The ocean was a majestic blue. It went on for what seemed to be forever. There were no creatures, no people, just me. And I liked it that way.
Something tugged on me. Light flashed through the ocean. I shook my head and fought. “No! I don’t want to leave!”
The force was too great, whatever was trying to take me was succeeding. I felt like I was drowning, I couldn’t breath.
My eyes flashed open to find Malcolm’s lips against mine. Why was he kissing me? I tried to jump back but he held my head firmly in place. I kept pushing him away, trying to get him to let go, let him know I was awake. Mouth-to-mouth was not supposed to keep going. Then I felt something weird, something in my chest, in my heart. It hurt, sharp pain piercing my heart. Malcolm didn’t let go, his lips against mine. Whatever was in my chest felt as if it was coming to my throat.
Was Malcolm sucking? What the heck? What was going on?
He backed away and I saw his eyes. They were black, solid black, like something off of Supernatural. If I had salt, I probably would have thrown it at him just as a reaction. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When his eyes flickered open again, the black was gone.
I looked around to find myself back at the Red and White Kingdom. Everyone was there including Howard. Chase stared at me and it was the first time I had ever seen him scared.
“What happened?” I asked as I tried to catch my breath. “How did I get here?”
“We brought you back,” Chase explained. “I made a few portals, hopefully they won’t figure out which one is correct. They have a one in fifty chance of choosing the right one before they completely close.”
I thought back to the last moments I remembered. I remembered going to the Cirque de Rêves, Morpheus taking me inside. Then the lights shut off. “That darkness...”
“Was Morpheus, he can control the shadows and make you see anything you fear,” Howard explained. “He was successful in engulfing your mind into the darkness. Malcolm and the others brought you back here since you wouldn’t wake up. They had to get you out of there, Morpheus had you in his clutches. You are lucky they were capable of doing that.”
I placed my hand over my mouth, and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to remember that darkness, I didn’t want to ever go back. Everything I worried about, everything that I feared could happen. I had jumped… I felt tears form in my eyes.
“It’s all right Alice, it’s over now. You don’t have anything to worry about with us around.” Malcolm placed his hand on my shoulder. “We won’t let him get to you so easily again.”
I shook my head and pushed away his hand. “I can’t defeat him, not after what I’ve seen him do. There’s no possible way.”
Malcolm just stared down at me, not sure what he should say. I started shuddering at what I had seen, at what I had done. Morpheus was powerful, there was no denying that fact. If he could control me, control what I was thinking, how could I defeat that. I had watched him fight Malcolm with a sword, maybe if I had enough training I could last a while using a sword, but there was so much more than that. He was more powerful than I ever imagined. He could get inside people’s heads and that was the end of that.
How was he even able to do that? How was he able to know what I feared, what anyone feared? Each being here was someone’s dreams back in the real world. That meant that each and every person was dealing with the same darkness that I was facing. If that was the case, if Morpheus was able to get in each and every one of their minds, that meant he was practically in more places than once. How could I defeat that? How could I get him to stop being in my mind, making me see things that weren’t possible? I just wanted to cry, and was, in front of the boys I had just started being friends with. I bet that looked great.
“Alice.” Howard knelt down next to me and looked straight into my eyes. “You are brave, you can defeat him. You were able to go there and come back alive.”
“Only because Malcolm, Chase, and Melvin and Davis were there. Only because they pulled me out and got me to wake up. If I was there alone, I would be gone.”
“But that’s the thing, you aren’t alone. You have friends that will help you. That is where you are stronger than Morpheus. He has no one but himself, and at the end of a battle, that is obvious. You just have to figure out a way to defeat him for good. He is not that strong if you can overcome your fears. The real person you have to beat isn’t Morpheus, but your own thoughts. If you can do that, you can beat him.”
“But why me? Why can’t someone else defeat him with their mind? It already doesn’t affect any of you, why can’t you all just go against him?”
“Because we aren’t a dream. We aren’t connected to any human. It makes it impossible for us to touch him in the end. It has to be someone who has dreams, someone who can get past their fears and believe in something as pure as a dream.”
“But what if I can’t do
