Dream: Westley's Secret

Date: 10/6/2020

"Westley, where were you? Practice was supposed to start 30 minutes ago." I hissed as he grabbed his guitar and pointed to my bass. "Your grip is off again." Westley stated and I looked down. He was right. I adjusted my grip and glared at him. We both got in position as our remaining band members finished setting up. The music started and practice went damn near perfectly. As quickly as it ended, Westley had taken off. I bit back a growl of frustration. "What the he'll is going on?" I thought as I put away my bass guitar. The next couple days went by in a blur and then I saw the news: Lead Guitarist, Westley Horizon, disappeared from flat. Whereabouts still unknown. Police Section Chief, Shauna Horizon, mother of guitarist, helping investigation. I grit my teeth. Of course his mother would try and get involved. Depsite being most every reason Westley left home. I shook my head and downed my coffee. There was only one place I could think of that he might go if not back to his flat. However, I knew I'd have to lose my tail to go there. I pulled out some coins and went to the nearest payphone. I dialed and waited till I heard the kid's voice on the other end. "Hey bugaboo. Mind letting your momma know I'll be over soon?" I asked them. I heard a giggle, "Okie dokie Dally." I shook my head, "Darla. Not Dally. We've been through this." More giggling as they hang up. At least the message was conveyed. Time passed and I eventually lost the tail. I knocked on the door and Phillis seemed to not recognize me at first. "Darla?" She asked cautiously. "Hey, Lis. Mind if I come in?" She stepped aside and Lyla, her daughter came up and hugged me. "Hey bugaboo." Lyla was 10 but she couldn't speak much. Not because she was slow. She was very smart. She just didn't have a good childhood before Phillis saved her and adopted her. Once the door was closed I felt Lyla tugging on my arm. I glanced to Phillis who just nodded. "I've got dinner starting. Let Lyla take you to the back. She's been waiting to play since you called." Phillis told me and headed back to the kitchen. Phillis had a big home thanks to Westley. He built it for her and Lyla. There was a panic room in the back of it that doubled as a bomb shelter. It was where Lyla often went when Phillis cooked so that she'd be safe. It was also the place I was almost certain Westley had gone to get off the grid. The only people who knew of the panic room were myself, Westley, Lyla, Phillis and her husband. And her husband took it to his grave. The walk through the maze of halls was calming. As Lyla led me down into the panic room I felt my nerves wrack back up. What was I even expecting him to tell me? I had no clue what he was even running from. "Dally here." I heard Lyla say as we walked through the door and she shut us in. Moments later I was embraced in a hug. "I knew you'd come find me." I gave him a weak hug back as Lyla went over to her stack of puzzles. Westley buried his face in my neck and I could feel him trembling. This towering six foot man was trembling. I hugged him a bit tighter. "What the heck have you gotten me into, Westley?" "So much stuff. I never meant to get you guys involved."  He stepped back and I could see the panic in his eyes. I sighed and led him over to a couple chairs.  "I need you to tell me everything." He nodded then looked to Lyla, "Music bugaboo." He told her and pointed to his ears. She nodded, grabbed her portable CD player, and put her headphones on. Once we could hear the muffled sounds of music I felt Westley finally relax. He squeezed my hand lightly and I squeezed his back. "Whenever you're ready." I told him. "Darla, I messed up." Westley whispered, "My mom is part of some big organization that's trying to destroy people like us." "What do you mean?" "People with gifts. I know what you do when you play. You implement the talents of spirits long past to teach you." Westley stated matter-of-factly. I tensed up at those words, "How long have you known?" "Long enough," he stated and gave my hand a gentle squeeze, "I can gather information about people just from a touch. I can shut it off when necessary but it helps me learn who I can trust." "And your mother… wants to destroy us?"  "All gifted people," He told me and grimaced, "Which puts my sister and Lyla at risk too. They are psychically bonded to each other and to me. The two of them are gifted like that. You'd almost think they were blood related cuz of it." He shook his head, "Point is, I found her files. Got them. Copied them on a couple jump drives. I need to get them to the right people though." "Which is why you're hiding in your sister's panic room?" "I'm researching. Using her old laptop to get into some proxy servers I used to run to get the necessary data." I felt my brows furrow, "You mean you used to be a hacker?" "You speak as if I'm not still one." He smirked and I groaned in exasperation. "So who do we need to get this information to?" "Senator Michaels. That's the only one I know is trustworthy. I've bumped into him once or twice. Good man. One of the few left."  A ding came into the room and one of the panic room screens came on. A moment of static and then we saw Phillis in front of the screen. "Dinner is ready. Send Lyla up." Westley nodded to me. I stood up and walked over to Lyla. I tapped her puzzle. She removed her headphones and turned off the CD player. "Dinner?" She asked me. I nodded, "Time to go eat." She gave me a hug, then Westley, then headed up for her food. Westley walked over to me and pulled me into another hug.  "I need your help, Darla. It's only a matter of time before my mother finds this place. Lis won't be able to hold her back." I sighed but he was right. I nodded and kissed his cheek, catching him off guard, "I think I know some people who can help us. However, I will need a lot of fuel to keep calling on them." "You're gonna summon a ghost?" "No. I'm gonna summon an army of ghosts." (Then I awoke.)