The Hell’s a Chaser?

     I slowly begin to wake up, clutching my head with my right hand. As I open my eyes and sit up, I notice all the pain is gone, although my body feels heavy. "What the hell was that?" I ask, not expecting an answer, but just trying to wrap my mind around everything that happened in that dream. 

     "Oh, you're finally awake!" The young man says happily as he claps his hands together. "How did it go?" 

     My face almost instantly contorts with anger as I hear his voice. I stand up and begin stomping towards him. "You… you bitch!" I shout, my hands balled into fist. 

    He begins to back up, raising his hands in innocence to try to calm me down, his face one of nervousness. "H-hey now… no need to be so upset." 

     That just pissed me off even more. I raise my fist as I get closer, getting ready to punch the shit out of him. But before I get close enough, my mother steps between us. 

     "Please calm down, Yume. I swear we can explain everything!" She says in a calm but pleading tone as she reaches out to hold my hand. 

     My eyes soften a bit, my face clearly showing my confusion. "What do you mean, we? You mean you have a part in this?" 

     "Please, sweetie. Just sit down and let us tell you everything." She pulls me to sit on the couch with her, making sure I'm on the opposite side of the young man to avoid any conflict. 

     I reluctantly sit down, glaring at him as I wait for someone to speak. "Well? Hurry up and start explaining." 

     He sighs as he sits down, placing his hands in his lap. "Well, to start off… My name is Eric Black, and I'm a recruiter for the DCA, otherwise known as the Dream Chaser Association." 

     "Well, Eric." I start off, putting emphasis on his name to show my annoyance. "That sounds absolutely fucking stupid." 

     "Yume, language." My mother says softly while Eric laughs a bit. 

     "I guess we could have chosen a better name, huh?" He says in between his laughter. "But I'm serious, and the reason I'm here is to recruit you." 

     "For what exactly?" I ask skeptically. 

     "The DC…" 

     "Yeah no shit, I mean what is this association supposed to be?" 

     "Oh, right…" he says, slightly embarrassed. "Well, it's a bit hard to explain exactly. Let me start off with this, have you ever had a dream, one where… everything just feels so real?" 

     My gaze softens a bit, my eyes slightly widening. "Yeah… where are you going with this?" 

     "What if I told you that there was a reason it feels real? Well.. let me redo that. Did you happen to feel any pain in the dream you just had?" 

     "Uh, yeah, how did you…" My eyes widen further as I tilt my head in shock and confusion. 

     Eric smirks, crossing his arms over his chest. "That's because there was a certain solution on the cloth we used to put you to sleep. For secrecy's sake, I can't tell you what that substance is, not until you're a high ranking Chaser." 

     Huh, I thought it was chloroform. "Okay… but you still haven't told me what a 'Chaser' is."

     "You haven't even let me finish the important part…" Eric says as he sighs. "A Chaser is someone who uses their dreams to connect with alternate realities. They use their…" 

     "What the fuck do you mean, alternate realities? You can't just skim over something like that!" I shout in disbelief, although part of me wants to believe him. If this happens to be true… maybe this world won't be as boring as I thought it would. 

     He begins to massage his temples out of irritation. "I would've gotten to that part first had you just let me talk." 

     I blush slightly and look down, embarrassed for cutting him off. "Oh, right… sorry." 

     Eric places his hands below his chin, crossing his fingers. "Dreams are what connect us, and many others, to different realities. Of course, some dreams are… just dreams. An illusion created by our subconscious mind." He leans back on the couch, his hands now resting on his lap. "Most people don't tend to get connected to these alternative realities, but those that do have the option to connect to them by force." 

     "By force…?" I ask, my head tilting to the side in confusion. 

     Eric leans forward slightly, reaching for the cloth that was used to knock me out. He picks it up, tossing it over to me. I catch the cloth, giving it a quick scan of my eyes and looking back to Eric. "Like the 'dream' you just had, actually. We use this substance to force ourselves to connect with… well, saying alternate realities is getting quite annoying to say repetitively, so let's call them AR's for now." 

     I look down at the cloth in my hand, my thoughts somewhat spiraling as I try to understand it all. "So you're saying… that wasn't really a dream, but an 'AR'? But that doesn't make sense. Yeah it felt totally real, but I was able to do things you would only be capable of in a dream." 

     Eric leans forwards even more, his smile growing by the second. "That's because of the type of AR you were sent to. If an AR has no supernatural powers or abilities within them, then you won't be able to do those types of things there. But if they do, then the only limit is your imagination." 

     I put the cloth down, pulling my other hand out of my mother's. I cover my face, my mind a total mess as I try to take everything in. Believing him is crazy, right? My mother puts her hand on my back, gently rubbing it in small circles. 

     "I know it's a lot to take in, but he's telling the truth, Yume." She says, pulling me closer to her. 

     "But how am I supposed to believe all of this? It sounds absolutely insane!" I stand up and begin pacing around the room, annoyance and skepticism evident in my voice. "No one in their right mind would believe you, dreams being connected to other realities? You all sound crazy." 

     Eric reaches into his back pocket, pulling out a piece of paper and unfolding it, turning it around for everyone to see. "Then why did you write this, Yume?" 

     It was the paper I was requested to write as the final assignment of the school year. We were asked to either write about something we were interested in or write about what we planned to do with our lives. I chose to write about dreams, not only because they pique my interest, but because of one particular dream I had. It was a dream of me, or to be more specific, a dream with two me's. 

     The setting was pretty normal, with me being in class, every detail was almost exactly how it was in real life. It was around the end of the year, and I was sitting in my seat near the back window. The sound of that annoying laughter coming from the students filled the air as Ms. Jackson tried to teach the class. I remember thinking about how much I wanted them to be quiet, and that very moment, everything was silent. My eyes began to scan the room as I tried to search for the students that were there moments ago, but the class was completely empty. It didn't take me very long to understand that this was my doing, that this was just a dream. I sighed, laying my head on my desk as I was about to try to change the dream a bit. It was then when I felt a hand lightly tap my shoulder from behind.