Dreamscapes: The Defector’s Betrayal, Part II
By: Aislin Booth
Tags: Adventure, Vampires, Dream Interpretation, Dreams, Short Story

(Read Part I here.)

I’m in the back of the van, which is on autopilot because I’m a terrible driver. I can’t seem to find Jeff anywhere. I am struck with a painful feeling of loneliness. This journey has been so frightening: not only have I lost my boyfriend, but I seem to have lost my cousin, too. The front seats are covered in jackets, and my heart leaps faintly, hoping that my cousin might be under there. It falls just as quickly when I conclude that it is only a pile of jackets. Suddenly I am driven to dig a little deeper and I realize that he is under them, fast asleep! My heart flares with joy and a rejuvenated strength for our mission.

I begin to search the back of the van for weapons. I feel around on the walls, and press until I hear a click. A long panel opens, and inside is Han Solo’s blaster and a random lightsaber with a very long hilt. I use my powers to shorten it, and decide to test it out, even though we are still inside the van. I back up as close to the front seats as I can, and press the on button. A sizzling red blade appears at once, spanning the entire length of the van. I smile, wondering what the car behind us must be thinking. I turn it off and open the panel on the other side. I find another blaster and another lightsaber. I wake Jeff up and excitedly show him my finds, and hand him a blaster and saber. At this point, I realize that the autopilot has gone haywire, because we are facing the wrong way on the road, and the van isn’t braking when it’s supposed to. Other cars honk at us as we almost hit several of them. I scramble to the front and try desperately to brake. We skid for quite a length, and then finally stop.

Suddenly, Jeff and I are separated. I end up outside a tall, corporate looking building. I’m suddenly aware that I will soon be going into battle against the evil vampires, and their commander is a single man. I know nothing about him other than he is overweight and looks like he’s in his mid-50’s. I walk into the building, my blaster in my pants pocket and my saber in my hoodie pocket. I see a woman in her late 30’s behind the counter, talking to a customer, and I know at once that she is who I have been looking for. I walk up to her and try to interrupt. “Are you Emily? From Dorrington? I must speak with you.” She seemingly ignores me, continuing to talk to her customer, but as I walk away I try to push into her mind. ‘I need your help. Please. Meet me outside in a minute,’ I think desperately as I walk through the door and keep watch through the glass walls. I am relieved when, moments later, she excuses herself to her boss and I see her walking towards the door.

Once outside, she begins to give me battle advice. I show her my saber and blaster, but she says, “Don’t use those to defend yourself.”

I look at her incredulously. “How else am I supposed to, then?”

“You have your powers,” she says. “You are strong. You can rely on them.”

I wave my hands to lift a big object off the ground. A random passerby is struck with awe and I say, “It’s cool dude, don’t worry.” He is flabbergasted but goes on his way. Both Emily and I wave our hands to erase it from his memory, and we see him scratch his head and continue walking. I go to hug Emily, but she backs away.

“I don’t do that shit. Good luck,” she says, as she walks back into the building.

I walk through the parking lot and I know. I know they’re coming. I look down the road and I see a group of apes and I wonder if they are part of the army. I climb up a tiny tree that the actor Michael Angarano has also climbed. We exchange pleasantries, and I tell him that he looks like my boyfriend Andrew. I kind of wish that he would make out with me. I tell him that I am scared, and at that very moment, the battle starts.

The sky is full of dark green helicopters. I shoot energy out of my hand and one comes crashing down towards me. When it lands, I can see that it is only a toy. I fly up to the sky and begin taking the others down. I am suddenly back on the ground again, and there are rows and rows of people, like a parade, and they are each carrying a wide variety of objects. I am trying to use my powers to smash them and take them out, but it is strenuous, and I am starting to regret taking Emily’s advice.

Some of the people laugh at my strained attempts. I zoom over their heads and through a few rooms filled with mannequins wearing hideous clothing. I announce that they are ugly, wave my hand, and the clothes simply disappear. The next room has mannequins wearing beautiful vintage clothing, and I declare that I will not be destroying those. The people in charge of the room breathe a sigh of relief.

I’m still searching for the head of the army. I suddenly see a black van driving erratically and I fly after it as it swerves through some underground tunnels. I see a red glow through the windows of the van, and I grow excited because it might just be the glow of a lightsaber. ‘It should be blue, though,’ I think, and as if on cue the red turns blue as the van slams through a pair of double doors. I hear the van crash to a halt, and then Jeff runs out through the doors, his blue saber blazing.

“JEFF!!!” I cry.

He yells, “AISLIN!” and we embrace. “I am here to fight with you!” he announces. I’m skeptical for a moment, and I chidingly ask him if he can use the Force. He shoots out his hand and wrenches a light off the wall without touching it, and I no longer have any reservations.

“You should hide your weapons in your clothes for now,” I say, and he sticks his blaster in his pants pocket, as I magic a long front pocket onto his blue sweater for his saber. My saber is still in my hoodie — I am saving it for my fight with the final boss.

Suddenly, a vampire shows up and I try to shoot him with my blaster. I never have luck with guns, and this instance is no exception. I decide to pick him up, and I slam his head against the door and on the ground. It is gruesome, but I successfully kill him. I find myself inside a recessed hole in the wall several feet up from the floor when the head of the army and a young woman turn the corner. I go to attack, but the man throws a large, clear box that lands next to me. Horror fills me as I gaze at what’s inside. I can see the back of an incredibly lifelike doll made to look like an adolescent boy. Hands trembling, I turn it over, and I gasp as I see that it is a younger version of my boyfriend. The doll says, in a barely audible, robotic voice, “I. Am. David.” Somehow his name has changed.

I ask in a shaky voice, “Are…are you alive somewhere?”

He replies, “Yes.”

I am filled with a sudden blaze of hope, and I leap out of the hole, finally ready to kill the man responsible for this circus of horror.