Aides isn't going to be happy about this.." He stands to his feet and stares up at the hospital. He sighs. Shadow was tired of searching. The pendant on his choker glows white. He curses the day that August was born under his breath, as he makes his way across the dimly lit alley. "Closer." He whispers. "Closer.."

"Oh you're awake!" Willow smiles. I nod clutching my head. "I feel like s**t." I groan. She giggles. "You look it, cold coffee?" I raise an eyebrow. "Cold? I thought you just went to get it." "I did," Willow points to the clock on the wall. "You slept for like an hour." I rub my eyes. "S**t, oops." Willow smiles. "Oh, by the way, Gram is awake!" I sit upright. "Can we see her?" "The Nurse just left to check with the Doctor, but we should be able too. The surgery went well."

The Nurse leads us down the hallway, to a tiny room off to the right. "Gram!" I rush to her bedside. Tubes go a thousand directions, and several monitors make quiet humming and beeping noises. Her closed eyes slowly open at the sound of my voice. "August? Are you alright?" Willow sits by the window. "I'm fine Gram, what happened? They said there wasn't another car!" Gram sighs. "August, I've watched over you for so long... Now, as I lay here in this bed I see where I went wrong." "What are you talking about?" Gram takes my hand. "I've been hiding you for all these years, but I was selfish. I thought if I forgot reality, then we could live a happy life. I was so wrong..." My eyes search hers in confusion, she speaks. "I need to show you the truth."

Jan McCaffery was a receptionist by night, student by day, but unknown to most, Jan was also an author. She had recently landed a publishing deal for her new series, "Brightlight" a compelling teenage vampire story, about sparkly blood drinkers who were emotionally unstable. It was bound to be a best seller, and she was happily dreaming of when she could quit her job and continue writing teenage romance novels. Who knows she mused, they might even make a Brightlight movie. Shadow cut her dreams short as he swiftly snapped her neck. "Humans." He muttered. "Disgusting loathesome creatures." He pulls the chart from her lifeless hands and scans down the patient list. "Mae Quinn." He reads aloud. "Room 404." He steps over the corpse of the aspiring author and kicks open the stairwell door. He had unfinished business.

Gram asked Willow and the Nurse to leave the room so she could have a word alone with me. "Gram you aren't making any sense, what do you mean the truth?" She takes a breath, preparing her words. "August." She starts."You have always been different, your Mother was very proud of that. You were... gifted. When you were born she couldn't stop smiling, but then your nightmares started." I inch my chair closer. "Different how?" "They called you a bridge. A bridge between worlds." My mind flashes back to this morning, the boys words chilling me, he called me his bridge. Grams face looks tired as she continues. "The man in your nightmares is real." "Who is he?" I ask. Grams head tilts to one side, her eyes closing. "Everything you know about the world is wrong. Go home, find your Mother's journal. Run away." She whispers. "Find me in your dreams."

prev chapter