Iridescence

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

VANESSA

I was awake when I felt something calling to me. This time was different. It wasn't one of the girls, and I had a feeling the person wasn't calling to me on a conscious level. Whoever it was, they weren't aware I could feel them. I shrugged and decided I'd better check it out.

I fell asleep quickly. As soon as I found myself in the dream realm, I knew something was wrong. I hurried toward the energy, hoping I could help.

I found myself in complete darkness. I should have been scared, but I sensed something oddly familiar nearby. I headed deeper into the darkness and heard the sound of someone sobbing quietly.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Who's there?" A boy replied. He sounded shaky and terrified.

"I'm Vanessa," I said soothingly. "Don't be scared. I'm here to help you. What's your name?"

He hesitated for a moment. I could hear him trying to calm his breathing down a bit before he answered me. "Billy," he finally replied.

"Billy, why are you so upset?" I asked gently.

"It's nothing," he replied quickly.

"You can talk to me."

"About what?"

"About anything."

He seemed to consider this for a bit. "I'm not much of a talker," he said.

"Okay," I replied. "I can talk enough for the both of us. Let's see... I'm a theater kid. I love musicals and plays in general. I live in Queens, so Broadway's only a subway ride away."

"I think I live in Queens, too," he said softly.

"Isn't it great?"

"I... I guess. I don't get out much."

The boy was certainly different, but I was drawn to him. Everything in me wanted to help him feel better, so I kept talking. "I really love the Arts... And the night sky. Do you ever look up at it and just dream?"

"My dreams are nightmares."

"You should watch the stars dance. It helps, trust me."

"I'm not allowed to leave here."

I paused. "Where are we?" I asked.

"My home."

"It's so dark here... Don't you have any windows?"

"No... I just live in the darkness."

He sounded incredibly sad. I was so desperate to comfort him I reached through the darkness and hugged him. He flinched away like he expected me to hit him, but after a minute of me refusing to let go, he relaxed into the hug.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm hugging you," I replied.

"I've never experienced this before... It feels nice."

"You've never been hugged before?" I asked in horror.

"No... At least, not in a long time. I don't remember ever feeling this..."

"Well then, I'll just have to come back and hug you every night," I decided. "Everyone should be hugged at least once a day."

"I think I'd like that, Vanessa," he replied softly.

"What are friends for, Billy?" I asked.

"Friends?" He repeated in a stunned tone.

"Yes, friends. That's what we are now."

"I... I've never had a friend," he admitted.

I smiled and decided to manifest stars on the ceiling of the dark room. After all, this was a dream. I could do whatever I wanted. They cast just enough light that I could see his face. His eyes were sad and broken, and it was obvious someone had beaten him, but he was still very attractive. I couldn't help but admire his features. I was even more drawn to him than I'd been before as I looked into his eyes.

He stared at the stars in wonder. "Amazing," he whispered.

I heard the sound of my cell phone ringing and sighed, realizing I was about to wake up and my dream boy was going to vanish as I returned to reality. "I'll come back and see you soon, Billy," I promised. "Enjoy the stars."

I woke up and sighed again before grabbing my phone. I didn't recognize the number, but I picked up the phone anyway. "Star Child," someone whispered. This was followed by a screech that made my eardrums feel like they might explode. I slammed the phone shut and tried to calm myself down.

That was when everything else started to go insane. My bed lifted off of the ground and hovered in midair. I let out a scream of surprise. If I'd been dreaming, this wouldn't have been a big deal, but I was awake. Things like this weren't supposed to happen when I was awake.

"Vanessa? Vanessa, what's wrong?" My mother called through the closed bedroom door.

"Nothing, Mom!" I replied. "Just a nightmare."

She pushed my door open, not waiting for an invitation. My bed crashed down just before she could see it levitating. "Vanessa, Baby, you know what I say about nightmares... You are in control. Just dream a better dream," she said as she stroked my hair soothingly.

I took comfort in her arms for a minute before I replied, "I know. I just forgot for a little bit."

"It's alright now, my sweet little girl," she said gently. That always made me smile. The fact that my mom has always accepted me for exactly who I am means the world to me. I'm really lucky, and I will never take that for granted. "Go on back to sleep, and dream good dreams."

She left me a few moments later, once she was sure I was alright. I stayed in the bed for a few minutes until I heard her go back into her bedroom. As much as I wanted to go back to dreaming about the mysterious boy I'd probably manifested to entertain myself, I knew I needed to let someone know what had happened. Since the deities didn't have cell phones to the best of my knowledge, I decided to call someone else instead.

"Someone had better be dying, Vanessa," Emily snapped. I was actually surprised she'd answered her phone at all, but I was also relieved. I didn't know who else to call.

"Em... Something really weird happened, and I'm kind of freaking out," I said.

She paused before replying to me. "What's wrong?" She finally asked.

"I think it would be easier to discuss in person. Can you come over?"

"Fine. It's not like my father will notice if I leave the house."

Ten minutes later, Emily snuck into my room by climbing the tree outside and entering through the window. She looked around the room for a minute, shook her head, and asked, "What happened?"

"I was having a dream... A really good one, where I met this boy who I was having a pretty interesting conversation with, but that's not the point," I began. "My phone rang and I woke up, and this creepy voice whispered Star Child... And then, my bed started to levitate!"

Emily stared at me. "Did you just say your bed levitated?" She asked.

"Yeah! I completely freaked out and my mom came running and when she opened the door, I was back on the ground."

"Are you sure you weren't still dreaming?"

"I was wide awake, Emily. I think my house is haunted or something... Only this has never happened before."

"Your house isn't haunted."

"How do you know?"

She looked at me with an expression that asked, Are you kidding me?

I laughed. "Right. You see ghosts. You would know," I said. "Okay, so that's reassuring, but if the house isn't haunted, what the heck just happened?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "but I do feel something weird in the room... Like a lingering energy. Whatever made your bed levitate left a residue... I just can't understand it. Maybe we need the deities to figure this out."

"I wish we had a way to call them."

"Morpheus would hear you if you were asleep... As for the others..." She shrugged. "Hades!" She called.

I didn't think it would work, but a minute later, Hades manifested in my bedroom. Let me tell you, having the God of the Underworld show up in your bedroom can be kind of intimidating. I offered him my brightest smile in the hopes that he wouldn't smite the two of us for daring to disturb him.

Hades studied us for a moment before asking, "Why did you call me here, Emily?"

"Vanessa's bed was levitating a little while ago," Emily replied. "I figured that might be something you guys should know about."

"Hmmm, how unusual," he said as he studied my bright pink walls, unicorn decor, and vast collection of stuffed animals with mild disdain. "I do sense strange magic in this room... It's quite dark, which stands out in such a colorful place. Someone definitely wanted to frighten you, Vanessa, or possibly harm you."

"But why? And what am I supposed to do to keep this from happening again?" I asked.

"I can't say for sure. I'll have to check in with the others. For now, Emily can cast a simple protection charm on the bedroom. That should keep you safe for a bit."

"I'm still learning how to do that," Emily protested.

"You are very powerful, Emily. Your instincts are strong. Use them now. They will not fail you."

She sighed. "Fine. Stand back." She began to cast a spell. I could feel the magic, and it took on an almost physical form as it grew stronger. Finally, it surrounded the entire room, and I felt much safer.

"We'll discuss this at training tomorrow," Hades said. With that, he vanished.

"Do you feel better now?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, I do," I replied. I paused as Emily moved toward the window. "Em... Could you stay with me tonight?"

"I thought you said you felt better."

"I do, but... I feel safer with you here. My mom scared whatever this was away by opening the door. Having someone else in the room with me will probably keep it away."

She looked at me, and I expected her to roll her eyes or call me pathetic and leave. Instead, she softened. "Alright," she replied. "If it will help you sleep tonight, I'll stay."

"Really?" I hugged her. Emily tensed, but after a minute, she hugged me back.

"You'll be safe tonight," she promised. "Get some rest, Vanessa. I'll watch over you in case anything else happens."

"Thanks," I replied. "You can crash in my bed with me. It's pretty big."

"The chair's fine. I'm not tired."

"I have movies on my laptop. Watch whatever you like." I didn't push her to sleep. For whatever reason, Emily wanted to stay awake, and I didn't want to upset her. This was the most we'd talked in ages, and I didn't want to scare her off.

"Thanks," she replied.

I curled up in my bed and covered myself before snuggling my favorite teddy bear tightly. Emily started browsing through my streaming services and movies before finally picking something. I drifted off to sleep and immediately found myself with Billy again.

We talked for a while, although I was the one doing most of the speaking. It seemed to comfort Billy to listen to me ramble, and I was enjoying spending time with him, so I kept finding new topics to discuss. I wasn't sure how long this went on for, but eventually, I heard someone whispering in the distance.

"Star Child..." The whisper called over and over again.

"Billy, I have to go," I said reluctantly. "I'll be back tomorrow night, I promise."

He seemed very sad, but he nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "Thanks for talking to me, Vanessa."

"It was my pleasure."

I found my way out of the darkness. I kind of wanted to bring Billy with me, but he didn't leave that place, and I had to respect that for the time being. If my subconscious had gone through all that trouble to make him up, I was determined to free him one day, but apparently that wasn't meant to happen yet.

He could be real, I thought. It seemed unlikely, though. People created in the dream realm didn't leave their "home." Billy was obviously another one of them. I was pretty sure I'd imagined him to give myself someone to talk to.

I continued to hear the whisper, so I followed it. Finally, I found myself in a large room with a battle going on. No one seemed to notice me. I watched in confusion as everyone fought furiously against a giant snake.

"Paidi Asteri," someone said as he looked at me. Suddenly, his words changed to English as he added, "Help us, Star Child... Time is running out!"

"Why do you keep calling me that?" I asked.

"You make the stars dance," he replied. "Do you not remember your magic, Theadora?"

I was confused. "Who is Theadora?" I asked.

"Thea, don't you dare! Father will be furious," a girl said as she came toward me. Something in her eyes was familiar. "I'll handle this. Go back to Father. You'll be safe there."

"I can fight, Ana," I found myself replying. I was completely confused by my own words.

"I know that, but this is Chaos, Thea. It is not time for you to face him yet."

As the battle grew more intense, a spell came toward us that was definitely supposed to kill us. The man who'd asked for my help was killed instantly, but Ana shielded me with her body and countered the attack. Her magic was undeniably powerful, and I felt safe as she protected me.

I woke up to Emily standing over me. She looked concerned. "It was just a nightmare, Vanessa," she said soothingly as she covered me. I'd kicked all of my blankets off onto the floor as I struggled in my sleep. "You're okay." She handed me my teddy bear, who'd also ended up on the floor.

I was confused as I looked at her, because for just a second, she looked completely different. Her Asian features shifted into Ana's more European ones. Her hair changed color, too. I shook my head and the image faded, but I knew it meant something.

"Thanks," I said softly.

"No problem. What did you dream?"

I explained it to her, leaving out Ana's name and the fact that she and the man had been calling me Theadora. It felt like it was the wrong time to tell her. I firmly believe things happen as they're meant to, so I figured Emily wasn't supposed to know those details yet.

She listened patiently, and she surprised me by stroking my back gently as I started to get a little anxious. "We'll figure out what it meant, Ness," she said soothingly. "Just try to relax, okay? It's over now."

I found myself snuggling against her. Emily didn't push me away. Instead, she held me until I finally calmed down.

"Okay," I decided. "No more sleep tonight. What are we watching?"