I grit my teeth against the pain, telling myself it's not real, and focus on following Jake through the black hole. Before I realize it, my feet are sinking into soft sand. The air is full of brine and the sound of waves crashing overwhelms my senses. I blink hard, trying to adjust my vision. Soon a purple-hued sunset fingers across the horizon. I'm at a beach and the view is literally breathtaking.
I sink to my knees, expecting the pain from the Receptor's marks to still be raging through me, but the pain has vanished as if it never existed. The fall or the transition must have refocused my brain from the supposed poison to the danger of falling.
But where is Jake?
I rise back up and spin until I spy him sitting on a lounge, typing frantically on his computer. This place looks familiar. It's an unsettling feeling since I've never actually been to the same place as one of our dreamers. The memories rush back to me. It's the Surfside Resort and Spa.
Except I'm here to save my dad, I remind myself. And I'm supposed to get Jake to do something. Or maybe that's not it at all. I ball my hands into fists, frustrated with my inability to think clearly in this Dreamscape.
"Jake." I hurry to him.
"Hey, you." His computer vanishes and he holds out his hands.
"No healing ointment for me?" I tease.
He frowns, clearly confused, which tells me that his brain has already forgotten the last dream segment. The overwhelming urge to be near him overcomes me. I sink into his lap, straddling him on the lounge. His arms wrap around me and I feel so safe, the worries of the world forgotten. Our lips meet and he kisses me deeply. My hands comb through his hair while he runs his palms over my body, giving me goosebumps.
"I don't ever want to leave," I whisper into his ear.
"I could stay here forever."
This drags me back to reality and I slide off him remembering Carol who got lost in a dream and how we were worried her mind would never leave the dream. I blink, desperately trying to focus on why I was here again.
My dad.
Jake and my friends.
Captured. It was Dr. Reasner who sent me into this dream to see if Jake was worth keeping around. I have to get Dr. Reasner the codes to prove we're all worth keeping.
"What is it?" Jake asks.
Lightly, I caress the side of Jake's face. How much can I tell him without throwing him out of the dream? Except Reasner's Dreamscape replicates reality so well that even I keep finding it hard to even believe this is a dream and not reality.
"Dr. Reasner wants you to give him a code that will get him into the Federal Reserve's system."
Jake frowns, clearly not happy with this. "And you want me to give him this?" He shifts, studying me. "Are you one of his spies?"
"No! He needs the codes so he can see how useful you are. If you're not useful, he'll kill you. We have to prove to him that we aren't dispensable."
"He's crazy, you know. Like certifiable. I know this sounds weird, but I don't know if I can trust you. Or even myself. Wait a second." He looks around, sitting up. "Is this a dream?"
The breeze kicks up into a heavy wind and the waves grow larger, crashing against the surf and spraying us. This isn't good. I need to keep Jake in this Dreamscape.
"Yes." I tense and my brain flies, trying to solve this. "This is the Dreamscape like the ones we've entered before. Dr. Reasner sent us both here and even now he can see what we see through the video feed. His crew might even have someone that can lip read."
"That's reassuring."
"They have captured us and my dad, too. Somehow we've got to figure out a way to give him what he wants and still stay alive."
He frowns, rubbing the side of his face, thinking. "Okay. But how?"
"I know this seems weird, but this Dreamscape feels too real to me. Almost like you can't ever escape."
"Which means the coding for this Dreamscape is slightly different."
"Exactly," I note. "And also, there haven't been opportunities for fading, and look at how long we are sitting here and chatting. It's like it's real."
"Perhaps they've created a simulation that adds to the boundaries the Dreamer has imagined. These technicians on the outside could then control when Dream Walkers leave or don't leave, which means no fading for you."
"And that a person could experience death and believe it. Theoretically, if a mind believes it's dying, it will die."
"That's morbid," he says.
"Reasner has created something very wrong here. It's no wonder he's having a hard time finding Dream Walkers. He keeps killing them because he won't allow them to fade."
"He's probably testing the coding."
"Or how strong the human brain can be." I stare out at the ocean and an idea forms in my mind. "I have a plan."
"Uh-oh." He lifts his eyebrows skeptically.
"It's a wild, dangerous, and probably very bad idea. But it's something."
I take his hand, and holding his palm close to my chest, I finger-write my message. This way the people watching the Dreamscape won't be able to figure out what I'm saying to him by lip-reading or listening to me.
"Yeah," he says. "That could work. It should work if I can prep it correctly."
Movement from the corner of my vision shifts my focus away from Jake. Three figures dressed in white button-down shirts and white shorts, wearing dark shades stride down the beach, heading directly to us. There's something odd about the way they walk, the way their hair is perfectly slicked back, and their undivided focus on Jake and me.
"Those are Dream Walkers." I rise to my feet.
"You sure? Because they look very official."
I take Jake's hand and pull him toward me. "Don't you see it? They look too clear. Their images aren't as blurred around the edges like they would be in a real dream. I think...Reasner didn't like my writing trick."
Instead of running away, Jake steps toward the strangers, hands in his pockets, relaxed. "Hey. Can I—"
But the man in the center interrupts Jake and looks at me, saying, "Dr. Reasner says he's not happy with your actions."
"I'm trying to get Reasner his codes," I explain.
The man doesn't even hesitate. He withdrawals a gun, aims it at me, and before I can even think, he shoots.