Dreams

The eyes I was taught to hate were exquisite, the voice I was taught to fear melodic. Nothing made sense. When I looked at Kadence, it wasn’t gravity that held me here, it was her. Of course, I didn’t believe in love at first sight before. I mean, who does? That Romeo and Juliet crap where they see each other at a party, marry the next day and kill themselves a week later. Utter rubbish if you ask me. But I felt like a different person in the space of a few hours. Kadence. What a beautiful name, that danced on my tongue like a thousand ballerina’s. So in love I come out with rubbish like that.

I couldn’t risk Mum seeing her, she wouldn’t understand. I rummaged through some of my Dad’s stuff, I was sure he had disguises in here. Green contacts, perfect. Mum had given her a sedative so she would sleep through the pain, so this was a perfect time to put in the contacts. Seconds later, my tracks were covered; there was no way anyone would suspect anything.

As I sat guarding Kadence, I began to fall asleep. And I had the most amazing dream.
“Cole, honey, can you help me with Amya, I can’t seem to get her to sleep.” A beaming Kadence walked into the room, holding a beautiful baby girl. She had my blond hair and Kadence’s eyes. She was our baby. I looked around the room. It was a living room, pristine, stylish and modern. I have always wanted a modern home.
“Findlay, no!” she cried with laughter as a huge dog bounded in to the room, jumping onto me, licking me like a lollipop.

I looked down at myself. Rebel chief. Highly decorated too, honours for bravery all around my uniform. Just like Dad.

“You’re home just in time, Amya wanted to watch the sun go down,” Kadence sang, gesturing for me to come over. I saw that on her finger was a wedding ring. The precious metal gleamed in the twilight, but its beauty was nothing compared to its wearer. As I walked toward the door, I saw wedding photos, baby pictures of Amya and it was all so real. I held the photos, wanting those memories to be real. Kadence looked so beautiful in the wedding dress, it was plain with lace, very old-fashioned. It fitted her petite figure perfectly and she looked stunning.

What did irk me was how conscious I was of everything. It wasn’t like a normal dream because I was living this. I walked out the door and I heard the roar of the sea. This was beautiful. Everything that I have ever wanted, but never really thought of before. I wanted this to be real.

And I woke up, feeling more upset than waking up from the most terrible nightmare. I wanted it to be real. I sat on the edge of my bed, thinking deeply. Dad would never put in charge of the rebel’s, he told me he would never let me join. It was too dangerous apparently. So it was ok for him to leave Mum, Niamh (my sister) and I alone while he risked death? He didn’t know how much it affected Mum, how she cried at night, wanting him home safe. How he never attended one of Niamh’s school plays or parent’s evenings, or even her birthday. And how he was never there for me. For any of us.

The bunker was like an underground home. It had a bathroom, living room, kitchen and five bedrooms. Though there were only four of us, Dad had always planned on inviting as many people into our home as necessary if a serious threat arose. Shame he couldn’t be bothered to tell us why we were down here. Well, it was to protect us from Cleansers, but I sort of ruined that. He definitely wouldn’t understand. When it came to Cleansers, he had tunnel vision. Evil. That’s it. I don’t blame him; of course, I thought the same a few hours ago. But that one special person really can change your life forever.

Beads of sweat still clung to my face like I had woken from a horrible nightmare. It was 1am, I had only fallen asleep a mere 2 hours ago, but my throat burned like I had been in the desert for weeks. I crept out of bed and tiptoed towards the kitchen. I snuck past the rooms of each family, until I finally came to the living room. Mum was still awake, wide-awake in fact. Though I doubted that was the reason for her wide eyes, it was more a look of terror. Then I saw Dad’s face on TV, they must have been having a video chat. I was just about to interrupt when:

“Adela please,” Dad commanded. I rarely heard him use this tone, never before to Mum. “I can’t talk about this right now. All that matters is that you are safe.”
“When are we going to talk about it then?” she sobbed. “You were away for months, stayed for a week and then left again. It’s killing me Macon. I can hardly sleep at night with worry, surely it would be safer if we came to The Cage…”
“No.” He said, with force. “It isn’t safe for you.”
“Then why are you there? Do you care about this family that little?” She began to sound shrill. I wished I could walk over there and comfort her, but she could never know I was here.
“You haven’t seen the news have you!” he screamed. “There was another Glow, just few hours ago. When Cole told me a Cleanser was at his school I knew it was a sign. They would eliminate all witnesses and send another Glow. Thank goodness they failed with the no witnesses part. We managed to save millions of people. This time it was more dangerous, one look and you couldn’t look away. Stop grumbling and be thankful that you’re all alive!”

I froze. Another Glow. Was this because of Kadence? It couldn’t be. I ran back to my room, forgetting that I was meant to be silent. I buried my head in my hands. Why was love so complicated?