Typhon's Revenge

Chapter Twenty-One

EARTH

Aileen had been much better that afternoon and I was surprised to see that after Andrew and I had been so worried about her. What was worse was that Alex had noticed and had confronted Andrew about it. That night, I had tried to explain everything I knew to her. I knew she was probably also worried. 

When I was done explaining, I could still see the questioning look in her eyes and I knew she had been left with more questions than answers. Another reason why I hadn't wanted to tell her. 

But we didn't push the subject. She went to bed after I explained what I knew and I did the same. Inside my room, Andrew was already snoring softly as he dreamt. I knew he was dreaming by the way his body would suddenly bolt to the side and small whimpers would escape his lips. 

It must be a very intense dream, I thought to myself as I took my pajamas and headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed. 

Once I was back in the room, I got into my bed and closed my arms as I felt the comforting warmth of the blanket around me. A small smile appeared on my face as I started to relax and doze off. I wasn't sure what time it was but I knew I should probably try to sleep as much as I could. 

I closed my eyes and let out one last breath, feeling sleep so close. 

Then suddenly, I heard Andrew get up and let out a loud scream. I jumped and bolted to my feet as I looked for a threat. Whatever it was, it had scared Andrew. But when I turned, I saw nothing but Andrew's silhouette as he took in fast, ragged breaths.

Reaching for the lamp, I turned on the light and my eyes widened when I saw Andrew sweating and panting. His skin was sickly pale and his eyes looked haunted. It was as if he had seen a ghost.

"Andrew?" I asked slowly, wanting to get his attention but not wanting to scare him. 

He jumped at the sound of my voice and turned to me with wide eyes. "What's wrong?" I asked a short while after as I looked all around the room. I still couldn't figure out why he was sweating so much if he hadn't been covered by blankets nor was the room hot. 

He shook his head as he stared at me and he opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before finally saying something. "Is this real? Are you real?" He asked in bewilderment and I raised an eyebrow in confusion. Was he serious? Did he still think he was sleeping?

Slowly, I nodded my head and sat down on the edge of my bed, right in front of him. "Of course I'm real. Why? What happened?" I asked unsurely and Andrew's eyebrows creased together in confusion.

"I-, I don't know. I guess I must have been dreaming but... I can't seem to remember what I was dreaming about," he whispered and I tensed. That didn't sound good.

"It must have been quite a dream. You were fidgeting and turning and mumbling things I couldn't understand. Have you ever experienced something like that before?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Not that I can recall. It's weird though. I must have been dreaming of something happening in this room if I woke up and thought you were part of the dream. I wonder what it could have been," he said mostly to himself than to me. Then, he straightened and looked at me with an idea in mind. I could tell by the way his eyes seemed to brighten. 

"Do you know if you can access my mind? My thoughts or dreams with your healing abilities?" He asked with an insistent gaze.

I stiffened and frowned. "I'm not sure. I can't say I have tried it before nor am I sure it's possible."

Andrew shrugged and sighed, "I think it's worth a try. For some reason, the dream feels like it was something important. Maybe a message of some sort."

"Well then, let's give it a try," I said with a slight smile as I rubbed my hands together, trying to call out my healing abilities. My hands began to glow slightly in a golden shimmer and warmth and tingles coursed through me as the glow expanded. 

I reached forward and placed my hands on each side of Andrew's head without touching him. "Are you ready?" I asked.

He nodded his head confidently and I cupped his head between my hands. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate. I wasn't sure how my powers worked but I knew I had to close my eyes to see what was going on. I knew it sounded strange but when I placed my hands on Andrew's head, I could see everything inside him. It all moved so fast, I could see all of his vessels and organs as my powers scanned his body for any sign of illness. I knew I wasn't looking for anything like that, but I wanted to make sure Andrew's dream had nothing to do with something else. 

But he was healthy. There was nothing physically wrong with him and I quickly returned my focus to his head. I could see his brain in my mind as I approached it with my powers. Everything looked fine, and nothing felt out of the ordinary.

I wasn't sure what I was doing when I touched his brain with my powers. Nothing happened. The only thing that changed was that I felt Andrew relaxing under my touch. I frowned as I pushed harder, trying to make out any sign of memories or dreams. But there was nothing. At least nothing I could see. 

I tried again once more, just to be sure that I wasn't messing up. But still, everything stayed the same. 

I sighed and shook my head as I pulled my hands away and opened my eyes. Andrew was looking at me expectantly. but I could tell he had already begun to lose hope.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing. I don't think my powers can access that part of yourself. Apparently, I can only heal, not see," I said with a shrug and he nodded his head.

"It's alright. Then I guess we'll have to go with plan B," he said with a shrug and I tilted my head to the side in confusion.

"Plan B? What's plan B?" I asked slowly and Andrew looked at me with a slight frown.

"We're going to need to find the Gods of Dreams," he said simply and I raised an eyebrow.

"Woah, hold on. There are gods for that?" 

Andrew chuckled and shook his head in amusement before looking at me. "Yeah, there are. There are three actually and they all live down here in the Underworld. The Oneiroi is what they're called. They're demon0like creatures with wings. I've never seen them but I have read books about them and Barbara once described them to Aileen and me when we were studying the creatures of the Underworld," he explained with a shrug.

I looked at Andrew briefly, before shaking my head and chuckling. "Hold on. Let's not jump to anything. We just got here, we need to train and we shouldn't go off on our own. I think that by now all of the creatures in the world know of our existence so we shouldn't go without the others nor leave with them yet since we're all not properly trained. Let's just wait, talk things through with the others and who knows, maybe you'll have another dream explaining everything again. Why is this dream so important that we have to know what it was now at... 1:30 am?"

Andrew chuckled and shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know. It's just a feeling. I know that there was something in the dream that we're supposed to know. All I can remember was that someone said the name Typhon and that's it. I felt a malignant presence in my mind and the next thing I knew was that I woke up screaming."

Nodding my head, I sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, letting my powers flow through him. His body relaxed even more and I could now see that the worry that had been present in his eyes had now turned to exhaustion. 

I pulled away and said, "I understand. I do. But we should get some sleep. It won't do anyone any good if we keep ourselves awake all night. Try to sleep, I've ordered your body to relax so soon you'll fall as if you were paralyzed and by then you should keep everything that is keeping you awake at bay."

Andrew nodded his head and I saw his arm fall to the side before he groaned and his eyes widened in discomfort. "This feels weird," he said and I chuckled. 

Slowly, he moved back and struggled to get under the blankets before one of his legs gave out from under him and he cursed in a low voice. 

"Here, let me help," I said as I got off the bed and helped him crawl inside the blankets. By the time he was all covered, only his face still had the ability to move.

"Night, Andrew," I said as I turned off the lamp and got into my bed.

The last thing I heard as I got under the covers was Andrew's small voice saying, "Nig-," until he could no longer move.

I sighed and closed my eyes, feeling the exhaustion returning. A yawn escaped my mouth as I closed my eyes. This time, I fell asleep in an instant.

...

The next morning, the alarm clock was blaring and I groaned. It felt as though I had only closed my eyes for a second. How was I supposed to get up when I still felt this tired? 

Shaking my head and without looking at the clock, I reached back to turn it off. A moment later, the ringing stopped and I sighed in relief as I let relax.

I'll just stay like this for a couple of seconds. I need to rest my eyes a little longer and when Andrew gets up, so will I, I convinced myself in my mind.

When I opened my eyes again, the room was no longer dark like it had been the last time I opened my eyes. Instead, the light was streaming warmly through the window and I yawned as I stretched and turned around to face the clock. 

Instantly, my eyes widened as I read the numbers on the screen. 7:44 am.

I had slept in. 

Looking at the bed on the other side, my eyes widened, even more, when I noticed Andrew was still sleeping as well. He was snoring softly as he laid with his back towards me. Cursing in my mind, I got up and quickly nudged Andrew awake. 

He groaned and waved me off and I rolled my eyes before touching his arm and sending a jolt of adrenaline throughout his body. He gasped as he felt the sensation of bursting with energy and he quickly turned to face me with wide eyes. 

"Don't do that again, it felt horrible," he said as he rubbed his eyes and sat up on his bed.

"Sorry. It's the only way I thought you would wake up," I said with a shrug and he turned to look at me. 

Then his eyes seemed to fix on the window behind me and I watched as his body stiffened. "What time is it?" He asked slowly. 

"It's 7:50 am," I responded and his face seemed to pale. 

"What?!" He said in surprise as he looked at the clock and then groaned. 

"Aileen is going to kill us," he said in a whisper and I chuckled. She definitely was.

After all these weeks of knowing Aileen, I knew she liked to have everything in order and planned. Not being able to follow a schedule was something that really set her off. 

"Let's not worry about that now. We need to get ready for breakfast and we'll explain everything to them," I said with a shrug as I walked into the closet and found something casual to wear.

A couple of minutes later, Andrew and I were rushing down the steps and through the halls as we made our way towards the dining room. We had knocked on the girls' doors but no one had answered so we assumed they had already gone to breakfast. 

Andrew was slightly tense as he walked whereas I kept myself calm. I could already feel Aileen's frustration on the other side of our connection. Even if she hadn't reached out, I knew she wanted me to know she was annoyed by us, or else she wouldn't have kept our connection open.

When we reached the dining room, I walked in first and the room went quiet as the three girls looked at us with neutral expressions on their faces.

"You guys are late," Aileen said, breaking the silence. 

I turned to look at her and smiled. "Good morning to you too, cuz."