The Ninth Chapter

               Rhoa sat quietly, however, nothing was happening. Bill had stopped talking and everything had gone quiet.

            “Is it working? Bill?” Rhoa asked.

            After waiting a moment, Rhoa reached for the band and removed it from his head. To his surprise, no one was around.

            “Hello?” Rhoa asked looking around the room frantically, spinning on the bench.

Rhoa stood and walked to the entrance of the training hall. He looked down the hall towards the cafeteria and briefing room.

            “Hello?” Rhoa again asked.

Nothing moved, nor made a sound.

            Rhoa walked down the hall and into the cafeteria. The cafeteria was completely empty, and the lights hummed brightly overhead. He turned and walked into the briefing room, not even the consoles were on. Rhoa hesitated a moment, thinking on what to do next. He could continue down the hall, but he doubted he would find anyone. He was alone.

Rhoa shook his head and turned, walking back to the training room. Was he in the dream? That could not be right, Bill had said it was the Dream of Rebirth. This was not it, there were no Docks in sight. Rhoa sat down on the bench again, staring at the hatch.

            Rhoa remembered - Kay had walked through the hatch. He stood and walked over to the hatch, placing a hand on the manual lock, and opening it. Inside was complete darkness, an unnaturally thick darkness. It ebbed at the door, and no light from the opening seemed to cast itself inside.

“Huh. That’s weird.” Rhoa said.

Rhoa hesitantly lingered by the door, finding the scene curious.

            A hand, mangled in a blackish tar, silently wreathed itself from the darkness and hovered in front of Rhoa. The strangeness of the hand, however, was not the tar but the cybernetic attachments fused to it, an amalgamation of flesh and steel.

            The arm twitched, and a tightness formed in Rhoa’s chest. As if sensing this, the arm pushed forward so quickly Rhoa had no time to react. It pierced his chest, his hands grabbing onto it, blood gathered upon the edges of the opening. The hand retracted and hovered just in front of the darkness. Rhoa’s hands fell to his side, dangling in a dead swing. In the darkness of the mist, something moved.

Rhoa woke screaming and patting at his chest.

            “Rhoa! You’re back! It’s alright now!” Bill calmly said over Rhoa’s howls.

            “You’re okay, Rhoa!” Kay said beside him, placing a hand on his left shoulder.

            Rhoa panted, but he was starting to calm down. He looked to his right at Bill who was kneeling beside him, and Emily who hovered over Bill.

            “I was in?” Rhoa asked crazed by the experience.

            “You were in.” Bill said.

            “I don’t understand, that wasn’t the same dream I had!” Rhoa protested.

            A pained look furrowed over Bill’s brow.

            “It happens, but very rarely. Some things can change in a dream as we do.” Bill said confidently, though the pained look seemed to stick.

            “Did your dream change at all, Kay?” Rhoa asked.

            “No, mine didn’t change.” Kay said while also looking at his chest.

            Rhoa followed her glance and moved his right hand towards his chest. Rhoa felt the tightening in his chest return. A small hole had appeared in his shirt, his fingers running over his bare chest. He twisted around and saw a few little spots of dry blood on the ground. He stood up quickly, almost tripping on himself, and pointed at the dry blood.

            “What is that? What is this?” Rhoa said almost shouting and pointing at his chest.

            “There’s one thing you need to learn about this job, Rhoa, is that there’s a price to pay for everything.” Bill said sighing, and then continued. “Look, I didn’t want you to find out this way, but no one ever responds to this positively. You had to see for yourself. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting Kay to succeed so quickly but she did and so you had to experience it without knowing.”

            “I died?!” Rhoa asked bewildered.

            “No. What happens in the dream can inflict damage on your real body, but it’s minimized, and I can heal your wounds. Mentally, though, you can only be tricked into dying so many times.” Bill said.

            Rhoa said nothing, staring at the blood stains on the ground. Rhoa’s eyes drifted to Emily who appeared disconnected from the conversation, as if lost in thought.

            “I need to think about this.” Rhoa stammered and walked out of the training room.

            Kay and Bill looked at each other, but Bill did not appear worried. Instead, he seemed a bit distant as if mimicking Emily. Then, as if noticing, Bill smiled warmly.

            “Well, if he needs time there’s no shame in that. We all go through this. Heck, I still remember my first time. Scared the living hell out of me.” Bill remarked assuredly.

            Kay looked at the door, the light reflecting off the glass.

            “Let me talk to him.” Kay said standing, and walked out into the hall, the door closing behind her.

            Kay did not have to look far for Rhoa, he leaned against the wall just a little further down the hall on the right. She walked out in front of him and leaned against the parallel wall. Rhoa did not flinch at the sound of the training hall door opening, nor did he look up when Kay stood in front of him. Kay thought of several things to ask, but none of them seemed appropriate.

            “I’m sorry.” Rhoa finally whimpered.

            “Do you remember when we used to play together as kids?” Kay started, chuckling to herself, “We’d run through the streets trying to race each other and if you ever won, I’d try to “reward” you by kissing you on the cheek, but you’d run away from me crying all the way home.”

            Rhoa looked up with a smirk, a bit embarrassed.

            “Then in school you would run away from fights, you wouldn’t take a test that you thought was too hard, and you chickened out asking that girl you really liked. What was her name again?” Kay asked, all while smiling.

            “Aya Ynivera, and I remember you talking me out of asking her out. Where’s this awful pep talk going?” Rhoa asked still smirking.

            Kay’s smile faded, and her violet eyes rested on Rhoa, which made him look away.

            “When you full-sim’d I tried to bring you back so many times, but no one was there. I thought you were never coming back. If Zako hadn’t offered to help, I don’t think you ever would have. But even when you did come out – you weren’t the cry baby I remembered. You were like a ghost of that person. And the job at the Docks didn’t help, you were so stuck in that scheduled life that it just seemed to make it worse.” Kay said looking away for a moment, then returning her gaze. She continued, “Then, I saw you again, for the first time in a long time, when that Agent came. You were so determined to find out and solve this mystery behind your parents, you were you again. You have to keep thinking about why we’re here, Rhoa. Why you’re here.”

            Rhoa was silent, his thoughts becoming quiet. It was his fault, all of it. They did not need to exchange words. The answer had already been decided the moment they committed to this task. He had no choice, and neither did she.

            Rhoa stood from his leaning position, and so did Kay.

            “I’m sorry.” Kay said

            “The only person who should be apologizing is me.” Rhoa replied taking a breath, then continued. “I’m ready.”

            They walked back to the door and entered again into the training hall.

            “Yes, but I’ve never seen it-” Bill had started to say before hearing the door open behind him. Bill stood from sitting on the bench, and Emily walked away from standing in front of him.

            “You’re back.” Bill said smiling.

            “Are you alright?” Emily asked approaching Rhoa.

            “Yea.” Rhoa replied, then looked at Bill. “I’m good. Let’s do it.”

            Though pronouncing his readiness, Rhoa still could not shake the fear away; like a cold that chills the bone and never quite leaves.

            “You don’t have to force yourself. We can give you more time to prepare.” Bill said sincerely.

            “Honestly, I’m probably never going to be ready. Let’s do it.” Rhoa said.

            Bill exchanged glances with Emily, then nodded. Rhoa walked over to the bench and sat down. Bill retrieved the bands from the floor and proceeded to place them on Rhoa. Not even hearing Bill’s introduction, Rhoa felt himself slip into the dream; Bill’s voice trailing like an echo. He sat quietly for a moment and allowed the silence to take hold, though, it was not out of braveness. He was too afraid to take the head band away from his eyes, too afraid to see what was in front of him. He tried steadying his breathing, taking deep breaths, and exhaling, and succeeded in helping some, yet his nerves still fired as if prickling his skin. Rhoa slowly moved his hands to the band and removed it, his eyes still closed, and then opened his eyes.

            The training room came into view, but the wall was gone. In its place, a shadowy fog curled and weaved itself down from the ceiling to the floor. The light from overhead seemed to die upon its face, and the moving wall cast no shadow upon the floor. Rhoa stood but dared to go no further – remembering the figure he saw before. He decided to wait, if he could see the hand again then he would know where not to enter. His knees shook slightly, as if ready to run or fall, whichever fear would command of him. As his fear peaked within him, he saw something moving beyond the veil.

Rhoa saw it - a shadow deeper than the wall itself, moving along the wall. His breaths quickened, his nose flared, and his chest heaved as his breaths became louder than the silence. It was tall, almost as tall as the wall itself – at least fifteen feet high or taller still. It was thin, but its structure was hard to tell through the wall. It appeared humanoid in outline, but with spindly long legs and arms. It soundlessly patrolled the edge as if looking for something. Perhaps, already looking for the intruder that waited just beyond its reach.

            Rhoa waited for the creature to move down the wall, away from him, to approach the wall. He lifted his right hand, and it faded between the strands of darkened mist, icy air brushing between his fingers. He took a breath and held it, then pushed through the wall. The fog rolled over him like tendrils of icy mist and released him once he had felt their embrace. He released his breath once inside, taking in the freezing air; his breathing pushing through in visible hot response. He could barely see himself in the darkness, the overhead lights basking upon the ground in cone splotches – yet, appearing to only light those very thin columns. Pillars of metal reached for the ceiling obscuring his vision, and Rhoa immediately moved to the closest one. He pressed himself against its smooth surface, peering around the pillar and attempting to see through the darkness.

            Rhoa hoped that he never had to see the creature’s form, wishing that the shadowed creature became nothing more. The creature had moved into the distance the last he saw of it, yet its silent motions worried him. If the creature was soundless, then he could only rely on his vision, and that was severely hindered. The pillars gave him something to work with at least, however, even that was a hindrance as it would not only hide him – but the creature as well. He would need to proceed slowly, and hope the creature did the same.

            Rhoa moved away from the pillar and moved along the left side of the area, avoiding the rays of light. The pillars did not appear to be arranged in any pattern, some reached along right at the wall, while some were closer together than others like clusters. Not all the pillars, however, appeared to reach to the ceiling, some were even shorter than others, but climbing them was a distant thought. The darkened metal pillars had no notches to climb upon.

            Rhoa moved silently without incident along the wall, slipping from pillar to pillar, yet the distance to the far wall did not ever seem to close. He remembered how large the hall was, but that memory could be deceiving. He stopped and gathered himself, glancing around the pillar he hugged for momentary life.

Rhoa saw it. It was there, moving just slightly at the edge of one of the rays of light. No, it was further ahead now. Slipping against the light like it was mocking him. His right eye twitched, it was now behind him soundlessly brushing against another ray of light.

            That could not be, Rhoa thought to himself. How could the creature simultaneously be in front of him, beside him, and behind him? There had to be more than one. His heart pounded away in his ears like drums. Were they closing on him? How did they notice him? Rhoa thought he was being careful. No, Rhoa thought, they had not noticed him yet. He could be closer to the far wall than he previously had thought, and they were preventing anything from getting close.

            Rhoa pried himself from the pillar and crouched as he moved to another. He got closer and closer to the ray of the light he had last seen a creature at, his fear sweating against the cold air. He hugged the pillar next to the light, but never saw a creature or even a shadow moving anywhere. If the creature had been moving around in the area, he would have seen it even on his way. Rhoa did not focus on it, he needed to reach the wall and hopefully find an exit.

            As Rhoa approached the far wall, a similar shadowy fog wall met him. This is his exit, Rhoa thought. Rhoa weaved through a few pillars and walked up to the wall, the creature nowhere in sight. He took a breath and began walking through the tendril like mist. His head thudded upon a hard surface, releasing his breath with a jolt, and he rubbed his forehead. He reached up and placed his hands upon the hard surface – a real wall. He felt around but found no opening. It could be further down the wall, Rhoa thought. So, with a hand feeling along, Rhoa walked further down.

            “Shit.” Rhoa whispered.

            There was no opening. Rhoa was trapped. He stepped away from the wall and looked at the fog. Is there another way out? Rhoa wondered. As the thought crossed his mind, the cold air stiffened. His breathing clogged in his throat. Dark spikes shot through him from behind, blood dripping and streaming down the tips. His breath gurgled in his throat, his gasping doing little more than choke him. Slowly, the spikes lifted him in the air. The creature. The spindly hand had pierced him like paper, his hands drooped and flopped in the air without resistance. Gasping, reverberating like a quiet hum, his visible breathing fading.

            A heat filled Rhoa, reaching through every fiber of his being and pulsing. He woke on the cold floor, gasping, and leaned up. Bill knelt beside him, and they exchanged looks. Bill held the black band in his hand, and Rhoa felt the small holes plunged through the fabric of his shirt.

            “You need a new shirt.” Bill said with a smile, “Luckily for you, we have a bunch.”

            Bill extended a hand, and Rhoa took it. Rhoa stood with Bill’s help, and they began walking back to the hatch.

            “Only problem is that there’s only one color: grey.” Bill said chuckling to himself.

            Rhoa said nothing on their trip to the hatch, running over every possibility in his mind. He needed a plan the next time he entered. If the wall was not the exit, then where was? Maybe there was something he missed. He needed to check but checking meant there was a possibility of dying in the process. Though, he thought, it was more of a probability.

            They reached the hatch, and they entered the sectioned off area. Rhoa glanced at Kay and Emily, and walked over to the bench, removing his hole riddled shirt. Bill retrieved a grey shirt from the lockers at the end of the benches and handed it to Rhoa. Rhoa put the shirt on and contemplated his next steps.

            “Rhoa, if you need some time to think it over that’s alright. You need to pace yourself.” Bill said.

            “I’ve been thinking on our way over. This is going to take a while.” Rhoa said.

            “From the looks of it, I unfortunately agree.” Bill said sighing, “I’ll put you back together no matter what, but like I said – you need to pace yourself. Stop if you feel like you need to rest. If you don’t, and I think you do – I will stop you.”

            “I can keep going.” Rhoa said, bringing his hands together, his hands shaking.

            “Okay.” Bill hesitantly said, noticing Rhoa’s shaking.

            Bill took the black band and placed it over Rhoa’s head, as if putting on a blindfold before an execution.