Chapter Six
All the kids wanted to get out of that cramped basement. They had spent enough time down there and they really wanted to get some fresh air, at least. They packed all of the food and drinks into the backpack, and even found a pouch where they could put Uncle Johnny while they walked. Haley put the backpack on.
They walked to the top of the steps and stopped, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to get past it. Did Uncle Johnny have a way?
"Yes," Uncle Johnny said.
"Yes what?" Haley asked.
"You all wanted to know if I had a way to get past the stairs. I blocked them to keep you downstairs and not
running all through the house."
"That wasn't very nice, Uncle Johnny," Jillian said.
"Maybe not, but it was necessary. It's a security gate.
One day, you'll learn how to bypass such things easily." "Everything is always 'later' or 'one day'," Jack said.
"Patience. Okay, once I clear that security gate, there is no turning back. We’ll have to deal with whatever is out there and most likely, things are going to happen pretty quickly. Any questions?”
Jack raised his hand.
“You’re not in school,” Haley said. Braden chuckled. Jack shot him a look.
“What Jack?” Uncle Johnny asked. Braden couldn’t tell because of the doll but it appeared Uncle Johnny scowled at him.
“You never told us something.”
“What?”
“Why us?”
“Yeah,” Braden added, “why were we picked to do this?”
“Because it runs in your family, that’s why.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not allowed to tell you too much about that yet, but all I can say is that you guys are not the first ones in your family to get signed up for this. You come from a long line of Dream Fighters.”
“You mean like our parents?” Jillian asked. “Why didn’t they tell us anything?”
“I can’t say who. I’m sorry. All I can say is that I am your uncle and I am one of them. Other than that, I have to keep it a secret, for now. Later, I will tell you whatever you want to know, okay?”
Everyone nodded.
“Anything else?”
“Is it going to be dangerous?” Haley asked.
“Probably. But if we stick together, we’ll be okay. All we have to do is turn back this first wave of Gorgons and hopefully find a way to convince the Lord that he is being tricked. I don't know for sure how we'll do that, but for now, let's just focus on what we can do. We have to at least fight off this first wave. That’s what’s most important.” “How are we going to do that?” Jillian asked.
“I’m not sure. You guys will have to think of something. You're all we have right now. You've been chosen. Now, remember, trust each other, listen to me, and don’t get scared. We will be fine. Let’s go.”
The ground rumbled a little bit and a bright light flashed at everyone’s eyes quickly. To Jillian, the light almost hurt, but it faded too fast to really feel anything. It felt like when her brother shined a flashlight in her eyes. She hated when he did that. She hated a lot of the things he did.
“Alright, we are ready to go outside,” Uncle Johnny said. “Be prepared. The dream world holds many wonders, and things appear different from what they are. You will recognize some things. Others, you won't.”
Everyone walked into the hallway. Things seemed normal enough there. They recognized the black and white tile on the floor, the gray carpeted stairway leading to the living room, and the brown cage for Wyatt and Doc, the two dogs.
The front door lay ahead of them, the window to the left. They couldn't see out of the window; it had the sort of frosted design that made everything blurry. Jack could only see daylight through it, so he knew nighttime hadn't come. He couldn’t remember if it was day or night before they fell asleep. Still, he liked the idea of going out to this new place in daylight instead of the dark.
Haley went toward the door. Everyone held their breath, even though they didn’t know why. They had no idea what lay beyond that door. They felt both excited and little nervous. After all, none of them had been through something like this before. Anything could be beyond that door, and Uncle Johnny stayed quiet about it, as usual.
Haley opened the door and bright light shined through, coming from the sun. Everyone had to adjust their eyes after coming from the darker basement. Haley then opened the screen door, which made the same squeaky noise it always did, and stepped out onto the porch.
Once everyone got onto the porch, the door to the house closed by itself. This shocked everyone and Jillian let out a small scream.
“It’s no big deal,” Uncle Johnny said, “I should have told you about that.”
“About what?” Braden asked.
“I have powers in this world too. Now let's step off the porch.”
Haley stepped off first, and she noticed something she hadn’t before. Where the front of the house should have been was a huge open field of grass, with one tree all the way out in the distance. The house no longer existed, nor did the front lawn, the bushes, all the cars parked out front.
“Um, Uncle Johnny?” she whispered behind her.
“Yes?”
“Where are we?”
“Wait for everyone else. I haven’t shown that to them yet. I'm still letting them see the house.”
“Shown them yet?”
“I created sort of an illusion, a magic trick. I didn’t want to frighten them, so I've let them still think the house is there, but I figured you could deal with seeing things for real.”
Haley wasn’t so sure she could deal with it, but she said, “Thanks,” though she didn't know what she was thanking him for.
Everyone else stepped off the porch and gathered around where Haley stood. She paid attention and noticed that it looked like they followed the path of the walkway up to the house, which curved to her left. They must have really been seeing that. She only saw the open field. She started to feel a little scared but fought it. She was the oldest, after all.
“Okay guys. Now is the time for the shocker. I want everyone to turn around and look at the house.”
They all turned around, and by the time they faced the house, it was gone. It just vanished, like it never existed.
Now, everyone saw what Haley saw.
“Wow,” Jillian said.
“What happened?” Jack asked.
“We were never really in that house. It was just an illusion we created to make you feel comfortable. Remember, I said this place is like Earth but it is also not. This is a different place in many ways. Our mission takes place somewhere else.”
“So it was all an illusion? That's pretty cool,” Braden said.
“Yeah, but that also means we can’t go back to the house, right?” Jack asked.
“Pretty much,” Uncle Johnny answered.
“But I could think of the house and make it appear, can’t I?” Jillian asked.
“Not really. I don’t think you’ve gotten that good yet.”
“I could try,” Jillian insisted. She wanted to think about it and make it appear right then. She wasn’t sure if Uncle Johnny would be happy about that.
“But there’s no need to waste your time on that. The Gorgons need to be dealt with, and Lord D’Raygon too. Let’s work on them first, then we’ll see what sort of neat tricks you can pull, okay?”
“Okay.”
Braden looked at the open fields and wondered where Uncle Johnny had taken them. They could be anywhere, like another state, or even another country. He liked geography so he really wanted to know exactly where they were but he knew better than to ask that question. Instead, he pretended they were in Ireland, because he had seen pictures of Ireland where there were a lot of grassy open fields.
“Now, I need to transport us to our destination. It’s gonna feel funny and you might get dizzy but try not to let it bother you. The Gorgons will be close and you’ll need
to be ready.”
“Let's go,” Haley said. She couldn’t wait to get started. She wanted to use her power.
Jack couldn’t wait either. He didn’t get a chance to really test out his power. He wanted to see how fast he could run. He held Gabby, careful not to look into her eyes. He didn’t want to have to do something else for her again.
Jillian knew Uncle Johnny said she might get dizzy, but thought he only meant to warn them. First it looked like they rose closer to the sky, like they raced toward it. Then, the bottom dropped out and she felt like she was falling, fast. She didn't feel wind rushing at her, like when she opened the window in the car. They felt like they moved really fast, but they weren't. The only sense she got of moving was the tightness she felt in her stomach. It felt weird but fun at the same time.
She saw colors, reds and blues and yellows, flashing in front of her and she wanted to close her eyes but she didn't want to get any dizzier, maybe even sick. As fun as it was, she just wanted it to end soon. The other kids must have felt the same thing because no one spoke.
As if Uncle Johnny had heard what she thought, everything slowed down, to the point where she could see buildings and streets they rushed toward, and then it all stopped, finally.
“We’re here,” Uncle Johnny said.
“About time,” Haley said. Jillian felt better hearing that. If Haley didn't like it, then Jillian didn't feel like a silly little girl for feeling the same way.
“Yeah, I was about to throw up,” Braden said.
“Me too,” added Jack.
Jillian decided not to say anything.
“Okay, you see those buildings over there? The Gorgons are most likely right behind them. We have to plan something, but it will be tough to know exactly what they will do when they see us. If possible, we don’t want to be attacked. I can't say for sure we can stop that, though,” Uncle Johnny said.
“Why don’t we just blast ‘em?” Jack asked, “You know, use our powers and wipe them out?”
“We could try, but right now we don’t know how many of them there are. Plus, sometimes it is better to avoid a fight. If we could get Lord D’Raygon to see what Sarlak has done to him and his people, he could call his fighters off and end this all right away. We need to show him that we aren't the enemy he thinks we are.”
“Where is he?” Jillian asked.
“We don’t know. I was able to locate the Gorgons but not him. We’re going to have to keep a lookout.”
“What does he look like?” Haley asked. Braden was going to ask the exact same question.
“No one knows for sure. He looks different than a regular Gorgon, because although his father was a Gorgon, his mother was not. Some say she was the most beautiful woman in the galaxy, maybe the universe. But no one knows what D’Raygon really looks like. He might look different since Sarlak has turned him evil.” Jillian tried to picture what the son of a monster and a beautiful woman would look like but she couldn’t really do it. Funny images of a man with an animal's body kept coming to her. That couldn't be right, she figured.
“He’s evil now?” Braden asked.
“I wouldn’t say evil just yet, but he’s headed there.” “I thought you said the Gorgons were ugly,” Haley said. “Well, I guess that depends on how you look at it.” “That means they are ugly,” Haley said.
“Maybe. Ugly is nothing more than an opinion.”
“So, how come we don’t know what he looks like?” Jack asked.
“His birth was hidden at first because he wasn’t a true Gorgon, and then Sarlak took over…" Uncle Johnny paused.
"Wait.”
“What’s the matter?” Braden asked.
“Oh, no. Uh, something’s going on here.”
“Is something wrong? Are the Gorgons coming now?” Haley asked.
“No, not that. I feel something warm. Something warm and wet. Say, what did you tell me this doll can do?” Uncle Johnny asked, his voice high-pitched, like something really bothered him.
“Um, a few things,” Haley said, before anyone else could say something. She knew this time would come, when she would have to explain exactly what Baby-Wets' A-Lot could do. Uncle Johnny would not like it.
“Well, I think this doll has a leak, because I feel wet right now. Really wet. I also feel like I am going to—“
With that Uncle Johnny burst into tears again. He cried loud too, like a newborn baby, and Jillian took him from the backpack.
“It’s okay Uncle Johnny. You’re in 'Baby-Wets- A Lot’. She can cry and she goes wee-wee. That’s why I said you needed the diaper.”
“I am a crying, wee-wee baby?” Uncle Johnny asked through tears. “Those are the special things I can do?”
The kids could barely understand what he said because he cried so hard. They found it funny to hear an adult sound like such a baby.
“It’s not that bad,” Haley said. “At least you won’t scare the Gorgons away. We'll get our chance to use our powers.”
Jack and Braden laughed. Haley hadn’t meant for her comment to be funny, but she realized it was, and she laughed a little too. Uncle Johnny didn’t find it funny at all.
“Now you guys are laughing at me too. I am just a useless baby,” he said, crying even harder.
“Baby-Wets-A-Lot only does this for a little while and then it stops. It won’t be too bad,” Jillian said, “and the diaper will keep you dry.”
That didn’t stop Uncle Johnny’s crying. As a matter of fact, it made it worse. He seemed uncontrollable. Haley knew she had to do something.
“Uncle Johnny, you need to calm down. We need you. We don’t know what to do!” she said, trying to stay calm herself. She found it harder than she expected.
“I-I-I’m trying,” Uncle Johnny said, through tears. “It’s not me, it’s the doll. I am doing my best to control it.” It didn't seem like he tried at all.
“Try harder,” Jack said.
“Do you know how hard this is?” Uncle Johnny said, crying harder again. “I’m stuck in this doll and I am going wee-wee in a diaper.”
Braden and Jack laughed again. Haley glared her eyes at them and frowned. They stopped.
“Now, Uncle Johnny, we need to know what to do. Are you okay?”
He made a sniffling sound. “I think so. I don’t know what came over me. It must be the doll. Every time I get excited I feel like crying. I am sorry guys. I will try to not let that happen.”
“It’s okay, Uncle Johnny, it happens to me sometimes,” Jillian said. No one thought that made Uncle Johnny feel any better. He stayed quiet for a moment, like he tried his best to control himself.
“Okay. The Gorgons are behind those two buildings over there.”
The kids looked and saw two identical buildings. They weren’t that tall, not like the ones they saw in the city, and made of red brick. They didn’t seem much different than the ones they saw in the real world.
“What do the Gorgons look like?” Jack asked.
“Like I said, they are seven feet tall, and pretty wide too. They look more like animals than people, but they can talk. They are hairy. I guess you could say they look like really big cavemen,” Uncle Johnny said.
“Cavemen?” Jillian said.
“Yeah, those hairy guys you see in museums,” Braden said.
“I think they are on TV commercials too,” Haley said.
“Oh, I think I know what you are talking about now,”
Jillian said.
Then music started to play. It wasn’t scary music at all, more like bells. Haley thought she recognized the sound, as did Jillian. They definitely had heard it before but had a hard time placing it. Jack and Braden, however, knew exactly what music they heard.
“Ice cream!” they both said out loud, instantly running toward a white truck that had just appeared in the distance, not far away from the buildings Uncle Johnny talked about.
“Braden, Jack, stop!” Uncle Johnny yelled, but it was too late, they had already run so far they cou
ldn't hear him.
“What are they doing?” Haley asked.
“They are running right into trouble." Uncle Johnny turned the doll's head. "Jillian?”
“Yes, Uncle Johnny?”
“In the mood for ice cream, are we?”
“Yes, but I didn’t mean to make that truck appear. It just popped into my head.”
“Any time you think of something you want, and tell yourself you really want it, it’s going to appear.” “I’m sorry,” Jillian said.
“It’s okay. Now you know.”
“What’s the big deal about them going and getting ice cream from that truck?” Haley asked. Ice cream sounded like a good idea to her. It was hot.
“There’s no ice cream on that truck. It’s full of Gorgons. They can sense when you use your abilities, especially with the help of Sarlak. When Jillian thought of ice cream and created the truck, the Gorgons sensed it. It’s a trap, and Braden and Jack are running right into it.”
Great, Haley thought. Yet another problem caused by the silliness of boys. Would it ever end? She didn't think so, not soon at least.
“We have to do something,” Jillian said, “or it’s all my fault.”
“Yes, but what? What can we do Uncle Johnny?”
“Well, that’s where my help kinda runs dry. I can’t tell you what to do, it’s part of the test, you could say.”
"Test?" Haley asked.
"Yes. Part of this is a test. We need to see if you guys have what it takes to be Dream Fighters. You have powers, but do you know how to use them? When to use them? That's what we need to find out."
"You have to tell us something," Haley insisted. "Trust each other," Uncle Johnny said.
“Well, that’s a big help,” Jillian said. Then she remembered Uncle Johnny’s crying. She didn’t want to go through that again. “But it’s not your fault, it’s the fault of whoever made the rules.”
Haley tried to think. She looked at Braden and Jack and realized they had made it halfway to the truck already. She could see their bodies getting smaller and smaller in the distance. Jack obviously wasn’t running as fast as he could because Braden was keeping up with him. She had to do something fast, though.
“We can’t ask for help, but can we ask about our powers?” she asked.
“All you want.”
“Well, I can leap, but Jillian can’t. Can I make her leap with me if I hold her hand?”
“Good question, and yes, you can. You just have to keep her in your mind. Imagine that air carpet is under her like it is under you. It should be pretty easy.”
“Okay, so we’ll leap over to them and stop them from getting to that truck.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Jillian said. She had an idea too. She thought of something she could make appear that would help. Of course, she had to be careful; she had already made a mistake with the ice cream truck and she didn’t want to make a mistake again.
Haley grabbed a hold of Gabby and Jillian had the backpack with Uncle Johnny in it. They held hands and were about to start running.
“I have an idea. Just start running. You’ll see it when it comes,” Jillian said.
“Okay,” Haley said and they took off. They were running pretty fast, but they could see that Braden and Jack were getting really close to that truck in the distance. Jillian didn’t know what a Gorgon was or what one looked like but she had a feeling she didn’t want to know and she certainly didn’t want her brother or cousin being attacked by one.
She closed her eyes and thought hard. In the distance, a large trampoline appeared, just like the one in Haley and Jack’s backyard. It was about 20 feet away.
“Great idea,” Haley said. “I’ll bounce us off of that and we should get there twice as fast.”
Haley did just that. She took a small leap, making sure to remember she had a hold of Jillian’s hand, and bounced them off the trampoline.
They soared high in the air, higher than any of them had ever soared before. Jillian could feel it in her stomach. It reminded her of being on a Ferris wheel, or a roller coaster. Gabby just giggled. It seemed she liked being high up in the air.
Haley was pretty sure she had timed the jump correctly. It should land them right in between the truck and the boys. Hopefully, once they landed, she could talk some sense into
them. If her previous experience was any sort of guide, she didn't have much reason to hope she would succeed. Still, she knew she had to try.