Chapter 12-London Fire Catherine

The blackness engulfed Catherine's thoughts. Stretching out in front of her like a map, the unknown surveyed her anxieties, her strength, and her understanding. 

Even though her eyes were closed, she couldn't think of why; her heart was battered, her mind empty. It was as if it had cleared a spike of adrenaline into her carotid. She spans into the utter darkness, her breathing rate steadiing. 

Her eyes open like two searchlight beams, the new temporal inserts providing sufficient light to brighten whatever she looks at. It's like being shown the woods one tree at a time in some crazy memory game, but it's better than blackness.

Her feelings were speeding up inside her head. She wants them to hinder her so she can breathe, but they won't. Her breaths come in gasps, and she realizes that just as she would have a panic attack a second from now, her heart is pounding inside her chest. The room swirls. And she was attempting to make everything quiet for something her brain and body could withstand. 

A nudge to her ribs makes her yank awake to see Mr. Nasir's smiling face. Wait...

Mr. Nasir? Her boss? Why is he here? She looked away, confused, looking around when she noticed that she wasn't in their hotel suite nor the Dark Forest.

"Mr. Nasir! Why are you in her heart? Where am I? "

He smiled, not from amusement but out of the pleasure of having the fear removed. Then he became serious again. Relax, don't move just yet. You are in Mr. Walton's apartment here in the DRI, but anyway, we'll explain later, but there was bad news, though.

"What? "She asked and sat down in her bed.

"Where are they?"

"Who?"

"Sean and Nathan," she added.

Sean was okay. He woke up a while ago and went for a quick shower. But the terrible news was Nathan. "He hesitated.

You three agreed on that stupid plan of sleeping in that hotel together, but Nathan didn't wake up until now, so my team had transferred the three of you here, "Nazir explained, rubbing his hands together, sitting on the stool beside the bed. 

"How long was I asleep?"

"Not that long! It's morning now. You three fell asleep last night at seven in the evening.

The knock came as the door opened. Sean was fresh from the shower and was smirking at her, looking at her with an emotion unknown to himself. 

"Good, you're awake." He said, beaming.

Catherine's eyes pursued the devil himself. The surprise was written on her face. Sean was half-naked, every muscle in his torso flowing from the light into the dark. He was a living work of art, his soft skin so tempting to touch, every move giving away his strength. His eyes were locked on her, naughty wild thoughts running through her mind. She reddens as she looks elsewhere.

"Can you at least put some clothes on?" She blurted while Sean smiled and put his shirt above his head.

I don't think I appreciate just how awful it is to see you here, showered and all, and me this. pointing to herself and having a near-jet lag feeling. She would interpret it as coming off the night shift. The exhaustion was all the same, but at least it held an edge of uncertainty for a later day in a different place. The trip to the Land of Nod had bitten her hard and her hunger was giving her a headache, plus those abs and those V-lines were making her uneasy even more! 

Should I leave you guys? It seems to me like you two have unfinished business to heed to. " Nasir said, watching them. Catherine was the manifestation of awkwardness-she doesn't care, and knows, and would think it funny if she did. And together, only a blind person will notice the heat radiating between the two. Words unspoken.

"No, stay!" Both replied.

"I need you to explain to her what you've advised me earlier," Sean added, while giving her a bowl of oatmeal to eat from the side table.

Thank you! She said, eating her sustenance.

Well, for starters, when I gained a signal that the three of you were heading to the Land of Nod..."

"Wait a minute, you knew this was all along?" She stopped him.

"Yes! Let me finish, okay? "

Nathan had provided me with a signal message before he took off to the hotel, and I assembled my team to follow his orders!

You know, Nathan? What orders? Can somebody explain what is going on? " She said, annoyed and perplexed.

"Yes! I knew him, and he was my assistant.

"I'm your assistant."

"Yes, Catherine, you are in Lava soft."

is my PA, but here Nathan was my assistant. " He watched as his word brought no sign of contempt to Catherine's face. It is shocking how different this girl is from any other girl in his life. Sean was a fortunate man.

"He told me to transport all of you here to the DRI facilities before waking you up and putting you through our brain-scanning equipment to monitor and study your dreams, in fact, all of your dreams!" Nasir said, and then favored Sean with an exaggerated wink.

What equipment? "I didn't give any permission for any of those," she answered in a near panicked voice, but there was no sign of resentment rather than awe.

"You guys are giving me a headache."

"Then stop interrupting and let me finish!" 

Catherine thought they were beyond bitterness, how they played her, how she was a puppet after all. Her furious eyes are her pain untold, and she wishes she could show it. She does. But she has to let them in so she can depend on them, but fear is her enemy. She doesn't know whom to trust. And they shattered her trust. Lies were seen. 

"Sean, please inform me of everything. We don't have sufficient time. We need to go back to rescue Nathan," Catherine asked thoughtfully, staring into his eyes.

Nasir was amused, and his eyes sparkled behind the spectacles. He had known it for years. And yet, what surprised him was that Sean hadn't informed her. He wished to inform her now. He could see her compassion wearing thin. She needed justification. They owe her that.

Okay, "he paused, and suddenly, his face was unreadable. Sean realized he had been lost in thought. He put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed.

See, I'm not just the owner of Lava Soft and hotels in London, I'm also the founder of the DRI Institute. I funded it back in 2012." He added

Nasir was the team head, and he has worked for me since the beginning, as has Nathan and even Ada.

What the heck are you talking about, Ada Nasir's Assistant Manager? She raised a question, surprised by the idea of Ada knowing about her issues.

"Wait, what is the DRI institute?"

He then confided in her everything.

Most people who own a substantial business could live very well for the rest of their lives. Why do we conserve our fortunes and try to expand them? Is it greed or power? Not at all.For him, that was not what it was. Sean strives for knowledge, and he always has. When he began his search for answers, he financed DRI (The Dream Research Institute).

He explained that it's the only transpersonal training center in the United Kingdom and one of the few self-sufficient charitable trusts in the world supporting research into dreams from a spiritual perspective.

The DRI was part of the Center for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education Trust (CCPE) in Central London. It explores the connection between dreams and wellbeing from a spiritual perspective, requiring public events and an unusual archive, as well as teaching videos and educational courses, but that was just for public appearance.

He financed it for one sole purpose: to help those who are curious about reality, consciousness, and dreams. He wants to identify the reason for his dream; nevertheless, his curiosity has been the only reason he supported it, as he always has the same dream, and he wanted to learn if his dreams have a purpose. Had his dreams influenced his life, his health, and his wellbeing? Do they lead him to a spiritual awakening? And not until there were some subtle ways that scientists found to study his dreams.

His team of scientists in DRI has been studying the actions of sleepwalkers, or putting recording devices in people's rooms and catching the utterances they make during sleep, talking and analyzing the language of that.

Neuroimaging studies of rats with electrodes have been important. Some of the first research on memory consolidation and dreams comes from rat subjects.

Building off that, other scientists ran an experiment where they released rats into a maze. The rats would run around as assigned with no goal for any area. If the experts gave them favorable stimulation while the rats were replaying a certain part of the maze during sleep, when the rat wakes up, they gravitate more toward that place.

And recently, there was a Japanese study a few years ago where a group could certainly create a very realistic dream reading device. They scanned people's brains while they were awake and awakened certain objects and characters (like a man, a woman, a computer, food) and then they could look at those patterns and match them to what they were seeing when they were asleep.

Even that is associated pretty well with the subject's dream reports.

There are also several researchers focusing on rational dreaming. Scientists are looking at how we can induce lucid dreams more and the clinical applications of lucid dreaming.

When he was done, they gaped at one another for a moment, then they both looked away. There was silence.

It took a second or two for the additional information to sink in.

"Our spontaneous meeting in the street the other day wasn't simple at all. I've been meaning to meet you, but being an asshole myself, I'd made it to that state and for that, I apologize," Sean added.

So what? I'm supposed to acknowledge it now. That everything has been planned. And I'm just the lab rat? She raised a question, her eyes glossing with unshed tears.

"No! No! Please don't believe it with that respect. "

"DRI has been monitoring your internet searches for this so-called phenomenon, and so far, when you started your quest for an explanation, the team has been surveying you ever since."

"You what? They bugged me? She shouted. disappointed She bit her lip. This was one crazy-ass day, she guessed.

"Yes, everything has been monitored, sorry Catherine," he said.

But know that whether you've won or lost this quest, you can trust me. I'm always here for you. I've known you for a long time now. Ah.hmm, never mind. " This surprises him. He blew invisible smoke into the air, too intimidated to even stare at her eyes, which were full of unanswered questions.

"I'm sorry. Okay, I won't lie to you ever again." He added He has just uttered the most stupid definition of telling her about his feelings.

She looked at him for a moment longer. Although she gave in to him, she was a powerful woman. She had led her life alone since she was a teenager, and a little distrust wouldn't bother her. Or not.

Everything and everyone told her that everything would be okay, but she was anxious. It appears as an electrical assault on her brain that, honestly, was painful. It's distinct from a headache, and it feels the same as severe grief, perhaps as a sort of frozen panic with nowhere to go. 

There was no warmth in her voice, as if her heartbeat so, even though she took a special view from Sean's own.

And so, before she knew it, everything was clear again. There was understanding all around her instead of the bickering between them as she was so accustomed to. She's tired of fighting alone. If Sean and his team will help her, then she doesn't have any choice but to accept it.

"That's it? Do you want me to trust you? Trust goes both ways, Sean. No more lies, understood? " She yearned for the truth. One more lie and she was done for good.

"Yes." He realized he had been lost in thought. "Right now, we need to go back for Nathan's sake." 

Wait!! Before that, Ada was a Nodder too.

"Yes, she was I reckon she was the Lamia Aegeus Adah in Cold Mountain. " Sean's face split into a grin. 

"Yes! My theory was that creature rose from her hibernation when the two of you met in the Cold Mountain. Ada's consciousness was enticed after that. She could now cross the bridge through both of you by recognizing that the bridge was in fact, "Nasir clarified after listening to their conversation.

And I worry that those nodders who couldn't cross before,... they can now! He added, straightened up a bit, and tilted his head back so that the hair fell away to either side, like a curtain opening up to uncover a pale face. The stubble on his cheeks made him look even more gaunt than he was and, as he carried on, his eyes looked exhausted.