Beyond The White: Parts 3 &4

Part 3: Dreams Of The Damned

Prologue:

Six souls doomed to travel the stars float in an artificial sleep. Behind them are their homes and everything they ever knew. Ahead of them is only black. All they have to accompany them on their journey are the dreams of the damned.
 
Chapter 12: Saul Sinclair

Saul dreamed of Calypso music, red poinsettias, tender lips caressing his own, blue eyes, and blonde hair glowing like the sun.

He dreamed that he was flying through the air. No, not flying. Falling; falling towards the sun.

He dreamed that as he fell the sun seemed to change before him. The sun was no longer the sun.

He dreamed that the sun became a woman; a luscious woman with golden blonde hair, smiling.

He dreamed that she smiled for him; and she stretched her arms out to him to embrace him.

He dreamed that her eyes and her mouth were sown shut, and he began to scream.

But he didn’t wake.

Saul dreamed that he fell into the woman’s embrace, and she pulled him tightly, crushing him and burning him as he struggled to free himself.

He dreamed that as he screamed the woman whose eyes and mouth were sown shut raised a finger to her lips, as if to quiet him.

He dreamed that she held in her hand a long silver needle and thread.

He dreamed that when it touched his skin the thread became a snake and the needle strung the snake through his lips until his lips too were sown shut.

He tried to scream

But he couldn’t.

He dreamed that the snake twisted to where it was looking at him, eye to eye.

He dreamed that the snake had the most beautiful, brown eyes.

He whispered her name

He begged her to help him

The snake nodded its head.

He dreamed that the snake kissed him once on each eyelid, softly, tenderly, like a wife kisses her husband goodnight.

He dreamed that the snake stabbed its fangs deep into his eyes

He dreamed that its venom crawled deep into his head, traveling through his body to his heart

He dreamed that a fire began to engulf him from the inside out

He tried to get one last look at those beautiful, sad, brown eyes

But he couldn’t.

He tried to scream

But he couldn’t.

Everything faded to black.
 
Chapter 13: Johnson

Johnson dream of crimson red sunsets, men in dark suits, and ticking clocks

He dreamed of a thick black forest, with the scarlet rays of the evening sun filtering through the foliage.

He dreamed he was running through the forest, stepping on dry twigs and dead leaves that crumbled away.

He dreamed that somewhere behind him, a loud roar shattered the silence of the cold dusk air.

He dreamed that something was chasing him.

He dreamed that something was going to kill him.

He did not know why.

He dreamed that the red skies began to darken with an approaching storm.

He dreamed that thunder hit him like a hammer and lightning struck a tree in front of him, setting it ablaze.

He dreamed that the fire began to circle around him, trapping him.

No, not just him.

He turned around and stared into the eyes of the largest, black bear he had ever seen.

He dreamed that the bear’s eyes were a startling bright blue, and as he stared at the eyes, the bear stood up on its hind legs and roared.

It was the same roar he had heard behind him.

He dreamed that he fell backwards, and as he fell, his hand fell upon something metallic.

He dreamed that he fished around in the dead leaves and produced a rusted, but sharp, sickle.

He dreamed that he picked up the sickle and stared into the bear’s eyes once more.

He dreamed that the heat from the flames around them was oppressing, sucking the air out of his lungs.

He dreamed that as he struggled to breathe through the smoke, the bear became a man.

He dreamed that the man was dressed in a black, black suit.

He dreamed that the man point to his watch and shook his head.

Then the fire reached Johnson and began to consume him.

He tried to scream

But he couldn’t.

There simply wasn’t any air in his lungs.

Everything faded to black.
 
Chapter 14: Jaiden Long

Jaiden Long dreamed of bright blue computer monitors, Chinese food, techno music, cheap drinks, and all-night dance clubs.

He dreamed of multi-colored lights flitting across his face.

He dreamed of music flowing through him, not simply audio, but a living shape.

He dreamed that the music moved like a wave across the surface of the ocean.

He dreamed that it grew taller and taller as it came closer to him.

He dreamed that as the wave hit him, his body began to move with the music and the wave.

He dreamed that he no longer had control of his body, instead his body became a part of the wave.

He dreamed that as the lights hit where his body met the wave, it became harder and harder to tell where one ended and the other began.

He dreamed that soon his entire body became on with the wave, all he had left was his eyes.

He tried to scream

But he couldn’t.

He no longer had a mouth.

He dreamed that the wave split into two separate parts.

He dreamed that the other wave began to shift, and its surface rippled as a feminine form began to take shape out of the wave.

He dreamed that as the lights danced upon the feminine form, he could gradually make out her features.

He dreamed she had long, black hair

He dreamed that she had a petite button nose

He dreamed that her narrow eyes were empty black holes

He dreamed that there was a small hole in her chest, about the size of a twenty two caliber bullet.

He dreamed that she walked towards him, and he couldn’t move or run away.

He dreamed that the wave that was his body began to involuntary move towards her, as if pulled by an unstoppable force.

He dreamed that the wave that was him was being sucked through her cold dead eyes.

They were like two black holes

He tried to scream

But he couldn’t.

He dreamed that the last thing his eyes saw before they too were lost in the black was her pale, fixed smile.

Everything faded to black.
 
Chapter 15: D’Artagnan White

D’Artagnan White dreamed of thick green jungles, jazz music, strong drinks, and explosions.

He dreamed that he was alone in a clearing.

He dreamed that all around him lay the bodies of fallen comrades.

He couldn’t remember what happened to them.

He couldn’t remember how they died.

All he knew was that they would be avenged.

He dreamed that from out of the edges of the clearing, soldiers approached.

Enemy soldiers

He dreamed that in his hand he held a machine gun.

He dreamed that he began to scream.

He dreamed that from his gun flew death, and death took the enemy soldiers as they fell one by one, joining the dead on the field.

He dreamed that the gun became too hot for him to hold any longer, and he dropped it next to a man who used to be a soldier.

He dreamed that he walked towards the fresh bodies of his slain enemies.

He dreamed that as he approached, the bodies of his comrades began to stand up.

He dreamed that his dead friends came up to him, spoke to him through lips caked in blood and dirt, and thanked him for saving them.

He dreamed that he walked up to the first enemy he had killed.

He dreamed that he took off the helmet, and underneath was a little porcelain doll.

Like a little girl’s toy.

He dreamed that there was a large bloody bullet hole between the two brown glass eyes.

He dreamed that he went to the next body and took off the helmet, and underneath was a teddy bear.

Like a little boy’s toy.

He dreamed that one black button eye stared blankly back at him, the other replaced by a bloody hole.

He dreamed that the next body was another teddy bear, and the next another doll.

He dreamed that as his dead comrades clapped him on the back, he counted a total of ten children’s toys.

Ten children’s toys he had shot.

Ten children he had murdered.

He tried to scream

But he couldn’t.

The cheers of his fallen comrades were too loud.

Everything faded to black.
 
Chapter 16: KC Monroe

KC Monroe dreamed of marble countertops, of large expressos, of lace garments, and broken bottles.

She dreamed she was in her kitchen, her old kitchen.

She dreamed that turkey was in the oven and vegetables were in the pot boiling.

She dreamed that an old-fashioned clock in the shape of a cat stared at her from the wall.

The cat’s eyes were missing, but she didn’t notice.

She dreamed that there was a table with two place settings and a candle.

She dreamed that something was wrong.

She had forgotten something

She dreamed that out of nowhere the table leapt up to hit her and knocked her to the floor.

She had done something wrong

She dreamed that a table leg slapped her across her face so hard that she felt a tooth break

What had she done?

She dreamed that another table leg held a broken beer bottle.

She began to beg

She dreamed that the table pressed the bottle against her stomach.

She began to plead for her life

She dreamed that the bottle cut through her blouse and drew blood.

She tried to scream

But she couldn’t.

A table leg was gripping her by the throat and cutting off oxygen.

She dreamed that the bottle slowly sliced into her bare flesh until it struck a bone.

She dreamed that someone began to laugh.

She tried to scream

But she couldn’t.

She dreamed that the table became a man.

She dreamed that the man had bright red eyes that burned into her soul.

She dreamed that the man continued to laugh as he cut her open.

Suddenly, the lights went out, and all she could see was his cruel white smile and burning red eyes.

All she could hear was his laughter as he continued to slash the bottle across her body.

She tried to scream

Everything faded to black.
 
Chapter 17: Emmy La’Beau

Emmy La’Beau dreamed of the backseat of a nineteen seventy five Corvette Stingray, empty packs of cigarettes, cheap red lipstick, and an old leather jacket.

She dreamed she was in the car with him again.

She dreamed that they were in the back seat, and he smelled like guys should smell.

He smelled good

She dreamed that he took off his old leather jacket and tossed it in the front.

She dreamed that his body was perfect, muscular and toned.

She dreamed that he kissed her, and the kiss was perfect.

Their lips met and she knew in her heart that he was the one.

She dreamed that it began to change.

She dreamed that her tongue began to burn, and she pulled away from him.

There was a cigarette in his mouth.

She dreamed that he got angry at her for pulling away.

She dreamed that he yelled at her, but she couldn’t understand what he said.

This only made him angrier.

She dreamed that he grabbed her arm and began to squeeze.

It hurt.

She began to cry.

This only made him angrier.

She dreamed that he took the cigarette out of his mouth and pressed it into her exposed flesh.

She began to scream.

That definitely made him mad.

She dreamed that he took his belt off and pulled her to him.

She dreamed that he wrapped the belt around her neck and began to pull it tight.

She dreamed that he began to laugh as she struggled against him.

She couldn’t scream

She couldn’t breathe.

She dreamed that the car began to heat up, and as she looked out the window, she saw that they were no longer on the side of the road.

They were surrounded by flames, bright yellow and red flames that licked against the car.

She wanted to warn him about the fire, but she couldn’t breathe.

She dreamed that his bright green eyes stared deep into her soul, making her feel every pain, loss, and hidden insecurity she had ever had.

She dreamed that he laughed as she began to lose consciousness.

She tried to scream

Everything faded to black.
 
Part 4: The Black
Prologue:

When one is deep in space, far from any star, all one sees is black. Everywhere one looks, every direction you turn, it is simply black. No way of knowing where one is, no way of knowing where one has been, and no way of knowing where one is going. At times like this, one has to pray that they are heading in the right direction, because no one wants to get lost in the Black.
 
Chapter 18: Wake Up

The ringing brought Saul out of a troubled sleep; the nightmares still hadn’t left after two years of counseling. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept through the night without seeing her beautiful, brown eyes.

Saul sighed and reached for the alarm. His arm felt like it was dead; it wouldn’t move. The ringing didn’t stop. Saul blinked his eyes, and for a moment nearly screamed. Then he remembered where he was. He was floating in a cryo-stasis unit on a spaceship that was flying through space.

The alarm was blaring in his ears, louder now and more intense. He could feel the liquid around him draining slowly, so he assumed it was just the alarm bringing him out of stasis. He was wrong.

When the pod finally opened, he stepped out into the corridor and was surprised to find himself actually walking on the ground. The ship had an artificial gravity; he should have asked about that. The alarm was still ringing, so Saul looked around for the source. What he saw gave him chills.

Something had gone wrong with Emmy’s pod. Saul could see Emmy struggling against the hard Plexiglas casing. Her breathing unit must have come off and she had woken up fully submerged in the container’s thick liquid. Emmy was drowning.

Saul rushed to the container and tried to open it as Emmy pounded her fists against the glass. The pod’s controls were not responding, clearly the problem went far beyond the mask falling off.

Just as Saul was about to give up hope, he heard a voice from behind him yell.

“Move!”

Saul moved just as a large ax smashed into the glass merely inches from his face. The glass cracked, and then shattered to pieces. The liquid rushed out, along with Emmy’s motionless body. Saul feared they were too late.

Saul crouched over Emmy’s body and felt for a pulse. It was faint, but it was there. He could save her. Saul rushed to perform CPR on her, and after two tries, Emmy suddenly coughed up a lungful of the viscous liquid. She continued to cough, and Saul was relieved to see that she was ok.

The voice from behind him spoke again.

“We have a bigger problem.”

Saul turned to see Johnson standing behind him, who continued.

“We were hit by a meteorite during transit. I don’t believe it knocked us off course, but it did wipe out some of our computer systems.”

“Like what?”

“Like our communication satellite and our manual controls. Luckily the autopilot remained intact, and that will carry us to our planned destination as long as no other surprises interfere.”

“So we have no way to contact Earth?”

“Come see for yourself.”

Saul saw another pod open, and Jaiden Long stumbled out. He was breathing heavily, but he seemed to be alright. When Jaiden saw the other two men watching him, he quickly cleared his throat and snapped at them.

“What are you looking at?”

Saul felt rather than saw D’Artagnan’s presence, and KC was quick to join them. After making sure everyone was ok, Saul had D’Artagnan carry Emmy to her room to let her rest and recover from her incident. When D’Artagnan returned, the crew raced to the bridge to see the impact of the meteor. Saul hoped that Johnson was wrong.
 
Chapter 19: The Bridge

The bridge was a mess. Open circuits were sparking everywhere, the few lights that were intact were flickering on and off, and a whole bank of computers was totally destroyed. KC ran to the broken computers, but she sighed as she confirmed Johnson’s observations.

“He’s right. It took out the entire communications grid along with our manual steering.”

“So what are you saying? We’re just a giant hunk of metal flying through space dead?”

“No, the life support systems and the autopilot survived, along with our engines. Considering the impact of a meteorite, we’re lucky the hull is intact and we’re not all floating in space.”

Saul saw one of the broken monitors flicker and stared at it as KC continued. Something seemed strange.

“Truth be told, I have no idea how we survived that impact or kept our course. At the speed we are travelling, even the slightest impact should cause us to drastically alter our trajectory.”

As Saul stared at the monitor, he could swear that he saw the pale feminine face flicker across the monitor. Saul turned to see if anyone else had noticed, but everyone was focused on KC. Everyone except Jaiden. Jaiden was staring at the monitor, a look of pure horror distorting his features.

Before Saul could say anything, Jaiden was quick to stammer out something.

“I’m going to go to my room and lie down. Catch you suckers later.”

He turned and quickly left the room. Johnson sighed and spoke up.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think Jaiden has a good idea. We are all tired and worn out after our trip, perhaps it’d be best for us to rest and meet back here in a few hours.

Everyone agreed, and went their separate ways. Saul and D’Artagnan walked towards their rooms as Johnson stopped to look at the carnage of the bridge. Saul watched Johnson as he stared at his watch before leaving by another door.

When Saul and D’Artagnan reached their quarters, they saw that Jaiden’s door was open a crack. From there, they could just see Jaiden sitting on his bed. Saul saw Jaiden take a small container from a pocket and take out a small white pill. Saul and D’Artagnan watched Jaiden swallow the pill and lie back on the bed, and then they walked towards their rooms. Before they parted, they turned and looked at each other. Saul knew this couldn’t be good, but the crew had more to worry about right now than Jaiden taking pills, so they would keep silent for now.
 
Chapter 20: Sinners and Saints

Saul couldn’t sleep. Perhaps that was because he had just slept for nearly two years. Perhaps it was due to the recent unexpected events that had somewhat altered their mission. Perhaps it was simply that he didn’t want to dream about her again.

Saul got up and started to walk the halls. He was tired, very tired, but possibly he could walk it off. As he walked, Saul was surprised at how small the ship truly was on the inside. He walked to the women’s quarters to check on Emmy; she had really scared him. Saul liked Emmy; something in her reminded him of Rachel.

When he got to Emmy’s room, he found the door open. Emmy was asleep in bed, and KC was there comforting her. He could see Emmy was having a bad dream, and KC was holding her tenderly, whispering to her. No, not whispering, singing. Saul could hear KC softly singing a lullaby to her. He could just barely make out the words.

“When the sun has set and skies are grey
“When the moon has swept the clouds away
“When the stars are left to wait the day
“Hear my lullaby
“When the sky is dark and rain drops fall
“When thunder barks and shadows crawl
“When lightning sparks and lights the wall
“Hear my lullaby for Emmeline

Saul could feel a tear start to roll down his cheek as KC continued

“Don’t be scared of what night may bring
“Just hear me sing your lullaby
“Do not cry, hear my lullaby
“For Emmeline, my love”

When KC finished, she kissed Emmy lightly on the cheek and got up. When she saw Saul, she put her finger to her slips and motioned to the hallway. After KC had left Emmy’s room and closed the door behind her, Saul asked her a question.

“Where did you learn that?”

“My mother sang it to me a long time ago. I just figured Emmy might like it. She had a rough day.”

“That was very nice of you.”

“Emmy is a really nice girl, she just has a lot going on and she can’t see how nice she is.”

“Isn’t that true for all of us?”

“Perhaps. What are you up to?”

“Couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d check on her, make sure everything was ok.”

“That was very sweet of you.”

“I like her. There’s something about her that reminds me of…someone I used to care about.”

“Well I’m going to try to get some rest. It sounds funny, being tired after sleeping for two years.”

“I understand. Best of luck, and sweet dreams.”

“Thank you.”

KC looked at Saul, as if she was going to say something more, but changed her mind. She simply smiled and went to her room. Saul continued walking around the ship.

As Saul approached the bridge, he could hear the sound of metal against metal and someone very angry. Saul slowly and quietly stuck his head through the doorway to see who it was. It was Johnson. He was working with some of the broken computers, and Saul gathered from the flow of swears that whatever he was doing wasn’t working. Saul was surprised to find that he couldn’t understand some of what Johnson was mumbling; it felt like another language.

Saul left before Johnson could notice him. Saul wondered what Johnson had been trying to do. It looked like he had been working on the communications equipment. It made sense that their government liaison would be upset about not being able to contact his people. After all, what else was he here for?

Saul returned to his room, finally tired enough to sleep. As he got into his bed, he wondered whether he would wake up to find the ship had been hit again, for that matter, he wasn’t even sure if he would wake up. Saul sank into a trouble sleep, too worried and confused to dream. The ship continued onwards deeper into the Black.

Chapter 21: (Coming Soon)