#some things never change your shoes line up in the hall and i’m cranking out oodles of love

[firstfullmoon]

Emily Berry, “The Old Fuel”

#none of this is enough to reach you #some things never change your shoes line up in the hall and i’m cranking out oodles of love #baby it’s hard work #w #poetry #emily berry

[kylorengarbagedump]

Little Bird: Chapter 10 (NSFWish)

Read on AO3. Part 9 here. Part 11 here.

Summary: Fine, you'll admit that your Commander has manipulated you. That was intention this entire time. Right?

Words: 2500

Warnings: Handmaid AU, Oops! All Feelings :(

Characters: Kylo Ren x Handmaid!Reader

A/N: WOW WELCOME TO MY UPDATE APPROXIMATELY 10 MONTHS LATER. AMAZING TRULY REVOLUTIONARY.

In all honesty, I have no idea what happened, but writing that one-shot just got me fired up to write a chapter for this piece! I really hope you enjoyed it, because I'm trying to up the ante a lil bit!

Thank you so much for reading, everyone! I love you <3

Where were the damn wings?

Before you replied, you squatted, groping the ground, shimmying back as your head spun to find your wings. Something firm brushed your ankle, and you snagged it from underneath your dress, face warm while you tugged the covering over your scalp. Pinching your lips between your teeth, you glanced at Emma, like this would suffice as an answer.

She frowned--as if she were disappointed. “What is going on?”

Your jaw tightened. “Do I really need to answer that?”

The crickets seemed deafening, now. Emma’s full cheeks glowed pink. She shook her head, a long sigh falling through her nose. “You have to be careful,” she mumbled. “Just follow me.”

Head bowed, you obeyed, tucking the rest of your hair into your wings as you walked. She led you back past the pond, grass rustling under your feet while you avoided the backdoor and moved to the side of the house--a place you’d never been. Your heart skipped. Emma wouldn’t sell you out. Would she?

Swallowing, you murmured, “So…”  

“I heard noise,” she said. “That’s why I came outside.”

“Oh,” you replied. “What, uh, what… did you hear?”

“Voices.”

“You didn’t… see? Hear anything else?”

Emma snorted softly. “You don’t need to be caught with his tongue in your mouth to hang for it.”

Your ears burned. On one hand, you couldn’t be more grateful that Emma had been the one to find you. Out of everyone in the home, besides Ren himself, she seemed the least interested in getting you strung up by your neck. But in Gilead, everyone had a tipping point--Emma included. Being Marthas, she and Rose had the least to lose, and the most to gain from a tentative allegiance with Johana. But the grace of humanity had kept you noose-free, so far. Ren was right to fear its weaponization.

“What do you think of the system?” you whispered. “Of Gilead.”

Emma stopped at a white-painted door at the side of the home, hesitating to find the knob when she realized it was already cracked open. She paused, and then looked back at you, brow furrowed. “I think you need to be quiet and go to bed. Goodnight.”

She disappeared into the darkness of the house, footsteps soft scrapes against the floorboards. Face on fire, you eased the door shut behind you and snuck back to your room.

Weeks passed without another incident. For all of Ren’s talk of knowing you, he didn’t seem very dedicated to the idea. You’d barely shared a word with him since the night in the garden. There were evenings, though, when he’d arrive home, and you’d feel his eyes stick to you, the lewd tangle of thoughts in his mind almost audible. During these moments, you’d both stare for long and empty seconds, willing your fantasies to meld in the space between your bodies before being stolen back to reality. A brainless, needy part of you loved this--as if you were privy to his desires, knowing him in a way that even Johana couldn’t. The mere illusion of of power, of importance was enough to get you high, and you craved more, craved to have this part of him all to yourself, to be, in the simplest terms, special.

That was how he did it, you supposed--a few weeks of absence had been enough to make your heart grow fonder, to make you forget his demand you accept your role. It soothed the rejection and fear of vulnerability within you. And even though you knew his intention, knew that this was all to distract you from talking, from asking questions, knew that it was meant to keep you loyal to him, you didn’t care. You wanted, needed a moment with him alone, needed to soothe the primal ache in your body that throbbed in the absence of his touch.

Had he broken you? After all, you didn’t just need him. You needed to know him.

It was difficult to determine when you’d sneak out to find him. It would need to be during the day, you figured, so that if you were found wandering the home you’d have some sort of plausible excuse. In planning, you found it much easier to avoid Johana than anticipated--for whatever reason, her presence had been far less oppressive in the past few weeks. Rather than stomping down the halls on her tiny feet, she floated through the house, suspended on invisible wings. You hadn’t seen her so much as snarl at you in days. The reason didn’t matter, and you didn’t much care. All the more simple for you to get at what you wanted.

One issue: Ren was typically absent during the day. You’d seen him come home early once or twice, but had never managed to catch him--and catching him would’ve been your only shot. You settled on an innocuous meandering through the front gardens after your walk, something you’d really never bothered to do, regardless, in hopes you’d be the one to meet him at the door. By chance, of course.

As you wandered outside, you winced at the sun, hanging bright in the mid-afternoon. Huge beds of red, yellow, and purple flowers were shaded by tall grasses, spiral stone paths winding out from the gates and to the entrance. Near the grasses, benches sat to provide a view of the blooming plants--given the heat, you shuffled there, the sound of stone along your shoes quickening your heart. Anxiety fluttered in your belly, through your arms, down to your toes, an excited grin creeping onto your face. A whisper of shame followed.

What the hell was wrong with you? Plotting to seduce your Commander, burgeoning anticipation for his presence? Of course, you needed to accept reality, but did you need to be so damn giddy about it? The insight into your own manipulation failed to make it any less pathetic. When you sat, the voice of shame screamed for you to stand back up, to get back in the house, to forget anything with Ren had ever happened. But the memory of his kiss--that desperate tenderness of his lips, the glimmer of emotion in his eyes under the starlight--there was something unshakable in those moments. Something that, to you, seemed like hope.

You’d cling to any flicker of that in the eternal darkness of your existence.

Or maybe it was just easier to rationalize that you were doing this by choice, rather than following the traitorous desire of your body to get railed again. If only you could sit your subconscious down and explain to it that you were being held as a captive for your uterus. Perhaps then it would understand the context that made its cravings so vile.

But whether it was hope, or whether it was stupidity, you remained on the bench.

As you followed the path of bees from stamen to stamen, the front door opened--and Johana stepped out. Heat rushed your neck, and you snapped your head to the ground, hoping to appear preoccupied. But not a single derogatory word came out of her mouth.

“Oh,” you heard her say, “I was looking for you. Didn’t think I’d find you out here.”

Swallowing, you glanced up. “You were, uh, looking for me?”

In what seemed to be a dream, or maybe nightmare, Johana fucking smiled. “I was.” The sight of it on her face--genuine, and directed toward you--seemed so alien that you pinched your thigh. Nope. Still awake.

Her quick steps carried her to the bench in a few breaths, and she sat next to you, still grinning. The radiance of her presence chilled your spine. Johana had always sulked through the world, eyes sunken, her face tight and pointed like a shrew’s--but in the light of today’s sun, she seemed… beautiful. The cheeks that seemed hollow now seemed blessed with high, sharp bones--which were quite pretty--and you noticed now that the line of her jaw was well-defined, that she had a small dusting of freckles along the bridge of her nose. A flush revived her sallow skin. Her irises glittered, blue and clear as water.

Forget what was wrong with you. What was wrong with her?

She took your hand in hers, cradling it like a child’s. “I wanted to apologize to you. For being so cruel.”

You pinched yourself again. Nope. “Oh. Well--”

“I recognize the service you’re doing for our family,” she said. “I don’t want you to think that I’m ungrateful. Really, it’s my dream to raise a child with the Commander.”

“Um…” Not one inspired word came to your lips. “You… Uh…” Were you honestly going to thank her for praising your service as a womb slave? “This is, uh, this is just unexpected for me.”

She nodded, furrowing her brow. “Well. I can understand that. But things have changed.” She squeezed your hand. “I would love for you to forgive me. I’m looking forward to participating in the Ceremony with you tomorrow night.”

Fire licked your neck. You were thankful to be wearing gloves--your palms were sweating. “It’s tomorrow night?” You couldn’t believe you’d forgotten.

“Yes,” she replied, smiling. “It’s important for us to work together so my child can be brought into the world--so I hope you do accept my apology.”

Before you could speak, the Commander’s car rolled into the driveway and coasted to a stop, causing you both to crank your heads in its direction. Johana’s grip crushed your fingers. Seething, you tried to meet her gaze, but found her entirely focused on the car, eyes wide and face beaming. Something sunk in your stomach. It wasn’t a squeeze of admonishment--it was a squeeze of exhilaration.

Ren stepped out of the car, buttoning his suit jacket, catching the stare of his Wife as he looked toward the front door. You knew he must have noticed you, as well, but if he did, there wasn’t even the slightest acknowledgement of your presence. He moved toward the both of you, shoes clacking on the path, failing to glimpse you for even the slightest of seconds. This should have been what you wanted, as a Handmaid--to exist as a statue, translucent under the Eyes, a phantom in his presence. But the gnawing in your stomach continued.

“Good afternoon, Johana.” He stopped at the side of the bench, and Johana released your hand. Finally. “I didn’t expect to find you out here.” You wondered if anyone expected anyone to be outside in the world of Gilead.

Johana smiled again. Her large, white teeth split her face in two. “Oh, yes, sir,” she said. “I was actually apologizing to our Handmaid. For how I’ve been.”

Ren’s eyes narrowed, moving to scan the garden. “Really.” He wiggled his wedding band around his finger, twisting it toward his palm. A breeze ruffled the thick waves of his hair. “Mature of you.”

“Well,” she said, “I want the absolute best outcome for our child. Don’t you?”

“Mm.” His chest fell in a soft sigh, and he turned back to her. “I’ll be upstairs.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ren walked to the door and disappeared inside. It was as if you weren’t even there.

Johana spun around, excitement crackling off of her, and took your hand again. “Well? You forgive me, don’t you?”

Your gaze fell from the door, to the grass, to your gloved hand, wrapped in hers. The longer you stared, the more distant it seemed. “Yes. I do.”

“Wonderful.” She let you go, standing up and smoothing her skirt. “I’ll leave you be. And I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.” She supplied you with a final grin, and went inside, the sunshine leaving with her.

You sat, mind spinning. There was a reason Johana’s behavior churned your guts--and in horror, you realized it was jealousy. A Handmaid, jealous of a Wife. It was pitiful. After all, they were married. You were the interloper. But you rewound your earlier justifications. The idea that Ren, buried underneath his hypocrisy, might have cared for you--the hope that the existence of his compassion could, one day, mean freedom. Escape.

Perhaps that was the reason he’d been all but ignoring you. That it wasn’t because he was trying to draw you in, but because he was with her. And if he’d really been ignoring you in favor of her, someone you’d always thought he found repulsive, after that night those weeks ago--what did that mean for your future?

But there had to be another reason. You knew that he felt something different with you. Something Johana would never give him.

Right?

Wiping the sweat from your brow, you stood. You knew your logic was faulty, but the gnawing ache in your stomach was now a ravenous pain. Before you understood what you were doing, you were marching into the house, slipping through the sunny halls, and tip-toeing your way up the iron staircase, hoping to avoid Johana’s nauseating positivity. You’d prove to yourself that hope was alive. And you’d at least bring her behavior up to him. After all, this had been your plan from the beginning--to see him, alone.

Acid burbled inside you. The one day you were lucky enough for him to come home early…

When you reached the top of the staircase, you heard a giggle ricochet through the hall, and you froze, heart stalling. From beyond his bedroom door, waves of breathy gasps, feathery and feminine. Fuck, no, fuck. Your heart wasn’t stalling--it was crashing. Your brain a storm, you whipped around, about to tumble down the steps, but jerked yourself back. Your pulse throbbed in your temple. A sicker part of you wanted to hear more. You wanted to know if it was good. Or better.

Sweat sopping your nape, you swiveled around and crept forward, drowning in the resonance of Johana’s voice. Her moans were low, and long, edged with delight. Images of what he could be doing flashed--were they naked, was he kissing her, where were his hands--and then she gasped again. Swallowing, you edged closer, and then you heard her speak, an ecstatic plea.

“Commander,” she whimpered, “oh, God, please…”

“Tell me how you want it.”

His response was unexpected, and it paralyzed you, breath caught in your lungs. You wanted to pause this moment, dissect every little timbre of his voice until you could know, for certain, the level of his desire, the content of his thoughts, the sincerity of his need.

“Mm… You tell me, sir.”

Ren growled, muffled by the door. “Johana…” His voice was a groan. It was greedy. “Fuck--”

“Oh--fuck--yes!” Johana’s breath became rhythmic, euphoric, harmonizing with quiet grunts that were far too familiar to you. “More--oh, fuck--”

You couldn’t tolerate it anymore, not a single second--you pivoted and scurried back down the hall, head pounding. The sick part of you clung to the stairs, hungry to wait until he came, craving to hear what he sounded like, starving to know their pillow talk.

But you needed to get out, you needed to hide in your room, you needed to fucking slap yourself until you came to your senses and realized that this was your fucking life, now, that you were a fucking slave to a man who didn’t give a shit if you lived or died, that every minute of your existence was stuck in the clutches of the Republic of Gilead and every delusion of escape, every fantasy of hope or reprieve or fucking humanity was dead. They were finally, finally, fucking dead.

#kylo ren smut #kylo ren x reader #kylo x reader #kylo ren imagine #kylo ren #kylo trash #handmaid au #little bird #fanfiction problems #check it OUT man I'm trying for FEELINGs again

[silverfootstepswrites]

Equinox: Fall [4]

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3  | Chapter 4 (here) | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

The leaves began to turn orange and gold as the temperature dropped. The most brash were the maples, who turned blood red overnight. They stood blazing between the pines who refused to change with the season. 

As the ground disappeared under the falling leaves, the sounds of raking replaced the constant chatter of crickets. Smoke curled into the sky as people burned the piles. Others packed them in big paper bags for the garbage truck to take away. Part of Sakura wished that they would never rake up the leaves. She loved the snap of a crisp leaf under her shoe. The crunching noises stacking together when she stomped on a big pile.

Ino laughed at her when she stepped out of her way to get the crunchiest leaf. But ended up doing the same too. 

As they walked past Kakashi’s house, they heard several different barks. And when they turned the corner, they saw Kakashi past the chain-link fence, rolling in the leaves with his bulldog. A pug pounced on top of the both of them, teeth latching on to Kakashi’s pant leg. They could see the other dogs running around in the yard. Sakura hadn’t believed him when he had told her that he had five dogs.

“See, the sheriff’s issue is kind of like me with shoes. I see. I must have,” Ino had explained. 

If there was a stray dog anywhere in or near town, Kakashi was sure to take it in. 

And Sakura was glad she knew this one night as she drove back to Old Pines from Empire City. It was so dark on the road that she had to use her high beams. One of her worst nightmares was accidentally hitting a deer.

At a particularly steep bend in the road, she spotted a shape. It was too stocky to be a fawn. And definitely not tall enough to be a buck. As she drove closer, she realized that it was a dog, lower half caked in mud. It shied to the side of the road as she approached, but didn’t run off. Sakura turned off her high beams, leaving on the regular lights. Parking the car, she hung out the driver’s side window.

“Hey, baby. You lost?” she asked. Like the dog could respond to her. It stood there, trembling.

“It’s pretty cold outside, huh? Are you hungry?” she inquired. Ducking back into her car, she glanced over at the passenger’s seat. She had leftovers from the taco bowl she had ordered for dinner. She wasn’t sure whether dogs could eat cilantro so she took a second to brush the herb off the chunks of steak she fished out. Sakura opened up the car door. She held out her hand, offering the steak. She could see the dog sniff. But after taking a few steps towards her, it ran off.

Sakura glanced at the clock on her dashboard. It was getting late. But she didn’t feel good just leaving a dog out here. A less observant driver could hit it. And even if that didn’t happen, knowing that a hungry dog roamed the streets didn’t sit well with her either.

She found Kakashi’s number and called him. He answered after several rings, voice thick with sleep.

“Is everything okay?” he asked right away.

“Hey, Sheriff. Sorry. I know it’s really late. But I could use your help,” she said.

She gave him a rough estimate of where she was. After she hung up, she sat staring at the pieces of sliced steak in her hand. She could see the dog pacing back and forth further up the road.

“Come eat, baby. I won’t hurt you,” she called. And while the dog looked at her again, it didn’t try to come any closer. The car chimed when she opened the door. She took slow, careful steps to cross the road. She laid the pieces of steak on the asphalt before getting back in her car. As she wiped her fingers on a paper napkin, she kept her eyes glued to the dog. It stared right back at her.

She began to wonder if the noise of the car’s engine was what was scaring it. And as she debated whether to kill the engine or not, the dog took a few tentative steps towards the steak. When she didn’t move, it took a few more steps. Sakura’s face broke into a grin as she watched the dog gobble down the few pieces of cold steak. The dog lingered where it had found the steak, licking its chops.

Sakura lifted her head when a shadow interrupted the shapes the headlights made on the road. She recognized Kakashi easily. Dark tail swirling with mist. He looped around the other side of the car, careful not to spook the dog, whose ears had already perked up. Kakashi’s silhouette shifts. When he opened up the passenger side door, it was in the shape of a man in grey pajama pants and a t-shirt. He had at least thought to wear his duty jacket over his attire so that he looked slightly less like a lost sleepwalker.

“Is that our friend?” he inquired in a low voice. He put a knee on the seat, ducking his head to get a look at the wary dog.

“He ate a little steak. That’s a good thing, right?” Sakura whispered.

“I’m guessing your charm doesn’t work on dogs,” Kakashi commented. She made a sour face at him. He chuckled.

“You did good. Lucky for us, my charm works on dogs pretty well,” he added. Before she could ask him what he meant, Kakashi picked up one of the bigger chunks of steak before he hopped out of the car. Sakura watched him pass in front of the headlights. The dog growled low in its throat when Kakashi approached. Kakashi lowered the steak down onto the asphalt before walking back to Sakura. They waited for what felt like a million years. Then the dog bent down to sniff at the steak. Gobbled that up too. And then it lifted its head, staring at Kakashi now.

Sakura leaned back to grab the takeout container. She passed it to Kakashi, who sat on the road, his back pressing against Sakura’s car. Kakashi stretched his legs out in front of him as he picked out another piece of steak. He made a kissy noise, holding out the food. The dog sniffed, but stayed in place.

“Come here, sweetheart. We won’t hurt you,” Sakura called.

Kakashi reached out to place the steak just past his foot. After a long while, the dog took cautious steps toward them, hesitating every few paces. It snatched up the food, watching them with huge eyes. It took another step. One more. Closer and closer until it sat between Kakashi’s legs, gobbling down what remained of the taco bowl. Sakura’s hands itched to pet it, but she restrained herself. Instead, she squeezed out of the driver’s seat, crouching down beside Kakashi.

“There’s a cut,” she observed.

“Where?” Kakashi asked.

She used her finger to trace her finger under Kakashi’s eye, right along his cheekbone.

“I can’t tell if it’s old or not,” she added, tilting her head this way and that.

The dog finished its meal. Licking its chops, it lifted its head to regard the both of them.

“Hey there. Do you feel better?” Sakura inquired with a smile. Kakashi reached out, slowly. And when he patted the dog’s neck, it stayed still. He rubbed through the fur, scratching between its ears.

“No collar. Pretty friendly for a street dog,” Kakashi remarked.

“Oh my god Kakashi. I want to hug him so bad. Look at those big, sad eyes,” she whispered. Kakashi chuckled. He gave the dog a few pats on the belly.

“Maybe a little later. After a bath. Because we’ve got a stinky boy or girl on our hands right now,” Kakashi declared, nose scrunching. Sakura hopped back into her car. She contorted and stretched until her fingers grasped the blanket she always kept in the back seat. As she unfolded it, the dog tilted its head to watch her. She crouched beside him, copying the same, slow movements that Kakashi had been using to drape it around the dog..

“Alright, buddy. Let’s get you cleaned up,” Kakashi declared. He lifted the dog in his arms. Sakura leaned across the console to open up the passenger side door for him. Kakashi rested his hand on the dog’s head as he ducked inside the car. He settled into the seat, the dog resting on his lap as he fumbled with the seatbelt.

“Where are we going?” asked Sakura, switching to the high beams. She cranked up the heater before she pulled back onto the road.

“I’ve got room for one more,” replied Kakashi.

“Poor baby. It was must’ve been scary out there alone. Well don’t worry about a thing. We’re going to take good care of you,” Sakura said. And to her surprise, the dog looked right at her. Like it could understand what she was saying.

The winding path led them into Old Pines. She turned off the main road, to the quiet street where Kakashi lived. It was impossible to miss, especially since the steeple of the abandoned church was the tallest thing in town. Ivy had grown up one side of the building, but it was still in great shape. Sakura suspected that Kakashi maintained it in his free time.

Sakura pulled into the driveway. She parked right beside his cruiser. A chorus of barks greeted them. The dog in Kakashi’s lap gave them a bewildered look. Kakashi laughed.

“They’re friendly. Don’t look so scared,” he assured the dog, giving a few more pats. He opened the door and lifted the dog into his arms again. Sakura killed the engine and hurried to close the door for Kakashi. He stepped down path to his home. The grass was perfectly-trimmed. The little lights lining the path lit up when they moved near them.

“Do you mind grabbing my keys? They’re in my pocket,” Kakashi said as they stepped onto the porch. Sakura reached inside his jacket. His keyring was heavy with all sort of keys of different shapes and sizes. With some direction from Kakashi, she managed to find the one for his house. Inserting it into the lock, she turned it and slid the knob to the right. As soon as the door opened, she was greeted by a wet, black nose.

“Bull, give us a little room, buddy,” Kakashi grunted as they stepped inside. The burly bulldog kept close, but took a few steps back. He sniffed, stubby little tail shaking furiously. A pug came scrambling down the hall, colliding with Bull in his hurry. Kakashi chuckled as he kicked off his boots.

“Alright, everyone. We’ve got a guest today. Be good,” Kakashi ordered as he walked into the kitchen. The pug ran after him, but Bull lingered in the foyer with Sakura. Bull eyed Sakura for a moment. She had the feeling that he was an older dog from the way he trundled. Bull looped around Sakura and nudged the back of her legs, as if urging her inside.

“Okay, okay. Give me a second,” she laughed as she stepped out of her shoes. She paused to scratch Bull’s chin, earning a lick on the cheek. She rubbed her face with her sleeve as she straightened. And then followed Bull into the house.

The first thing that struck Sakura about Kakashi’s place was how cozy it was. The walls were crowded with photos. The frames were all mismatched and some of the pictures looked way older. Like black-and-white photo, no-smiles old. Like most homes in Old Pines, there was a fireplace. Kakashi’s was made of brick and there were currently a few logs smoldering inside.

As she followed Bull deeper inside, she entered the kitchen. A kettle sat on the stove with the flame on high under it. Kakashi sat on the floor, the muddy dog sitting between his outstretched legs.

“Huh. You were right,” Kakashi said.

“About what?” Sakura inquired.

Kakashi gestured to the spot below the dog’s right eye. There was a gash there. Skin pink and shiny, like it had just healed over recently.

“It doesn’t look infected. I think it’ll be okay once the fur grows back in,” Kakashi guessed. He picked up the dog’s left paw. Then the right.

“Looks like you were running for a while, bud,” he then observed.

Sakura crouched down in front of the dog. Who regarded her with those big, doe eyes. She patted the top of its head.

“It’s a good thing you picked him up. It’s supposed to rain in the morning. He could’ve caught a cold,” Kakashi told her as he got to his feet. Wrapping a dish towel around the handle of the kettle, he poured the water out into a big washtub. The pug sniffed at it, only backing off when Kakashi flapped the towel.

“It’s water, Pakkun. Quit being so nosey,” he scolded. Sakura laughed as the pug ran over to her instead. She obliged a few pats. But the pug wandered off after discovering that she didn’t have any treats.

Kakashi gave the dog a warm bath, scrubbing the mud from its tangled fur.  He removed a few burrs that had stuck to its back and tail. He covered the dog’s eyes as he poured water over its head, patting it all over with a clean towel.

“Aren’t you a good….” Kakashi paused, peeking under the dog’s belly, “Boy. The best boy.” Pakkun’s ears perked up. Stubby tail wiggling back and forth. He wandered up to Sakura, who patted his butt.

“You’re a good boy too, Pakkun,” she assured him.

“Do you mind holding him for a second?” Kakashi asked, as he walked off.

“Sure,” Sakura replied. She took his place, ruffling the towel over the pooch’s damp fur. She rubbed at his ears too, smiling when she saw his tail wag a little.

“You like that, huh?” she teased, rubbing his ears again. She laughed when the tail wagged even harder.

Kakashi returned with a hairdryer to finish drying the dog off. When Pakkun wandered over with curious eyes again, Kakashi directed the warm air at him a few times. Sakura burst into laughter when Pakkun tried chomping the warmth with his teeth. Stubby little legs stomping all over as he tried to bite the bad air.

By the time the stray was clean and dry, the other dogs had wandered off or gone to sleep. Bull lay on his back in the warm patch of floor in front of the refrigerator. Pakkun lay beside him, curled up into a little ball. But his eyes opened whenever Kakashi walked past.

“I’ll take him to the vet in the morning. But we gotta quarantine him for now. I don’t know if he’s up to date on any of his vaccinations,” Kakashi declared. And as he guided the dog into a cage in the corner of the kitchen, Sakura felt a little sad.

“Won’t he get lonely?” she wondered. Kakashi looked surprised as he closed the door on the cage. The dog took a moment to survey his surroundings. He turned around a few times before settling on the floor of the cage, on top of a faded blue blanket.

“Actually, he’s probably feeling pretty overwhelmed. This’ll give him some space to get used to being here. And he can get used to the other dogs without them going too crazy,” Kakashi told her. He spoke with the confidence of someone who knew a lot about dogs. Which was good. Because Sakura really didn’t know anything about dogs other than she wasn’t supposed to give them chocolate.

She hugged her knees to her chest, cheek resting on her knee as she took this in. Kakashi stood with his hands on his hips. He tilted his head as he looked her over.

“You look like you could use a drink,” he observed.

“Yes, please,” Sakura said without hesitation.

Kakashi offered her hand his hand. He pulled her to her feet with surprising strength.

“Uh. You’ve got a little…” Sakura uttered, gesturing to the front of his shirt. Kakashi looked down. The entire front of his black t-shirt was plastered with golden hairs. He looked over at the cage where the dog still lay, head resting on his paws. Blinking innocently at him. Kakashi sighed.

“There’s no point in wearing black when you own dogs,” he muttered. He put his hands on Sakura’s shoulders, spinning her around. Gave her a light push in the direction of the living room.

“Let me wash up. I’ll be right there,” he said.

Sakura found a light grey dog sitting on the brown leather sectional. As she sank down on the opposite end, the dog stood. He sniffed in her direction, his collar jingling. He hopped right over to her, tail swishing back and forth.

“Hey there. What’s your name?” Sakura asked. She reached for his collar to flip over the tag.

“Shiba? I don’t think you’re a shiba inu though…” Sakura mused as she rubbed his back. Shiba yawned in response, settling down beside her on the sofa. He snuggled up close to her, head resting on her leg.

“Okay. Since you’re cute I forgive your name that makes no sense,” she muttered, leaning her head back. After a while, she heard a door open down the hall. The whir of a bathroom fan droned on before the light went out. She glimpsed Pakkun trot out of the kitchen. There was the swish of fabric, wooden drawers sliding open and then shut. Kakashi strolled down the hall a couple minutes later. She heard several clicks as he turned on the stove.

Sakura didn’t realize that she had dozed off until she blinked. Suddenly Kakashi was hunched in front of the fireplace. He tossed a few logs into the fire box. Dusting off his hands, he turned to look at her.

“This might be the world’s comfiest couch,” she declared. He picked a mug off the coffee table and handed it to her. She could smell the cinnamon as she let the steam bathe her face. Curls of orange peel floated at the top of the drink.

“Mulled apple cider,” Kakashi told her as he sat next to her with his own mug.

Wow,” Sakura sighed after she took a sip.

“I could add a bit of rum if you’d like,” he offered. But Sakura shook her head.

It was quiet. Only the fireplace crackling. Bull snoring in the kitchen. It was a perfect autumn night. Just chilly enough that the fire felt warm and not hot. Sakura held the mug in both her hands. She rested it in her lap, careful not to jostle Shiba.

“So… it’s six dogs now…” Sakura remarked.

“Seven,” Kakashi corrected, pointing at himself.

“Oh. I always forget that,” she confessed. She folded her legs under herself. Shiba rolled onto his back, exposing his pink belly. Sakura rubbed her hand up and down it, watching his little leg twitch. When she looked back at Kakashi, he was smiling too.

“He’s a cutie,” Sakura commented.

“Mm. Ino found him digging through the trash can behind her shop. Scared her half to death,” Kakashi told her.

And then a thought occurred to Sakura. She finished her mug and set it to the side before she broached the topic. Unsure of how Kakashi would take it.

“I did some reading the other day. About church grims,” she confessed. Kakashi’s smile faded. But he didn’t look upset. He leaned back a little, putting his feet up on the coffee table.

“Oh?”

“Please tell me those books are wrong,” she uttered. Kakashi draped his arm over the back of the sofa as he closed his eyes. He drew in a long breath through his nose. And when his eyes opened, he was smiling. But there was something sad about it.

He just shook his head.

Because the books in the library had informed her about a lot of the magical residents of the town. There was so much she didn’t know. And she didn’t want to say something rude out of ignorance. The more she read, the more she learned about the darkness that sometimes lingered in their stories. In particular, the story of the church grim had shocked her. In fact, the lore was so horrific that she had referred several other texts before she understood that it wasn’t a fluke. It was the truth.

“They buried you alive?” Sakura whispered.

“In the foundation of the church. Right under the cornerstone,” Kakashi confirmed.

“That’s horrible.”

“They were scared. They needed someone to guard the churchyard. And it couldn’t be a person,” he said with a shrug.

Sakura said nothing. She looked down at Shiba, who blinked back at her.

“It wasn’t so bad at first. I roamed the church grounds at night. And I would go to sleep in the church rafters during the day. I kept the robbers away. And the humans were happy,” recalled Kakashi. He went on, gaze growing distant now.

“I noticed that the town started getting smaller. People were moving away. And then I was all by myself one day. I still tried to guard the church. But it started to fall apart. I knew that if only I had human hands, I could do something…” Kakashi drifted off.

Very carefully, Sakura touched his forearm. Kakashi’s gaze returned to her. And then he was smiling. The same old sheriff with those sleepy eyes.

“In other words, I’m an old stray dog. Just like him,” he concluded. He reached out to scratch under Shiba’s chin. Shiba’s tongue lolled out, making the both of them laugh. Sakura didn’t press him for anything else after that. She could see that it was like an old wound. Still a little tender under all the layers. She felt a pang of guilt as she wondered whether he had only divulged this much under the influence of her charm.

The conversation flowed a different way after that. They started to talk about the town. Its residents. How the harvest festival was coming up soon. As he spoke, Sakura found her eyelids growing heavy. She snickered.

“What?” Kakashi asked.

“I thought I was supposed to have the magic voice,” she commented.

“Why? Is my voice magically boring you?” Kakashi inquired.

Sakura yawned, shaking her head. “No…. it’s just… really nice. It’s kind of like…”

“Like?” Kakashi prompted.

“A hug,” she decided. She yawned again, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands.

“Sorry. I’m just so sleepy. You’re not boring. Promise,” she added.

Kakashi got off the sofa. She heard the mugs clinking together. His footsteps growing far away. After a while, the floorboards creaked again.

“Get some rest. I think Shiba could use the company,” Kakashi suggested.

“Just a quick power nap. I’ll be out of your hair in a bit,” Sakura sighed. A blanket settled over her.

“Sure,” she heard Kakashi chuckle. With a click, the lights went out. The fire crackled on as she drifted to sleep on the most comfortable couch in town.

When Sakura jolted awake, the sun was out. Birds cheeping by the window. Shiba was gone, but Bull had taken his place. Bull’s eyes opened when Sakura shifted. She twisted to look out the window.

“Where’s Daddy, Bull?” she inquired, turning to the bulldog.

Bull blinked a few times. He placed his paws on the windowsill, staring outside. He looked at Sakura. Then back out the window. So Sakura copied him, trying to follow his line of sight. And she realized that the cruiser was gone. It was just her little red car occupying the driveway.

“Oh,” she said.

Sakura got to her feet, trying to remember whether she had brought her purse into the house. As she wandered into the kitchen, she saw the cage was empty. Pakkun sat on the kitchen floor. He looked up at her with his big, wet eyes. Sakura paused to pet him before she noticed a note on the refrigerator. It was held up with a magnet in the shape of a fish.

Got an emergency call early. Help yourself to whatever’s in the fridge. I already fed the dogs. Don’t let them fool you.

Sakura eyed Pakkun sulking by his empty food bowl.

“You sly little thing,” she accused. He yipped in response.

Sakura locked the door to Kakashi’s house before she headed outside. The dogs followed her to the door, including two that she hadn’t seen the night before. She had never seen Bull make such a sad face before. They jumped up on the sofa, lining up at the window to watch her as she got into her car.

On the way home, Sakura paused at the stop sign right by Ino’s cafe. There was plenty of coffee in her cabinets. But that would require actually having to brew it. Which felt like an unnecessary journey to her. So she found an empty spot on the street to park. The bell on the door tinkled as she stepped inside.

“Hey, hun. I knew you’d be by. Give me two seconds,” Ino called from somewhere in the kitchen in the back.

Sakura waved at the other patrons. She knew most people in town by sight now. Especially her fellow caffeine addicts.

“Blueberry scone with lemon drizzle,” Ino announced, emerging with a waxed bag pinched between her fingers. She handed it to Sakura. There was already a cup of ice coffee waiting on the counter with her name written on the side.

“Although I don’t understand why you’d want a cold drink in this weather,” Ino added.

“Hey. I thought this was a judgement-free zone,” Sakura protested.

“No. All the judgement. My house. My rules,” Ino corrected as she punched the numbers into the register. Sakura handed over a few bills, dumping the change into the tip jar.

Ino reached out to grasp Sakura’s hand. Her eyes went wide.

“Why’re you in such a good mood?” she demanded.

“Because you’re here, Ino,” Sakura replied, fluttering her eyelashes. But Ino refused to be distracted. There was a glint in her eye that Sakura was coming to realize. When Ino smelled gossip, she was insatiable.

“Noooo. Something happened. Girl, you gotta dish,” Ino persisted.

Sakura laughed. And as she considered coming clean, the bell attached to the door chimed again. Ino gave her a stern look.

“No running away. You need to tell me,” Ino warned her. Sakura gave a helpless nod, sighing. She took a step to the side to make room for the new customer.

“Hey.”

Turning her head, Sakura automatically replied, “Morning.” She started a little when she saw blue flannel. A heavy tool belt. Her gaze drew up to Kiba’s face. She hadn’t seen him in almost a month. His stubble had grown out into the beginnings of a rather impressive beard.

“It’s been a while. How’ve you been, stranger?” she asked.

But she didn’t get the response she expected. It was just idle small talk. To be polite. But Kiba avoided her eyes. And his discomfort made her uncomfortable too. She wondered what she had done.

Ino came running out. Finger pointing like a weapon.

“Stop! Whatever you’re doing, stop, Kiba! I won’t have you screwing up Sakura’s morning. So if you’re being weird, cut it out!” Ino ordered.

“Relax, Ino. I’m not doing anything,” snorted Kiba. And as he reached into his pocket for his wallet, he angled his head slightly toward her. His eyes widened. Staring straight at Sakura, he took a deep breath through his nostrils.

“Why-?” And then Kiba cut himself off as he looked around at all the other people in the cafe. Shaking his head, he took his change from Ino.

“See? You’re being seriously weird! Cut it out! You’re making Sakura uncomfortable!” Ino continued to scold.

The door to the cafe opened a third time. And a tan-colored dog walked in, followed by Kakashi. Sakura’s face lit up.

“Hey there! Are you feeling better?” Sakura asked, kneeling. The dog ran up to her, tongue hanging out of his mouth. He peppered her face with kisses.

“Kakashi, did you get another dog?” Ino demanded, hanging over the edge of the counter to peek at the dog.

Sakura ruffled her hands through the dog’s fur before she got to her feet.

“Yeah. Found him wandering the road at night,” Kakashi replied. As Sakura turned, she spotted Kiba eyeing Kakashi in the same wary way he had looked at her. The look Kakashi gave in return wasn’t friendly either.

“Good thing you’re here, Kiba. Someone reported hearing shots in the woods last night. I could really use your ears and your nose out there. This is really starting to spook folks,” Kakashi told him.

“Was there blood?” Kiba asked.

Kakashi tapped his nose. “Yeah. Can’t tell from what though.”

“My guess is hunters. Bunch of humans wandering where they shouldn’t be,” sighed Kiba. He reached into his pocket to grab his phone.

“If we don’t have too much work today, I’ll go out there and check it out,” Kiba declared.

“Thanks,” replied Kakashi with a curt nod.

Humans sometimes stumbled into the woods near town, thinking it was part of the territory that their hunting permits allowed them to roam. But they were usually bumbling hobbyists who were easily redirected north where they were supposed to be. Normally a few strangers in the woods wasn’t a big deal. They would shoot at a few deer and be on their way.

The two things that made this dangerous were the following:

It was almost a full moon.

The pups needed to run.

While adult werewolves had no problem suppressing their transformation, the pups always phased during the full moon. Whether they wanted to or not. They normally ran through the woods under the supervision of older weres, learning how to track and how to control their still-growing bodies. Humans had a tendency to shoot whenever they saw wolves.

Overall a bad combination.

Kakashi explained all of this as Kiba made his phone call. All of a sudden, Kiba hung up, cutting his conversation short. He grabbed his coffee.

“I’m gonna get out there while the trail is fresh,” Kiba declared. His eyes rested on Sakura for a moment. Like he wanted to tell her something. But he hurried out of the cafe without saying anything. The door slamming shut as the engine of his pick-up rumbled to life.

#writing #equinox #equinox: fall #multisaku #kibasaku #kakasaku

[childrenofhypnos]

Chapter 21: The Fenhallow Underground

Lana Lupova carried a ring of keys on the right arm of her motorized chair. Emery had only seen her remove it when she didn’t want to make noise, or for special occasions, like school fundraising events and important meetings.

There would be no special occasion today.

“It’s a fat ring of keys and Lana’s going to notice me taking it off her chair,” Emery said to Wes as they pushed their way through the doors of the Asha Gilani Sleep Research Center. They skirted the edge of the lobby, avoiding the gazes of the researchers coming in to start work for the day. “You’ll need to make a distraction. Lana’s office is in the north wing; her lab is in the south wing. She’ll have been in the lab all night, so she’s probably in her office now. The lab doors have tamper alerts—if someone tries to break into them, an alarm goes off.”

“So I need to tamper with the locks.”

“Exactly. I’ll go to her office and start talking to her.” Emery held up her phone. “When I message you, run down to her lab—it’s number three—and set off the alarm. When she hears it, I’ll take the key.”

“Don’t they have cameras? They’ll come after us when I do it.”

“Hide yourself.” She flicked the hood of his sweatshirt.

He pulled it up and glanced behind him, down the south hallway, turning his phone over in his pocket. “Make it quick,” he said.

They split up. Emery strode down the north hallway with quick but controlled steps, smiling at anyone she passed. She knew Dr. Lupova’s office by the cute little flower pinned to the nameplate outside the door. She knocked.

“Come in.”

Lana sat in front of a bank of monitors displaying high-resolution images of the human brain. The stark light washed her face and hair in a ghostly blue. Her keys, the group of them as thick as Emery’s fist, hung motionless from the chair arm. Attached to them was her school ID card.

Emery sidled up close to her. “What’s up, Lupova?”

“It’s impolite to read over someone’s shoulder, Emery.” Lana’s tone was pleasant, and she continued her work. The screen to her right flipped between images of a brain with different sections lit up in bright orange. At the corner of each image was a label, a date and time and the name Warwick. “What variety of trouble are you getting into today?”

Emery kept her phone in her hand turned toward her leg, her finger hovering over Send. “I really resent the assumption here, I want you to know.” Emery paused, looking down, and scuffed her foot on the floor. She made her voice small. “Actually…I was wondering, um…”

Lana looked around.

“So, Wes and I were in the Dream for a while. I know it’s not good for dreamhunters to spend a lot of time there. I was just wondering if, like…” Emery let her fingers play along the arm of the chair. The keys hung from a carabiner; she’d have to be quick. “Things have been weird since we got back. Time moves too slow, and I feel this weird weight on my chest. Does being in the Dream for that long really hurt you? Like, put you closer to your Insanity Prime?”

“Oh, Em.” Lana took her hands off the keyboard. “It’s certainly not good for you. I’ve known hunters who have spent longer in the Dream, but they were older than you, and much more experienced in how to handle themselves inside, not to mention more prepared. If you’re worried, we can run some tests—”

Emery hit Send. A heartbeat later, an alert siren blared from Lana’s computer, and a bright red indicator lit up on the top left of all her screens. She whipped around, eyes darting from one screen to the next, and snapped, “Oh, not again! But we caught him!”

As Lana turned to the door, Emery stepped out of her way, sliding behind her. She squeezed and unhooked the carabiner in the same smooth motion. The alert was too loud to hear the jangling of the keys. Lana disappeared into the hall.

Emery ran for it.

~

Wes met her in front of the administration building. They hustled up the long flight of steps, the quotes beneath their feet flashing in the morning sunlight.

“Someone definitely saw me” Wes said. His hood was still up. “We won’t have that long.”

“Lupova sounded like it had happened before. They might not know it was you if they didn’t see your face. And you didn’t actually go in, right? Maybe they thought you were just a student playing a prank.”

“You don’t think Dr. Lupova realized her keys are gone by now?”

“We’ll be downstairs by the time anyone gets to us.” Emery had already singled out several keys that looked like they would fit the size and age of the elevator lock. She held her fingers around the key ring to hold them separate.

Instead of going through the front doors and facing the threat of running into Grandpa Al, Emery pulled Wes around to the east side of the building, where an access door led to the maintenance room. The maintenance staff often left it propped open with a bucket when they were going in and out a lot for work on the buliding, and today they were bringing in new cleaning supplies in preparation for the winter.

Emery and Wes slipped into the maintenance room and immediately ducked behind a tall metal shelf of cleaning supplies. The room was long and rectangular, the door into the admin building set in the wall on the far end of the shelf, and a second after they hid, a set of maintenance workers tromped through carrying another roll of carpet. Emery and Wes crept parallel to them in the opposite direction, and when the workers went through the outside door, darted out of the maintenance room and into the back hallways of the administration building.

The hallway circled the perimeter of the first floor. Most of the rooms here were offices for other Hypnos State employees; Grandpa Al’s aides, the department heads, and the marketing department that made promotional material for the Hypnos Centers across the city.

The elevator was in the front of the building, near the receptionist’s desk. Emery kept the keys hidden behind her back as they walked, still smiling at everyone they came across. They stopped at the corner and peered into the lobby; empty except for David the receptionist and Sarah Stainer, who was standing in front of his desk in foul-smelling, wet clothing, arguing with him.

“Just set up the meeting, David, it’s not a hard thing to do!” She waved a sopping shoe at him. She was only wearing one now, and her dark sock was oozing onto the hardwood. “Someone around here needs to talk about preventative measures for childhood nightmares—this is the second time I’ve been to the Millers’ this month, and that girl is notorious for doubling up on nightmares when the first one has been taken care of. This is ridiculous—”

Moving slowly, Emery crept around the corner and hit the elevator button.

“I’ll see what I can do,” David stuttered, “but the dean is pretty busy right now. Have you tried one of the Center directors? Maybe they could help—”

“Oh yes, because the Center directors have as much pull as Aldrich Ashworth.” Stainer threw her hands up. “I just got covered in sewer water, put me on his schedule!”

The elevator dinged and slid open. Emery yanked Wes inside, hit the door close button, and began frantically trying keys in the lock beside the door for the basement level.

“She’ll definitely know they’re gone by now,” Wes said.

“Shut up,” Emery hissed.

One small and silver key slid into the lock. Emery cranked it sideways and slammed her fist on the basement button. The button remained lit, and the elevator shuddered and began to move down.

“Yes!”

The bright red 1 on the elevator display changed to XX. Wes crossed his arms over his chest, frowning.

“What’s the plan after we get out of the elevator?”

“No idea,” Emery said. “I know the place down here is big, like another building underground, but I’ve never been down here. Kind of winging it.”

Wes closed his eyes slowly, went very still, then opened them again. “I don’t know why that surprises me.”

“Look, I’m pretty sure no matter what happens, my Grandpa is going to find out I went down here. Even if we don’t run into anyone, they probably have security cameras. When I said I didn’t want to get you in trouble, I meant it—we are definitely getting reamed out after this.”

“As long as we get to talk to him,” Wes said.

“I agree.”

The elevator stopped. Opened. They looked down a long stone hallway lined with harsh overhead lights. At the far end was another door.

There was no point in playing it cool anymore, so they jogged to the far end. As they approached the door, it slid open,  revealing a dark, square stairwell and a metal staircase that wrapped deep down inside it. The only sign of the bottom was a small red light casting a glow across the floor.

Wes made an unhappy noise. Emery started down the stairs.

Their footsteps clanged and echoed down the shaft. At the bottom as another thick door, but this one didn’t automatically slide open. To the left of the door was a scanner, the glowing red light. Emery fumbled for Lana’s ID card on the key ring and shoved its bar code under the scanner. The scanner beeped. The door opened.

The hallway beyond that door was bigger than the first, brighter, still paneled in stark grays. It opened up at the end into a circular hub where several other tunnel hallways met, some leading to more doors, others to stairwells that went up or down. Above each tunnel was a label etched into the stone.

Laboratories

Communication

Bunker

Containment

Control

“Containment.” Wes pointed

Emery looked around the room. “But…what are these others? Bunker? Communications? A bunker for what, is the world going to end? And communications with who? Who do they need to talk to that they can’t do it above ground?”

“I don’t know,” Wes said, “but I don’t want to stand here longer than we have to, because who knows how many people are down here and might come walking through.”

Emery let him pull her down the containment tunnel. At the end was another one of the stairwells. This one went down, like the first, but not as far; there were landings after every flight of stairs, a door or two at each one.

“How are we supposed to know where he is from here?” Wes asked. “It could be any one of these doors, they’re not labeled.”

“Always do the one that’s hardest to get through,” Emery said. At the bottom was another door with another scanner, and Emery went all the way down to it. Past it was a bright hallway, perfectly straight, longer than the hallway after the elevator and lined on one side with doors. The other wall was flat and blank. Emery had to put a hand up to shield her eyes until they adjusted. Each door was heavy and metal and windowless; each one had a small plaque to its right. Twenty or thirty doors, all identical.

And planted on a folding chair in front of the door at the very far end, flipping through an issue of Sports Illustrated, was Marcia.

As soon as the door opened, she looked up, saw them there, and nearly ripped her magazine in half.

“Wait!” Wes held his hands up. “Wait, Marcia. We came down here for answers because no one’s telling us anything.”

Marcia stood and threw the magazine onto the chair so hard the chair folded in on itself. She was still wearing her hunting armor, though she had no weapon out. About a hundred clips held back her riot of orange hair. “Why are you the one talking, Wes?” she snapped. “This was clearly Ashworth’s idea. How’d you get down here?” She glanced down. “Are those Lana’s keys?”

Emery shoved the keys behind her back and jabbed a finger toward the far door. “That guy had a drawing of my doppelgänger in his dream. That has to mean something. He was following me. He was coming after me. I need to know why. You must have spoken to him—hasn’t he said anything?”

Something in Emery’s voice seemed to knock the steam out of Marcia. She huffed, planting her hands on her hips and rolling her eyes. “Hypnos’s balls, Ashworth, he’s not coming after you. If he’d said anything to me about your doppelgänger, I would have told you—I’m not a complete monster. He’s not talking to any of us. Even me.”

“Then let me try,” Emery said. “He might talk to me.”

“He’ll talk circles around you is what he’ll do,” Marcia grumbled.

“Who is he?” Wes asked. “He used to go here, right? You knew him. Other people here must have, too, and the dean made it sound like he was really dangerous.”

“He was stealing sleeping sand from the research labs. That’s why they wanted him brought in. But he’s not—” Marcia’s cuff screen lit up. She glanced at it, eyebrow raised, then tapped it once. “Hey, Lupova.”

“Are they down there?” Lana’s voice echoed in the narrow hallway.

“Yeah, they’re here.”

“Those weaselly, snot-nosed, sticky-fingered little fu—”

Marcia tapped another button. The speaker cut off, and Marcia held the cuff to her ear with a cool look and another raised eyebrow. Lana’s staticky voice, now unintelligible, carried on for almost an entire minute before she petered out enough to let Marcia speak again.

“I’ll get you your keys,” Marcia said. “In the meantime, I’ve got control of them. I’ll report it to the dean, don’t worry. Yes. Yes. I don’t think it has anything to do with the cult. No, he still hasn’t. I don’t know, but I’ve thought about it.” She paused again. “Well, if you say it, L, it must work.”

Marcia hung up. “I have never heard her say that many curse words at one time. What did you do, hit her over the head and run off with the keys?”

“Played to her sympathy, actually,” Emery said.

Marcia nodded appreciatively. “Lupova agrees with you. You might be able to get him to talk. The dean had a few important conference calls this morning, so at most it’s going to be about fifteen minutes before he hears about an attempted break-in at the research center. Maybe less if someone’s watching the security footage down here and sees you.”

She motioned up, where a small security camera sat nestled in the corner of the wall and ceiling above the door.

“But—” Wes looked back around. “They’re going to know you helped us.”

Marcia shrugged. “If you can get him to talk, it’ll be worth it. Fifteen minutes.”

“That’s plenty,” Emery said.

“And you fork over those keys.”

Emery did, happily.

Marcia led them back down the hallway, kicked the collapsed chair out of the way, and started tapping in a code on a panel beside the door.

“Should we be wearing armor?” Wes asked.

“No.” Marcia waved an airy hand, scoffing. “He’s harmless.”

Harmless was not the word Emery would have given to either the Sandman or his dreams. Her knuckle throbbed in response.

“You still haven’t told us who he is,” Wes said.

“His name is Klaus Warwick. He was called the Sandman around campus when we were still in classes. He’s got a lot of dangerous skills, but he’d never hurt anyone.” Marcia leaned in close to a port above the keypad. It scanned her eye. Several locks inside the door clicked open, and she straightened up and sighed.

“He was my partner.”

(Next time on The Children of Hypnos —> Revealing Secrets)

#children of hypnos #nightmare hunters #dreams #nightmares #eliza and her monsters #made you up #francesca zappia #writing #books #ya #ya lit #free #wattpad