A Trip to Paradyz

The stench in the room was putrid. A mix of metallic blood and old feces made Dakota’s stomach curl in defiance. She closed her eyes “It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream” she chanted softly to herself as she willed her stomach to stop. Once she had a firm grip on her reality… or lack thereof… she opened her eyes again and began walking. It was the same dream she had been having over the last couple of weeks. The fight in Seattle had stirred something up inside of her and she wished she knew how to shut it up. In fact, she wished she could just forget everything. Go back to the time before, when she didn’t know about the supernatural world that hid in plain sight. Everything happened so fast. One minute, Dakota had just been a college dropout, working at her aunt’s…. er, sister’s… realty office, trying to escape a blind camping trip date, and a few days later, she was being told she was a half-goddess and found herself trying to escape the clutches of vampires. Not only that, but that she was also part Zeotheon. They were shapeshifters. Created by the God of Fate, to police the planet when it was in its early stages of civil development. And she was one of them. Oh, and she was supposed to be able to transform into more than one shape of animal, which is even more obscure than being rare. So, needless to say, the last few months have been stressful. The vampires had tried to capture Dakota, to use her as a key into the gateways without being seen. She hadn’t even known she was part goddess for long before she began wishing for a different life. Ironically, she had dreamed of a life with a large family when she was younger, a world where her father and mother were still alive, a life where she had brothers and sisters, and a niece or nephew that she could spoil and love and give back when they were tired and cranky. She had always wanted to be surrounded by people that loved her. Then Dakota found out that Tammy wasn’t her aunt, they were sisters, and Hawthorne, the man that had saved her life more than once, was her brother. Half brother and sister, anyway. Now her dream was to be alone. Hidden away somewhere that others couldn't find her, to give her time to grow accustomed to the new reality she found herself in.  She stepped further into the darkness as a child’s whimpers echoed through the concrete walls. At least, that’s what Dakota called them. She really had no frame of reference, as the walls were like nothing she had seen before. The only resemblance to concrete was the hardness, and the tiny granules you could see that suggested it was a mixed compound. That was where the similarities ended. The texture was smooth, a greenish tint shining off of the areas in which one of the two moons outside danced light against it. It was a concrete that she had never seen before. She’d also never seen two moons in the sky before, but she had somehow grown accustomed to the differences at this point. Doing her best not to make a sound, she stepped lightly with her bare, cold feet until she found the intersecting paths. She went right. She always went right. And she knew that, as she got to the end of the walkway, there would be a small girl, sitting in the corner of a dark, empty cell. She stepped up to the girl’s cell moments later, running her fingers along the cold glass-like material that barred her to the corner of the prison. One of the moons peaked through the window that sat just outside of her cell, accenting the little girl’s hair. It looked like a deep purple in the muted colors of the moon. Dakota lightly tapped a fingernail against the glass. It sang softly like crystal and the girl looked up at her with hope. Was this girl real? Surely not. It’s a dream. Dreams had always been a confusing topic for Dakota. Memories of dreams she had thought were merely that, but turned out to be far more. Ways in which the spirits of the land would take her to where she needed to be, to help someone who needed to be helped. But this… had to be a dream. None of what she saw looked like earth, felt like earth. But why would Dakota keep dreaming of the same little girl, in the same cell, with the same two moons sparkling in a foreign sky? Foreign. All of it. Including the little girl. Her skin had a strange glow in the moonlight, and she wasn’t sure what it would look like in the sunlight but knew it would be different than a human’s. This little girl was an alien. Had to be, if there was any truth in the appearance of her jailer. Speaking of which, he would be showing up soon. She didn’t bother trying to open the cell. It never opened for her no matter how many dreams she had. Dakota sat on the floor in front of the cell and the little girl scrambled over to sit cross-legged on the opposite side. Her eyes were large and puffy from the tears. Aside from the small differences, she looked like a human girl. She wiped the tears with the back of her hands and smiled a wide, buck-toothed grin. “You came back!” Like I had much of a choice? But Dakota didn’t say that. Instead, she pushed her long, black hair behind her ears and smiled. “Of course! You’re my favorite dream to have!” The little girl beamed at that. Maybe today she would tell her more. So far, the little girl just wanted to act as if she wasn’t in a jail and talk about simple things, never giving much information to Dakota but always having plenty to say. “What should we talk about today?” Her face fell and the brightness in her smile strained. It faltered and then turned into a fearful frown. “Dakota, I’m scared.” Of course she was. In this hell, how could she not be? Dakota cleared her throat and said instead “what has you scared today, Moon?” Dakota had decided to call her Moon after the first couple of attempts to get the girl’s real name to no avail. So she chose the name “Moon” as a nod to the two moons in her sky. Moon swallowed hard and stared at Dakota for a long moment. “I had another vision.” Dakota had learned through little pieces here and there that Moon was a special type of slave. She was a precog. And her master rented her out for parties like she was a clown to perform tricks. It sickened her. But Dakota would wake up from this dream and spend the first half hour of the day convincing herself that it was nothing more than a dream. Because if it were more than that, if this little girl was out in the universe living like this… she couldn’t live with that. She would have to do something. She had grown fond of Moon. A set of fresh tears fell down Moon’s small face as she continued. “My mom has convinced my master that if they take my innocence that my visions will stop so he tells the people he sends me to that they’re not allowed to touch me. But someone does soon. And my master gets mad that my mom lied, and he kills her and...” Moon couldn’t seem to get the rest of the words out. Her mouth opened as if the words were stuck there and she was willing them to come forward. The stream of tears turned to a torrential downpour; hiccups of air being forced into her lungs as she continued. “I’m so scared.” It broke something inside of Dakota. Watching this little girl as she relived the vision she had seen. And if she had seen it, chances are she had seen details that would haunt her as bad as if they had already happened. “When does this happen?” There was a stirring in the pit of her stomach that told her there was significance within this dream. She needed to grasp onto it, retain it with everything she had and learn as much as she possibly could. Just in case. Moon shook her head with a sad resolve. “There’s nothing that you can do, and I want to think of something else.” Dakota persisted. “Moon, please. Tell me.” Her eyes sparkled like shards of glass ready to shred Dakota’s very soul. “This is a dream, remember? Why would it matter?” That was a good question. “Because it seems important. Significant.” It wasn’t enough for Moon to open up to her. Dakota slapped her hands on her knees and sighed. “I don’t know, Moon. I really don’t. I realize this is a dream. I realize that it’s my own subconscious but…” Dakota looked up to the smaller, green-tinted moon that gleamed ominously in the sky. “It doesn’t feel like a dream.” “You’ve dreamed of other people. Why don’t you believe that I’m real?” Dakota motioned to the moon and pursed her lips. Moon bit her lip as her glass eyes watched Dakota. She seemed to be making a decision. From the looks of it, it wasn’t an easy decision so Dakota kept quiet and waited. “My name is Paradyz. On the Day of the Demas, I will be taken to a man’s house as entertainment for his festival.” Fresh tears filled her eyes. “If he’s not stopped… if it happens…” she sniffled and wiped at her face once again. She began to talk again but stopped. “My guard is coming. I’m to be rented for a party tonight. I have to wake up and go.” She stood up and Dakota followed in suit. Dakota always forgot how tall she was. It always made it difficult to figure out her age. She was definitely a ways away from puberty. Unless her people developed at a different rate than humans.   Or unless it really is just a dream, Dakota… She hated when she got snarky with herself. “I promise I will see you again, Moon… Paradyz.” Dakota turned to walk away, knowing she would wake up by the time she was back where she started. “Dakota?” She stopped and turned to look back at the girl. “I know you still think this is nothing more than a dream.” Dakota wanted to argue but decided it would be counterproductive to argue with herself. “What if I told you a secret? Would you believe me then?” “What kind of secret?” Maybe her subconscious was just trying to play games with her, but hey… no harm in hearing the girl out. “You love James. But you two will never work out.” Ouch. That hurt a bit. “Okay, that sucks a lot to hear, but that’s not anything I didn’t already kind of figure out before now.” “What about a vision I had about you? Would you believe that?” Dakota glanced down the hall, seeing her guard walking towards them. His reptilian skin and yellow eyes gave her shivers down her spine every time she saw him. “Okay,” Dakota started, keeping her eyes on the guard, “and what was this dream about?” “Your brother.” Dakota glanced at Paradyz and it caused a hopeful smile to stretch across her face. “He will get in an argument about a head. Then that wizard comes after the argument. Talk to him about me. He will know about the day of the demas. He’s seen the day of the demas.” Dakota’s mind instantly went to an inappropriate place at the word “head” and she began to silently pray that she didn’t have to really overhear Zander and Hawthorne talking about that just to believe this kid. “Okay. I’ll…” cringe if this is true “keep my ears open.” “Thank you, Dakota. Thank you.” It struck her how excited Paradyz seemed. As if something amazing had happened right in front of her. Her brows furrowed curiously but still turned back around and walked to the starting point. The green concrete mocked her with glee as she walked on, pass the guard as he walked by her. It felt as if the walls were leaning in closer to her, teasing and threatening her sanity. She heard her guard saying something. “Paradyz, it’s time to wake up. Come on. It won’t be as bad as last time, I promise.” The man’s sleek voice drifted off into the distance as Dakota began speed-walking down the hallway. As she did, the already ominous moons creeped behind large, billowing clouds and the concrete turned a black silk. She felt something brush her hair. Visions of alien spiders crawling in her hair made her squeal for a quick moment before looking up. It wasn’t a spider. It was the ceiling. The ceiling was curling and bowing, like a mix between a fun house mirror and an old roof ready to cave from heavy snow.   She squatted down and ran as fast as she could. It’s not far now. You can make it. She tried to calm herself as best as she could. “It’s just a dream. s**t! It’s just a dream!” Dakota repeated the words as she squatted as low as she could go. She fell to her knees. The concrete was polished to a slick finish and she slid down the hallway. A scream escaped her lips as she covered her eyes. This is ridiculous, Dakota! This is your own head! Why wasn’t she waking up? She felt her feet slam against the wall at the end of the hallway. She had made it. And she wasn’t waking up. Why am I not waking up? I always wake up when I hit the wall. Chunks of the ceiling began to fall on her, heavy and chalky. She inhaled chunks of dust, causing her to cough which forced more dust into her mouth. She felt like she was suffocating. Wake up Dakota. Wake up. This is a dream. Wake up. Her chest felt tight from the inhalations of particles and she wanted to cry in fear and confusion. Wake up! She could force herself awake. She knew she could. She just had to put her will into it. She had to demand it, right? Like she did when she was buried alive? Yes, just like that. Except her mother was there. Her mother who was also a Goddess. But then, she was also a Goddess, therefore she should still be able to do it without her mother’s influence. So she started to say it out loud. Softly at first, then louder and louder, until her eyes burned and her mouth felt pasty and she forced herself to scream out loud “Wake! Up!”