Lucid (6 page)

Day 5

Morning

I woke up for summer camp, as usual. This time I automatically realized I hadn't been on the spaceship. It didn't really surprise me. Try as I might, meditation just wasn't my thing. Also, Kyle had his friends over late last night, and I could hear their horror film marathon from my room. You try breathing calmly while there's a girl screaming in the background
.

Still, I felt even better than I had yesterday. The encounter two nights ago took some time getting over, and I was just glad I could focus on my week at camp. We were taking the seven
-
year-olds to the zoo this week; that required days of preparation
.

I got dressed and exited my room. Kyle wasn't waiting for me this morning. I guess seeing me semi-sane for one day was enough to put his concerns about me to rest. Part of me was glad he wasn't being nosy, but the other part of me felt a little bad. I'll admit it was nice to have Kyle concerned about my life
.

“You're up on time,” m
y mom said as I entered the kitchen. I grabbed a bagel and put it in the toaster
.

“I feel a lot better today,” I assured her. “I know Kyle thought I was getting sick over the weekend, but I'm not.”

My mother smiled. “Well, I'm glad you're not sick today. I have to get into work a little bit earlier. Will you be ready to leave in the next ten minutes?”

“Yeah
.
” I had my back to her, so she couldn't see my disappointment. Sundays were our family days. The rest of the week was work as usual. I heard my bagel pop out of the toaster, but my mom got to it first. She spread my favorite blend of cream cheese and blackberry jam on it.

“I am glad you're better
.
” She smiled at me as she handed me the bagel
. I smiled back. Maybe my mom wasn't so bad on the weekdays, after all.

***
*

Summer camp was the same routine. I had to take crap from the senior counselor, deal with petty fights amongst the kids, and get my butt handed to me in four-square by twelve
-
year
-
olds
.

Yeah, it pretty much sucked, but I'm happy I had some sort of normal routine. The spaceship and woman from my dreams dominated my thoughts lately. I welcomed any distraction, even if it came in the form of bathroom duty
.

Even though I didn't have any new concerns about the ship, I still wondered what the news would bring tonight. I bet there were more human shell victims. That was another thing; the number of victims slowly increased each day. The first time I was on the ship, there were a few empty rows. When Mitch and I encountered the woman, there may have been only one full seat empty and a few single passengers. What would happen when the ship filled up? Were there more ships that were already taking people away? I figured I had seen the only ship working right now, since the shell stories didn't start until after my dreams, but what wo
uld stop them from making more?

“Uh, Devon, are you d
eaf
?
”

The head counselor was glowering at me. Evidently he'd been trying to get my attention for
long enough to question my hearing
.

“Huh?” I asked. My boss jeered at me, like he didn't expect any better. I got a little angry; I was the best C
.
I
.
T
. he had. Who else volunteered to do the dirty work when no one would speak up? Okay
, that was partly to avoid having him yell at
all of us for twenty minutes, but it counts for something, right?

“I sai
d go into the boys' bathroom
.
” T
he head counselor repeated himself slowly like he was talking to a three
-
year
-
old
.

“Why?” I raised my eyebrow. Boys' bathroom duties usually involved gloves and a face mask.

“Because t
here's a kid crying in there,” h
e replied, scowling
, probably at the thought of human tears
. “And he's been in there for a half hour. No one can coax him out of the stall.”

Whoa, I thought. The kid must be pretty upset if he can stomach the smell of the bathroom for an entire half hour. This was also one of the duties I didn't mind at summer camp. As much as I disliked my job, I really did like hanging around the little kids. I always wanted a little brother, and it felt nice having some of the kids look up to me. Helping them enjoy their summer a little more always made me feel better inside, like I was actually doing something good by working here
.

“I'm on it
.
” I ran to the bathroom
.

Sure enough, I could hear some sniffling in the stall. Okay
, I thought, no big deal. Kid got picked last for dodge ball, no one would sit with him at lunch, and he's the outcast of the eight
-
year
-
olds. Simple self-esteem booster should do the trick
. I felt confident in my ability to calm the kid down as I knocked on the bathroom stall.

I wasn't expecting to see a thirteen-year-old open the door
.

“Hey, Andy, what's wrong?” I knew the kid well. We've been camp buddies for years
.

Working at my own summer camp has another downside (if you could imagine more.) I'm only fifteen
, so I know a couple of younger kids and all of t
he older kids we have. The thirteen and fourteen
-
year
-
olds are the kids who make their parents sign them up so they don't bum around the house all summer. Like me, most of these kids grew up at this camp; all of their summer friends are here. They might as well get one or two more sociable summers before getting jobs, right? A lot of the C
.
I
.
T
.
s are camp veterans; I'm not quite sure why we subject ourselves to the torture
.

“Hey
.
” Andy looked around to make sure I was the only one there. He brushed a stray tear off his cheek and exited the stall
.

“What's up, Andy?” I asked, wondering what had upset him. Andy was one of those kids who got along with everyone. He was too laid back to start fights
, and forgave anyone who ticked him off
.

“Sorry, Devon
.
” Andy always apologized for things that weren't his fault, too. “I got some pretty bad news this morning, and it's… it's been hard being here.”

“How about we take a seat outside?”

Uh oh, I thought, kid's dog died last night, or something like that. We sat at the small table right outside the bathrooms. No one ever used this table except for the community swim team, but they practiced after camp hours. I opened the umbrella to give us some shade. When I sat back down, I saw Andy was crying again.

“What happened?” I urged him to speak. If he didn't want to, that'd be fine, but I figured the kid needed someone to talk to. “What's the bad news you got this morning?”

“Well
—
” Andy brushed a few more tears away
, “
—r
emember my sister, Melissa?”

“Yeah, she was in Kyle's grade, right?” I asked, but I already knew. Kyle had a huge crush on her in high school. Too bad she wasn't into losers who didn't bathe
.

“Yeah, she's taking summer school courses at her university out of state right now, so she's not living with us
,
” Andy explained. “We got a call today from the school doctor. She… have you been keeping up with the news?”

That question caught me off guard. I could feel the lump slowly forming in my throat. I had a feeling where this would end up.

“Yeah,” I said
.

“Heard about those human shells?”

“Well
... a bit.”

“Melissa's one of them now.” Andy started crying again. I patted him on the back and genuinely felt sorry for him and his family. I knew how those souls looked with their dull eyes and blank expressions, and I couldn't imagine Melissa being one of them
.

“Hey.
” I was surprised to find my own voice cracking a little. “It's… it's gonna be all right. I bet the doctors will find a cure, soon.”

“I don't think that'll help.” Andy looked at me seriously. “I don't think it's a disease or brain damage.”

“What do you mean?” The question was pointless. Andy was a smart kid; he could put two things together
.

“On Sunday, Melissa called our mom.” Andy sniffled a little, but he didn't seem like he was going to cry again. “She said something about struggling to wake up that morning. Our mom's a nurse, and she said she'd seen that with patients before. It's called sleep paralysis, and it can occur during stressful times. Melissa just had a big paper due up at college, so she figured that was the problem. But I don't think so. What if something —
someone
— is keeping people asleep? Melissa's young, and she never gets sick and never had an injury. She wouldn't just slip into a coma or whatever the doctors think this is. It's happening to too many people, and no one knows why. Something's wrong.” He looked up at me fiercely, as if challenging me to disagree. I never heard Andy speak like that about anything before. He usually didn't care enough to get upset
.

I felt conflicted. Part of me wanted to tell him about my dreams, Mitch, the woman, all of it. I wanted to let him know that his sister wasn't sick. She was just being taken somewhere, and that I was trying to figure out what was going on.

Another part of me wanted to keep him guessing. The thought of his sister being abducted by a creepy woman was scarier than the idea of his sister in a coma
.

“You know something, don't you?” Andy must've read my emotions. I realized I was also clenching my fists, which is something I do when I'm stressing over something. Andy had probably seen me do it several times when the head counselor yelled at me
.

“I
... look, Andy
.
” I chose my words carefully. “It really sucks about your sister, I'm sorry, man. But don't rule out the possibility that her, that
all of these people, will wake up soon, all right?”

“So you
do know something!” Andy said, almost too eagerly
. “What's wrong? What's happening to them? Are they all dreaming?”

“I… I don't know
.
” I
t felt bad to see him so let down. “But if I find a way to help them, to help Melissa, you'll be the first to know.”

“Promise?” Andy asked. I saw the hope that was glinting in his eyes
.

“Promise
,
” I assured him.

I meant it, too
.

.

Day 5

Afternoon

I spent the rest of camp avoiding being alone with Andy. Part of me felt bad for leaving him with the rest of the rowdy older boys, but I knew he'd just try to get any information he could out of me
.

I kept what I told him vague for two reasons. One, I didn't understand it too well myself — Tiff was working on that more than I was. Two, I wondered what would happen to Andy if he knew about the spaceship. Would he be the next victim for knowing too much? Mitch and I probably knew the most, but we could do that lucid dreaming thing. Would the woman take Andy to avoid any conflicts in the waking world? I didn't want Andy's parents to lose another kid; they were always so nice and cheerful
.

“…should be home no later than seven
.” My mom was talking to me on the ride home. “Then I'd like to take you and Kyle out to dinner.”

“What?” I was fully paying attention now. I couldn't even remember the last time we'd gone somewhere for dinner. Usually my mom barely had time to phone for a pizza
.

“Well, the summer's halfway over
.
” My mom shrugged. “And this week's going to be a bit slower at work, so I figured we could all use a break. How's Mexican sound?”

“Sounds great, Mom.” I couldn't help but smile a little. Mexican's my favorite. Still, it couldn't make me forget about Andrew and his sister. I wondered if Melissa would be on the news
.

We got home to find that Kyle was, shockingly, awake. He was sprawled out on the sofa with crackers strewn across his stomach. This was his usual position on the couch, and I didn't realize the change until I looked at the TV. Kyle was voluntarily watching the news.

“You're not gonna believe this
,
” h
e told Mom and me
. Before he could explain any more, the screen flashed a picture of a very pretty girl with wavy hair, dark skin, and hazel eyes
. Andy's sister
.

“…the first victim from our county in these bizarre coma attacks that are sweeping the nation.” Our local anchor lady was commentating. “Our sincerest regrets go to the Jones family, and let's hope no one else falls victim to these attacks.”

“Attacks…” I said the word under my breath. I didn't know if it was a deliberate or accidental use of the word. Was anyone else figuring out these weren't coincidences? It scared me to think that Mitch and I were the only ones who could help these people. The victim count was in the hundreds now
.

“It's horrible
.
” M
y mom stood behind the sofa, a crease between her eyebrows. “I hope that the doctors figure out what's happening soon. I think I'm going to go to that fa
r
mers' market for our produce a
nd the local butcher for meat.”

Naturally, my mom would think it's some sort of bacteria in the food. She told Kyle about dinner tonight before grabbing her purse and leaving. I silently bet she'd stop by the grocery to pick up some organic apples
.

“You're not surprised.” Kyle looked at me from his lazy position on the couch.

“What?” I raised my eyebrows
.

“You're not surprised to see Melissa's face on the news.”

“Oh
.
” I was getting sick of people thinking I was on to this coma case. I mean, I was, but there's no way anyone else —.
besides Mitch and Tiff — would know about it. “Well, her brother still goes to camp, and he told me today—”

“That may be,” Kyle said in his detective voice. “But I know you've been kinda weird over the weekend. I mean weirder than normal. Plus, you freaked out more than I would've thought about the zombies. I think you know more about these coma cases than you're letting on.”

“Well, seeing as I haven't let on anything—”

“Do you know what's happening?” Kyle sat straight up and looked at me with the most serious expression I've ever seen him wear. He caught me off guard; I didn't know whether to lie or to tell him what's happening. Kyle had worried about me all weekend, and he's hacked my computer before. Maybe he already knew I had some information
.

Before I could make my decision, my cell phone rang. I breathed a sigh of relief as I ascended to my room to answer my phone in private
.

“Did you dream last night?” I was expecting Tiff's voice, not a deeper — yet familiar — person on the phone
.

Apparently Mitch now had my number.

“Hey
... um, no
,
” I said a little sheepishly. “Meditation's not my thing, and I think that if someone's keeping us out of the ship, we're gonna stay out.”

“
I did.
” Mitch cut me off. I could hear his shallow breathing on the other side. It sounded like he'd just run a long distance, or he was scared. “I just woke up — I just escaped.”

“What?” I was both angry and surprised. I thought Mitch was having problems with meditation, as well. How come he got through and I didn't? I was the first lucid person on that ship
.

The smarter part of my brain tried taking over my emotions. Did I really want to go back? Mitch's shaky voice and shallow breaths made me grateful I wasn't on that trip
.

“This time was different,” Mitch continued. “I didn't want to cause a scene. I slept with my hoodie on like I told you and appeared on the ship with it on. I kept the hood over my eyes and acted like one of the souls. The woman didn't enter the ship like before; it seemed to be going smoothly until…” His voice trailed off
, and he was breathing a little deeper to calm himself.

“Until what?” I gave him a few moments to sort his thoughts before asking.

“Until I got off the ship
,
” h
e told me. I heard him take a deep breath. “Until I reached the destination.”

“What?” I sat down on my bed and let Mitch's words fully sink in. He reached the destination of the ships. He now knew where those souls were being taken
.

And he did it all on his own
, an annoying voice in my head spoke.

“Yeah
.
” Mitch seemed to get better control of his fear. “I got to the place with no problem. Figuring out when to wake up was the hard part.”

“Well, where do they go?” I asked
, only halfway wanting to know.

“Remember when Tiff was researching stuff about chimera?” Mitch asked me. “And we found that resort company?”

“Yeah
.
” I remembered it because it was the only result we found that didn't involve a strange mythological creature
.

“I saw the CEO last night, Leona Palma.” Mitch waited for my reaction. I didn't have any. What he was saying didn't make any sense. Why would the CEO of a resort company put hundreds of people in comas? Wouldn't that take away her customers in the real world?

“Look, it doesn't make any sense to me, either.” Mitch took my silence for confusion. “But it's definitely them… it's definitely her. She was overseeing the souls entering some sort of place that looked like a mix between a hotel and a football stadium; there were cement walls surrounding the perimeter and barbed wire around the tops. I think I saw someone manning a gun tower, too. Anyway, Leona was overseeing the line of souls, and she spotted me immediately. I saw her eyes flash golden and she was suddenly in front of me. She already knew me; she called me by my name. And… and she knows you, too.”

“Knows me?” I asked, still trying to figure out why a vacation resort wanted to ruin the world
.

“Yeah, she had a message for you, for both of us.” Mitch took a few steadying breaths again. “She said to keep out of her business, and she'd let us liv
e for free.”

“For free?” I repeated the phrase in my head. “What does that mean?”

“I don't know
,
” h
e admitted. “And before I could ask, she disappeared and the other woman was in front of me. The snake lady.”

“From before?”

“Yeah, her name is Serpentine, by the way. She gave me ten seconds to run. She took a chunk out of my shoulder before I found the ball of light. I'm still bleeding, man.” Mitch almost whined the last part, like it wasn't fair that a dream could physically injure him
.

I felt a cold shiver run down my back. Not only were these people, Leona and Serpentine, enslaving people in their dream world, but they could also cause physical harm.

I kept him on the phone in silence for a few minutes. What could I possibly say after hearing that horror story? Sure, it sounded like a pretty standard nightmare. Only this time it was real. We were both in over our heads, it seemed
.

“Hey, get off the phone with your girlfriend!” Kyle shouted as he banged on the door
.

“Gotta go?” Mitch asked me.

“Yeah,” I said over Kyle's noise. “But dude, I—I don't know what we're gonna do.”

“I don't think we can get past the security
,
” Mitch responded gloomily. “I mean, getting off the ship is fine, but if those women are around… we're no match for them.”

“Maybe Tiff will—”

“C
ome ON!” Kyle was getting impatient. Don't keep him too long from his Mexican food.

“We'll talk later tonight on the computer
,
” Mitch assured me. “We'll fill Tiff in and see if she can find some more research about this resort company.”

“See you.” I hung up the phone. Kyle was about to bang on my door when I opened it. I had to duck to avoid a pretty lethal punch.

“About time!” Kyle studied me. “But you weren't talking to Tiff, were you?”

“Why do you care?” I raised an eyebrow. “And how would you know anyway?”

“You always talk to her with a deeper voice.” Kyle grinned at the look of outrage on my face. “But this time you were t
alking to a dude, weren't you?”

“So?” I shrugged. “I have other friends, Kyle.”

“You have
two friends,” Kyle mocked. “And one of them is at baseball camp. So who were you talking to just now?”

“None of your business—”

“I bet it has to do with those comas.” Kyle studied me for a full minute. I tried not to blink or look away. I didn't want to give anything away despite being completely shaken up my Mitch's story. Finally, Kyle shrugged. “Guess you and your little friends are really scared of zombies.” With that, he led the way down. I knew Kyle brushed the issue off because he didn't want to seem too concerned
— and he was hungry — but I couldn't help but wonder if he'd keep trying to figure out what was going on.

.