Dreamworlds, Chapter 6

Krystle stepped through the doorway and the world behind her vanished. She opened her eyes... and almost screamed. "It didn't work," she whimpered. "It didn't work." Stretched out before her was an endless dark, cold and unfeeling.

Then a soft breeze rustled her hair and she felt something tickle her leg. Lightening flared in the distance and briefly illuminated the landscape. "Crap!" she exclaimed. "It did work!" And then she was running.

In that moment of light Krystle had seen plains stretched out before her. There was no shelter to be seen, and the monsters had been turning to look at her, nostrils flared. She had not gotten a good look, but they had seemed to be eight feet tall, traveling in a pack, and hungry.

Lightning flashed again, and Krystle surveyed the territory before her. It was as she thought. Nothing she could use. Even the grass, though long, was sparse and would offer her no cover. "They can probably smell me anyway," she thought grimly. She could hear them behind her. It felt like a stampede was on her heels, making the ground vibrate with every step.

Out of habit, she analyzed her situation. She was faster than them, but she was losing stamina and wouldn't last at this speed for much longer. The creatures behind her showed no signs of slowing. Her hands went to her belt to search for weapons. She found only a small knife. She smiled. Frightened as she was, she reveled in the feel of air in her lungs, blood pounding through her veins, the fear and anticipation of battle giving her strength. She took the knife out of its sheath and ran with her fingers gripped around the handle, ready to fight should the monsters overtake her. Yes, she was afraid, but this was a battle she knew how to fight. She didn't know how long she'd been here, how long she'd been running from these monsters, but she could remember nothing else. For now, this was her life, and she reveled in it.

There was a snarl behind her, and Krystle glanced back over her shoulder. Another bolt of lightning hit the earth and she once again saw the creatures behind her. They had begun to fight amongst themselves for the lead, but they hadn't slowed at all. Krystle kept running, no longer quite as fast as when she had begun. As she ran, she began to notice that it was easier to see. Glancing around, she realized that the lightning was coming faster, each new bolt shooting down before the last had truly had time to fade. Thunder cracked and rolled overhead in a deafening roar that almost drowned out the sound of the creatures behind her. She expected to feel putrid breath on her neck at any moment, but it never came. It was then that she realized they were toying with her, allowing her to run until she couldn't put up a fight, and then they'd attack.

Krystle slowed her run until she was able to stop sharply and turn to face them. Her breathing was fast and ragged, but she faced them with her back straight, knife raised against the first to challenge her. The creatures slowed, but didn't halt their pursuit. They fanned out, surrounding her. She could hear them shuffling around and snarling in the dark. Krystle stood there, knife up, panting, waiting for the first attack.

It was only a moment before the first one rushed her from the right, arms outstretched, teeth bared. A vicious snarl tore from his throat, challenging her to fight back. Its black eyes glowed yellow in the dim light, and in them Krystle saw the deathly determination of a predator ready to take its kill. Krystle distanced herself from her fear, focused only on the movements of her enemy, carefully guaging every aspect of its attack. It moved rapidly, but Krystle was ready. She sidestepped the creature, slashing at its back with her knife as it rushed by her. It fell into the group of monsters slavering after fresh meat on the other side of the circle. They showed no mercy, even to their own kind The blood from the monster that had attacked her drove them into a frenzy, and within moments it was on the ground, throat torn open, gasping desperately for a last breath. But then they ignored him, left him on the ground to die while they pursued their true quarry. The entire circle advanced toward her, each one craving her death.

Krystle knew the fight was hopeless, but she faced them anyway, turning in a slow circle, knees bent slightly, ready to counter any attack. She heard a rush behind her and whirled to face the advancing monster. She didn't move fast enough to get out of its way, however, and the creature ran full-force into her shoulder, knocking her down and raking her back with its clawed hand. Krystle rolled and jumped back up to her feet. She knew well what would happen if she stayed down. Fast as she moved, however, she had still given the creatures a chance to come closer. As she came up, her knife flashed in the lightning and she drew blood from three monsters before the rest backed off enough to give her room to move. Krystle's back was on fire. She could feel blood soaking her shirt and rolling down into her pants; the creatures were becoming more vicious in response to the smell.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Krystle knew what she had to do. Though it went against all her training, all her instincts, the decision was made before she could think about it. Her heart pounding, she stood straight and tall and spread her arms open wide. She dropped her knife in a gesture of surrender, wincing slightly when she heard it hit the ground. She didn't know why, but she knew it was right. The monsters didn't hesitate. As they rushed her, she sank to her knees and held her breath, waiting to feel sharp teeth and claws sinking into her flesh. She refused to close her eyes, preferring to face these creatures, and the horror that had become her life, with defiance to the last.

But something changed. The ground beneath her bare knees turned hard and cold. Glancing down, Krystle found that she was kneeling on a silver door that flashed and gleamed in the lightning. And there, etched on the door right in front of her knees, was a diamond inscribed in a circle. It was there to save her, and she knew it, but she didn't care. She looked back up to face the demons before her, ignoring the salvation beneath her knees.

Time seemed to slow down for Krystle as she watched the creatures rushing forward. She saw every detail with minute clarity. The cratures were snarling and fighting each other in their haste to be the first to reach her. In a matter of milliseconds she lost any chance of defending herself against the attack. They were on her, knocking her to the ground. One had its teeth clamped on her foot and was dragging her off the door, but another had hold of her arm and was trying to pull her off the other way. Suddenly she couldn't do it anymore. She could smell their rancid breath on her and feel unrelenting teeth piercing into her skin, and she couldn't bear to give in. Terror and determination flowed through her veins, giving her the strength she needed to fight back. With her free hand, she reached for her knife. She felt the blade with her fingertips and lunged for it. She sliced open her fingers when she grabbed it, but she barely felt the pain. Reaching across her body, Krystle swiped the knife at the creature hanging onto her arm. She sliced its nose, making it yelp in pain and jump back, freeing her arm. She tried to sit up to attack the monster chewing on her foot, but before she could move another creature attached itself to her tender midsection. She felt her muscles tearing apart and knew she would never be able to get the monster off her foot. She stabbed at the creature tearing at her stomach, plunging her knife deep into its eye. It reated back, howling in pain and tearing the knife from Krystle's hand. Losing no time, Krystle felt around frantically for the symbol on the door. Her hands were covered in blood and slid around on the slick surface, and she passed over the symbol twice before she felt the grooves in the metal. She felt a straight line beneath her fingertips, and traced enough of it to be able to find the middle. The monster was lunging back down toward her as she placed her hand in the center of the diamond.

"Open sesame," she gasped weakly. The door opened underneath her and she went tumbling through, dragging one of them with her and leaving the others to snap their jaws on thin air. The one hanging onto her leg desappeared as the door closed behind them, and her wounds healed as memory of the world she had just escaped faded from her mind.

She landed hard. She didn't know how far she had fallen, but even though she rolled, she still had the wind knocked out of her. She lay there for a moment, unable to move, gasping desperately for breath. It came painfully and suddenly, and she coughed at the sudden rush of wind into her lungs. Krystle lay on the ground, panting and waiting for her breathing to return to normal. As she lay there, she turned her head, trying to determine where she was. The sun was high overhead, and its light trickled down through the trees to play on the ground below. She could ascertain nothing but that she was on a mountain, surrounded by pine trees and granite rock. When she could move again, Krystle rose to her feet and made her way silently to the closest boulder. It was large, and she only had to bend down slightly to stay covered behind it. She crouched down so she was sitting on her haunches; caution governed her every movement. She didn't know yet what would be waiting for her here. She looked at her surroundings, scrutinizing every shadow. When she was satisfied there was no threat to her, she moved around the rock, slowly, carefully, listening and watching for any sign of movement. Satisfied there was none, Krystle looked up and checked the sky, but there was no threat from above, either. She was alone.

Krystle stood up slowly and walked up the mountain, slightly confused. Birds fluttered from tree to tree above her head, and she saw squirrels scampering around, gathering nuts and chattering at one another. Amidst all the activity, Krystle felt herself becoming strangely calm and peaceful. She knew nobody was watching her, that there was no reason to fear anything. It seemed as though for the first time in her life, she could breathe deeply and had nothing to worry about. She walked through the morning, enjoying the warm spring air and thinking about nothing. She found a trail and followed it for awhile, wondering idly where it would lead her.

An hour later she found herself in a meadow, following the path of a mountain stream. She reached a plateau and stopped to drink at a small pond. She sat on a boulder, soaking her feet in the icy cold water and watching waterbugs skittering over the surface. Krystle glanced down into the valley by the mountain and saw thick foliage covering the ground. The pine trees grew tall and were slightly denser there than anywhere else she had seen on the mountain. Overall, it was no different than any other valley, but something about it struck her. Suddenly she wasn't just alone; she was lonely. She felt as though she hadn't seen a friendly face in years, and that was only a part of the pain that suddenly engulfed her. She walked down into the valley, not sure what she would find, but curious to know what was there.

Animal trails led her through bushes and around tree trunks to the valley floor. She reached the bottom and stood still for a moment, gazing up at the mountains surrounding her. She didn't know how, but she knew this place. She recognized the mountains around her. She looked down toward the end of the valley and knew that if she walked around that boulder...

The promise of finding a friend, of finding anybody that she knew, was too strong to be ignored. She glanced around out of habit to see if she'd been followed, even though she knew she was alone, and then she started running. She reached the boulder quickly and was hardly out of breath when she stopped in front of it. Once again she glanced over her shoulder, then slowly walked around the boulder. It revealed a path that wound up a canyon, as she had known it would. Krystle stayed off the trail, doing her best to step on rocks and fallen branches so she would not leave a trail of her own. It was one of many precautions each member of the revolution followed to keep from being discovered. Several yards in, Krystle saw the two pine trees grown together and broke away from the path the trail took. She angled up the mountain toward the trees. She climbed up, almost to the top, and walked out on one of the brances until she reached the granite wall beside her. There was a small rock shelf that she was able to step to easily from the branch. It was one of two ways to reach the opening of the cave they had dug for their base. The other way involved coming down from the top, but the chances of anybody finding the cave to begin with were very slim.

Krystle crouched down and crawled through the opening. She was immediately enveloped in darkness, but she kept going fearlessly. Ten feet in, she reached the end. The floor suddenly dropped out from underneath her. Krystle turned herself around and swung her legs over, lowering herself until she found the rungs of the ladder. Bracing her hands on the sides of the tunnel, Krystle moved down the dark shaft one rung at a time. She was sweating by the time she reached the bottom. It had been too long since she'd made this climb. Her feet touched the ground and she turned around. She walked forward confidently and reached for the doorknob she knew would be there. It was an old-fashioned hinge door, but didn't put off the electrical charge that could be detected. They tried to keep electrical impulses to a minimum to avoid any chance of being found. So far they had been successful. The walls inside were coated with rubber, which masked the impulses emanating from their computers. They had managed to avoid detection from the Coms and the leeches, freeloaders who would take advantage of anybody and never stayed in one place too long. They disgusted Krystle. But here... here she would find all her friends, her family, her ideals.

She opened the door and walked in, expecting to see the room lit up and bustling with activity. Instead, her world went black.