Chapter 14–Dreams

I shot upwards with a scream. My eyes shot frantically around, searching the surrounding darkness for any signs of Jinx. I clutched at my heart feverishly, fearing that if I didn't, it would leap out of my chest.

"∞?"

I felt Ember's hand on my shoulder, and I fell onto him, sobbing dryly into his chest. "Ember, I-I-he was t-trying to k-kill me b-b-but…"

"Shh, shh," he petted my hair. "It was just a dream. You can go back to sleep."

I shook my head, still shaking uncontrollably. "N-no," I whispered. "He s-strikes best when I'm asleep. M-must stay awake."

"If you're just afraid of him, I can help," Ember quietly said. "Together, we can keep him out of your head all night."

I nodded silently. "As long as there's no more J-Jinx," I specified.

Ember lay me back down again. "Ok, so when you're asleep, you're still trying to push him away. But you're not as strong as when you're awake. I'll help you, ok?"

I nodded again, resting my head on the pillow. He slid down onto the mat next to me, then pressed his brow up against mine, so our optics were touching.

"Just try to get to sleep," he said. "I'll do the rest."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It's ok, Ember will help us, he'll protect us from Jinx, he'll keep us safe…

I began to count my breaths, which was my usual get-to-sleep-quick scheme. I counted to about twenty-five before my mind started wandering.

After a little while, I dozed off. My first moments of rest were dreamless. Well, it was better than having nightmares of being murdered, or finding my parents dead, or just that feeling that something was amiss.

It's odd, but I always find I'm rather aware of my dreams. I was able to sense it when my thoughts began to construct a new image in my head, the image of my house.

I blinked, sitting up. "Where am I?" I wondered aloud. I knew I was asleep, since it was sort of like just the bare minimum of what needed to be seen was there, but I was completely in control of my own dream.

"We're in your dream," a voice said from behind me. I turned to see Ember, who was taking in the surroundings. "I'm here to make sure nothing bad happens."

"So you're, like, in my head?" I asked.

"More or less," he admitted.

"But why am I here?" I looked up at my house, unsure.

"Maybe you feel guilty about something you did here," Ember suggested. "Or maybe your parents will be here."

I gasped. "You're right." I flew up the steps, throwing the front door open. "Mum, Dad?" I cried, running around the house. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

I noticed a dim light coming from the main room. I ran in, exclaiming, "I missed you guys so mu—" I cut myself off when I entered the room.

"Oh, hello ∞," Dad curtly stated.

"What's going on?" I asked dubiously.

"We didn't think you were coming back, so we replaced you," Mum said, holding up a bundle of cloth. "Here. Wouldn't you like to meet your little brother?"

I hesitantly moved the blanket aside to reveal the child's faceand nearly dropped the bundle when I saw it. It was Jinx's face. "Ha ha, I've taken over your family," he sneered.

"You were getting a bit… old," Dad stated. "Out of fashion. Out-dated."

"So we decided to have another baby of our own," Mum smiled sickeningly. "One that's… how should I put this? Superior."

"You were just the test run," Dad said, "And now that we've gotten rid of you, we're free to have a successful child."

"No," I exclaimed. "No, this isn't happening, this is just a dream!"

"So you would think," Mum replied, smirking at me. "But the funny thing is, you know that it's all true."

I turned to run, only greeted by a wall made up of the other 'Punks, with Jinx dead center. They loomed over me, sniggering cruelly. "You can just go and die, you annoying bitch," they sneered.

"Leave me alone!" I cried.

Jinx stepped forwards and placed a hand on my shoulder. His touch burnt, but I couldn't move, only cry out.

"You're nothing but a weak useless child," he stated, and I felt myself nod. "You need to learn your place." I nodded again. "Or else someone will get hurt."

He spun me around to view the twins tied up, both of them struggling to escape. A large forest fire was slowly climbing its way down towards them, burning the rubble and debris in its place. Jinx cackled evilly, the whole time chanting, "Burn, burn, burn, burn, burn…" And he held me there, made me watch the fire engulf the twins, made me watch the two of them writing within the flames until their bodies grew hushed, then still.

And then, I was sent tumbling back, spinning through time, and I had to witness each of my father's friends perish before him from his perspective. 2, then 8. 5, followed by 6, and then 1's sacrifice. That was one of my most common reoccurring nightmares. It was the worst because I knew all of it was true.

And still, it continued, viewing my mother's death, and then, back from the third person, my father destroying himself. And then, me.

Watching myself die was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It's always the same, my soul sucked from my body, then my lifeless carcass being thrown onto a pile of other bodies, all up in flame. And then, before the dream moved on, everything would fade away except for the flame, which would become one red eye, glaring and blinking in my face. And then, everything was gone…

"EMBER!" I shot up again, my sheets flying off. I clutched at my chest, my heart racing and my breath coming in gasps.

"Shh, it's all right," he assured me, wrapping a blanket about my shoulders and patting my back. "We'll talk about it outside. Come with me."

As we walked along, I had to admit to myself that I shouldn't have been so reckless. Having Ember there didn't make my dreams any less violent or horrifying. Why should I have thought so?

Because you trust him, something within me said. And that's not an entirely bad thing. Without trust, you would be paranoid enough to fall for Jinx's tricks.

"I do that anyway," I muttered to myself.

"Something wrong?" Ember enquired.

"No," I sighed.

"Ok," he didn't sound convinced. "It's a bit hard to see, but we've got a ladder here." He placed my hand on the first rung. "There you go. Do you need help climbing up?"

I scrambled up, adrenaline powering me. I let out a nervous laugh. "I think I'll manage."

Just outside the container, a small fire was set up. I leapt down, ignoring the other ladder. I landed a bit awkward, but I was fine after a moment.

Ember leapt down after me, landing with much more precision and skill than me. "Careful there," he stated. "You don't want to get hurt, do you?"

I scoffed. "Me? Hurt? Preposterous!"

Ember slid onto the brick that the other figure sat on in front of the fire. "Hey, sis," he squeezed her shoulder. "How are things tonight?"

Nissa, as I could now see it was, only shrugged a bit. "Well, there's not much. That damn bastard hasn't shown his face for a while now."

Ember cleared his throat. "I brought Fin out with me. She was having some trouble sleeping."

Nissa turned to see me, looking a bit surprised. "Oh, hi," she stated, smiling a bit.

Ember patted the brick next to Nissa, where I sat down. She, too, had a blanket wrapped around her, and she gladly shared it with me.

Ember circled halfway 'round the fire before stopping across from us. "∞," he stated. "I have to talk to you. First of all, just let me say I'm sorry I abandoned you in there."

"It's alright," I replied, shrugging. "I have to live through those nightmares most every day. Sometimes more than once."

"You must be very strong, then," he noted. "I was trying to help you, but your mind sort of went into… it went into distress. You see, dreams wouldn't do that to a person. Dreams are just thoughts. What you saw—that was more."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"How do I explain this…?" Ember trailed off. " You sort of pushed everything from your mind in an effort to protect yourself. Like you do when you repel Jinx. But back there, in your dream, you did it out of nature, and you did it perfectly."

"But it didn't help make my nightmares go away," I sulked.

"And there was no way it could've," Ember stated. "All those things were in your head, with no outside force."

"How is this helping me?" I exclaimed. "Now I'm even more confused than before!"

"But that's the thing!" he yelled. "You over think things! When you try to fight Jinx, he beats you because you're fighting him the wrong way. I think—I think—that if you just fight him the way you fight your nightmares, your visions, it just might work."

Nissa, who had remained silent, finally spoke up. "It will be hard for her," she quietly said, poking the fire with a metal stick and making it roar up some more. "Jinx is very different from a vision. He's stronger. She needs to practice first."

"But how would I practice?" I asked.

Nissa shot Ember a glance. Ember sheepishly cleared his throat. "I… uh, sort of possess skills… slightly similar to what Jinx can do."

"You can read minds?" I demanded, feeling my privacy breached completely.

"No, that's only Jinx," he laughed a bit. "However, I am very perceptive," he waggled his eyebrows. Nissa looked like she wanted to punch him.

"And the "electrical charges"thing," I pointed out. "When you can tell people's personality just by feeling their charge."

"But I can also do the confusion thing," he stated. "Not as well, but pretty good still."

"Show me," I crossed my arms. "I won't believe you until you do."

He sighed. "Fine. Ask me a question."

I raised my eyebrow. "O…kay, um… why is the moon so big?" Looking up at the dense cloud cover, the moon was trying it's best to push through.

"There's no moon," he calmly said, looking straight into my eyes over the fire. "And weren't we talking about your brother and sister?"

I nodded, "Yes, I suppose we were…" Suddenly, my eyes widened and I sat straight up. I looked back to the sky. "Ember!" I yelled. "What did you do?"

"I confused you," he simply stated. "Just like Jinx does, but not as strongly. You were even expecting it that time, but I was still able to change your mind for you." The jovial tone that had been in his voice was now gone completely. "We need to work on it."

"Stop it!" I yelled, leaping off the brick and away from the two. "You-you sound like my mother. Always bossing me around, telling me what to do! And-and that's how Jinx made me hate her!"

"∞," Nissa cried. "We're sorry."

Ember sounded concerned. "I-I didn't know!"

"Leave me alone!" I shrieked, turning away and running off.

I ran for who knows how long. In the dark of the night, the environment felt unfamiliar and alien. As my feet lead me on, the clouds began to drip, rain splattering down on me. The droplets felt like pinpricks on my skin. Pretty soon, I was completely drenched, my bleach blonde hair falling into my face.

The rain melded with my tears, running down my cheeks as I stumbled around. I sniffed a bit, wiping the water from my eyes. I could barely see now, nearly falling down numerous times.

I crawled my way over to a lead pipe, boosting myself into it. The pipe provided a bit of protection from the rain, but it didn't make me any drier. I would have to wait for that.

I'd stopped crying by that time. It was clear to me now that I'd blown the whole thing way out of proportion. It was just all the pressures of my new life… it made everything seem like a bigger deal than it actually was.

After about half an hour, the rain had let up enough for me to start heading back. In retrospect, I probably should've returned earlier, but I hadn't wanted to get any wetter than I already was.

I felt extremely calm now, as I always did after rain. It seemed almost to cleanse my mind. Everything was easier to understand now, I could think clearly. Maybe—just maybe—I'd be able to beat Jinx.

"∞?" someone called. "Are you over there?"

It was Ember, I could tell from his voice. "Yeah," I called back. "I'm right here!"

I ran ahead, plowing through the evening fog bank that had set in all of a sudden. "I'm coming!" I exclaimed as another figure came into view, but I froze when I saw the scene. It wasn't just Ember—Jinx was there, too.

The dark haired 'Punk was holding a blade to Ember's throat, the latter held in a tight headlock. I couldn't help but conceal a gasp. "Ember!" I cried.

"Shut it," Jinx snarled. "Or your little friend here gets it." He dug the blade into Ember's throat.

A sudden flash of memory overtook me. To kill any one of any kind, whether it's stitchpunk or beast, the best way would be to cut off it's head. That severs all the vital wires, and it's quick and easy, too. Mum had given me that advice time and time again. I was sure it was a trick Jinx had picked up on. I knew very well that he would kill each and every one of us in a heartbeat.

"What is it you want me to do?" I asked, sounding much more confidant than I really was.

"Come with me," Jinx plainly requested. "And let me do what I please."

I sighed. "All ri—"

"No, Fin," Ember choked out. "Don't do it!"

"I have to," I quietly said, staring straight at him. "If I do what he wants, no one will have to die."

"Die?" Ember scoffed. "I'll be fine, I promise."

I'm not sure if Ember was confusing me again, or it was of my own accord, but I decided that right then and there he was right.

Jinx saw my decision instantly, dropping Ember and advancing on me.

"Get away, ∞!" Ember cried. "Run!"

I ran.