The Endërland Chronicles: Book of Daniel

After the initial shock passed, Daniel was able to think clearly again and began pouring questions. The queen, however, did not let him continue.

  ‘Sweetheart, I know you want answers, and I promise I will tell you all that I can, but right now you’re gonna have to wait just a little longer. There are matters that need to be sorted. Where is your friend?’

  They turned to face Nemo, whom they had forgotten all about and saw him sitting at the far end of the hall. Daniel beckoned him to come over and introduced him.

  ‘Mom, this is…’

  ‘Nemo,’ she finished his sentence, smiling at the red-haired boy. Daniel was not surprised. ‘It’s so nice to see you again. You’ve grown so much and turned into such a handsome young man.’

  Nemo bowed in respect.

  ‘Thank you, your majesty. Your kindness, as always, is only ever surpassed by your beauty. Mother sends her greetings.’

  ‘And thank you, young prince. I see she has taught you well.’

  She now turned to Daniel.

  ‘Who else knows that you’ve come to see me?’

  ‘Nemo’s sister and her husband. Garret was the one who brought us here. He’s waiting outside.’

  ‘Good. I need you both to listen to me very carefully. No one must know that you are my son; this is very important. Word travels fast here, especially when it concerns Visitors; and I’m sure the Lords will have heard by now. Soon they will send for you, but we must avoid that as long as we can. Now go and see Garret. Tell him that you will be staying with me until the celebrations and that he is welcome to stay if he wants. Then come back to me; we have more to discuss.’

  The two boys left the royal hall to find Garret in the courtyard. After thanking him unreservedly, they said goodbye and watched him climb down the hill on his way back home to Sarah and little Angel. Daniel would miss him; he had grown fond of his newfound brother, but he knew they would see each other again.

  Back inside the castle the queen showed them the rooms where they would be staying. She told them to refresh themselves and rest while she attended to other matters, and that soon they would get together again and talk. Daniel didn’t want to be away from her; he felt as if he might lose her again. But, somehow he knew that he had found her for good and nothing would separate them this time.

  Steven Butler was what you would call a tough man, not afraid of much, or many, and ruthless when it came to getting what he wanted. But once again, his knees were shaking with dread, anticipating a not so pleasant meeting with his master. He still had no good news to give him.

  Born and raised in Endërland from a family of no special significance, he had been chosen by the White Lord as his personal assistant since he was a young boy. This had made possible gaining his allegiance and shaping up his character according to the White Lord’s will and interests, and doing his master’s will, was all Steven Butler lived for.

  But even if he ever thought of doing something else with his life, it was moments like this that reminded him that he really had no choice. There was nowhere he could hide from the White Lord, or escape his life of servitude. So he figured, the better he served his master and the happier he made him, the easier his life would be. There might even be some benefits. And indeed there were; he was now the second hand of the White Lord, his most trusted man. His zeal and devotion in serving his master had made him the favorite choice for the most delicate missions, like this one. It was only when things weren’t going as planned, that he was reminded he was still just a servant in his lord’s eyes. This was what made him dread this meeting more than any fear of punishment or reprimand from his master for his failures.

  Standing in this chilling room, filled with dreadful ice sculptures he had never liked, Butler heard his master’s footsteps approaching and readied himself. The big double doors behind him opened and closed swiftly, and the whole room immediately felt much fresher and brighter. Winter walked past him dressed in his kingly white robes, with his impressive iced crown on his long white hair, and sat down on his royal white chair. The lord of winter clearly took his role too literally.

  The only thing that broke the decorum in the room and felt out of place was an old hourglass, placed on a small table on the right corner from the throne. Winter turned it upside down every time Butler appeared before his throne, but he’d never stayed there long enough to see the sand filter through completely. And yet, this was the only object Butler ever cared about in this dreadful room.

  He bowed low before his lord and did not move until told so.

  ‘Get up,’ the middle-aged man with a deep voice and the power to make his life literally a freezing hell commanded him. ‘And spare me your reports; I know you’ve had no success whatsoever. Once again, I have done your job for you. The boy is here; he’s staying with her. Which of course means only one thing, he is now active. You will stop shadowing the others immediately and concentrate on seizing him. He is the one, he has to be. And he is mine.’

  ‘My lord,’ Butler spoke carefully. ‘I have been keeping a close eye on the boy and have noticed nothing special about him.’

  ‘And what would you expect to see, I wonder? Lightning bolts shoot out of his eyes? It’s here that the boy matters; back there he is nothing; unless he really is The One. And even if that was the case, he is too young and ignorant to know anything about it. So stop your nonsense and do as you’re told. I want you to take him into custody as soon as you go back. I cannot risk doing that here just yet. Then, you know what to do.’

  Butler affirmed with a movement of his head. Winter continued.

  ‘And what of our flying friends; do you have any news from them?’

  ‘Yes, my lord. I was sent word that they now have the weapon. They are only waiting for your command.’

  ‘Good.’ Winter did not give any hint of contentment. ‘Here’s what you need to do then.’

  He went on giving specific instructions that Butler would follow to the letter and have them done before the day was over. Come evening, he would leave this world behind and start his day all over again where none of his people had ever managed to go before, the Visitor’s world.

  Daniel checked himself in the large wall-mirror of his new room. His new clothes fitted him nicely. He could now easily pass for a citizen of Endër and would have no problem blending in. Yet, somehow everyone could tell he was not of this world, though he did not feel any different from them.

  A knock on the door claimed his attention, and he went to answer.

  ‘Mom.’

  The queen’s face shone bright as she set eyes on her long lost son once again. She smiled and gave him a warm kiss on the cheek.

  ‘Hello, sweetheart. May I come in?’

  ‘Of course, mom.’ Daniel backed away from the entrance and the queen walked in, locking the door behind her. He noticed this, but said nothing.

  ‘I just can’t get used to how much you’ve grown,’ the queen said, taking in the sight of him. ‘You’re a man now and you look so much like your father.’

  Daniel smiled, not knowing what to say. The queen continued to look at him as if she was afraid he might disappear at any moment.

  ‘Nemo has kindly offered to let us have the afternoon to ourselves. There is much we need to talk about, but first there is something I want to show you.’

  She went at the far end of the room, on the left side of the big double bed and began looking for something with the tip of her fingers on the surface of the flower painted wall. Stopping at the center of a fully blossomed red rose, she applied slight pressure to the wall and took one step back. Part of the wall glided outwards silently, creating a door that led to another room very much like this one. She pushed the door open wide and walked in. Daniel followed her puzzled.

  The room was identical to the first one, down to the covers on the bed and the wall mirror.

  ‘You cannot tell anyone about this room, Danny, not even Nemo.’ His mother began.

  ‘Why? What’s it for?’

&n
bsp; She turned and studied him for a moment, as if trying to understand just how much he knew.

  ‘You know what happens the first time you cross over to this world, right?’

  ‘I think so; a portal is created in the place I appear, which I can use if I want to go back anytime. Why?’

  ‘You are not the only one who can see and use that portal, sweetheart. I believe someone may have found a way to go through it and take the place of the Visitor in the other world by doing so. If and when that happens, the Visitor is left behind, remaining here with no way back and no body to inhabit. I believe this is what’s happened to your brother.’

  The mentioning of his brother brought on old feelings and questions in Daniel’s mind; they had never found out what really happened to him. He looked at her saddened face and felt her pain was still fresh.

  ‘You think Damien is here?’

  ‘I have no way of proving it but a mother’s instinct. I have always felt his presence here; just like I felt yours from the moment you arrived. He’s here, I know it; I just don’t know where.’

  Daniel thought of the first night he lay by the beach and fell asleep having a completely refreshed memory of his mother.

  ‘I think I know what you mean. My first evening here I sensed your presence too. Until I got here I was struggling to even remember your face, but that night everything became clear again, as if you had never gone.’

  The queen looked at him with such hurt in her eyes. Guilt about her son’s pain washed over her, but time had not yet come to talk about that.

  Daniel saw what he’d just done and chided himself for being insensitive. He hurried to move the conversation along.

  ‘But why didn’t I feel him too?’

  ‘I don’t know sweetheart, maybe because my connection to him is much stronger than yours; but that’s not important right now. Damien is not the only Visitor who has disappeared; there have been more, though the exact number I do not know. They are seen once or twice in the kingdom, and then nothing. I think someone is either killing or capturing them, and I have my own theory on the subject. But I will not speak of that just yet.

  ‘Back to this room; I had it built for when you got here, so that no one can find your portal and use it. But first, there is something you must do; you need to go back to where you first appeared in this world, find the portal and go through it. Once on the other side, you’ll find it’s not that difficult to appear wherever you choose in Endërland. All you have to do is think only of this room when you go to bed, and you will wake up here.’

  ‘Will I have to do this every time I go to bed?’

  ‘Only the one time, sweetheart. Once your portal is created here, you don’t have to use it. You can go back home like you do every night in your sleep, but this way the portal will be safe and hidden from anyone, and you can use it only if and whenever you need to disappear from Endërland. I know it all sounds like a nuisance Danny, but I just want to be safe. If I am right, whoever is behind these disappearances will soon come after you, and I will not lose you too.’

  They left the room and the queen led him through the castle to the top floor, where a little surprise was waiting for them on the terrace. The girls had prepared a small banquet with sweets, fresh fruit and delicious aromatic punch. And in the very middle, a porcelain plate with still warm white chocolate cookies, just like the ones Diane used to make for them when she was still alive. His mouth already watering at the sight of them, Daniel dug right in.

  They sat on a comfortable sofa, overlooking the whole of Endër lying below their feet. It was late afternoon and soon it would be dark. Candles and oil lamps would soon be lit everywhere in the houses and streets. Here Daniel finally got the idea of just how big the city was. It stretched for miles before their eyes, bustling with life and noise even at this time of day. There must have been tens of thousands of people living in Endër alone, and his mother was their queen.

  ‘So, how come you are the queen?’ he asked her, thus beginning ‘The Talk’. Ready to finally have this conversation, Diane smiled as she glanced back at her past.

  ‘I’ve been visiting Endërland ever since I was little, just like Damien. It’s always been in our blood, you know, my side of the family anyway. Nobody knows how and when the Great Lord built this place, but many of my ancestors have been coming here ever since anyone can remember. Most of them still live here, some in the city, others have settled in the villages outside Endër.’

  ‘Most of them still live here? How old are they now?’ Daniel interrupted.

  ‘Time does not exist here, Danny, and we do not age; after a certain point nobody really does. Our bodies only reflect the age we feel. And we’ve all died once already, so I guess we cannot die again, not a natural death anyway. But let me continue, and you will understand more as I do so.

  ‘When I first started visiting, my grandfather – your great grandfather, Ari, was king. Everybody loved him. And when time came for me to become a permanent resident here, he passed the throne to me and moved to a nice little house, in a village near the mountains. He has always loved the mountains.’

  ‘When did you know it was time for you to move here?’ Daniel chose his words carefully, trying not to sound accusatory, but he needed to know why everything happened the way it did, why she had left.

  She gazed at him for a short instant and knew that the time for answers had now come.

  ‘When we lost your brother, I’m ashamed to say that I lost my will to live. He was my firstborn, and at first it felt like someone had sucked all the air from the world and I couldn’t breathe anymore. I knew he had started to dream, and I could feel his presence whenever I was here. So I’d spend most of my days and nights asleep, looking for him. But I never found him, and things got very bad on the other side. I was abusing my body by taking too many sleeping pills for a very long time. I slept a lot, I didn’t eat, and the worse of it all, I was not able to look after you and your dad. I felt like a bad wife and mother, but the pain of losing Damien and the desperate need to find him was stronger than me. At some point, I realized that having a mother in that condition would be a lot worse for you than having no mother at all. I wasn’t able to take care of you, and your dad was so focused on saving me, that you were being neglected. That’s when I started thinking about leaving for good.’

  She put her hand on top of his and hurried to explain herself further, fearing he would get the wrong idea.

  ‘But that wasn’t the only reason. By the end of the first year, I realized that there was something sinister at work here, and that whoever it was that took Damien, would not stop with him. You would be next. So I decided the best thing for me to do would be to come here, while I still had the chance, and do whatever I could to stop it. My body was giving up on me anyway, and I didn’t have much time. So, I made a choice. The last day I was awake, I kissed you goodbye and asked your dad to look after you. Then, when I got here, I was given a charmed bracelet by the Lords, which would prevent me going back even when I fell asleep. So, I never woke up again.’

  ‘What do you mean while you had the chance?’

  ‘We don’t all end up here when we die, Danny. I guess if we die in our sleep while we’re here, we get to stay. Otherwise, we go wherever people go after they die. I cheated, I had to; but I do not regret it. I knew one day you would come here and I wanted to prepare everything for when you did.’

  She stopped for a moment and looked at him in the eyes, all the while holding his hands tight in hers. The green in her own eyes glistened now with tears of guilt and sorrow that had plagued her soul for far too long.

  ‘I am so sorry for leaving you my baby, for causing you all that hurt and pain. But I need you to know that I did it all out of love. I loved your brother and I love you more than anything else in both worlds. I would do anything to keep you safe.’

  ‘What about dad?’ Daniel was trying hard to fight back his tears. ‘Didn’t you love him?’

  ‘Of cour
se I did, sweetheart, I still do. He was my best friend and I miss him so much, every single day. But you and Damien are the most important thing in both our lives, and I have no doubt that he would have done the same. If he knew the truth, he would agree that I did the right thing.’

  ‘So, he doesn’t know about any of this?’

  ‘No. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, we are strictly forbidden to tell anyone who is not a Visitor. He would not have understood anyway; would have thought me crazy and had me locked up probably.’

  Daniel took a break from asking questions, trying in vain to claim back control over his tears. His mother observed him, trying to read his expression.

  The sky was now getting darker and two girls came to the terrace to light the lamps around them. They went back to the entrance and waited there, ready for any instructions.

  All around the city, lights began to shine one after the other, competing with the stars that were lighting up the evening sky. As if on cue, the moon also joined the fight, arising from the northern horizon, big and bright just like the first time Daniel had seen it. For a single moment, he got completely lost in its captivating light, same as every other night. Everything else around him began to fade into shadow, until nothing was left but him and this unusual moon. He had to practically force himself to remember where he was and return to the conversation at hand.

  Not without struggle, he turned again to his mother, wiped his face and continued with his next set of questions.

  ‘Where’s the bracelet now?’

  ‘When my body died, the bracelet was no longer necessary and it just fell open. I gave it back to the Lords.’

  ‘Why didn’t I start to dream at the same age as you or Damien? Why did I wait until I was nineteen?’

  ‘I have no answer for that, sweetheart, I have been wondering that myself. Whatever the reason though, I am glad that it was so. You are now old enough to look after yourself, and this also allowed me to prepare for your arrival.’

  ‘So, what happens now? What am I supposed to do from here?’

  ‘You’re supposed to live your life, Danny. You are only nineteen and I want you to do whatever you want to do. Go to University, get a degree, get a job, find the love of your life and get married. Build a family and grow old with them. When it’s your time to leave that world behind, you can join me and the rest of our kin in this one. But until then, whenever you are here, we will be careful so that nobody steals your life from you, or uses you for whatever purpose.’

  Daniel didn’t know what to think. Somehow, it seemed to him that his coming here was about more than just finding his mother and hiding away until he got old and died. Somehow, he felt he had a greater purpose, a greater destiny, or was that all the books talking? Maybe he had read too many stories and was now thinking his life would imitate art. It just felt that this was not all he had come here for, and that he would find that out soon enough.

  The queen raised a hand and caressed the hair on the side of his head.

  ‘Are you alright sweetheart?’

  Daniel did not answer right away. He was not sure what tomorrow would bring and did not think he was supposed to make any important decisions today. All he knew was that he had lost his mother a long time ago, and now had found her again. So he would enjoy this time with her and his newfound friends as long as he could, and he would be ready for whatever else came along.

  ‘I’m fine, mom,’ he answered, giving her a hug. ‘I am so happy that I found you again. Who knows, maybe we’ll find Damien too. I have a very good feeling about this.’

  She held tight to his embrace and replied.

  ‘I hope so, my love, I really hope so.’

  As they let go of each other, the queen wiped more tears from her eyes and took a moment to compose herself.

  ‘Now, tell me about your dad. How is he doing?’

  Daniel was glad that she asked. He loved his dad and it felt good to know that she still loved him too.

  ‘He’s great, mom; he is so good to me and really takes care of me. He can be a bit overprotective sometimes and treat me like I’m still a child, but I don’t mind it. He still works with the police, and is still in great shape. Still terrible at wrapping presents, though.’

  They both laughed wholeheartedly.

  ‘And he hasn’t met anyone?’ she asked, clearly curious.

  ‘No, no one, mom. And he doesn’t like to talk about that stuff either. I think, he’s still waiting for something, I just don’t know what.’

  The queen didn’t say anything. For a moment she got lost in the memories of her own time with David. Daniel did not disturb her; he now understood better the sacrifice she had had to make and what it had cost her. He wondered if he would have been strong enough to do the same, had it been his sacrifice to make, his loved ones to protect.

  Eventually the queen came back to the present and got up.

  ‘Alright then, sweetheart, I believe we’ve covered everything we can this evening. There’s still much to talk about, but we have plenty of time for that. However, before we call it a night, there’s someone here that has been waiting a long time to meet you. She would like to speak to you, if that’s alright.’

  Daniel had no idea who that might be, but he didn’t refuse. The queen called one of the two girls and said something to her. Not long after, the girl came back escorting a woman towards them. The queen made the introductions.

  ‘Daniel this is Veronica; she is from our world. Veronica, my son, Daniel. I will leave you two alone to talk then. Goodnight, sweetheart. I will see you first thing tomorrow morning. The girls will help you with anything you might need. Goodnight, Veronica!’

  ‘Goodnight, dear,’ saluted the woman, sounding a lot older than she appeared.

  He stood up in respect as she took his mother’s place on the sofa beside him. She was maybe in her late thirties - early forties. Her wavy brown hair was held back by a yellow ribbon and it fell beautifully down her shoulders. She had a very sixties’ apparel that Daniel had only seen in old movies. Her face was young, yet the look in her eyes spoke differently. She kept smiling at him, not trying to hide her gladness at seeing him there.

  ‘Hello, darling. Oh, it’s so nice to finally meet you.’

  ‘It’s nice to meet you,’ Daniel replied. He was growing increasingly curious about who this woman was and what she wanted with him. ‘My mom said you’ve been waiting to meet me?’

  ‘A very long time, I would say, if time actually existed here. Magnificent woman your mother, isn’t she? She never gave up hope of seeing you again, and she passed that hope onto me, too. We have both been waiting for you.’

  ‘But why?’ Daniel asked. ‘I mean, are you family? Am I supposed to know you?’

  ‘Oh no, darling, you don’t know me. And I didn’t even know your mother until I got here. But let me tell you my story; maybe things would make more sense to you that way. Would you care to listen to it?’

  Daniel answered affirmatively and she didn’t wait to begin.

  ‘A long time ago, when I was a very young girl, I met this wonderful young man. We fell in love right away and spent too wonderful years together. He often spoke to me of a world different from our own, a world where everyone was happy and lived forever. He said people there never aged, never hungered and never died. He said he wanted me to join him there and build a family and a life with him.

  ‘At first I thought he had a wild fantasy and because I loved him so much, it didn’t bother me. But after a while I started to worry that there was something very wrong with him; I just couldn’t believe him, not until I saw for myself. One night, as we fell asleep together, I woke up next to him in this place. I was astounded; everything was just the way he had described it. I knew right then and there that I wanted to be here with him, forever.

  ‘Alas, that wasn’t meant to be yet. I got news that my mother had fallen ill and she needed me to care for her. So I went back home. We agreed to wait until my mother had g
otten better or passed away, but then something else happened. I became a mother myself and that changed everything. I could not abandon my son, our son, and come here. So I decided to stay. He promised that he would come back to take me when the time was right again and he left. I stayed, raised my son, saw him get married and have his own family, until time came for me to leave that world. He came back for me when I was an old woman, tired of the years. He kept his promise and brought me here.’

  She stopped for a while, her mind still swimming in her sea of memories, while Daniel formed his first question.

  ‘But, you look so young?’

  ‘I was about your age the first time I came to this place. Years went by for me back there, but here time doesn’t matter. Here I look the way I feel about myself and I am not complaining one bit,’ she said with a big grin on her face.

  ‘Okay. I still don’t understand what this has to do with me, though,’ Daniel said.

  ‘I know, darling, but I haven’t finished with my story just yet. You see, my son in turn became the father of a beautiful little girl, a girl whom I loved very much. In the last years of my life she was my reason for being, my everything. Her name was Samantha, and she was very close to me. Like you, she is a Visitor, only for some reason she can never sleep, which means that she cannot visit us either. She has had a very difficult life and while I was alive, I tried to be there for her as long as I could. Just before I passed away, I promised her that I would always look after her, even after my death. As a symbol to that, I promised to give her something that she really loved, this ring.’

  She took from her finger a beautiful silver ring with a single diamond, and showed it to him.

  ‘Unfortunately, I failed to arrange that she receive the ring after my death, and that has been weighing heavily on my heart ever since. I know it must have hurt her that I broke that promise and I need to make things right. That’s where you come in. When I first came here, I consulted the oracle and he told me that a Visitor would one day come, with whom my Sam would cross paths. After talking to your mother I came to believe that that Visitor would be you. And here you are. I have come to ask you to give her a message from me the day you two meet. I need her to know that I am very sorry for breaking my promise, and that I’m still watching over her.’

  Daniel hesitated.

  ‘But how do you know for sure that she and I will meet? What if the oracle is wrong? What if she has passed away too? You did say you’ve been here for a very long time.’

  ‘The oracle has never been wrong,’ Veronica answered. ‘But even if he is and you two never meet, there are still ways for you to pass my message to her. I could tell you how to find her. And I’m sure you’ve realized by now that time is different here from the real world. Even though it feels like I’ve lived a few lifetimes here, I’m sure it’s only been a couple of years back there. So, what do you say?’

  Daniel didn’t really have to think about it. Her story did not sound any more unbelievable than the one he was living himself, and her request was small and simple. Clearly it meant a lot to her and he could afford to do this one little thing.

  ‘You know; I can do better than just give her your message. If we are to meet, like the oracle has predicted, then I could give her the ring, if you still want her to have it.’

  Veronica’s jaw dropped.

  ‘You can do that? It’s never been heard of a Visitor taking something from here to the other world before.’

  Daniel was not so sure about it now that she mentioned it. He had thought this was something that all Visitors had been able to do.

  ‘Well, I haven’t really tried this, but I have brought things from there a few times. I just figured it would be the same taking things back. I mean; it’s worth a try, no?’

  ‘It sure is, my dear.’ Veronica placed the ring on his palm and closed his fingers tight around it. ‘I am sure you will take good care of it.’

  ‘I will try my best to get this to her; I promise.’

  Veronica hugged him tight thanking him a million times. She then wrote down on a piece of paper the address of her son’s house, so Daniel could use it to track Sam down, and handed it to him.

  Thanking him again, she got up and bade him goodnight, promising that they would see each other again. Daniel headed back to his room with the ring on his little finger and the address in his pocket. He felt good about this, almost proud. If only he could share all of this with his dad.

  As the morning dawned, Steven Butler opened his eyes with a feeling of discontent. Ever since he was sent here, he had never enjoyed a good night’s sleep. He had always loved sleep; it was the only time when he felt really at peace. But now even that had been taken away from him. He was always awake, and always under pressure to serve his master.

  This morning however was slightly different. There was now a seed of hope that all this would soon be over and done with. If the boy turned out to be who the White Lord thought he was, he would be free to remain in his world and sleep all he wanted.

  He got out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower and shave. As he looked in the mirror, a face he had grown to hate stared back at him. The clear brown eyes of the young man whose body he had been using for years now still felt foreign. He ignored the fact and continued with the mundane routine of the morning.

  He needed to act fast today, no time to lose. He knew where the boy lived and worked, and the best chance he had of seizing him was in the evening, right after he left the gym. He just needed to call his guys back from their current posts and arrange the transport. Everything else was pretty much ready. They had the place; the clinic where he was currently posing as a janitor. Once they brought the boy there and kept him asleep, nobody would see anything suspicious. It was after all a sleep disorder clinic.

  Confident that his plan was going to work flawlessly, Butler set out to arrange everything for that evening.

  Sam was having second thoughts about this. She had been here for three days now and nothing the doctors were saying or doing gave her any confidence that this was different from all the other times she had been in their hands. Yes, they told her of this new possible therapy that could give results if she agreed to try it, but that was nothing she had not heard before. And frankly she didn’t really feel like letting medicine have another go at curing her insomnia. She had tried hard to get to where she was now, surrendered to the fact that her situation was permanent, and she wasn’t about to risk getting her hopes up again, only to have them crushed at yet another failure.

  And of course, in her three days here, she had not met or heard of anyone named Daniel whatsoever. She was not disappointed, more like angry with herself for flying half way across the world on the words of a stranger. What was she thinking? If she had told anyone what she was doing and why, they would have locked her up somewhere and thrown away the key. This was insane. These people knew no more than any other specialist she had ever seen; it was pointless. She had to go back home.

  Having fought with this decision ever since she first stepped foot into the clinic, Sam finally made up her mind. She could leave this very evening, that way she wouldn’t have to battle it out with the doctors and go through a meaningless debate of how she should not give up hope, and trust science to do its thing. If she left now, she could still catch the tube to Heathrow and see if she could get a flight back home using her open-ended ticket. Or maybe she could hang around one or two days and see London. It’s not like she had plans to come back and visit anytime soon. She might as well do that now that she was here, that way this trip would have not been completely in vain. Though, she might have to book a hotel somewhere. She would have stayed here, if it wasn’t for the doctors and their bloody tests; after all she did pay these idiots a considerable amount of money just to check in.

  Right then she thought of her Nan and she just knew that leaving this place was the right thing to do. Nan, like her, had never placed much faith in doctors and specialists when it
came to her insomnia; she had always said that her cure would come from elsewhere. But Sam never knew what she actually meant.

  She packed up her things in her suitcase, got dressed and walked out of her room. There were only a handful of people working the night shift, so she shouldn’t have trouble slipping out unnoticed. The halls of the two-storey building felt lifeless this evening. There were hardly any sounds, except for the mild snoring of a man in the second room down the hall; he clearly had no trouble sleeping. Most of the rooms in the clinic were empty; she guessed there weren’t a lot of people with sleeping problems like her.

  She was about to take the stairs down to the first floor when she heard what sounded like a van pulling in the driveway quietly. She went to the windows to see what was going on.

  An ambulance with the lights off stopped in front of the entrance, and two men got out from the front, while a third one came out of the back doors, pulling out a wheelchair with someone in it. Sam figured this was another patient checking in, but she couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right. Why did the ambulance drive in with the lights off? And why were the men trying to be so quiet and careful? Sam thought about it and decided that this was none of her business. The last time she stuck her nose where it didn’t belong, she ended up on the other side of the ocean. She went back to her room quietly, and hid there until the men brought the person in the wheelchair to the empty room next to hers. She waited there until it was clear that they had left and then decided to carry on with her escape.

  She opened the door silently and took a peek outside. There was no one in the hall. She closed the door behind her and tiptoed towards the stairs at the end of the hall. Just as she got there, the window on her right opened inwards and someone dropped in, right on top of her, causing both of them to fall on the floor. Sam’s instincts kicked in immediately and she pushed the guy off of her, assuming an offensive position.

  The young man got up and looking at her raised fists, whispered quickly.

  ‘Wait, wait; I’m not here to hurt you. I’m looking for my friend who was just brought in here. Do you know where they put him?’

  Sam eyed him suspiciously and hesitated. The geeky looking guy couldn’t have been more than a couple of years older than her and was about the same height. She was sure she could take him if it came to it. Somehow though, she didn’t seem to feel threatened by him.

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about; I haven’t seen anything. Now move out of my way, please.’

  She made for the stairs again, but the guy stepped in front of her. She was certain she had never seen him before, yet there was something so familiar about him.

  ‘Please, lady; this is a matter of life or death. If I don’t get my friend out of here, he will be gone forever.’

  ‘This is a sleep disorder clinic; I hardly think they can do much worse than put him to sleep.’

  ‘They can, if that means he’ll never wake up. Trust me, those men are not doctors and Daniel has no sleeping problems whatsoever. Won’t you please help me? I think they’ve drugged him and I cannot get him out of here all by myself.’

  Sam stopped trying to leave. It finally happened; the reason for her coming all this way had finally materialized. She backed up one step.

  ‘Did you just say Daniel? Is that the name of the guy they brought in with the ambulance?’

  ‘Yes. Where did they put him?’

  ‘In the room next to mine, four doors down the hall. Who is he?’

  ‘All I can tell you is that he is very important, and right now he really needs our help. Can you please help me get him out of here before they come back?’

  ‘Where are they now?’ she asked, already forming a plan in her head. This was not what she had expected when she thought she would meet this Daniel, but she had no choice now. She needed to see this through.

  ‘I think they are downstairs in the cafeteria. They might be back soon, so we have to act now.’

  ‘Do you have a car outside?’

  ‘Of course I do, how else would I have followed them here? What are you thinking?’

  ‘We cannot take him out by the main entrance; we’ll have to lower him down the window. Then we take him to your car from the back exit. How far is your car?’

  ‘It’s just around back. Sounds perfect; let’s move.’

  They headed to the room, trying not to make any noise.

  ‘I’m Freddie, by the way,’ the young man introduced himself. ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Sam,’ she answered as they reached the room where they had put Daniel. They tried the door, only to find out that it was locked.

  ‘Now what?’ Freddie asked.

  ‘I got this.’ Sam opened the door to her own room, reached behind it and came back with a rusted key in her hand. ‘This building is very old and these rooms all have the same key. That’s not very smart.’

  Freddie gave her an inquisitory look.

  ‘What,’ she snapped, ‘there’s not much to do around here, and I never sleep.’

  She inserted the key and turned it, pushing the door open. Leaving the light off, they went by the bed where Daniel lay uncovered and tried to wake him. Since that didn’t work, they grabbed him by his arms and legs and transferred him to the wheelchair left by the bed.

  Sam took a quick look at the face of this boy who was supposed to help her find the answers to her life’s questions. He had an attractive face, smooth spotless skin and dark wavy hair. She almost raised her hand to touch it, but then thought better of it. A pair of fine eyebrows crowned two almond shaped eyes that finished on thick and long eyelashes, for which she felt immediately jealous. He seemed to be about the same age as her. But who was he and how was he supposed to help her with her problems?

  They wheeled him out of the room all the way to the open window. Using a pair of sheets as a rope, they tied them around Daniel’s chest and continued to carry him outside the second storey window.

  Sam couldn’t help but take in the boy’s lovely scent, as she held him in her arms. She’d always had a keen nose, though when it came to boys, it often got in the way, putting her off many of her dates. But there was something so enticing, almost dizzying about the way this stranger smelled to her. Great, she thought to herself, handsome and smells good. Just what I need now.

  Sam forced herself to get a grip and proceeded with lowering the guy down from the window, carefully placing him on the pavement. Then they both climbed down the rope after him, untied him and carried him out of the clinic and into Freddie’s Mini Cooper.

  ‘Nice car, Fred,’ Sam complimented as they started the car and drove away as silently as they possibly could.

  ‘Thanks, but please call me Freddie; I hate Fred.’

  ‘No problem, Fred,’ she replied, making him give her a look. ‘Where are we going anyway?’

  ‘My place for now, they will not know how to find us there. We’ll be safe for a while. Listen, thank you very much for helping me with him, I couldn’t have done it without you. What’s your plan now? I can drop you off anywhere.’

  ‘No, you cannot; I’m sticking with you. I need to be there when he wakes up.’ She motioned with her head towards Daniel, who lay unconscious on the back seat. Freddie looked at her curiously.

  ‘Why?’

  Sam realized there was no way to say this without sounding weird, so she just went ahead and said it.

  ‘I cannot explain how or why, but he is the reason why I came to this clinic in the first place. I was told he might help me with something.’

  She kept looking straight ahead, pretending that what she just said was not weird at all. But she didn’t need to worry about this with Freddie.

  ‘It sounds like you’ve had an encounter with the oracle. I guess our meeting was not by chance after all.’

  ‘The who?’ Sam asked.

  ‘The oracle, Sam. He’s the one who deals with everything that involves Dreamers. He helps them find their way into Endërland safe
ly and looks after them. Daniel is a Dreamer.’

  Sam thought she might have hit her head somewhere or something.

  ‘What in the world are you talking about, man?’

  Freddie took his eyes off the road just long enough to see her face and realize that she really had no idea what he was talking about. He decided he needed some more info from her, however, if he was to share what he knew.

  ‘Ok, let’s backpedal just a little bit. You don’t know Daniel, right?’

  ‘Right,’ she answered.

  ‘So who told you to come here and look for him?’

  Sam knew that this next part was the crazy bit of it all, but she also knew that it had come true, halfway at least. She could not hold back now for fear of looking like a lunatic. For that matter, this Freddie guy seemed to have a few loose screws of his own. So she decided to say it out loud for the first time ever.

  ‘Okay, about three weeks ago I ran into this beggar outside my building, who appeared to know an awful lot about me. He pretended to read my palm and discover some problems I’m dealing with. Long story short, he said if I came here, I would meet someone called Daniel and that he would have the answers I’m looking for.’

  ‘Yep, sounds like the oracle. That guy can be so cryptic and mysterious sometimes, it’s a wonder anyone ever understands his instructions. But he is never wrong, I guarantee you that much. And I’m glad you followed his advice, we did great together back there.’

  ‘Have you ever met him?’

  Freddie seemed to get a bit embarrassed by the question.

  ‘No, never. I have researched and studied about him practically all of my life, and it would be a dream come true to actually meet him in person, but he only appears where he’s needed.’

  He stopped there for a moment as if deciding if he should go on and tell her what he knew. There was no question about it, however, Sam was meant to find out this stuff sooner or later.

  ‘Okay, what I’m about to tell you is extremely confidential and there is a very small number of people in the whole world who know about it and would like to keep it that way. But I’m guessing, if the oracle has involved you in this thing, you might have a part to play, so you need to know what you’re getting yourself into. So here it goes.

  ‘You know how when you fall into a deep sleep, you usually start dreaming?’

  Sam gave him a look, causing him to remember that she never slept.

  ‘Oh right, sorry,’ Freddie corrected himself quickly and then continued. ‘Well, most people do anyway. What they don’t realize however, is that dreams are a lot more than they appear to be. To this day, scientists still struggle to understand what they are exactly and what they mean, but no one has come even close to the truth.

  ‘There’s a whole other realm out there, existing in a completely different dimension from ours and that somehow can only be accessed through our dreams. The majority of people can perceive only a small fraction of this realm, like sensing its presence or catching glimpses of it, so to speak. This causes the images they see in their sleep, which they call dreams.

  ‘There is however a handful of people, with the ability to perceive more than just a fraction of this realm. And when that happens, their consciousness interacts with it in much the same way it does with our own, meaning, they have real experiences, just as if they were awake. Some have even claimed to be able to project themselves physically on the other side, without even meaning to do so. What they experience there though, it’s usually known only to them, and that’s where things get a bit more complicated. There’s talk of not just one world existing inside this realm but of many, though of course, most of what we know is pure speculation. The only one we have proof of and have had dealings with, during our history, is the one they call Endërland.’

  He stopped narrating for just a moment, long enough to check the mirror and take another turn.

  ‘I’m a member of a very old society that exists for one reason only: to protect the world from Dreamers gone bad. Dreamers, or Visitors as they are called in Endërland, are people who, while they are asleep, they can travel to other worlds through their dreams. In those worlds practically everything is possible and they can do pretty much anything. Most of the time this is a very benign and harmless thing; Dreamers go through their whole lives living in both worlds simultaneously, without causing harm to anything or anyone. Quite the opposite, a few of them are known throughout the history to have used this gift of theirs for the good of mankind, contributing either in science and culture, or causing a movement and bringing about good change. History is full of people like this that have brought ideas back from their own worlds and helped make this one a better place; people like, Einstein, Gandhi, Mother Teresa and so on.

  ‘However, as is usually the case, there’s two sides to every coin. There have also been those during the course of time, who have tried to use this ability for their own selfish purposes, thus bringing evil into this world from whichever world they would visit in their own twisted minds. History is full of those people too, people you’ve most probably heard of, like Nero of Rome, Hitler or Stalin. They are the reason why the Order of the Guardians exists. Those Dreamers who wanted to preserve this world and the people close to them who knew their truth, got together and formed the order and for more than two thousand years have been fighting to stop the corrupt ones from causing irreparable damage.’

  Freddie finished this quick lesson on the history of Dreamers and turned to face his passenger, only to find her gawking at him.

  Sam had to actually remind herself to breathe. What this guy was telling her sounded absolutely and utterly ludicrous.

  ‘Are you being serious right now? Are you telling me that Hitler and Mother Teresa were “Dreamers” and at night they lived in another world? Wow, I am feeling much better about myself, all of a sudden. Maybe we should turn back and have you checked by someone; this is the most stupid thing I have ever heard.’

  ‘You wouldn’t be considered very wise if you believed everything you heard right away, and I don’t expect you to. But very soon you will be convinced that this is the truth. Daniel will wake up, and then he can tell you all of this for himself.’

  ‘What makes you think I’ll believe him?’ she asked. ‘And what is your role in all of this anyway?’

  ‘I like to consider myself a prophet of the modern days. I know everything there is to know about the history of Dreamers, and sometimes I think I can see glimpses of the future concerning them. Like with Daniel, for example. For years now everything that’s been happening around us, has led me to believe that a great Dreamer is coming; one that will have such power that he will completely change the world as we know it. There’s even a prophecy about this, a very old one, which I think it’s about to come true. There are only a few bloodlines of Dreamers still known to us and Daniel comes from the greatest one. I’ve been keeping an eye on him for quite some time, and I had a vision warning me that he would be in danger today. So I followed him all day and as it turned out, it’s a good thing I did.’

  ‘So, he doesn’t actually know you, does he?’ Sam asked just to clarify. Freddie took on a guilty look.

  ‘No, not really,’ he responded. Sam sat back with a sigh.

  ‘Great, the guy will wake up in the company of two total strangers, one of whom is a complete nutcase. I am so looking forward to this.’

  Freddie did not reply. His attention was suddenly drawn to the front mirror, where an ambulance could be seen approaching fast. Sam noticed his concern and looked back.

  ‘It’s them; step on it.’

  Freddie accelerated and started maneuvering between cars, trying to gain distance. The ambulance accelerated as well and turned the sirens on. All cars on the road made way for it. Lucky for them, it was the middle of the night and there were not that many vehicles on the streets.

  ‘They’re gaining on us. Go faster,’ Sam shouted.

  ‘Don’t worry girly; they can never catch us i
n that thing.’

  He turned left, leaving Euston road and taking Gower Street. The ambulance was right behind them. They needed to get to smaller streets, where their Mini could maneuver easily and lose them. Freddie took the first left out of Gower Street and then a whole series of other turns that Sam failed to keep track of. With every new turn, they gained a bit more distance from the ambulance, until after about half hour of reckless driving, they lost them completely. Freddie didn’t even know where they were anymore, but that didn’t matter. They kept driving until they got into a main road again and set on the right course for his house, which was just over half hour drive to North Greenwich. Sam finally managed to relax and rest her head back.

  ‘Dear God. What have I gotten myself into this time?’

 

 

  Introductions & Reunions - Part 2