Dream Killing (3 page)

CHAPTER FOUR

Drew
opened his mouth to say hello, but before he could get the word out of his
mouth T started speaking, “There is something you should know.”

“Hello to you, too,” Drew said, a bit
confused with just how serious T was being.

“Sorry. Hi. I just think that before we
talk any type of strategy, you should know a few things.”

“Okay. You sound upset, is everything
alright? Did something happen?” Drew was really feeling uneasy about the way
that T was acting. He was feeling less like an ally and more like a stranger.

“It’s important that you listen to
everything I tell you. There are things that are going to happen, some you will
be warned about and others you will be left to find out on your own. I will try
to tell you as much as I can so you won’t be left with any major surprises. It
will probably sound crazy to you, but trust me, everything I tell you is the
truth.” With that, T settled back in his seat, and picked up his coffee. Drew
decided that it was best to pay attention.

“Last night you completed your third day
in the game. In those three days you were given the safe haven of your safe
room. You have had minimal contact with other players and your kill/be killed
ratio has been quite equal with little action. I know this because I was sent
to take part in your training.”

Drew looked at T, confused, “Training?”

“Yes. Every person who enters the game
is given three days to be introduced to the way the game works. It is just like
in video games when you’re given a tutorial. Since I have been in the game for
a while and have seen a lot of action, I was placed in a room much like your
safe room and was given instructions. I was to take part in training missions
to introduce new players to the game. While in this mode I realized that you
weren’t like most players and decided that I wanted you on my side.”

While he wanted to ask questions, Drew
thought it best to just let T continue. T took a big sip of his coffee and
started again, “The next time you enter the game it will be completely
different. The screen will be back in your safe room and you will get new
instructions. This will be the last time that you’ll have access to the room.
From this point on, you will pretty much be on your own.”

“On my own? What exactly does that
mean?” The question barely made a sound as Drew choked on his words.

“There will be no more instructions once
you leave the room. Your safe room will not exist anymore, and once killed, you
will lose a life on your watch and you will reappear in the game someplace
other than where you were shot. I will still be in the game and will still be
your ally, but there will be times when you will be alone.” T then smiled. It
was the first real smile Drew saw from T.

T continued, “I can see that what I am
telling you has you totally freaked out. Don’t worry. This new game world is
way better than the creepy tunnels.”

“No more tunnels?”

“Nope. Now you will have access to all
kinds of places. There is an old Zoo, a huge wooded park, department stores and
a subway. I personally would stay out of the subway if you can, the people
there have the fewest lives left, have been in the game for God knows how long,
and they are definitely desperate for some kills. Oh, and there is a huge
library. That’s where I met Max.”

“Max? Is he another ally?”

“No,” T chuckled at Drew’s question.
“Max is a she. I found her down in the children’s section of the library,
hiding behind a cardboard playhouse in the corner. She was down to only a few
lives and was tired and ready to give up. I couldn’t just leave her there, so I
took her with me. I’ve been helping her.”

Drew cocked his head to one side and
asked, “Is she good? At the game, I mean. How long has she been with you?”

“She’s been with me for about two weeks
now and yes, after convincing her that giving up would only mean permanent
death, she followed me around and has gotten quite good at the game. She’s
pretty tired of it, though. I’m hoping that another ally might change her
attitude and put a little more intensity into her game play.”

“So, what’s she like?” Drew’s curiosity
over what type of “girl” would be playing a game like this was getting the best
of him.

“You will get to find out shortly. She
should be here any minute,” T answered as he looked at his watch.

“You know her here? This is so weird. If
so many people play this game, or dream this game, or whatever it is we’ve been
doing, then why haven’t I heard of it before now?”

“I couldn’t tell ya’. Honestly, I had
never heard of it either, until I wound up in it.” Just as he finished his
sentence, T looked up and waved somebody over. Drew looked towards the door and
saw what he could only describe as an angel. Max had to be the most beautiful
woman he had ever seen. Her beauty was simple, and that’s what made her so
appealing to Drew. She couldn’t have been more than five feet tall and had
long, wavy, red hair. As she came closer, Drew was almost startled by the color
of her eyes. Most redheads he knew had green or hazel eyes, but Max had the
most strikingly blue eyes.

“Hey, Max. I’d like you to meet Drew.
Drew, this is Max.” T’s introduction was quick and to the point.

“Hi,” Max said softly as she extended
her hand for Drew to shake.

“Hello. It’s nice to meet you,” Drew
said, slightly fumbling over his words. He had never held such a soft and warm
hand.

For the next hour or so the three sat,
huddled closely and talking softly. T and Max explained as much of the game as
they could so that Drew would have an advantage for the next time he played.
While most of the conversation was quite intense, there were nice little breaks
where Max’s soft laughter seemed to ease Drew’s mind.

Suddenly, T looked at his watch and
stood, “I gotta go. I’m late for something. See ya in the game, guys.” With
that, he patted Max on the head and was gone.

“Does he always just get up and leave
like that?” Drew was still surprised by how quickly things went from serious
conversation to being done.

“Yeah, I like to think of him as my Man
of Mystery. He keeps to himself, but is a good man.” Max’s eyes met Drew’s and
he could see what a tight bond she had forged with T in the short time she has
known him.

“I was planning on taking a walk by the
lake, care to join me?” Drew asked Max, pretty sure she’d have better things to
do than to spend time with some boring guy who was obviously at least 10 years
older than herself.

“That would be nice. I think I’ll grab a
water to go, would you like one?”

“Sure, that sounds good.”

They both grabbed a bottle of water out
of the cooler, Drew paid, and they were on their way. Neither said a word as
they walked around the corner and up the few blocks to the lakeside. The sun
was shining and there were a few fluffy white clouds dancing across the sky.
Both enjoyed the beautiful spring weather as they found a bench to sit on.

As if reading each other’s minds, they
both spoke at the same time, “How long have you lived in the city?”

Laughing, Drew said, “Ladies first.”

“I’ve lived here my whole life. You?”

“I moved here almost a month ago,” Drew
paused and then started again, “Wow! Your whole life? You must really love the
city.”

“Well, when I was younger I swore that
one day I would move to the suburbs, settle down and start a family. Once I got
a little older, I realized how much the city had to offer. I went to college to
become a kindergarten teacher so I could work with kids that may not get all I
was offered as a child.” As she spoke, Drew could see the passion she had for
her job and for her city. He found it quite endearing. “What brought you to
Chicago?”

“Well,” he started, hesitant to tell her
the truth, “I decided that I needed a change. So, I packed up and moved here.”

“Did you live far from here?”

“Yeah, pretty far. I lived in a small
town in Virginia.”

“Wow, how do you like city life?”

“So far, so good. I’m a people watcher,
and there are definitely plenty of people to watch.” Drew was enjoying this
time with Max. She was soft spoken but had an air of confidence about her. They
sat for hours, comparing city life to small town life, making up stories about
the people that passed them by on their way to who knows where, talking about
movies they love and a multitude of other topics, but neither spoke a word
about the game. Neither even thought about the game.

Losing track of time, Drew looks up to
the sky and realizes that the sun is now behind them. Surprised by how much
time has passed, he says, “Wow, I can’t believe what time it is!”

Max, too, looked up. “Wow, what time is
it?”

Looking at his watch, Drew replied,
“It’s 4:45. You hungry? I could go for an early dinner.”

“I would love to, but I am having dinner
with my sister tonight. She just broke up with her boyfriend and I am blessed
with the task of keeping her mind off of it. Not that it’s a hassle or
anything, but she is so focused on wanting to get back together with him that
she isn’t seeing that she’s better off this way.” She looked at Drew and saw
him smiling. “What?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just nice seeing
someone who takes care of their family. Every Friday night I order a pizza and
call my father. He lives in California and isn’t much for traveling, so we’ve
been talking every Friday for as long as I can remember.”

Smiling, Max said, “That’s really cool.”
Then, standing she said, “I had a really nice time with you today, Drew. Thank
you for the company.”

“Yeah, it was fun. You enjoy your
dinner, and go easy on your sister,” Drew said and they both giggled like
school girls. Then the awkward moment came.
Do I shake her hand? Do I give
her a hug? Do we just turn and walk away?
Drew didn’t know quite what to do
next. Thankfully, Max did. She took a couple of steps, grabbed Drew’s hand with
both of hers, thanked him again for a nice talk and then stood on her toes and
kissed his cheek. With that, Drew smiled and said, “I will see you soon,” and
she turned to leave.

As Drew watched her walk away, he smiled
as he thought about how nice it was to make such a sweet friend. She was so
familiar, even after only knowing her for a handful of hours. They talked as if
they had known each other their whole lives. It was just what Drew needed to
feel like he finally belonged there. He enjoyed the short walk back home,
contentment giving his face a whole new look.

Drew turned and started walking home.
Between the beautiful weather and the new friend he just made, he was feeling
like everything was going right. When he reached his Greystone, he realized he
was jogging. He jogged up the steps and let himself in, picking his mail up off
the floor on the other side of the door as he went inside.
Well, what do I
do now?
It was only about 5:15 and it was Saturday night. Just then he
heard a knock on the door.

“Be right there,” he shouted as he moved
back towards the stairs. He loved his apartment, but when someone came to the
door, that meant a trip all the way back down the stairs to let them in. He
took the stairs two at a time and could see his downstairs neighbor through the
decorative glass in the center of the door.

“Hey,” Drew said as he pushed open the
door.

“Hey, Drew,” his neighbor started, “I’m
taking the wife and kids up north to visit my parents for a few days. Would you
mind keeping an eye on the place for us?”

“Sure, no problem. Have a great time.”

“Thanks!”

By the time Drew made it back up to his
apartment he could already hear a car start in the front of the building. He
walked over to the huge picture window and watched as his neighbors drove away.
Hmm.
Drew began thinking to himself,
nobody home downstairs. I think
it’s time to turn up the music, do a bit of spring cleaning, get some air
flowing through this place and maybe watch a movie.

Drew being the disciplined person that
he is meant that there really wasn’t much cleaning to be done. After opening
all the windows, he washed all of the hardwood floors, vacuumed the few throw
rugs he had and gave his kitchen and bathrooms a good scrubbing. When he was
done he realized that it was already 8:30 and he still hadn’t eaten dinner. He
made himself a fat turkey sandwich, grabbed some carrot sticks and a diet soda.
He set his food down on the coffee table and walked over to the bookshelf that
housed all of his movies and began searching for something to watch.

It had been a while since he had last
watched a DVD, and his collection showed its age. Not really interested in
anything on the shelf, he decided to put his 280 channels of cable to use. He
popped a carrot into his mouth and began flipping through the stations.
Realizing that for so many channels there really wasn’t much on TV, Drew
settled for a Big Bang Theory marathon and at his dinner.

At about 11:00 Drew decided to just call
it a night and hoped that tomorrow would prove to be just as nice as today. He
turned off the TV and closed all of the windows in the house except for his
bedroom window. The night had turned brisk and the cool breeze felt nice as he
climbed into bed. He looked over at the alarm clock and decided that tomorrow
he would sleep in. Flipping the switch to the off position on his alarm clock
was something that Drew rarely did, and it felt good.