LUCID

LUCID Part 2

"What the hell was that thing I just shot?" I exclaimed, holstering my weapon. "Tell me it wasn't a giant floating eyeball with other eyeballs for hands!"

"Not sure. It looked like a giant eye. Obviously, some sort of spy for the Great. He can summon any sort of creature he wants."

"Tell me everything."

"Fine, but not here. He knows where we are now and he saw you." Kenzie agreed.

"Where to then?" I asked.

Kenzie uttered a single word, "Library", and suddenly the detective's office vanished.

In a blink of an eye, Kenzie and I found ourselves transported from the black and white private detective's office to a full color, well-stocked and quite enormous library. A library I've gotten to know well over the past few weeks back in the real world.

Shelves and shelves of books and other strange objects filled every possible space. Deathly quiet, I suspected Kenzie and I were the only ones inside the vast building.

"Do I even need to ask?" I commented as I examined my new environment.

"This is where we met. I wanted to use familiar surroundings. As you can see, we're in the Miskatonic University Library. We're the only ones here, and yes, I brought us here. Does that answer your questions?" Kenzie answered me.

"You teleported us back to reality?"

"No. We're still in the Dreamworld. This library exists in both worlds. Most places do." Kenzie explained. "I knew no one would be here at this time of the day, and plus, I wanted to show you a book here."

After double-checking that I still carried a weapon, I continued my questioning. "And we're in a dream? Your dream?"

"Yes and no." Kenzie answered cryptically as she searched the nearby bookshelves for a specific title. "We're in a lucid dream, but it's more than that. This place. This Dream Realm. It's like an alternate dimension or a different universe or something. It's a dream, but a real place also. I can only get here when I'm asleep. It's tough to explain."

Following Kenzie as she searched through the dusty books, I continued, "I bet it is. So you consider this place an alternate reality, but one you can control. With your mind, I assume?"

"Yup." Kenzie replied casually.

"And how did I get here again?" I challenged.

Kenzie stopped searching and stared me directly in the eyes. "Again, sorry about that, but I had to drug you."

"Drug me?"

"Just sleeping pills. We both have to be in a deep sleep. I slipped the pills in your coffee. Decaf of course." I feigned a mortal injury at the mention of decaffeinated coffee. Kenzie smiled at my silliness and continued explaining herself. "Once you were asleep, I pulled you into the Dreamlands with me."

"How?"

Kenzie found the book she searched for and explained. "With this. There's a spell inside..."

"A spell!" I exclaimed, snatching the book out of Kenzie's hands. The leather-bound tomb was entitled the BOOK OF AZATHOTH. Opening the book, I noticed the first dozens of pages signed by different persons in dried red ink.

"I signed the sixth page in my dream." Kenzie stated sheepishly. "In my blood."

Exactly as she stated, I scanned some of the names on page six of the book.

Walter Gilman

Frank Elwood

Brown Jenkin

Kenzie Mason