Chapter Two

Edward's eyes shot open. Adrenaline shot through his veins; his heart pounding in his chest. He was drenched in sweat.

"Oh my god…" he thought.

He stared at his ceiling. The familiar white, popcorn bumps did little to calm his nerves. After a while, he forced himself to unclench his hand, releasing his blanket. His mother had made him this blanket for his sixth birthday. Now, ten years later, it was still intact and warm. Edward thought about that birthday, unwrapping the gift, the happiness radiating from his mother, the approving smile of his father. His best friend, Graysen, had been there too, playing with a previously unwrapped gift.

The three of them together reminded him of his nightmare. He groaned and rolled over. There was a sick feeling pooling in his stomach. He winced at the thought of throwing up in real life. He swallowed. His mouth was sticky with saliva.

He sat up and leaned over to his bedside table, grabbing the water bottle that sat next to his lamp. He took a drink from the bottle. He glanced at his alarm clock.

The red numbers were dully lit: 3:33 A.M.

He closed his eyes and banged his head once against the headboard.

"Fuck." he whispered in the dark bedroom.

He sat there for a while.

Eventually, he turned on the lamp. It clicked and the soft glow gently illuminated his room. Nothing was out of place. His bookshelf, crowded with books, stood tall and proud opposite his bed. Next to it was his desk. His laptop and phone were charging there. A notebook was laying next to them. The laundry basket was under the window by the far wall. His closet was closed.

You're ignoring it.

Edward looked along the wall next to his bed. Photos and drawings were pinned up, along with a calendar from February, 2013. Half of the days were crossed out.

Stop ignoring it.

Edward sighed. Everyone has a little voice in your head that says what you don't want it to. Edward was no different. He was ignoring something quite important.

Edward, like most people, had an unusual trait. Unlike most people, his "unusual trait" boarded on supernatural ability.

He had prophetic dreams.

They were as strange and surreal as normal dreams, but he remembered every detail and they always predicted some event in their weird dream-way.

When he was four, he dreamt that a girl in his class was a doll that had detachable limbs. In the dream, she removed her arm and exchanged it for the chance to be in the spotlight. She was center-stage in a play that his whole class attended.

Then, the next day at school, she did some tricks on the monkey bars, fell off, and broke her arm. Everyone was impressed, and showered her with compliments when she came back to school in a cast.

Many more similar instances occurred in Edward's life before he finally put two and two together. He explained it to Graysen during sixth grade.

"Dude… I think I can see into the future."

"Yeah, right."

"No, really! You know those super weird dreams I have? Remember last week?"

" … Oh, come on, you don't really think-"

"Think about it, man! I have a dream about Mr. Johnson losing his 'elf-pass' and then he gets fired from teaching? Tell me you don't see the connection."

"Okay, but like, really, Ed-"

"This sorta thing has been happening my whole life! I have a weird dream about someone I know, and then something happens that reflects it!"

"Every time? Haven't you ever, just like, had a dream?"

" … No. No, I haven't."

Edward stretched in front of his mirror. It was 3:52 A.M. and he was not going to fall back asleep. He still felt sick. He thought about going to the bathroom, but a strong urge prevented himself from wanting to leave his room.

He sat down at his desk instead. The notebook taunted him. It was a dream journal, and it contained every dream he had ever had and what happened after it, all in vivid detail. Edward had joked to himself before that if he ever got dementia, he would still be able to remember all his dreams and dream-come-trues.

He flipped open the notebook and turned to the first blank page. By habit, he wrote the date. He hesitated, pencil hovering over the page. The memories of that horrible nightmare were fresh in his skull.

Ignoring the terror in his mind, he wrote down the details of the dream. He tried to detach himself from what he was writing.

Dreams came true in ways that made sense in real life. They always did. The girl didn't turn into a doll, and Mr. Johnson wasn't secretly an elf.

He finished writing at the end of the page. He noted the words it had spoken.

Wake up James.

It was a clue.

Usually, Edward liked to try to figure out what his dreams meant before they came true. Injury was usually represented with non-gory metaphors, and something being lost or gained was often just repainted with something nonsensical, etc. He was getting better at guessing and had a separate notebook for common symbols and repetitive narratives. But this… he had no idea what this dream meant. And most of him didn't want to know.

Wake up James.

Edward rarely played an active role in his dreams. He was a spectator, in the dreams and in real life. Sometimes he had been a messenger or delivery-boy in his dreams. But never had he been given a direct command that he didn't fulfill in the dream.

Wake up James.

Edward racked his mind. Despite having perfect recall for all his dreams and dream-come-trues, he had a rather poor memory overall. He couldn't think of anyone he knew named James.

He turned on his phone. The bright light burned his eyes before he lowered it. Unlocking it, he quickly looked up how many people were named James. Google told him it was the number one popular name for boys in the United States.

Edward groaned and grabbed his forehead, falling back in his chair.

He was lost, disturbed, and very, very tired. This was not the time for this. There wasn't a time for this, and there would never be a time for this kind of universal middle-finger.

He knew he would have to tell his parents. And Graysen.

Now, though, he didn't know what to do with himself. He checked the time: 4:07 A.M. He opened twitter and started to scroll aimlessly.

Three hours later, his alarm went off. He yawned, stretched, and then got up to hit snooze. Sunlight peeped through the curtains.

He put his phone in the pocket of his pajamas and left his room.

The smell of eggs and bacon wafted from the kitchen. Edward's little sister, Lucy, was playing on their mom's tablet. She was sitting on the living room couch with a blanket wrapped around her lithe shoulders.

"You're up early," he remarked. She didn't respond. He leaned over and booped her nose. Her face wrinkled up and she waved him away. He rolled his eyes.

Entering the kitchen, he saw his mother cooking on the stove, the white and red apron wrapped around her waist.

"Good morning," he said with a stifled yawn.

"Oh ho, good morning to you too," she said, turning to him with a smile. "Sleep well?" she asked, returning to the eggs.

"Yeah," he lied. He had stayed up late last night, planning to sleep in. "Why's she up?" he asked to change the topic.

"I wanted Lucy to get a good breakfast in. She's been getting thinner, and the doctor recommended I make her meals with lots of calories."

"Oh, okay," Edward said. He walked over and peered at the grill. "So it's all for her?"

"Hopefully. But I can make you some too if you want," his mom said, wrapping an arm around him and giving him a short squeeze. He wrapped his own arms around her and held on after she let go.

"Is something wrong, Eddy?" she asked, putting her hand back around his back.

"No," he lied, "Just want a hug."

"Okay," she said tentatively.

He held her for a few moments more, not wanting to let go. The image of that figure was stuck in his head.

"Good morning," said his father, who had just entered. Edward stepped away from his mom and leaned against the counter. His dad was wearing a red button-up shirt and dress slacks. He was going to work today.

"Hey, dad," he said.

"Hello, darling," his mother said.

"Something smells good!" he exclaimed with a good-hearted chuckle.

"It's Lucy's breakfast," Edward supplied.

"Yes," his mother added, then explained the doctor's suggestion. Edward wandered off as his parents chatted.

He found himself again in the living room and sat down next to Lucy. She was watching a kid's video on youtube. He rested an arm on the back of the couch and stared off into space. Eventually, the audio coming from her video caught his attention. He turned to watch it with her.

It was one of those weird kid videos made by an adult playing make-believe with toys to get money from toy companies's sponsorships. Kids ate that stuff up. Edward felt put off by the whole genre.

This video starred a Barbie doll named Jessica and a squat little baby doll named Patrica. Jessica and Patrica were in school, but they had a mean teacher, who was a dinosaur figurine. He was threatening to eat various students who were not performing as well as their peers.

"You really like this stuff?" Edward asked his sister. She didn't respond. She wasn't emoting at all, and if it weren't for the subtle movements of her bony shoulders, he would have thought she was one of those creepy real-as-life dolls they advertise in old-people magazines. He shrugged it off.

Jessica had just asked the viewers to comment their answers to a difficult problem on the toy chalkboard. The chalkboard just had 2+1 on it. Patrica helped her friend, and Jessica told the dino teacher the answer: 5.

Edward did a double take. Two plus one was three, not five. But the video continued as if that was the obvious answer.

"That's weird," he told his sister, "Two and one is three, not five."

"No, it's not," she hissed, "It's five. Now shush."

Edward laughed, but it ended in a nervous chuckle.

"Two plus one is three," he told her again, "If you have two apple and someone gives you another-"

"Shuddap," she hissed, "Imm watching a bideo."

He went quiet.

Now, Jessica and Patrica were in history class. Patrica was up at the teacher's desk, which had a little globe on it. She was asking the viewers where Atlantis was.

Edward chuckled, "Atlantis isn't real-"

Lucy's head snapped to the side and she gave him the meanest look he'd ever seen. He shut up in surprise. She quickly looked back at the video. Her face became impartial once again.

"That's right!" Patrica said in the video, "Atlantis is right here!" She pointed to the center of the Atlantic ocean. "And if you're really brave, you can swim to it from any beach, river, or even a lake!"

"That's not true," Edward whispered.

"Go away!" Lucy yelled.

Edward got up quickly and went into the kitchen. His mom had a plate piled up high with eggs, bacon, toast, and salsa. His father had probably left for work.

"I don't think Lucy should be watching so much youtube," he told her, "The video she is watching said two plus one is five instead of three and that anyone can swim to Atlantis from any nearby body of water!"

She frowned. "That's no good," she said, "Well, maybe she can pause her video to eat!" She set the plate on the table and walked into the living room. Edward stayed in the kitchen. He sat down at the table.

His phone buzzed. It was a text from Graysen.

"hey dude, what's up?"

"Nothing much, hbu?"

"just got off work half an hour ago. wanna come over?"

"Don't you need sleep?"

"psh. sleep is for the weak."

"I'll ask my mom."

"cool"

Edward stood up but a thought crossed his mind.

"Hey, do you know anyone named James?"

"weird question. why do u ask?"

"Just curious."

"nah, be t u had another dream."

Edward inhaled sharply through his nose.

"Got me there. So do you?"

"common man, u gotta give me the deets first."

"I'll tell you when I come over."

"sure sure whtvr"

Edward went into the living room.

His mother was talking quietly to Lucy. He stood awkwardly in the entryway.

"Come now, dear, the doctor said you have to eat more."

"I'm watching a bideo, mother."

"Please, Lucy, you can eat while you watch."

"Why don't you go help Edward, mother."

His mother looked up, dejected. A strand of brown hair had slipped out of her ponytail and fallen in front of her face.

"Yes, Eddy?"

"I was just gonna ask if I could go to Graysen, mom," he said.

She sighed and nodded. "Make sure to bring your wallet, keys, and phone."

"Yes, mom," he said, and walked off to his bedroom.

"Please, Lucy, I'm trying to help you."

"I don't need your help."