Aislinn's mother parked the car in a garage, and they entered the house from there. It was warm. A fire was crackling in the main room, and the heat felt reassuring as they stepped in. This night was crazy for Park Chung-Ho, and feeling this warmth seemed to lift a bit of the pressure he had felt since he woke up. Still, he wasn't thinking; he was just enduring the events.
"Can you still stay awake a bit more ?" Diane said.
"I should. Would you have some water, please ?"
The warmth of the fireplace was nice, but he was already thirsty from telling his story, and the heat wasn't helping at all.
"Sasha, can you place Aislinn in the secure room ?"
The tall man nodded.
Diane brought a glass of water from the kitchen and handed it to Chung-Ho.
"I'll explain some things to you before you can sleep. You need to know it."
"OK."
"First of all, I know that everything you told me really happened."
This felt like a relief for Park Chung-Ho, but it also brought some anxiety. This meant it was all real.
"I mean..." She paused and watched him straight in the eyes. "Dreams aren't only dreams. We'll explain all the details tomorrow and in the following days if you want. When you sleep, you enter a realm. Not everyone is sensitive to this realm, and not everyone can interact in this realm."
"So... I travelled in another realm?"
"Exactly. You are more than just sensitive to the dream realm judging by what you told me." She turned her head to watch the fireplace. "You want to avoid your nightmares, you said?"
"Yes, for now."
"For now?"
"You seem to know a lot about this Realm, and you said that I am sensitive to it. I guess I'll travel this Realm then. But I can't do it right now. I need to learn more. I need to protect myself, to be preparred..."
"I was expecting this kind of answer from you."
"How could you know what I was gonna say?"
"Tomorrow, you'll know more, but for now, I will show you a room where you can sleep in security."
Park Chung-Ho was exhausted, and he knew he wouldn't get any answer yet as even more questions were bursting in his mind. He followed Aislinn's mother. Once they got out of the main room with this big fireplace, everything became way more modern than the first views of this house. It almost seemed like a laboratory. There was a long, white corridor with numerous rooms. Diane showed one of the last 2 rooms to Chung-Ho.
"Here, you will be out of trouble."
He saw that Aislinn was lying on a bed in the room on the left.
They stepped into the room opposite.
It was around the same size as the one in his dormitory.
There was a window with a DreamCatcher[1] in front of it. Chung-Ho also noticed that there was a cat flap on the door, but he hadn't seen a cat yet, though.
"A Dreamcatcher... Do they work?" Chung-Ho asked.
"They do. They trap the nightmare in the web, and it's burnt down by the sunlight. Well, that is if a Chaman crafted it, of course. Else... It's only decorative. This one is a very real one."
"And the cat is another protection. Maybe related to Ancient Egypt?"
"Indeed, I see you know already some things about dreams."
"I've not only studied the sleeping pills. I like to learn about dreams."
"Those protections will help you sleep without nightmares. You don't have to worry about it."
"But Aislinn... I mean your daughter, she's..." He looked at the room in front of him. There was also a cat flap on its door, and it was closed.
She followed his stare.
"I will take care of my daughter, don't worry. We will try to bring her back. For now, you can sleep well. We'll talk again tomorrow."
She left the room and closed the door.
Park Chung-Ho watched everything around him. This room had a high ceiling, but it was nearly empty. A bed, with 4 runes carved in the wood of the headboard. It was 4 hooks, each with a different drawing on it[2]. He hadn't read anything about this kind of symbol, but he guessed it was another protection. He lay on the bed, fully dressed. Exhaustion was taking the best of him. Sleep was coming, but before he collapsed, he heard a cat entering the room, and he felt it jumping on his chest and purring. This started Park Chung-Ho's sleep.
Everything was dark, except for a small twinkling light that seemed to come to him. The light touched him, and everything became bright around him. Suddenly, he was back in the room where he was sleeping. Aislinn was sitting on a chair close to the bed where he sat.
"I'm sorry, Chung-Ho, really sorry for all this. Judging by the room, you're in the Dreamers Society. That's a good thing, very good."
"Aislinn? Are you back? I'm so glad !"
"No," She smiled, but it wasn't from joy, "I'm not back yet. This is only your dream."
"How can you be here then?"
"I guess you don't know much about the Dream Realm yet."
"Your mom explained to me that there was a Dream Realm and that I might be sensitive to it."
"I think you also understood more by yourself with what you experienced, am I right ?"
"Yes. I noticed a few things. But are we really having a conversation right now, or am I imagining all this?"
"Right now, you're sleeping, and you entered the Dream Realm. There are so many things you'll have to learn about this realm, in fact. For example, even if you had chosen to enter the Dream Realm, you would have never gotten to this place by yourself. This one is special. I created it for us. It's a Safe Place. No one can enter it. Not even my real self."
"Your real self? What do you mean?"
"I'm sorry that I kissed you, but that was the only way for me to give you a part of my essence."
"Your what?"
"My essence. Oh well... I think you went through a lot tonight and had to learn a lot of things, so..." She looked at him, and she seemed concerned. "I fear that I will have to give you even more information, so... long story short, I'm a dream, now trapped in the depths of the Nightmare's Realm, and I kissed you to share a part of my dream essence so that I can explain this to you."
She had said all that without taking a break, but she wasn't out of breath. She was right on one point; it was a lot to process for Park Chung-Ho.
"Wait. What do you mean when you say that you're a dream?"
"I'm half human and half dream. My mother is human, and my father comes from the dream realm."
"Why am I even more confused the more people explain all this to me?"
"I'm sorry, as I said, you already went through a lot. This place, I created it for your safety. You should not tell anyone about it."
"Why?"
"My mother wouldn't understand why I did this. And if we're the only ones to know, this ensures that this stays our safe place. I will explain everything you want, day by day. This is a promise."
"Ok. You insisted on the safety of this place, I get it. But if this place is for me, what about you? Are you safe?"
"You shouldn't worry about me. I'm in my element. As I said, I'm a dream."
"You talked about your real self and about your essence. Am I talking to you or to a projection or something?"
"That's an interesting question !" She seemed delighted that he asked this. "OK, let's imagine you're dreaming about someone, ok?"
"Ok."
"If you dream about someone, you create a projection of what you know about that person and what you imagine. This is only you who is creating a small place in the dream realm, where you can project your feelings, your thinking, etc, but the person you dream of isn't here. It's only what you think that is shown to you. The place we are now is built on my essence. That means that this isn't you dreaming of it; it's me who brought you in with my essence. That's the reason why I gave it to you."
"But this means you escaped, and we can bring you back from here, right?"
"Sadly, this isn't me, but a small part of my Dream-Me if you want."
"So this part of you will be here forever, and you can explain everything to me, but your true self is somewhere else then?"
"Exactly. And I won't be able to stay here forever, but enough to teach you everything so that you can protect yourself in dreams."
"I think I get it."
"Well, let's keep it like this for today. Get some sleep, we'll speak again tomorrow."
Park Chung-Ho saw nothing more. Everything became pure darkness, and no more dreams happened that night. Aislinn didn't lie to him; he was in a safe place.
[1] DreamCatchers are items used in the North American Native culture to capture the nightmares in a web and have them burnt by sunlight in the morning.
[2] Svefnthorn are runes that were used in Nordic Culture for defensive purposes. It is a protective rune that could be carved on many things, including a bed, for protection against bad dreams. They are represented by 4 hooks with a different drawing on each of them.