The Dreamtrap - 17. Chapter 17

- XVII -

The alarm kept shrieking with monotonous, shrill repetitions, making Desmond blindly reach for the pillow.

“It’s on your side,” he heard Rayhe’s even voice and left the pillow alone. “Turn it off.”

Desmond sighed (“...here we go...”) and shut off the alarm, making it shut up in mid-sentence. He sighed once again and rolled onto his side, facing Gabriel, who looked eerily calm.

“You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?” he said, looking at Desmond without blinking.

Desmond remembered that transparency swallowing him whole last night, and shook his head.

“Not really, no,” he answered honestly, making Rayhe’s eyelid to twitch ever so slightly. “I tried,” Desmond nodded and propped himself on one elbow. “Plopped a pillow on top of my head and tried going back to sleep.”

“Then curiosity made you get off your ass and go there, right?” Gabriel’s voice was almost identical to his young poisonous self right now.

“Wrong,” Desmond said mildly. “It sucked me in.”

He looked at Gabriel’s expression for a few seconds, and then sighed again.

“It sucked me in,” he repeated with a small nod. “I told it to get lost, so it ambushed the bed and sucked me in... Be thankful I wasn’t naked,” he added after a second, and Rayhe finally blinked.

“Speaking of that...” he said in a more normal voice. “What in the world were you wearing? You don’t own a single pair of slacks!”

“I didn’t have any time to get my clothes,” Desmond was relieved when Gabriel’s voice didn’t sound as hostile anymore. “I was trying to get at least my pants when it pulled me out of here...” He sighed. “I guess it takes care of clothing issue automatically. If I end up in someone’s dream ass-naked, it makes sure that I don’t traumatize someone for life, so it dresses me.”

“Huh,” Rayhe said thoughtfully.

Desmond sighed when he wouldn’t say anything else.

“I tried ignoring it,” he slightly shifted on the bed, his elbow getting tired. Gabriel looked at him silently. “Rayhe, I tried ignoring it, I swear! I didn’t stand a chance...!”

Gabriel sighed in defeat.

“I believe you,” he said tiredly and closed his eyes for a few seconds. “Goddammit,” he muttered. “So much for this ability to be easier to deal with...”

Desmond glanced at the clock and tutted with annoyance – it was already 7:45, which left him with maybe fifteen minutes to take a shower and to get dressed combined, and he would not skip a shower this morning. Thanks to last night, he needed one badly. He sighed and pushed lecherous thoughts deeper into the back of his mind; he’ll succumb to those when he comes home tonight.

“Rayhe,” he said, and Gabriel opened his eyes and turned his head.

He looked at Desmond seriously for a couple of seconds, then smiled, sat up, and leaned closer.

“Go take your shower,” he said after placing a quick but deep kiss on Desmond’s mouth. “We both know that you need it; we’ll compensate for...” He kissed Desmond again. “...lack of this tonight,” he nodded.

“Which one of us is a mind-reader?” Desmond narrowed his eyes, feeling relieved.

Gabriel grinned.

“I don’t have to be a mind-reader to know what you are thinking,” he nodded. “I know you well enough by now... Go take your shower,” he got out of bed. “I’ll make coffee... I don’t have to be at work until ten today,” he answered Desmond’s silent question. “I’ll take a shower after you leave.”

Desmond smiled at that and got out of bed as well, heading towards the bathroom.

...Fifteen minutes later, he was munching on the toast, washing it down with coffee. Suddenly, he thought of something and swallowed his toast.

“My hair makes me look like a sex-change surgery went wrong?” he asked in a low voice, and Rayhe coughed, almost chocking on his slice of toast. “Do you still think that?”

“No,” Gabriel finally managed to get the pesky piece of bread to float down the right pipe and looked up. “Des, I was fifteen, okay?”

“You said you never cared about long hair,” Desmond wouldn’t let go of the subject.

“Des,” Rayhe said firmer this time. “Fifteen, seriously...! Drop it already! Your hair is fine, I love it. Now shut up and finish your toast.”

Desmond hemmed and returned to his toast and coffee.

“Goddammit,” Gabriel thought without looking at him. “I just had to say it... No, I never cared about long hair, and I still don’t, but in his case, it’s different...! He clearly likes it, and that’s the only thing that matters. Yeah, short hair would look a hell of a lot better on him but...” Here he realized that he never pulled up his newly mastered mental barrier and looked at Desmond with badly hidden panic. “Crap! Did he hear me...?”

That didn’t seem to be the case, however. Desmond kept chewing on his toast, his expression the same as a minute ago, eyes fixed on his coffee mug. It seemed like he was thinking about something rather deeply. Suddenly, he snorted and looked up at somewhat relaxed by now Gabriel.

“You walked in on your parents?” he asked in a low voice, and Rayhe rolled his eyes.

“Desmond...”

“All right, all right, I’ll shut up,” Desmond grinned and finished his coffee.

“Thank you,” Gabriel said tightly.

Desmond got up and moved towards to the coffeemaker. He half-refilled his mug, and suddenly frowned, as if something else struck him.

“What is it now?” Gabriel asked tiredly. “You know, I start to really dislike this ability of yours...!”

“Yeah,” Desmond said quickly. “I hate it... Anyway,” he looked at Gabriel seriously this time. “What happened in reality?”

“When?” Rayhe blinked.

“The events in that dream,” Desmond answered somewhat impatiently. “What really happened? What did you say to that girl? Liz...?”

“Oh...” Gabriel’s frown smoothed out. “In fact, that was exactly what happened,” he nodded and raised his mug when Desmond brought the carafe closer to refill it. “Thanks,” he nodded after a few seconds. “Except, I came up with that idea all by myself, of course, since you were never there.”

“That can’t be right...” Desmond put the carafe where it belonged and leaned on the counter, a thoughtful frown twisting his eyebrows.

“Why?” Gabriel frowned as well.

“Because until I said it, that particular idea never occurred to you,” Desmond said slowly. “How was it possible that you said the exact same thing without me saying it first?”

“I don’t know,” Gabriel shrugged. “But that’s what happened... My mother gave me hell after she found out,” he sighed. “She knew that I was making it up. She always liked Liz,” he sighed again.

Desmond bit his lip, thinking without saying anything. He did not like this; it was obvious that young Gabriel was about to say something completely different to that girl, and it was obvious that Desmond’s idea had never even occurred to him. Yet, that was what happened in reality.

“Bloody hell...” Desmond thought, finished his coffee, and put the mug onto the counter.

“Rayhe, I gotta go,” he said, thinking that today he would definitely talk to Tess.

“I will see you tonight,” Gabriel nodded and got up just so he could place a quick kiss on Desmond’s mouth.

Desmond absent-mindedly returned the kiss and left the house, his mind racing. He got into his car and was frowning all the way to school, fingers of his left hand tapping a quick, mindless rhythm on the steering wheel.

****

“Need to talk,” Desmond said after he finished his first class of the day. Now he had an hour and a half of freedom – he didn’t have another class until 10:30.

“By all means, come in and make yourself comfortable,” Tess said sarcastically after Desmond unceremoniously barged into her office without even pretending to knock. “And thank you for being so considerate...! For knocking and waiting so patiently...”

“I visit other people’s dreams,” Desmond interrupted her. “Well, just Rayhe so far, but I think it’s only the beginning.”

Tess stared at him, her sarcasm forgotten.

“It feels like I am awake,” Desmond continued. “But then I can see myself sleeping in bed... Then the wall becomes transparent. I also can’t ignore it,” he gritted his teeth and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.

Tess, who would usually bark at him not to smoke in her office, absent-mindedly drew some symbol in the air, which Desmond assumed was taking care of the tobacco smell. He was right – the smoke from the cigarette that he started sucking on furiously, immediately disappeared into nothing.

“I tried ignoring it,” he continued after a few seconds. “Last night,” he nodded. “It sucked me in. What the hell is that and how the hell do I control it?”

The petite redhead remained stunned-silent for a couple of minutes, and Desmond did not like that silence; he suspected that it was definitely not a good sign. Finally, Tess cleared her throat and stood up.

“You said that you only visited Gabriel’s dreams,” she said with dully-shining hope in her voice.

“For now,” Desmond nodded. “It started two nights ago.”

Tess closed her eyes for several seconds. Then she sighed, opened them, and looked at Desmond steadily.

“Did he remember seeing you in those dreams?” she asked, and now her voice sounded as if she knew the answer to that question.

“Bright and clear,” Desmond nodded again, and Tess sighed once more. “He did not like it... Not that I can blame him,” he shrugged.

“Desmond,” the redhead said evenly without looking away. “It sounds like you are...” She drew a quick breath. “A dream manipulator,” she finished, and Desmond frowned.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “How do I control it?”

“I have no idea,” Tess said honestly, and Desmond remained silent for a minute or so.

“Excuse me, what?” he said finally. “I think I misheard you... It sounded like you said ‘I have no idea’...”

“That’s what I said,” she nodded without looking away. “Desmond, I have no idea how to control it. This ability is extremely rare... I can only think of two dream manipulators throughout the entire history...! The only thing I know for sure is that you will have to be very careful with what you do while in someone’s dreams...”

Desmond stared at her without blinking.

“Rae,” she said in a low voice when his eyelid started twitching violently. “Don’t even think of throwing something into the wall!”

Desmond blinked and dropped his half-finished cigarette on the floor, stepping on it with his boot, just so he could pull another on out of his pack. Tess winced at that but never said anything.

“Anyway,” she continued after Desmond lit the cigarette, his hands shaking. “It’s in the title... You are able to manipulate dreams, but the thing with this particular ability is that whenever you change something in a dream, you change the exact same thing in reality.”

Desmond gritted his teeth.

“How?” he asked tightly. “Those are nothing but dreams; recollections of past events... It had happened already! How can I possibly change anything?”

“When you are in someone’s dream...” Tess started saying somewhat patiently, and then she sighed yet again. “Give me one of those,” she nodded at the cigarette in Desmond’s hand, and he handed her the pack and the lighter.

“Anyway,” she continued after a few seconds, carefully puffing on her cigarette. “When you are in someone’s dream, you abandon your physical body...”

“I know that,” he grimaced impatiently. “I can see my physical body passed out in bed...!”

“Yes,” she nodded. “You travel in astral state... Like a...” She thought for a second. “Like a spirit, only...”

“I know what ‘astral’ means, Tess,” he said in a low voice.

“Right,” she cleared her throat. “Anyway, you end up in a dream, yes, but at the same time, it’s not quite a dream. You see, the dreamer’s mind re-lives certain events of the past, and that’s why they won’t recognize you, since they have never met you back then. However, even though they dream of the past, their mind believes that it is real... Now, I have no idea how it works...” She dragged on her cigarette longer this time. “All I know is that if you alter the flow of the events in the dream, you automatically change that same event in the reality of the past... I don’t know how,” she said quickly after Desmond opened his mouth to ask an inevitable question. “This is why you have to be very careful with your actions while you are in someone’s past...”

“Hold on...” Desmond narrowed his eyes. “Okay, last night I dreamt of Rayhe again...”

He quickly told her about the dream he visited last night, and she listened silently without interrupting him.

“So, how is that possible that it also happened in reality?” Desmond finished ten minutes later. “Oh, bloody hell...” He closed his eyes briefly, a sudden understanding reflecting on his face in an almost panicked shadow. “I changed it, didn’t I?”

“That’s what it sounds like...” Tess muttered. “Holy hell, Desmond... Next time, do not do anything! Do not interfere, do not give any advice, do not even move anything around you, for God’s sake!”

“Wait,” Desmond frowned and rubbed his temple with his cigarette-free hand. “But he didn’t remember what happened for real...”

“It was real, Desmond,” she yanked another cigarette out of his pack. “The minute he said those words, it became the only ‘real’ he knew; whatever he said for the first time around, is not there anymore, that’s why he doesn’t remember it...! Goddamn...” She shook her head. “Is everything the same as before as far as you know?”

“Yeah...” Desmond said slowly, torturous frown on his forehead. “Bloody...”

“I suppose the outcome of the event was the same,” Tess interrupted him thoughtfully. “Since the outcome is the same, then nothing changed, because it doesn’t matter how it got there; as long as the result is the same...” She shook her head again. “You got lucky this time,” she said. “Next time, resist all the urges, all right? By the way...” She sighed. “Sometimes, it will be rather difficult to do, because you might end up in someone’s very nasty dream. You will probably want to do something to help, to fix it... Don’t do that!” she said warningly. “Remember, it’s a dream, which means it had happened already, and that the dreamer survived whatever it was, all right? Otherwise, you might end up changing someone’s future drastically...! Your own too, by the way,” she added after a few seconds.

“Son of a bitch...” Desmond gritted his teeth helplessly. “All right...” He took a deep breath. “How do I avoid being sucked in again?” He looked at Tess steadily. “How do I manage to stay put?”

“Desmond, I don’t know,” she said apologetically. “I am sorry!”

“Shit...” he closed his eyes for several long minutes. “Fine,” he said through his clenched teeth finally, opened his eyes, and glanced at the clock. It was 9:30 in the morning; he had one more hour until his next class – that was enough time for what he planned on doing. “I gotta do something,” he said gloomily. “Later, Tess.”

“Desmond,” she called when he was by the door. “Do not interfere,” she said quietly, and he gritted his teeth yet again and left the office.