"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
He lathered on a healthy amount of cream onto his face before looking down to begin his search. Today's quest involved locating and securing his razorblade. Living with two brothers often made finding anything nearly impossible. It was his last razor, so Jay hoped that it hadn't gotten thrown away or used. Erik had a habit of using his stuff when he ran out, and razors were a hotter commodity in this household than toilet paper.
Ah-ha, there it was, tucked away in the lower cabinet between the trash can and body wash. Jay held the tool up to his face and grimaced when he spotted foreign black hairs caught between the teeth of the blade. These hairs definitely didn't come from him. To his complete dismay, Jay realized that the offending follicles were far too long and curly to come from a man's chin.
"Hey, Erik?" Jay called out, knowing that his brothers were in the next room playing video games. The sound of alien lasers and gunfire bounced off the walls.
"What?"
"Did... did you use my razor?"
There was a pause.
"Oh yeah man, sorry. I ran out."
Jay hesitated. "Did... you use my razor on your face?"
There was another pause.
Erik suddenly burst out laughing from the next room, immediately confirming Jay's worst fears. Without a moment to lose, Jay tossed the sullied razor into the garbage can under the sink. He wished he could toss a lit match in after it.
"That's nasty, man."
The peals of laughter only continued and soon Marcus's shrill voice joined in on the merriment. Not that Marcus was old enough to understand what exactly Erik had used his razor for. Jay himself was trying to drown the information in the recesses of his mind.
Just then, over the commotion from the video game Jay caught the unmistakable beat of someone knocking on the front door. It was faint, but the steady pounding was a noticeable contrast from the chaotic gunfire and alien battle cries.
"Hey guys, there's someone at the door!" Jay called out as he scoured the bathroom for any wayward razors. He knew it would be a fruitless endeavor, but he was determined the try.
"So? Go get it!" Erik shouted back.
"Yeah, go get it!" Marcus echoed, sounding thoroughly pleased with himself.
You've got to be kidding me.
"I just got out of the shower, you go get it!" he replied, frustrated. Erik had apparently turned down the volume on the television so the steady knocking resounded quite clearly throughout the apartment.
"I'm kicking alien ass, you go get it!" he responded in that insufferable way of his.
"Yeah, you go get it!" Marcus parroted. Lately it had become apparent that Marcus had chosen Erik as his older role model. It made sense; Erik was good looking, smart, muscular, played sports, was popular with the girls, and played video games incessantly with the younger boy. Therefore, Marcus delighted in playing "ganging up on Jay" with Erik without hesitation. It was a shame that Marcus wasn't old enough to realize how much of a douche Erik could be.
The hammering at the door increased in ferocity and tempo.
"They're waiting Jay, go get it!" Erik hollered.
"Go get it Jay!"
"Jay get the door!"
"There's someone at the door, Jay!"
Emitting a frustrated cry, Jay grabbed the nearest towel and burst out of the bathroom. He tripped over Erik and Marcus who, at the sight of him, exploded into hystErikal giggles. Jay was too exasperated to care, though. He marched out of the bedroom and straight up to the door, throwing it open in a dramatic thrust of his arm.
"...um."
Klara stood there looking absolutely stupefied, hand raised in mid-knock. Her own, pink locks appeared wet from a shower. As per usual, Klara hadn't bothered to put on makeup or even comb her hair. Even her sweatshirt seemed to be haphazardly tossed onto her body.
Klara met his gaze for a moment before her eyes trailed downward and then shot back up, cheeks coloring immediately.
It was at that moment that Jay realized that he was completely bare. The towel he had snatched up before stomping towards the front door turned out to be a small hand towel. He became all-too-aware of how little the hand towel left to the imagination. The unused shaving cream dripped down his neck and Jay could hear his brothers howling in laughter from the next room.
"Jay... um... you're naked."
He had fled before she uttered the "-ked."
Kaz sat perched on one of the DeFour's dining room chairs. She fidgeted nervously with one of the apples she had snagged from the centerpiece bowl, turning it over and over in her hands.
The last time she had remembered seeing that much of Jay DeFour was more than ten years ago. The sight of a naked male in general had threw her completely for a loop-the last time she remembered seeing one of those was over four years ago, back in high school.
And even then it had been dark, cramped, and stuffy. She remembered that moment in senior year none-too-fondly; she had snuck out that night with the promise of a "good time." Kaz had liked the boy, and the thought of fooling around with him in the back of his mom's SUV-for some reason or another-titillated her. Instead, the night ended up with cheap booze, bad breath, sweaty skin, awkward fumbling and a plethora of shudder-worthy memories.
As she spotted Jay slink nervously from out of the bedroom-fully clothed-Kaz realized quickly that he was very likely more embarrassed by the situation than she'd ever be.
"I didn't see anything!" she suddenly blurted in an ill-conceived attempt to quell his mortification.
"Makes sense, there's nothing to see," retorted Erik. He had emerged out of the bedroom from behind Jay, all but laughing his stupid head off. Jay froze, looking very much inclined to flee again.
Kaz's eyes narrowed as she laser-focused her scowl onto the older brother.
"Shut your face, Erik."
The latter just laughed, reaching over her shoulder to snag an apple from the centerpiece as well. He flipped it up, caught it, and sank his teeth into it with a satisfying crunch.
"Whatever," Erik muttered from around the meat of the apple, turning back and heading towards the bedroom. He was sure to bump Jay's shoulder as he strode past him, laughing as Jay fixed him with a withering glare.
When Erik disappeared into the bedroom again, Jay turned his attention back to Kaz. Upon meeting her eyes his expression took on that familiar look of uncertainty. Seeing his hesitation, Kaz smiled and hoped she appeared nonjudgmental.
"What a dick, huh? His ass must be jealous of the amount of shit that comes out of his mouth."
Though crude, this seemed to be the correct thing to say. Jay grinned in response as he found his courage, venturing over to take the chair opposite of hers. Following her lead, he grabbed at one of the apples while Kaz finally chomped into her own.
Jay was like a brother to her, and the only thing that made her madder than the douchebags who bullied him at school is the shit he had to occasionally put up with from Erik at home. Kaz doesn't have any siblings, so she didn't completely understand the relationship Jay had between himself and his brothers. She did, however, feel like she had to defend him whenever Erik began to strut around the apartment like a testosterone-fueled peacock.
Jay was a smart kid, he didn't deserve to get pushed around. If Kaz could take a baseball bat to the kids he had to put up with at school, she would.
"It sounds like you're lucid dreaming," Jay said, leaning back against the wall of the stairwell.
They had since relocated from the apartment, instead lounging on the stairwell that led out onto the street. Through the glass door separating the apartments from the outside world, they could see a thick blanket of white coating the street and buildings. It looked as though mother nature had puffed up her cheeks and blew powdered sugar all over the city. Jay and Kaz watched as children in puffy jackets frolicked about in the snow like neon-colored bouncy balls.
Kaz had settled on a stair of her own, stretching out her legs in front of her. The tips of her toes barely grazed the other end of the staircase. She had filled the latter in on her strange dreams, emphasizing their tangibility and how she had woken up with wounds the next day.
"Lucid dreaming, huh?" she echoed. "Does that explain how I woke up with the same cuts? And how they healed when I woke up this morning?"
"Well... no," he responded, pulling out his phone. "I would think sleepwalking, like you did, but that doesn't explain how they healed all by themselves." Jay fixed her with a serious look. "Klara, how long have you been working nights? Maybe you're tired."
"I'm not hallucinating," Kaz insisted, voice firm. She tore off her shoes and showed him her feet, wiggling her toes for emphasis. "You see? There's nothing there. I've got bloody bedsheets and socks back at home to prove that I'm not nuts."
His gaze flicked to her feet before back to her.
"I believe you," he responded. His voice was sincere, and Kaz had no doubt he meant what he said. She stuffed her bare feet back into her shoes, satisfied.
"Lucid dreaming and pain," Jay read, his focus on his phone. He had apparently looked up the subject. "Yes, you can feel pain in a lucid dream, but it's different than real pain. For instance if you jump off a cliff and land splat on the ground, it wouldn't necessarily hurt. Pain is often inconsistent with cause, and stopped abruptly when the dream moved on."
"Bullshit," Kaz huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "The pain I felt in my dream definitely felt like real pain. And it only went away when I healed myself. What does it say about waking up with wounds?"
"Nothing," he replied, his brows furrowing as his thumb moved over the screen on his phone. "Oh wait, there's a blog post here about someone who wakes up with scratches and stuff after dreaming though, and it's consistent with the stuff that happens in her dream."
Kaz sat up a little straighter. "Oh? That's what happened to me, what'd they say?"
Jay was silent for several beats as he scrolled through his phone, his frown deepening. "Um... spirits, ghosts, that's what everyone that responded said. And the phenomenon that if you believe something strongly enough, it'll happen. Y'know, like you think you'll get sick and then you do get sick."
She groaned, sagging back on the banister. "Fat lot of good that does me."
Ghosts? Yeah, right. Ghosts don't haunt dingy apartments.
"So," Jay continued, lowering his phone to look at her, "You say you can heal yourself in your dream? And when you "healed" yourself in your dream you healed in real life?"
"Yeah."
"How did you say you got those wounds to begin with?"
Kaz sighed. "I was running on the roofs of a village. There were things chasing me, um-" what did Aldrich call them? "-orcs, I think. Ugly freakin' things."
Jay froze, his eyes widening as a smile spread over his face. He hit a few buttons on his phone before flipping the device over to show Kaz the screen. "Did they look like this?"
That was definitely an orc on the screen. Its beady, black gaze seemed to penetrate the screen and peer right through her. Kaz flinched back despite herself, nearly knocking the phone from her friend's grip.
"Yikes, Jay! A little warning next time, please?"
"Sorry," he replied, though he didn't sound sorry. In fact, he sounded fascinated. "What was the name of the village you were in?"
"Upbourn," she responded automatically, surprising herself in how quickly she was able to recall the information. The dream remained as clear to her as her shift at work the night before. At her answer, Jay was nearly quivering in excitement.
"And what were the names of the people traveling with you?"
Kaz relayed the information without a moment's hesitation, again surprising herself with her memory and accuracy. Jay frowned and shook his head at the names, unsatisfied. Kaz raised an eyebrow at him.
"What?" she asked. Did he know something about her dreams that she didn't?
"And where was the group going?" he continued, ignoring her question.
Kaz huffed but answered him regardless. "Rohan, I think. No wait, Edoras. Edoras is in Rohan."
She smiled, proud of herself for being able to remember so much from the gibberish Palma, Tompkin, and Aldrich had thrown at her.
Jay just sat back, arms over his chest and eyes twinkling as he regarded her smugly.
"What?" Kaz demanded.
"You read it."
"Read what?"
Jay frowned, confused by her response. "The Lord of the Rings, of course."
Oh. Kaz remembered, she had only read the first sentence. But what did that have to do with anything?
"I... haven't gotten past the first page yet," she all but muttered, studying her hands for a moment. "Why do you ask?"
A disappointed expression flickered across Jay's face before he continued.
"Then you... must've seen the movies?"
Kaz shook her head, looking at Jay as though he had spouted some nonsense. Which he had. Kaz didn't really watch television, read, or watch movies.
Jay made a little noise of confusion as he looked down at his lap, deep in thought.
"Jay?"
No answer.
Kaz reached forward to poke him square in the shoulder.
"Jay, seriously, what's wrong?" She had a fleeting worry he was going to tell her something extraordinarily awful about the content of her dreams, that she was really the spawn of Satan... or something.
"Nothing's wrong, really," he finally said, looking up to meet her eyes. "Your dreams... they just... they're in The Lord of the Rings world."
There was a moment's silence as Kaz just stared at the younger boy, fully expecting him to burst into laughter and exclaim that he was just messing with her. However, Jay's expression remained devoid of humor.
"Um..." she replied hesitantly. "What do you mean?"
"Those orcs, that picture I showed you was an actor in makeup on the set of the movie. Upbourn, that's a town in Rohan, in the valley of Harrowdale. And Edoras is the capital of Rohan."
Kaz gaped at the latter as he rattled off this information. Jay sounded just like Palma in that moment, regurgitating the same gibberish in precisely the same manner. Eerily, their information was the same. Now Kaz recalled Edoras as the capital of Rohan, and she remembered the word 'Harrowdale' had been mentioned many times.
"You're shittin' me," Kaz finally said, staring at Jay in wonder. The latter shook his head.
"But... how is that possible? I know jack shit about that book, I only read the first sentence for cryin' out loud!"
"I don't know. Maybe it's some sort of osmosis from me?" Jay joked. Kaz just raised an eyebrow at him, unamused. Jay coughed and continued.
"But that's really cool, regardless. It'd be so awesome to dream about that. To slay orcs, to walk with the fellowship, to meet Galadriel..." Jay suddenly had a faraway look on his face.
Kaz rubbed an eye in exasperation. All of this was beginning to give her a headache. Was she really dreaming about the book Jay had given her yesterday? She couldn't recall any exposure to the novel or movie that would allow her to conjure up the wealth of detail supplied in her dream. Except, she must have learned about it somewhere. It wouldn't make any sense otherwise. Her mind helpfully supplied an image of words jumping out of the book on her nightstand and into her ear while she was asleep. Kaz immediately chased that image away.
It was official. She was out of her mind.
"I probably won't even have the dream tonight," Kaz muttered, feeling grumpy about the whole thing. She wished Jay was the one who had dreamt about burning villages and uncomfortable shoes. He certainly would've appreciated it a whole lot more.
"How many times have you had it so far?" he asked, snapping out of his mini-fantasy.
"Three," she replied reluctantly. "But that's about as many times people normally have the same dream, right? Then they go away?"
To her dismay Jay zeroed in on the screen of his phone, obviously looking up the answer to her question.
"It says here that reoccurring dreams happen because the message may be so important or powerful that it refuses to go away, that it's your mind trying to tell you something," Jay looked up to fixed her with a goofy grin. "Maybe it's your mind trying to tell you to read the book."
Kaz just rolled her eyes. That was seriously doubtful.
"-they are often triggered by a certain life situation or transitional phase in life," Jay read.
She stilled for a moment. Kaz recalled how Erik had stopped her this morning, letting her know of his intent to attend college far away. Kaz vividly remembered the despair she had felt when she considered her life thus far, her future, and the unwelcome changes occurring around her. Could this transition be causing these lucid dreams?
Kaz frowned at the thought, lunging forward to snatch the phone from the younger boy's grip.
"Hey-"
"No, look here. It says 'whatever the frequency of the dream, there is little variation in the dream content itself.' It's not a reoccurring dream, then. It's different every time. It's like... I don't know, a saga in my head. Different chapters of the same book."
She handed the phone back. Jay studied her.
"You could read the book." Kaz made a face. "Or if you don't want to do that, I think one of my friends has the movies. We could watch them," Jay suggested. "It might help if you have the dream again. Y'know, to be more prepared."
"Absolutely not," she replied, shaking her head. "I've had enough of orcs and death and improper hygiene for one lifetime, thank you." Seeing it all again on a glowing screen or reading about it sounded about as delightful as sticking a sharp stick in her eye.
Jay was silent for a moment, obviously considering something in his mind. Kaz frowned at him impatiently.
"What?"
"I could... spend the night tonight? Like on the couch," Jay added hurriedly. "Just in case you have it again and get hurt or something."
Kaz opened her mouth, fully prepared to reject his offer, yet a thought made her pause. If she was sleepwalking (she hadn't fully ruled that option out, despite the weird healing that occurred this morning) it would be nice to have an extra person there, if only to prevent her from strolling off the balcony. Even if she ended up dreaming about ponies and rainbows tonight, the thought of having someone watching over her was comforting.
"Okay," she agreed.
Jay had begun to wring his hands awkwardly as he awaited her response. His head snapped up when she spoke.
"Really?" he said, mouth falling open.
Kaz laughed at the incredulous expression on his face. "Yeah, it'll be like old times. When we used to have sleepovers when we were little. Are you sure you don't mind babysitting me the night before your birthday? I don't usually go to sleep till late on my days off."
Jay smiled, eyes twinkling. "Don't be stupid, of course I don't mind."
After their discussion on the stairs, Kaz and Jay wandered back to the DeFour's apartment to watch his brothers play their video game and exchange off-color jokes. As retribution for Jay's earlier plight, Kaz busied herself with pelting the back of Erik's head with random items she found about the bedroom. This onslaught distracted him enough in the versus mode to lose to Marcus many times. Badly. The latter was ecstatic.
Kaz checked the time on her phone. It was already late in the afternoon.
"Hey guys, I gotta take off," Kaz announced. Jay looked at her curiously while his brothers grunted in acknowledgement. Kaz had noticed that her dad had came and went while she was sleeping, so she expected him to be home. They had made a date for tonight, after all. She was actually much more excited about hanging out with her father than any normal 22-year-old. It seemed as though it had been ages since Kaz had legitimately spent time with her dad. Lately it seemed as though she only managed to catch quick glimpses of him as he was hurrying off.
"My dad and I are hanging out tonight," she explained, the pitch in her voice betraying her enthusiasm.
"That's cool," Erik muttered, eyes glued to the screen. Kaz pocketed her phone and rose off the bed, padding out of the bedroom. Jay mirrored her movements, falling into step behind her.
"So... did you want me to still...?"
Kaz turned to face him, worrying her bottom lip.
"Yeah, but are you sure? Seriously, I don't want to make you wait up for me. I completely forgot to tell you I'm hanging out with my dad tonight."
He just chuckled. "Klara, if you promise I'm the first one you'll tell about your dream then I don't really mind. You never get to see your dad, anyway. Just text me when you're ready to go to bed."
A smile quirked on her face. "Y'know, taken out of context this conversation seems really weird."
"Heh, yeah," he laughed awkwardly, ducking his head in response. Is he embarrassed? Kaz gazed at him, confused. Jay was never one to get embarrassed about their witty banter. He refused to meet her eyes, though. A flash of annoyance bit through her at his deliberate avoidance.
"Um... okay, till later then?"
"Yeah, text me later."
Weirdo.
"Dad?" Kaz called, stepping over the threshold and into her apartment.
She was instantly hit with a gust of cool air. The flippin' apartment hallway was warmer than their actual apartment. "Brrr..." Kaz drew her sweatshirt closer to herself, beginning to regret not wearing anything underneath.
"Dad?" she shouted again, kicking off her shoes and scurrying into her bedroom to locate a pair of socks before her feet froze. "This entire place is like an icebox, can I turn up the heat?"
After donning a few more essential garments, Kaz ventured over to her dad's bedroom and peeked her head into the darkness. The bedsheets were a crumpled mess, shoved up by the foot of the bed. One lone pillow lay forgotten in the center of the floor.
The pillow and bedsheets in her dad's bedroom were in the exact same position she had remembered seeing them two days ago. Which meant that her dad hadn't been bothering to sleep in his bedroom again. Kaz remembered when her mom had just packed up and left five years prior; her dad was reduced to a wreck and wasn't able to sleep in the bedroom for an entire year. Occasionally, when her dad felt stressed or overworked he would revert to this habit, camping out on the couch with a bottle of beer and PBS to lull him to sleep.
The couch, however, was currently devoid of her father. Kaz walked over to it, eyes taking in the heavy quilt draped over the back, the collection of empty glass bottles on the floor near the foot of the bed, and the head-shaped dent that had begun to form on the arm.
She heaved a heavy sigh. It was obvious she needed to talk to him again, this was becoming ridiculous.
"Budget smudget," Kaz muttered darkly to herself, scooping up the collection of beer bottles and stomping towards the kitchen.
If he doesn't hire someone else soon, I will!
Before she made it to the recycling bin, a knock at her door stilled her. Kaz's heart leaped. Maybe he hadn't forgotten after all!
She juggled her collection of bottles, groping at the lock and flinging the door open.
It wasn't her dad. Erik and Jay stood there before her, looking particularly sheepish. Jay was holding out two stacked boxes-a box of pizza and Scrabble. Erik had a twenty-four pack of beer dangling from his left hand.
Kaz stared at them in confusion. It hadn't even been ten minutes since she had left their apartment.
"So, the pizza guy just brought this for us. There's enough to share," Jay said, lifting the box in question. Him and Erik each wore twin expressions of sympathy.
"Does this count as a good apology for being a dick earlier?" Erik asked, lifting up the beer for emphasis. So Jay had talked to him when she left.
Kaz just stared at the two boys for a moment, eyes threatening to well up with tears. Of course her dad wasn't going to be there; he had been making promises to her for a year now. Kaz fell for it every single time, and Erik and Jay knew that. They knew what it was like to have a parent that was never around. So, instead of asking questions, they had simply shown up with pizza and beer.
In that moment, Kaz felt immensely guilty about her reaction when Erik had told her he was going to college. She felt guilty for being selfish and self-piteous. It didn't matter what life had in store for them, the DeFour boys would always be the best friends she ever had.
"Yes," she replied with a smile.
They spent the majority of the night getting tipsy off of Mrs. DeFour's forgotten beer, making up words in Scrabble, and stuffing their faces with greasy pizza. Every so often they would take a break to walk out on the snowy balcony and watch the street. It had begun to snow again, fat puffs of frosting drifted lazily from the sky and got stuck in their eyelashes.
Jay won three games in a row before Kaz interrupted his streak with a surprising and well-timed 'XYLOPHONE.' At one point in the night Erik rolled up a snowball from the snow on the balcony and made himself a beer-flavored snow cone.
"Hey Jay," Kaz said. She had just noticed it was a minute after midnight. "Happy birthday."
"Oh yeah, bro. Happy birthday," Erik echoed sleepily.
After four games of Scrabble, an emptied twenty-four pack and a demolished pizza they had since relocated to the couch. The television glowed in the darkness and the trio stared at it sleepily. The pizza and the beer had made them all sleepy.
The show that Jay had chosen was odd, something about a talking yellow sponge with a whiny voice.
"Thanks," Jay replied.
Kaz met Erik's gaze over Jay's head. They hadn't had a moment to discuss what they were getting for Jay as a present yet. Through eye signals alone they made a date to do that later.
Erik left shortly after that, mumbling something about probably finding Marcus on Halo right where he left him. Jay turned to her with a smile, eyes half-lidded with weariness.
"So, did you still want me to stay? I could just sleep here." Jay patted the couch beneath them for emphasis. "I'll hear your dad if he comes in and I'll hear you if you come out here-I'm a light sleeper."
Kaz nodded. Jay was a light sleeper, years of sleepovers had taught her that.
"Goodnight," she murmured, her own voice thick with sleep as she clamored to her feet.
She paused before venturing towards her bedroom, turning to regard the other. Jay had plucked the quilt from the foot of the bed and was busily wrapping it around himself. She met his eyes.
"Thank you, for staying," she said sincerely. "On your birthday, even. I really appreciate it."
Jay just smiled at her.
"Anytime Klara. Goodnight."
She awoke to someone shaking her roughly. Small hands gripped her shoulders with surprising strength as Kaz's head bobbed up and down with the force of jostling.
"Klara! Klara wake up!" a sharp, feminine voice whispered urgently over the din. Kaz could hear the sounds of snarling, weeping, and clanging metal reverberate around her. The commotion sounded eerily akin to the night in the burning village. Her eyes snapped open.
The first thing Kaz saw was Juliet, her dark locks in disarray and face flushed with adrenaline. The girl's eyes were wide and bright with terror and locked squarely onto Kaz's, startling the latter into a state of stupefaction.
"Juliet?" Kaz uttered, her voice harsh. She became all-too-aware of her prone position against the solid ground, rocks digging into the back of her hoodie. She realized that she had, once again, woken up into the same dream-right where she had left off-on the cold, hard clearing nestled between a cluster of pines.
Except that there was one key difference—Juliet was scared and people were running around behind her. Too many people. Kaz attempted to focus on the ruckus behind Juliet's head but the latter was already grabbing at her, hauling Kaz to her feet with a burst of determination.
"You sleep like the dead Klara, orcs happened upon us, we must move!"
"Orcs?" she echoed stupidly as Juliet dragged her along. Her feet finally caught up to her brain and she attempted to run alongside the girl, yet Juliet had her arm clutched in a vice.
Orcs. It was then she saw them. It was not yet morning, the dim glow of the sun stretching only miniscule tendrils of light onto the valley. Yet it was enough to cast the orcs as malevolent, shadowy knights emerging from the twilight like boogeymen. They were bursting through the gloom and swarming the small camp, snarling and howling with slashing blades and ugly sneers.
Kaz heard screams, screams from women. She whirled her head around as she tripped along after Juliet, spotting only Aldrich amidst the mass of activity. She was seized with a sudden impulse to call out for him, yet her words died on her lips as she realized he was locked in furious combat with one of the creatures. In the moment it took for her to realize this, another orc had crept up behind the man, plunging a long, wicked blade between his shoulder blades.
She faltered at the sight and nearly tipped over. Aldrich's head snapped back, mouth falling open in a silent scream. Kaz could almost hear the sickening crackle of the remains of his spinal column as the orc jerked the blade from his body.
The murderer then turned slowly, locking eyes with her. Blood-hungry, obsidian orbs seemed to scorch through her very being, down to her soul.
Kaz didn't see Aldrich fall, as Juliet had suddenly halted in their flight. It took great command of her senses to prevent herself from tumbling into the younger girl. The grip on Kaz's wrists slackened and Kaz looked to Juliet in confusion. Yet the latter's gaze was fixated on something in front of them. Kaz followed her line of sight to rest upon a group of orcs.
Three of the grotesque monsters stood squarely in their path, eyeing the two of them with a mixture of hunger and exhilaration. Kaz felt her stomach clench with sudden fear. As it was back in the village, the dream had again become terrifyingly real. The orcs stood so close she could smell the decay on their breath and the coppery tang of blood smeared on their armor; she could even see the dark liquid as it dripped from the blades of their weapons to puddle in the dirt. The creatures were nightmares wrapped in flesh, their very auras soaked with depravity and the promise of death.
Kaz knew this was a dream-it had to be a dream-yet she now feared the notion of death just as much as if this were happening on the streets of Chicago.
Juliet nudged her arm gently, capturing Kaz's attention.
"Klara, I want you to kill me," she murmured, her eyes still locked on the cluster of beasts before them. Kaz suddenly found the hilt of a heavy blade eased into her palm, hidden behind the fabric of Juliet's dress.
It took Kaz a couple beats to realize that the younger girl was being serious.
"You want me to what?!" Kaz hissed back. The orcs before them had begun to chitter among themselves excitedly, stealing glances at Juliet.
"Kill me," Juliet repeated, her lips hardly moving as she spoke. "You do not know this, but orcs often take the women as trophies… they use them up and then they kill them. Please, Klara."
She turned to face her then. Kaz could clearly see the whites of her eyes in the partial light.
"You look like a boy, Klara. Your death will be swift. Please understand; I do not want the fate of my mother… my sisters. Please."
Kaz saw red. She understood. Oh, she understood perfectly. Gazing into Juliet's eyes-those young eyes on a young face on a young girl that looked right at her and begged for death-Kaz's heart broke at the same time unbidden fury coursed through her very being.
She was not surprised in the slightest at this information. These hell-borne brutes seemed to be capable of any and all evils in the universe. Kaz, however, refused to be privy to this immorality. This was her dream, and she refused to run a sword through a young girl when there was a perfectly foul, deserving beast not four steps away.
"No," Kaz ground out, eyes drifting over to regard the orcs advancing on them.
Juliet looked positively stricken, her expression morphing into one of acute despair. "Klara, I-"
"I said no!" Kaz repeated, looking straight at the younger girl. The strength of her voice had caused the knot of orcs to pause, surprised. Kaz's hand had tightened around the soft leather at the hilt of the sword, knuckles white. There was fire in her eyes. Her body quaked in anger.
"At the count of three, I want you to get your ass moving. Run and don't look back. D'you get me?"
Juliet just nodded mutely, her face contorted in an expression of shock. Tears welled in her eyes, spilling over her cheeks. Her russet hair clung wetly to her face.
Kaz smiled at her; suddenly struck with the ridiculous hope that this wasn't that last time she was to see Juliet.
"Good," Kaz replied, turning back towards the group of orcs. They were nearly on top of them now, eyes fixated on her as they raised their weapons. The orc nearest to Juliet reached out one clawed hand, intending to snatch up the girl into its clutches.
No way in hell. This was her dream. This was her mind. There was absolutely no way she was going to let that shit fly. Kaz summoned her strength, willing her omnipotent dream powers to make an appearance. She was going to destroy these fuckin' things. Rip them limb from limb.
Kaz experienced a feeling akin to hot water filling her up from the inside out, setting her adrenaline aflame. Kaz felt powerful, she felt as though she could take on a whole army.
"THREE!" she hollered, swinging up the weapon with surprising ease and immersing it into the orc's grasping forearm. The beast howled and Juliet took off like a shot, skirts swirling behind her as she vanished into the gray of the dawn. In a burst of dark blood the orc's upper arm was suddenly not there. Kaz watched the severed appendage flop uselessly onto the grass. Her stomach lurched dangerously.
Did she do that?
Kaz wasn't given an opportunity to dwell on the sight, as out of the corner of her eye she caught a blur of movement. With speed that surprised even herself, she twisted her sword up and forward to parry the onslaught.
Kaz warded the two orcs off with her weapon with the skill and precision of an expert fencer. She seized every open opportunity to plunge her weapon into the weak points of their armor, feeling a rush of satisfaction every time she felt her blade sink into yielding flesh.
In any normal circumstance, Kaz would have been frightened at the uncharacteristic fury and aggression that completely consumed her in this moment; not to mention the skill and precision that guided her every move. But all she could think about was these demonic, revolting creatures carrying off helpless women from the village, ravaging them before tossing them aside like used dolls.
She knew this was just a dream; that her reaction was borne from fictional data; that these creatures weren't committing these unspeakable crimes against real women. And yet… she had witnessed firsthand the trepidation and resolve in Juliet's eyes as she pleaded with Kaz to take her life. It was enough. The idea that Kaz alone controlled this dreamscape, that she had somehow conjured these players from the recesses of her mind left her with immense guilt. This guilt fueled her rage. Her rage fueled her sword.
The one-handed orc had recuperated from his disfigurement, lunging at her with his weapon. He was too slow. She ducked and rolled between two of the orcs, jumping to her feet and slashing down at her bewildered attacker. The sharp edge of the blade tore through the creature's uncovered shoulder, slicing through flesh and cartilage. Her sword became caught on the bone, and as Kaz struggled to dislodge it the second orc seized the opportunity to rush her.
Kaz dodged, abandoning her weapon in the shoulder of the beast and tumbling on the ground to avoid her attacker. He swung again at her again and missed her face with inches to spare.
They're scary, but they move like slugs, Kaz thought smugly, jumping to her feet. Her confidence heighted as she and her attacker circled one another. The third orc had since run off, most likely spotting more appealing prey. The orc she had dismembered was making quite a ruckus, shrieking and attempting to clutch at the blade lodged in its shoulder. It was just beyond its reach, though. The sight gave Kaz a sick sense of satisfaction.
She wiggled her empty fingers. Kaz had no doubt she could dodge the orc, no matter how he attempted to attack her. She was wondering whether to go for her original weapon again when suddenly an arrow embedded itself into the side of her attacker's head. The beast's expression was frozen into one of permanent surprise as it promptly toppled to the ground, dead before its body hit the grass.
Kaz blinked at the prone form before her before turning to seek out the source of arrow. The sun had risen higher above the bluffs, cutting through the shadowy gray of the morning. She saw them then, blonde men on horseback pounding purposefully towards the clearing. They were yelling and hooting, expertly flinging arrows from sleek bows into the writhing mass of orcs around her.
Kaz looked around, watching dark bodies tumble to the earth, peppered with shafts. Allard came into view as orcs dropped around him. He was a mess-blood seeped from wounds on his head and arms-but he was alive. He met her eyes then, expression flickering in relief for a moment before melting into horror.
She frowned at his reaction, attempting to take a step towards him before realizing quickly she was pinned in place. Her body had gone numb, and her legs threatened to buckle from beneath her.
What?
Kaz looked down at her feet, her eyes taking in the crimson-soaked blade which protruded neatly from her gut.
Oh.
Upon seeing the injury, the pain hit her suddenly, like a heavy blow. A defeating ringing noise exploded in her ears, drowning out the commotion around her. She saw the blurry outline of Allard rushing towards her, eyes wild and a determined set to his jaw. Someone was screaming her name. Her legs gave out, the strength in her body evaporating as quickly as someone snuffing out a candle.
She numbly felt her knees ricochet against the dirt. She didn't feel it when her torso pitched forward and she collapsed fully on the ground. Her eyes were still open as she laid there, staring blankly. The last thing Kaz saw was Allard's feet before she completely blacked out.
Kaz woke up screaming.