The Unwanted One

 "Do you know why you're here?" The town guard asks.

"No, I don't. That's why I keep asking you." I say, trying to keep my voice from trembling.

"Well do you see this wanted poster? This is for a human said to have attacked the Shadow God last summer. We can't have humans attacking the gods, now can we." The guard says, sneering.

"You really think that I would attack the gods?" I say.

"Of course not. I don't think any human would even get close to them. But we have to bring someone in, or else the bosses will get upset at us." The Guard Replies.

"But I didn't do it!" I yell.

"We'll see what they say when you come into headquarters." The guard says, before making a motion to dismiss me.

  Why did I decide I should sleep on a bench? None of the alleyways had been clear of guards for two days, so I was desperate, but hallucinations are better than being brought for a crime you're not even guilty of, even if you did it. Maybe I didn't sleep on a bench. Maybe I'm hallucinating. No, hallucinations are weirder then this.

   I'm in the back of a police van. No one knows what they're from or how they work, people just say that we've always had them. In the part of my mind that isn't panicking, I'm wondering why the Nightmares, who can move through the Infinite easily, always have cars while humans, who are pretty much stuck where they are unless they walk, don't. It's why it's so hard to get a job in the city if you don't already have one. You need a bus to get anywhere. 

  I know it's not relevant to the situation right now. I need to get out, but thinking on my feet in a crisis isn't my strong suit. Supposedly there are humans who can talk the guards into doing anything they want them to do, but I can barely talk someone into listening to me for five seconds. Despite what that poster might have said, I'm deeply unwanted. The only solution I can think of is to pray the van roles over and I make it out alive while the officers die. And that nobody notices at all. Considering the noises the van is making, I might get lucky. 

 "Do you know what the Shadows are going to do to you?" The guard asks.

 "No." I say, hoping he won't inform me. 

 "They're going to trap you in sleep and never allow you to wake up. In sleep, you'll see everything you don't want to happen happening constantly.  I'm told it can get quite painful." He shakes his head, "That's what you get for upsetting our gods."

  I want to tell him they aren't "our" gods, all they care about is other Nightmares. I doubt that he cares though. 

  Asleep all the time? No way to wake up? Everything I don't want to happen is happening constantly? It'll be like the Dreamling dream I have all the time, only there won't be a way to wake up. Except… I can go lucid. All humans can go lucid. Couldn't a human just go lucid and end the dream? That's what I always end up doing. 

 I picture the scenario in my mind. I get put to sleep in a bed, like the ones I saw in picture books when I was little (my parents always told me that if I had to sleep, I could use the floor). I beg the guards not to force me to sleep, I don't want my power being used to fuel Nightmares. It's too late though, they put a spell on me so I have to sleep. The dreams are endless, but then I feel my necklace around my neck. They didn't take it away because they didn't think it could possibly be important. They know what an artefact looks like, and they know it doesn't look like a cheap carnival prize. 

   I grab onto it. I remember reality, a place where everything looks like a Dreamworld, but you can't change anything. My necklace will always be a necklace without any powers, but it still brings me luck, because I know it's special. I know that as long as I believe in its power, I will be the luckiest human alive. 

   I see it come to life to destroy Nightmares, as it's done so many times in the Infinite. I picture the guards crying, begging for me not to hurt them. But I don't care. I am Cassandra Lumis, Dreamer of dreams, wielder of Estellia's power, and I will destroy anyone who gets in my way.

  Suddenly, I feel the floor lurch. "Whoa nelly," The guard says, laughing. Then it lurches again, and keeps lurching. More and more, the movement making my head spin. I suddenly realize what's going to happen and scream. 

   I keep screaming as we roll what feels like downhill. We keep rolling. I wonder why we aren't hitting any buildings, but then I realize we must have left the city a while ago. 

     Eventually we stop. I'm shaken, but amazingly enough I'm unhurt, and the doors to the van pop open easily. I run as far away as I can, not checking to see if the guards are alive. I don't want to get captured again, and I doubt that living in the wild will be any harder than living in the city was. 

   I run for a long time, long enough for the sky to start to darken and fill with stars. I'm exhausted, and I want to sleep so badly, but I don't dare stop running. I can't risk being too near the van when it's discovered. 

   It isn't until the sun comes up again, and I realize I don't have any idea where I am, that it hits me.

   I made the van role over. 

   I know Nightmares can control the illusions they force each other into. It's why humans don’t sleep at all and Nightmares only sleep if they have to. I know Hight Nightmares can control Dreamworlds. It's why you don't approach them at all until you've learned exactly what to say and exactly which tone to use. I've never heard of anyone, human or Nightmare, who can control reality.

   I suppose it's possible the van rolled over on its own, but then how am I alive?