Dreamcatcher - Prologue

Behind her painted-on smile, Anaya the Polymorph was bored. The young woman next to her smiled up expectantly into her face. Clearly, she had said something that required response. Unfortunately, Anaya had been paying very little attention, so she had no idea what it was. She smiled back demurely and gave a non-committal murmur as her answer which could have been taken in the negative or affirmative. Either way, it seemed to satisfy her companion. The girl took her hand, gave it a gentle squeeze, and continued their walk.

The street was busy, crowded, hot and dull, dull, dull.

Since her pardon and subsequent release from Morpheus’s high-security prison to assist with a mission for Morphean intelligence, the reformed prisoner, Anaya had hoped the new association with the secretive security department, might lead to a life filled with excitement and adventure. What it had actually yielded was a big fat nothing. So, she had gone back to the only world she knew. She had returned to the Polymorphic fold. Once again she was surrounded by the opulent trappings of the palace, in keeping with a Morph’s status as one of the elite, and attempted to dedicate herself to the vocation of making Morpheus’s human visitors happy in whichever form they pleased. It was tedium in the extreme.

It both amused and irritated Anaya that the humans she dealt with had no idea that the realm they believed to be only in their dreams was completely real. Their memories of encounters with their neighbouring dimension were scrambled as the human returned to wakefulness, and in return, Morpheus was able to harvest human emotion as their own personal power source. The status quo had remained in place for millennia and had only been threatened when two young inventors discovered the world of lucid dreaming and turned it into a virtual reality game. Anaya had been one of those to restore the equilibrium.

To make matters worse, she had seen neither hide nor hair of Ceun Hawke, the infamous Morphean bounty hunter, her reluctant partner during their previous mission and with whom she had a complicated love-hate relationship. Not that she wanted to see him, no, she absolutely did not, but given that during their previous adventure, he had almost kissed her, she felt something remained unresolved. Well she was reasonably sure that it had nearly happened, sometimes she doubted it in her own mind, it had been so long ago. But he had, and not because she was some facsimile of someone else, but he had seen... her, in her natural form. Her talent as a Polymorph meant she was seen by her companion as the person they desired most, be it a partner or an unrequited love. The Bounty Hunter had no such scales on his eyes and saw her as herself. As a creature used to adoration in whatever shape she took, it was inconceivable for him just to stay away. She would have expected him to at least... Anaya shook her head. Her current beau was once again gazing at her as if expecting her to perform somehow. She had to focus as the girl took her hands in hers. Passers-by streamed past them until they became nothing but a blur on the peripheral vision.

She wasn't a bad looking person. All right, if you wanted to be cruel, her teeth were a little uneven, and yes, her hair was thin and looked as though it needed cutting. She was tall and scrawny in a way that made her look like a spider when she walked. Hawke on the other hand, he wasn't exactly fat, but there was a strength to him. He wasn't tall, but in a room, he could impose himself or fade into the background at will, and he wasn't that attractive... Anaya shook her head and forced herself to keep the smile on her face. Why did her mind keep going back to him? It was beyond infuriating.

"Oh Laura, I can't believe you... and I... together... that you would even consider..." Her companion’s reedy voice began to break with emotion.

'She hasn't you moron, this is just a dream, and you are going to wake up, and your beloved Laura isn't even going to give you the time of day. In the meantime, I have to stand here and pretend on her behalf.' Anaya thought bitterly, feeling every bit of venom towards Laura. This was all her fault. Laura sounded like a cow.

"Ann, I just can't believe it took you so long to make your feelings known." She said out loud in a voice so simpering she struggled to prevent herself gagging.

'Typical, they never actually tell you what is going on in their head, they just expect you to know.' She thought inwardly.

The people were rushing past faster and faster now as they provided a flashing backdrop to Ann's dream. Leaning towards Anaya, her lips puckered like a goldfish, the Polymorph shuddered as she felt her bearing down on her. She forced herself to look up, her eyes resting on the buildings above, just waiting for it to be over.

~~

On the roof of a department store, Ceun Hawke was on a stakeout. He'd received a job to bring in a notorious pickpocket who was operating in the area. It was small change really, and not something he would have generally bothered with, but ever since he was injured during the mission with the inventors, he had found himself taking every job the Morphean correctional department could throw at him. It was almost as though he was trying to prove something, although he had absolutely no idea what that something could be. Still, here he sat, concealed on a roof, waiting.

A couple stopped on the street below. It was precisely the lack of movement which drew the bounty hunter's attention. Squinting against the light, he lay flat against the roof and peered through a pair of binoculars. As he focussed the lens, his eyes opened wider.

It wasn't that he had been avoiding her. Why would he need to avoid her? She hated him anyway, hadn't he been the one who brought her in when she originally went rogue, terrifying the wife of a man she’d become besotted with until finally, the human broke. He'd also been the one to help her escape and given her a second chance, a snarly little voice said at the back of his mind.

But, she was still a criminal, albeit a temporarily reformed one, and he was a law enforcement officer, end of story. And she was a morph. That, he was forced to admit, was more of a problem than her criminal past.

Still, he found himself fixated on her, the way she smiled and simpered at the human she was with. They were all such good actresses. He supposed they had to be in their line of work. The other girl was obviously besotted. Suddenly Anaya looked up, searching the roofline and it felt to Ceun as if she were staring directly at him. He immediately felt like a peeping tom and shot back away from the edge and out of sight.

~~

Will Cooper could feel the darkness pressing against him as he lay in bed, it was almost tangible. He needed to go to the toilet, and take a drink from the glass on his bedside cabinet, the question was, which was the most urgent need. His head felt fuzzy. Turning his face to the side, he opened his eyes.

She was stood by the side of his bed, her body glowing in a translucent green light. The hair on her head was wet, plastered down over her face and interspersed with river weeds, so he could only just make out the putrid skin underneath. The smell of death and stagnant water filled his lungs. He heard the drip drip drip as the water left the hem of her once white nightgown and pooled on the floor. Despite not seeing her eyes, he knew she was watching him. He opened his mouth to scream, but no noise would come out, he couldn’t move, he was paralysed and mute. The girl began to move closer.

Will woke up with a start, the sweat beading on his forehead, his heart hammering in his chest. He lay on his back and swallowed nervously. He dare not open his eyes, dare not see the image burned into his brain. He felt like he had been there for an age, but the courage eluded him. Eventually, he realised that his raging thirst and, more importantly, urgent bladder, needed to be sated. With a trembling hand, he reached out gingerly from beneath the covers and felt for the switch to his bedside light. Once the comforting golden glow was visible from behind his eyelids, he dared to open one eye. No spectral vision. He carefully opened the other and scanned the room from the safety of his duvet. He half expected the girl to be standing on the other side of the bed as he turned. Finally, he sat up and peered at the floor, fully expecting to see a damp patch on the carpet. He fell back onto the pillows in relief. It was still a good while before he summoned up the courage to leave the safety of his bed and visit the bathroom. It was longer still before he managed to fall back into a fitful sleep.

~~

Anaya realised Ann’s plan and at the last moment, moved her head sideways, so the human’s kiss landed on her right cheek. She could have sworn she saw a movement on the roof of the building opposite. Frowning up at the spot, she allowed Ann a small chaste hug, before tucking her hand under her companion's arm and leading her away. She glanced back at the rooftop, but whatever it was, had gone.