Sean found himself in a world that differed from his own. In the world, he saw different people who worked together as a group of friends. But laughter filled the void, darkness consumed him and he ended up in an endless cycle of death and war. His stomach was in knots. He couldn't understand what was happening. Stranger things started back up. An image of a map appeared with landmarks. He'd seen nothing like it before.

Sean tossed around in his bed, thrashing and grabbing at his comforter. Through that fear, Sean sat up straight to darkness in his own room, the shadows in every corner of his room. Shadows formed humanoid shapes, causing Sean to pull his blanket over his head. Taking the blanket off, he turned on his lamp, illuminating his entire room with white light. The corners where he saw the shadows were nothing more than his eyes playing tricks on them. But what he saw when he slept scared him. It was the first time he'd ever dreamed. Even now, dreams were illegal in the community. He questioned himself, desperate to figure out the truth. He lay on his bed staring at his ceiling, keeping to himself and searching for answers. Neither of them were any good. He did not want to think about anything involving the president. If the president discovered that he had dreamed, he didn't want to think about what would happen. He glanced around his room until his eyes landed on a book at his desk. It slowly faded in with a strange, darkened color. Green, he assumed. He blinked, closing his eyes tightly before opening them. Still, the color had not changed.

"What is happening?" Sean said to himself. 

***

A large presidential house stood in the center of the community, pillars stood high, keeping the roof in place. Inside, a group of people were busy monitoring the community and its citizens. Cameras placed all throughout the community pointing at different angles and different homes. It was late in the evening and Mark still stayed in his office finishing up some paperwork, dressed in a black suit and tie. Mark looked through the paperwork on his desk. Issuing punishments to those who disobeyed the curfew. On his desk, his cup of black coffee sat nearby his computer. He reached over and grabbed it, taking a big gulp. Mark remained focus on the task at hand until someone knocked on his door.

"Enter." he said nonchalantly. A young woman stepped inside. Her blue dress flowed around her ankles as her shoes stepped softly on his own carpet. "Ah, Fiona, how can I help you?" Mark searched her face. Worry presided over her like she'd just seen something she wished she hadn't. "What is it?"

"There's something you have to see." Fiona said. Setting his pen down, Mark pushed back his chair and followed his secretary to a computer in the lobby. The room had velvety carpets and there were workers going back and forth. They got behind the counter, where Fiona turned on the computer and clicked away at the keyboard. Security cam footage showed the McLoughlin household, in another footage he saw The McLoughlin's youngest son tossing around like he'd been disturbed. The screen below it showed Sean's sleeping patterns. There were red spikes in his REM sleep and his heart rate kept rising and falling at a rapid pace.

"Sean is dreaming." Fiona explained. "That would explain his spikes in his sleep cycle." Furious, Mark held his hands down by his side and clenched them, doing his best to keep his anger under control.

"Get a car ready," Mark ordered. "We're going to pay the McLoughlin's a surprise visit." Turning on his heels, Mark stormed back to his office. Fiona called for a Chauffer to help take them to the McLoughlin household. 

***

Sean gave up trying to go back to sleep. He couldn't get the image of the map and the darkness that plagued his dreams. Seeing things in his subconscious actually scared him. Dreaming had been illegalized years ago, and here he was, seeing everything he considered curses. It wouldn't be long before Mark discovered it and demanded to know what happened. A knock started at his bedroom door. Pulling off his blanket, he got up and walked to the door and opened it. Standing at his door was none other than his father. Sean remained calm as any sudden movements or words would tick his father off. From the state that his father stood, Sean guessed his father was pissed. He never really liked his father. Even when he drank, his father never stopped hitting him. Over time, Sean learned to stay away from his father when he was in that mood.

"What do you want, dad?" Sean questioned.

"Don't sass me, young man," his father responds. "Tell me why the president is on his way over here now?"

"What do you mean?" Sean asked, surprised.

"President Fischbach sent a com stating that he was on his way over here," Mr. McLoughlin answered. "All because my youngest son is dreaming."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sean turned and walked back to his bed, but his father had reached over and grabbed him before he could even react. "Dad! You're hurting me!"

"I need you to get ready," his father demanded. "The president will be here soon."

"But.." Sean started but got cut off by his father's outburst.

"No buts!" he yelled. "Get ready, and you better have a damn good explanation!" Sean's father released him and left his room, slamming the door behind him. 

***

An hour before Mark sent a message to the McLoughlin household, he and his team were heading for the house. Mark remained silent, deterred from his own thoughts. He always respected the McLoughlin's. They'd always put everything they could into the capital. Aside from their youngest son, they were all able to follow in Mark's footsteps and respected his position. Sean always became the one who disobeyed. It's why they'd always had to whip him. No matter what Mark did to please Sean, the kid disliked him. He hated the capitol and Mark himself. If someone had been dreaming, then he knew exactly who it was. Mark turned to Fiona, who looked through her phone.

"Do you have the bottle?" Mark asked. Fiona looked up from her phone and nodded. She reached into her leather bag and pulled out a white bottle. His newest invention with the pills was still being tested, but so far, he had positive results. The purpose of the pills was to keep people from dreaming and even seeing multiple colors. Seeing multiple colors meant he would be one step closer to losing his position, which he could not lose.

"Sir?" Fiona asked. "Aren't you worried that someone discovered your secret?" Mark tore his eyes away from the bottle and into Fiona's dark brown eyes.

"Not really," he responded. "When I created this community, I kept all my plans hidden away and entrusted them to Sean's father," Mark explained. "There's no way it would fall into the wrong hands."

"What about the prophecy?" Fiona said thoughtfully. Mark laughed. The prophecy was nothing more than superstition, no one could foretell the future. It was impossible.

"Prophecies aren't real." Mark said, placing the pills into his pocket.

"Sir," Fiona reassured him. "I think you should take this seriously."

"I will take it seriously when a Martian lands on Earth," Mark denied it. "I don't think you should take them seriously, either."

"But.." Fiona started.

"No, end of discussion. Do I make myself clear?!" Mark exclaimed, causing Fiona to go silent.

"Yes, sir." Mark turned his attention away from her and back to the view outside. They were nearing the household, only a few more blocks, and they'd be there. The McLoughlin Household sat on a hill. A large white two-story house with three garage doors and a freshly cut lawn appeared over the hill. The chauffeur pulled into the driveway and stopped. Mark unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out. Fiona and Mark made their way to the front door and knocked on it. The doorknob jiggled, then opened, revealing Mr. McLoughlin standing in the doorframe.

"it's an honor to see you here, Mr. President," Mr. McLoughlin said. "Sean is sitting at the table waiting for you." Mr. McLoughlin stepped aside, allowing Mark to walk in. Indeed, sitting at the table, Sean remained absolutely quiet. Mark walked over to the young man and smiled at him.

"It's good to see you, Sean," Mark said and looked around the room. "Can you give us some privacy? I'd like to speak with Sean alone." Fiona and Mr. McLoughlin nodded and left the kitchen, leaving Sean alone with Mark. "I know you've been dreaming, but I'd like to hear it from you."

"Dreaming? No way! That's not allowed!" Sean exclaimed. Mark chuckled and backhanded the young teen. Sean flinched and stumbled out of his chair. Mark towered over him, intimidation was key to getting someone to tell the truth.

"Don't lie to me," Mark ordered. "My computer detected you!"

"I swear I have done nothing!" Sean defended. Mark held up his hand, signaling for Sean to stop talking.

"Instead of the pills I assigned to your family originally," Mark reached into his suit pocket and pulled out the pills he had earlier. "I'm giving you this." Mark placed the pill bottle on the table and slid it toward Sean. The young Irish Lad picked up the bottle and examined it.

"What's this?" Sean asked.

"These are your new pills," Mark explained. "You must take them every day and don't forget about your daily injections," Mark continued. "If I ever catch you dreaming again, you will be punished. Got it?" Sean gulped nervously and nodded his head. Pleased with the results, Mark started making his way out of the kitchen. Mark heard a chair scrape back as he paused.

"What do these do exactly?" Sean asked. Mark sighed heavily and turned around.

"It revokes dreams and decreases your chances of seeing color. Have a good rest of your day." Turning away, Mark walked out of the house and got into his car, followed by Fiona. The Chauffeur backed out of the driveway and made its journey back to the capitol.

"I hope you know what you're doing, sir." Fiona said her hands crumpled her dress like she was trying to keep her cool.

"I know how to run the city, Fiona. I'm not an idiot." Mark defended himself.

"I agree you aren't, however..." she started.

"What?" Mark narrowed his eyes toward his secretary, waiting for her to finish her thoughts.

"Maybe as a precaution, make sure you have someone watch Sean and his family?" She suggested. Mark thought about this and nodded.

"That's a good idea," Mark responded. "I'll send someone to do that as soon as we get back home."