Time Beyond A Dream

Chapter 24-Land of Secret/Joe Vodenjak

She wanted to be strong. Not for the sake of Sean or even for the sake of saving Nathan, but for her own sake. This was something she wanted to do for herself, for the Land of Nod. And so, she approached numerous options to either run for their lives or approached Nathan. Maybe running wasn't an option.

Ten Years Ago

Back in London, when she was still a teenager, she approached her friends and asked them to help her with her problem, Most refused outright. Some were very rude, some gave polite dismissals, but instead, she talks to her Psychiatrist. At first, None seemed so willing to give her the time of day, and before long, she had asked just about every Nodders if there are any. Yet, The psychiatrist who had been studying at a prestigious university becoming desperate, Dr.Rhyan Miller, even started to asked if she was just telling him some stories or maybe it was just my imagination. Just like her friends the few who didn't miss her outright as an insane kid made it clear in somewhat gentler words that they wanted nothing to do with her.

Rejection after rejection, Catherine eventually ran out of people to ask until the only option is to keep it to herself. Her dreams were often called "Hallucination or just "imagination." As she'd figured at the time that they would have the lowest chance of calling her insane if she keeps her mouth shut. Why would waste their time on her? It was this question that had caused her to keep it to herself.

Over a month later, Catherine was still meeting the psychiatrist, on some weeks, she came all seven, but never did she show up less than four days out of the week. It wasn't like she had anywhere to better to be. The winter has been brutal, and spring was drawing nearer, but until it did, she preferred to avoid the below-freezing bite of winter whenever possible.

Someday, she intended to return to her home, hopefully to her fifth foster parents. The only reason she was still at Dr. Rhyan Miller's office at all was that he is the only one who at least believes in her dreams. He has his demons that he was fighting. Catherine respected that he didn't want to talk about it. He is her only friend after all. Something happens to him in Russia. That she guessed.

"You aren't concentrating enough Catherine." Dr. Rhyan said. "Stop making this complicated and listen to me. You need to concentrate." She, close to passing out, waved her hand in apology. It would be a few minutes before she was able to travel to the Land of Nod again; she needed way more air than she could take in a single breath as her fire was burning her inside. 

"Okay, let's call it for a day. You did great. I'm proud of you."

Catherine shook her head

"No?"

She held up a finger, panted for several more moments, and then once she had caught enough of her breath so that she could speak, she said. " Let's start again Doc."

She needs to try again, She could only expect to push herself so far before it became too much, her travel to the Land of Nod was exhausting her, she was just a teenager for Heaven's sake and yet here she is, killing herself, she doesn't know that traveling to her dream was this hard, Dr. Miller, trained her too focus so she can go back and forth without draining herself. It was at this point where the collapse was inevitable. The last bit of strength was spent like a marathon runner winning a gold medal. Her body was burning inside and she doesn't know why. Yet somehow, despite having reached this point and even going beyond it, Catherine remained on her feet to continued looking for an answer to this phenomenon.

"Come on" he encourages her. "I know you got this, Girl do not quit now, let's try again. okay? clear your mind and focus."

Catherine felt her body growing heavier, The swear that rolled down her eyes made her squint. In front of her, Dr. Miller stood. "Good, concentrate, and lay down now okay? clear your mind, focus, and breath now go back to sleep and happy landing, this time I want you to visit the Land of Secret, okay?" He said. Then added while Catherine was almost beyond fast asleep, Good... "Keep going."

On the surface, Dr. Rhyan Miller came across as aggressively average. An Asian, Half Irish, and half Chinese. He was of average height and he wasn't particularly muscular either. If anything, he was a bit on the chubby side. Aside from his scar on his neck that blended poorly with his Asian skin, he lacked any striking defining features. And yet, Dr. Miller is a force to be reckoned with. He was not only the best in his field but someone who many considered to be the most famous of them all.

His theory proposes that dreams are a by-product of the dreamer's physical and mental state during sleep, distinguishes between manifest and latent dream, and points out that the dream-work proposed by Dr. Miller is a result of information processing and self-organization in the sleeping brain. However, this theory allows the therapist to derive important information (e.g., significant memories) from dream content and underscores emotions as a potential order parameter that can provide an effective means of grasping the core of a dream. Therefore, dream analysis may still prove useful in the therapeutic process.

Dr. Miller's theories that the dream content is derived from but not identical to real-life; thus, he suggested that some transformation and connection must exist between these materials. He contended that these connections are not random but rather constrained by one's unconscious desires, such that "a dream is the fulfillment of a wish" and his studies to this little girl tell otherwise. He is beyond curious now, he was ready to put on hold on his latest research to focus on the little girl sleeping in his office.

It didn't come here to take the easy way out, Catherine thought before her consciousness took her to the Land of Secret.

__

When she landed on the Land of Secret, she struggled, she felt the pressure building in her chest. It started in the middle, right under her sternum, and quickly filled her whole rib cage. A negative pressure, pushing her inward from all sides. contracting her lungs. Within a second it to her neck, a hot choking tightness, and Catherine opened her mouth, gagging, She develops into a creature of pure panic, squirming primitive self-defenses like she was drowning.

No. no.! she can't die here.! Then she lay still, and as her vision faded she saw only the shadow of someone.

When she regained her consciousness she was lying face down on the cold dump soil, coughing up something. The soil was so damp that the worms had surfaced to breathe and the crows fluttered over the grass with their inky wings, each of them eating at the sudden buffet. The heavy rains have carved a model canyon in the path. Certainly, the soil was made soft by the gentle rainfall the prior week and so was no match for the sudden showers.

Her eyes ached and her stomach wobbled and each breath was a painful gasp. Something happens to her, that she knows! and coming back to life was more painful than dying. Then she felt a quick blow to her back, right between her shoulder blades, and heard someone say in a jaunty voice. "Time to wake up silly little human."

The creature grabbed her by the elbows and rolled her over. She was shocked by the look of it. She's been in the Cold Mountain often and this is her first time here in this land. She was just a teenager full of questions and doubts but in her mind, she was more than that. She can do something out of the ordinary, she knows something inside her is lurking, something warm even her friend Dr. Miller doesn't know about it, and there is no way that she will let anybody know otherwise.

There are many creatures in the Land of Nod, that she knows! Her friend from the Grassland and Woodland often describes her the stories of the scariest but this one in front of her top it the most.

This creature inhabits the dark murky depths of lakes and streams. According to her Woodland friends he is depicted as a n***d old wrinkly man, with a frog-like face, his body is covered in algae and muck making him invisible as he travels through the waters. His body is covered in slimy black scales, his hands are webbed and his eyes burn like coals. He rides in half-sunken logs making loud splashing noises if you get too close. Typically the Fae's referred to him as the grandfather or forefather of the waters.

They warn her not to want to anger this particular creature, once angered he breaks dams, drags humans to the depths of the waters to eat them whole. If she is lucky enough he can keep you as a slave serving him for the rest of your life. 

Joe Vodenjak is fond of young maidens, and will usually let them swim uninterrupted just to admire their beauty. Catherine hopes that her friends were not just over exaggerating.

The Joe Vodenjak looked amused. "Yes, yes, I'm so sorry about that little lady." But I needed to show you that I'm serious. And better do that right away, eh?"

Oddly enough, Catherine was not afraid now. She already accepted the fact that this stranger was going to kill her. What disturbed her was the sheer impudence of the creature, who kept smiling as Catherine lay exhaustedly in the dump soil. It seemed clear what would happen next: The creature was going to kill her.

"Hey, little lady. I am not going to kill you eh, stop looking at me like I will. I'm a friend of the first Mark so trust me there is no way I'm harming you in any way okay?" 

"Are you sure?" She saw his grim expression, his smile instantly dropped and his eyes grew wide with concern.

"Of course I'm sure, I'm not eating an innocent soul eh.." 

"By the way you can call me Joe, I presumed those Fae at the Grassland was your friend eh? " He asked.

"There are some rumors about a young human coming from the other side and bear Mark's potential abilities, so maybe that was you? I can be your slave ya know!"

"Sidekick...?" She trailed off; frowning slightly as she thought ahead of Joe's reaction then she added. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"Yeah! I get that a lot, but trust me you won't be the harm in any way okay?" then he added

" Long time ago, I am the slave of Vnee Medea and Allan...We live in Cold Mountain.. wait "

"Do you know the kid? he asked.

"No sir!"

"Oh! no one at this time has called me that. so no! Don't bother. I'm not a Sir."

"Who is Vnee Medea?" Catherine asked, her curiosity was aroused.

Joe Vodenjak then proceeds to tell her the story.

Medea was a beautiful sorceress, she lives in the Land of Love and marries the first Mark Allan, but the union ended up in tragic circumstances. In ancient times Allan arrives and attempts to explain himself after abandoning her. He says that he does not love Michele, the daughter of the King of Grassland. But cannot pass up the opportunity to marry a wealthy and royal princess, So Vnee Medea was devastated, beyond control. Allan claims that he hopes one day to join the two families and keep Vnee Medea as his mistress.

She reminds him that she left her people for him, murdering her brother Dave Apsyrtus for his sake so that she can never now return home. 

She also reminds him that it was she who saved him, but Allan was unmoved, merely offering to placate her with gifts. Vnee Medea hints darkly that he may live to regret his decision, and secretly plans to kill both Mitchel and Allan.

Vnee Medea was then said to have concocted a plan that would delay their marriage Allan and Michele, and it was one that involved poisoning the latter, but she accidentally kills the King of Grassland as well. So after the tragedy, the gods cursed her with the prophecy coins and made her the keeper.

She was then f*******n from the Land of Love, but later she recovers from her peril and summons the Dark Lord to change the Land of Love to Wasteland and killed all of her people. From then on she was rumor to serve the Dark Lord. Her power grows as she often uses it to serve the dark side.