Kai woke sitting up, though he wasn't sure why until he realized that someone was holding him tightly to their chest. His face was buried in their shoulder, while their arms were wrapped tightly around him protectively. Kai was sitting on his knees, and so was the person hugging him, but somehow he fit perfectly into their arms. 

They were too small to be Chase. That meant that it was Falte. 

"So," a voice asked, and Kai realized that it was Amy. "Is he... alright now?" 

What happened? Kai wondered. Am I still dreaming? Is Dad going to die too? But even as he thought that, Falte continued to hug him, either ignoring Amy or not hearing her question. He began rubbing Kai's back reassuringly, and Kai realized that he must have been hugging him for a while.

"Well, he's awake," another voice said, and this time it was Linda. Relief flooded through Kai like a tsunami, and he let out a shaky sigh. She sounded exhausted, and she spoke quietly, like even her own voice was loud.

"Okay," Chase's impatient yet worried voice said. "Kai, or Linda, tell us what the HECK was happening. Was it the same dream from before, Linda? If it was, seriously, what is going on with him?" He sounded a little angry, but Kai knew he was worried for him.

"Sit down," Rachel's voice said, and Kai wondered for a moment who she was talking to. "Linda, sit down. Drink the water I gave you." She was speaking quietly as well, like she was afraid to break the tense silence; but she still had to speak to her sister.

"Fine," Linda relented, sighing through her nose. 

"Someone explain," Chase said, raising his voice a little. "Please," he then said in a quieter tone, as if someone had given him the "shut-up" look. 

Falte's arms slid down Kai's back, and he realized that his father was pulling away. Kai leaned back as well, fighting back the trembling in his shoulders. Falte met Kai's eyes with a gentle look and reached up, carefully lifting Kai's chin.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice soft and careful. 

"I..." Kai tried, but his voice trailed away. He was physically fine, he knew that, but what he had seen was terrible. What he had done. He knew that he hadn't really done that, but it had felt so real. Especially the last part of the nightmare. What had that meant? Why would he dream something like that? Chase was alright, right?

Falte didn't press, simply waited for him to reply.

"I... I think so," Kai finally managed. He swallowed and took a deep breath, rubbing his arms. He glanced away from his father's brown eyes, looking over at the space where his friends had apparently slept.

Chase was the closest to the couch, sitting crisscross on his sleeping bag and staring expectantly with a worried face up at Kai and Falte. Falte's empty sleeping bag came next, and then Gabriel's, which was also empty. Kai looked to his right and found Linda sitting against the wall with a glass of water in her hand, looking tired and overworked. Gabriel was sitting on her right, watching Kai with a confused frown. Rachel was sitting on her left, touching her sister's hand gently. Amy was standing in the doorway, leaning on the post with her arms crossed and a confused and worried expression on her face. Abby was sitting on the floor by the hallway doorway, looking too nervous and confused and worried to actually say anything as she twisted her hands together.

"Care to explain?" Chase asked in an impatient tone.

Falte cast a frown - yes, an actual angry frown - at Chase, which shut him up immediately. 

"Take a few deep breaths," Falte instructed, turning back to Kai with the same gentle look as before. "Hyperventilating isn't going to help you." 

Kai hadn't realized that he had been close to hyperventilating; but he forced himself to take long, deep breaths through his nose and out his mouth. 

In a few moments, he was breathing properly again, and Falte was holding his hand gently. 

"You're alright now, okay?" he said quietly and reassuringly. "I know you, Kai. You're a tough kid. Whatever just happened, it was just a dream. It wasn't real." 

How could he say that Kai was a tough kid? 

He didn't seem tough.

It had seemed so, so real.

Was it a dream?

"Do you think you can tell us what happened?" Falte asked softly. 

"Is Linda alright?" Kai asked instead of answering him. Linda was important, and she didn't seem too alright.

"She was trying to wake you up," Falte said quietly. "She said that you had called to her in your sleep last night. She's been up since, trying to get you out of your own nightmare. She didn't have any luck. I'm assuming she's just exhausted. I'm also assuming she saw what you did, and whatever it was, it was terrible, because she was beginning to freak out as well." 

"Yelling in panic is something you naturally do when one of your friends is in trouble, Falte," Linda said from her spot near the doorway. 

"I doubt she's going to tell us what happened," Gabriel interjected, raising his eyebrow at Kai.

"Seriously, whatever it was, you were freaking out in your sleep," Chase said, twisting his fingers together. 

"I thought you were having some heart attack or something," Amy said. "At least you weren't." 

"What was it?" Gabriel asked.

Falte was looking to each of them with each new thing they said, and Kai guessed he was getting a little angry. This was going to be fun. Falte was absolutely terrifying when he was angry. Kai had learned this the hard way when he had finally reached the preteen stages of getting angry at parents. That was before Thorn had come...

"I WILL DEAL WITH THIS!" Falte yelled, and Linda jumped so hard that she hit her head on the wall behind her. Kai guessed she already had a headache, because she groaned and put her hands on her face, setting the glass beside her. 

Gabriel's eyebrows shot so high that they looked like they were going to jump off his face. His mouth was in a thin, surprised line.

Chase was leaning away, his mouth hanging open slightly and a look of pure terror crossing over his face.

Amy simply stared at Falte with a look that said "I'm assuming this isn't normal."

Rachel was looking over at her sister with a look of surprise, but she looked like she was mostly surprised that Linda had hit her head.

"You all are being too impatient," Falte continued, his voice dripping with anger. "You're not going to get him anywhere if you ask questions too quickly, and especially if you go STRAIGHT TO THE POINT. He has to calm down first, and you all are making that hard. Now shut up and let me talk to my son!" 

"W-Why don't you calm down first?" Kai said softly to his father, touching his shoulder and bringing Falte back to his senses. 

Falte took a deep breath and touched his forehead. "You're right. Sorry." He took another deep breath, then removed his hand and met Kai's eyes again. "Might as well start explaining, since every single one of us has pretty much asked by now." 

Kai took a few more deep breaths, then explained everything, from the very beginning. He was careful not to leave anything out, because he knew Linda would interject and he would feel ashamed for not telling them. 

"You... killed us," Chase said in a flat tone. "And then some Dark guy attacked me. What have you been thinking to make you dream such a thing?" 

Kai shook his head. He didn't think that dream was just a random dream. He figured by now that it had meant something. Was the same man in his dream before messing with his dreams again? 

"It wasn't real," Falte reminded him, touching his shoulder gently. "It was just a dream, alright?" He gave Kai a reassuring smile, and Kai returned it with a small smile of his own. 

Abby got up from the hallway doorway and walked over to Kai, sitting on the couch behind him and touching his back gently. He sighed in assurance as she rubbed it carefully.

"We're all alright, Kai," Linda assured him from her spot. "Other than a headache, at least. Chase is fine, of course." She shot Chase a look, and he grinned back at her. 

"Well, that was crazy," Amy said in a concluding tone. "Who wants breakfast?"

~

Another chapter!! 

Man, I'm really feeling it today. I'm so happy I'm getting past my writer's block and things are actually happening.

Once more, thank you SO MUCH for being patient with me! 

Until the next chapter!!

Peace out!!~~~