One of the students from our school, Lovro Mršić (class 3 AT), wrote an intriguing fantasy story about two different worlds. We bring you a part of it hoping you will enjoy reading it.

Prologue

 

My mother used to tell me a story, about an ancient bond between two worlds. One was said to be rich and peaceful, but the other one was ruined by wars in its history. They didn’t know about the other world’s existence until one day a man crossed from one world to another. It was believed he was the original Dreamer, one of very few that crossed to the other world when he closed his eyes and wished to cross over. He helped both worlds until people found out what he really was.

They started hunting him down in Marugathia, the peaceful world and when they finally found him he finished the Dividing ritual. The most sacred ritual of all, it shattered his power into million pieces and sent it all over the world to different people.

People on Runemeraz, the ruined world, didnt know what had happened to their saviour and they felt desperate that he had abandoned them.

The story ends with these words: “The Dreamers will appear again, and they will finally unite two worlds in true prosperity and peace.”

I’m Jake and if you haven’t figured it out yet I live in Marugathia, and the so- called rich and peaceful world is not what it is represented for. Throughout the years it became like a prison, people started disappearing, and the word “Dreamers“ was forbidden and feared.

When my mother disappeared all that I found was an amulet and a note, not a long one but rather very short. It said:

“Son, they finally came for me, open the amulet and you will learn everything.”

I didn’t open it right away, I was a little scared so I hid it away. Like all the other people I was scared of what that amulet could tell me. It could tell me what I didn’t want to hear, it could tell me I’m one of them, that I’m a Dreamer.

 

Chapter 1 – The Birthday

 

That morning I woke up to a gentle summer breeze, everything was peaceful. I didn’t want to get out of the bed, I was too tired of working late last night at the ice cream shop. I mean, what kind of people eat ice cream at two in the morning?!?! Drunk people I guess, but who could know. I took the amulet mom gave me in my hand and just looked at it for a moment, then I said to myself: “Not yet, not yet my friend!” Someone knocked on the door.

“Jake, are you awake?” my sister Laureen asked.

“Yes, come in.” I said and sat on the bed.

She opened the door and she looked better than ever. Her deep green eyes reminded me of mom, and that messy brown hair she tries to put in a ponytail is just hilarious. She had a box in her hand, not quite a large one, from what I could tell it was some kind of a watch or something like that, small.

“I guess you know what today is?” she asked me and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Well, it’s summer so it can’t be Christmas, so I guess it’s my birthday then, right?” I just smiled at her.

She always buys me something nice for birthday, while I give her just a simple card. Last year she bought me a brand new TV. I know she is trying to replace mom, but it doesn’t work that way. But either way, I love her and I don’t know what I would do without her.

“Happy 17th birthday, you dummy!” she said and threw me the box.

“Thanks sis, but you really shouldn’t have, I mean why waste your money on me, I’m not special.” I told her and opened the box.

Inside the box there was a compas and a map, something I definately didn’t expect.

“Well, this is great!” I said sarcastically.

“You’ll need it, and by the way, I think you are more special than you can imagine.” she said and left the room.

I dressed up and took my phone, I had a lot of notifications and messages, I just scrolled to the ones I wanted to see or reply. I scrolled until I saw Julie’s message, she is the girl next door and my closest friend. The message said: “Three o’ clock, city fountain, don’t be late, and, yeah, happy birthday I guess :* ”

I looked at my watch and it showed half past one. I cleaned my room and went to eat something. My sister is awesome in kitchen, she made me my favourite dish, pancakes and chocolate topping with whipped cream. I ate it quickly and took my bag, because I was going to work again after I met up with Julie.

“Laureen, I’m going, see you later!” I yelled from the door.

“Jake, be safe and remember…” she started.

“If I see Institute people I hide and try to get to our shelter. Yeah, yeah I know, can I go now?” I asked impatiently.

“Sure, stay safe little bro!” Laureen replied.

She watched me go from the door, I turned to wave at her, but instead of a happy face she usually has, this time there was a worried and gloomy one. I have never seen her like that, I got worried about her, but Julie was waiting so with Laureen’s face locked in my memory I took off to the fountain.

 

Chapter 2 – The Kiss

 

While I was walking to the fountain, a stray dog I befriended a few years ago joined me. He was of a breed similar to Haski, and he had deep blue eyes, I named him Lex. I first met him in the little alleyway behind the shop when my ball rolled in there, and my eyes laid on this sad-looking, beaten up dog. He was not older than a year. I took him home, fed and washed him, but my mom didn’t allow him to stay because she was allergic to dogs, but nonetheless Lex came to visit us everyday and even my mother started to like him. I made him a little house just under the tree in our garden and he came there every night.

“Hey Lex, you hungry? Wanna come with me?” I asked and reached out to pet him.

He barked in acceptance and followed me. I threw him a little branch a few times and he brought it back every time. We came to the fountain a couple of minutes before Julie did, so we sat on the bench and waited for her there. It was very hot so Lex jumped into the fountain, I started to laugh when a guard came and started yelling at us. I quickly called Lex and ran off. As we took a turn behind a building, we bumped into Julie.

“Ouch! You two just can’t stay out of the trouble, can you?” she asked and laughed.

“Well, you know the two uf us.” I said .

“Anyway, happy birthday, here I bought you a gift, nothing much but it is nice, I guess.” she said and gave me a little box.

I opened it and found a dog collar and a bracelet, it was a new invention.

“My dad just started manufacturing that in his factory, so I thought to get one for you and Lex. You can communicate through it, you can call him wherever you are.” she said modestly.

“Wow, thanks Julie! You’re the best!” I thanked her and put the dog collar on Lex and bracelet on my left hand.

It was very stylish, the collar was deep blue, just like Lex’s eyes, and the bracelet was galaxy blue, my favourite colour. We went for a walk on the beach. The heat was becoming impossible to bear so we changed into our swimsuits and went for a swim. The water was awesome, it cooled us off a little, but it was still very hot, it was one of the hottest summers ever. We laid on the sand and watched the sky.

“Jake, I have something to tell you, the real reason why I wanted us to go to this secluded place on the beach.” she said and sat next to me.

“What is it?” I asked her.

“Could you promise me you won’t tell anyone?” she was worried, I saw that in her look.

“Of course Julie, what happened?” I was worried too, who knows what was going on.

“I’m a Dreamer, and I fear they will come to take me this evening, that’s why I wanted to spend the rest of my short life with you, the one I really love!” she said and leaned closer to me.

We kissed.

“Julie… I… I don’t know what to say, but trust me, I won’t tell a soul, your secret dies with me!” we hugged and I kept her close to me.

I didn’t go to work, my world was crushed, first mom and now my best friend… girlfriend. I was sad, but didn’t show that. We headed to our homes around eight in the evening, and while we were walking we saw the Institute in front of the old man Higgins’ house. They were dragging him out and when he saw us he started yelling.

“Those two, I saw them in the other world! They are also the Dreamers, get them too, not just me!” he yelled and kicked furiously.

We glanced at each other and started running to our homes. We said goodbyes and left each other. What if old man Higgins was right, what if I was the Dreamer? What if they came to take me too? I took Lex into our house that night, he slept in front of my bed, but I couldn’t close my eyes, I was too nervous to sleep. Was that what Laureen meant when she said that I didn’t realize I was special? She knew what I was, I needed to talk to her in the morning. I somehow managed to fall asleep and for the first time I saw the other world with my own eyes, that showed me the truth, that I, I was a Dreamer.

 

Chapter 3 – The Bunker and the Robot

 

I woke up to the sound of rain. I hated that sound, other people liked it, made them feel relaxed they said, but to me that sound was irritating and it made me nervous. Lex raised his head and looked at me with his blue eyes. We stared at each other for a few minutes, like we were talking on a higher, more spiritual level. I started to think I could understand him, that he was worried too, but he was just a dog, he couldn’t understand what I was going through, or maybe he could? Still thinking about that, I put my clothes on and left the room, but when I got to the stairs I froze. I heard voices, and what I could understand was that they were looking for Dreamers. The Institute was here.

“I live alone here, you won’t find anyone! Get out!” Laureen yelled at the men.

“We are authorized to search everything, that includes your house too, so don’t make this harder than it has to be.” a man said and took out the gun.

Laureen sat down and looked at me, she pointed to the end of the hallway with her head. I turned but the hallway was empty, then I remembered our talk about a hidden ventilation opening behind our old radiator that was not in working condition. I pulled it aside and entered the vent, the cover of the vent automatically returning to its place.

“Now I’ll ask you again, do we have permission to search the house?” another man said and raised his voice a little.

“Yeah, whatever, just please don’t hurt me… Oh, yeah, I have a dog in the last room in the house, he is rabid so I wouldn’t recommend going there.“

“Can you guarantee there isn’t anyone else in the house beside you, and that dog?” the man asked.

“Yes!” Laureen replied swiftly.

I realized it would raise suspicion if there wasn’t a sound coming from the room, but how to make a molly, spoiled dog to act rabid? Then I got an idea, Lex got upset whenever I used my dogwhistle to call him, so I took it out of my back pocket and blew in it. High pitched sound that humans can’t hear got to the room. For a second there was silence, I thought it had failed, but then Lex started trashing the room and barking so loud almost all the town could hear him.

“C’mon boys we don’t have all day! Check the house!” man yelled at his companions.

As they were climbing the stairs I counted six of them. I mean, who would take six people to one little house, why did they think Dreamers were so dangerous?

“It’s clear, boss, we can go on to the Lobe house next!” one of the grunts yelled.

Lobe? That was Julie’s last name, I had to warn her that they were coming. I took my phone out and sent her a short text. I wrote:” Institute here, your house next! RUN!”

I got her response back almost the same second, she wrote:” I’m in front of the bunker, I’ll wait there, stay safe!”

I was relieved, we both escaped the Institutes grasp, for now. After a few minutes the door closed and I heard a locking noise. Laureen ran to me and opened the vent. She pulled me out and hugged me.

“Oh gosh, thank God you woke up sooner than ever or I would lose you too, and good thinking bringing Lex here last night.” she just held me in her arms.

“Well, thank God you sat down and saw me.” I said and just smiled at her.

“We need to pack now, they’ll come back sooner or later.” she let me go and opened the door which led to her room.

“Bunker?” I asked sweeping the dust from my clothes.

“Yes, the bunker. Oh, did you bring those groceries there? And was Codd still there?” she asked me.

“Oh no, I forgot to check on Codd!” I said.

“Oh God, Jake you know that if it runs out of power we won’t be able to enter the bunker, and I really don’t want to enter it throught the vent again!” she yelled at me and pointed at the backdoor.

“Fine, I’m going, give Lex something to eat please.” I said.

I slowly opened the backdoor and left the house, the little trail led me to the forest. I got to an enormous bush and entered it. Julie was already sitting in the bush waiting for me and Laureen.

“Hello, sleepy head!” she said to me.

“Hey, bird brain.” I said and entered the password for the doors.

They opened without a problem and we entered. Codd was cleaning as usual, that robot was pretty useful, and to think that I made him out of our old car, I was such a genius. But its power didn’t last long, that’s the only problem.

“Codd, here are some groceries, and prepare three beds, we are coming here.” I said to him.

“So, it is happening, sir?” he asked and turned to face me.

“Yes, the Institute was just at my place, Laureen and I will come soon, keep Julie safe. And please stop with that sir, just call me by my name.” I said and left the bunker.

I knew Codd will keep Julie safe, and with that well hidden bunker nobody would find us without trackers placed on us. I didn’t think about anything else than our safety. Will we be safe there? Will someone find us? What will happen to us then? I just cleared my head and headed back for the house.

 

Chapter 4 – The Hidden Room

 

I entered the house only to find those man back again and this time they weren’t so kind. I crouched next to the kitchen counter and listened to their conversation.

“Now, miss…” the man started.

“Miss Newmo, Laureen Newmo!” she replied in angry voice.

“Miss Newmo, will you tell us the truth? We saw a boy living here too and the neighbors confirmed that, so where is the boy?” he sounded irritated.

“He… he isn’t here anymore, he lives with our grandparents on a little farm just outside the town, you could go check if you want to.” she just smiled.

“Boss, the room with that dog… It’s empty and it appears that miss Newmo is packing to leave.” he said and dropped her bags on the floor.

The man stood there in silence and then finally turned back to Laureen.

“I’ll give you one more chance, tell me where IS THE BOY?!” he yelled at her, and that would’t be good, for him.

“Fine, if you really want to know! He is just a traveller, he went to the market this morning to stock on supplies and just a few aminutes ago he and his rabid dog left. If you hurry up you could still catch him.” she replied.

“What? Thank you miss Newmo, we will reward you greatly. WHEN we find the boy.” he put on a crooked smile and left the house alongside his colleagues.

She just sighed when they left and looked in my direction.

“You better be more special than I think, or else I’ll skin you alive.” she said and punched me in my shoulder.

“I love you too!” I said and pushed her in the counter.

Lex appeared from the backyard with keys in his mouth, the keys from the Institute van. We laughed for a moment, but then realized we needed to go. I still had to pack some things, Laureen locked the front door and headed for the bunker while I took all my things. I opened the doors to my room, dark blue walls with light blue details I drew on them just reminded me of good old times, if there were any, that is. I pressed a small button under my desk and the stairs for the attic dropped, that was my secret that even Laureen didn’t know about. There I hid all the beautiful things I had found on the beach, forest, or any place I’d been to. In the center of the small room there was a chest with a lock on it. But I forgot the code, again.

“Damn it Jake, can’t you remember a code that short!” I said to myself.

I took the ugliest rock I found, it took me ten minutes and then I figured, I was going away, I didn’t need them anyway. I raised my hand and dropped the rock fast on the lock, it shattered and the sound was deafening. Little too loud in my opinion, so I figured I’d better take my stuff and leave. I opened the chest and put my hand inside, I took my mother’s letter, which I read over and over and a picture of my complete family, too. I missed mom tremendously, she was taken by the Institute four years ago, they said she was the Dreamer. Dad disappeared two years after mom had been taken, he was here and then the next morning he vanished. Laureen and I tried to search for him, but we couldn’t find him. We hadn’t heard of him since then.

Finally, I took out the amulet mom gave me, that gold plated, oval shaped amulet that brought me chills every time I took it in hand, but I hadn’t opened it yet, I was a little scared. Althought I knew what I was, it caused me pain to confirm it. That amulet could bring pain to both me and Laureen, not to mention Lex and Julie.

I sat there in silence for a while, I lost the sense of time. Then I heard footsteps in the house.  Not again, not again. I thought to myself. I jumped to the door and pressed the button that was right next to from where I came through. I tried to count the footsteps, trying to figure out how many people  there were.

“Jake, you here?” Josh yelled.

Josh was one of my closest friends, but I didn’t want to answer, it felt ominous. Someone was whispering to him, and they were in my room, just below me. I waited, waited and waited. After three hours they finally left the house.

I opened the doors and jumped down, left the house with the speed of light and entered the woods. I ran all the way to the bunker and when I got inside I just crashed on the bed.

“I won’t even ask.” Laureen said and turned on the other side of her bed.

I looked around, Lex was sleeping in front of my bed, Codd entered his power saving sleep, which was usually from ten in the night to six in the morning. What troubled me was that Julie wasn’t in her bed, I checked the bunker and she was nowhere to be seen. I just hoped she was okay, and if she wasn’t that was probably my fault because she most likely went searching for me. If something happened to her, my heart would break. When I have already slumbered away, I crossed to the other world, Runemeraz. Not for long, but for a few moments. There I saw Julie’s lifeless body lying in the middle of the road, fully covered in blood.

 

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If you want to read more about what will happen next, go to https://www.wattpad.com/story/59634543-dreamers and find out for yourself.

 

Edited by: Sanja Bura, February 2017

Illustrated by: Martina Dorić and Sara Kurnoga (class 3D)