Chapter XII: A Strange Dream.
***Late Night***
Jackson went straight to his room after he and Sam arrived back at the apartment block. He could feel the soft embrace of his pillowcase, and the warmth of his sheets. He closed his eyes. There was nothing but darkness for some time.
But his mind was very much active. After a while, he became aware that what he lay on no longer comforted him. It felt like a cold, hard floor. He tried to roll within his sheets, but they seemed to drift away from his body, as if someone had slowly dragged them free. He was left cold. Was he dreaming? He didn't remember falling asleep.
He opened his eyes, but the same blackness remained. The lights of the street would surely be shining through the windowpane and the gap between his curtains. He repeatedly closed and re-opened his eyes, but nothing changed. He began to panic, a cold bead of sweat slipped slowly down the side of his face.
And then he saw it. At first it was a tiny light in the immeasurable distance. But as it grew closer, he could make out its form. It was a small, green butterfly, flying gracefully towards him. He reached out a hand to touch it, but as he did, a dim burst of light seeped into the side of his vision, and his bedroom was once again illuminated by the slither of yellow light that creaked in through the window. The butterfly was nowhere to be seen.
He looked around. He was very much awake, and very much in his bed.
"Was it a dream?" He asked himself. He could feel the soft embrace of his pillowcase, and the warmth of his sheets. He closed his eyes. There was nothing but darkness for some time, as he drifted off to sleep.
***Friday, October 3rd: Morning***
Jackson never told his friends about that dream. In fact, by the following morning, he had all but forgotten about it. He remembered the feeling of the floor on his body and the light in the distance, but the whole scene never fully returned to his mind.
Regardless, it was three days since they last entered the other world, and Jackson felt it was about time they went again. He decided to talk to Sam about it during Biology.
"So it's been a while since we listened to the forgotten frequency. You think we should try again later?" He asked.
"Umm, sure." She replied, "I mean sure it has been a while. Not sure lets go later. I can't do today, sorry."
"Why's that?" Jackson asked, "You can't possibly have friends besides me and Alex can you?" He joked.
"Ah! Of course I do." She caught herself laughing, but stopped before the teacher turned around, "You're pretty cheeky sometimes, Jackson."
"I try my best." He smiled.
"But this is actually a family thing." She admitted, "My parents are having people round, and I have to be there so they can save face."
"They couldn't possibly have people thinking their daughter is some out of control youth who involves herself in such dangerous acts as 'having fun'." Said Jackson, "Don't you live in the apartment block, anyway?"
"Oh, heaven forbid." Sam laughed, "Yeah I do but my parents don't, do they?"
"True. Ok, How about tomorrow?" He asked.
Sam paused for thought, "Y'know what, screw it. You guys come and meet me at my parents house later, and I'll sneak out the back."
"Are you sure?" Jackson asked, "Your parents wont be mad?"
"Livid." Sam smiled, "But its my life. Besides, that's what teenagers do, isn't it? Sneak out when they're not supposed to."
"I suppose. But normally its to go to a party or on a date. Not, y'know, go and fight monsters."
"Well normally doesn't really concern us of late." She said, "I'd go with you guys after school, but I've got to pick some stuff up from theirs first anyway."
"What stuff?"
"I bought some medical supplies and other things that I thought could help us out in the other world. We can't always be focusing on the offence. What happens if one of us gets hurt by a shadow in battle?"
"Good thinking." Jackson said, "We'll meet up with Alex at lunch and sort out a plan of action for sneaking you out."
"Ok" Sam nodded.
"Mr Blake, and Ms De Beulieu." The teacher perked up and addressed them, "I'm so glad you two are interested in my lesson, but if you could just keep this thrilling discussion you're clearly having until after class, that would be grand."
"Yessir." Jackson responded with a salute. The teacher frowned, and Jackson and Sam spent the rest of the lesson in relative silence.
***Lunchtime***
Sam, Jackson, and Alex sat on the roof of their school and ate lunch together. A familiar scene to the three students. The sun hung low in the sky, but it was decidedly colder than most days in Falcon City. An icy chill had blown in from the north, and brought a small selection of clouds along with it. They seemed out of place here. Jackson felt like they were the first clouds (besides the purple storm clouds of the shadows' world) that he had seen since he moved here. It was still just about warm enough to sit outside without needing a coat to shelter in, though.
"Well I for one just can't wait to kick some more shadow butt." Alex said enthusiastically, "Its been days since we saw some action, and I feel great! I feel like I could take on the whole shadow world myself!"
"I'm sure you do." Jackson said, "But that's not how its going to go down. I'm not having you steal all the glory."
"Right now I don't think any of us are capable of stealing a fraction of the glory." Sam chimed in.
"Why do you always have to be so negative?" Alex pouted.
"Yeah, spoil sport." Jackson winked.
"Alright. Would you prefer if I was more like you two?" She cleared her throat, stood up, and in her best impression of Alex and Jackson's immature excitement, she proclaimed, "I'm gonna go beat up all the monsters and then maybe women will take me seriously because that's clearly the only thing they admire in a man! HUUUURGH." She pretended to flex her muscles.
"Well that's just mean." Jackson smiled.
"Cut-throat." Alex agreed.
Sam took a sarcastic bow, and sat down again.
"You're still game to come to the shadow world later though, right?" Alex asked.
"Of course." She replied, "You can swing by my parents house later and help me bust out."
"Can't you just sneak out yourself?"
"With three bags of medical supplies? You don't know my parents, but when I'm summoned to a dinner, they don't like me breathing without them knowing about it. So I'll need you to create a distraction for me."
"Why have you got three bags?" Jackson asked, "We're not going on an expedition."
"One for each of us." She said, "I'm not being the only one stuck on nurse duty. Plus, I figure it'd be helpful if we all have something to carry supplies in when we're exploring in there. What if we find something useful?"
"Don't you remember what Ray said?" Alex explained, "Nothing from the shadow world can come back into this world."
"No, but there could be things we can use against the shadows there, you never know." She said.
"Ok, ok." Jackson said, "We'll help you sneak out. I'll have Ray ring the door and pretend to be a door-to-door salesman or something. We'll tell him to be really persistent, so that should keep your parents busy."
"Genius." Sam said, "They'll hate that."
"Then me and Alex can wait by a window at the side of the house and help you sneak out."
"Sounds unnecessarily complicated." Alex smiled, "I'm in."
"I mean think about it, what could possibly go wrong?" Jackson laughed.
Lunch ended, and Jackson spent his remaining lessons with Alex. They discussed the poor state of the plan they had formed until school ended, and then headed back to the flats to convince Ray to help them bust Sam out of spending an evening with her parents' friends.