Read Online Lucid by L. E. Fred - Free Book Online

expression I’ve ever seen him wear. He caught me off guard; I didn’t know whether to lie or to tell him what’s happening. Kyle had worried about me all weekend, and he’s hacked my computer before. Maybe he already knew I had some information .
    Before I could make my decision, my cell phone rang. I breathed a sigh of relief as I ascended to my room to answer my phone in private .
    â€œDid you dream last night?” I was expecting Tiff’s voice, not a deeper — yet familiar — person on the phone .
    Apparently Mitch now had my number.
    â€œHey ... um, no , ” I said a little sheepishly. “Meditation’s not my thing, and I think that if someone’s keeping us out of the ship, we’re gonna stay out.”
    â€œ I did. ” Mitch cut me off. I could hear his shallow breathing on the other side. It sounded like he’d just run a long distance, or he was scared. “I just woke up — I just escaped.”
    â€œWhat?” I was both angry and surprised. I thought Mitch was having problems with meditation, as well. How come he got through and I didn’t? I was the first lucid person on that ship .
    The smarter part of my brain tried taking over my emotions. Did I really want to go back? Mitch’s shaky voice and shallow breaths made me grateful I wasn’t on that trip .
    â€œThis time was different,” Mitch continued. “I didn’t want to cause a scene. I slept with my hoodie on like I told you and appeared on the ship with it on. I kept the hood over my eyes and acted like one of the souls. The woman didn’t enter the ship like before; it seemed to be going smoothly until…” His voice trailed off , and he was breathing a little deeper to calm himself.
    â€œUntil what?” I gave him a few moments to sort his thoughts before asking.
    â€œUntil I got off the ship , ” h e told me. I heard him take a deep breath. “Until I reached the destination.”
    â€œWhat?” I sat down on my bed and let Mitch’s words fully sink in. He reached the destination of the ships. He now knew where those souls were being taken .
    And he did it all on his own , an annoying voice in my head spoke.
    â€œYeah . ” Mitch seemed to get better control of his fear. “I got to the place with no problem. Figuring out when to wake up was the hard part.”
    â€œWell, where do they go?” I asked , only halfway wanting to know.
    â€œRemember when Tiff was researching stuff about chimera?” Mitch asked me. “And we found that resort company?”
    â€œYeah . ” I remembered it because it was the only result we found that didn’t involve a strange mythological creature .
    â€œI saw the CEO last night, Leona Palma.” Mitch waited for my reaction. I didn’t have any. What he was saying didn’t make any sense. Why would the CEO of a resort company put hundreds of people in comas? Wouldn’t that take away her customers in the real world?
    â€œLook, it doesn’t make any sense to me, either.” Mitch took my silence for confusion. “But it’s definitely them… it’s definitely her. She was overseeing the souls entering some sort of place that looked like a mix between a hotel and a football stadium; there were cement walls surrounding the perimeter and barbed wire around the tops. I think I saw someone manning a gun tower, too. Anyway, Leona was overseeing the line of souls, and she spotted me immediately. I saw her eyes flash golden and she was suddenly in front of me. She already knew me; she called me by my name. And… and she knows you, too.”
    â€œKnows me?” I asked, still trying to figure out why a vacation resort wanted to ruin the world .
    â€œYeah, she had a message for you, for both of us.” Mitch took a few steadying breaths again. “She said to keep out of her business, and she’d let us liv e for free.”
    â€œFor