Chapter 5: The second Nightmare
Dash found himself in a jungle. He couldn't remember a thing that happened, but he had a strange feeling this place wasn't unfamiliar. As he walked around the area, he suddenly heard someone screaming. Running to the source of the sound, Dash spotted his sister laying on the ground, crying in fear badly injured. Dash immediately speeded up even more. In front of Violet, there was a soldier, holding up a gun and pointing it at Violet.
Outside of his dream, Violet awoke to the sounds of her little brother. He talked in his dream. She got up from her bad and rushed over to him, quickly realizing he must be dreaming.
"No… No…" He whispered.
In his dream, Dash knocked down the soldier and hit him in his face multiple times as Violet turned invisible and ran away. Suddenly, Dash felt his arm grabbed by the enemy. Shortly after, Dash got a hit in the face and flew back, hitting a tree hard. The soldier then got up and pointed his gun at the young super.
Still sitting next to Dash on his bed, Violet had her head down. Should she wake him up? Or should she wait? Her brother was breathing heavily and his expression changed to fear.
Being injured next to the tree, Dash waited for the soldier to shoot. Suddenly Violet jumped out of a bush and in front of him, screaming her little brother's name. The soldier quickly pulled the trigger and a bullet pierced Violet's chest, killing her.
This was too much. Violet was about to wake him up when Dash suddenly started to cry and say
"Violet… no…"
Nothing more was needed. She grabbed his arm and whispered
"Dash. I'm right here, wake up. Everything is alright. It's just a dream!"
Dash awoke with tears in his eyes, catching multiple breaths and looking around the room in fear.
"Dash… What was it about?" Violet asked him as she pulled him in for a hug, rocking him back and forth.
"I don't want to sleep anymore!" She got as an answer. "Why do dreams have to feel this real?"
He cried uncontrollably into his sister's shoulder. Violet didn't know what to do. She was sure it was good to wake him up, but she wasn't sure in what to do now. She held Dash close to her to make sure he feels her being there for him. A few minutes later, when he calmed down a little, she tried again.
"Dash, please. Tell me about your dream. What happened?"
The way she asked showed Dash she cared so much about him. The smile she wore, the softness in her voice and the way she stroked his back were enough to show him that, but there was way more. He didn't want to tell her what happened to her, but he wanted her to know the dream.
"I was back on the island and there was a soldier pointing a gun at me. He hit me, knocking me to the ground and then he wanted to shoot me… That's when you shook me". He sobbed.
Violet listened carefully to what her brother told her. And even though she believed him she felt like something's missing.
"I need to know one thing, Dash." She lifted his head to look him deep into his eyes. "Why did you say my name?"
This had Dash shocked. Did he actually say her name? He must have if she says so.
"I… You…" He stammered.
"So… I was part of your dream, right?" She asked again.
The way Violet looked into his eyes weakened Dash more and more. He needed to look away. He couldn't tell her. His heart would break. So, he just closed his eyes and whispered to her
"Please don't force me to tell you… I can't."
Violet's eyes turned to show sadness.
"But… why? If I am part of your dream, why can't you tell me? Just give me a reason… Give me… something."
Dash reopened his eyes and lay his head on her shoulder.
"I will tell you… someday. I promise." He sobbed again.
Biting her lips, Violet accepted that.
"Okay Dash. But you need to promise me something else. I want to hear it soon. Please tell me in the next five days." She answered.
Dash was scared. She wanted to hear it and she was already this close to finding out. And the truth is that she deserved to know. With all that in mind, he managed a short
"Okay, sis. I promise."
Violet kept comforting her little brother who was still scared for a while longer, before deciding she didn't want to leave his side. If he had another nightmare and she wasn't waking up to help him it would scare him again. And she can't let that happen.
"Do you maybe want me to stay with you for the night?" she asked.
Dash considered this. In those last days, every time he felt horrible, scared or sad, Violet was always by his side. She always made the pain fade away, even though she didn't know what caused it. She couldn't make the pain disappear, but she definitely numbed it.
"Yes. If you want to stay with me." He said with uncertainty in his voice.
Violet gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and smiled warmly at him.
"Anytime for you, Dash."
With that, both of them snuggled into Dash's pillow, sharing the blanked to stay warm. Before Violet turned off the light again, she faced her brother again.
"If you feel unsafe or scared, wake me up, okay?"
Dash nodded. The rest of the night, both of them slept well. No nightmares and no bad thoughts. Finally.
At breakfast time, Bob, Helen and Jack-Jack sat at the table, waiting for Dash and Violet to join them. After a few more minutes of waiting, Helen went to their room to see what they were doing. She knocked on the door and opened it shortly after to be greeted by the two siblings sitting next to each other on Dash's bed, talking and smiling at each other.
"Hey, what are you two doing here? It's breakfast time. Come join us." Helen said.
When they went to the table, Helen held Violet back for a second.
"Is everything okay?" she asked her daughter.
With a wide smile, Violet glared over to Dash already sitting at the table and answered
"Yes. Everything is okay. Our relationship is getting better and better."
As everyone sat down, Dash quickly finished his breakfast and ran towards the couch to turn on the tv. His eyes widened when he saw the news.
"Dad. Something's happened!" He said.
Bob quickly got up and walked over to him, as did Violet and Helen. On the news there was a picture of Rick Dicker with a sign that said "Missing". The newscaster wore his head down, saying
"This is a dark day for Metroville. Last night, the government agent Rick Dicker disappeared. The police were able to locate his phone on a street near his office, but there is no trace where he could be. The only clue the police has is a mysterious sign next to his phone, burned into the street."
As he said this, the screen showed a picture of the sign. Helen and Bob got wide eyed when they realized it was the same sign they had seen back in the warehouse yesterday.
"Uriel…" Both of them said in worry.
Violet eyed the word carefully before looking away from the tv.
"So, this is how it looked like. Why does it glow like that?" She asked thoughtfully.
Bob sat down on the couch wearing his head down before answering
"Rick said it can't be caused by a normal human being. And his investigation led to him disappear. We need to find out what this is about and stop that fiend, before more people vanish."
Suddenly, the phone rang and Helen answered it.
"Helen Parr." She spoke.
Everyone looked at her, wanting to know who called. After a few seconds, Helen continued
"Wait… he said what?"
Now everyone's attention was solely on her, as Violet turned off the tv.
"Okay, we're coming over after taking Jack-Jack to Kari. See you later." She hung up.
"Who was that?" Dash asked with a curious expression.
His mother faced them with a puzzled look and answered
"This was E. She said she had information about Dicker and that we need to come over."
"Alright, let's move." Bob said, getting up from the couch.
"Yeah, you guys go see Edna, me and Dash have something to do today." Violet suddenly said with a smile on her face.
Dash was confused. He didn't know about any plans.
"We do?" He asked.
All he got for an answer was his sister nodding happily.
"Alright then, kids. We will take Jack-Jack to Kari and be on our way then. You just be careful out there, okay?" Bob told them.
"No worries, Dad. Whoever that guy is, he seems to only come out in the dark. We'll be back by then." Violet assured.
With that, Helen, Bob and Jack-Jack went into the car and drove away, leaving the older siblings at home. As they got back inside after waving their parent and baby brother goodbye, Dash asked his sister
"What plans do we have, Vi?"
With a wide smile, Violet looked at him.
"You'll see."
