Chapter Three

Odd shapes and geometric figures swam in and out of Dereth's consciousness. They danced and played like forest druids and lyrical fays, changing shape and shifting in a series of brilliant colors, fluidly morphing over and over, never the same thing twice. Dereth tried to grab a hold of the colors, keep them forever, but they were changing so quickly- he could not keep a handle on them.

The picture started to clear, coming more into focus until Dereth realized the colors were bouncing off of many different crystals-millions of them.

Never the same thing twice, never the same thing twice, Never-

The lustrous vision was quickly replaced with a different one, less beautiful, but far more comforting. His mother's glorious face filled his being, and he relaxed. Her lips shifted into a ghost of a smile, one he remembered well. Her complexion went from a deep, chocolate brown to a dark gray, as though he were watching a television program on the ancient TV at the homeless shelter, and he realized she was fading. He tried to fallow, but she was someplace he could never be, no matter how he tried. Mom, don't leave me again…. Then he was falling into oblivion.

He awoke on the floor of his room at Red Rose Manor, tangled in sheets and blankets. He was wearing new, clean clothes; different from the ones he had been wearing at the Smithsonian. It took him several moments to collect his bearings and realize where he was. He rubbed his elbow, which smarted from breaking his fall. Apparently, he had fallen out of bed.

He groaned and climbed back onto the mattress, startled to find a furry body lying there. Seth yawned as he lifted his head to meet Dereth's eyes as if to say, Well, finally! Dereth smiled and patted his head. Though he had met with a few angry guard-dogs in his life, mostly with results he would rather forget, He had decided Seth was all right. He definitely did a good job taking care of the girl, anyway.

A quick visual survey reported that almost nothing had changed about his room since he had left it to go to the museum. Apart from the tray of various breakfast foods on the night table, everything seemed to be in order. The clock hummed as it flashed the time- 10:37-, provoking Dereth to wonder how long he had been out of it. At least over night, but what if days had passed? There was no calendar in the room, but he doubted if that would have helped much anyway. He wondered where everyone was. He wondered if they cared.

He remembered the dream he had been having, and sheepishly found himself longing to return to it. He had not seen his mother in years, did not even have a picture to remember her by, but the image had been so clear, just as he had recalled her before she had passed away. Even now, the images played like a cruel movie in his brain, tormenting him. He wished, vainly, that he could forget.

Seth fallowed him as he left the room. There was only one way to find out how long he had been passed out.

Edward was sitting in the sitting room, his eyes fixed blatantly on an authentic suit of medieval armor, embellished with gold and silver. It was one of his favorite pieces in the mansion, one he had studied for hours, his squat fingers tracing over the delicate carvings on the cuffs while he imagined the knight that had once owned the armor. But today, his brain did not take in its simple splendor. Today, he had things on his mind.

The day before, he had been foolish enough to hope that they had left quietly, and no one would ask questions about why, even though a bullet was heading straight for her heart, Jenny was not dead. He had vainly thought the residents of the alley would forget what they had seen, and go back to there daily lives.

He had been wrong, of course, though the news was not exactly what he had expected. As the six o'clock news clearly stated, the people of the Alley had thought that Dereth, not Jenny, but Dereth, had been shot, and reasoning in the only way they could, they believed the small, oddly assembled group of people sitting on the bench was hiding something. Why else would they take away a clearly injured boy who needed medical attention? The police were probably searching for them. Luckily, none of them had ever had their fingerprints recorded. Thank God in heaven for that.

He turned at the sound of Elizabeth's voice. The slight lines around her eyes appeared deeper, and there were shadows under her eyes. "Do you think we should wait a while longer to give the children their first lesson? I mean, after what has happened? Shouldn't we wait for Dereth to recover?"

"No, we can't. I want them capable of entering the Astro-plane by themselves before they begin attending the local school. Anyway, after that display of power we saw yesterday, I think we can assume he would be able to adjust very well."

Edward relaxed his mind and allowed his eyelids to close over his pupils. He was going to check on Dereth, to see how he was doing. Normally, he didn't use his power to evade the minds of others, but this was definitely a special occasion. But he had been disturbed by what he had discovered- flashes of violence, abuse, and above all, the anger- flashes of Dereth's life on the streets. This time however, he was surprised to find Dereth's mind in a perfectly cognitive state. He opened his eyes. He was so ecstatic at this, he almost forgot about the possible endeavor with the police.

"Anyway, I believe our young friend is already awake."

The stone bench, heated by the rising sun, felt warm to Gabrielle's touch. It was the same bench she had been sitting at when Dereth had first entered her life two days before. She had not thought much of him then, but the incident the day before had sparked her curiosity. She had spent the first part of her life believing she was alone in the magnitude of her powers- now she realized she was wrong. She wouldn't admit it to herself, not yet, but she had become quite infatuated with the boy. There was just something about him- the way he talked to her like she was just a regular person, or maybe it was the hard shell he kept himself shrouded in. She was sure it was just an act.

She ran her hands along the metal armrest, where Dereth Woods's hands had possibly rested the day before, searching for something. Not only was Gabrielle empathic and telepathic, but she had advanced psychometric powers as well- when she touched something, the emotions and thoughts of someone who had touched it before were hers.

Ahhh-yes. She felt her body relax as the thoughts and feelings seeped into her very being. She was glad it was relaxing this time. Sometimes, the thoughts and emotions were so fierce, they were unpleasant; a few even caused physical pain. They might have been stronger, if it hadn't been so long since their conversations. Emotions were like scents- they eventually just floated away into space.

The most prominent thing she felt was fear- which was understandable, considering the situation- and desire to hide it. That was probably why he had made the comment about her judging him because he was black. She let the emotions play through in order; now she felt surprise- that must have been the point where she revealed her blindness- and then the flow of emotion ended; he had taken his hand away from the armrest. She did likewise.

She felt somewhat expectant, as though there was still more, something she had missed. She quickly chastised herself, as she realized what she was doing. She didn't know what she had been expecting, perhaps some great view into his character, and now she felt like an idiot. Why was she doing this to herself? No normal boy would ever like her. She was just setting herself up for embarrassment.

It's not exactly like he's a normal boy, though. She thought, and then stood up quickly, as though it might allow her to escape her thoughts. Why couldn't she just get used to being alone?

Her unhappy thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps echoing against the walls of the music room. Gabrielle knew it had to be Angel; No one else in the world had so light a step. She sounded like a fairy sneaking across a field blanketed with wildflowers. The thought made Gabrielle smile, in spite of herself.

"Elizabeth says Dr. Edward wants us to go to the East Wing study. I think we are about to have our first lesson." Angel's usually calm voice was edged with excitement, but Gabrielle's reply with apathic and placid: "very well, then."

Angel entered the room with Gabrielle, excited about their first 'lesson'. She had always assumed she was the most advanced at the institute, but after the episode with Dereth the day before, she wasn't entirely sure. She also knew that Gabrielle was immensely powerful as well, but for some unknown reason, didn't enjoy using her powers. Oh, well, thought Angel, Her loss.

The layout of the room was surprising. She had been expecting the gothic-type chairs that were so typical of the mansion, but instead, the room was furnished with six comfortable looking twin mattresses. On each mattress were soft-blue sheets, but no blankets or comforters. Each one sported a single casing less pillow. It reminded Angel of the yoga classes often broadcast on TV.

At the front of the room was Dr. Spear, sitting in one of two easy chairs. Elizabeth stood next to him, smiling heartily as usual. On four of the five beds sat the other teenagers, most of which, with the exception of Jenny, looked extremely wary of their surroundings.

"What is it?" Asked Gabrielle. "Why are you pausing?"

" There are six mattresses on the floor. No beds or chairs. Just mattresses. Oh, how odd." She paused, and was unable to further describe the settings, because Dr. Spear had addressed her.

"Angel, Gabrielle! We're glad you're here. Isn't this exciting? Angel, if you would kindly escort Gabrielle to one of the remaining beds, it would be quite lovely, thank you."

"Sure thing, Doctor." She walked towards one of the mattresses. She had already learned that Gabrielle did not need Angel to hold her hand to a certain place; she could hear where everyone was moving. Anyway, she doubted if Gabrielle would have allowed anyone to touch her even if she had had the need. It was a very good thing she had such wonderful hearing, or she would have spent a large percentage of her life stumbling around things. But no, Gabrielle walked, almost aesthetically, to the mattress where Angel had indicated.

As soon as Angel had gotten comfy sitting on the side of her own mattress, with her long, spidery legs hanging over the sides, Dr. Spear spoke.

"Children, it is time to begin our first lesson. We don't have very much time, so I'm not going to waste it with unneeded words. Alright?" When No one in the room spoke, which Edward took as acceptance, He continued. "The first thing I must teach you is how to enter the astral-plane. This is actually quite a handy little trick, one in which you create your own little world-inside your mind."

Dereth Woods emitted a snort, but the professor ignored him. "The new world is entirely real, and completely functional. You will feel everything in this world exactly the same as in this world. Some of you" He glanced knowingly at Gabrielle- "May experience it better. You cannot die in this world, but you can become extremely psychically drained, resulting in a coma. So I expect no horsing around when you get there. We've had enough fainting to last a very long time, I assure you. Now, lie down on your mattress. Get good and comfortable. Elizabeth, if you would kindly get the lights? Thank you."

For a minute or so, after the room became dark, there was rustling as the students each moved into a comfortable position. When the noises ceased, Edwards voice sounded from the front of the room.

"Now we'll spend a few moments going into a medative state of mind. Today I will help you, with psychic prompting, but I expect each of you to practice this method before going to sleep at night. When you are all in this state, I will send images of the astral plane to you, and I want you to concentrate on being in the world. You'll all know what to do when we get to that point."

They spent the next fifteen minutes trying to enter a medative state. Dr. Spear told them to relax, stop thought entirely, and picture each of their body parts first going completely numb, and then disappearing altogether. The trick, he explained, was to not think so much about it.

Dereth was really trying, but he just couldn't seem to do it. He would get to the point where his legs were gone, but then he would remember what he was doing, and they would just appear again, and thoughts such as This is stupid kept running through his brain, try as he might to quell them.

After a while, he gave up, and instead decided to concentrate on the impeding darkness pressing in on all sides. He thought of it crushing him, blanketing him, he was wrapped in it, as though in a blanket. He found the darkness comforting in a way that light could never be. The darkness, in itself, seemed far safer. After a time, he felt he was not merely surrounded by lightlessness; he was the blackness.

He was still swimming contentedly in his own thoughts when several pictures of a dark purple place invaded the blackness. There was so little there, along the lines of furniture or surroundings, that it seemed to be a great void with no beginning or ending. Dereth felt Dr. Spear in his consciousness as he realized that the images were Edward prompting. He wondered briefly why he was being sent these; after all, he had not achieved true meditation, but decided not to worry about it. He focused his attention on the pictures.

At first, they seemed exactly like pictures, as though Dr. Spear had sent him a telepathic postcard. Then they began to move, slowly at first, and he realized the place wasn't entirely void, as he had though earlier, it had great swirls of indigo mist flanking what he perceived to be the floor. The mist looked cool and soft, but somehow heavy. Then he saw a figure, clad all in white, materialize within its depths. He recognized it as Angel. She must have been the first to arrive in the world. Her great wings beat restlessly against her back as she waited for the others to join her.

The postcard suddenly began to take on a 3D edge, as though he was standing on the side of some great clearing, looking in on its inhabitants. He felt his soul lurch, with a slight sensation of falling, as though he was going down the first hill of a roller coaster, and he landed in the dream world.

The ground beneath his knees felt like nothing he had ever experienced on earth. It felt solid, but it had the feeling of something that wasn't supposed to be there, completely nonexistent. He reminded himself that it really wasn't existent, that it only existed in his mind. He tried to touch it with his hands, but found, to his dismay, that even though it held his body up, his hands slipped right through it, as though it were water. It felt like the energy he often manipulated in order to use his powers. Strange.

He looked up then to see Elizabeth standing next to Angel. She seemed completely unperturbed by their surroundings in such a way that Dereth knew this was not the first time she had been here before.

"Dereth! Glad you made it. Doesn't it just give you the heebie-jeebies, being in here? Good thing Edward is going to let us fix it up today."

At the mention of his name, Edward, along with the rest of the students, showed up. Dereth wondered why they seemed to just materialize in the void, while he had seemed to have fallen out of the ceiling. If the place even had a ceiling. Dereth looked upwards at an expansion of purple-darkness, as far as his eyes could see.

Edward allowed the children several minutes to explore their new surroundings. Gabrielle dipped lithely to her knees in a genuflecting position, and dipped her hands in the energy beneath them. It felt like electricity pouring over her hands, but it was without the pain that often accompanied it. She felt icy coolness pouring over her skin that reminded her of the vacation her family had taken one year at the beach, and the mists that had poured through her open bedroom window in the early hours of the morning. That had smelled of the sea, this, however, did not take on any particular odor. Also, the walls and floor did not reverberate with the echoes of her footsteps, making it difficult to tell where she was in relationship with objects. If there were any objects here. Peculiar, she thought.

"Children! Children! We have been successful, and in a much smaller time span then I could ever have hoped. I am very proud of you. Now, before we do the activities I had planned for today, I will explain the basics about being here, then you may ask any questions you might have. The first thing you should know about this place is that it is a real place, not a figment of out imaginations."

He was met with several confused faces. "I'll explain it like this. When anyone dreams, or daydreams, they create a new little world in their mind. Sometimes, they may return to a world that they had earlier created. Usually, however, they do not actually enter the world. Most humans are not adept enough at traveling the astral plane, so they just look in from the outside, as if watching a television set. But the world they created is just as real as the world we live in. However, only energy can travel the astral plane, so our bodies cannot come here. Right now, they are still in the study, as if sleeping. This brings me to the first set of rules"

He shot a quick glance at Jenny, who returned the stare with a completely innocent look, that anyone who was watching would know was a farce.

"One: never remain in the astral plane for more then a few hours. Our spirits are attached to out bodies by a supernatural umbilical cord, that tells our bodies not to shut down. And two: Never enter the astral plane in a public place. I cannot stress the importance of this rule. Who knows what harm would befall your body, not to mention what people might think, someone constantly falling asleep all day, and then not being able to wake them. You could wake up in the hospital, and no one would be able to explain what had happened to you. You don't know how many completely sane people have ended up in the nuthouse from similar cases."

It was apparent that everyone was thinking the same thought: what would happen to someone if their body suddenly died while they were in the astral plane? But Dr. Spear did not answer the question. Instead, he went on to the next rule.

"Rule number three: do not overexert yourselves while in the astral plane. As I have stated before, you can go into a coma, meaning you would not immediately be capable of returning to your body. You would be, quite literally, children, a living ghost. AS long as you fallow these three rules, I can guarantee you will be safe in the astral plane." His face quickly shifted from grim to giddy, and he continued. "Now that we have that out of the way, are there any questions?"

Jenny raised her hand. "So you're telling me that we are in one of your dreams?" She asked incredulously. The others had to agree with her, not only was it extremely creepy sounding, it was also a very laughable thought.

"Not quite. The creation of dreams is completely random and accidental, usually from bits and pieces of that person's everyday life. I carefully created this world especially for your training. This place is completely safe. In a dream, there is no telling what you might run into, especially in a nightmare."

"What would happen if our bodies were to die when we are in the astral plane?"

Dr. Spear's features took on a grave edge. "You would be dead. Of course, you wouldn't know it until you tried to re-enter your body. Right now, we are all basically ghosts."

"Ghosts exist?" This time it was Ken who asked the question. Elizabeth answered before Dr. Edward was capable of even opening his mouth.

"Come now, Ken, surely from what you've seen here- and from what you've experienced on your own, no doubt- you must realize there is more out there then what the textbooks tell us. I know you've seen it."

"They exist. Believe me, they definitely exist. I" Realizing she had said to much, Amanda cut her outburst short, leveling her eyes on the purple energy that served as the ground, as though wishing a chasm would somehow open and swallow her. She did not enjoy talking about her 'gifts'. The group politely ignored her remark; they all knew what it was like to keep secrets.

Then Angel asked why the place was so plain, without furniture or surroundings.

"Glad you asked that, Angel," Dr. Spear said, his eyes sparking incessantly from behind his half-moon spectacles. "I wanted to give you the honors of decorating it."

"But how? We don't have anything to decorate it with."

"You don't need to have these things to decorate a dreamscape. I want you to become accustomed to working with this type of energy, as it will strengthen your ability to use your powers in our world. Here, I'll show you."

Dr. Spear spent a few minutes showing the children how to manipulate the energy surrounding them by sculpting it into whatever shape or form they wanted to be. They could make the sky take whichever shape they desired, and they could make the air smell as sweet or as foul as they wished it.

They swiftly set to work after Elizabeth reassured them that they could change anything they did not like at any time in the future. Dereth turned the endless void above his head into a beautiful version of the nighttime sky he had seen outside of his window the night he had arrived. The stars twinkled, and one crescent moon hung precariously in the new heavens. He thought a moment, then added another moon-this one full, not crescent, and instead of the pale coloring of its brother, it was a dark, crimson red. Dereth stopped to admire his handiwork, then looked around him to see what his companions were doing.

Angel was covering the ground in what appeared to be a purple-blue grass. At first it was blurry, but the image continued to brighten, as her concentration grew stronger. Jenny and Amanda were bringing into creation exotic hybrids of plants they had seen on earth. They giggled as one formed into a green blossom with orange leaves. Ken had already finished making a swing set, the kind families sometimes built in their backyards, but better, because the swings were not held together with metal bars. No; the swings seemed to hang from the sky Dereth had earlier built. Gabrielle, unable to envision things to create them, concentrated on the other four senses the others were blatantly ignoring. She created winds that smelled of honeysuckle and roses, winds that carried hybrids of songs she remembered from earth, such as Ode to Joy, Nocturne, Achey-Breaky-Heart, and modern music. Everyone continued to work diligently, and the happiness in the air was palpable.

After an hour or so, the team stopped to admire the finished project. Though set in night, the air was somewhat bright, as though a flash of lightning had just struck moments before, yet the many stars in the sky were still twinkling brightly, and the moons seemed to gaze down upon them protectively. Down on the ground, there was now a bubbling brook with gorgeous plants and flowers growing on its banks. There were trees now, and though they had been brought into being in a matter of moments, they appeared to have lived many generations. Ken's swing set now had a slide, but all that was visible was the very bottom. They wondered how tall it really was.

"Now, children, what we must do now is name this place. Any suggestions?"

Dereth quickly remembered his first impression of the scape, and said, "How about the Void?"

Murmurs of agreement filled the air, and Dr. Spear said, "All right then, my boy, The Void it is."