Marco

"Ow." Kaden yelped, grabbing his chin. "Lucky I'm taller, or you would have bloodied my nose. What if I had been Brie?"

"Your voice and Brie's voice sound nothing alike." I replied primly.

"Well, at least you got the swing in you've been wanting for so long. Anyway, what are you two doing here?" Kaden replied.

"Here, is where, exactly?" I asked.

"This is sort of between worlds, or dimensions, I guess. Or at least how I see it. But how did you get in?" He questioned me curiously.

"First, let's find Brie. I don't exactly know how to answer myself." I said. Kaden gripped my hand.

"Hold on tight!" He grinned, and in a blink Brie was standing in front of us. I moaned as a wave of dizziness nearly knocked me down.

"Ohhh, don't do that again." I complained, grabbing onto a tree for support. Brie screeched in alarm, and Kaden grinned at us both.

"Not that I'm not grateful for the company, but uhh, why are you both here again?" Kaden asks.

"And here is..." Brie began.

"Think of it like a train station in a way. It's the space between worlds." Kaden offered. "But again, neither of you have answered: why, and how?"

"You don't remember? Oh, well, you were unconscious at the time.." Brie looked concerned as she gave him a brief run down of what had occurred.

"Interesting." He replied. "I've never pushed myself so far before. Well I really never had to. But it's time we got back."

"Got back? We just got here!" I blurted out.

"Time doesn't exist here, and it's unpredictable on the outside. I can usually pick up on it, if I have a form in the world I'm visiting, but I was holding on by a thread when I came here. I don't know how long it's been in your world. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, or maybe even days." Kaden explained.

"Days?!" Squeaked Brie.

No time, let's go-but do we really have to do the blinky thing?" I asked Kaden. In reply, he grabbed both our arms and grinned.

"Ahhh...."

"Sh*t!" I complained, waking up slumped over on the floor, head spinning crazily. Kaden was still unconscious, but was looking better at least. Brie slowly sat up holding her head.

"Why didn't he wake up?" Brie asked with alarm.

"I don't know, maybe he was hurt too badly." I answered

"Or, you're not actually awake yourselves, and just think you are." Kaden replied from his seat on the couch. Brie and I squealed, and I spun around to look back and forth between the Kaden on the floor and the one on the couch.

"What in the dreamscape, inception hell is this?" Brie asked aghast.

"Oh-well I couldn't bring you back and just drop you in your bodies, unless I wanted to lose mine... So I took you two up on our offer, and I've induced a dream state that includes both of you and your most recent memories, which were of me, unconscious on the floor. It was the only way I could think of to quickly and easily transition you both into a shared dream. You are helping me heal as we speak." He explained, waving a hand at the body on the floor.

"So this isn't REAL?" Brie shouted excitedly.

"I guess that would depend on your views of reality." Kaden smirked.

"Ah! Enough of this!" I put on a set of headphones and started music on my cell.

"Wait-how did you do that?" Brie asked.

"I can't hear you!" I told her loudly, turning up the volume and laying back on the rug.

"HOW did you do that?" Brie yelled, yanking the headphones from me. Kaden's eyes were twinkling in amusement.

"I have a lot of nightmares-you learn a few things." I shrugged, then plopped my head down on a thick pillow and put my headphones back on. Brie looked at me astonished. Kaden was laughing in delight.

"Teach me!" Brie yanked on my arm while yelling.

"Take it down a notch-I can't always do this, and I really can't explain HOW I do it. Ask Kaden, he's the ream expert." I replied, tucking my arms under the back of my head and closing my eyes. The song playing was one I wasn't even aware that I had memorized. I wondered briefly if I actually had the words right, then shrugged, it a distraction from the fact that Kaden was currently using me as a food source, so who cared. I shivered.

"Us. Using US." Brie interjected. "And damn, Kaden's right-your thoughts ARE loud." Brie said to me.

"Damn dream link, that's not even right, taking a girl's privacy like that." I glared at Kaden. He shrugged and held up his hands.

"Seems like your manipulations in this shared dream-space pulled us a little further into your head." His eyes twinkled.

"Uh huh." I replied, eyeballing him suspiciously.

"Wait-wait.. I think I've got it!" Brie exclaimed as a silvery shape tried to take form in front of her. Kaden looked at her curiously. The shape morphed into a 2D object.

"A microscope? Seriously Brie? I roled my ees and the dream melted away. Simultaneously, we all sat up with a gasp.

"ugh, leggo of me, no more group comas, thanks." I grumbled, yanking my hand away from Kaden.

"Hey! You didn't give me a chance to see if I could make it work! I almost had that new microscope!" Brie whined, crossing her arms.

"It works better if you try something you're familiar with." Kaden chuckled.

"Drat." Brie pouted. "I wanted to try that one out, see if it was all it was cracked up to be." Kaden laughed

"The 2D image was a picture you saw in an advertisement wasn't it?" I guessed with a laugh and Brie blushed, sticking her tongue out at me.

"Well, thank you, both of you." Kaden said earnestly. "But, I think it's time we got a move on" He nodded towards the remaining window. It was pitch black outside.