The Dream Thief by Kari Kilgore (books for 10th graders txt) 📕

Karl could imagine himself being. He'd gotten close to the Fog as a boy, playing the same silly childhood games as everyone else in the Gate. He had no desire to actually step outside into that swarming hell as an adult.

"I mean monsters," he said. "Things you don't even want to imagine. They have to be all around us by now. Please don't go out there until we can all go together."

He touched her arm, and instead of pushing him away, Loretta covered his hand with her own.

"You're just going to have to trust me on this one," she said. "This is entirely my fault, mine and everyone who assumes Waldron's Gate is the center of the whole world. This is not the Fog you know, Karl. This is just harmless mist. We'll go out there together."

She checked a switch he hadn't noticed before she opened the door. Karl had to fight the urge to push her behind him. The Fog was just as thick and close, but it seemed brighter now. The twisting creatures inside it were every bit as active. Loretta didn't seem the least bit afraid. She rubbed her eyes and yawned again.

"Look," she said. "It's not the same as in Waldron's Gate. Not as solid. Can't you smell the difference?"

Some of the ghostly white drifted past them, and Karl forced himself not to recoil. If the Fog could get into the house, or pull them out, there was nothing left to struggle against. They were already lost.

Loretta took his hand, and Karl tried not to grip too tightly.

"Come on," she said. "We'll just go out a little way. This is just mist. It will seem to disappear all around us. Take a breath. It smells amazing."

She stepped out onto the first stone in the path, pulling his hand. Karl tried to look in every direction, waiting to see whatever would come screaming out after them. If they were lucky, it would be over quickly.

"Take a breath, Karl. Trust me."

He stepped out after her, wondering if she could feel how badly he was shaking. His feet felt like great blocks of wood, with no more agility or grace. He managed to draw in a breath through his nose instead of panting. This did have a scent, a sharp aroma almost like...

"It smells like water."

"Exactly," she said. "Now look how it moves around us. That's just the wind. There aren't any monsters out here. None that aren't human, anyway."

Karl saw the faint outline of a tree on his right and the house fading behind them.

"You said this is fog too?"

"Just normal fog," she said. "Nothing to be afraid of. It will probably burn off once the sun's up and the air is a bit warmer. It rarely gets cold enough in Waldron's Gate for anything this thick during the day. I've hardly ever seen it, and most of you are sound asleep when it would be there anyway."

They'd walked far enough that he couldn't see the house at all, and he finally caught sight of the fence. One of the horses made a grumbling noise Karl had never heard before, and the sound had a dead, flat quality.

"Is there no Fog up here? Fog like back in the Gate, I mean?"

"There is, but it's a ways off, along the coast," she said. "I saw it from the ship today. I went out there years ago when it was farther out than normal. I could hear water, but I couldn't get close enough to see it like you can from Alseer sometimes. I've always wondered what's really beyond that Fog. Beyond this fog, nothing at all has changed. Okay?"

Karl finally caught a deep breath, letting his exhalation take as much of the fear with it as he could.

"Okay. I'm a little embarrassed. I was so sure I saw monsters out here."

"I wish you wouldn't be embarrassed." Loretta squeezed his hand, reminding him that she still held it. "I should've warned you, but it never crossed my mind. I am sorry."

"If you don't tell anyone about this," he said, "we'll call it even. Let's get back inside before your grandmother has to know how ignorant I am."

"It may not be ignorance, Karl. When did you last have Crumble?"

He stopped, his fears of being out in the open entirely forgotten.

"I haven't had all of even my low dose for a while now," he said. "Since all this creeping around at night started. Less and less since then. It's been...since before we got to the village since I had any at all. More than twenty-four hours."

"That could explain your reaction," she said. "Getting off that stuff isn't easy for anyone. We don't have any at this house at all, unless you brought your own. Gemma and I don't take it, so you may be off for a while. You might not want to go back."

She stopped at the front door.

"One thing I do need to warn you about is going outside during the night like that." She smiled. "Let's just say Gemma gave me my start in securing my home back in Waldron's Gate. If she'd activated everything before we went to sleep, you would have been in for an even bigger surprise when you opened that door."

Chapter 29

By the time they sat down to a very late dinner that night, Karl was feeling the effects of his restless night and early morning. Gemma and Loretta had kept him busy the whole day long, working in the barn and stable, tending to the horses, helping them put together the various lists of supplies.

The strange movements continued out of the corner of his eye all day long, along with sounds, smells, even crawling sensations on his flesh. From what he'd heard, and what Loretta told him, he'd done himself a tremendous favor by inadvertently cutting down his dose of Crumble for the past couple of weeks.

With the repeated outbursts from his pounding heart, Karl didn't want to find out what she