The Children of Hypnos

Chapter 13: Black Eyes

Emery woke up to Wes poking her in the ribs. She'd slid sideways and come to rest with her cheek on his shoulder. She had dreamed of the stuffy room and the VHS tapes and the cigarette carpet, but there were no three men, and the little boy really was Edgar. Waking from it had been relief enough, but another relief was that she and Wes were still at the same place on the edge of the lake. No dream windows had swallowed them while she slept. She righted herself and Wes, looking as if he'd just woken up himself, fell asleep almost instantly. In minutes--or what must have been minutes--he'd slumped into her, their shoulders together, his head resting atop hers. She let him stay there; the weight felt nice.

The breeze rippled the surface of the lake. The trees swayed gently on the opposite shore. The poppy fields, wide and endless, shivered. The hypnotism of it relaxed her and also kept her awake. She tore herself away from the scene only long enough to look up at the lone mountain. The rivers that fed the lake originated from high on the mountain, the top of which was so tall it was almost swallowed by the purple clouds.

Her head had stopped pounding, but exhaustion still weighed her down. After checking to make sure Wes was asleep, she let herself cry. She wanted to be sitting in Grandpa Al's office, sipping tea and watching leaves fall from the woods to scatter across the sports fields. She wanted to be in her dorm room with Edgar, watching The Good, The Bad, & the Ugly and quoting lines before the characters had a chance to say them.

She really wanted her parents to climb through a gateway and pull her out of the Dream, but they were overseas somewhere, doing some kind of important, covert work for the Hypnos State.

With that last wish conceived, considered, and discarded, Emery wiped the tears from her face and took a deep breath.

Some time later, Wes woke up again. She didn't know when, exactly, because she didn't know he was awake until he lifted his head from hers. They sat in silence and watched the lake ripple.

"This place is different than the other parts of the Dream," Emery said.

"It's more peaceful."

"More peaceful? Compared to everything else, this is heaven."

Wes made a noise.

"Wesley Jager, did you just laugh?"

"I'd call it more of a snort, but whatever you want."

"I wasn't even trying to be funny."

"You try to be funny? I thought you were trying to be annoying."

"Well I do that, too, but--" Emery caught the smile sneaking across his face. "And cracking jokes, too? Wes, you're scaring me."

"Ridley says I'm only funny when I don't mean to be. Most of my jokes don't go over very well. I think they come off as harsh."

"Hey, there's one thing we have in common. And younger siblings, I guess."

"I like Edgar. He's...thoughtful."

"Yeah, he likes you, too. When have you two ever interacted?"

"There were a few times. I think he gets teased a lot by some other kids in his class. I sat with him at lunch a few times so they would leave him alone. I know I'm not the most popular, either, but generally people don't mess with a guy who has a giant hammer."

Wes said it lightly, like it was no big deal. He looked away across the lake.

Everything inside Emery went very still, and in the stillness a single clear note rang out. She had felt the sensation only twice before: the first time when she met Joel; the second when she met Jacqueline.