Paula Brown
Dream Wanderers™ The Escape by Paula BrownDream Wanderers guide you through your worst nightmares.Far across the universe, an elite school runs a special program, training the Dream Wanderers of tomorrow.But what happens when…Gren and Lawson will soon achieve the impossible, becoming the first male/female partners to make it through the program. Or will they? Their feelings for each other – and Lawson’s disdain for an unbreakable rule – risk their expulsion.They wander into a nightmare of their own?When Lawson and Gren disappear, most assume they’ve run away together. But their four best friends aren’t so sure. Following a shaky clue, they enlist the help of a crazy old man and set out to find the truth. Soon, the dream Wanderers will take on an entire army – as the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance.The Learning Center’s CovenantAs a Dream Wandering student at the Learning Center, I promise to take my gift seriously. I will use this gift only within the laws and regulations of Terra. I will spend time with my partner, knowing that this relationship is vital to my completion of the program. I will have no physical contact with students of the opposite gender. I will follow the rules of the Learning Center, knowing that those in charge know what is best for me.“Gren, wake up.” Gren recognized Lawson’s voice but wasn’t sure if he was actually there, or if he had broken the law by wandering into her dream. She opened her eyes, unable to see much because of the dim light.“Lawson?” Gren squinted, trying to figure out where she was. She was sure that she was in the classroom, having a dream wandered by Lawson with Hutch observing. The strange thing was that it didn’t feel like a dream. Her eyes adjusted. The room was small, dirty, and musty. At the front, there was a door with bars on it. She didn’t see her partner anywhere. “Lawson, where are you?”“Over here.” There was a hole in the wall, which someone reached through. “See my hand?” There were several smaller holes; the wall didn’t seem very well built.“Where are we?” Gren asked.“I have no idea,” Lawson replied, “but we’re obviously not at the Learning Center anymore.”“Is this another test?” Gren asked.Lawson sighed. “No, I think we’re in bigger trouble than that.”“How did we get here?” Gren wanted to know.“I’m not sure,” Lawson replied. “Everything is kind of blurry in my mind. I remember I stormed out of Hutch’s class and went for a walk to calm down. I sat down for a little while. The next thing I remember, I woke up here. They brought you in a couple of units ago, and I’ve been trying to get you to wake up ever since. What do you remember?”“I went searching for you, after the morning meal,” Gren said, trying to concentrate. “I was supposed to meet Calli and everybody by the lake two units later. I thought you might be there, so that’s where I started looking. Someone grabbed me from behind. I fought,” she looked down at her sleeve, realizing that it had been torn, “but there were two of them. They put something over my face. That’s all I remember.”“I wonder what they want with us,” Lawson said.“Not wonder, wander!” A short, heavy man stood outside the door. He laughed, pleased at his own joke.
