“Oh, good idea,” Damien replied. “Okay, that makes me feel a little better.”
“Only a little?” Michael inquired.
“Yeah, I’ll be worried until she contacts me. What if she can’t get to me for some reason? Or what if she needs me sooner? Ah, I hate this. I won’t be unstressed until she’s home.”
“If she does contact you during the day today, don’t forget to tell her the plan. Daytime contacts only,” Gray reminded him.
“I won’t forget,” Damien assured him. “Although, that leads me to another worry.”
“What’s that?” Alexander questioned.
“All the other times she’s contacted me, I’ve been asleep. Or hypnotized. What if she can’t get through to me when I’m awake? And now she can’t get through to me when I’m asleep because of the sedative. What if we can’t make contact?”
“Perhaps you should nap a lot?” Michael suggested.
“I can only sleep so much!” Damien countered.
“All the research we’ve done suggests that perhaps you weren’t asleep when she contacted you,” Alexander informed them. “You may have assumed you were asleep, particularly because the incidents occurred when you were attempting to sleep. However, if we are correct, you were not asleep, merely relaxed.”
“So, he’ll just need to keep his mind relaxed and, in theory, Celine should be able to communicate with him, right?” Michael queried.
“Correct,” Alexander responded.
“Oh, that’s just great! Relaxation is such a specialty of mine!” Damien mocked, alluding to his anxious nature.
“Never fear,” Alexander assured him. “Plenty of games of chess…”
“Walks around the property,” Gray added.
“Music,” Millie chimed in.
“And we’ll have your mind relaxed enough for Celine to communicate,” Alexander assured him.
“See, they’ve got it all taken care of!” Michael agreed. “All that’s left for you to do is relax!”
Damien nodded, unconvinced but unwilling to argue. He sipped at his coffee, his mind wandering to Celine. Celine, he mused, are you there? Can you hear me?
“Perhaps you should put me under hypnosis again,” Damien suggested. “That worked before.”
“No,” Gray answered without hesitation. “That’s far too dangerous.”
“I agree,” Millie concurred. “The last time you were under hypnosis, we lost contact with you. We cannot risk that again.”
“You have no contact with me when I’ve been in Shadow World before, what’s the difference?” Damien countered.
“The difference is Celine controlled your other visits there,” Gray contended. “Hypnosis somehow forced you into the realm without her calling you there. If she doesn’t realize you’re there, you could die.”
“And quickly,” Alexander added.
“We can’t take the chance of not getting you back before something happens if Celine isn’t there,” Gray finished.
Frustrated, Damien crossed his arms, resting them on his chest. He heaved a sigh. “Then we wait.”
“Yes, we wait. I don’t like it either. I want Celine back, but I won’t risk your life to do it,” Gray informed him.
Damien enjoyed a quiet morning. He waited for Celine to contact him, but she did not. He played a few games of chess, passed the time with some reading and listened to some music. His mind felt anything but relaxed. It stretched and contorted, searching for any sign of Celine contacting him. Every stray noise, every passing thought he wondered if it was Celine. He began to drive himself crazy.
After lunch, he suggested a walk outdoors. With the planned relaxation already driving him crazy, he needed an escape. Gray and Michael accompanied him. They wandered the pathways throughout the estate. Damien spent time peering over the cliffs to the ocean. They made their way to the beach. Damien watched the waves crashing against the rocks, hoping it lulled his mind into a state suitable for Celine to make contact.
As wave after wave rolled in, he allowed the sound to fill his ears, muting anything else. He called to Celine in his mind. She did not respond. He kicked a stone across the beach, frustrated with himself.
“Should we head back?” Gray questioned.
Damien shrugged. “I guess.” He checked his watch. It was nearly two in the afternoon. No contact from Celine in over twenty-four hours. Worry settled on him. “Mind if we go back through that clearing in the trees?”
“Sure. Whatever you want, buddy,” Michael answered.
They climbed back up to the cliff’s top, selecting the path to Alexander’s that passed through the clearing of trees. As they approached the spot, Damien slowed. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt close to Celine here. Perhaps it was because she had experienced one of her painful memories here while walking with him, and that incident was emblazoned in his brain. Either way, he wanted to take a few moments, surrounded and hidden by the trees, to relax before returning to Alexander’s.
They stepped into the clearing. Damien stopped, taking a deep breath. He glanced around, recalling Celine’s attack. Now she was worse off than she had been then. Poor Celine, he mused. She never received a moment’s rest. He focused his gaze on the trees around him. Pine needles scented the air. Birds chirped overhead.
Damien stared at the tree in front of him. His brow furrowed in bewilderment. Was the tree diseased? Something was amiss. He glanced to the sky, blinking a few times. White clouds rolled by, but their blue background appeared like water. It ran like a stream, melting to the horizon below. Damien lowered his eyes, focusing again on the tree. The green dripped from the needles onto the ground.
What was happening? Was this a side effect of the sedative? A shiver shook Damien’s body, and he collapsed to the ground.
“Damien!” Michael shouted as Damien pitched forward. He reached out, catching him mid-fall and easing him to the ground. Gray rushed over. “He’s freezing, shaking all over. What’s wrong with him?”
Gray removed his jacket, placing it over Damien. “It’s Celine. She’s called him into Shadow World. We need to keep him warm.”
Michael pulled his hoodie off, using it to cover Damien. “Hang in there, buddy,” he said. “We’re right here waiting for you.”
Damien blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the colorless world. The
