The first thing I saw when I woke up was Gray directly across the bed from me. This was not a sight I ever thought I'd see. He seemed so peaceful. His long black hair wasn't tied, cascading over my pillows like an inky waterfall. He truly was beautiful. It was almost painful to look at him. His smell was vastly different from Chase. His was more of a floral and earth smell, not a woods smell. Speaking of Chase, where was he?
I looked around the room. No Chase. He was probably on look out duty, sitting in front of the door like a guard dog. I rolled onto my back and put my arms above my head and stretched. Gray stirred beside me. He propped himself up on his arm and stifled a yawn, covering his mouth. I met his eyes and they had the same sense of danger as Chase's. Not quite human; not quite evil. He searched my eyes as I searched his. I finally had to ask. I hoped it wasn't too forward or awkward.
"Why do you and Chase stare so intensely at me? Do I have something on my face? Or am I just ugly?", I asked, swiping my fingers under my eyes and over my chin. With his free hand, he dragged his fingertips over my forehead, down my nose and chin, over my throat, and onto my chest. His touch almost felt electric. A smile danced across his lips.
"Do you want me to show you how we both see you? How nightmares see you? How I'm sure our elders and the witches will see you? Not how human eyes see?", he asked, his fingers lingering over my throat again. All I could muster was a nod. He got out of bed, extended a hand to me, motioning to the bathroom. I rose while stretching again. I wonder what he could be talking about. Do I look different to nightmares and the people who can cross consciousness and manipulate dreams? I didn't even have a name for the boys. A species. I stopped a few steps outside the dark bathroom, still holding Gray's hand. I bit at my thumbnail on my free hand.
"Hey, Gray? What should I call you and Chase? Like, what are your people called? In the dream realm?", I gathered the gall to ask. He tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow, surprised that this was my angle of questioning.
"We're dreamwalkers. People have called us all different things over the course of time. We've been mistaken for vampires even. But I'd say Sandman is a slang we've adopted and widely accepted", he said giving my hand a squeeze. He smiled encouragingly. Sandman... as in the song? My head ached as I grasped the concept. I'll take that as an appropriate answer for now. It explained a lot, anyways.
I stepped in the bathroom behind Gray. He centered me in the mirror and slid the door closed, allowing barely any light in.
"Take your shirt off", Gray said, tugging at my sleeve. I blushed harder than when Chase teased me. I wondered why these boys were so rowdy. I slapped his hand away while gasping, clutching a hand to my chest.
"I promise, you'll only get the full effect if you see what I see", he said while backing up to give me space, his palms up as a peace offering. He wasn't insatiable like Chase though. I'll trust him for now. I pouted, but took off my sweater. I was self conscious about how flat chested and scrawny I was. I grabbed at my arms while they were folded.
"Okay, so this is how I'm going to show you. Please don't flinch or scream. I'm going to stand behind you, grab your head with my hands, tilt your head backwards and channel my vision into your eyes. It's one of my abilities", he stated. He wasn't phased by my partial nudity at all, unlike Chase. His plan to show me this seemed clean cut enough, just like him. I shook myself out, letting my arms fall to my sides. I brushed my hair behind my shoulders. I was as ready as I was ever going to be. I planted my feet tightly into the bathroom mat.
"Ready?", he asked. I nodded, unsure of what to expect. He moved behind me, his stomach against my back and his palms right above my ears. His fingertips almost covered the back part of my eyelids. He slowly tilted my head back and my eyes naturally fluttered closed. I felt a surge of energy like I did on the bed, starting at my temples that quickly circulated my eyes and my neck. I opened my eyes in surprise. I was met with a neon purple light shining on the ceiling, next to an off-white, lily colored light. Gray tilted my head forward slowly, almost letting me see the mirror.
"Are you really ready to see? There's no going back from this, you understand?", he asked pointedly.
"I am ready", I said, my fingers began tingling with this power. Is this his power, or mine? He tilted my head all the way forward, making me eye level with the mirror. I was seeing myself through his eyes but also mine simultaneously, like seeing multiple mirrors in a line. His eyes were a vivid and lively orchid purple. Light danced through curls of smoke his body was giving off. Was that his aura? He had strange markings all over his face, down to his stomach. I assumed they continued over his groin and legs. His black hair looked darker than ever, despite the light his eyes and markings were radiating. His skin looked gray in comparison to his light. His mouth opened, letting more purple light illuminate the surrounding area as he spoke.
"Stop gawking at me, look at YOU!", he exclaimed, chuckling. My eyes moved from his face to mine. My hair was stark white and seemed to be flowing in some unknown breeze. My skin was now entirely blacked out, only apart from the intricate and lacing designs shining through my skin. I looked as if I was rubbed with charcoal powder. The yellow and white light shooting through my skin was far brighter than Gray's light; it almost drowned his out. My patterns changed and moved, unlike Gray's, which stayed solidly in his skin, only the light moving and fluctuating underneath. I took my own breath away.
My eyes were beacons of yellow and white light. The markings on my face seemed tribal, but it was hard to see because they moved under my skin so fast. As I leaned forward to look closer, Gray leaned in behind me, not breaking his grip on my temples. My fingers brushed my face in an attempt to rub this off, to no avail. My hair floated higher and higher, finally into Gray's face, although he didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest. I looked down at my chest, the patterns moving like snakes under my skin. I was so fascinated by what the markings meant. My hand brushed the skin of my chest, the markings moving under my touch like ripples on a body of water. I stood back up, slowly turning my head from side to side, sizing myself up.
I looked like something out of a fairy tale book. Absolutely ethereal. Absolutely unreal. This is how everything from their world sees me? This is how Gray and Chase see me? No wonder they stare for so long. I thought I was the most plain, almost unpleasant thing to look at. It also explains why Chase followed me home that first night. As I turned my head again, my hair floated in the opposite direction as if it was suspended in water. My hands grabbed my hair and held it down as I tied it back. I looked in the mirror again, still admiring myself. A sudden light flooded the bathroom as the door creaked open.
Chase stood in the doorway. His skin was a pasty gray, just like Gray's. Electric green now joined the purple and white lights. My mouth dropped when I looked at him. His skin bore the same marks as Gray, but his skin was scarred, just like the night I first met him. Green light tried to peek through those cuts. He looked like he was about to burst at the seams, his light seemed to be almost too much for his vessel to hold. He smiled weakly at me, gently taking my chin in his hand.
"Don't look so upset. I'm not in any danger just yet. I can take a couple more hits before I crack", Chase said sadly. His hand dropped to his side. I felt Gray's hands slide from my head, and the vision of Chase turned back to him appearing human. The light in the bathroom dulled to natural light again. I felt tears well up in my eyes. I jumped forward, holding my arms out and engulfing Chase in a tight hug. My tears ran down my cheeks, stinging and hot. I knocked him over, now laying on him between his legs, sobbing.
"What happens if you're hurt again?", I sobbed into his chest. He patted my head with one hand, supporting us both with the other. He laughed. He sat up further and Gray grabbed me under the armpits and lifted me up. Gray was laughing too, which was only making me mad. As I wiped my eyes, I could feel both of them looking at me.
"I got these from misbehaving, you know. Think of it like being reprimanded with detention in the human world", Chase said, rubbing my back. I could almost tell he felt bad for laughing.
"But your light! It looked like it was about to explode out of you!", I whispered, my voice cracking. He shook his head and scratched the back of his neck.
"It'll take a lot more than that before I'll actually die, you know", he said. Now I just felt silly. He patted my head again. Gray took my hand in his. His eyes searched my face. I looked up at him, expecting to see his purple ghostly eyes. I was met with normal human ones.
"So that's how you see me, all the time?", I asked, changing the subject. I looked over to Chase, expecting an answer from him too. He stood nervously at the corner of my bed.
"Just about always. I can control which ways I see. I can switch between different levels of consciousness", he explained, rubbing the back of my hand again.
"So... Do you look at me through those eyes all the time?", I pushed the subject further. He nodded, excitement in his eyes.
"Yeah, I do. It's just so interesting, especially when you sleep. You're one of the most exquisite creatures I've ever seen. Those patterns aren't a dialect I can read, though. What about you, Chase?", Gray asked. We both turned to look at him.
"They belong to multiple tribes, and I could safely assume that there's one from each floating around in there. I only recognized mine, the earth tribe. They seem to alternate to her mood though, did you notice?", Chase asked Gray. They both rubbed their chins, turning to me. I felt so self conscious, now that I knew they could both see things I couldn't. I felt my face go red. I was so embarrassed.
"See, right there!", Chase jumped forward at me while pointing a finger at my forehead. He gently tapped, and their faces both changed from excitement to confusion. I could only assume my mood changed to confused as theirs did based on their reaction.
"See! There it goes again!", Chase said more excitedly than the first time. His fingers caressed the skin on my neck so gently, despite how excited he was.
"What are you two seeing?", I asked, not sure if I wanted the answer. I looked between both of them, and they looked at each other and back to me.
"Your language and pattern changes with your mood or current thoughts. It fluctuates at different rates and velocities", Gray said, moving his hand up my back and resting a hand on my shoulder. My bare shoulder. I gasped, grabbing my breasts as I flushed again and turned away from both of them, remembering that I was naked on my top half. Gray draped my blanket over me before I could make a stink. I looked back at them both. They were both smiling the same way; both had their hands on their hips.
"So, what do we do now that we have this information?", I asked, still flustered. The boys exchanged looks again. They were both so excited.
"We have three choices; we can go to the council of Dreamwalkers, we can go to the tribal elders and representatives, or we can figure out a way to extract and weaponize your essence and do the other two things suggested", Chase said. His smile spelled trouble. Gray and I exchanged a look; he shrugged. I sighed and shook my head. The last option was off the table.
"I want to see what the tribal elders have to say", I said, making my position firm and known. Both boys nodded in agreement. We had a solid plan, finally.