#prg event

"I like this." 

I said as I glanced around the room. The surrounding darkness was gone, and there we were, our legs crossed, sitting on the bed in Gracie's room. The pink-coated walls, the Toy Story bed sheets, and the unicorn dolls sprawled across the floor - it was exactly the same, down to the very last detail. It was as if I've never left for Allegory, keeping her company right before bed time. 

"Me too." she said, her eyes beaming with delight. She picked up one of her unicorn soft toys and tossed it at me. "Hey! What was that for?" I asked, subconsciously ignoring the fact that I probably deserved more that just a toy thrown at me for abandoning her like that. 

She shrugged, smiling. 

"Just felt like it." she said, sticking her tongue out.

I smiled back. "I've missed this, Grace-face." I teased. I reached out and pinched her right cheek. "Hey that hurt!" she yelled, but giggling at the same time. God, it was so good to hear her laugh again. "And don't call me that, Gabe-babe." she teased back, referring to my middle name. 

There was a knock on the door. I instinctively turned to look at the door, and then back to Gracie with a quizzical look. Her beaming eyes faltered, replaced by a darker expression on her face. "It's him." she said, as if there could only be one person she was referring to. 

As the door swung open, there was a burst of blinding, white light. When I finally regained my sight, everything was gone. The unicorn dolls, the pink walls - all gone. Even Gracie. I felt my heart beat quicken as I looked around frantically for her. All around him was just plain nothingness, a perpetual white space that didn't have a beginning or an end. "Gracie?" I called out, but no answer.

"Hello Samuel." I was startled by the deep, masculine voice behind me. I turned around to face the source of the voice, and I felt my body froze.

"Father?" the figure looked exactly like him, with the grey hair, the business suit, the striped red tie; everything. The older man shook his head, amused. "This..." he gestured to himself. "Is merely a guise, a manifestation I chose. I wanted to appear as a familiar face to you. Preferably a sort of authority figure, if you may-" I didn't give him the chanced to finish. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards me. "Where is my sister? What did you do to her?" I demanded, my teeth clenching with anger. 

"Calm down, Samuel." the man said as he urged for me to release my grip, and I reluctantly did. "You know where she is. You're just afraid to admit the truth." he said as-a-matter-of-factly. And he was right. Tears started to form on my eyes as I thought about what he said. I still refused to believe it. She was real. I saw her. I felt her, smooth, blonde hair. She was real. "I don't know what you're talking about. Who are you? What the hell is going on here?" I forced myself to ask.

The man started to move, circling around me as he spoke. "I think you already knew that as well. Why did you think you were having these..strange dreams about the people around you? And that dream about Sage getting shot? They are all real, Samuel. The Greek gods, the events, who you and your friends really are. All real. " he explained calmly, and for some strange reason, I believed everything he said. It was as if he was just confirming everything I've known all along. "And as for me," he continued. "My name is Morpheus. I am the-"

"God of Dreams." I interrupted. Morpheus smiled, amused. "Yes. And it is no coincidence that you know that, Samuel. You see, years ago, the gods made a foolish decision to reincarnate ourselves. You are a reincarnation of me." he finally stopped moving , and faced me with his arms crossed. 

I frowned as I struggled to take all that in. I am I reincarnation of a Greek god? It sounded really far-fetched, but ironically it was the only thing that made sense. But then, another thought struck him. "But...I'm dead." I stated. 

The man's eyes looked up thoughtfully before he spoke. "Yes... and no. You see, Elpis, who you know as Mrs Thompson, prevented your transition to the underworld from being permanent. Fortunately for you, your friends are coming to save you...or us, I suppose." 

I shook my head sternly. I knew I should be happy, or relieved to know that people are coming to save me. But that was the thing - I didn't deserved to be saved. I wanted to stay dead. To stay here with Gracie. "If being dead means that I can be with Gracie, then I'd prefer that." I said. "Now bring her back." I demanded shakily. "Please." I added, struggling to suppress the tears. 

Morpheus sighed. "I can't do that. It is essential that you are to stay alive." 

"Why?" I snapped back. "Why do I get to stay alive, while my sister.." I was interrupted by my own sobbing, and I didn't even realize the tears until I felt their wetness on my cheeks. I wiped the tears away, shrugging off the sadness as I looked at father- no, Morpheus in the eyes. "Please, just bring her back to me, like you did before." 

"I can't do that, Samuel. You can only dream for so long. It's time to get back to reality." he said.

He didn't know why he was there. 

Samuel knew exactly what he was doing - the usual formal attire, his signature charming smile, the attentive nodding, keeping eye contact - he knew the knowledge he had about large corporate businesses and classical music was impressing the Buffets. 

The Buffets. Entrepreneurs first, Summer's parents later. 

What the hell was he doing there?

Samuel knew exactly what he was doing, but the conversations seemed to be happening in slow motion, a one big blur. That was how everything seemed to him every since he got back. Ever since that incident in Paris. Samuel had decided to lock himself in his dorm room and never get out, but as soon as he heard the news about Summer, well he honestly had no idea what had gotten over him, but he just got into his car, and drove. 

So there he was. The Buffet mansion. 

"...I'm just saying, Mr. Buffet." the boy continued as he raised his hands, "it was pretty clever how your lawyers handled that whole Harvey lawsuit. I mean they are sly sons-of-a-bitches, but clever nonetheless." the boy joked with a grin. That earned him amused laughter from both of Summer's parents. Mr. Buffet shook his head amusingly as he patted Samuel on the back. "Which isexactly what I'm paying them to be, Mr. Harrington." the billionaire replied with such wit, and Samuel had expected nothing more from the man. 

The power couple escorted Samuel up the stairs as they conversed. They had asked Samuel to stay the night, at one of their many guest rooms. "Oh-" Samuel interrupted himself, not sure what he was even supposed to say. "I'm don't want to impose, sir." he replied quickly. "Nonesense, a friend of Summer is always welcomed here. That's why you're here for, I presume? To see my daughter? Now where is that girl, anyway?" Mrs. Buffet asked, with such poise and class exerting from every word she said. Samuel scratched the back of his head. "Uh, yes, of course." he answered, but he was also assuring himself. 

"For Sage Callas, room 78B." Vanni nodded to the receptionist in acknowledgment as he picked up the medium-sized package and the bundle of flowers on the counter. The hotel employee mused at the lengths the Americans went to display their romantic gestures. He got in the lift and pressed on the floor he wanted to go to. He gave a welcoming nod towards an old couple as they exited the elevator. Vanni glanced at the maginificent bouquet of flowers - it was a beautiful assortment - Roses, daisies, tulips, and others the man could not name. Then a thought hit him. Could this be an apologetic gesture, instead of a romantic one? Vanni shook the thoughts away. There was no point wondering, it was not like he would ever find out. The thing was, deep down, Vanni was a sucker for romance - his parents had the most healthy relationship he had ever seen, and he hoped that one day, he too would find someone that he would love unconditionally, and send those flowers too. 

Vanni caught himself smiling unintentionally as he stopped in front of the designated room. The man knocked on the door.

one two three. 

"Miss Callas? A package for you." 

Samuel opened the door. The room was ever more grand than he had expected it to be. Spacious, highly decorated, well stocked with food, he couldn't have asked for a better room. "The school sure knows how to spoil us." he said as he smiled in satisfaction. The boy walked into the room and tossed his bag pack onto the bed that was next to the windows. "Shotgun." he grinned at his room mate, Riles. 

Samuel had met Riles in their literary class just a few days before the flight. Well, officially met that is. They were merely acquaintances before, just classmates. They might have said hi occasionally, but that was the extent of their interaction. Upon reading one of his essays, Mrs Thompson had urged Samuel to start writing creatively, suggesting that he might have a knack for writing. Samuel heeded the guidance counselor's advice, and decided to write down the dreams that he had been having, hoping to start making sense of it all. He had titled each of the dreams with the names of the people that he was reminded of, or people he ran into right after those dreams. He wrote them all down in a little blue notebook. 

Just a few days before their flight, Samuel accidentally misplaced that notebook in class. The boy searched frantically for the missing notebook, and just about to go through his room mate Cameron's belongings before there was a knock on the door. Riles Richardson had stumbled upon the notebook in class, and read the first page before realizing it was Samuel's. What started out as a discussion about each other's writing skills turned into an investigation into Samuel's dreams. There was just something about Riles, that Samuel felt comfortable in telling him about the truth behind the stories in the notebook, somehow knowing that the other boy would understand his aching curiosity. 

Their unconventional friendship had blossomed since then; they had even agreed to be room mates with each other for the whole trip. Samuel had promised to let Riles read the rest of his 'dream records' when they finally settle into their hotel room.