The Shared Dream Ch. 10: Natalie

Brynlee slammed her foot on the break, and we began to skid.

Dan hurled another explosion towards us. I leapt from the car and imagined a baseball glove, plucking it out of midair.

"Go!" I screamed, "Get us out of here!"

Tyler stumbled through the seats, crumbling outside the door. His feet slipped in the gravel as he tried to build momentum, but Dan wasn't done with us yet. He saw where we were, and he knew what we were planning. He lurched forward. His fingertips barely made it, barely caught Tyler's shirt before flinging him skyward.

"You're not a god!" Dan roared, "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

Dan held Tyler in his fist, smiling demonically. His blood-red body was a flurry of lost souls, fragments of Dan's mind he'd never get back. His claws were as long as trucks, and as sharp as razors, and then he started to squeeze.

Tyler screamed in agony. He couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything more than stare with wide, unfocused eyes and reconcile with the pain.

Dan was cackling, his grin twisted.

Tyler was about to pop like a balloon, every bone already starting to crack.

I shot my hand up, throwing everything I could think of.

Brynlee took a shot towards his eye-

- But Juliet was closest. She'd been sprinting after him the entire time, carrying a sword taller than the empire state building. She swung down hard, and sliced clear through Dan's hand. He twisted and swung in agony. His good hand caught Juliet in the cheek, sending her toppling.

I dove forward, and watched as Tyler fell from the sky. He was unconscious, in far too much pain to move. I imagined a soft net, something to break his fall.

"Tyler!" I screamed, and Brynlee echoed my words, "Get us out of here!"

Dan's hand was already reforming as he lumbered towards us.

"Tyler!" I screamed again, but he was out cold.

Juliet had stumbled so far away, by the time she closed the distance again it'd be too late.

I turned to Brynlee, pure desperation, "Hold. Him. Off."

I leapt towards Tyler and hurled his unconscious form over my back. I started to sprint, the heat of Dan's fiery world all around me.

I heard Brynlee trying her best to fight, a thousand laser sounds ringing against his fiery form.

I sprinted through the buildings lobby. I was behind the curtain, and everything was more industrial, so clearly fake.

"Where?" I screamed, but Tyler still wasn't stirring.

Kyra and Juliet had caught up and were trying their best to keep Dan surrounded as I stormed up the stairwell, Tyler on my back.

"NO!" Dan roared. He shot his arm forward, slicing through the building's facade. I ducked and jumped, barely dodging his claws. Juliet grabbed him and tried to pull him back, but he'd gotten sight of us.

His hands were working double time, swinging at the building as fast as he could. He clawed through the tower like dog destroying a chew toy.

"Tyler!" I shouted. He had to wake up soon. He had to.

We were nearing the top of the building, and it was only a matter of time before one of Dan's blows struck true.

We spilled into a control room at the top of the tower, surrounded by hundreds of blinking lights and control panels.

"Tyler!" I tried again. I tried to slap him awake, but he was out cold.

A fiery hand shot forward, exploding the far wall and showering us with dust. Arcs of electricity sparked across the room, as gadgets snapped and sizzled.

"Tyler!" I tried again. I was moving from panel to panel, twisting every knob, pulling every lever.

Dan had pulled his hand free and had ripped the roof clear off the building. His sprawling head leaned over us, his wild yellow eyes sneering down.

"Tyler!" I screamed again. Nothing I'd been trying had worked at all, nothing but sparks.

Dan lifted his hand, ready to bring it down and destroy the entire room.

I ran towards Tyler and shook him as hard as I could. His eyes fluttered open with every shake; the man was barely there.

"Tyler!" I cried, "Please!"

Dan's hand was falling, gathering speed-

"H-hand-" It was the most he could manage, and I acted on instinct. I grabbed Tyler around the wrist and dragged him towards the nearest console.

"NO!" Dan bellowed, his fist getting closer, inches-

I slammed Tyler's hand down, the key that got us out of here.

Dan never stopped screaming. "NOOOOOOO-"

But his voice was weaker. He couldn't stop himself from coughing. His eyes were delirious with fury, and he was weak, trapped.

All five of us were back where we'd started, what felt like years ago. We were wrapped around a machine, a half dozen wires attached to each of us, as we sat on their pristine red and white chairs.

Instantly, everything felt so foolish, so far away.

We'd just been here ten minutes ago- we'd been here the whole time.

But I couldn't stop myself from crying. We'd beaten Dan, but so what? I'd given up the man I loved, the only man who ever loved me. I'd given up my perfect life, just to be back in the body I was dysphoric towards.

Was trying to keep the dream going really such a bad thing?

And that brings us to right here. That's what's happened in there. I'm sure you've asked everyone else what happened, and aside from Dan, I'm sure they all said the same exact thing.

"They did," the man opposite me said, "But you all got one detail wrong. Dan never made it out. His mind was split so many times, fractured almost infinitesimally small, the part that made it out is barely more than a single brain cell. The rest is all the program, filling in what it thought Dan would be like."

I scoffed. The program had made it into the real world, and no one knew a thing. Then my gaze turned grave. In a way, Dan had won. He was still in there, and even if they turned off the machine in the next couple hours, he'd get millions of years all to himself.

"I guess I don't get it," I shook my head, "Why keep us here? Why make us go through this whole investigation and relive the worst years of our lives?"

He almost laughed, "Isn't it obvious? To make sure we don't get sued."

I laughed for him. The idea of a lawsuit was the furthest thing from my mind, so corporate and heartless, devoid of personality. Of course. Why would they care I just lost my husband? The best part of my entire life? Why would they care that I'm forced back into the world I hate?"

"We've already reached settlements with the others," he explained, "Brynlee and Kyra just wanted money and to move on with their lives, and get as far away from this place as possible, but Juliet wanted something a little different. She was happy in there, away from a life that felt like it was making her suffocate- so she asked to go back. A different simulation than the one Dan's trapped in, of course, but we were able to transfer the entire life she'd built in there.

"And that just leaves you. Whatever you want, within reason, in exchange for no lawsuits, and no speaking about this publicly, of course."

I barely processed his words. The man in front of me was a soulless suit, his eyes shielded behind sunglasses. Nothing he said seemed real, certainly no more real than the dream.

"Juliet, did, have one idea," the man said, "She left her body behind, and doesn't have a need for it anymore. She did suggest to me, that you might be interested in taking Jay with you."

It was the best deal I'd ever get.

I worried for a long time about whether I'd be attracted to myself. I was still getting used to Juliet's body, but Jay wasn't someone I recognized anymore. He'd put on all the muscle I'd lost, grew out his beard, and now that he'd been off the estrogen, he was looking gruffer than I ever could have pictured.

After a few months, I'd gotten used to seeing myself as Juliet, and my life before everything felt like a bad fever dream. Besides, I'd spent so many decades in the dream, it was just as real as anything else. This was just another chapter, and the two of us worked through it.

Somehow, I'd managed to take my perfect little life, and bring it into the real world.

I was three months pregnant and hornier than I'd ever been in my entire life. For the first time in my life, my real life, sex was a positive part of my life, a part that didn't have a terrifying shadow, or an impossible mountain to overcome, just to meet someone new. I had my Mr. Perfect.

I let Jay undress me. I was a long way from not being able to reach, but I liked leaning back and staring into his eyes, our souls connected, as his flesh and blood felt its way up my sides. The program had always run the exact same mental circuits as real people, and now that he was here in the world, there was no difference between him and anyone else at all.

I laid back on my hands, my bushy hair falling over my eyes as I stared at him. My legs were spread apart as he found my panties in his teeth. He pulled them back and twisted them over my ankles before kissing his way up my inner thighs.

I reached down and rested a hand on his hair, grabbing him and guiding him towards my vagina.

I let myself fall against our wall of pillows, my bare back pressed against the warm sheets. I cupped my breast, testing the weight and teasing my nipples, as my eyes rolled up towards the sky.

Life just keeps getting better and better.

Jay slid up on the bed and squared himself flush with me. He gave a few quick taps, shaking his penis to life, before entering.

I couldn't help but gasp, as my eyes rolled back. My back arched, my shoulders twisted, and my fingers curled, taking in the sensation.

He worked in slow, practiced strokes, every move deliberate, his hands brushing against my side, keeping me comfortable.

He leaned forward and kissed me, one hand on my tit, the other on my cheek.

I never asked to change positions. I didn't ask for anything too wild. I was pregnant, and we laid together as a loving man and wife, and everything was perfect between us.

He never lasted as long as he did in the dream, but comparing anything to the dream felt like setting yourself up for failure.

I didn't need Jay to be a marathon man, Feeling his arms around me, his warmth- that was enough. Feeling his slow methodical strokes, the way he caressed me. Feeling him cum inside me, and collapse, smiling as he laughed and lay next to me. The way we cuddled, holding each other and never wanting to break apart.

In a way, we all got everything we'd ever wanted.

Life was good.