Chapter 11: dreams
Present day (19 days)
Cade walked through the streets of blackwater city in his normal all black attire. No one was there. Everyone was gone. Blackwater was deserted. "Hello? Is anyone there?" He called out. No reply.
A figure in black with a leather mask suddenly flashed a shadow in front of Cade. Cade jumped unsure of who it was. "Is someone there?" The shadow appeared again. "Show yourself!" Cade yelled as he looked around.
Suddenly the figure revealed himself. It was Dark Ranger. His alter ego. "What is this?" Cade asked as he attempted to touch Dark Ranger, whom stepped back.
"Don't touch me." Dark Ranger told Cade.
"But you're me. I don't understand. What's going on?" Cade asked. Dark Ranger stayed silent. "Answer me!" Cade yelled as he attempted to punch Dark Ranger. The punch was blocked & Dark Ranger retaliated with a punch to Cade's stomach.
"Compared to me, you're weak. You're caring & let's face it- you have more demons hiding than hell itself. You're a pathetic excuse for a person." Dark Ranger said.
"We're the same person. That doesn't make sense." Cade replied.
"No." Dark Ranger said. "We aren't the same. I'm a creation of yours that helps you cope with your bullshit problems because for some reason you can't do it yourself. You're a disappointment compared to me." Dark Ranger replied.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Cade asked. "I made you. I can destroy you."
"Can you really? I mean honestly. Can you? Let's just think for a second you can. If I'm out of the picture, how will you deal with your demons? Huh? Face it, Cade. You need me. I'm here to stay."
"This makes no sense." Cade said.
"If I'm gone, you're solution to your problems is suicide. But we can't have that. I'm not dying. That's stupid. Now grow the hell up because the world is cruel & everyone has to deal with bullshit on a daily basis. Get over yourself already. This is ridiculous." Dark Ranger urged.
"I know I'm pathetic. I know you're my coping device. I don't care about that though. I created you & that means I still have a shot at being normal again because we're the same person. That's what keeps me going at this point." Cade told his alter ego.
Dark Ranger smiled through his unzipped mask. "That's right. You can be normal again, but not without me. I'm glad you understand that. At least you're not too far gone yet. Now wake the hell up!" Dark Ranger yelled as he suddenly turned into a towering murderous clown & scared Cade awake.
"That was crazy." He said as he shook his head. "What the hell is wrong with me?" Cade got dressed & went into the kitchen as usual. It felt unusual to not have Johnny sleeping on the couch. The house was empty feeling. After eating some pizza rolls, he decided to head to a local coffee shop, Coffee Grande.
"I remember meeting Grey Cloud here that one time. He was a complete freak." He thought to himself as he ordered a cappuccino & sat at the bar.
A woman with glasses & long brown hair suddenly spoke out to him from a couple seats to the right. "Hey. You know anything about withdrawal? Hello? Whatever." She saw that Cade wasn't listening or caring about what she was saying & left the coffee shop with a man with a nice figure that clearly was drug addict.
He didn't stay long. A few minutes after the random question from the woman, he headed back home on his motorcycle. "Wonder what Johnny is doing." He thought. Once he was back home, Cade went upstairs to his room & brought the new black leather Dark Ranger mask out of his closet & stared at it
meaninglessly. "I created a monster. I never should of done this. It was a mistake." He threw the mask angrily at the wall. "I'm going to die because of you!" Cade lashed out. The mask seemed to taunt him as it laid motionlessly on the floor with what appeared to be an evil smile on the mask.
"Why am I so unstable?! I hate this!" He yelled as he cupped his face in his hands & dropped to the ground. Eventually Cade fell asleep on his bed.
"Cade! Cade! Cade!" He heard as an unfamiliar voice rang in his head. He jolted awake only to realize he wasn't in his home anymore. He had no idea where he was. Everything appeared the same. A winding, floating path & a sky of a variety of colors & shapes was all he saw. A mysterious laughter echoed behind him. Cade quickly turned around to find no one there. It echoed again behind him but once again no one was around.
Cade followed the path as laughter continued to echo all around him as if taunting him. "Where am I?" He asked aloud. No response. He continued down the path a bit further until a figure was off in the distance. Cade sprinted towards it & once he'd caught up the figure turned around with an enormous smile & piercing red eyes. He appeared as a clown. "Who are you?" Cade asked.
"Hmm... My name is Polo. I'm the dream maestro. I've taken the liberty of entering your mind & I must say, you have some very messed up thoughts hidden deep inside." He said with a snicker. "I can do anything I want as long as you're asleep. For example-" He snapped his fingers & Sam appeared in front of Cade. Cade's heart skipped a beat at the sight & closed his eyes.
"I don't want to see Sam. If you're in my head as you say, you'd know that." Cade responded. Sam disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"I know what you want to see & what you don't. I know everything about you." Polo told him.
"Are you with or against me? I need to know."
"Neither." Polo answered. "I'm the final superior yes, but I wish not to fight you. I'm only interested in your mind. I'm surprised you're even able to function sometimes with the way your mind acts. It truly intrigues me."
"Do me a favor & get out of my head." Cade said with controlled anger.
"Can't. Sorry. If I left your mind, I'd die & I can't have that." Polo responded. "Its best to just accept it. I'm not going to harm you anyway."
"Get out of my head!" Cade yelled as he tried to hit the dream clown. Polo disappeared & reappeared behind him.
"You aren't too good st this are you? This is the dream world. I can do anything I want & you can't do a thing to stop it. So either let it be or try to fight it. I won't hesitate to destroy your mind further than it is already."
"Tsk, stay if you want but if you do anything I don't like, I will kill you." Cade threatened.
Polo smiled. "As you wish, Shadow Boy." Polo snapped his fingers again & everything disappeared. The dream was over. Cade was awake.
"Problem after problem. I can't get a break." He said to himself as he stretched & got dressed. "Now all I need is to find out who this 'Cinder' is." He thought as he looked in the mirror & saw the gash where his left eye used to be. Cade ran his hand over the scar tissue unable to feel a thing from the nerve damage. "I have to kill The Mutilator. He did this to me & now its time to return the favor." Cade said as fury built up inside him & he punched the mirror, shattering it. He bloodied his knuckles up & wrapped gauze around his hand. "That was stupid of me." He thought.
A knock came from Cade's door & he quickly put his eye patch on & headed to the door. He opened it & a familiar person gave him a smile as they stepped inside. Cade was lost for words.