“The fastest way to meet another Dream Eater is to walk into someone else’s dreams. Hold me tight. You don’t wanna know what happens if you get lost.” Asa pulls Kam into him. 

Kam resists burbling his questions and wraps his arms around Asa’s waist. “Let's go,” he says. 

Asa closes his eyes, and the sky falls away like a giant firework fading into darkness. And then there is nothing. He can’t breathe, but he quickly discovers that he doesn’t need to. They float together in a dark cosmos speckled with star-like lights.

Asa jerks to the side. It nearly shakes Kam off of him. Kam watches him closely then, trying to find safety in his eyes, but Asa’s eyes are black orbs filled with light. 

What are you seeing? Kam thinks as Asa’s eyes dart back and forth.

“Let me focus.” Kam nearly jumps out of Asa’s arms, but Asa catches him. “There.” 

The world around them pixelates from nothingness, and sharpens. Asa lets go and Kam falls to his knees. His lungs remember how to work violently. He rubs his arms rapidly until he can feel them burn. Kam gasps. Reality is so sudden and freeing. That place, that darkness, its emptiness frightened him more than any nightmare could. 

“Whoa,” Asa says while lifting Kam back up. “If there’s one thing I regret, it’s never hearing my parents explain what that is. We’re here.”

Kam finds his voice. “And where is here?”

The sound of gunshots resound. Instantly, Kam perks up. The world is flat, but clearly a facsimile of a battleground. But, it’s off. The colors are dull and muted. Where detail should exist; the dirt in the trenches, barbs on the wire, the bark of a tree, the imperfections of reality, there is a lacking Kam can’t quite explain. The wind is one-directional, and even the sounds of war around them emit a cartoon-like fakeness.

Asa wraps an arm around Kam’s shoulders and leans into him. “Amazing isn’t it? The difference between your mind and others.” Asa nibbles his ear.

Kam brushes him aside. “We’re in someone else’s head? Right now? Like, I’m actually inside someone’s brain.”

“For the most part. I mean, I don’t think it works exactly like that but, yea.”

“Everything I know is a lie.”

“Don’t be dramatic.”

“Dude, seriously?!”

A familiar voice shouts from behind. “Kam! Asa!” Jacob is charging at  them from a distance before his eyes bulge out. “Take cover!” Asa shoves Kam to the ground. Kam instinctively covers his ears as an explosion blows over head. Shit, shit, shit, shit Kam thinks as his heart rate soars to new levels. This is a freaking battlefield. 

Jacob dives and lands next to them. “Boy am I glad you guys are here. I thought I was done for. Where are your guns?”

Kam is shaken, but he finally notices that his clothes have changed. He wears an allied forces uniform like from their Battlefield game. He gives Asa a once-over and sees that he has the same outfit plus a higher rank marking than his own. But I always win at shooting games, Kam thinks before realizing that’s exactly what this is: one of their shooting games. This is Jacob's dream.

“Did you hear me? Where’s your guy’s guns?” 

Kam responds. “I…I dropped it earlier. We had to leave our post.” He hopes it sounds believable. Kam notices that the quality of the area has significantly improved. The jagged edges smoothed over. The ground has texture. The detail in Jacob’s M16 is immaculately designed. It’s a perfect replica. It’s like the world filled in when Jacob arrived. 

“You guys fucking suck,” Jacob spits then shoves his gun at Kam. “Take this. Don’t lose it. I’m gonna score some frags. Cover me.” Before he could respond, Jacob takes off. The world tranishes around them as he goes as if someone lowered the quality settings on a video. 

“It’s pretty sad really. He probably tastes like stale bread,” Asa says, unimpressed. “It’s a good thing he gave you a gun.” Asa stands. Asa remains sharp in quality, making him stand out like a 4k video playing in an 8-bit world.

“Why? Cause I always beat you guys at shooters?”

Asa grins. “Did you forget what we’re here for already?” 

The sky distorts, but it’s not the same as when Kam and Asa dove into Jacob’s dream. Instead it falls into itself and swirls like a hurricane. Then the sky splashes like a heavy rock thrown into a pool.

And Kam swears he could hear a roar.

No.

Kam knows he hears a roar. 

Legs sprout from Asa’s back. “I’m going to need you to shoot.”