Chapter 5
Breaking into dorm rooms wasn't fun. Breaking into dorm room in a leather jacket, jeans, and high heels was even less fun. However, Scarlet had an aesthetic to maintain and she had made higher climbs in less-mobile clothes.
She counted herself lucky that the rooms had balconies. She held a small vial of a jewel-red syrup in one hand, and a balcony rail in the other.
A pig flew by her head. She was climbing in broad daylight. Her red wedges has been replaced with powder blue pumps. Something was strange.
She suddenly became aware that she was not awake. If that was so…
She grabbed a pig and floated up the next few floors. She stood on the balcony and looked out into the parking lot. She was obviously not in her own dream, like she had planned, so who’s dream was it?
Oh. Right.
She turned around and found two boys, one leaning against the wall in a foreboding stance, and the other curiously watching her.
Two?
Okay. She could play this to her advantage.
“Well!” she exclaimed, accent in full force, hands thrown out to the side in a grand gesture. If she could not escape, she would intimidate. “If it ain’t my two favorite Matthews!”
This garnered different reactions from both of them. Matthew Lynch tilted his head in confusion. Scarlet resisted the urge to wrap him in a blanket and shield him from what she was going to do, not like he hadn’t lived through it. She looked at Matt Boyd, upon hearing his name, he had shifted into a defensive stance. Ah well, you couldn’t expect them all to be amazed.
“So um, do either of you know who’s mind we’re in?” asked Matthew.
“Well it’s not mine, so that answers that question,” Scarlet replied, happy to know more about the situation.
“What?” asked Matt, clearly confused. “I saw you earlier today, Nicky said you were looking for your sister. And I’ve never seen him in my life. How are you here?”
“We both know that ain’t true, Gina Carmichael doesn’t exist,”
“What?”
“You’re dreaming dude, we’re in your head,” Matthew explained helpfully.
“So I made you up?” asked Matt.
“No, man, like we’re actually in your head, we exist outside of here, but right now we’re in here for some reason, um, well, I mean, I’m not supposed to be here ‘cause I don’t know you, well, I mean, I know who you are, you’re Matt Boyd, my dad used to be a big fan of your mom’s. And oh! My brother is gonna join your team. But I don’t, like, know you personally? You seem cool though!” the last part was added on in a rush, as if he was afraid that anyone would think he didn’t like them.
“I know why I’m here,” started Scarlet, “And I know why you’re here,” She said pointing to Matt, “I don’t know why you’re here,” She said to Matthew “but I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact that you’re a dream, because you actually have a remote role in all of this, and also because you share a name with this one,” She pointed to Matt again “Names are powerful things you know,”
“I still think this is all just a dream,” Matt said.
“Oh, you’re right about that, but we still exist out of here, speaking of existing out of here, I need you to take this,” Scarlet held up the vial and held it out to Matt. “Not ‘take it’ like drink it, I need you to keep it safe until you can give it to, um, heh, his brother actually, as soon as he gets there tomorrow,” she said, referring to Matthew.
“What?”
“Take the bottle first,” insisted Scarlet.
“Wait, if this in my head, then how can I give this to his brother?” Matt asked, taking the bottle into his hands gingerly as if it would explode if he moved it too much.
“Is he like Ronan? Or Kavinsky?” Matthew asked.
“No, but the bottle wasn’t created in here, so the dream place won’t mind if he takes it out, and it’s not in my hands anymore, or touching me, so I can’t take it back now, but it has to go somewhere so it can only go into his hands,”
“That makes no sense,” said Matthew “Okay!”
“What do you mean ‘like Kavinsky’, how do you know Kavinsky?” Matt asked.
“How do you know Kavinsky?” asked Matthew.
They looked at each other in identical confusion, the resemblance was uncanny. Scarlet was struck with how much each one believed in the other’s innocence. She used to look at people like that. She giggled.
“You two should see your faces,” She said. “Now then, we gotta wake up, or, you gotta wake up,” She said to Matt.
“And how do I do that,” Matt asked, rather sardonically.
Scarlet raised an eyebrow and gestured to the edge of the balcony, they seemed higher than they were when Scarlet had arrived. Indeed, Scarlet could see a layer of clouds below them. “It’s kind of obvious, no?,” There was a pause. “You jump,”
“No way,” Matthew said, concerned. “He’ll die,”
“You or I might, but it’s his dream, and he isn’t a greywaren, and I’ve made sure that he won’t become a thief, there are way too many of those running around. The dream won’t hurt him,” She sounded sure, even to her own ears.
Scarlet was, in fact, not sure of half the things that she had assured these boys, but she had made arrangements so that if anything proved to be untrue, then it would not affect the outcome of the plan. She just hoped she could avoid as many fatalities as she could on the way to peace. She had already lost too much. Too many. She would not let these families fall apart. She had grown quite fond of Matthew Boyd. It would be a shame if he died.
It hit like a cold wind what she was asking Matt to do, and it’s possible implications. Their moods dropped like stones. They all looked at the edge of the balcony where a bannister had appeared, like a warning for Matt not to jump. But he had to get them out of his head somehow.
“Okay, um, so, I’ll see you two around? I guess?” He said, moving towards the bannister. He slowly climbed to stand on top. He slowly breathed in and out. “You know, I’m not usually afraid of heights, but we’re really high up,” He chuckled and shook his head, trying to appear nonplussed. He looked back at Scarlet and Matthew. “I- I don’t think I can-,”. He stopped and took a small breath. He opened his mouth, and in a much smaller voice than before, almost a whisper, said “Do- do you think you could push me?”
Scarlet softened. “Of course, say no more,” she stopped. “Hey Matthew? Do you think you could go inside? It should be unlocked,” She wanted to give Matt some privacy. It was no small thing to fall back to earth from above the clouds without a parachute, and the least she could give him was his dignity as he did it. Matthew went inside.
His head popped out again “Oh! Um.. it was very nice to meet you Matt, and you, um…,” He trailed.
“If you never learn my name kid, that means I’ve done my job right,” Scarlet replied.
“Oh, um, okay then,”
“Nice to meet you kid,” Matt called with a small laugh. The laugh of someone who had a lot to lose.
Matthew popped his head back in and closed the door with a small click.
“I don’t like this,” Matt started.
“Now you listen to me,” Scarlet said before he could say anything else, “it’s just a little fall,”
“It’s pretty big for just a little damn fall,” Matt interrupted.
“Yeah, you’ve got me there, but it isn’t real, no matter how real it seems. When you hit the bottom, no, just before you hit the bottom, before any damage has happened, you are going to jerk awake in your own bed, and you’re going to be in the real world, just fine, hopefully with that vial in your hands, and you’ll call your mom or your girlfriend or both, and you’ll tell them that you love thim, and you’re going to be okay, and safe, and warm, and happy,” She paused “Does that sound okay?”
“Yeah,” Matt wiped his hand near his eye “You should write Hallmark cards, maybe fortune cookies, if you’re feeling ambitious,”
“Ha ha tough guy,” a pause “You ready? You’ve got that vial”
“Yeah,”
“You give it to Ronan Lynch okay? As soon as you see him,”
Please. Scarlet thought. Please don’t let me be pushing an innocent boy to his death.
She pushed Matt over.
There were a few seconds of agonizing silence, she watched a pig fly by the unnaturally tall building.
Then Scarlet woke up.
“Welcome back,” said Mr. Gray. “What was the point of that little nap?” The wording was crass, the tone was curious.
Scarlet’s eyes flew down to her hand. The vial was gone. It worked, or at least, part of it.
“The point, Mr. Gray,” Said Scarlet, looking out the passenger side of the mitsubishi window “is that phase 1 has been completed,”
////////////
Matt Boyd jerked upright in his dorm room’s bed. His bones ached with phantom pain, he should have been in a lot more pain, judging by the fact that he had fallen over two hundred stories.
Aaron, also a light sleeper, woke up as well.
“Matt?” He groaned. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, um, yeah,” Matt said. There was no normal way to say that he had just had two others poking around in his mind that wouldn’t immediately raise suspicion. “It was just.. A bad dream,”
“Then go back to sleep,” Aaron grumbled.
Matt felt a weight in his palm. The vial from the dream. Ruby red and real. It was real.
In reality, it had a strange sheen to it, almost pearlescent, colors that shouldn’t have existed. He had to keep it safe. He had to give it to Ronan Lynch, whoever that was, the strange golden boy’s brother.
He put the vial under his pillow, grabbed his phone and walked out, there was something he had to do.
He leaned on the wall outside the door and pressed in a familiar number.
“Hey, mom? Yeah, it’s me. Is it a bad time? No? Okay. You wouldn’t believe the dream I just had...”