LUCID

LUCID Part 11

Somewhere in the near pitch-black library, I heard Randy Carter, the evil man who called himself the "Great", begin to laugh maniacally.

Powerless to do anything to help Kenzie next to me, because of the faceless, black, bat-winged creatures holding us both down, I continued struggling to free myself nevertheless.

"No!" I shouted, unable to move my limbs.

Watching in horror, the bat things pinning Kenzie down next to me began ripping her dress off with their sharp tails.

RING! RING! RING...

I leaped out of the chair as the alarm clock woke me! On the bed, Kenzie also shot up to a seated position, fully awake, sweat pouring down her face.

Outside the bedroom window, the sun had only just begun to rise. As the memories of the nightmares in the Dreamlands replayed themselves over and over in my mind, I ran over to Kenzie and we both held each other tight.

Fighting to retain my composure, and my sanity, I silently thanked myself for the foresight to set the alarm clock last night as a backup in case the dream preventing drugs didn't work as planned.

"I can't go through that again, Nash." Kenzie plainly stated. "I just can't."

I continued to hold Kenzie in my arms for at least another hour before we both felt emotionally strong enough to climb out of bed and start our day.

An hour later, after we both cleaned ourselves up and ate, I informed Kenzie of my revised plan. "Here's the deal. We have all day, but don't worry, I won't let you fall asleep again. This time, I promise. But we'll deal with that later tonight. Today, however, we'll go to the University library and after I..."

Someone knocked on Kenzie's door, interrupting me.

When Kenzie opened her door, the last person in the world I expected to see waiting on the other side was Randolph Carter.

Nevertheless, there he stood.

Without thinking, I ran forward, pushed Kenzie out of the way and grabbed the uninvited visitor by his scrawny neck. Tossing the man across Kenzie's kitchen, Randy slammed hard into the refrigerator, face first. Yet, amazingly, he still remained conscious.

I planned to fix that.

"Stop!" Kenzie pleaded as she inserted herself between Randy and me. "You know this's a trick or something! He told someone he was coming here or worse! Maybe he told the cops! He's up to something! I don't trust him! Don't kill him yet!"

"The hell I won't!" I shouted back. "I said I'd kill him and if nothing else, I'm a man of my word!"

Randy, his face bloody, uttered a single sentence that stopped me in my tracks. "Please, I came to help protect you from the Great."

"Nice try, jackass! You're the Great!" I yelled. "From the Dreamlands!"

"Please let me explain." Randy cowered. "Listen to me first, I'm risking a lot to come over here and warn you. Especially in front of her. Hear me out. Please."

"Warn us?" Kenzie shouted. "You little piece of slime! After what you've done?" This time, I had to insert myself between Kenzie and Randy to save Randy's life.

After preventing Kenzie from ripping Randy to shreds, I pushed the malnourished man against the wall and searched him thoroughly. As it turned out, all he had on him was a single house key.

"Sit." I ordered. Randy sat at the kitchen table as Kenzie closed the door to her apartment. 

Glancing around the kitchen, I double-checked to ensure there were no knives or anything sharp Randy could lunge for. Then, ordering Kenzie to watch our prisoner momentarily, I went into the other room, to retrieve my "partner", placing the pistol in the small of my back, before returning.