Chapter 4: The Dream and Tom

Arron was adrift floating through the air surrounded by nothing but open space. No matter how far he looked out in any direction all that was visible was dark void.

Glancing down his body embraced in a warm white light. Strangely enough he felt as if it was connected to him enveloping his frame.

Trying to move he realized he had no control over his body. He was simply watching the events play out around him.

A few moments later a shadowy tendril wrapped it's way up around his leg appearing from out of view. Many more followed and he began to feel a power grow inside him. The light giving off a warm energy while the dark tendrils were cold but filled with strength.

Suddenly both the white light and the dark tendrils shattered into particles as if they were glass. The way they made him feel instantly disappeared. The next thing he saw were the particles forming strange symbols as they circled him.

Several voices could be heard chanting unknown words, they felt powerful and shook the very space around him. The symbols formed countless chains that latched onto his body. Some even reached inside him shackling his heart along with other things inside him he didn't understand.

At last he thought it was over when his vision was obscured with many more chains piercing his head. It all went black once more.

"Ughh! I'm so bored." A voice groaned out.

Slowly cracking his eyes open he moved his hand to check if this was real. His head pounded with a splitting and his body was covered in a cold sweat.

'Was it a dream? It felt so real… so painful.' He thought.

Blinking a few times to adjust his blurry vision he took note of his surroundings. Aaron was still inside the large room he had passed out in. The ceiling was very high up and dome shaped. A circular light sat at its center giving off the same familiar glow he was becoming accustomed too.

A large door rested on each of the four walls except one where a hallway went on for as far as he could see.

Aaron was laying down on the floor in the cloak Dorothy had given him. On his right he could see her, Veron, Emily, and John talking to each other in the corner.

'Wasn't there 5 of them?' He thought.

"Well would you look at who woke up. I was getting bored waiting." Tom said startling Aaron.

Sitting right behind him was Tom. Taking a better look at him he seemed to be in his later teenage years. He had a fairly angular build with a dark attire matching his black hair. His bow was slung over his shoulder along with a quiver of arrows.

'How did I not notice him? I swear I looked behind me.' Arron thought.

"Look… I'm sorry about you know…shooting at you earlier. But I took the liberty of cleaning the blood off of you which wasn't easy so I'd say we're even." Tom said with a bright smile.

Sitting up Aaron noticed the cut on his face was bandaged and his skin was clean. It felt smooth and the the gross red substance caked over him was gone.

His mind flashed back to when he had first met them realizing he was naked. His cheeks turned red with embarrassment and he subconsciously pulled the cloak closer to him.

"Thank you. I feel a lot better" Aaron said.

"Your going to be a little heartbreaker when you get older I guarantee it." Tom voiced out with a light chuckle.

'Heartbreaker? Me?' Aaron thought unsure of what he was talking about.

"It was hell to get that shit out of your hair but, damn it was worth it. I have never seen hair that color before or…eyes like that." Tom said staring into Aaron's eyes loosing his train of thought.

"What do you mean? Do I look that bad?" Aaron asked nervously.

"No, no the opposite I'd say. Do you not even remember what you look like? You know what, its better if you just see for yourself." Tom said pulling a square, shiny object from his bag.

He handed it to Aaron letting him take a closer look. Aaron lifted the reflective surface in front of his face. The image wasn't very clear but it worked.

A young boy with snow white hair and a pair of light blue eyes looked back at him. His skin was fairly pale as well.

'So this really is what I look like? But am I really that different looking?' Aaron thought.

Glancing over towards the rest of the group, still in deep conversation he noticed his hair and eye color really did stand out. They all either had black or brown hair that varied in shades besides Emily with her blonde hair.

"Yeah, they have been talking like that since you passed out of couple hours ago. I don't really get it but I also don't really care. I'm down here for one thing one thing only. Treasure." Tom said.

"Treasure?" Aaron asked.

"Well anything of value really. This place is filled with strange artifacts and treasures. Well at least that's what I've been told. So far we haven't found much except what Dorothy snagged." Tom replied with a sigh.

"Why aren't you talking with them?" Aaron asked thinking it was strange. Tom was the only one not participating in the discussion the others seemed engrossed in.

Tom placed his hand on Arron's head ruffling his hair up.

"I guess that's because I'm somewhat like you. I came down here on my own and happened to run into them. After they saw my impressive skills and amazing bow they let me tag along." He said with a cocky grin.

"You guys…your not going to leave me right?" Aaron asked with a pleading look.

Toms expression became a bit more serious. The arrow head he had been flipping around his fingers came to a stop.

"I can't say for sure about the others. But I promise Aaron, I won't leave you alone down here." Tom said without a second thought.

"Especially after all the effort I put into cleaning you up. I'm starting to think of you as the little brother Ive always wanted." He continued.

Aaron threw himself into Toms chest hugging him as tightly as he could. Tears formed in his eyes. For the first time since he woke up he felt safe and not alone in the dark.

"Well, looks like you two got pretty close." A feminine voice said.

Wiping his eyes he turned around to see Dorothy three feet away crouching down. The others were right behind her and looked at him in a weird way.

Aaron forced himself to release Tom and moved back to where he was sitting. He was a bit embarrassed with how he acted but he couldn't help it. Tom didn't look like he cared to much which made Aaron happy.

"And looks like you guys finished your discussion and look at that it only took you 4 hours." Tom said tossing an hourglass in the air and letting it fall into the pouch on the way down.

Dorothy ignored his remark focusing on Aaron.

"We have a proposal for you Aaron." She said.

Before she could continue she was cut off by an all too familiar sound.

"When was the last time you ate?" She asked after Aaron's stomach decided to speak up first.