I slipped out of the tube after a good fifteen minutes, and dressed into my bathrobe.
I wondered back to my room, and closed the door.
Tomorrow, we would be leaving for the lighthouse.
I got into bed, and closed my eyes, thinking of the day's events.
My mind kept coming back to what Jenna had said.
But I removed those thoughts, and instead thought about what was going to happen at the Mars light.
Soon I fell asleep, and had strange dreams.
(Dream Sequence)
I was in the middle of a field, and snow was falling heavily to the ground.
I walked along a trail of sorts, and looked around at the snowy wasteland, and I felt pity and sorrow in my heart.
The only noise was that of the wind blowing loudly through the dead branches of trees.
I gave a shiver, and adjusted my scarf.
As I neared the woods, I heard a cry.
I froze.
My hand immediately went to the sword at my side.
I took a deep breath, and drew it from its sheath, the blade whispering as it came out of the scabbard.
Then a blazing light cut through the air, and made everything around me white.
I heard a whispering sound, like a person speaking, but I couldn't make out what they where saying.
The light cleared, and before me stood a huge dragon, its three heads snapping at the air, saliva dripping from its long fangs.
I stood rooted to the spot, trying to make sense of what was going on.
Then a voice called to me, a woman, but the words where mumbled and slurred.
It sort of sound like she was asking for help, but I couldn't be sure.
Then the dragon lunged at me, its heads bearing down on me, and I couldn't move.
Then I heard the voice clearly, just before the heads struck me.
"Isaac! Help us! Don't fight..."
End Dream Sequence.
My eyes flashed open, and I stared around the room.
My body was covered with cold sweat, and my heart was beating like it wanted to escape my chest.
I shut my eyes, and drew a few ragged breaths.
Soon my mind was calm, and my body was no longer fighting with my imaginary demons, and I relaxed.
Just as I was falling asleep, I heard a soft tap at my door.
I stood slowly, and walked to the door.
When I opened it, I found Jenna on the other side, looking tired and a little afraid.
"Isaac... I need... need to talk... I've been... Bad dreams! Need to talk to you!" She finally said clutching at the doorframe like it was a lifeline.
I looked at her, and felt sad, so I invited her in.
She stumbled in, and fell into a chair in the corner of the room.
In the moonlight, I could see that her skin was pale white, and her eyes where wide, and unfocused, like she where in her own world.
Then she seemed to snap to reality.
"Isaac... Bad dreams! Had a bad dream... Death... all... Pain... Isaac!" She was frantic, something that I had never encountered in Jenna.
"You had a bad dream Jenna?" I questioned softly, trying to sound calm, but I was very worried about the state that Jenna was in.
"Isaac... The lighthouse! A dragon! Heh..." She said in a panicked tone, looking around as if she would find the dragon in the room.
"I had a dream about a dragon too..." I said, thinking back at the strangeness of the dream.
"Big... Big dragon! Lots of... heads! Mean... Felt like... someone... can't fight, arms... frozen... can't speak, no." She was shivering all over now, and I was very worried now.
I needed to do something to calm her, and so I took her hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
She seemed to respond to it, because she closed her eyes.
"Isaac... It was so... Real! I... Couldn't do anything..." She gave a convulsive tremor, but settled back into the chair.
Then she crushed my hand in her grip, but I knew she wasn't trying to hurt me.
"Jenna... My hand." I said, as my fingers slowly went numb from her grip.
"Sor...ry..." She breathed, releasing my hand.
"Isaac. I needed to tell you that... I've been having these bad dreams lately... But they've gotten worse! I haven't slept well for almost eight days... Thank you for... Snapping me out of my panic." She said, as she took deep breaths to pull herself together.
"You're okay now... Right?" I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder.
"I'm... Not good, but... not bad..." She replied.
"So... Do you need to talk about it?" I asked.
"Yes..." She nodded, looking down at me.
"I've had dreams like that too." I said.
"You... you have?"
"Yes."
"Like mine?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"I had one just tonight."
"Me too."
"I know... That's why you're hear right?"
"Yes."
She shifted a little in the chair, making herself comfortable.
"They feel so real... Don't they?" She asked me, her eyes searching for the answer.
"Yes... Very real."
"I... was so sure that... I'd died... That when I woke up... I didn't know where I was."
"I haven't had that happen, but it sounds awful."
"Yes, it is." She shifted again, and looked down at me.
"Isaac?"
"Yes?"
"Did you hear voices... in your... dreams?"
"Yes... A woman's voice."
"It sounded like my mom." She said, her hand tensing on the arm of the chair.
I thought about it, and indeed, the voice sounded a little like her mother.
"I don't understand..." I said.
"We're having the same dreams... That must mean something."
"Yes." She nodded, and looked at me, as if expecting me to know that answers to life's riddles.
She stood.
"I think that I feel better Isaac. Thank you." She said, and then she hugged me, and left, shutting the door behind her.
I watched after her, then got into bed, and fell promptly asleep.