D.R.E.A.M.

      Last day of school this year. Last lesson for this year. Last exam this year. It was physics. This year, Dean would definitely have failed all the exams if it weren’t for Nile with his Morse code tips. Dean tapped a question on the desk with a pen, Nile tapped out an answer with a pencil. This method may seem disadvantageous to Nile, but, unlike his friend, Nile's memory can remember everything he has ever written down. If you think that, thanks to Dean, there was no funeral for Myrta, then this is not so. In truth, Dean, Rushh and Shuri had barely communicated since that day. A trip to the police was unsuccessful. Well, what would you think if a boy with memory problems came to you, who couldn’t even give evidence, and said that his girlfriend was alive. They checked that Dean’s mother really didn’t buy such a coat, but of course they didn’t take it into account. Nile knew nothing about this. After the funeral, he began to see a psychotherapist, and his world quickly began to return to normal.       But the exam is over. Grades for all subjects will be mailed tomorrow. Both Dean and Nile leave the office with a clear conscience. There were a lot of people in the corridor and very noisy. Dean tried his best to concentrate. – That's it, Dee, we are free! – Nile said and hugged Dean. – Yes, but I wanted to tell you something. – Hey, Dee, what are you doing? – Nile finally noticed his friend’s excessive seriousness and concentration. – It’s okay. Look, everything is fine. – Nothing is fine! How can you even say that?! – Dean shouted, – I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but... Almost... Almost a year already! Someone ran up to them from behind. Actually, you already know this person a little. It was Jason Wayne. The same guy who seems handsome to everyone, but behind the beauty lies only rot. If you need a description of him, you can imagine a guy with dark hair, pale skin, a scar in the middle of his left eyebrow, large brown, almost black, eyes and prominent cheekbones. If you want to imagine how rotten it is, then fortunately this is your chance. All you need to know about Jason is that he's skinny, but he always wins the fights he starts, and most importantly, he likes things to be the way he wants them. Therefore, it has a rather bad reputation. And this reputation has justified itself, even at this moment. Jason Wayne ran up behind Dean and Nile and shouted with all his might: – Look! The fagots are fighting! The friends flinched in surprise. But fortunately or unfortunately, few people paid attention to them. Attention increased only after Nile, grinning, shouted:       – Damn it Wayne! Well, how long can you be such a maniac! You overhear two guys arguing from behind! Suspicious. If I'm gay, then you're definitely a maniac! Some people in the hallway, including Dean, were amused by the comparison. And of course Jason Wayne didn't like it. So he immediately grabbed Dean by the scruff of the neck, threw him forward along the corridor, picked him up and, raising his fist, shouted: – Hey, schizophrenic, now I’ll beat you up, and you won’t even remember it! – But I will remember! I was joking, start with me, – Nile said, approaching them. Jason Wayne, sitting above Dean and not letting him go, laughed loudly, then turned to Nile and smilingly answered: – Start yourself! – He nodded his head, but Nile did not react, and then Wayne added – You see, clown, you can’t do anything! I don’t touch you only because of your sister, or rather, my father asked me not to touch you. But I can beat the schizo for your fagot affairs. No one will protect him except you. But you chickened out! – I'm not a coward. I'm standing here. And you are daddy's puppy, since he orders you who to beat and who not to hit! Nile ran at the offender, but he turned him over and laid him on the floor with a movement of one hand. – Check this out! Your boyfriend can’t protect you, – Jason said to Dean, grabbed him by the neck, pressed him to the wall and swung his fist again, –Last word? – Fuck you, asshole, , – Dean said, breathing heavily.       And suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge hand appeared, grabbed Jason Wayne right by the chest and lifted him off the ground. It was Shuri. But it appeared so suddenly, as if out of nowhere, that at first Dean only noticed the hand. – What's going on here, Jay? – Shuri asked calmly. – Yes, so... Nothing... You need understand the last day. Shuri, what's the matter? – Wayne stammered excitedly. He clearly did not expect such a turn of events. Shuri was perhaps the only one who could defeat him, as well as the only one who never judged or stopped him. This was the first time he interfered with Wayne's performance. After hearing Jason's excuses, Shuri smiled and said: – Nope. Wrong answer, – seeing Wayne’s dumbfounded face, Shuri turned to Dean, – Hey, bro, how are you? In order? Can you repeat your request to Wayne? – W-w-what? – Dean answered stuttering, and then, coming to his senses, turned to the offender, – I'm sorry, but... I... Fuck you, asshole! – Hey, youngling, how are you there? Alive? – Shuri turned to Nile, – Do you have anything to add? You will definitely speak out. Shuri carefully brought Jason Wayne to the rising Nile. Nile rubbed his head and said: – First of all, I want to point out that you disobeyed daddy. Secondly, I won’t send you away; a confession will be enough. I love you Jason Wayne. Now you're one of us fagots. Well, thirdly, you even touch me again, and I will kill you, I promise.       Shuri pulled Wayne away from Nile, made sure that both victims were safe and said: – Of course, I condemn spoiling the Nile, but... Yes... This is exactly what always happens to those people whom you use for fun. Humiliation. Nobody interferes. Nobody cares about you. How are you feeling, Jay? – Fine, – Wayne replied dissatisfied. – OK. Fine. Then look at the problem completely. And most importantly, live with it, Wayne. And get the fuck away from everyone, – Shuri threw Jason to the floor a few meters away from everyone. Shuri helped Nile and Dean up from the floor and they walked out of the school together. For a second, Jason Wayne wanted to attack them from behind, but after taking a couple of steps towards them, for some reason he stopped and walked away in the opposite direction. – Since when do you protect me? I... I... I don’t remember, – Dean asked Shuri. – Actually, Dee, this is the first time. And I’m also wondering, how long have you been brothers? But... - Nile spoke in his usual fast manner and, unexpectedly, with his chest slowly heaving, he calmly added – Thank you. Is it true. I don't know what would happen next. – I wanted it and protected you, – Shuri answered and, looking at Nile, added, –Are you all right? Neither Dean nor Nile answered this question. They looked at each other touchily until they went outside. Dean expected that as soon as they got outside, Shuri would go to her car. But he stood next to them and seemed to be waiting for something, waiting for an answer to his question. But I only received the following words from Dean:       – Shuri, can you step away? Nile and I need to talk. Shuri took a few steps back, looking back at his friends with suspicion. Nile sighed displeasedly and, realizing the seriousness, lowered his gaze and sat down straight on the asphalt. Although Dean had already taken a bench for them and was taking some thick pink notebook out of his backpack. – What is this, Dee? – Nile asked seeing an object unfamiliar to him. – It's just... I... Look, I'm still out of my mind, but I'm not stupid. Myrta is alive, I'm sure. – Enough! – Nile shouted and, nervous from the painful topic, began to greedily and heavily gasp for air. Shuri wanted to approach them and help. But Dean stopped him. – No, damn it, it’s not enough. I have proof... – Dee, are you serious? – Nile interrupted him. – You are my friend. Listen. – I can't! – You do not want! How the fuck can you do that?! You live on only pills for your brain fucker. Maybe it's time to fucking look at fear in... At fear? Before? Bitch! – But what if it’s easier for me? You want to say that I'm a fucking drug addict, fuck off. It's easy for you to say, you might forget...       I think everyone will understand that these words were spoken in vain. So please don't judge Dean for hitting someone for the first time in his life. But so you don’t worry about Nile, I’ll note that it was a slight slap in the face. No one expected this, not even Dean himself. So he began to quietly apologize. Nile silently took out the pills, drank them demonstratively and laughed. And Shuri, seeing what was happening, simply froze in place, not knowing what to do. – You don’t want to listen to the evidence, then answer which of these is true, – Dean said confidently and, opening the notebook somewhere in the middle, asked, – Wayne is right? Why does Myrta need heels and dresses in her closet if she never wears them? Rushh is a receptionist? Why does she always carry a knife with her? Why Shuri and you... – How do you know? Have you been keeping a journal all this time? – the surprised and joyful Nile interrupted him. – So it’s true? Well, let's move on to the evidence... – Even if it’s true, even if your evidence is true, damn she’s not here. She left me! – Seriously? – Dean turned the page and began to read – “September the twelfth, two thousand and eighteen. Nile had a fight with his sister, but she...” – Fuck off, – Nile interrupted him, – It was all good. Why did you start this? – You are sure? Maybe I’m let you now too?       Not far away, a peculiar horn was heard from a car that had just arrived. It was Nile's father, who came for them all the time. Seeing his father, Nile hastened to smile and pretend that this was not a quarrel, but a normal conversation. – Well, fucked up. There is evidence, the police can help. Go? – Nile said, waving his hand and smiling. – Police? Shuri, Rushh, and I were already there. Everything went as usual. I thought you were my friend. – Me too, but it seems you and Shuri are closer, – Nile answered displeasedly and grabbed Dean’s hand and led him to his father’s car. – I’ll walk, – Dean said, slowing down. – Don't be stupid. You don't even know how to get to your home! – Is it true? Nile sighed displeasedly, sent Dean a cheerful smile with a forced smile, and got into the car. It was not audible what exactly the father and son were talking about, but on Nile’s part it was an obvious lie, because he had the most unnatural smile on his face. After a few minutes the car drove away. Dean followed her with his eyes and realized that he really didn’t know the way home. Fear began to take hold of him, and his memory began to become confused. Who knows what would have happened to him if not for the following words at the back: – Hey, Di, brother, what's going on with you? I can give you a ride, but only if we stop for a milkshake.

***

      A room with green walls. Every piece of furniture here had inscriptions on pieces of paper for notes. So on the alarm clock there was a note: “You have to go to school today. Mother will come in 5 minutes.” On the closet: “Everything is fine. The clothes are here, the shelves are labeled.” But a new piece of paper just appeared on the table leg: “You are a bastard. How is the Earth carrying you?” All these inscriptions, and even the last one, were made and pasted by the owner of this room, namely Dean. Now, with tears in his eyes, he sat in front of this inscription, hit himself on the head with a pink notebook and repeated one curse in a whisper. That was until there was a knock on the door. – Dean, bunny, this is your mother. I’m coming in, – a woman’s voice was heard behind the door. Dean immediately turned towards the sound. A plump woman with red hair and glasses lying on them entered the room. She began to speak slowly: – Dean, don't be scared. It's me... Were you crying? – Yes, Mom, I’m completely focused today, but I’m not in the mood, – Dean answered with his head down. – I understand that what I say will hurt you. But, Dean, you often forget things, and now you have to forget them. – No! I don't want to forget anything! – Dean shouted and added, –Sorry. Come on, tell me what you wanted? – I wanted to tell you that dinner is on the table. But, Dean, son, would you mind if you had dinner alone tonight? – OK, mom. Everything is fine. I was just about to call Nile. Go wherever you want, – Dean lied. – Great. If you're going to... – Mom, I remember that. A note, a call, take me from and to the house.       Dean's mother nodded her head, smiling, and left the room with her son. When he finished dinner, she was no longer at home. And that's when Dean heard the sound. If stones have ever been thrown into your room through the window while you were sitting on the floor below, then you are familiar with this sound. But if you, like Dean, had neither a cat, nor enemies, much less ignorant friends, then you, too, would be very surprised and even shocked by this sound. So Dean immediately ran to his room.       The window was broken and, accordingly, opened. In the middle of the room on the floor lay a huge cobblestone with a strange note: "20-29 14-15-6 15-21-8-6-15. 3-19-20-18-6-20-10-14-19-33 20-1-14, 4-5-6 20 -29 3-10-5-6-13 14-6-15-33 3 17-16-19-13-6-5-15-10-11 18-1-9.19-6-11-25- 1-19. p.s. 23-3-1-20-10-20 2-16-13-20-1-20-30 13-10-26-15-6-4-16 13-32-2-13- 32 20-6-2-33". At first Dean thought it was some kind of nonsense. But why tie nonsense to a stone and throw it out the window. Then he thought that someone just wanted to break his brains, but his interest quickly cut off this thought. And then he thought it was a code. And, good luck, he has a book on this topic. As soon as Dean picked up the book, he remembered the last time he held it in his hands. This was the last day with Myrta. Something inside Dean stirred, stirred and tickled under his ribs. The interest in finding out what was written there grew to the limit. It took Dean a little over an hour and half the ink in his pen to figure out the code, concentrate on his work, and decode it. Having deciphered the message, Dean was sure that Myrta wrote it:       “I need you. Meet me where you last saw me. Now.             P.S. Stop talking too much                   Love you." Dean was very upset that he spent an hour figuring out the message, but he was sure that Myrta was still waiting for him. He urgently began to get ready. And he started with a pink notebook. This will certainly tell him if he needs to remember something else. True, Dean remembered exactly where he saw Myrta for the last time. It was on the hill in front of the forest, near the Rushh house. Taking with him a map of the city and writing a note for his mother, where he lied about Nile, he left home. I don’t think there’s any need to describe the feelings with which Dean got to Rushh’s house. We all understand it anyway. Just as we understand the feeling that Dean experienced when he reached the appointed place. When he reached Rushh's house, he looked up the hill and saw a girl with white hair there. But the closer Dean got to this girl, the less he recognized Myrta in her. She stood with her back to him, and most importantly, she was clearly not wearing a coat. But this did not bother him. Let me remind you that Myrta was gone for almost a year. “You never know what could happen,” was the thought in Dean’s head. And when he got there, he said to her very hesitantly: - M-m-myrta? Then Nile turned to him in a wig and, pointing his index finger at him, said: – Don't hit me anymore. Bummer. Fury. These are the feelings Dean felt. He could be very disappointed in his best friend if he actually pulled such a cruel prank for the sake of revenge. I assure you, thinking like that, Dean was ready to hit Nile. But when Shuri ran out of the house towards them, carrying a hysterical-looking Rushh on his shoulder, Dean stopped understanding what was happening. – Did you receive a letter too? - he asked. – Di, I'm sorry. But we are the “letter,” – Nile said, taking off his wig, and seeing Dean’s face added, – Don’t look at me like that! It was all Shuri's idea! – Yes, brother, I'm sorry. It's just the only way to lure you here. – Yes! Fools need words! – Rushh screamed hysterically, trying to escape from Shuri’s hands. – I have a plan, – Shuri said, and then timidly looked down and said, – Or rather, I have part of a plan. – Tell them already! – Rushh yelled. – OK then. I have a logically constructed concept. – Holy shit. Do you know such smart words? – Nile added, but Dean, as always, pulled him back. – Judge for yourself. Remember at what point exactly did our life go to shit? – continued Shuri, – Since Myrta disappeared, we all became not ourselves. You, Rushh, hate reality. You, Nile, deny the whole world. Oh, my brother Dean and I are still trying to find ourselves. Am I the only one who notices this? – AND? – without understanding anything, Nile and Dean asked in one voice. – We need to go the way of Myrta. – You are dragging us to death! – Rushh yelled. – B-b-but M-mm-my..., – shaking, Nile could not pronounce his sister’s name. Fortunately, Dean expressed his thoughts: – But Myrta disappeared. We don't know where she went. –That’s my part of the plan. You said she went into this forest. Her body speaks... – Not her! – Dean interrupted. – Fine. That girl's body says she drowned. But there are no rivers in the forest. Puddles, yes. But the four of us will follow each other. The police assumed that Myrta went to D.R.E.A.M. Now it has been destroyed. So, we can easily reach the building and enter it. – We will all die there! – Rushh yelled. – We will be together. Protect each other. I will protect you. Let’s go in, look fear in the eyes and leave, – Shuri said. Everyone, reluctantly, especially Rushh, agreed. She screamed at Shuri and his plan the whole way, but she stopped struggling. Shuri calmed everyone down and supported them. Dean asked Nile how long ago D.R.E.A.M. collapsed. He didn't remember anything about it, and Nile was glad to distract himself and lay out everything, which was a lot that his brain knew.       When they walked through the entire forest and came to the building of the former "D.R.E.A.M.", it was already getting dark. Everyone was horrified by the appearance of the former laboratory. This was not the beautiful building of the future from that very advertisement. Now it was a building in which no one seemed to have lived in for more than a hundred years. Above the entrance to the building, some vandals wrote: "Welcome to Hell". Swallowing nervously, Shuri took out flashlights from his backpack and handed them out to everyone. Now Rushh not only did not struggle, but also did not scream. She was too scared. Everyone was scared. But, nevertheless, shining their flashlights, they entered the building. “Why is it so dark?” - that was Dean’s last thought. Maybe they really have entered Hell...