Chapter 6: Dreams and the Dark of Night
I turned the volume all the way down on the television and let myself fall asleep. My sleep was not exactly pleasant. I began to have vivid dreams about all that had happened to us up to this point. Recounting these events was not what made my sleep unpleasant, however.
In part of my dream, I was back in the visitor's area down the hall. It was not as comfortable as it had been before. The lights were out, and the room was cold. I did not have my glasses so I could barely see anything.
A mist began to form at my ankles. I wrapped my arms around my body to conserve body heat, but it was a lost cause. I heard footsteps similar to the ones that Faith and I had heard before. I found myself backing into the corner of the room.
"You are by yourself this time," I heard a low voice speak from inside the room. The voice scared me; I don't scare easily.
I chose not to respond to it.
"The girl was holding me back, but she is unable to protect you this time."
I could not see anyone so I listened for the sound of the voice.
"You cannot see me like the girl could either," the deep voice continued. It had its own form of laughter. The laughter was one of the most horrible sounds that I had ever heard. As opposed to its natural low sound, the laughter was a high-pitched like a squeal.
I found what I thought to be the location of the voice and turned my head in that direction.
"You are getting warmer," the voice growled as if annoyed by me.
I maneuvered my way into one of the booths and slid my body as close to the walls as possible. This may not have been the best idea because it trapped me there, but I was not thinking about making rational decisions at the moment.
"You cannot see me, yet you still hear me. This is very interesting. Allow me to make it easier for you."
The red streams of energy appeared a few feet in front of me in the same way as before. They twisted and came together to form the shape of a body. The body was very similar to the one that Faith and I had seen.
I could not make out any particular features aside from the figure's height. It was very tall, at least one foot taller than I was. I was convinced that the body belonged to a man.
"The little girl that was with you - she was your sister, correct?" The man startled me when he resumed speaking. "I can see the family resemblance."
I was not about to answer him. He made me feel resentment inside. I would have punched the wall if I were not so frightened.
"I take your silence as a yes," he growled again. "Be careful with her, boy. She is powerful. I was not even able to fully manifest myself in her presence. She resisted me."
Now he told me. I would have brought Faith into my dream with me if I'd known tall, dark, and creepy were going to show up.
"Since she is not here to stop me, allow me to show you my complete form."
The body of red energy began to detail. I was able to make out a head, shoulders, and a torso. Apparently, without Faith here, he could do whatever he pleased. The only visible facial features were eyes.
His eye sockets were empty, but in the place of eyes was red lightning. His eyes were full of rage and hate. They made me dislike him even more.
"Be warned, boy," he spoke again, "without your sister by your side, you will be vulnerable to others like me. I am not permitted to harm you now, but watch your step." He let out another screech-like laugh.
I shifted uncomfortably in the booth. The form disappeared little by little, leaving me there alone.
I opened my eyes, and I was once again in my bed, free from the dream. I took a deep breath and looked to my left. Faith was not in her bed.
I reached to turn on the lamp on the nightstand. I put on my glasses and got out of bed. One step at a time I told myself as my eyes readjusted themselves.
Faith was sitting on the balcony staring into the night sky.
"Dreaming I presume?" she spoke as I opened the glass door to the balcony.
"You really need to stop doing that," I replied.
"Doing what?" she spoke with a touch of sarcasm in her voice. Her fake innocence did not fool me.
"Never mind." Faith laughed as I sat down next to her.
"So tell me what you were dreaming about, and maybe I will be nice enough to do the same," she bargained.
"You had a dream?" I was surprised.
"Why else would I be sitting out here and not in the comfort of my bed?"
Good point.
I explained the dream to her. She did not look surprised, or impressed for that matter.
"That is a decent story, but I bet that I can do better," she smiled.
"Give me a second, and we will see what you can do."
I got up and went to the mini refrigerator inside the room. I found a bottle of water. Oddly enough, my throat had been dry ever since I woke up. I went back to the balcony better prepared to hear Faith's dream.
"So it started like this…" she began.
Faith's dream was similar to mine. She was back at the visitor's rest area like I was in my dream. The same spirit had approached her, but she was not limited to seeing just his energy form. She was able to see him in his entirety.
Faith described the spirit as an elderly man with a beard. I know, great description. I made her tell me more, and she revealed that he was wearing an older style of clothing. She was not able to specify the exact time period from whence he came.
The spirit was nicer to her than he had been to me. According to her, he liked her. He only asked her to show her powers to him, but she was unsure how.
"He confused me," she said, "his appearance told me that he was demonic, but he had no intention of harming me. He only wanted to know more about me."
Faith posed no threat to him as long as she was comfortable. He knew that. He was smart not to entice her. From what he told me, Faith was able to do a good bit of harm to him.
"Sounds to me that he likes pretty, young girls better than stuck up mean," she bragged. Ego trip anyone?
I did not want to rain on her parade so I let her have that one. My only answer was, "Guess you are right."
"Are you going back to sleep?" Faith asked.
"How can I? Besides, the night is peaceful. We may not have many more like this. I would feel horrible to miss the chance," I answered.
"We could go exploring if you want. If we run into our friend, we already know how to handle him. I am your secret weapon." Faith liked the idea of having power over someone.
Exploring? Yeah, right. I was perfectly fine where I was. I had to come up with an excuse though because Faith obviously wanted to go. She was a restless person.
"Exploring a dark hotel at…" I looked at my watch. I had not taken it off since we arrived at the hotel. "3 o'clock in the morning? No thanks."
Faith looked disappointed, but she knew I was right.
"How about you?" I asked, "going back to sleep?"
"Of course not. I'm not even tired. To be honest, I keep telling myself that I can learn new things about myself every second if I pay attention."
Her answer made me think. She was taking measures to discover the secrets of her abilities, and I was doing nothing. Maybe if I put more effort into it, I could learn something about myself as well.
Just then, the telephone from the room rang.
"Who would be calling at 3 o'clock in the morning?" Faith asked.
"I'm not sure, but I better answer it."
Who would be calling that early? I picked up the phone.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Christian?" I recognized the voice by its Latino qualities. Doctor Alan.
"Yes, it's me. What's wrong?"
"We just did an early checkup on your mother," his voice did not sound hopeful, "I think you need to come over here."
"We will be right over," I hung up the phone.
"Mom?" Faith knew something was wrong.
"Let's go." We quickly put on our clothes and left the room.
On the way to the elevator, I caught a strange image out of the corner of my eye. Faith stopped short behind me and looked in the same direction.
"We've got company," she said.
She was right. The spirit from the previous day and our dreams made another appearance beside the elevator.
"We don't have time for you right now," Faith was focused on him this time.
"Hear me out," he said. "This is the last time that you will see me for awhile. Be careful. Heed my warnings, and nothing bad will happen to you."
"Step aside," Faith spoke again, "If you haven't noticed, we have somewhere to be."
"Foolish child," his voice was more on edge this time.
He disappeared, and we proceeded to leave the hotel.
Doctor Alan met us outside of the Patient Building. He greeted us with a nod.
"Come with me," he said. His voice had a desperate tone to it.
I exchanged a glance with Faith, and we followed him. She did not look very hopeful either. Her eyes were bloodshot from being tired. I tried to encourage her with a smile.
We took the elevator with Doctor Alan up to the seventh floor. He did not speak or make eye contact with either of us the entire time. That could not be a good sign. I braced myself for whatever we were about to discover.