Chapter One: What We Dream

   A glistening pool of blood lay at her feet, rippling and trembling without anything to disturb it.  Something was moving inside…a vague and shadowy image floated just below the surface.  A reflection that was not her own gazed steadily back at her.  The dark eyes in the crimson pool pierced into her very heart, and she was afraid. 
  Thousands of voices filled her mind, causing her to cry out and fall forward.  She sank into the pool, until she could not longer see the surface.  The voices, cold and cruel, utterly consumed her.  She felt them within her and around her, and her mind was filled with one thought; to break free.
  With valiant force, she pushed through the quagmire of whispering shadows, slipping past the ones that cried out to her and tried to enter and overwhelm her thoughts.  
  “Come no closer!  Stay away!  Stay away!”
  Suddenly the barrier broke, split with a thousand screams into nothingness.  Silence filled her mind; she could feel nothing, see nothing. She felt the silence seep into her own mind, felt her thoughts slipping into darkness.  There was nothing she could do; her very memories began to fade away in that deadly quiet…

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  Faith sat at the edge of her bed, the covers drawn up around her.  It was early morning, too early for any of the guests or the rest of her family to be up yet.  No sound came from downstairs; every thing was eerily silent.  Faith wanted to scream, or laugh, or cry…or knock the lamp beside her off its table and send it crashing to the floor; anything to produce some kind of sound.  A cold breeze stroked the back of her neck, and Faith shivered.  She turned her head quickly and realized with a great deal of relief that she had left the window open during the night.  Perhaps it was only the chilly Toronto weather that had disturbed her sleep…perhaps it was nothing more than that.
  The echo of the crushing silence that had invaded her mind only moments ago flitted aimlessly through the calm of her room.  It was so still…so maddeningly still.  Faith got up to shut the window.  The breeze played with loose bits of light brown hair that had fallen out of her pony-tail, and she leaned forward with her eyes shut to savor the breath of the outdoors.
  But her brief respite was fleeting, for the more she listened, the less she heard.  No birds sang in the trees outside of the Inn, no cars could be heard whizzing by on the distant highway.  Faith began to wonder if she had gone deaf.  She anxiously rapped her knuckles on the window sill and breathed a sigh of relief as the audible knocking set her senses at ease.  It had only been a dream, and it was silly to dwell on it so much, no matter how disturbing it had been. 
  Faith wiggled her feet into a pair of slippers and tossed her blanket back onto the bed.  Perhaps the thing to do to take her mind off things was to make breakfast.  The clock on the opposite wall read 6:37a.m.  A little early for food, but Faith didn’t care.  She stepped out into the hallway, which was ice cold.  Why hadn’t anyone bothered to turn on the heater?  Faith rubbed her upper arms and hurried to the staircase.  Her mother had decorated it last night.  Little green pine wreaths with golden bells adorned each post that supported the rail, which was wrapped in a long shimmering strip of tinsel. 
  As Faith took the steps one at a time, she admired her mother’s handiwork.  Mrs. Katona had decorated the family-run inn while her children slept, in keeping with tradition.  Faith had begun to suspect by now that the reason for this was not as her mother always professed.  Every year, Faith, her twin brother Sam, and her younger brother Justin were told that their mother put up the Christmas things alone to surprise them in the morning.  But the underlying reason seemed to be that Mrs. Katona wanted them out of the way when she did it, so that they wouldn’t mess anything up.  Still, Faith smiled grimly, it looked nice as always.
  Neither the fridge nor the pantry offered anything immediate in the way of breakfast, so Faith resigned herself to making eggs.  She cracked two of them and dropped the yolks into a steaming skillet.  The resulting hissing sound was very welcome indeed, and Faith spent the rest of her cooking that morning making as much noise as possible without waking anybody up.  They had surprisingly few guests at the time, only four American tourists who had rented two rooms for a week.  They were nice people, not too picky or bossy…no trouble at all.  That put Faith’s mother in a good mood, which meant everyone was reasonably happy. 
  When the eggs were finished Faith cleaned up and took her meal to the living room.  She nestled herself on a squashy couch, between decorative throws and pillows, and began to eat.  With each bite, and each scrape of her fork across the plate to break the silence, the fears of the night began to melt away.  Hurrah for eggs, Faith said to herself. 
  At length, a soft chime sounded from the dining room signaling seven o’clock.  Her mother would be up soon.  Faith swallowed the last bit of egg and reluctantly got off of the couch.  She didn’t want to spoil her mom’s good mood by being the first thing Mrs. Katona saw.  Plate and fork were soon loaded into the dishwasher, and Faith was just re-arranging the pillows on the couch and adjusting the thin metal bracelet she wore when the doorbell rang.
  “Guests at seven o’clock on a Saturday?”  Faith tossed the last remaining cushion into place and padded to the door, all the while self-consciously aware that she was wearing nothing but pajamas and slippers.  She turned the various locks and undid the several chains that prevented her from opening the door straightaway.  The doorbell rang again.
  “Just a minute, please!”  Faith called, doing her best not to sound annoyed.  She gave the knob a good yank and opened the door to find herself face to face with…no one.
  Faith stuck her head out into the chilly weather and looked for the mysterious door bell ringer but he, or she was nowhere to be found.  There were no cars in the driveway, and the snow surrounding the Inn was still fresh and unmarred by footprints.  The sun was beating down, with little effect on the cold, a great distance above the top of the maze of hedges that graced their property and provided endless entertainment for their guests.  The eighteen year old enjoyed visiting the maze, even though the mysteries it once held for her had faded –with her childhood- long ago.  She had learned to navigate through every obscure twist and turn, and had become so utterly familiar with it that she felt she could walk it from start to finish in her sleep if she had to.
  But although reminiscing and admiring the simple beauty of the sun above the leaves of the maze were pleasurable, Faith’s attention was drawn to the uneven shadows that stood out at the edges of the maze.  
   At the base of every corner it seemed an extra patch of black jutted out at an odd angle that, in a disturbing fashion, was almost human like.  Faith shook her head to clear her eyes.  No, it was not paranoia that conjured such shadows…there were people, or things whose shadows resembled people, hiding along the outer edges of the hedge maze.
  “Sorry, Mom.”  Faith muttered.  She was about to break a very serious rule indeed, but no one need ever know and how could they after all? 
  Faith shut her eyes and began to concentrate, turning her awareness over to a part of her mind that was always waiting for moments like this.  She felt her senses reaching forth, branching out until sight and sound stretched farther than was
possible for most humans; until she could see the people hiding by the hedges.
  What Faith was seeing was more of a mental image erected by the continuous stream of thoughts that flooded and surged through the mysterious individuals’ minds and made up who they were.  As Faith had discovered in the many years it had taken to perfect her “talents” (and even now she did not consider them perfect), a telepath “sees” first through her own eyes, and then through the eyes of others.  In other words, if Faith were not trying to enter the minds of the strangers to determine their purpose and origin, and was merely trying to see if anyone was there…they would appear in her mind as a blurred humanoid outline.  This outline would be strong enough to show where someone was, but not strong enough to distinguish individual features.  That came later, with the mind-reading.  Each person, if they have ever in their lives troubled themselves to look in a mirror or some other reflective surface, has a distinctive impression of what they look like to their own eyes.  This image, along with everything else they have ever seen, is lodged in their thoughts and memories where a mind-reader or telepath may easily acquire and view it. 
  Not wanting to invade their privacy before she could figure out who they were the old-fashioned way, Faith decided against entering their minds and merely sought to pin point with her powers exactly where the strangers were and how many of them she was going to have to contend with.  A confrontation appeared imminent.  They had rung her doorbell, lured her outside, and hidden themselves in her hedge maze.  Who could blame her for wanting to confront them and demand an explanation?
  Faith’s brief mental sweep of the maze and its surrounding area showed her ten vague, shadowy forms pressed close against the hedges.  They appeared to be watching her…a fact Faith found decidedly disturbing. 
  Curiosity, annoyance, and a sense of foreboding compelled the teenager to leave the safety of her door way.  Her slippers, noiseless on the tiled floors of the kitchen and the carpeted hallways, crunched audibly on the fresh snow.  Faith grimaced.  Even if they hadn’t been watching her, they would hear her before she even got halfway.  Since there was no point in stealth, and since it seemed that they wanted her to find them anyway, Faith took her time.  She moved her feet slowly through the snow and wished she had bothered to put on a coat. 
 Without warning, a cold voice called harshly for her to halt.  Faith came to a stand still.  Her heart began to pound.  The confrontation had arrived.  The strangers began to step into view one after another.  They broke away from the shelter of the hedges and seemed to glide towards her over the snow.  Faith’s eyes wandered to their feet and she found that they rested on top of the snow as they walked, making no distinguishable prints, even though they never left the ground.
  Nine imposing figures formed a tight circle around Faith, and she had little time to wonder where the tenth had got to.  They were all very tall, Faith guessed about six feet on average, and the teenager felt as if she had strayed into a rugged forest.
  “Are you Faith Katona?” A voice to her left demanded.  Faith turned to look at the speaker.  His face was obscured by the hood of the thick winter coat he wore, but she could make out pale features that seemed emaciated and worn.  These traits appeared to be mirrored by the eight other people who had left the hedges.  They all looked eerily similar, with only variations in hair length and face shape to set them apart.  And they all had crimson eyes.
  “Maybe…”Faith evaded the question.  “Why?”  She eyed the others suspiciously, but they were watching the speaker and did not even seem to notice her. 
  The man took a step forward, appraising her in a single, penetrating glance.  Under that cold, measured gaze, Faith felt inferior.  She wanted to curl up in a ball right there, but dignity held her in place as he lifted a thin hand towards her face. 
  “Yes, you are…” He muttered, more to himself than to her.  “You look much the same…there can be no doubt.”  He kept his hand raised at the level of her eyes as if there was still some part of him that did not quite believe she was really standing before him in person.
  “I’m sorry,” Faith began to back away.  “Have we met?”  She knew the answer, they hadn’t of course.  But the man seemed genuinely to recognize her, and she could not remember him at all.  On the whole, Faith found the situation quite disturbing. 
  “No.” He consented.  And Faith was sure their discussion was at an end.  But the circle did not break.  She was still trapped within their midst.
  “Forgive me,” he spoke again.  “I haven’t introduced myself.  I am called Isakj.”
  He inclined his head politely in her direction and then, with a glance at the others, startled Faith by taking her hand.  “Come.  Is there somewhere we can speak privately?”
  “I…in the maze I guess.”  Faith spluttered.  His grip was tight on her wrist, and his skin bit hers with a horrible, damp cold that felt altogether sickly and unnatural.  She did not struggle though, and the circle parted briefly to make room for them as he pulled her along behind.  It felt wrong to be conversing in secret with a stranger of such imposing qualities, but Faith was truly curious about him and why he had come.   He seemed to be just as anxious to ask her his own questions in turn.
  The others stayed where they were and Isakj pulled Faith through the maze’s arched entrance.  He stopped for a moment, seemed to get his bearings, and then led Faith down the left path which Faith knew led to the center.  But they did not go that far.  Isakj stopped their hurried trek after only a few more turns.
  “I must ask you a question, Faith.”  He told her in a serious voice.  “And the question I must ask may seem rather intrusive.”
  “Well,” Faith sighed.  “Now I’m curious, so you might as well ask me, eh?”
 Isakj nodded.  At last his grip on Faith’s arm was released and she rubbed the spot gingerly.  Her skin in that area had gone ice cold.
   “Do you possess telepathic abilities?”
 Faith stared at him.  “Who are you?” she whispered at last.  Her voice was trembling.  “I think I deserve to know a little more about who you are and what you want before I answer a question like that.” 
  “Yes, of course.”  Isakj amended quickly.  “I understand.” He eyed her for a moment, and Faith got the impression he was seeing something that displeased him.  The corners of his eyes twisted in a decided frown.  “Dezra said you had a rather bad experience…years ago.  I wouldn’t be quick to trust anyone either.”
  Now Faith was thoroughly confused.  She had indeed had a “bad experience” a few years ago involving so called “normal” humans and their prejudices against others like her, but she hadn’t expected to be reminded of it by a total stranger who -as far as she knew- had never been involved in the distasteful incident.  How was it that he seemed to know so much about her, recognize her even, when she only knew his name?  He and his friends had an unfair advantage over her and she wanted to know how they had gotten it.
  Isakj was still watching her.  Faith guessed he was waiting for her to say something.  However, even with a large quantity of questions floating around in her head, Faith suddenly found she had nothing to say.  They stared awkwardly at each other for a moment, and Faith was just beginning to notice some sort of strange tattoo or marking on the palm of Isakj’s left hand, when their privacy was ruined.    
  One of Isakj’s friends slipped into the passageway so silently that if Faith had not been facing in that direction, she never would have noticed the new arrival.  This woman appeared to be in the same general age group as Isakj, who Faith guessed was in his late twenties at the most.  His friend was perhaps not as rugged as the others, and seemed to have a little more life in her…if not much.
  “Isakj,” she spoke suddenly; laying a hand on his shoulder.  “They have found us.”
 “Go.  Gather the others and meet us at Faron.”
  Faith couldn’t tell if he was being calm and collected on purpose, or if it was only his nature to be indifferent.  Isakj adjusted something clasped at his side, and Faith noticed for the first time that he carried a weapon.  She could not believe that the four-foot long sword had not attracted her attention before.  But Faith supposed that he must have purposely hidden it from her.  The sight of a large weapon on the person of a total stranger tended to make one worry.
  “The others are already gone.” The newcomer told Isakj in a low voice.  “Faron came.  He said he would meet us at the Inn.” 
Isakj’s face fell, and he nodded in reluctant agreement.  Inexplicably consumed by some gnawing emotion, he motioned for her to leave.  “Off with you.  We will be along presently.”
  “We?” Faith interrupted.  She wanted no part of whatever these people were involved in, and she certainly didn’t want to meet the “they” that had found them.  Isakj turned slowly to face her.  His expression was very serious.
  “Faith, I realize none of this makes any sense to you.  I realize that you have no idea how I came to know of you, and I understand that I have no right to be asking you any of my questions.” He looked down at the ground for a moment and ran a finger restlessly along the hilt of his sword.  “But I need answers.”
  There was something in his voice Faith did not like; a desperation.  She was made uncomfortable by the sincerity with which he begged her, in a round about way, to have patience with him and to give him the knowledge he desired.  Behind his calmness and reserve lurked an obsessive eagerness that Faith didn’t need to read his mind to see.  Isakj met her gaze now, and the emotions and motives Faith had been guessing at were plainly written in his dull eyes.
  “I need to know why, every time I close my eyes, I find myself slipping into dreams that are not mine.  I need to know why it is you I see in these dreams.  It was not until last night that I saw your face clearly, and was able to put together some of the pieces of a great puzzle which led me here to you.   Before that, before I knew who you were, I saw you only in vague shadows.  You stood by my side, and together we looked down upon a hated face…” Isakj’s voice faltered.  He seemed to grow unsure of himself.  “…You saw him.  I was no longer the only one.  But last night…as we looked upon him once more, you vanished from my side.  You fell to him.  It was then that I saw your face, staring back at me through his.” 
  Faith did not know what to say.  His words reminded her in every way of the dream she had had last night…but that was impossible.  Two people who had never met before did not simultaneously have the same dream on the same night.  It was too much of a coincidence.  Isakj had mentioned a puzzle…Faith found that she herself was presented with one as well.  Perhaps the pieces would never fall into place.
  Into the uncomfortable silence fell the sound of hurrying feet.  At least a dozen people it seemed were rushing past them all around.  Faith was not comforted in the least by the fact that only a few paltry rows of hedges were separating her and Isakj from them.  Isakj glanced at her apologetically and motioned down the maze, back the way they had come.  Faith took the hint and fell into step behind him.    
  Together they crept silently towards the exit.  Faith didn’t need her telepathic abilities to know that the intruders would be waiting for them.  She hoped that Isakj had a plan of some sort.
  Every small noise seemed to cause a tumultuous commotion as they moved forward at a frustratingly slow pace.  Twice Isakj took a wrong turn on purpose and doubled back.  Faith’s slippers began tracking dead leaves through the snow and she was finally forced to sacrifice what little warmth her feet had been retaining.  Now barefoot in the cold, Faith hoped all this would be over soon, and she could retreat to the comfort of home.  Reflecting back on past experiences that had been similarly unpleasant and had placed her in similar peril, Faith discovered something interesting, and rather unfortunate:  she only missed her home, or thought of it as welcome and inviting, when she was in danger.
  They hurried out of the maze and into the blazingly white landscape.  Isakj’s friend was waiting by the Inn’s front door with someone new.  Faith took the figure whose smaller stature was wrapped from head to toe in grey bandages beneath his dark cloak to be the tenth person she had sensed hiding by the hedges earlier.  Both were waving them onward anxiously, being careful not to make a noise.  Isakj sent one quick glance right, then left, and broke suddenly into a full out run.  Faith marveled at how fast he was, and sprinted to keep up.  They flew over the snow, and just as Isakj drew up alongside his friends, and Faith came skidding to halt on the patch of ice that covered the Inn’s welcome mat…the world exploded in sound.
  “Down!” Isakj shouted and shoved Faith onto the ice and snow.  She hit the ground just as something whizzed over her head.  From her prone position, she craned her neck slowly to look at the front door.  A silver-feathered dart had embedded itself in the wood just where her neck had been moments before.
  Several more darts flew towards her, and Faith had little choice but to stop them in mid air.  Isakj stared at her with visible approval and a disturbing attitude of satisfaction.  Had he been waiting for her to do something like that?  Faith’s heart pounded.  She didn’t know who to trust, or where to turn.
  The stranger with the bandages knelt down beside Faith and spoke to her over the deadened tumult of the volley of darts that were now directed at Isakj and the woman.
  “Do not fear, Faith Katona.” He placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.  “With us, you are safe.”
  Faith opened her mouth to inform him that his words fell far short of a satisfactory explanation of her predicament, but his attention had been directed elsewhere.  Twelve masked, military-looking individuals came running into view firing dart after dart from seemingly sophisticated guns.  The sun flashed off of menacing barrels and provided no aid in disclosing the identities of these new foes.  Their faces were hidden beneath tight hoods.
  Isakj had planted himself firmly in front of the woman and was taking the full brunt of the attack.  Darts fastened themselves in his neck, shoulders, and chest but he did not fall or even flinch.  He simply stood staring at the masked attackers, watching them carefully as they drew nearer and nearer behind their protective wall of uninterrupted fire.  One of them came bravely close to Isakj.  Faith saw the barely perceptible twitch of the fingers on Isakj’s left hand as they rested just above the hilt of his sword.  His face remained blank.  Then, with one swift movement the sword left its sheath.
  The man crumpled without a sound.  Faith watched in open-mouthed horror as Isakj slid his sword out of his victim’s gut and let him sink to the ground.  Everything became a blur; unreal and dream-like.  Faith was mixed up in something dark now, and she doubted she would be free of the consequences anytime soon.
  “Faron!” Isakj shouted as the rest of the attackers became vengeful for their fallen comrade.  “Now would be a good time for us to be going!”
  “Agreed.” Faron replied in a voice muffled beneath his wrappings.  He stood and began muttering to himself.  Faith caught none of the words.  She was only vaguely aware of a curious sensation in her ears; as if they had suddenly become filled with water.  The pressure increased until her eyes shed tears of pain and she realized with delirious amusement that her legs were disappearing beneath her.  The hilarity of the situation soon faded, as did Faith’s vision.  She slumped forward into the snow, and heard and saw no more.