Chapter twenty-two: Can you tell me where I am?

Dream 1

Nicky slowly took in his surroundings. Old houses, broken windows, a few homeless persons and a dirty ally – but no Alex!

Damn it. Where the hell was his brother? He thought they were supposed to do this together.

Suddenly, he heard fighting noises coming from the ally behind him.

Suspiciously he turned around and peeked into it. What he saw made his blood turn cold.

***

He was back in that ally. Only this time it looked a lot worse for him than before. The ugly demon that Benji had vanquished was still there, but with a few more buddies in his tow.

Alex and Benji were each battling there own demons – literately.

And still his powers weren't working. He was still helpless. He barely managed to avoid the energy balls that came flying his way.

Then he saw him. The red haired bastard that took his son from him. The thing stood a few feet away from him, smirking cruelly. A fire ball appeared in it's hand.

Wyatt's eyes travelled immediately to his son. Alex had his back to the demon. He didn't see him!

"Poor powerless Lord Wyatt.", the guy mocked. "So pathetic and helpless."

Wyatt returned his gaze to the demon. "You stay the hell away from him."

"Or what?", the thing continued to mock. "What could you possibly do? Don't you see? You can save no one. You couldn't save your mommy, you couldn't save your wife, you can't even save yourself. And you won't be able to save your kid either."

With that, the demon suddenly released the fire ball in his hand and sent it flying towards Alex.

The young teen was dead before he hit the floor.

"No!" Wyatt screamed. He rushed towards his kid.

At that moment he heard another scream. When he looked up he saw Benji lying on the floor in his own blood, a knife was nailed deeply into his back.

The red haired demon stood beside him, grinning evilly at Wyatt. "Everyone around you will die, just like you."

Then he sent another fire ball at Wyatt. The blond witch was once again frozen.

But just like before, someone pushed him to the ground just in time.

Wyatt looked up only to come face to face with a spitting image of Alex – well, apart from the attire.

The teen stared at the demon his eyes screaming bloody murder as the thing blew up along with his allies.

Then it was quiet.

After a few seconds, Wyatt actually managed to gasp: "What...how... Am I dreaming?"

Dream 2

This place was creepy. Hard, solid ground, stone walls so high you couldn't even see the sky. Nevertheless , a cold wind was blowing around the corners.

Alex didn't even bother where it was coming from. He had already enough trouble seing something in the light fog wavering through the floors he was stumbling along.

"What the heck have I gotten myself into now?!", the blond teen mused.

He had been wandering around this place for what felt like hours, with no trace of his twin brother. Where the hell was Nicky? They were supposed to do this trip together, but since he had arrived here he was alone.

"Looks like the spell backfired.", Alex thought disgruntled.

He had already tried to orb out of this place, but since he couldn't control this power properly, he had only managed to orb a few meters. It was strange enough that his powers were working here at all.

After all, this place wasn't real. He was in his father's dreams. Well, at least he hoped so.

Alex contemplated calling out for his brother once again, like he did when he first arrived here, but quickly decided against it.

"If this was a horror movie, calling out would only tell the killer where I am.", the teen muttered.

Considering his environment, he wouldn't be the least bit surprised meeting some creepy guy with a hockey mask behind the next corner.

Slowly entering the next floor, Alex nearly screamed out loud when he noticed a figure standing a few feet away from him.

He came to an abrupt stop and narrowed his eyes to make out more details of the person.

From what he could see through the fog it was a woman.

Apparently she felt his look on her, because she suddenly spun around and took a few steps towards him.

The closer she got, the more details Alex could see.

She was tall and thin, actually very thin. Her long brown hair was reaching her thighs. She wore a white dress, that reminded him a bit of a night gown from an old movie. It was long and old-fashioned.

She had a pretty face and appeared to be in her early twenties.

But it was her expression that made him backpedaling the way he came.

It was cold and hard, like a death mask. Only her eyes seemed to be alive. There was a dark flash in them that promised nothing good.

Alex swallowed thickly. He briefly wondered what a person like this was doing in his father's mind.

"Uh, hi...", he stuttered. "Can you tell me where I am?"

She didn't answer, only continued stepping towards him.

"I take that as a 'no'.", Alex murmured as he moved further backwards.

"Look, I'll leave you alone. I just want to see where Wyatt...", he didn't get to finish his sentence as she suddenly attacked him with electrokinesis.

With a surprised scream, Alex instinctively orbed out of the way.

When he reappeared a few meters away he didn't even bother to look back as he ran for his life.

As he rushed through the various floors, his mind registered briefly that apparently he was stuck in a labyrinth.

He threw a short glance backwards and saw a some lightening form a scorch mark on the wall behind him. Great, she was after him!

Alex gave even more speed and prayed silently: " Please, anything but a dead end."

Unfortunately, fate had a cruel sense of humor. When the next set of lightening struck dangerously close to his feet, Alex fell to the ground hard, not even reaching a dead end.

When he turned over, he realized that he had barked his elbows and hands. He could feel the throbbing pain. Wait, pain? Since when could you feel pain in a dream?!

When he looked up she stood a few steps away from him. Her expression hadn't changed at all. There was no pleasure, no victory, no satisfaction, nothing! Alex didn't want to admit it, but truth be told this woman was scarier then any demon he had met before. And she still hadn't said anything. It was like she had no emotions at all, like she was some kind of killing machine.

She raised her hand for a lethal strike.

That didn't came.

Instead, she suddenly went flying against the farthest wall.

Surprised, Alex turned his head around to see a tall man in his late twenties stepping towards him. The man didn't even look at him as he shot an energy ball at the woman.

She quickly sprang to the side to avoid it. When she stood up she simply stared at the man. The guy returned the stare. It clearly said: "Back off!"

After what felt like half an eternity, the woman finally surrendered and disappeared into another floor.

Alex sighed with relief – a relief that was short lived as the man grabbed his arm and roughly turned him towards him.

The teen's heart stopped for a second when he came face to face with a pair of angry eyes. It was Wyatt! Although not the Wyatt he met. This one looked a few years older.

His father studied him carefully. Slowly, the anger left his eyes. After a few moments, recognition began to settle in.

"Baby?", he asked incredulously.

Dream 1

Nicky returned his gaze to the shell shocked young man lying beneath him. "Seems like it.", he answered vaguely.

Then his gaze dropped on his dead twin lying next to them. "Oh God, Alex!"

"This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This just can't be happening.", the teen thought panicked.

But just as he reached out for his brother, his body flickered and disappeared, as did Benji's.

The vanishing seemed to bring Wyatt out of his frozen state and he sat up slowly.

After recovering slightly, the twice blessed pulled his mind away from his memories and instead focused on his kid.

"So, I guess you're Nicky then?"

"In the flesh.", the 14-year-old replied as he turned his focus to him.

Remembering Nicky's earlier words, Wyatt frowned. "But how can I dream of you if I haven't even met you, yet?"

Nicky looked sheepishly at him. "Well, that's going to be a longer story.", he declared as he started to fill his father in.

Dream 2

Alex tried to swallow the lump in his throat that prevented him from speaking. He was red with embarrassment.

His father had gathered him in his arms as soon as he had recognized him. When the golden glow of his hands started to chase the pain coursing through his elbows and hands away, he couldn't help but close his eyes and relish the safety of his fathers presence.

He felt Wyatt's hands touch the outlines of his face, as if trying to memorize it like a blind man.

"You are big!" the twice blessed stated suddenly in a child like awe.

Opening his eyes at the sound of his fathers voice, Alex stared a bit dumb fonded at him. "Well, of course I am, I'm 14-years-old."

"And you have your mother's eyes.", Wyatt continued as he looked his kid up and down.

Alex didn't know what to say.

Suddenly, his fathers head shot up. He seemed to listen to something only he could hear. He quickly stood up and pulled his son to his feet.

"We gotta go.", he stated as he dragged his son along with him.

Alex struggled to keep pace with his father. "Why? What's wrong?"

Wyatt didn't look at him as he answered. "White Lady's gone, but Black Widow is near."

"Who?"

Wyatt then spun around and grabbed Alex shoulders painfully.

"You gotta get away from her. She doesn't know what she's doing, no one here does anymore. There is just pain and hurt and anger and cold and they are stuck! We are all stuck. We try running. We are all on the run, always. But there's no way out!", he rambled.

Alex was beginning to wonder if his father had lost his marbles in this labyrinth. There was a crazy glint in his eyes that made the teen extremely nervous.

Still, he had to ask: "Running? Running from who?"

"The Minotaur."

Dream 1

Wyatt tried to comprehend all that Nicky had said. The kid had babbled like a waterfall; the man wondered where his son took the time to breathe.

Nevertheless he was proud of his boys.

They had managed not only to create a spell on their own, but also found a brilliant way to trick Lara's magic and contact them.

His sister-in-law had a good reason to be aware of them, Wyatt thought with satisfaction.

"Well, and then I ended up here alone. I just don't know what went wrong." Nicky finally closed.

Wyatt then dropped a calming hand on the distressed teens shoulder. "Nothing went wrong, Nicky. Just not the way you imagined it. You have to know that magic sometimes works in mysterious ways, but it works in any case."

Nicky felt relief wash through him. So, they didn't screw up completely. Still, he was a bit worried. "But what are we supposed to do now?"

Wyatt then looked his son straight in the eye. "Don't worry kiddo, we'll get you out of there. In the meanwhile you two should try to rest, you'll need your strength soon enough. And don't trust Lara with anything! Best would be to play along and gather as much information as possible. Try to get into my dreams again tomorrow night."

"I will.", Nicky promised. "And hopefully with Alex next time.", he added silently.

"Just..."

Wyatt looked curiously at his son. "Just what?"

Nicky hesitated a moment before he answered. "Just try not to have a nightmare next time."

Wyatt then laughed for the first time since Nicky had met him. "I'll try my best."

Suddenly they heard Chris voice from somewhere. "WYATT! WAKE UP!"

Chris bedroom, early morning

Wyatt bolted upright in Chris bed.

His younger brother was sitting at his side and looked at him worried. "What's wrong? Bad dream?"

"More like a prophetic one.", Wyatt mumbled as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

The boy's bedroom, early morning

Nicky slowly woke up. His brother was next to him, still asleep.

Alex looked troubled.

Nicky decided to put him out of his misery and started to shake him softly. "Alex, wake up."

Dream 2

The blond teen was about to ask his father who or what 'the Minotaurus' was, when he suddenly heard Nicky's voice. "ALEX, WAKE UP."

He looked panicked at his father as he started to fade from his arms.

The boy's bedroom, early morning

Alex jolted awake, causing Nicky to stumble backwards and fall off the bed.

"Whoa, easy there, brother.", his twin stated as he scrambled back to his feet.

But Alex just stared frustrated at him. "Why did you wake me up?"