Children of Morpheus

Chapter 2

    Standing there on the porch of my uncle's house thinking of what would I say, with the sound of the ocean splashing on the shore that is very calming for my nerves. I'm reluctant since this is my first time to meet him. I don't know anything about him, what he looks like, or what he does for a living. I know him from only reading his letters and cards saying, Happy Birthday or Happy Holidays.  

    The truth is, it's been 2 months since the accident and I don't know what to do. I miss him. I miss him very much. Trying to be brave like him is hard, but trying to be brave for him is even harder. I feel like everything around me will fall apart and I don't know what to say, or even what to think.

    Sometimes I wish he didn't die in that accident, or why I didn't die with him. It took away everything that I am. It took away the person I never stop loving. Everything hurts inside me. The ache that I'm feeling is suffocating me, killing me, turning me slowly into a reanimated corpse state.

    I walked slowly in the wooden plank floor that gave a slight creaking sound. The house was huge, old, and has a rustic state that looked like a haunted house. Maybe it is a haunted house. . . I don't know.

I knocked at the door three times, with luggage at my back. My heart was beating since I don't know anyone from my mother's side of the family, especially her brother. New town. New scenery. Everything is new. It's unsettling. The door swung open and a tall man appeared.  

    “Oh, there you are.” My uncle said with a smile on his face that made him look adorable yet stunning. “Call me Dean.”

    He is wearing a maroon, black, and gray striped polo with a long and loosely navy blue pants and a black snickers with red stripes. His black hair waved with small brown highlights but his age is starting to get seasoned into him. He has these large green eyes like mine, so I know he also has plant eyes like my mom's eyes. Practically, he's family.  

    “Hi,” I said. That's all I can say. Hi? Really, Rafael? Really? “Its good to finally see you,” I added. Now we're getting somewhere, I thought to myself. 

    Wow, this is frustrating.  

    He stepped beside the left and took my feet inside the house. It's spacious, the first word that came into my mind. “Follow me, and leave your bag there in the steps. Let's have breakfast first before you settle in.” He said with concern in his voice. I know that kind of voice. My dad always uses that voice.  

    He walked towards the kitchen slowly and turned to the right as he fades in my sight. I left the bag beside the staircase and followed him and his footsteps on the creaking wooden floor. 

    Complete silence took over the dining table as he kept opening and closing his mouth. Maybe he is trying to talk to me, you know? But doesn't know how to start. So he just stared at me straight, while looking down on my food as I ate, without him knowing. It's obvious, actually. Never liked being pitied. I look back at him slowly and smile a bit, just to show my appreciation. I don't want a terrible impression to him, since  he is the only family that I got.  

    I followed him to my new bedroom upstairs next to his room. In the door, there's a sign made up of wood and painted straw traced into a name, Candace.

    “Her name,” I started as I looked back at him with my eyes started to water slightly.   

    He smiled back.

    He swung open the door, revealing behind a green and blue room. The light blue curtains on both side of the windows, and in the middle were the dark green bed as if I was back at Silver Keyshade. I remembered the forest with the light blue sky above every day. I miss everybody.

    “This was your mother's room,” his voice sounds like he was about to cry. “She always liked the color blue and green. I'll leave you to it, for you to get settled in. And maybe later I show you around in Pearl Hollow. You may get lost to this town since you're new here.  

    “I would love that,” I replied with a small grin.  

    When we got home from strolling around the town, the sun was already making its dusk. The porch of the house has a view of the sun on the bay. The reflection of sun glimmered blurry on the ocean water. The wind was cold as it flowed in my hair before I got in. 

    We bought take out from the diner near the shore. He spread it out on the table and called me as I just sat there in my new room thinking how would I sleep tonight. Maybe this time, I want to know more about mom than the stories that dad used to tell me. I want to know her more, maybe I'll ask him since he is her older brother after all.

    I heard him and hurried down to the staircase towards the dining room. The food was on a plate spread across the table with him standing on a drawer beside it. He grabbed something out—a small glass container with a thin iron chain that links like a necklace.

    “Here,” he handed the necklace to me. It was filled with a light yellowish fluid. “If you have trouble sleeping, just rub or smell it and it will do the trick.” He pointed out.

    “Thank you, I have trouble sleeping from the past few nights.” I sat on the chair while he handed me a plate with food. “What's in it?” I asked.  

    “Valerian oil. I have lavender oil too but I sense that you don't like lavender.”

    I grinned, “How do you know?” I asked with an astonished voice. I really never liked lavender. The smell is too sweet for me. “Can you tell me more about mom?” I slowly asked.

    “Sure, but later.” He answered. “Let's eat first.”

    I sat in front of a vanity and waited for my uncle. He said he will just grab something from the attic. He didn't tell me what it is, but I guessed it has something to do with mom. Maybe picture album. Pictures are precious memories. That's what mom said to dad, and now, he said that to me more than a hundred. . . I think. But I know he said it to me a lot.

    The sound of steps on the floor vibrated into my ears. He entered the room and sat on the bed in front of me and handed a thick dusty old book, a wood made box, and a necklace with a huge red long rock with a silver plate covering some part. 

    “She told me to give these to you if you ever come here.” He stood up and walk to the door. “The book was her diary, maybe you will know your mom through her words. How she thinks, and how she acts.” Then he left.

    I opened the book and dust came flying out in the air. The sound of paper unraveling is so good. It's relaxing like the music of the ocean outside.

    Hey, January 27. This is the time when dad met mom. He told me this story before. 

January 27, 1995,

    I met someone today. His name was Zane. Zane Williams. He's cute. He has this adorable brown eyes like a puppy. I wish I have more time to hang out with him because dad is so annoying, he made me leave from Silver Keyshade. But he gave me his number, and I pasted in the back. I wish he dreams of me tonight. . . ha-ha-ha, of course, he will. I will change his dream a bit. You know? My talent? Dad doesn't need to know that I used it on him. This will be our little secret.

    What is this? Mom is weird, I said to myself. What is she talking about? What talent? Change his dreams? These questions kept my mind busy as I continued to read the book on the first page.

March 07, 1989,

    I got it! I got my first dream! I thought I will never have that talent because dad's came out since he was 5 years old. And now, I finally got my first dream. I can't wait to tell mom and dad!

    Talent? Dream? What is she talking about? My questions came aloud in my head like a tidal wave washing out my thoughts and replacing it with these questions.

    I shut the book close that gave a small thud and lied down in bed, with my mouth dropped open. I can't shake it, can't erase what I just read. Talent? What talent is she talking about? I shut my eyes and forced my thoughts, my questions to fade away from my mind. But I can't. I just can't.

    My curiosity kept me from sleeping. I stared blankly on the ceiling with the sound of chirping crickets at night and the howl of wind gliding in the air. I jerked up and sat, the moon is the only light that beamed my room from the darkness that I'm in.  

    Then I remembered the necklace that uncle Dean gave me, the Valerian oil. . . I slid open the drawer that gave a friction c***k and thud as I closed it. The scent was relaxation, sweet, and overall, it has an earthly smell, for removing the restlessness of night. This is good, I said to myself. I dabbed some of it in my fingers and rub its smooth texture on my nose. I set it aside from the drawer, beside the bed and closed my eyes. . . waiting for something, anything in that matter. Until everything turned black.

    Swooshing of a dancing flame caught my ears that jerked my body to open them. Everything was on fire. The heat raised around me as everything was drenched in red flames. I felt a jolt coursing through my body that caused me to ran as fast as I can.

    I kicked the door of my room that gave a loud c***k and forced against the wind. My voice cracked open and yelled at my uncle's room, smashing my hands on his door, but nothing. . . no one is answering. I stepped back and kicked the door that made it swung open.

    He's gone.  

    Where is he? I panicked and ran outside as the black oozing smoke carried my sight away. My lungs started to get harder than stone as I breathe heavily.

    This is not my uncle's house, I said. It's the Dawn's manor back in Alderwright. How did I get here? My body has begun to shake and my eyes twitching, can't hold still. What is happening? My heart thud like a running horse in the field. Fast and loud.

    "What is happening in my life?" I shouted. Then a light beamed across me that made my hands cover my eyes. A woman that I recognize  from pictures came about to me, crying as her white dress begun to wet in red moist tainted blood. My eyes widen in fear and froze myself as if I was turned into a statue of  petrified stone.

    “Rafael, help me!” The woman cried out as she raised her hands towards me with her eyes bleeding. “Rafael, help!”

    “M-mom?” My voice was limited as I began to shudder. “Mom!”

    “Get the 5 keys!” Mom howled. “Remember the 5 keys.”

    I shot back in bed and fell off. It was just a nightmare about my mom, I closed my eyes as I laid down on the floor. Then a light blazed across my sight—it's the sun attacking through the glass pane of the window.

    “What is happening to me?” I wheezed as my breathing came softly. Then a creak broke out, that jerked my head and looked at the widened door with Dean watching like I was a reality T.V.

    “You have it. You have the talent—” uncle Dean said as he stood there.