Destined for Dreams: Book One (6 page)

“No!” Jacqueline’s voice echoes in the quiet night and I prepare myself to be thrown into the void. She’s never slipped up before in front of someone, but I think Nadia has her on edge. Jacqueline closes her eyes and thinks, “Ugh! I can’t believe you made me do that!” Her voice booms around me, but I don’t say anything.

Nadia looks over her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

Jacqueline swallows. “I’m sorry. Bug.”

Jacqueline stares at the grass for a moment and picks up her pace so she’s walking next to Nadia. It’s harder to be distracted by me if she’s distracted by someone else. I don’t apologize or say anything either. It’s better if I keep to myself for a while so she’ll forget about her outburst. And then maybe she’ll find out more about Nadia for me. I learn a lot about someone from just their interactions with Jacqueline.

It’s nice looking forward to something other than death.

NADIA

I wish Mr. Soto hadn’t forced me to take Jacqueline to the dining hall. It’s extremely uncomfortable sitting at a table with a plate full of food in front of me that I just push around with a fork instead of eating. I’m too distracted by thoughts of Hunter to even try to act normal.

Jacqueline’s eyes shift from lavender to hazel and I blink a few times and hope she doesn’t notice how intensely I’m staring at her.

Her eyes let Hunter shine through and I wonder if he’s trying to communicate with me. I’m intrigued by who he is and whether or not he’s portraying himself accurately. In dream worlds, I can manifest however I want because I’m not what the dreamer sees. The dreamer sees what scares them most. Whether it’s a person or animal, even a certain situation—I create it to torment them. I don’t like to, but it’s necessary. The hungrier I am, the quicker the dream goes, but the more intense it is. If I visit too often, the sleeper will eventually go insane.

“Well this is fun,” Alyssa says. She twists the ends of her red hair around her index finger. “You both look out of it.”

Jacqueline shakes her head. “What?” She blinks and picks up a fry and then drops it. “I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind.”

My eyes shift to Alyssa and back to Jacqueline. “Is something bothering you, Jacqueline? You’ve been quiet.”

“I was just thinking about how different this place is from the outside world. I don’t feel scared and I haven’t even looked behind me once since I got here. It’s nice not having to worry about humans.”

I stare at my hands. I shouldn’t hold it against her, but I can’t stop my heart from hurting as her words sink in. She doesn’t know that my mother was human—and a good person. She accepted my father regardless of what he was, and even went as far as dying to keep his—our secret—safe from the HPA, the council’s one true enemy.

Alyssa clears her throat. “You have to know all humans aren’t out to get us.”

“I’ve been able to survive because I don’t trust them,” Jacqueline retorts.

Alyssa eyes me and I shrug. I fidget in my seat. I don’t know if it’s worth the effort to continue this discussion. It’d only be fair to warn Jacqueline that the compound isn’t anti-human and one of our very own council members is human, but instead I slide my chair back and stand up. “We should probably get back to the dorm, Lys.” I turn to Jacqueline. “Can you find your way back to the guest apartments?”

She nods, absently nibbling on a fry.

I turn my back on Jacqueline and walk toward the door with Alyssa on my heels. I can’t shake the bad feeling in my stomach created by Jacqueline. Without even saying a word, I know she’s keeping so many secrets. Not only Hunter, but about what her plan is and why she’s really here.

But I’m determined to find out.

HUNTER

I’m disappointed as I watch Nadia and her friend Alyssa walk away. I knew Jacqueline would ruin it for me. She hasn’t even been here a few hours and Nadia already doesn’t like her as far as I can tell. How can I keep reminding Nadia that I’m stuck inside Jacqueline’s head if she doesn’t want to be around Jacqueline?

I want to mock Jacqueline, but I’m still concerned that she’ll lash out at me in the crowded dining hall full of supers.

I’m surprised by how normal this place seems. I expected the world’s worst supers to be holed up here, waiting and planning an attack on the HPA, but these are people just making a home. They’re not even scary like the pictures my mom keeps in a photo album on the coffee table to remind my brother Mason and I about how awful the world supposedly is.

My mom fed me lies about the supernatural world all my life, and I never questioned it because she was so convincing. Maybe they are her truths. I’ll never know if I don’t get back to my body. Even if it wasn’t Jacqueline’s plan, my imprisonment opened my eyes to a new reality.

Jacqueline stands and doesn’t make eye contact with the few supers staring at us. She walks straight to the door and heads out into the cool night in the direction of the guest unit.

It’s going to be a really long night together.

Why couldn’t I be trapped in someone else’s head? Why did it have to be Jacqueline? I’m really starting to hate her.

NADIA

Dinner was so, so awkward. I couldn’t wait to get back to my room. Jacqueline is more closed off than I am and she danced around every question thrown at her. She’s also filled with a disconcerting hatred toward humans. Her abhorrence toward them cuts deep into me and I want to see Hunter even more. He could be a victim of her prejudice.

Someone knocks on my door, but before I can get up, it swings open and Alyssa struts in. Her hair is wrapped in a dark blue towel and she’s in cotton pajamas decorated in light green stars.

She plops on the bed next to me and tucks her bare feet under her. “I’m exhausted.” She leans her back against the wall. “Up until dinner was a lot of fun. I’ve missed hanging out with you, Nadia.”

I rest my chin on my knees. I feel guilty for the last two weeks and how I pushed Alyssa away until I needed her. It was selfish of me and I want to apologize, but I don’t. Instead, I smile. “I wish it wasn’t cut short. I liked being away from here. This place is suffocating me.”

She leans back on my pillow. “You’re one of the reasons why I stay. Besides you being my best friend, I don’t see a future without you. I owe your dad for saving me.”

I frown. “You don’t owe anyone anything. If you feel like you need to leave, then you should go.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. What I was trying to say was that I’d leave if you weren’t here. I believe in good karma and your friendship means the world to me. You’re like a sister.”

I smile. Alyssa’s right about being like family. We owe it to each other to look out for one another. I wonder what it would be like to live outside the compound without the laws of the council hanging over our heads. I wonder if we’d get to experience real relationships, make more friends, and actually live life.

An image of Hunter crosses my mind.

I was only with the mysterious dream boy for a few minutes, but he left such an impression on me that I’m being haunted by him. My desire to see him again scares me. I know nothing about him, but I want to. That’s my problem. My curiosity is overwhelming. It’s making me careless.

The hairs on my arms rise and I glance at Alyssa on my bed with her eyelids half closed. She’ll fall asleep any second and then I won’t be able to resist her dream. I promised myself I wouldn’t do it to her again, not after how off she seemed this morning. I just can’t.

I jump up and leave her on my bed.

As a nightmare inflictor, it’s nearly impossible for me to wake up someone who is sleeping—not because I can’t, but because I don’t want to.

I race from my room and down the hall to the lobby and out the front door. I touch my boots to the ground as the night air hits my face and I miss a step and land with a thump on the wet grass. I roll to my back and stare up at the bright stars and catch my breath. I can’t deal with temptation tonight. I can’t even deal with being me.

6
. TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS

HUNTER

I can’t get Nadia off my mind.

The way she pauses before she speaks, choosing her words carefully. The way her soft voice sounds. The way the white moonlight shines off her pale hair. The way her nose crinkles when she laughs. How vulnerable and guarded she is and how I want to break down her walls. She’s the girl of my dreams, well, I guess, Jacqueline’s dreams.

I hate my uncontrollable feelings. Nadia is off limits—she’s a super. She could never survive in my world.

Despite my upbringing to fear supers like Nadia, I want to get to know her more. I know it’s a horrible idea. I don’t even know what she is except that she can invade dreams, and the HPA would kill her because they’d find the ability detrimental to the human population. But she can see me. I’m desperate enough to put my life in her hands. I might even trust her.

I get up the nerve to talk to Jacqueline. I kept quiet all through dinner because I know she would’ve thrown my presence into the void. I hope she’s still not mad.
“We should go explore,”
I say.

Jacqueline stares in the mirror and sets her comb down. “We’ll get a tour tomorrow,” she says out loud, taking me by surprise.

“Then how about a night walk? I’m seriously bored.”

She ties her hair back. “Fine, but don’t expect me to make a habit out of complying with your demands.”

“But I’m not demanding anything.”

“Whatever,”
she thinks before she stands up and slides her boots on. “Please try not to distract me if we run into someone.”

“I won’t and I’m sorry about earlier.”

“Forget about Nadia, Hunter. You’re from two different worlds and it would never work out. Trust me.”

I don’t need the reminder.
“So you’re psychic, too? It’s not like anything can come out of this. I’m in your body, remember?”

“I could never forget.”

Jacqueline pulls her door open and steps into the hall. She hovers in the lobby for a second before exiting.

With the lack of outside lighting, the stars are brighter than I’ve ever seen them. The moon is big and round in the sky and shines enough light that Jacqueline can easily stroll down a path without trouble seeing.

It’s completely silent, and surprisingly, no one other than Jacqueline is out. I expected a few creatures of darkness to be skulking around, but maybe I just made them up in my head. I always assumed that things that go bump in the night were supers. Granted, there aren’t humans running around the compound to stalk anyway.

Jacqueline rounds a building and I hear a soft thud and a moan come from twenty feet away. Jacqueline stops in her tracks and whatever it was is just out of sight, so we can’t get a good view of what happened.

“Afraid of something?”
I ask.

Jacqueline sighs in her mind. “No.”

She steps forward and walks toward the sound when I see flowing, blond hair glowing in the moonlight.

It’s Nadia.

She’s lying on her back in the wet grass, staring up at the cloudless sky. She’s wearing a white T-shirt and black athletic pants and sneakers. Her bare arms and hands are bathed in the silver moonlight and she is hauntingly beautiful.

“Stupid steps,” Nadia says. She doesn’t move, but just stares at the sky.

“Jacqueline, you should go help her,”
I say.

“Why?”

“Don’t you want to make friends? Won’t it help you to find out the information the board wants?”
I only say it because I want Jacqueline to trust Nadia. Nadia can visit me any time if Jacqueline does.

“I guess you’re right.”

Jacqueline strolls over, but Nadia is so deep in her thoughts, she doesn’t even glance at her. Jacqueline bends down and grabs Nadia’s hand. “Here, let me help you,” she says in her most sickly sweet voice.

Nadia jerks her hand away, eyes wide, and before Jacqueline can even take a step back, Nadia screams.

NADIA

The grass rustles next to me and before I can turn my head to see what’s causing the noise, a warm hand grabs me. A rush of energy pulses through me and the taste of tangy orange floods my mouth as I stare into Jacqueline’s eyes.

My heart hammers and my stomach flips. I wasn’t expecting Jacqueline to be outside and she startled me. I can’t get her dream off my mind. The mysterious boy who could see me for who I am. It’s all I thought about through dinner. I shouldn’t have gone into her dreams, but I couldn’t help it. I’m still recuperating from my hunger strike and Alyssa is off limits. I can’t put that strain on our friendship.

I scream and jerk away, crab walking back as far as I can. I breathe heavily. I resist the urge to lash out at her, call her crazy, and run away. I don’t want her to know what I am. I’m not ready yet.

“You scared me!” My voice is shrill and she winces, crossing her arms.

“I’m so sorry. I heard you fall. I was only trying to help,” she says.

My cheeks warm and it takes everything in me not to scowl. “It’s—it’s okay. I didn’t think anyone was out here. People don’t usually venture out this late.”

She steps closer and holds her hand out to me. I try not to flinch as I take her offered hand and let her pull me to my feet. I already sense that she’s still tired and will probably be asleep within the hour. I can almost taste her dreams. I will taste her dreams.

“I needed to clear my head,” she says. Her eyes shift from lavender to hazel and back again.

“Me too.” My heartbeat stabilizes and I force my mouth to smile. I turn and look at the front door to the dorm. “You don’t get a lot of privacy around here.”