Water filled his lungs and nose as he swirled around, unable to reach the surface. This was the worst part, the thought that he would drown in the plumbing, helpless and afraid. The only comfort was that he knew he was dreaming, and that this part ended soon.
As if on cue he was suddenly standing on a pier, clutching something cloth close to him as he stared out at the night sky. This part always confused him. What was he doing here? It was too cold for him to have swam. That was a bridge over there in the distance; had he fallen off?
And then he looked down at the water, catching his reflection. His skin crawled when he saw another face nearby. A face that was blue, the eyes bulged, the mouth hanging open as the body floated to the surface.
Usually he wasn't able to hear what he started screaming, it was always muffled, or he woke up. But now it was clear as day, petrified and ghastly.
"Dad!"
Jack sprang straight up and gasped, sweat covering him like a thick blanket. He had stopped crying out months ago, it had only frightened him more and made his throat hurt. Now he just hyperventilated until his head spun and the dream seemed lightyears away.
"Jack?"
He jolted and looked over at the other bed, surprised when he saw Stryker sleepily staring at him. Then it came back to him. He and Stryker had moved into one of the guest rooms to give Cinder and Entropy his, since it was bigger and they took up more space than the boys did.
"You okay?" Stryker asked, his voice giving away his grogginess.
"Yeah...I-I'm fine..." Jack squeaked, suppressing a shiver.
Stryker rubbed his eyes and turned on the lamp between the beds. He shook his head when he saw the blatant terror on Jack's face.
"I thought I told you to be honest when I ask if you're okay," he reminded him. "You know I can sense peoples' feelings. You had that dream again, didn't you?"
Jack bit his lip, then nodded slowly.
"Tell me about it."
"I already have."
"Well, tell me again."
Jack ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Stryker. He was sitting up now, staring ahead of him as he squeezed his eyes open and shut, awake whether he wanted to be or not. Jack sighed.
"Okay," he started as Stryker looked at him. "Well it started out the same as always. I'm...in a toilet for some reason, and someone flushes it and..."
He paused and furrowed his brow.
"Except I was sixteen," he says, causing Stryker to straighten. "I wasn't twelve this time. And I was wearing my trench coat and goggles."
"Okay," Stryker said, swinging his legs off the bed. "Then what?"
"I was drowning, and then I was standing on a pier or something, and it was dark and cold and I could just barely see a bridge in front of me. And then I looked down and saw..."
He shivered again and Stryker leaned forward, sensing Jack's fear as if it were his own.
"A body was...in the water..." Jack forced himself to say. "It was...blue and awful looking..."
Stryker's eyes widened when Jack teared up and squeezed his eyes shut. He mumbled something and covered his mouth.
"What?" Stryker asked, then stood and sat on Jack's bed. "Jack-"
"It was my dad!" Jack sobbed. "He was dead and I couldn't do anything and..."
He said more but Stryker couldn't understand him. Without much thought Stryker wrapped his arms around his friend and pulled him close; Jack curled himself up and sobbed uncontrollably, stopping only to gasp for air and start again. Stryker's jaw was clamped so tight his teeth hurt, and before he knew it he too was shaking. He'd known this kind of thing would be difficult for Jack to talk about, but he'd never expected this strong of a reaction. And he had absolutely no idea what to do.
"St-Stryker...?"
He looked down at Jack as the other boy lifted his head.
"You're...kinda choking me..."
"Oh, uh, sorry," Stryker stammered as he let go and scooted over. "You just, uh...scared me..."
Jack smirked shakily at him.
"So you tried to choke me out?" he asked.
To both their surprise Stryker actually turned red. There was a knock on the door, and then it opened to reveal Cinder and Entropy in the hallway. Jack became aware of the tears still on his cheeks and buried his head in the blanket.
"What's going on?" Entropy asked with a yawn. "Sounded like someone was crying."
"Are you guys okay?" Cinder asked.
"Yeah, we're fine," Stryker said with a smile. It was easy to fake one for them as Cinder's hair was so tangled it was forming a nest, and Entropy had forgotten to take off her makeup, so her eyeliner was smeared all over her face. "You two certainly are the poster kids for beauty."
"It's not even light out yet, who can think of beauty?" Entropy groaned as she plopped down on the other side of Jack. "You two having a slumber party moment or something?"
Cinder glimpsed Jack shiver through her hair and tilted her head.
"Jack?" she asked, stepping closer and putting a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
She felt him shake again, and then gasped when he lifted his head, wiping the rest of the tears from his cheeks.
"T-Tired," he croaked, pulling the blanket up to his chin.
Entropy straightened when she heard him speak.
"It was you crying wasn't it?" she asked pointedly. "It better have been a really bad nightmare."
"Enny!" Stryker scolded.
"What, I'm just saying..."
"What was it about, Jack?" Cinder questioned.
He cringed; could he get through explaining it again? He wasn't very sure. Before he could get done deciding, Cinder leaned over and kissed his cheek, then grabbed his hand. His face turned bright red as Entropy rested her head on his arm, then looked over at Stryker.
"You need a hug too, Snakey?" she asked.
"As much as I need a bullet in the brain," Stryker growled.
He yelped as Cinder wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him to them, putting her other arm around Jack. He took one look at Stryker's face and started laughing hard, half at the boy's awkwardness and half at his own. His friends sighed collectively and smiled, glad that he was appearing better.
A few hours later Wuya opened the door and suppressed a squeak when she saw them all sprawled around the room, too tired to have gone back to their beds.