The Dream
The door closed behind them. She can feel his heartbeats and his breath, his hands running all over her body… he was so excited, so was she.
The touch followed the kiss and then, the clothes … and they know exactly what they wanted from each other… he was in front of her, naked, touching her passionately…
"I'm not gonna be able to stop now…" he said whispering…
"Please… don't stop" she said moaning…
He took her and pushed her to the bed… she could feel his body over her… her heart was pumping so hard… she could feel his hardness between her legs…
Raine woke up suddenly, sitting on the bed, and breathing hardly.
Next door, another ranger couldn't sleep anymore.
Next morning, they were ready to train, waiting for the Sensei in the training room, all seated. Raine felt nervous, she looked at Cam and smiled back at him. She couldn't sleep well last night, because of that dream. It was so real…
"The mind is so powerful that we can control even the most incredible things with it" Sensei started, looking at his students with tenderness. "I want you to close your eyes and start looking inside of you, to your inner ninja; I want you to get in contact. Try to look inside your minds to get connected to each other".
The rangers closed their eyes and started the exercise.
Raine could feel his hands over her bare skin… he was so close, his lips pressed to hers and then to her neck, kissing and licking her… she could feel him so deep in her heart. His lips were looking now for her breasts, making her moan, and sigh… her hands firmly stuck on her hips and his lips going down… to her stomach, tasting her… slowly, and down… and…
"No!" Raine shouted, breaking the silence, her eyes wide open, and breathing as loudly as she had just finished climbing a mountain.
"Raine, what happens?" said Sensei.
"I'm sorry, Sensei, but I can't continue" she said standing up and leaving the room.
Cam ran to the door following her.
"Raine, babe, what's going on?" he asked worried.
"There's something in my head… Last night I couldn't sleep. I have a kind of dream, so real and now that I was so concentrated, it started all over again" she said, tears in her eyes… "Cam… you know I love you…don't you?"
"I know, babe, and I love you, too" he said tenderly, kissing her lips softly. "What were you dreaming of?"
"It's not WHAT… it's WHO" she said hesitating…
"Who?" he asked …looking at her green eyes.
"Hunter" she said and couldn't speak a word.
After lunch that day, Hunter was sitting on the floor in the main room reading a book and Cam was in front of the main computer. Raine's words were still on his mind. Suddenly he turned to Hunter.
"Hunter, can we talk?" Cam asked to his friend.
"Sure, bro, what happens?" Hunter replied.
Cam approached to him and sat down by his side. "I want to ask you something, and I want you to answer with the truth" he said.
"Tell me, bro" said Hunter, leaving his book aside.
"Do you like Raine?" he finally asked.
"What kind of question is that, bro? She's your girlfriend" said Hunter surprised.
"She's been dreaming of you lately. Have you been trying to contact her in dreams?"
"No, you know I wouldn't do such a thing!" said Hunter.
"You didn't answer my first question, Hunter" said Cam standing up and leaving the room.
Hunter was alone again in the main room. Well, he couldn't answer that question. He loved Raine, too, but she was her friend and Cam, too. He couldn't interfere in their relationship. Besides, Raine had made her choice and he respected that, even though his heart was broken.
Raine was working in the woods preparing a report of some medicinal roots and plants when she felt a presence behind her… she could smell his scent. Without turning around she smiled and greeted him.
"Hi, Hunter… what's up?" she asked.
"How did you know….?" He started. "I know, don't repeat it. Sometimes I forget your animal abilities" he said smiling at her.
Raine sat on the ground and leaned back against a tree. Hunter came closer and sat down in front of her.
"I love you, Raine" he finally said.
"I love you, too, Bro" she said smiling.
"No, you don't get it, I really love you. I'm not talking about brother's love" he clarified.
"What? Hunter, don't kidding!" she smiled looking at his blue eyes.
"I'm not kidding. I know you love Cam, but I love you. I don't know what you saw in him that you couldn't see in me" he started. "I know that you're happy beside him, and I'm happy for that, too. But I can't help it."
"My baby boy, come here" she said and opening her legs she made a place for Hunter, to put him close to her and hold him tight. "You're a very special man, Hunter, and I'm sure that you'll find the right girl very soon. You're so sweet, tender, handsome… I know that there's someone special waiting for you" she said kissing him in his forehead.
"I would like you to love me. Why Cam? Why not me?" he asked her.
"I don't know, Hunter. Things happen I think. You know that the heart rules the mind" she replied. "But believe me. You will soon find someone, I'm sure. Such a hot guy can't be alone"
"I hope so" he said sadly, holding her tight.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the space Lothor was planning one of his master strikes.
"So much tenderness will make me puke" he laughed looking at his monitor. Behind him, one of his servants laughed, too.
"Are you ready to start with our plan? Lothor asked.
"Ready, master" the creature said.
That night The Thunders had their first show in front of some people in a pub at blue bay harbor. They played and sang for their friends and a lot of young people. They performed some power ballads and heavy metal songs.
After one hour playing Hunter went to the bar for some cokes and to the truck to pick up another bass.
When he returned, some minutes later, they continued the show.
The people seemed to enjoy their music and The Thunders had to play for another thirty minutes because the public didn't want let them go.
When they returned to the Ops, all of them looked really tired, but happy. This seemed to be the beginning of a promissory career in music. They were very proud.
When they entered the main room, The Thunders received all the congratulations from Tori, Dustin and Shane. They were really happy, Cam above all, because it was the first time playing in front of other people and he had done it great. Only Hunter seemed to be out of his mind.
"I'll go to the kitchen for a glass of warm milk for you, ok?" Cam offered to Raine while walking to her room.
"Thanks, babe, that sounds great" she answered smiling.
Raine entered her room and took off her training suit, and put on her pijama. She saw Hunter so strange, "maybe he's still thinking of what I told him" she thought.
"Here you are, babe, your milk" said Cam entering the room and holding her tight.
"Thanks, Cam" she said kissing him in his neck.
"May I sleep here with you?" Cam offered giving a puppy look to Raine.
"Of course you can, and please don't look at me like this again. I can't resist it" she laughed.
They went to bed, under the covers and Cam held her tight, trying to protect her from her dreams, even when he had to make big efforts to take away from his mind the idea of touching her or making love to her. Raine held him too, and after a long kissing session, they finally fell asleep.
In the room next door, there was a figure in extreme meditation, sitting on the bed, crossed legs and with a controlled breathing.
She could feel his body on her back, his hands firmly stuck on her hips, causing her a lot of pain. He whispered horrible things to her ear. He didn't accept a "no" for an answer. So, he was decided to force her if necessary.
Raine was crying but she couldn't call for help because he had gagged her, and her wrists were tied up to the bed.
He started moving his body on her back, she could feel the pain. He was raping her and she couldn't cry for help.
"Raine! Wake up, babe, wake up!" cried Cam while moving her body. Raine was trembling. "Raine, please, don't let him go on! Please!"
Soon Blake, Tori, Shane and Dustin entered the room, just to see Raine slept and Cam trying to wake her up.
"Please, help me. She is in the middle of another nightmare. Shane, please give me a glass of water" he said, and Shane left the room immediately.
When Shane came back, Cam took the glass and poured it on Raine's face. She finally woke up crying so loud that Cam and their friends realized that it was more than just a nightmare. "No, please, stop! It hurts!" she cried.
"Ok, babe, I'm here, I'm here, and you're not alone. Your friends are here" Cam said, giving a look to their friends, who sat down on the bed trying to comfort her. In that moment, Hunter entered the room and saw all his friends helping Raine. He tried to look worried.
"What happened?" he asked. "I woke up with your noise"
"Raine was a bad dream again" Cam said.
"Ok, I'll go back to sleep then" Hunter said and turned back to his room. That reaction surprised the rest of the rangers, but they were even more worried about Raine to start paying attention to Hunter's humor.
"Again?" asked Tori. "So this happened before, Cam?"
"Yes, Raine has had some troubles to sleep" he explained.
"What are you dreaming about?" asked Dustin, taking Raine's hand to make her feel better.
"Someone is attacking me. Tonight he forced me" said Raine and suddenly she looked at her hands and saw the bruises on her wrists, as if someone had tied her up. "Cam, it is real! Look at my wrists!" Cam couldn't speak a word.
"Please, Cam, tell us the story" Shane demanded.
Cam told them that Raine had been dreaming of Hunter, and that every night the situation got worse.
"But he is not Hunter, I know. The guy next door is not our HUNTER!" said Raine suddenly.
All her friends looked at her in shock.
"What do you mean, sister?" asked Blake. "I know my bro, and he is Hunter"
"No, Blake, he is like Hunter, but he isn't my bro!" Raine said, now crying.
All of them looked at each other trying to find sense to her words.
"How do you know?" asked Tori finally.
"Because I can't feel his heartbeats. He doesn't have a heart!" said Raine. "I can feel your hearts beating, I can feel your heartbeat, that's why I always know if you're sad, worried, angry, but he… "She couldn't finish.
The rangers couldn't ignore what Raine had said and tried to calm her down.
"I have to find out what is going on" she said and got up. In that moment, they could see more bruises on her hips. But this time the bruises formed a complete hand, marked on her skin. That made Cam to lose control.
"I'll kill him!" he said, but Blake stopped him.
"Please, bro, take it easy. Let's find out what happened." He said.
Raine left her room and with a fast hit, she opened the door at Hunter's bedroom. She saw him in meditation again. She came close to him until he opened his eyes.
"Did you come for more, Raine?" he said with an evil smile.
"You, son of the bitch! Where is my brother!" she cried and hit him in the face.
"It's too late. Hunter must be dead by now" he said taking her by the wrists. "Nice marks. Next time you should be more willing"
The rest of the rangers heard everything and together entered the room to help Raine. The creature in front of them looked like Hunter, but there was something in his eyes so different.
As fast as she could Raine made a movement taking her clothes and getting dressed with her Ninja Suit, and taking the swords at her back, she attacked Hunter with fury.
"You'll pay for everything you've done!" she said, but he was faster and ran out of the room, pushing the rest of the rangers.
In the main room, she finally jumped over him and with a shout she stabbed her swords on his back. Suddenly a liquid like mud covered his body. The creature was dying.
"You'll never find him" he said. "He must be dead, but tell him that I just made his fantasy come true"
"No! That's not true! It was just a dream! Besides, he is tough and brave…" she said and the tears clouded her eyes.
The body of the dead creature finally disappeared in front of their eyes.
Raine stood up and even when her body ached, she knew exactly what to do. She had to be tougher, tougher than this.
"Blake, Hunter was racing yesterday morning?" Raine asked.
"Yes, we were together in the tracks" he answered trying to find the sense in her question.
"Run to his bedroom and bring me his suit" she said firmly. "I'll find him"
Blake came back with the Crimson racing suit. Raine took it and brought it over her nose, smelling, like a feline, like a wolf. Her animal instinct was completely sharp.
"Got it!" she said, and crossing her arms in front of her chest, she summoned the power of the brave felines and got transformed in the Black Panther.
Her friends followed her to the woods. She ran so fast that their friends had to use their ninja powers to catch her.
They ran for over an hour, when the panther suddenly stopped. She started smelling the earth and with a roar they could see that there was a rock put over a hole in the ground. It looked like an abandoned well. Raine recovered her human shape and with the help of her friends, they could move the rock.
In fact, the well was very deep.
"We need a rope" said Dustin
"No, we can't go back" said Raine. "We have no time. We must go down and take him out of there as soon as possible"
"You can do it" said Cam. "I can teleport you, with Cybercam's help, down to the well and you can transform into an eagle and fly out of there, taking him out"
"It's dangerous" Tori pointed out. "There's no much oxygen down there"
"But there's no choice" Raine said and Cam used his amulet to activate Cybercm and give him orders to teleport Raine down to the well.
In a moment she was there. There was no light, but she could feel Hunter's heart beating weakly.
"I'm here, bro. All of us are here" she said kneeling beside him.
Raine crossed her arms in front of her chest and summoned the power of the ancient birds. Suddenly the eagle took Hunter by the shoulders and flew out. Once the eagle left Hunter on the ground, out of the well, Raine recovered her human shape again and Shane took his friend into his arms and using their powers the rangers went back to the Ops.
When they got there, Cam took Hunter to the Health unit he had inside the Ops to help their friends when they got hurt. Hunter was very weak, so immediately he put serum directly to his vein.
"He will be fine. His ranger powers helped him to survive" he said.
Blake was beside his brother with tears in his eyes. Tori was beside him in silence, touching his back gently. "He'll be fine, Blake, your brother is strong"
