True Nightmares

Leena followed in Xander's footsteps as he hurried out of the public library. The dying sun bleeding over the ochre horizon heralded the arrival of a cold wintry night. It was going to be dark in a few minutes, and there were no cabs in sight.

As Xander and Leena crossed Loggins Street, a white SUV pulled up in front of them, blocking their path. Eileen Williams stepped out of the vehicle accompanied by three of her field agents.

"Well, well, look who it is. The infamous Xander Nyxon and his accomplice," Eileen sneered, looking at the Dreamwalkers with condescending eyes. "Chief Volgin isn't here to save you today. How very unfortunate."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Xander quipped.

"I told you that I will be keeping an eye on you. And the moment you try to stir trouble, I'll sniff it out."

"I don't have time for your stupid riddles," Xander scoffed. "Get out of our way unless you have something else to say."

Xander was about to force his way across the street when the field agents pointed their crossbows at him. They were all loaded with obsidian bolts and had runic engravings on their underside.

"I'm not here to fool around, Dreamwalker. You and your female accomplice are coming with me. Resist, and I will have no choice but to use lethal force." Eileen's voice sounded cold and emotionless, and her eyes didn't have a drop of mercy in them.

"But why are we being arrested? What have we done?" Leena eventually cried out from behind. Keeping her hands raised in the air, she looked from one face to another.

Eileen shifted her gaze from Xander to his partner and took four steps forward to stand right in front of her. "I don't think I know you. How did you end up with a man like Xander Nyxon?"

"I'm Leena Hayden. I'm a Dreamwalker just like Xander."

Hearing that response, Eileen frowned, and her voice turned bitter and condescending. "It all makes sense now. You Dreamwalkers are never up to any good. I swear I will track down every single one of you and put an end to this madness."

"Your whole department is a God damn joke," Xander muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Eileen retorted sharply, narrowing her eyes on Xander.

"I said the Department of Mystical Affairs is a freaking joke. You all are prejudiced douchebags who have nothing better to do than bother innocent Mystics because of your personal hatred."

Eileen however, remained completely unfazed by the allegations. "You of all people shouldn't dare to play the victim card. I know exactly what you and your friends are up to this time."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"I mean I know that you and your Dreamwalker pals have been opening portals and summoning monsters into our world. But I won't let you get your way this time."

"I think there's been a mistake, ma'am," Leena intervened. "Xander was the one who killed the Ethereals in Windbell Park and closed the portal there."

"And who's to say that your friend wasn't the one to open it?" Eileen snapped back. "We have heard enough about his tricks to trust him."

"But he couldn't have!" Leena protested. "He was with me the whole time. We were in his apartment. Chief Volgin can confirm it. He was the one who requested Xander to help with the park situation."

Eileen was taken aback by Leena's words. All the pieces seemed to be fitting perfectly till now, but this new piece of information changed everything. It was enough to give Xander the benefit of the doubt. However, she wasn't one to let things slide that easily.

"What about today's incident?" she asked, eyeing Leena with considerable suspicion. "You two happened to be here even though I don't see any cop cars around."

"We were just..." Leena hesitated, reconsidering whether she should mention anything about their visit to the Guild House. Technically, even that would incriminate them since they'd broken into a locked building. But it still seemed better than being blamed for the Emergence.

Before Eileen could put any more pressure on Leena to elicit a response, Xander stepped in. "It's none of your God damn business what we're doing here. If we weren't here those people in the library would've been dead by now. If anything, you should show us some gratitude for doing your job for you."

"What about those portals? Where did they disappear?" Eileen asked.

"Those portals in the sky weren't doorways to Death Nightmares. They were manifestations of a different kind."

"And what kind would that be?"

"They were temporary bridges connecting our world to the Nightscape. The one at Windbell Park was the manifestation of a Death Nightmare caused by a cultist's willing sacrifice, but these two were created by True Nightmares."

"What's the difference?" Eileen asked, furrowing her brow.

"A Death Nightmare is created when a person is murdered or experiences a violent death. They are the most dangerous of all nightmares and can only be quelled by freeing the deceased person's Last Memory. A True Nightmare, on the other hand, is created when a common nightmare lasts for more than an hour and the sleeper is unable to wake up," Xander explained.

"And what's with these portals? How are they opening in our world?"

"The walls between our worlds are crumbling. It has led to an Emergence. A merging of the real world with the one that lies beyond the veil. These portals will keep appearing all over Merantis unless we catch the real culprits."

Listening to Xander's explanation raised several new questions in Eileen's mind. Previously she had been under the impression that only the Dreamwalkers could open portals connecting the two worlds. But now Xander made it amply clear that new portals could appear without any intervention from the Mystics.

After a long spell of silence, Eileen spoke again. "So, what you're saying is that these portals can open randomly even if no one is killed?"

"Took you long enough to understand," Xander snickered. He wasn't in the mood to offer more explanations, so Leena took it upon herself to give the necessary clarifications.

"There are many different kinds of nightmares. Death Nightmares occur when someone is murdered and True Nightmares are just common nightmares that last longer than an hour. While it would be difficult to open portals connecting our world to Death Nightmares, portals leading to True Nightmares can appear spontaneously."

"But everything was fine till you two showed up. What are you hiding from me?" Eileen asked.

Xander gave her a nasty side-eye and muttered angrily, "Everything was fine till now because there was still daylight left. Things are gonna change pretty fast now that the sun's about to set. Get the people off the streets if you're so concerned about their safety. It's dangerous to go outside after dark."

"So there's nothing we can do to stop these...Ethereals from invading our world?" Eileen asked with zero expectations this time.

"There might be a solution. But we'll have to reach out to the masses for that," Leena responded.

"Go on. I'm listening," Eileen said, gathering her arms on top of each other.

"Well, the portals leading to the True Nightmares can only open if someone in the vicinity is having a nightmare. That's what we need to stop."

"You Dreamwalkers can actually stop people from having nightmares?" Eileen asked with visible confusion.

Leena shook her head. "No, but we can prevent them from going to sleep at night. As long as they have their nightmares during the daylight hours, there will be no risk of portals appearing in the sky."

Eileen took everything she heard with a grain of salt. She wasn't quite sure about trusting the Dreamwalkers, but her department hadn't been able to come up with any ideas for stopping the Ethereal invasion.

"I hope you're not trying to lie your way out of this mess. Because if you're trying to trick me, the consequences will be dire," Eileen warned. "My department has dealt with far dangerous Mystics before. Taking down a few Dreamwalkers won't be difficult at all."

"Go ahead then. Ask your damn department to take down the cultists," Xander scoffed.

"What cultists?" Eileen questioned, settling her eyes on Xander.

"The ones who started the Emergence. The same ones who murdered Esther Williams," Xander replied, looking dead straight into her eyes. "They are a group of Mystics who worship Shamura. So, stop pointing fingers at us and find the real culprits."

"He's right. The cult of Shamura will stop at nothing. They are hell-bent on releasing the dark deity from captivity. If we can't track them down before it's too late, they will summon Shamura's generals into this world. And if that happens, no army in the world can stop them," Leena added.

Eileen wasn't one to be scared easily, but hearing all these ominous words from the Dreamwalkers, she felt a cold chill run down her spine.

"We are not your enemies. We need to work together instead of pointing fingers at each other," Leena said.

With a gentle wave of her hand, Eileen instructed her agents to lower their weapons and decided to adopt a friendlier approach with the Dreamwalkers.

"How confident are you that these portals will stop appearing if people stop sleeping at night?" she asked.

"Our world has never experienced an Emergence before. I cannot be a hundred percent sure about anything. But this is your best bet. The Ethereals roaming the Nightscape cannot tolerate the light of day. The influence of the dark deity is the weakest during the daylight hours. There is still a chance of Dream Portals opening during the daytime, but the light should keep all nightmares at bay," Leena answered.

Eileen wasn't entirely convinced by Leena's words, but before she could probe her further, one of her agents called out to her.

"Ma'am, there's been another Ethereal sighting in Faros. A new portal has appeared in front of the mayor's Residence," he reported, lowering the front window and handing her the cordless black phone.

Eileen's eyes widened, and beads of sweat broke out on her forehead as she heard the words from her superior at the other end of the line. The Ethereal sighting had prompted the authorities in Faros to declare a city-wide emergency and impose a complete curfew around Galing Avenue.