Destined for Dreams: Book One (17 page)

He smiles and leans down to kiss the top of my head. “We’ll choose together,” he says, pulling me in for a hug. “And Nadi, please don’t sneak out. You can go to the city when they bus people there, all right? And if you need anything the council can’t offer you, give Cian a call. He can help you.”

Alyssa pops out from her room a second after my father turns his back to leave, and she gives him a quick hug and we both watch him go. She slides her arm over my shoulder and I lean my head on hers. I should be used to him leaving, but I can’t help feeling sad when he actually does. Maybe because one day he may never come back.
He’ll come back. He always does.

“The council isn’t going to be happy when we move,” she says.

I frown and turn to look at her.

“I saw you and your dad make a decision,” she adds. “I also plan on asking if I can go. I already know he’ll say yes. But, I also saw that the council will be less than pleasant about it.”

I sigh. “When are they ever pleasant?”

Alyssa laughs. “Oh, they will be until they realize they can’t convince me to stay, and I’m not letting you leave me behind.”

“You know I never could.”

I hug Alyssa and she beams a radiant smile. “Now if only we could skip out on our chores for the next few weeks.”

“We can’t skip one more day?” I ask, puckering out my bottom lip.

Alyssa raises her eyebrows. “You’ll be fine. We won’t split up this week.”

Alyssa strolls ahead of me. We come up to Jacqueline’s door and my stomach churns and nausea rushes over me. I feel so light headed that I lean on the wall for support. Alyssa turns on her heels and grabs my arm to keep me from falling. She drags me down the hall and as quick as the horrible feeling came, it disappeared.

“That was so strange,” I say. “I almost blacked out.”

“Are you hungry?” Alyssa asks.

I shake my head. “No, that’s not it. I don’t know. I’m fine now.”

She stares at me for a minute before slinging her arm around my shoulder. “I can cover for you if you’re still feeling weird.”

“I think I need some fresh air.”

HUNTER

“Can you go back to the dorms so I can watch a movie? You’re killing my sanity, Jackie.”

She hums to herself as she thinks, “What? You don’t enjoy the sunshine?”

“I would if I could feel it.”
My words are sharp and anger swells around me. It’s getting harder and harder to go with the flow of things. I’m even tempted to agree to a new body.

“If I could take you back, I would.”

That’s not very comforting. She can leave here if she wants and go back to the HPA. Nothing is stopping her.
“You can.”

Her frustration runs hot around me. “They’ll kill me because I have nothing to offer them. I’m not going to give up the location of the council. I’m not going to risk getting all these people killed.”

“Not even for your true freedom?”

Jacqueline stares at sky. “What about—” Her thoughts cut off.

“Hi Jacqueline.” It’s Nadia. Her voice is so familiar and comforting that it pushes away my anger.

Nadia stands a foot away. Her blond hair shines in the bright sunlight, making it look golden, and her eyes are so vibrant that I could swim in their blue depths. She’s wearing jeans, a white sweater, and sneakers, and still manages to be hauntingly beautiful outside our dream world.

“H-hey,” Jacqueline stammers. “What are you doing here?”

Nadia stares into her eyes for a moment before blinking. “Looking for you. You weren’t in your room.” Nadia puts her hands on her hips and squints in the sun. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. You were acting so strange last night.”

Jacqueline rubs her eyes. “This place is getting to me. I’m thinking of going to the council to ask for something to help me sleep.”

“You think they can help you?”

“Shut up, Hunter!” Jacqueline’s voice echoes through the air.

“Take a deep breath, Jackie. You’re talking out loud.”

Jacqueline groans. “I said shut up, Hunter. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up! You know something is wrong with me, but you act like it’s not a big deal. And you know what? I do think Nadia is inflicting nightmares on me. It’s what she does!” Jacqueline slaps her hand over her mouth and grimaces.

Nadia’s mouth falls open. “How can you say that? I’ve been so nice to you.”

Jacqueline scrambles to her feet. “I—I’m sorry. Something is wrong with me. I’m losing it. The voices are too much.”

Nadia steps closer and grasps Jacqueline’s arms. “Get yourself together. You’re talking nonsense.” She stares into Jacqueline’s eyes. “You can’t just throw around random accusations. If anyone heard you, they’d believe you and I’d get in serious trouble.”

“Do you want your friend to get in trouble?”

“Hunter!”

Everything goes black.

NADIA

Jacqueline grips her hair and tilts her head to the sky. Her lavender eyes flicker between hazel and lavender a dozen times before sticking to lavender. She jerks her head, looking around, and then grabs my shoulders and glares at me. Her eyes are wide, wild, and shifty and she doesn’t look like herself at all. She’s at her breaking point.

Tears rim my eyes. “Jacqueline, please, please calm down. You’re scaring me.” I’m a horrible person. I’m worse than she is. She’s lost control and her sanity is on the brink of breaking. I hate myself for what I’ve done to her. My longing for Hunter is going to kill her.

Jacqueline pulls me to her and hugs me. She moans against my shoulder and her hands shake as her nails dig into me. “I think I need to sleep. Wake up and start all over again. I’m so sorry, Nadia. I didn’t mean to freak out.” Jacqueline’s eyes remain lavender and I wonder where Hunter is. Without his presence, she’s calmer and more controlled. She’s more herself.

I touch her hand. “It’s been a stressful week.”

Jacqueline turns away and darts across the stretch of green grass toward the dormitory. I sink to my knees and press my palms flat on the ground. I gulp in breath after breath to calm my nerves. Jacqueline’s not going to believe me much longer.

Time is running out fast.

17
. SURVIVOR

NADIA

I stand outside the dormitory.

I’ve been out here for a few hours. I’m trying to give Jacqueline as much sleep as I possibly can. I’m not going to invade her dreams for another day. As much as it pains me, Hunter will have to wait. What’s another day longer? He’s not going anywhere.

You’re strong enough to resist. Just go in.

I’m terrified that I’m not though. I’m weak. Not just because inflicting nightmares is how I survive, but because visiting Hunter is tempting...he’s a part of my life now and I can’t give him up. He’s as important as the dreams I destroy.

I gaze around the property with my back to the door. A few dozen people enjoy the sunshine and blue skies. Some relax on blankets and others do physical activities—playing a game of catch, running, even flying.

I wonder what it would be like without my nightmare inflicting stigma constantly hanging over my head. It wasn’t so bad when I was younger, before the dream cravings started, when I was still basically human. But even then, I was an outsider. I couldn’t wield magic like elves, or fly like pixies, or transform like shifters. I was just a child without a mother and with a father people respected out of fear. I still feel as lost as I did then. Maybe even more now.

I turn toward the dormitory door and glide in. The lobby is empty and I rest my hand on the back of the worn leather armchair and stare at the muted television. I release the breath I’ve been holding. I don’t sense anyone sleeping.

I head down the hall and a foreboding feeling settles in my stomach. My fingers tremble and I run my hand along the tan wall. I can hear my own heartbeat in my ears and my eyes shift from the floor to ceiling. The air looks strange, like it’s going in and out of focus.

I freeze, breathing heavily, and stare at the row of doors leading into dorm rooms. I swallow, my tongue feeling heavy in my mouth, and take a step forward. I want to turn and run outside, but I can’t stop my feet from moving. I’m stuck in a gravitational pull filled with dread, and it’s forcing me to continue on.

A wave of nausea rolls through me and I cover my mouth. My skin crawls and it’s like the air is alive and biting and pinching at my clothes. My feet ease from the floor and I swing my arms back, flailing, trying everything I can to stop. The force is pulling me from my torso and resisting bends me into a painfully odd U-shape position. Fighting the pull will rip me to pieces.

So I stop.

I let myself go.

My stomach heaves the farther I’m dragged into the hallway and my head pounds so hard that black stars pepper my vision. I can’t feel my extremities and I’m terrified. Sweat beads on my forehead and dribbles into my eyes and I blink over and over until the world is flashing in and out of my vision like a strobe light.

I try to scream, but the moment I open my mouth, it’s filled with rancid tasting air. The air is thick enough that it’s like gulping water, yet I can still breathe through my nose. The air is contaminated and affecting my taste buds. Whatever is happening is messing with my nightmare inflictor half.

The air drags me to Jacqueline’s room. Panic seizes my chest and I tilt my head back as far as it goes to keep myself from going into her room. I guess she didn’t believe me when I told her I wasn’t invading her dreams and now she’s punishing me. I can’t think of another explanation for this horrible energy drawing me in.

The door creaks open and the room is filled with a black haze. It swirls and moves, very much alive, and slithers around me, running over my shoulders and playing with my hair. Jacqueline is asleep with her face in her pillow. I couldn’t sense she was asleep because of the spell she cast over me. I didn’t know that a sin-eater could bewitch me. I’ve never been so out of control in my life.

Just when I think I’m going to be forced to hover over Jacqueline while she’s sleeping, I stop. I’m frozen a foot off the ground, suspended in the hazy, black air. I’m nauseated and frightened, and can’t think of anything to do to free myself.

I open and close my mouth, swallowing rotten air, but I can’t find my voice to call out to Jacqueline. I search the room, peering as best I can through the fog, and then look down. My heart races and tears burn my eyes. I’m not being held hostage by some unexplainable super power Jacqueline possesses, but by a nightmare catcher.

I’ve never seen one in real life before now, but from what my father has told me, real nightmare catchers are the bane of our existence...and deadly. Humans make hundreds of novelty ones, but if you can convince the right creature, they can charm one for you. They’re supposed to be very, very, rare and are illegal to have on the premises, but here I am caught in its prison.

I hang helplessly in the air as my life drains away. I’m weaker by the minute. The nightmare catcher will siphon my energy until I’m an empty shell of myself, and without any sustenance, I’ll die.

“Nadia?”

Alyssa’s voice is so quiet, I almost didn’t hear it. She’s like a shadow amid the fog. She reaches her hand out to grab me, but her fingers hit an invisible wall. She pounds her hands on the barrier, but nothing happens.

I shift my eyes down and back to hers and then back down again. Her emerald green eyes glass over and she stares past me for a few seconds and then crosses her arms.

“You’re going to die if I can’t figure out how to free you,” she whispers.

I open my mouth again, but the words are forced back into my throat by the putrid air.

I can’t tell her to get rid of the nightmare catcher.

I’m doomed.

“Do you know what’s happening?” she asks quietly.

It takes a lot out of me, but I finally nod and drop my gaze to the floor again.

Her eyebrows knit together.

I glance at her and back to the floor again.

She drops to her knees and presses her hands to the invisible barrier. She can’t get to the nightmare catcher. Waking Jacqueline might be my only option of surviving. I refuse to die today. Even if it means that I can never visit Hunter again.
You’re a terrible person. Hunter needs you,
I think.

No, I’m a survivor.

“I see a small crack, but my hand is too big to get to it,” she whispers. She paces in a circle for a minute and then stops at Jacqueline’s night table. An opened gift box rests on it and Alyssa reaches over and picks up the lid, tearing the corners so it’s flat.

She drops to her knees next to me and presses the flattened box top against the barrier and it slides under me. After what feels like the longest minute of my life, a burst of fresh air hits me and I fall to the carpet, gasping.

“Get it out of here,” I whisper, “and shut the door.”

It feels like I haven’t invaded a dream in months. Before Alyssa has even left the room, I glide to Jacqueline’s bed, slide my fingers under her head to press her temples, and fall into her dream.

HUNTER

I hear whispering.

Jacqueline is passed out and dreaming and I’m listening to the quiet commotion she has tuned out. Whoever is speaking sounds panicked, unsettled. I wish Jacqueline would stop snoring so I can hear better. But, no, I can’t do anything but try my best to figure out what’s going on.

“Shut the door.”

It’s Nadia.

I don’t know what happened after Jacqueline thrust me into the void, but I didn’t think Nadia would come back for a while after Jacqueline’s outburst. It was crazy to witness. Jacqueline was fine one second and then it was like a switch flipped and she couldn’t control herself. It’ll be hard to deal with Jacqueline if this is how life is. Hot and cold—the little things setting her off.