Dreamcatcher: Chapter 1

A Chapter by lizzie

The first chapter of the first book in my series The Lunar Bond: Dreamcatcher! PLEASE NOTE: My writing style has developed over the time I have been writing this book, so it may not be polished.

They call me “Dreamcatcher.”

Why would they call me, a 19 year-old boy, “Dreamcatcher”?

A dreamcatcher is something little children believe in. Something that clasps their bad dreams and evil spirits and locks them away forever. So why call me “Dreamcatcher”?

Maybe because evil spirits are drawn to me. I have to fight them off.

My name is Phoenix Cheetham. I live in the centre of a large city, where I discovered “the Lunar Bond”.

CHAPTER 1

I stood in the doorway of Upper Lake College, on my first day. My brown messenger bag was slung carelessly over my shoulder in the rush to get there on time. Inside were textbooks for my courses: History, English Language/Literature, Music and Chemistry. I felt people barge into me as they all walked through the front doors; like a pack of stampeding animals. I sighed, held onto my bag strap and walked through the door also. This was where I was going to be spending a lot of time. I needed to get used to this morning routine.

Upon walking through the doors I saw people looking at me, not recognising my face. Moving to this city was my Aunt’s idea, so she pulled me out of college, pulled my cousin and brother out of their respective schools before moving us all into this unknown space. Baxter and my parents were not there to look after us anymore: Mother died from an illness after Baxter was born, and Father had depression and took his own life after Mother died. We had to move in with Uncle Michael and Aunt Pam.

After walking laps of the building to find my classroom, I eventually came to the place I was looking for. My eyes raced around the class, looking for a place to sit that wouldn’t draw attention to me. I found an empty space against the wall in the middle, that wasn’t too crowded. My cold personality and anxiety issues didn’t help me make friends where I used to live, so it certainly wasn’t going to help me here. I sat down in my seat, being careful not to attract attention, and took a book out of my bag and started reading.

“HEY, KID!” I heard a voice yell. “HAVEN’T SEEN YOU AROUND HERE BEFORE!”

A rather loud and rough-looking boy looked me straight in my face, and before I knew it everyone’s eyes were boring through me. A situation I was not hoping for.

Some people came over to my seat and kneeled down opposite me.

“What’s your name?” a girl asked.

“Ph-Phoenix.” I said, quietly, looking down at my book to avoid eye contact. “Phoenix Ch-Cheetham.”

“That’s a cool name,” another boy said. “I bet your parents are awesome!”

My whole body froze. How would I respond to something like that?

“I-I… don’t w-w-want to talk a-about t-them,” I stammered.

The stares of everyone pierced into me like knives as the class went silent.

“Stop staring,” my brain screamed. “Stop staring at me!”

I felt sick to my stomach. The racing of my heart drummed quickly in my head, my palms started to feel clammy.

“What lessons are you taking?” another girl asked, taking the chair next to me.

“What are you reading?” someone else lifted the cover of my book.

“Whereabouts do you live?”

“Do you have siblings?”

“Why won’t you tell us about your parents?”

I noticed some people in the corner looking at me and whispering amongst their friends, before they all started giggling.

“Why did your parents give you that name?”

“Did you just move here?”

The questions themselves seemed pretty harmless, however they were said in such a mocking manner that my brain shut down.

“This is it," I told myself. "They're laughing at me. They're attacking me."

Another student shook my shoulders violently.

“WHY WON’T YOU TELL US?” he shouted right in my face, and the whole class laughed.

“STOP IT, PLEASE!” I yelled suddenly. My hands trembled uncontrollably as my heart raced. I honestly thought I was going to be sick.

The whole class stared at me after my sudden outburst. I stuffed my book into my bag and stood up, and walked quickly out of the classroom. As I walked, the teacher was about to walk into the class.

“You’re Phoenix, aren’t you?” the lady asked.

I completely ignored her and walked off down the hall quickly, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

The lady followed me down the corridor.

“Stop, come back!” she demanded. Even imagining taking a step back into that classroom sent shivers down my spine.

“They’ll laugh at you,” my brain said tauntingly. “You’ll never live that down. You lost it in record time. They’re gonna judge you. They’re going to make jokes about you. They’re going to tear you apart. You can’t go back. You can’t ever go back. You can’t see them ever again. They will laugh at your anxiety. They’ll torture you until you can’t take it anymore.”

I held my bag strap tight as I turned to face the form tutor.

“I can’t see anyone in that class ever again,” I said clearly yet coldly. “I won’t step near that classroom as long as they’re in there.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” she said. “You have to at least introduce yourself. Come along.”

“I CAN’T!” I shouted. “I DON’T WANT TO GO NEAR THEM!”

“You’re to do as I say or I shall phone your parents!” the lady suddenly raised her voice, losing her temper with me.

“NO, DON’T!” I said weakly. Aunt Pam would be furious if she found out I had done something like this again. She told me if something like that happened again she’d take me to a therapist and keep me away from Baxter.

“THEN COME ALONG!” the lady yelled.

“STOP IT!” I cried helplessly. My head started spinning. I started hyperventilating. This was the worst case scenario... I clasped my hands together as a coping mechanism.

“What’s wrong, Phoenix?” she said. She walked back over to me as I crouched down in the hallway, my arms trembling.

“You’re going crazy,” my brain stated. “You’re going to die.”

“DON’T!” I said, my whole body shaking. “DON’T COME NEAR ME!”

Another teacher walked down the hallway and ran towards me.

“What’s going on here?” he asked.

“I’m trying to talk some sense into Phoenix,” the woman said. “But he’s having none of it.”

“What’s wrong with you, woman?” the man retorted, noticing the unwavering fear in my eyes. “Can’t you see he’s panicking here?”

I stood up slowly on my shaking legs. I then ran as fast as my legs could carry me down the corridor, out of the front entrance before anyone had a chance to stop me.

“Excuse me!” I heard the receptionist call out to me as I ran off down the entrance.

“They’ll phone Aunt Pam and say I ran off,” I thought. “It was the only way I could think of to get me out of there…”

I ran out of the school grounds and into the town.

I slipped down some thin alleyways and sat down on top of a box and held my pounding head in my hands.

“I’m so stupid,” I thought. “Aunt Pam is going to freak out… I’m not going to be able to see Baxter… They’re going to put me in therapy…”

The thought of someone I don’t know peering into my brain and trying to figure out my thought patterns made my skin crawl. Constantly paying attention to me. Writing down every word that comes from my mouth. What if they put me into care? What if I can’t see my own brother again? I promised my parents I would look after him…

My head span with constant thoughts that chilled me to the core.

“Escaping from your school?” I heard someone behind me say.

I saw a girl standing there. A girl wearing a red and black striped eyepatch over her right eye, her hair in two rough ponytails. She wore a black shirt with a black and white checked skater skirt, with red and black striped thigh high socks and thick boots. She had a bag over her shoulder in the shape of a red heart, and from that bag hung a little keychain, one that was a teddy bear wearing a matching eyepatch. Her gaze was soft and caring, like an old friend.

“What difference does it make to you if I am?” I said bluntly. I didn’t make eye contact with her.

"Well... I saw you clutching your bag, looking behind you all the time as you ran into this alleyway, so..."

She sat down on the box next to mine. I continued to stare at the floor.

“You give off a cold aura,” she said. “Don’t have many friends?”

“What gives you the right to say that?” I replied, my voice emotionless. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“We’re outcasts. We’re all the same. I didn’t have many friends before I joined them. Hell, I had no friends at all. They took me in cuz they found me in an alleyway just like this one.”

“Whose “they”?” I thought. I didn’t dare ask her because I wanted her to leave me alone.

“I’m referring to The Lunar Bond,” the girl said. “They wanted me to look for someone like you, Phoenix Cheetham.”

My eyes grew wide in shock. My brain scrambled in thoughts, I stopped staring at the floor away from her and looked into her piercing blue eye.

“Truth be told, I've been looking for you, or someone like you, for a little while now. Thunder is gonna be pissed when he finds out that I got to you first...!” A sly grin was painted over her face as she stamped her feet excitedly.

“What a-are you?!” I said, starting to panic again. “STAY AWAY!”

“I’m a person, just like you.” The girl smiled at me in a warm way, like nothing out of the ordinary happened. “An outcast. Someone who doesn’t fit in for one reason or another.”

“Why don’t you fit in?” I asked. “Because you’re an alien?”

“My eye,” she sighed, hovering her hand over her patch. “Everyone asked me questions about my eyepatch. I never answered them. I kept people away from me because the one friend I had laughed at me and spread stuff about me and my family behind my back constantly. I trusted her with all my secrets and she went and spread them to everyone. The people in my school used to bully me… It started out with being called “pirate girl”, and that was really toned down compared to everything else that happened after. I used to cry myself to sleep over bullying.”

“That must have been hard for you,” I said quietly.

“What makes you escape down here?” she asked me.

“I’d rather not say,” I replied, my voice hushed.

“I told you everything!” she huffed. She stomped one of her feet irritably at me. “It’s unfair if you don’t tell me!”

“I… I have... a p-problem with a-anxiety,” I said. My voice started to tremble.

“What if she’s lying about that story?!” I thought. “I can’t trust her… She’s gonna judge me…”

“Really?” she said. “You ran away here to escape from people?”

“Yes,” I replied harshly.

“You can trust me,” she said.

“How do I know that?” I sighed. “I don't even know who you are.”

“That’s very true,” she responded quickly. “However I told you the truth about being bullied.”

“PHOENIX!” I heard someone yell as their footsteps got closer. “PHOENIX!”