29: Suspicion

  Daniel looked at Michael who had a sad expression, and Petra who seemed to be on the verge of tears. He looked back to the solemn Penelope, watching over the sleeping Penny.

  “Alright, so you want us to wake her up, then.” He said.

  “Yes.” The teenage girl nodded. “If she stays like this, her body will waste away...”

  “I can see that.”

  While she was clearly getting the best treatment, her muscles had already atrophied by quite a lot. She was already in a bad state, and it could always be worse. Time was of the essence.

  And yet...

  To the bewilderment of the rest of the group, Daniel walked back and sat down on a chair.

  “Mr. Daniel? Aren’t we going to help?”

  “Of course we are. But if that’s the case, there are some things I need to ask.”

  Daniel tapped his fingers on his arm as he thought about what to say.

  “You can manipulate dreams, right? Why don’t you just end it right now?”

  “...It doesn’t work that way.” She said, shaking her head. “I can take apart the electrical signals in her brain, but that might shatter her mind.”

  “What about us, then?”

  “What?”

  “Can you guarantee our safety when we... do whatever it is you wanted us to do?”

  “Yes... Of course.”

  “How?”

  The girl stared at him from across the room, not answering. Michael and Petra could only look on as the tension built in the air.

  “You don’t trust me.” She said flatly.

  “You said it yourself,” Daniel said, shrugging. “You’ve a natural born actor.”

  And honestly, the circumstances were more than a little suspicious.

  The girl reached into her pocket and threw something in his direction. A ring landed on the softly carpeted floor, glowing softly.

  “Take it, as we agreed.” She said. “I don’t care about the competition anymore; I only want Penny back.”

  “What a coincidence, I also don’t care about the competition at all.”

  Neither of them moved, Penelope sitting squarely on her bed, Daniel immobile on the chair. The ring sat between them, entirely forgotten. Michael looked at him with a confused look, and Petra hovered in the air biting her lips nervously. He felt a little bad for leaving them out of the loop, but this was for their sake as well.

  “...What do you want from me?” The teenage girl asked, finally.

  Instead of answering, Daniel held his chin with his hand, lost in thought.

  “How long has she been in the coma?”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “A month.”

  Daniel nodded.

  “When you came to my house, you asked me if I’d been having strange dreams lately. I assumed you were talking about the one I had last night, but now that I think about it, I also experienced one last Sunday.

  "That leads me to assume that you’ve been in my dreams, watching me, for about a week. And yet, now is the time you chose to meet me. Why?”

  “I was trying to see if you were the right person or not. Whether you would really help us or not.”

  “But, if you took a week to probe me, then what about the other 3 weeks of the month? You would’ve at least had time to find 2 other people, what exactly happened to them?”

  The girl was silent, but her expression was becoming more and more impassive. That only heightened the tension in the air.

  “Furthermore, why let Michael be a part of this? You haven’t been probing him, as far as we can tell, so you don’t know him well at all. That makes him a very real risk to you.

  “Rather than getting us to help your partner, this seems more like a scheme to trap us inside a dream and take care of 2 competitors in one fell swoop.”

  The room fell silent. Michael and Petra couldn’t speak, but turned to the brown-haired girl, their eyes seeking explanations. Daniel scratched his cheek regretfully. He hadn’t really intended to go this far, but one thing led to another. He had just wanted to point out some holes in her story, not paint her in such a negative light. Coughing to break the attention, he tried to calm the situation down.

  “Well anyway, I didn’t mean to say all that, but the point is-”

  “You’re right.”

  Daniel froze and looked at the girl. She stared right back with dead, empty eyes.

  “I did visit other people before you. More than that a few. But as soon as they saw me, I could feel their disgusting thoughts. I knew they would ask me for a price I couldn’t pay. I gave them what they deserved and moved on.

  “And then I found you. Someone stupid enough to not ask for anything else when I say I need help.

  “Is that what you wanted me to say?”

  Feeling the threat level rising, Daniel couldn’t help but adjust his tie nervously.

  “No, what I really want to know is... Why do you even think I can help you?” He said, desperately trying to deflect. “I’m not even-”

  “I don’t, ok!?” She snapped.

  Daniel flinched as her impassive mask cracked and tears started falling from her eyes.

  “I tried fixing it myself, but she won’t let me! Do you even know how hard this is!? She won’t talk to me, I can’t pull her out without killing her, and I can’t- I can’t just sit on my ass while my best friend is lying in bed like...”

  She trembled in impotent rage, and her crying grew stronger.

  “What the hell do you want me to do!? I don’t know how my dream ended up like this, I don’t know why she doesn’t want to talk to me, all I know is that it’s my fault. And if I lose her...”

  Whatever she wanted to say was cut off by her choked sobs, as if even saying it aloud would be too much for her.

  “If- if I lose her...”

  Daniel sighed and got up from his chair, slowly approaching the bed. The girl glared at him as she cried, but as he extended his hands towards her, she couldn’t help flinching and closing her eyes.

  “I’m sorry.” He said, patting her head gently. “It’s not that I didn’t believe you.”

  She looked at him, eyes trembling in indignation. Behind the frustration and sadness, all he could see was emptiness. He might as well have been looking at his himself from 2 years ago.

  “What you did... was very reckless. Well intentioned or not, you had a lot more potential for harm than good. You did what you could, and you did it well. But I just wanted... to show you how poorly it could go.”

  The girl blinked her tears away and sniffled, but ultimately nodded. She was well aware of what he was trying to say.

  “But I can see your sincerity. While I can’t promise you that I will definitely save her, I can promise that I will do everything I possibly can. Can you trust in me? Can you put your faith in me for her sake?”

  She nodded again. While she seemed distraught, there was a determined glint in her eyes. Daniel smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way.

  “Good, then send me in. I’m ready.”

  “...Give me a moment.” She said weakly.

  Penelope took a few minutes to calm herself down, wiping her face with her hands, before sitting up straight and facing Daniel head on. The rims of her eyes were red from tears, and while she still had an uncertain expression, she was focused and resolved.

  “...As I said before, I don’t know how to get her out. Everything I tried has failed.” She said, her voice still hoarse. “I’ll be there to guide you, but even then, I don’t know how much I can help.”

  “It’s alright. We can only do our best.”

  The girl closed her eyes and then took a deep breath, before suddenly opening them again. Under her intense gaze, Daniel could feel himself becoming drowsier by the second. A thought occurred to him at the peak of his sleepiness.

  “Michael.”

  “Huh?” The teenage boy said, snapping out of his stupor.

  “Take care of Tabitha for me.”

  “Wait-”

  Michael’s voice faded into the void as Daniel fell into sleep.