Veeyel sat in bed, not sure what to do with himself. Things lately had been a little off, to say the least. Normally, once you were there, you were stuck there, but people had been coming and going. Normal Rethans, not deranged Ksa like him.
“You’re thinking loudly again…”
Above him, Zitel was lying in his bunkbed, staring at the ceiling.
“I can’t help it…” Veeyel sighed. “There is something inherently wrong going on here. First they take Arkay, then General Kaldoran leaves, then Elenar goes off to do a different job, then suddenly there’s only five of us left.”
Zitel rolled over onto his stomach, like he always did. “Hey, some of them were meant to leave. That’s a good thing. Right?”
“I dunno…” Veeyel sighed. “That R-Class guy was supposed to be here for two years because of some legal stuff and they took him away as well… Oh hey…”
Aziten waved as he stood in the doorway to the shared bedroon. “Hi you two. I’m having nightmares, can I join you?”
Zitel tutted, but Veeyel nodded with glee. “Please! Do! What’s wrong?”
Aziten cautiously walked in and sat next to Veeyel, fiddling with his claws. “Just bad dreams.”
“You have bad dreams all the time!” Zitel growled, wanting to go to sleep. “What’s different now?”
Unsure how to answer, Aziten shifted closer to Veeyel. “Um…”
“You can talk to us,” Veeyel reassured him. “We’re here for you.”
“I know but… My dreams have a habit of coming true…” Aziten whispered. “I dreamed that Arkay would be taken away. I dreamed that the High General would appoint General Kaldoran to serve on the council. I get lots of dreams that come true. They can’t all be coincidences…”
Ziten sat up. “You… knew?”
“I dreamed.”
His curiosity piqued, Ziten decided to push further. “What did you dream of just now?”
Aziten shivered and instinctively clinged to Veeyel. “I… I can’t…”
Seeing how distressed Aziten was, Veeyel wrapped his arms around him, but it didn’t seem to make Aziten feel better. it did however make him talk.
“It sounds… Stupid. Impossible even. Really it sounds so stupid I don’t know why I’m scared…”
“Just tell us,” Zitel huffed.
“It will help get it off your chest,” Veeyel added.
Azitel sighed. “You’re right… The dream… We weren’t here any more. We were taken to a new facility. Not in a good way. That’s where they took the others, and they had… remade them. All under the High General’s orders…”
Zitel blinked.
“Do you… know why?” Veeyel asked.
“I don’t remember… Something about him not wanting to give up power. It was as if he was… mobilizing against something. A truth. I could not see it though…”
The thought of reliving his dream made Aziten start to cry. He pulled away and tried to leave the room, only for Veeyel to stop him.
“Don’t go. Stay here. Don’t be alone.”
Aziten hesitated, then turned back.
“What’s going on?” a voice interrupted. Jaydee and Enyess were both standing in the doorway, with concerned looks on their faces.
Aziten sniffed and wiped his eyes. “It’s… nothing.”
“It clearly is,” Jaydee crossed his arms. “You were whimpering in your sleep. We could hear you from our room.”
“Aziten had a bad dream where we were taken to a new facility and completely reprogrammed. It clearly scared him.”
“What do you mean?” Enyess asked, looking concerned. “Is this one of your… predictions? One of your future glimpses?”
“They’re probably just coincidences!” Jaydee snapped.
“Coincidences predicted weeks in advance?”
Jaydee fell silent. Enyess sat down on the side of the bed next to Aziten and Veeyel, and Zitel climbed down from his bed. Eventually, Jaydee joined them.
“I hope you’re wrong, Aziten.”
“I hope so too,” Aziten sighed. “I hope so too…”