Chapter Three

Chapter Three

*I*

Why, why were they showing him all of his mistakes? Why not all the good things he had done. Maybe he didn’t do anything good. Why was he the only survivor? Why was the number of deaths 30, and not 31?
These were the questions in Ryan’s mind as he tried to sleep. It was only 4:00 this morning.
“The dream must have been shorter tonight,” Ryan thought. “Yes, it must have been shorter, maybe it was the only dream I had, but that would still make it hours long. I must have had other dreams, I absolutely must have!”
Even though Ryan came across as thinking this firmly, on the inside he was questioning himself.
“What if this whole thing was planned or something along those lines? But, no it was too sci-fi. But, really, maybe some high up being, or secret organization was causing this, like you see in the movies. This all would have been easier to be believed as a coincidence if the events hadn’t been sequential. All the details in the dreams also perfectly matched up to real life. Maybe this was God’s doing, but no his job is to make to make everyone feel better, right? Right?”
The more he thought about this the harder it was to go back to sleep, and without a surprise the alarm began to buzz. Ryan sighed and using all his strength he rolled out of bed. Once again he hopped into the shower and ignored the fact that it seemed colder. The smell of Maggie’s perfume still slightly lingered in the air, but Ryan figured it was probably just his imagination.
By the time Ryan got to school he decided that if he had another dream that this was like a premonition event, or something that has been planned out for him. If the dreams ceased he would decide that the dreams were just a coincidence. This idea made sense to Ryan, and seamed reasonable.
During Spanish he really had to go to the bathroom and he knew his teacher wouldn’t let him. According to her the elective was an “academic” and we couldn’t miss her class. He asked her and obviously she said no. He held it until fourth block, which was math, and fortunately he was allowed to go.
All through math he thought about Chris. He didn’t understand why Chris was the “guide” through the dreams. Jen or Zach would have made more sense. He didn’t even talk to Chris! Why would Chris try to help him, but really he wasn’t helping at all. Ryan had severely confused himself by the end of class, and was relieved when he remembered he was a car rider. He was spending the night at Peter’s house.
He was really hoping that the dream thing was just a coincidence by the time he arrived at Peter’s house. The whole car ride they were discussing the school day, but Ryan was thinking of other things. He was never one for stupid small talk. He especially hated it when he used it with Maggie. Why ask her why her how her day went when he spent the whole day with her.
That night the boys were slaves to Peter’s Xbox 360. They stayed up past midnight and when bed time came Ryan was happy. The dream thought was not going through his head at this point; he was just looking forward to laying his head on a soft pillow. He laid down on the pull-out mattress Peter’s mom had prepared and became very comfortable. His hair fell over his eyes, but he didn’t care.
His dream started with an image of a girls face. It was normal except for the fact that there was a gash in her cheek, and her eyes were staring strait at him, not blinking. She was dead. Ryan felt like screaming. It was Lindsey.
Chris’s voice came into the scene and Ryan was on the bus.
“You are late.”
“That’s what you have to say to me. I have gone through so much, and your consoling is a ‘you’re late’. I have gone through enough, and enough is enough. What is going on?”
“Why do you ask, you already know, this isn’t a coincidence, and you know it all too well, you just don’t want to admit it!”
“So I’m guessing this is real, oh my God, it can’t be. I can’t relive this whole experience. The death, the screams, no, I can’t, why would I want to?! Are you insane?”
“You haven’t seen the worst of it yet, and you will, but for now just watch.”
The past Ryan was now sitting down. A boy named Jim, who was sitting several seats in front of him, was calling his name. Ryan remembered ignoring him, just for the heck of it. Why did he do it, why did he have to be so mean? The present Ryan was curious to what Jim wanted, so he walked over, and all Jim wanted to say was sorry.
Ryan’s uncle had died a week ago, and since Ryan didn’t know him well he didn’t really care. But the fact was that Jim was trying to show sympathy, and Jim hardly knew Ryan.
The past Ryan was such a JERK! He thought he was so cool, but to his surprise, Ryan learned that he wasn’t, he was a dork, a loser, a selfish, mean person. He began to realize that he was learning this the hard way.
If the dreams continued it would take him all the way to the accident, and he really hoped they stopped. Like he had told Chris, he couldn’t watch it again, and for all he knew it could get worse.
Ryan focused on the bus scene again. He overheard Jerry talking to Jen.
“You know, I’ve tried to be nice to Ryan, but no matter what I do, he still treats me like a piece of trash,” he said.
“Yeah, I agree, I’m his friend, but lately he has just been really mean. I think he is trying to fit in by being ‘cool’, but honestly he has gone too far. I don’t know how Maggie stands him. I especially don’t know what she sees in him!” Jen exclaimed.
“See in him, what do you mean?”
“You haven’t heard, she is like in love with him, and I think he likes her, he’s just to chicken to ask her out.”
Ryan couldn’t believe it; one of his best friends didn’t like him anymore. He knew he had really screwed up, but he didn’t know how to fix it. He would if he could, he honestly would, but they were all dead, and the last time he checked you can’t help a dead person feel better.
At this point Chris was coming back into the scene.
“You will only witness one more dream, and then the next stage comes. After tomorrow night I suggest you prepare yourself. If you don’t, you’ll regret it,” he said.
“What, I don’t understand?” Ryan inquired, but it was too late, he already felt himself drifting out of the dream.