I was so bored with my everyday life. I thought work, parenting, and friendships took a lot out of me.
Each night, I was grateful to be able to go to sleep. In my dreams, I could be anything. Famous. Powerful. Magical. You name it and I’ve probably dreamt it.
However, the last few nights have been something different altogether.
Four nights ago, I fell asleep next to my partner, as I always do.
I opened my eyes to notice that everything around me was sandy. Granted, I live fairly close to the sea, but that didn’t explain how my bedroom was covered in the stuff. Even the air felt like it was gritty, giving a somewhat sepia tone to everything I saw.
I was also alone. I’ve been alone in my dreams before, but something felt wrong.
I walked downstairs. The same stairs that I traverse numerous times a day in my waking life felt foreign to me.
Making a split-second decision, I opened the front door and stepped out onto the path. The entire road looked like it should except for the sand.
In dreams, travelling seems to take no time at all, which was how I found myself suddenly at the shopping centre.
I put one hand on the door, ready to open it. A frightened voice cried out.
“No! Don’t!”
Everything spiralled, fading as my eyes snapped open.
Back in my bedroom, I was awake. I glanced at my partner as he got up to get ready for work.
No sand. No strange feelings.
I shrugged it off as just a weird dream and went about my day.
That evening, thoughts of the strange, sepia world came back to me. I decided not to have my usual Malibu and Pepsi Max, just in case.
As 10pm rolled around, I was once again eager for the freedom that came to me in sleep.
The change felt almost immediate. It was as if I’d blinked, and I was back in the sepia world.
I decided to speed things up this time, heading straight for the shopping centre where I’d ended my dream the night before.
Reaching out a hand for the door, I paused.
“You told me not to. Why?”
I didn’t expect a response. My silly brain just loved to find ways to trigger my anxiety or make me call out in my sleep.
“It’s not safe here.”
I whirled around, seeing a man in front of me. That was certainly unexpected.
He seemed about my age. Early thirties with blond hair and green eyes. Slim. In jeans and a plain blue t-shirt. Nothing remarkable. I decided to play along with whatever my imagination was coming up with.
“Why isn’t it safe? What’s going on?”
The man glanced around as if any moment we’d be in trouble. It should have been comical but instead made me feel tense.
“The Lands. This is The Lands. You can’t go in there. That’s where they are. The lost ones. The children. There’s people here who would destroy you.”
My heart pounded. I had no idea what he was on about. If this was all in my imagination then why wasn’t it something I’d ever heard of or thought about before?
I moved quickly away from the doors, watching him seem to relax as I did so.
“I’m George. A few of us are staying at the Maccas down the road. I work there… during the day.”
That caught me off guard. During the day? Imagination Man claimed to be real? I scoffed. Out loud.
“Okay, sure. Thea. I work in sales at Orion.”
I offered my hand in greeting. George shook it, then turned away, walking in the direction of the McDonald’s.
Against my better judgement, I decided to follow him. It looked just as it did during the day. A little shabby but recognisable and, of course, covered with that same sand. A ‘no entry’ sign hung above the back door.
He opened it, stepped inside, and seemed to relax.
I paused for a second, unsure whether following this stranger was the right move. However, he had saved me, supposedly, from whatever he claimed was back by the shops, so I figured I’d give him a chance.
Walking inside, nothing happened. At all. Evidently, I’d made the right choice.
There were three others in the building who I was quickly introduced to.
Amy was a slender young woman in her 20s with cropped black hair and a smile that could warm even the coldest of hearts.
Jeff didn’t speak much. He looked to be in his fifties, heavyset with salt-and-pepper hair and greying stubble. He grunted a hello before disappearing back to where the fryers were.
Charlie was the youngest of the bunch. A bubbly 17-year-old who worked alongside George when he wasn’t at college.
It seemed that the boys worked in the same place, while Amy had known George since school. Yet, I’d never seen them around town during the day, so clearly they weren’t real.
“Thea was about to go into the shopping centre.” George didn’t let us waste too much time on pleasantries before informing the group of where he’d found me.
Charlie paled considerably while Amy cursed.
She put her hands on my shoulders, shaking as she did so, “Others have gone in there and we’ve never seen them again. I… I won’t leave the restaurant while I’m asleep. It’s safer. I don’t know how to make the dreams stop.”
I went to reply to her before a shrill noise assaulted my ears. The last thing I saw was Amy’s panicked expression. I closed my eyes tightly, trying to make the sound stop.
Opening them, I looked around me. I’d woken up. I heard the sound of a door close, signalling that my partner had left for work.
I was drenched in sweat. That was fairly common for me, having had nightmares for as long as I can remember.
This time, I couldn’t forget the people in my dream. George. Amy. Charlie. Jeff.
I dropped my daughter off at school, called in sick to work, and decided to take a drive to the town centre.
Unfortunately, unlike in my dream state, this took some time thanks to the morning traffic.
On the way I berated myself. This was ridiculous. Was I really going to try and find figments of my imagination in the real world?
The McDonalds was fairly busy, as to be expected at that time. Men in suits paraded around with their to-go cups of coffee.
Reaching the front desk, I tried to put on a smile and looked up at the server.
My stomach lurched. I was looking straight at Charlie.
“Hi, um, this sounds stupid, but have I met you before?”
I felt a little weird doing this, especially since he was only 17 in my dream. Anyone would think it a bit peculiar that a woman in her thirties was speaking this way to someone who was practically a child.
He looked at me and gasped, his face lighting up in a big grin,
“Hey, Thea!”
I felt sick. He recognised me. I was definitely awake but pinched myself to be sure. Yes. No sand. No sepia. This was real.
“It’s…true? I thought… I mean. I must be losing it.”
Charlie laughed at that, “Yeah, I’ve heard that before. It’s kind of cool though, right?”
That wouldn’t have been my opinion. Not at all. I was genuinely contemplating having myself sectioned.
“How long have you been, uh, having those dreams?” I didn’t know if I wanted to hear the answer.
“A few weeks, give or take. George got me a job here just after. I told him in my dream I needed work. I put in an application while dreaming, and the next day he called me with the offer.” Charlie looked quite proud of himself for that, and I didn’t blame him.
Although what he said made me freeze, “Wait. Do you mean anything you do in The Lands translates to real life?”
He nodded, “I was the one to figure it out. So cool.”
That meant I could make a call, or send an email, and it could still be received by someone in the real world. This definitely sounded bizarre, and something I decided I would try if I ended up back there that night.
I didn’t stay much longer. It got even busier, if that was even possible, and Charlie had to get back to work.
I was quiet for the rest of the day. How would I explain this to my boyfriend? He’d think I’d totally lost it.
As night rolled around I started to feel on edge. Part of me wanted to go back to The Lands and see my new friends, but another part wanted to have a nice, normal dream.
Evidently, I had no choice. Sure enough, I was back yet again.
All three guys were already there when I got to the McDonalds.
“Hey again Charlie.”
He laughed, explaining to George and Jeff that we had an actual in-person encounter that day.
George smiled at me, “I’m glad. Hopefully, we can meet too.”
I winced a little, “Um… sure. As friends, right? I have someone who-“
George cut me off, “Gosh, yes. Of course, as friends. I didn’t mean to presume. I mean, sure, that’d be cool but I’m always happy to meet new friends, especially those who can appreciate how weird this place is.”
I excused myself. For some reason, I didn’t want them to know that I was going to test that communication theory.
Sitting down on one of the toilets in the women’s bathroom, I pulled my trusted Samsung out of my pocket. Typing frantically, I wrote a quick email from my work account and sent it to my personal one.
The phone pinged to announce the new message and I opened it. Now, the question was whether that email would be there, already read, in the morning.
Returning back to the main part of the restaurant, I noticed it was oddly quiet. None of the men were around.
I didn’t get a chance to figure out where they were. Once again, my dreaded alarm woke me.
As I groggily sat up to turn it off I remembered the email attempt. Flicking open my emails I felt chills creep up all over my body.
“Hi awake me. This is dream me. I’m on the loo in The Lands. If I get this, it’s all real. From dream me.”
It was real. It was all real.
I didn’t know how to process this. Who could I tell? Who would believe me?
I decided the best course of action would be to try and ignore it, keep the two separate as much as possible.
Work was challenging that day. I could barely concentrate because all of my thoughts were on this new world I’d discovered.
My manager, Jodie, tapped me on the shoulder.
“You’ve been out of it today. Everything alright?”
I smiled faintly, “Just some trouble sleeping. Nothing to worry about.”
She tutted and sighed, “Ahh you’ll be fine then. Unlike that poor girl.”
I frowned. Girl?
Jodie gasped, “You didn’t hear? They found a body this morning. This young woman who works at Macintyre’s. Something-or-other Jones.”
I opened the internet browser on my computer and went to the local news website.
Sure enough, a body had been found. A brief description showed that she had suffocated, but blood under her fingernails suggested she’d been attacked by someone.
The article included a picture.
Staring at me from the article was Amy.
The body of 24-year-old Amy Jones had been found the morning after she failed to show up in The Lands.
I needed to tell George and the others. They’d be devastated. I tried to act like everything was alright, but I felt physically sick. What had happened to her?
I went to bed early that night, eager to be with my friends.
“George!” I practically ran in once I’d confirmed I was back, “George it’s Amy. She’s…”
I didn’t need to say any more. All three men were sat with sombre looks on their faces.
“It was them. The people in the shopping centre. She… she finally went out yesterday and they…” George wiped his face, trying to hide his tears.
We sat in silence for what felt like hours, thinking of the missing member of our group.
As time went on, I made a decision.
“Charlie, are you working tomorrow?”
He nodded, having been unusually quiet the whole time, just staring at the door.
“I’ll… I’ll come and see you at work in the morning if that’s alright?”
I didn’t get my reply. As usual, morning had come.
My other half didn’t ask when I checked if he could watch our child. I left the house, hoping that Charlie would be able to give me some reassurance. He was the only one of the three I’d actually met so far, and I decided that, at least for a while, I’d keep it that way.
Luckily, the McDonalds wasn’t too busy when I entered. A young girl was on the front till.
“Hi, what can I get you?” she spoke in a bored tone.
“Hi, sorry, I just wondered if Charlie was free?”
“Who?”
I frowned. She must be new.
“Charlie. Red hair. Freckles. Bouncy. He was working here the other day.”
“We don’t have anyone called Charlie here. I’ve been on shift each morning this week.”
My blood ran cold. First Amy was found dead, and now no one knew who Charlie was.
Frustrated, I decided to find out for myself. This was too strange. I got back to my car, pulled the sunshade down, and closed my eyes to have a nap right there.
When I opened my eyes, I was there. In The Lands.
However, I’d been a little overzealous with my plan. Too over-eager to remember one crucial detail. The car park was located within the shopping centre.
A short, rattled breath escaped my throat as I realised this error, but I had to get back to the restaurant.
I opened my car door as quietly as possible, not wanting whatever was in the centre to hear me. I got as far as the stairs when a small voice spoke out.
“Don’t go.”
It was a child. No older than my own daughter. I stepped back a little, worried about who else may have heard.
“What do you mean?” I kept my voice to a small whisper.
Others stepped from the shadows in the car park. I saw more figures in the stairwell that I had been about to go into. They didn’t look like monsters. They looked human.
A middle-aged woman stepped forward, closer to me, “Get away. You can’t come in here.”
I frowned, “I just want to get out. Please. My friends have… well one is dead and the other is missing. Please just let me go.”
Murmurs passed around the group.
“It isn’t safe outside. There’s someone out there who wants to hurt us and others like you who come here from the parallel world.”
Something didn’t feel right. I needed to find George and Jeff. They could be in trouble. And where was Charlie? I turned to walk down the steps. The sooner I was away from these people, the better.
The woman stepped forward again, wrapping a hand round my wrist, “Listen to me. Do not go out there. If you can survive two nights here you won’t be back. We’ve helped many survive The Lands.”
I pulled my arm away, continuing down the stairs.
“I don’t know you. Why are you here? This is a shopping centre, not a home.”
I pushed the double doors opening, seeing the rows of familiar shops. Not far to go. I could see the glass doors leading outside.
“We left our homes. We had to come here to be safe. Please just listen to me, do not go outside.”
I reached for the handle on the glass door. Just a few more seconds and I’d be away from them. I’d be safe. I decided to give them a few truths of my own.
“Whatever you’re trying to do it won’t work on me. This is my… fourth day here? Definitely more than two though. You’re lying.”
The woman looked genuinely upset by that, “We try to stop them from taking souls. It shouldn’t be possible for you to still be here.”
Souls?! What was going on here?
“Who? Who takes souls?” I shouted, getting rather agitated now by their rambling.
“The youngster tricks those in the parallel world to be more trusting. The older one cooks up the bad souls for eating.”
My heart pounded in my chest. Charlie in the restaurant, but he never showed up again. Jeff always heading for the fryers. Amy dying in real life with signs of a struggle.
“I… no.. they…” I tried to stammer, but I couldn’t make the words come out.
The woman’s eyes turned sad, “And the other man, he’s the ringleader. He befriends those who come here so that they go through the door. When you go through, you’re his. As long as you haven’t done that, we can help you.”
George.
It was George.
He killed Amy. He was trying to do the same to me. I was grateful in that moment we’d only gone to the McDonalds. Who knows where he would have taken me to and what would happen there?
“Please, help me. I want to go home.”
The lady nodded as I turned to her, letting go of the door.
“As long as you haven’t gone through the door, we can. You’d know it if you saw it. It’s big, black, and marked ‘no entry’.”
My eyes widened as realisation dawned. The back door at McDonalds. The one with the ‘no entry’ sign. The one I walked through on my second night in The Lands. I’d been so close to freedom and lost it without even realising.
The woman’s face filled with fear as the door behind me opened and a clawed hand pulled me back.
I turned to see George’s face, but it was warped. His eyes looked as if they’d been clawed out of his head. His teeth razor sharp. An overly stretched smile was on his face that made him look anything but human.
“Welcome back, Thea.”
Everything faded to black.
I woke up in my bed, except I didn’t. I was still in The Lands, but I could hear voices coming from in the room. Yet, no one was there.
“I didn’t do anything. Thea! THEA!”
That was my boyfriend. What on earth was going on? Why couldn’t I see him?
“You’re under arrest for the murder of Thea Ambrose.” from a female voice I didn’t recognise.
“Time of death, 4:52am. That poor woman. God knows what happened to her.”
I looked around me, unable to see my love or the other people,
“I’m not dead! He’s innocent.”
It didn’t matter. They couldn’t hear me. I tried to send emails in the days that followed, but they were ignored or I was berated for sending hoaxes to the police.
The internet link between the real world and The Lands still works. I found the news articles about my sweet Joe’s arrest. He’s looking at life in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.
My murder.
I immediately went to the shopping centre, finally recognising the people there for what they truly are, lost souls whose real lives were stolen and consumed by my supposed friends.
I found Amy. We both broke down in tears seeing what had become of each other. We sat for hours talking and crying, mourning both our previous lives and the people we thought we could trust.
And I post online. A lot.
If you’re reading this, beware of The Lands. If you end up there in your dreams come and find me in the shopping centre. Don’t go with them. Don’t trust them. Please. I beg you.
Joe, if you ever get a chance to see this, I love you. And I’m sorry.