The Villainous Cruz Family - Chapter 25

The small boy was waving his arms and legs around in air, desperately trying to grab onto something. However, being in mid-air, there was nothing for him to grab. Unable to cease his descent, he inched closer and closer to the ground. Bam! All momentum was stopped once he made contact with the solid floor.

“?” Ian stared at his hands and unscratched knees. He moved them around yet, still, he did not feel any pain. While he was checking on the condition of his body, Ian suddenly felt a drop of water fall onto his head. Looking up, he found the sky of water turn rough and very soon, drops upon drops of heavy rainfall fell down upon him.

“Ian?” Albert’s voice rang amid the sound of the pouring rain.

Ian raised his head and found Albert standing in the distance. His black hair was soaked, causing his bangs to cling to his forehead, slightly covering his eyes. However, through the hair, Ian could still see his shaking pupils, widened from disbelief and confusion.

“Why are you here? No, more like, how are you here?”

Ian paused and examined his surroundings. The rain severely obstructed his view but he could still make out the strange landscape; the towering tree, the film of water surrounding the world and the fires that roared in the distance. The lack of pain and his sudden appearance in this place all pointed to one direction. Not to mention…

“Is this your dream, Albert?”

Albert flinched. “Y-yeah, I think.”

Ian carefully observed Albert. He was much…weaker and smaller than usual. He wore a loose long-sleeved shirt, but the rain had caused it to cling to skin. The figure that was exposed by the water was pitifully thin and frail. Albert in real life was also thin but it wasn’t to the point of being sickly, unlike his dream self. He was also shorter now, only reaching Ian’s shoulders. Ian concluded that Albert’s current appearance was that of his past self, probably from a few years ago, seeing that he looked to be about ten, the same age as him. As for the reason why, he could only blame it on being a dream.

“…This might be because of my ability.”

“I thought you could only make people dream.”

“…I can see what they are dreaming too. But I’ve never entered someone’s dream before.”

“Then your ability must be getting stronger.”

“Is that so?”

Albert smiled, “You might’ve accidentally used your ability while sleeping. I’ve done it before too. Once, I woke up and the entire room was covered in plants!”

Ian didn’t know how to respond to that so he just awkwardly laughed while Albert directed his glass smile at him.

“Do you know how to leave?”

Ian shook his head. “I don’t even know how I came.”

“You’ve mentioned that you can see people’s dreams. How do you stop?”

“Um, I use my ability to wake up.”

“Then you can do that here too. Just wake up.”

“Oh, I’ll try.”

Albert let out a chuckle, his eyes curving with a smile. “By the way, it was nice hearing you speak.”

“Huh?” Ian was just about to say the magic words but Albert’s words interrupted him.

“You didn’t notice?”

Ian shook his head.

“Pft-hahahaha.” With his eyes narrowed and lips arched, the young Albert’s face seemed to have brightened and looked a tad bit healthier. The rain had even lightened a bit too. “Well, you best get going now. You have school tomorrow.”

“O-Okay.” Ian nodded, a little perplexed. “Well then, I’ll be leaving now.”

His eyes glowed gold, “Wake up.”

A bright light burst out from where Ian stood, illuminating the entire dream landscape. Albert squinted, struggling to make out the figure of Ian dissipating along with the light.

—

Ian opened his eyes, seeing the glowing stars on the ceiling in the still dark room.

“…”

“It seems like it worked.” Albert’s groggy voice rang out. Ian glanced over to his side, secretly relieved that Albert was back to normal again.

“…”

“You’re not going to speak anymore? Well, that’s fine too.” Albert chuckled. He roughly pat Ian on his head and continued, “Well then, why don’t we go back to sleep? Don’t try to enter my dream again though.”

“…” Ian puffed out his cheeks and lay back down on the pillow, his back facing Albert in protest.

“Haha, my bad, my bad. I know it was an accident.”

“…”

“Good night to you too, Ian.”

Once more, the two drifted back to sleep…

—

In the dream world, little Albert made his appearance once more. At first, he looked confused but soon it dissolved into realisation.

“He, can wake me up. I don’t have to be afraid anymore…” He cheered with the slightest smile.

With his smile, the world underwent a slight change. Flowers began to inexplicitly pop out of the ground, decorating the green lawn with specks of colour.

Picking a blue flower, Albert brought it to his nose and smelt it. The sweet fragrance tickled his nose and caused a chuckle to escape his mouth.

Albert dropped the flower and stifled a yawn. “It’s not enough…still…sleepy…”

Gritting his teeth, Albert trudged over to the big tree. A knife materialised his left hand and slowly, he began to carve into the trunk. When he finished, Albert smiled a little, sitting against the tree.

“When will I be able to wake up, I wonder?” He murmured, eyes getting heavy. Soon, along with his consciousness, the boy disappeared from the dream.

—

Albert opened his eyes and once again, he was in his dream. He looked around and was relieved to find that it was no longer raining.

“Hmm? There’s flowers now.” He observed.

Albert bent down and picked a blue flower. He closed his eyes and breathed in the sweet fragrance with a slight smile.

“The tree is different too?”

Albert walked up to the tree, noticing it that was a little bigger now.

“? What’s this?” Albert’s right hand caressed the engraving on the trunk. “Wake up?”

Wake up. It might’ve been because he was currently in a dream but those words seem to cause his heart to speed. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. They echoed in his head.

“Come to think of it, Victoria told me that too.” Albert recalled. “But I don’t remember telling her to say that, I don’t remember writing this either…”

Albert’s eyebrows furrowed as his hand continued to feel the words on the tree. A strong sense of emptiness filled his heart.

“Wake up.” He repeated once more, engraving the words into his mind.