Spliced

“Falco!” Indi yelled.

The others peered desperately over the edge, except Tanya who sat against the corridor wall and didn’t have the energy.

“Falco?” Wolf called down into the darkness then held up a hand at the others in a gesture to be quiet.

Nobody said anything.

Wolf stepped back a moment later. “Did anyone hear anything?”

There was nothing but shakes of the head.

“Falco?” Indi yelled again then she turned back to the others. “Maybe he managed to stop before the bottom.”

Amanda nodded a little too quickly. Her lips were pushed together.

“He has to be fine.” Indi said in a desperate attempt to convince herself.

“I’m sure he is,” Wolf agreed with a nod that was also a little too quick.

“He fell at least 50 metres, there’s no way . . .” Zephyr trailed off once he caught the look Wolf was giving him.

“He’s a Flyer!” Indi turned on Zephyr angrily, but Wolf stepped forward between them and held out his hands to calm Indi down.

“He has to be fine . . . right?” she looked pleadingly at Wolf.

Wolf nodded. “Listen, I thought I heard a splash before. Maybe it’s not that far down and he landed in the deep water.”

“You think so?”

“I don’t know but maybe.”

Wolf glanced over Indi’s shoulder at Amanda who seemed to be staring off into space. He frowned.

“What if he’s unconscious?” Indi asked. “We need to get down there.” Indi pulled herself out of Wolf’s hands and moved towards the Splice hole as if to jump.

The quick movement jerked Amanda out of her head. She blocked Indi’s way. “Whoa! What are you doing?”

“I’ve got a shield. I can jump.” Indi insisted.

Amanda opened her mouth to object. “No . . .”

“Please, he might be injured.”

“Hold on” Wolf reached for Indi’s arm to keep her from jumping. “Just think about it a second.”

“I was fine when the floor collapsed earlier.”

“No way. I’m not letting you jump off there.” Amanda stood blocking her way. “I let Falco jump and I shouldn’t have. I’m not letting you jump too.”

“Falco wanted to jump. This isn’t your fault.”

“Yes it is. I suggested it. I encouraged him. We’ll figure out something else.”

“No” Indi shook her head. “He wanted to help, and he might be in trouble, he might be hurt. I encouraged him to too, and if someone doesn’t get down there...”

“How will you get back up?” Wolf asked.

“I... I don’t know.”

“How will we even know you’re okay?” Amanda asked

“I’ll yell?”

“Could be very deep,” Wolf replied.”

“Assuming Falco’s okay, maybe we can fly back up.”

Amanda shook her head.

“Please Amanda.”

“I think, I just think we need a plan first. Okay?”

“I’ve got a whistle on my key ring” Tanya offered from her spot on the floor.

“That’ll work” Indi replied reaching for it. “I’ll try not to lose your keys.”

“Couldn’t you throw a fireball down there and see how far it goes?” Wolf asked Amanda.

“Indi’s eyes widened “What if she hit Falco?”

Amanda shook her head. “It’s fine Wolf.”

“You’ll let me jump?” Indi asked.

Amanda pushed her lips together tightly. “I’m not sure about this.”

“It’s my decision.”

Amanda gave a nod and stepped to the side. “Just be careful.”

“This is the stupidest plan ever,” Wolf added, but he didn’t try to stop her.

“It’s not stupid if it works.” Indi replied with a smile.

“Do you know Morse code?” Amanda asked.

Indi nodded.

“Okay. Use the whistle if needed.”

“Or just one long blow once you’re down and safe, two short ones if you want us to join you, somehow, and three short ones if Falco is okay.” Wolf added.

“Yeah, that works,” Amanda replied.

“Got it,” Indi confirmed.

“You are jumping off a cliff into god knows what with . . . possibly without any way back up. Are you sure about this?” Amanda asked.

“I’ll be fine.” Indi gave a determined smile and stepped up to the edge of the ledge.

“Just . . .” Amanda began.

“I know, be careful.” Indi replied, and stepped forward off the ledge.

“I thought she was supposed to be the smart one?” Zephyr commented.

“That’s enough Zeph,” Amanda replied.

“I’m sure she’s fine.” Zephyr added.

Amanda didn’t reply. She just sat down on the ledge and waited.

Indi felt like the air form her lungs was trapped for the first brief moments as she plummeted through the air. She flailed her arms, as if it would make any difference, then realised it was so dark that she couldn’t see if or what she was about to hit. So instead of looking she just shut her eyes and shielded. It was harder than usual. She’d forgotten how much energy it took. Could she hold it for long enough? Just as she wondered that, she, with her shield fully intact splashed through the surface of water.

She retracted her shield and immediately regretted it as the force of the water hit her from all sides. She felt her glasses get knocked off. That wasn’t good, she was blind as a bat without them. She recreated her shield but now it was filled with water. It didn’t matter, at least she knew her glasses were inside it, somewhere. She shrunk it carefully and as quickly as she dared. She felt out in the suffocating darkness and found their familiar shape, grabbed then, then collapsed the shield again. Now she just needed to find the surface.

Hands grabbed at her ankles and pulled. She tried to yelp but she was underwater and just got a mouth full of it instead. It didn’t taste like water, it had more of a spicy taste, like a strange soup, one that was familar somehow. The hands worked their way up her body, getting a better hold. She tried to shield again and found she couldn’t. It was too much energy. Everything fell out of focus. The whole world faded away.

The next thing Indi could remember was waking up on the hard stone floor then rolling over on her side and coughing up a large amount of red coloured water.

“The sleeper awakes,” a voice drawled from nearby.

Confused, Indi pushed herself upright and looked around.

The first thing she saw was Cat, sitting against a corridor wall, watching her. There wasn’t much light in the corridor, just barely enough to see by. It seemed to be coming from further down the hall.

“Cat?” Indi asked. As she spoke she noticed Kass sitting just behind Cat.

“Hey nerd,” Cat replied.

It took Indi a few more seconds to register the lump lying at Cat’s feet. “Falco!” she exclaimed as she scrambled over to him.

Falco groaned. “Indi?” he murmured softly.

“I’m here,” she replied, reaching out to touch his shoulder gently.

“Take it easy,” Cat cautioned. “You just woke up. Where’s Tanya?”

“Is he okay?” Indi asked still worried about Falco.

Another, deeper, voice spoke from behind Indi. “I think he’s got some broken ribs, and there’s the bite on his side, but otherwise he seems okay.”

Indi turned to see Sirius. “Whoa, what happened to you?”

Sirius was coated in blood from head to foot.

“Look at yourself,” he replied.

Indi looked down and found she mirrored Sirius’s bloody look.

“The water” he added “it’s not water.”

“Oh right, that explains the taste,” Indi made a face. She didn’t mind the taste. In fact she kind of liked it, but she just couldn’t get past the idea of it.

Sirius nodded.

Cat raised an eyebrow.

“Wh . . . how did you guys find one another? How did you get here” Indi felt her head spin so she moved so she could lean against the wall. She rubbed her face with her hands.

“We could ask you the same thing.” Cat replied.

Indi suddenly remembered “oh the keys! I dropped them in the water . . . I mean blood. I was supposed to blow the whistle. How long have I been out?”

“Calm down.” Cat told her gruffly.

“A few minutes,” Sirius replied.

“I have to let them know I’m okay. I have to let them know Falco’s okay, and they’ll be looking for you guys, Wolf and Amanda were gonna . . .”

“Amanda’s up there?” Sirius asked.

“Yes, and they’ll be worried, and I need the keys to . . .”

“Indi! Relax would you, you’re giving me a headache,” Cat clutched one hand to her temple.

“Pretty sure Cat’s got a concussion,” Kass explained.

Cat just shot them all dirty looks.

“You need the keys?” Sirius asked for confirmation. He glanced back to the pool of liquid that he’d pulled Indi and Falco out of.

Indi nodded.

Sirius gave a nod of understanding in return and started back towards the pool.

“Hold it!” Cat said

Sirius stopped, pointed at the pool, and opened his mouth to explain. Cat interrupted him before he could say anything.

“You don’t know how deep that pool is. They’ve probably sunk already. You just need to whistle right?”

Indi nodded.

Sirius’s eyebrows both raised in understanding and he took on a sheepish look.

“Exactly!” Cat replied seeing that he got it now, then seeing Indi’s confused expression explained “Sirius can whistle. So can I, but you’re already over there.” She waved a hand in Sirius’s direction.

“Right!” Indi exclaimed happily. “I was supposed to give one long whistle if I was down, two short ones if I needed help, three short ones if Falco was fine.”

Sirius nodded and turned back toward the pool.

“That’s not going to sound the same,” Kass said. “as the whistle you had. How will they be sure it’s you and not a mimic?”

Cat groaned and leaned her head back against the wall a little too fast. “Ow!” She grabbed the back of her head and rubbed it as she replied to Kass. “Why would a mimic imitate whistling? They usually do voices or crying.”

“I’m just saying they might wonder why she’s not using the whistle.”

“They’ll probably assume she dropped it, which is exactly what happened,” Cat shot back.

“Amanda suggested Morse code,” Indi replied.

“That’ll work,” Sirius replied. He stepped out to the edge of the pool, placed two fingers in his mouth, and gave a string of short and long whistles.

Dah, dit, dah, dit. dit, dah. dah.

He waited a few seconds and then repeated the same message again.

“What’d you say?” Cat asked.

Sirius just gave her a smile and stared back up the hole, waiting.

Amanda bolted up right. “Did you hear that?”

“That didn’t sound right” Zephyr observed.

“She didn’t use the signal we agreed on,” Wolf observed.

“It is Morse code though,” Amanda replied.

“What’d it say?” Zephyr asked.

“I didn’t catch it,” Wolf replied.

Amanda shook her head, and then put her finger to her lips as another string of whistles came up from the deep. This time she focused.

“What’d it say?” Zephyr asked.

“Mmm, N . . . something . . .” Wolf frowned “I missed it again.”

“C” Amanda corrected.

“Yeah . . . I know,” Wolf sighed. “I just need one more listen.”

“No” Amanda explained excitedly “C, the letter was C, then A, then T, as in C A T for Cat. That’s what it said.”

“Why would she spell . . .” Wolf started and stopped as he realised what it meant. “No?”

“She found Cat,” Zephyr finished for him.

“Down there?” Wolf was sceptical.

“We should whistle back.” Amanda said.

Wolf nodded. “You know how?”

“Or howl back” Amanda suggested with a grin. “but no, I can whistle, almost as well as Sirius can,” her smile faded bit.

“Howling might be a bit loud” Tanya replied. She nodded towards the roof. “I’m surprised no one’s noticed the whistles”

Amanda nodded, her expression shifting more serious. “What message should I send back?”

“Something short,” Wolf suggested.

“Send an R” Tanya added.

Amanda’s smile returned and she nodded. She placed two fingers between her lips and whistled back dit dah dit.

“They heard us,” Indi smiled, getting to her feet and rushing out to the edge. “That’s an R.”

“R for received.” Sirius was grinning like a madman.

“Great,” Cat replied sarcastically “Now what?”

“Can’t you be happy for just a moment? We’re all together again.” Indi told Cat.

“All of us?” Kass asked.

Indi nodded. “Even Tanya.”

“And we’ve got a way out, up this hole,” Sirius added.

“We do? Cause I don’t see one. We’re not really together if they’re up there and we’re down here with no way up,” Cat replied.

“We’ve got a flyer,” Indi said nodding to Falco who lay on the ground, conscious but trying not to do much, since any movement hurt like a bitch and made the world go fuzzy.

“Some flying he did before, and it doesn’t quite look like he’s up for it now either,” Cat replied.

Indi sat down next to Cat and wrapped her arms around Cat in a hug. “We’ll figure something out.”

Cat scowled but her expression eventually softened.

Indi got to her feet again. “Okay, what are our options?”

“It’s not too high to jump,” Sirius replied. “If Tanya could come down,” he motioned at Falco “Maybe she could heal him.”

“Tanya’s injured herself, I don’t know if she’d have enough energy. How high is it anyway?”

“About 40 metres. Not exactly safe but . . .” Sirius trailed off thinking.

Indi gave a smile. “Zeph thought it was at least 50 metres.”

Sirius shrugged. “Well it’s dark, it’s hard to estimate. I couldn’t even see the ledge until you jumped.”

“You saw me jump?”

Sirius nodded. “Right after I pulled Falco out.”

“Sorry, I must have made that hard. Pulling me out.”

Sirius shrugged. “You didn’t shield.”

“Well, I did,” Indi held her hands out and looked at them, remembering how hard that last shield had been. They were shaking. She hadn’t noticed that before either. In fact her whole body was shaking. Feeling faint again she sat down.

“Well you weren’t as hard as Cat to pull out,” Sirius replied.

Indi looked at him in confusion. She tried not to think about how tired and ill she felt.

Cat sent him a glare but turned her attention quickly back to Indi. “You’re shaking?” she observed.

“I’m fine, I’m just tired. A lot of shielding,” she explained.

Cat studied her with a concerned look.

Indi turned her own attention back on Falco, resting her hand gently on him.

“So how are we going to get up there?” Kass asked.

“What did you send before?” Cat asked Sirius.

“I spelt your name.”

“What! Why?”

“It’s short, non-standard, and recognisable. Hey Kass, you think you could lift us up?”

“Are you kidding?” Kass looked terrified.

“You managed a whole ceiling before.”

“Amanda said she had a rope in her bag,” Indi told them.

“Yeah,” Sirius nodded. “But not a very long one, 15 metres, and that’s . . .” he peered up the Splice hole, “about 20, 25 metres to top form the ledge, and 30 to 40 from us to them.”

“Maybe there’s a map, on their computers” Cat suggested. “If Kass lifts Indi with her shield that should be safe enough. Even if you fling her into the ceiling.”

Indi wasn’t sure she could shield anymore. Kass looked to be considering it though so Indi didn’t mention that.

Falco murmured something indecipherable.

“He speaks!” Cat exclaimed with a smile and dash of sarcasm. “What’s he saying?”

Kass leaned nearer to Falco. “What was that?” she asked him.

Falco mumbled something again then closed his eyes, his brows were knitted together in pain.

“Sounded like ‘no,’” Kass said.

Cat rolled her eyes. “Any other ideas.”

“What’s wrong with that one?” Sirius asked.

Cat just shot Indi an expectant look, one eyebrow raised.

“I’m not sure I can shield anymore.” Indi explained. “But we could try it anyway. I’m sure Kass can get me to the top safely. Shield or no shield, and if I really need it . . . maybe I’ll be able to.”

Kass looked worried again.

“We should at least send a message back up,” Cat said.

Sirius nodded.

“They don’t know you’re down here.” Indi told Sirius. “They might be waiting to hear back but they also might decide to go looking for you.”

Sirius nodded, thought for a few seconds. “I know what to send.” He stood at the edge of the blood water and whistled again.

Dah dah dit dah. Dit dah dit. Dit dit dit dah.

“Q R V?” Indi asked.

“Are you ready,” Sirius explained. “It’s Q code, amateur radio. Wolf and Amanda know a bit of it. I know they know that anyway.”

A moment later the same string of whistles sounded down the hole.

Sirius smiled. He whistled back.

Dit dah dah dah, dit dit dah, dah dah, dit dah dah dit, dah dah dah dit dit, dah dah dah dit dit, dit dit dit.

He turned around and motioned to Kass. “Kass come here.”

Kass started to move then stopped. “What? Why?”

“You’re gonna slow them, as they jump.”

Kass opened her mouth wide and shook her head.

“Come on,” Sirius encouraged. "No choice. I’ve told them to jump.”

Kass was still shaking her head with a terrified look on her face, but she moved over to where Sirius stood anyway.

“But Tanya’s injured,” Indi protested. “They won’t jump with her.”

“They will,” Sirius replied.

“How can you be so sure?” Cat asked.

“I can’t do this,” Kass protested.

“Yes you can,” Sirius replied placing his hands on her shoulders. “You did it earlier.”

Kass shook her head but they both stared expectantly up at the ledge.

Wolf and Amanda listened intently to the message.

“Was that 8 8 S? Wolf asked “J U M P 8 8 S? Did I mess that last bit up?”

“No,” Amanda shook her head. She was grinning like a mad thing. “Remember radio code? It’s short for ‘love and kisses’. 8 8 S, love and kisses , S. S for . . .” she trailed off, questioning if she was right, afraid to say it out loud.

“Sirius?” Wolf finished for her.

Amanda nodded, but she still looked uncertain with a hesitant smile. “What else could it be?”

Wolf thought for a moment then shook his head.

“He said jump.” Amanda reminded him. “Indi survived.”

Wolf looked unsure.

“He wants us to jump off there?” Zephyr asked incredulously.

Amanda nodded and made a decision. “Okay, I’ll jump. You guys wait. If you hear a ‘yes’ once I’m down then you follow, a ‘no’ then wait here.”

“And anything else in between?” Wolf asked, reminding her of the other possible outcomes.

Amanda hesitated. “Then you forget about me and you get out of here.”

“How long do we wait?” Wolf asked.

“Tanya won’t be able to jump, even if there’s water at the bottom,” Zephyr added, “and that’s not a short fall I can tell that much.”

“Short enough if he says jump.” Amanda replied.

“If it’s Sirius.” Wolf pointed out.

“What else would Indi mean, if it’s not Sirius? I know my radio code, 88, it’s love and kisses, at least I know that much. And it’s not something a mimic would send.”

“Assuming we got it right. Even then, it could be someone else. Zephyr’s right too though, Tanya can’t make that jump.”

“Indi’s down there. She survived.”

“I don’t think her shield would protect you from the impact if she was able to summon one. I’ve never seen her do something like that. Maybe herself, but another person?”

“She protected them when they fell earlier.”

“You sure that was her?” Wolf asked.

Amanda was quiet for a moment. “And Kass is probably down there too, if Cat is,” she added.

“You don’t know that,” Tanya said.

“Could you try light up the walls?” Wolf asked. “Not throw a fireball but just have it creep down the sides. It wouldn’t hit anyone then, probably, and the whistle didn’t sound that far down.”

Amanda peered over the edge and nodded. “Okay.” She focused on lighting the walls. It was much easier to fix fire to a thing than to have it burn in space. She could light up the air but it was much harder to control. She didn’t like sending her flames too far away either. Maybe if it was small, not too hot? She pushed with her mind and the fire reached out into the middle of the well. It fell. It was hard to stop it. But it was small. If it hit anyone hopefully it would just be like being hit by an ember. It travelled several metres and then it went out. Was that a reflective surface? She couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t so far away though. Jumpable, maybe. She didn’t want to light the whole thing up without knowing what was down there first, not with a large amount of fire anyway. Maybe a few more smaller embers.

She created a couple dozen spread out across the hole. She made them just hot enough that they should burn out near the bottom. They fell and then faded. Not quite bright enough and just a little too far away. Had that been an outline of a person standing at the edge? Or just an outcrop of stone? She thought the floor seemed reflective, like a pool, but even if it was she couldn’t tell how deep it was. The distance to it however had looked jumpable but the darkness made it hard to be sure. The whistle had to be Sirius though. She just had to trust him.

“I can’t see anything. It might be water. I’m gonna jump,” she told the others.

Wolf looked worried but he didn’t object. He glanced at Zephyr.

Zephyr gave Amanda an encouraging smile. “Break a leg!”

Amanda returned the smile nervously then stood facing out towards the hole. She whistled back down.

Dah dah dah, dah dit dah.

She waited until she heard something back, the same string of sounds, and then she jumped. She jumped, feet together, and a slight bend, as if she were jumping into water. She estimated the height and length of fall but it was still hard to keep track midair. To better gauge the landing she encased her hands in bright fireballs.

“Ready?” Sirius asked Kass once he’d sent the ‘ok’ back up. Seeing the flames creeping their way down the wall before spinning out and dropping like a leaf into the pool had raised his spirits considerably. Even if Kass couldn’t do it, Amanda had jumped this height once before. She could do it again.

“No,” Kass replied but she readied herself anyway.

A moment later a figure leaped out into the well.

“Focus!” Sirius instructed Kass. “You can do it.”

Kass tried to catch the figure with her mind but it moved too fast and she didn’t want to overdo it and throw the figure upwards or sideways or twist them around.

The figure fell, all the way, hitting the water with very little splash.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t, I . . .” Kass pulled away from Sirius. She buried her face in her hands, took a few steps back, and slid down against the other wall.

Sirius watched the water, ready to leap out. He glanced upwards to check there wasn’t anyone else. “Keep an eye above.” he warned and then leaped over the edge into the pool.

A figure surfaced just as he lept. He disappeared underwater then swam hard towards them.

Moments later, he embraced a laughing Amanda.

“You’re alright!” he exclaimed then looked up. “Are the others coming?”

“They’ll wait for my signal,” Amanda replied still grinning.

“Good,” Sirius replied.

They swam back to the platform and tunnel.

Kass was sitting on the floor brushing away tears. Before anyone could say anything Amanda was almost knocked off her feet by Indi, who ran at her and hugged her tightly.

“Amanda!” Indi exclaimed in glee.

“Are the others coming?” Cat asked.

“They’re waiting,” Sirius answered before Amanda could.

“It’s good to see you too Indi,” Amanda told her with a smile as she extracted herself from the hug.

“And everyone’s okay,” Indi told her happily. She couldn’t help herself from giving Amanda another quick hug, but let go before Amanda could complain. “Well mostly,” Indi glanced back at Falco. He’d briefly opened one eye to check what was going on. From the half strained smile on his face he seemed pretty aware.

Amanda nodded with a smile then glanced down at Kass.

“You alright Kass?” she asked.

Kass nodded solemnly “I’m sorry, Sirius wanted me to slow you down but I couldn’t do it. I . . .”

Amanda glanced at Sirius.

“I . . . I figured you could probably make the jump anyway. Kass managed to lift Cat and I out of a pool earlier. I just thought it would be a good backup.”

“I was just a backup?” Kass asked. “You could have said that. I thought, I thought . . .”

“I thought if you thought it was all up to you that you’d be more able to do it.” Sirius replied.

Amanda gave Sirius a disapproving look. “What about Indi’s powers?” she asked.

“I’m pretty out of energy and I wasn’t sure that would protect you from the landing. When you’re in the shield it’s one thing but trying to make a shield around something else is a whole different story. I didn’t want to risk giving you an even harder landing.” Indi explained.

Amanda nodded. “What was that? 30? 40 metres?” she asked Sirius.

“Yeah, about that. We did higher off the Shrapfall cliffs, remember?”

Amanda laughed. “Not by much.”

“Did you fireball the water before you landed?”

“Yeah.” Amanda answered almost reluctantly, knowing it would give him a better argument.

Sirius didn’t reply. He just gave her a smug look.

Amanda gave him a disapproving one in return then knelt down next to Kass. “It wasn’t your fault. Sirius shouldn’t have put you in that position.”

Kass rubbed her face with her hands. She opened her mouth as if to say something then closed it again and just nodded.

Amanda stood back up and surveyed the group. “Right, how do we get out of here? How do we get Falco healed? I don’t think we can get Tanya down here. I better give them a whistle back.”

Sirius nodded. “What’s wrong with Tanya? Can we not figure out a way to get them all down?”

Amanda shook her head. “Tanya’s already at her healing limit I think, and that was a big jump even by my standards, Wolf might be able to do it but I don’t trust the other two, least of all someone already injured to be able to make that leap without incurring more injuries.”

“So how do we get everyone back up then?” Cat asked. Normally she’d have put a bit more effort into thinking of a plan but the whole world felt a bit out of focus since the knock to her head.

Amanda didn’t reply at first. Instead she stepped out to the edge of the water and gave a long whistle followed by a shorter one.

From his place on the floor, Falco shifted, his face contorted into an expression of pure pain. “I could, I could try, fly up to Tanya,” he offered.

“Then we’re back where we were before.” Amanda replied. “If you could manage to get up there, which is taking one hell of a risk. I shouldn’t have encouraged you to jump before.”

“But if you hadn’t we wouldn’t have found one another,” Indi replied.

“I could try bash through the ceiling?” Sirius suggested.

“I don’t think that’s helpful,” Amanda replied.

Sirius shrugged. He was out of ideas. The crazy ones were all he could think of.

“If Kass had control over her powers this wouldn’t be a problem,” Cat remarked.

“Lay off Cat,” Amanda warned.

“She’s right though,” Kass agreed solemnly. “We could solve this quite quickly if I could just . . .”

Amanda frowned, thinking of a new idea. “What about your powers Cat?”

“My powers?” Cat snorted “How would they be useful?”

“Maybe there’s someone asleep in here, close enough that we can get some information from. Maybe a map?”

“Well there’s a shot in a million, not reaching at all.” Cat replied sarcastically.

“Worth a try,” Amanda said simply.

Cat shrugged, then in an exhausted tone replied, “Sure.”

“She does have a concussion,” Kass added.

“I’ll be fine,” Cat replied. She closed her eyes and relaxed her mind until sleep took her. It wasn’t the usual type of sleep. It was more like entering another plane, one which could, to some extent, be controlled.

At first Cat stood in darkness. Then the world formed itself around her. She generally liked to keep things similar to the real world. It only worked for the parts she knew herself however, or for the parts that the person’s whose mind she was in knew. First she needed to find a mind. The closer a person was the easier it was, and of course, they had to be asleep. She felt Falco’s mind nearby. Not strongly but it was there. He must be out of it enough that pulling him into unconsciousness wouldn’t be too hard. It wasn’t his mind she wanted though. She kept searching. She walked across the pool. The surface below was no longer a well of blood. Instead she stood on concrete, as she preferred. Flying was easy in a dream. She moved upwards, all the way to the platform at the top. She searched the half the floor and found nothing. The place felt empty. Not unexpected if everyone was fully awake, yet, it seemed to be missing more than that, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what.

She dropped back down the well. There was another path she could take and she was at no risk of getting lost in this form, not in the traditional way at least. She could also travel much faster, although she would only be able to go so far from her body. She didn’t know the layout of the places she hadn’t been so she just made it up. Mostly she repeated what she’d seen already, more mossy hallways. She hadn’t gone too far when she felt it, a mind. It was a young mind which was strange. She entered it slowly. Sometimes people would notice, other times they didn’t. This one didn’t seem to flinch. It was asleep but it seemed deeper than usual. She’d once entered the dreams of a coma patient and it felt very similar to that. She let the person create their own world, and in doing so she released the hold on the one she’d built. Some minds could trap a dreamwalker, especially those of another dreamwalker, but Cat could already tell that this wasn’t one of those.

The world shifted from cold stony corridors to a meadow. White birds soured and sang in an open sky. Fluffy clouds were spattered here and there. They formed distinctive and detailed shapes, like lakes, castles and crocodiles. The grass in the meadow was golden and came up to Cat’s knees. Sitting right in the middle of it all was a young girl, about seven or eight years old, making flower chains out of buttercups.

Cat walked closer. The girl wouldn’t see her unless Cat let her. She was blonde and wore a pretty white dress like she’d been at a party. Cat wasn’t entirely sure what to do here. Dreamwalking wasn’t like Mindwalking where you could just poke around wherever. Cat could alter what the girl saw and she could talk to her if she wanted. Dreamwalking was usually much more effective when you knew the person. If information was the goal then the dreamwalker could put them in a familiar place, make them think they’re awake and that they were talking to someone they trusted. At the other end of the scale, dreamers weren’t immune to harm. Torture in the dreamworld could be quite effective. One had to be careful of course, as injuries in the dreamworld could produce injuries in the real world, and it wasn’t always a direct relationship. However, this was a child, and Cat was not about to hurt a child. She didn’t want to scare her either. So Cat reinvented herself.

She reshaped her entire figure, well not really her figure. Rather she changed what the child could see of her appearance. Instead of a tall, dark-haired woman, Cat appeared to the child like a little white rabbit. The girl looked up as the rabbit bounced over and smiled. The girl held out a hand hesitantly as if to let the rabbit sniff it. Instead the rabbit stopped and sat a few feet away.

The girl giggled “I won’t hurt you, it’s okay.”

“Thank you, that’s very kind.” the rabbit replied.

The girls’ eyes widened. “You talk?”

“Yes, I’m a dream rabbit.”

The girl looked around curiously. “This is a dream?”

“Yes, does it look like somewhere you know?”

The girl frowned and shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t really remember.”

“Are you sure? It’s not somewhere you’ve been before?”

The girl looked confused. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

“What do you last remember?”

The girl seemed even more confused now. She rubbed her eyebrows with her hands. “I don’t know, I . . . where’s my mummy and daddy?”

“They’re safe.” Cat, still in rabbit form, reassured the girl.

Often but not always people dreamed of places they had been. Sometimes the memory of a dreamer could also be a bit fuzzy. The girl seemed more confused than that though and something about the feel of this place seemed off to Cat. It made her wonder if she should retreat out of this mind. She decided to push a little bit further on.

“What’s your name?” she asked the girl.

“Lily,” the girl replied.

“Lilly, that’s a very pretty name.”

The girl nodded, she seemed unsure though.

“What’s your last name?”

“Maltov.”

“Lily Maltov. Nice to meet you Lily.”

Lily nodded, then after a moments thought asked, “do rabbit shake hands?”

The rabbit nodded. “Sometimes we do.”

Lily hesitantly held out her hand.

The rabbit held out a paw. They shook hands gently. Lily smiled and took her hand back.

“What’s your name?” Lily asked.

“Rabbit,” Cat replied, unable to think up anything better.

Lily laughed. That’s a silly name. I think we should give you another name. Maybe . . . Charles.”

“Charles,” Cat repeated. “Sure, I suppose that’ll do. Do you know where you are? Where you are sleeping?”

Lily shook her head.

“Can you remember anything?” Cat asked.

Lily shook her head again.

“That’s alright,” Cat comforted her. “Look, it was nice to meet you but I must be going now.”

“Why?”

“Very important rabbit business.”

“Will you come back later, we could play together.”

“Sure, I’ll come back later.”

Lily smiled. “It was nice to meet you Mr Rabbit, I mean Charles.” She waved good bye.

Cat’s mind made the rabbit wave as well and then hop away out of sight. Cat, began to pull herself out of the dream. She was relieved to find she had no trouble doing so. She was out and about to return back to her own body when she felt another mind nearby.

She decided to check it out. This mind was older. Maybe it would be more useful.

Cat found herself standing in the middle of a wet road. A woman was walking away from her. It wasn’t raining but the clouds were threatening. It must have rained recently though because everything had that glossy look to it and the pines that lined the road dripped small droplets of water.

Cat had always considered one of the best things about dreams to be the ability to control the weather but she didn’t want to alter things too much. She could keep it from raining at least. She followed the woman as she walked, keeping herself invisible. The woman had brown hair and a medium build. She was smaller than Cat, and dressed much more conservatively, like one of those soccer mums that volunteered on school boards, the kind with money. They walked a little way down the road but were soon met by a wall. Not a regular wall. Dreams may mirror the real world most of the time, especially when Cat had something to say about it, but they didn’t have to and sometimes the human mind came up with some bizarre things.

The wall in front of the woman ran the whole way across the road. It was several metres high and appeared to be made of children’s play bricks, pink and purple and green plastic cubes and oblongs blocked their way. They also appeared to have been blown up really large, that or Cat and the mystery woman had shrunk. Cat decided it was time for a chat.

She didn’t disguise herself this time. She simply made herself visible and walked slowly up to the woman.

“Hello!” she called when she was what felt like non-threatening but not too far away distance. Cat could catch her if she had to. Hell, Cat could control the whole world if she had too, but a simple face to face conversation was more Cat’s style.

The woman turned. She looked confused. “Hello?” she replied hesitantly. “Can you tell me where I am? I think I’m lost.”

“Where are you trying to go?” Cat asked.

“I’m trying to find my little girl. She was with me, in the car.”

Cat hadn’t seen a car but it didn’t mean there hadn’t been one earlier. She wondered if the woman was talking about the girl she’d just met. Dreamcrossovers, where non-dreamwalkers shared the same dreams were rare, not non-existant, but close enough. Given neither of these two were dreamwalkers, as far as Cat could tell, she doubted that that was the case. More than likely the woman had just dreamed up another version of the girl.

“What’s her name?” Cat asked.

“Lily, she’s only seven, please you have to help me find her.”

Cat nodded. “I think I saw a small girl back that way, she was playing in a meadow.”

Cat could have told her she was dreaming but adults didn’t always handle that well, sometimes it was best just to play along.

“Show me?” the woman asked.

Cat nodded.

“I’m Marilyn. Mary for short.”

“Charlie” Cat replied. It probably wouldn’t have mattered if she’d used her real name but Cat wanted to play it safe.

“Where did you see her?”

“Back up the road, this way.” Cat started walking away from the brick wall. The woman didn’t question her but then people in dreams often were a lot less questioning. Hence why she hadn’t thought much of the giant wall made of a child’s toys. The best thing to do was often just to nudge the person. “You said you last saw her in the car?” Cat asked.

Mary nodded. “We were driving, but we stopped . . .” she frowned as if she was having trouble remembering.

“Where were you driving to?”

Mary stopped walking. “You know, it’s funny.” she gave a short laugh that suggested it wasn’t actually funny but she wasn’t sure how else to react, “but I don’t remember. Is that strange?”

“Not at all,” Cat reassured her. “Were you travelling with anyone else?”

“No,” Mary answered and continued walking, seemingly placated by Cat’s reassurance. Dreamers were often easy to manipulate. Well, not all of them, but it worked pretty well most of the time.

“Are you from around here?” Mary asked.

“Just passing through.”

Mary nodded. “We were going to visit my parents I think. My husband was coming though the next day. He was supposed to drive us but something came up at work. Normally I don’t drive so late but I just wanted to get home you know?”

Cat nodded, even though it wasn’t a feeling she could recall ever having had. Not even in this hellhole. Although, she could think of one place she wouldn’t have minded being in. It wasn’t home though, not her home at least. Her home was just a room above her garage. It was mostly just a place she slept, read, ate, and worked out, a place of convenience rather than comfort.

Mary continued. “I was in a rush, I didn’t want to get there too late because of Lily. I didn’t want to have to wake her up when we got there but she was so tired.”

The sky overhead darkened, night time. Cat glanced upwards and frowned but didn’t alter it. As long as it wasn’t raining. A full moon gave them enough light at least. Mary didn’t notice the change of day. She continued speaking. “I let her lay down in the back, I . . .oh god, I . . .”

Mary stopped walking. “There was a truck. I just, I closed my eyes for a second and then . . .” she wrapped her arms around herself.

Cat was worried. This wasn’t normal. People didn’t usually dream of their own death. Well they dream that they’re dead, and sometimes acts leading up to possible death, but never the actual act, not unless . . .

“It’s fine Mary, you’re fine, Lily is fine. I can take you to her.” Cat told her calmly. Cat wasn’t sure that that was where it had been going, but she didn’t want to risk it. Maybe the woman had been in a car accident and they’d all survived and she was just remembering, or it was all some morbid fantasy. The woman and girl had to be alive at least, or Cat wouldn’t be able to see inside their dreams and yet . . . there was something else. Cat had a feeling she should leave but she wanted to know more.

“Where’s your husband?” she asked.

The woman frowned. “He . . . he wasn’t with us. I, I don’t remember any more.” she looked pleadingly at Cat. “Where’s my daughter? Where’s Lily?”

Cat opened her mouth to reply but Mary beat her to it.

Mary spun herself around looking as if really seeing where she was for the first time. “Where am I?” She then turned back to look at Cat and her eyes narrowed. “Who are you?” She lunged forwards and took a hold of Cat’s raised forearms. Mary shook them. “Where’s my daughter? Where is she? What have you done to her?”

Time to go. Cat pulled herself out. The woman was left standing in the middle the road in her mind all alone.