Dream

It was red.

And sticky.

He really didn't like the smell.

It was turning brown.

And crusty.

His arm was beginning to feel numb.

There was something white there.

And clean.

"Rider?"

It didn't matter.

The blood didn't matter.

The pain didn't matter.

The deaths especially didn't matter.

Because he had to be dreaming. Nothing like this could ever happen. It was too far-fetched.

"Rider? Are you okay?"

Blood, death and pain did not belong in this world. In the other one, yes, but not here. Not in his normal life.

"Alex? C'mon, get up!"

It was a dream and a lot of people had died. Scratch that, it was a nightmare. Only a nightmare and he knew how to deal with them.

Ignore them because he knew the truth. It was just his imagination. His arm didn't really hurt and he certainly hadn't been attacked in his school.

"Oh, God… Alex!"

The pain in his side was just imagined. That's all.

School was safe.

Home was safe.

MI6 was potentially deadly.

He was at school. School was safe.

Except for now in his dreams. But that was okay. No one could avoid dreaming. The key was knowing the difference between what was real and what was not.

"-in shock. Blood loss too great-"

He already knew that.

"Where are his parents? Have they been called?"

"Dead. Guardian-"

And this was not real.

"Get her!"

"We need to move him!"

It was cold. His body was shivering. Was it winter already? He would need new clothes. He had grown a bit since last year. Too bad Ian couldn't take him. He always knew the best places to get long-lasting clothes. But Ian was away, far away.

Far away from home.

"-temperature."

Maybe he wouldn't need them.

"-we need permission-"

Red and brown.

White and black.

Were his eyes closed? He was tired, so tired. A little sleep would help. It would only be for a moment, and then he'd wake up.

"Hurry!"

This time he wanted a nice dream, with Ian and his parents in it. It would be a good dream. Jack would come as well, but first he wanted to be only with Ian, Helen and John.

Maybe Yassen too.

"No time. We will have to-"

He felt himself drifting away into the dream.