Darcie calmly stands to her feet, "Right, well if we're actually doing this, then we're going to need ICU equipment..." She says, staring at them both.
Lukz stops guzzling his beer, then squints his eyes towards her, "What's, ICU?" He asks, slightly slurred, with a half-filled gob of beer.
Kevin turns towards him, "Intensive Care Unit. The place you basically go to when you're gonna die." He replies, bluntly.
Darcie smirks, "Yep, you're going to need a ventilator, monitoring equipment for your heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels in your blood, IV lines and pumps, a brain activity monitor, but most importantly... a catheter, just in case you piss yourself." She says, giggling.
Lukz swigs back the last drop of his beer, "Ha, me, piss myself? Hunnie, we all know I can drink ten pints, walk 2 miles home from the pub and never even break the seal... so try me." he says, pulling a smug grin.
Kevin pats him on the back, "We all know it's more like five."
Lukz firmly grabs his hand, "Fine, well I'm going to need more than five to prepare me for this. Plus, it could be my last beer." He adds painfully, pulling a sad face. "So, I'm savouring every last drop!" He says, leaning over the sofa's side, pulling out a crate of beer bottles.
Darcie shakes her head as Lukz rips the top off another beer, using his worn murky yellow teeth. She grabs them both, "For god sake you two! Do you even listen to anything important? Other than the stupid fact that Lukz is a complete light weight and can barely even keep up with me." She says, winking towards him, dragging them both up and over to a set of twisting glass panelled stairs.
Lukz frowns, fumbling behind as he clinches hold of his beer crate, "That's total crap, I could drink you under the table, then play beer pong on that table, win and still be sober enough to pick you up and take you to bed." He says, playfully.
Darcie heads upstairs, turning onto the first of five floors. Stepping off a glass spiral staircase, she swings open a heavy pine door, revealing an array of hospital and pharmaceutical equipment, all neatly placed around a large white room.
Kevin and Lukz both turn to look at one another, then quickly back towards Darcie. She smirks,
"You're lucky we don't have a table right here, right now, as you know I could beat both of you!" She says, spiralling her hands, flipping out a tiny scalpel. She twizzles it perfectly in between her fingers, guiding it fluidly, "You forget I have a surgeon's dexterity….." She says, then launches it straight towards Lukz head! His eyes blare open, frozen with shock it sails millimetres past his face, gliding across a single strand of hair, to jab itself straight into the pine door behind him. Lukz and Kevin both stair at her, completely stunned.
"along with, subliminal accuracy." She adds, turning away.
Kevin twitches his head, turning to see the wobbling scalpel. "I think I need that catheter!" He says, pulling a worried expression.
Lukz slowly nods, imitating his face.
Kevin shakes out of his stunned state, briefly looking around the room, "Everything is here, why do you have all this?" he asks politely.
Darcie walks over to a large stainless-steel basin, which's wedged in the left corner of the room. She turns a tap on, washing her arms and hands, "Do you really think Lukz is the only person I heal? There's plenty of people out there which need my help, most of them are incredibly sick or dying? This is what helps keep them alive while I save their lives." She says, proudly.
"Wow Darcie, you really are incredible!" Kevin replies in oar.
Lukz nods his head as he stumbles forwards, "alright, alright, Darcie is amazing! We get it man... but can we focus on the real issue now? Like, how we're going to wake me up or find out how to actually do this lucid dreaming." He says, frowning?
"Yes, alright. Let me take a look." Kevin says, walking over to Darcie, flipping out his phone.
He scrolls through a few pages of information, "From what I can remember, the Dot Test was as simple as placing a single dot onto the palms of both hands? This is what allows you to realise you are actually in a dream, as when your asleep your brain struggles to recognise them?"
Lukz gulps down the last drop of another beer, then turns around and heads out the door, "I'll be back in a minute, you too keep doing, whatever you're doing." He shouts out.
Darcie turns to see Lukz walking away, then spins towards Kevin, "Wait! Where's he going." She says, angrily.
Kevin flicks his head to the door, then back to his phone, "To get more beers probably. Being drunk helps him sleep?" Kevin replies, completely unprovoked.
Darcie dry's off her hands, then begins to put on some white overalls and surgical gloves. "So, what have you found." She asks.
Kevin's eyes rapidly scan his screen, as he replies, "It looks like the dot test is as simple as drawing a large dot on the palm of each hand, using a bright colour. As it states here, consciously you know the dots are there, but because of patterns in the brain when you fall asleep, the dots will appear to have vanished from your hands. This is how you know you are dreaming, thus allowing you to control your dream?"
Darcie's eye's blare open as she ties her hair up in a bun, "Wait, did you say two bright coloured dots?" She asks intently.
Kevin nods, "Yep, what's wrong?" He replies.
Darcie zones out for a second, then snaps back to reality, "Ermm, ow. Don't worry. That sounds simple enough. But it definitely doesn't say anything about how to wake back up?" She asks.
Kevin looks back towards his phone, shaking his head, "No, all it says is that this is incredibly dangerous. It explains how no one has ever woken back up… apart from, you know who?" He says, regrettably.
Darcie grits her teeth, "fine, we have to do this, I can't see a better alternative. Plus, Lukz is strong? I am sure he will find a way?!" She reply's, unsure.
Kevin softly grabs her shoulder, "We will be able to wake him up? We have to wake him up!" he says delicately, placing his other hand on her stomach, smiling from ear to ear.
Darcie gulps back a sharp breath, followed by her eyes flashing wide open. She grabs his hand, shoving it away.
"Wha.. wher... whe.... HOW DO YOU KNOW I'M PREGNANT!!" She harshly shouts.
Kevin's grin stays fixed to his face, "You know the other week, when we saw you in the hospital and Lukz basically called you fat? Then." He says, hugging her tight.
Darcie gently pushes him back, "I can't believe you know! Do you think Lukz knows??" She says, panicked.
Kevin gently grabs her shoulders, "Really? of course not! And I promise to not say a word!" he says, holding his hand to his heart.
Darcie smiles, "well, thank you. Anyway, where is that bumbling idiot! I'm ready to start!" She says, staring towards an open door.
*thud, thud, thud*, echo's through the room, until Lukz comes stumbling in with a glass bottle in the shape of a skull, firmly grasped in his hand. "weeell, thisss tasstes liiike crraap, buuutt iiit worokss." he mutters, barely able to stand up straight.
"REALLY!" Darcie shouts out, "You went into my fridge and stole my death eater! You know it's seventy six percent alcohol!" She says, fuming with anger!
"That's crazy! You could die if you drink too much!" Kevin screams out running over to him, snatching it out of his hands, almost pulling Lukz over with it,
"Whaaat arre yoou dooing..." Lukz says, trying to swipe the bottle back, but completely misses.
Kevin launches it towards the wall, directly behind him. He storms forwards, slapping him in the face! "Do you think this is all a JOKE? Don is Dead! Mum is dead! How many other people have died at the claws and teeth of these things! You have one shot to possibly save everyone else from being brutally murdered, but you're drinking yourself half to death!" Kevin screams in his face!
Darcie and Kevin Both stand still, while Lukz wipes Kevin's spit off his face. He drops his head down, pulls off his mask, then stairs directly into Kevin's green eyes, scowling his scarred and butchered face.
He takes a deep breath, causing Kevin to cower behind his hands in fear! Lukz lifts his head with a crooked smirk painted across it, "Your right... I'm sorry." He murmurs. Kevin timidly pulls his hands away from his face, still squinting, as if ready for Lukz to slap him back.
Lukz Continues, "I know what these things have done… I know that this could be our only shot… I know that us... not having to fear for our lives every day is what we could achieve. But I also know, you two could probably die. If I don't wake up?" He says, holding back a tear. "This is not a joke, so If this doesn't work.. that's it?" Lukz turns away, hanging his head down.
"Lukz…", Darcie calmly speaks, but he doesn't move or turn. "There is something you need to know." She says, walking over to him. Lukz glances up towards her as she holds out her hands, wrapping him in a ginormous hug! He quickly looks over to Kevin, confused? Kevin smirks while nodding his head, "Hug her.", he whispers, moving his mouth slow and wide so Lukz can read his lips. Lukz stairs down towards her, his giant stature cascading over her petite body, as he wraps his bear like arms around her, grasping her tight. She shuffles her head to look upwards at him with her glistening eyes, "you need to know something Lukus..." She says, reluctantly.
"Sure, Darcie", He replies, stroking her hair.
"Do you want to know why I believe you can do this?" She asks, sincerely.
"Ermmm, Yeaaah? I guess?" He replies, confused.
"Okay, I'm sorry I have never told you this, but I only just realised it was relevant?"
"What is it?" Lukz asks calmly.
Darcie let's out a quick breath, "Well, one day I snuck into the back of my mum's ambulance, just to see what being a paramedic was really like!?" She says, painfully smiling.
"Okay?" Lukz says, stepping back and releasing her from his comforting arms.
"But, it just so happened, this was the same day as your house fire?" She says, taking a deep breath.
Kevin twitches his neck, "you were there?" He mumbles.
Darcie nods, "Yes, I obviously didn't know where we were going but, I remember the ambulance doors flinging open, and there, right in front of me, was... was...." She says, cringing her body.
"Was our mum." Kevin says, softly.
Darcie and Lukz immediately gaze towards him,
Kevin walks forward. "It was you! I knew I saw you with her! You and your mum! You tried healing her! Don flung open the doors halfway through you was using your powers, causing Lukz's face to get blasted by your rays! It instantly healed his wounds." Kevin says, astonished. "But, why didn't they save our mum!!" He adds, annoyed.
Darcie nods.. "That's right. I'm so sorry I couldn't save her! She was sooo, soo.. beautiful and kind, but she was so burnt, it was impossible to heal her! I was just a kid.. I didn't have that sort of power!" She says, choking back more tears.
Lukz walks over, wrapping her back in his arms. "It's okay, you tried.. But I feel like there is something else you're trying to say?" he asks, delicately.
Darcie gently nods her head into Lukz chest, "There is something else, the reason why I believe Kevin's theory and why I believe you can wake up, Is…" She adds, composing herself, placing Lukz's arms back by his side. She shakes her body, then continues, "when we were trying to heal your mum, I noticed something right in the palm of her left hand."
Kevin and Lukz both frown out of confusion. "What was it?" Lukz asks,
Darcie pauses, "A... a bright red dot! I didn't think it was anything, so I rubbed it off and then checked her other hand. The same thing, A big red dot! Your mum was lucid dreaming!" She says, glancing at them both.
"WHAT!!" Lukz and Kevin both cry out!
Darcie nods, grabbing him by the shoulder, "Your mother knew about lucid dreaming! Plus, you always said she rushed into your room that night, to help you?" she asks, intently.
Lukz Nods, "Yeah, that's why she got attacked?" He replies.
"Well. She woke up from a Lucid dream and was using the dot test? Which means, she knew what was going on! She potentially knew how to control her mind, as well as wake up? So, you probably can too! It's literally in your blood." Darcie says, smiling.
They all pause for a second, as Kevin steps forward. "Our mum was using this dream control technique! She was probably trying to stop the demons. But, when she passed, Lukz's defences were taken down!! That's why they keep coming to life!" Kevin says, gritting his teeth.
"Ha! That's crazy! I guess it can be done?! She tried to stop them! Now it's my turn!! So, let's do this!" Lukz says, convincingly staring at them both.
Kevin storms over, grabbing Lukz and pulling him towards a single hospital bed, "Lay down bro." he asks softly, turning towards Darcie, "Okay, it's now or never!" She adds, smirking.
Darcie walks over to a large monitor, which is attached to a steel pole with wheels on its base. She grabs it and moves it to the side of Lukz's bed. Reaching behind its screen, she pulls out an array of different wires, all tagged with different colours.
"Right, sit up please, remove your ridiculous fur jacket and take your top off." She says, professionally.
Lukz smirks at her, then winks. "Well, as you asked so nicely, I will happily take it all off.. but try not to enjoy it too much." He adds playfully, tossing his jacket and tank top on the floor, followed by his mask.
She looks down at the clothes, then glares at Kevin.
"Ow, yes yes." He mumbles, quickly picking them up and hanging them on the back of a swivel chair, as well as putting his mask on the metal basin next to it.
"Thank you." She says, turning back towards Lukz.
"What now, doc?" Lukz says, grinning.
Darcie places her hand on his moderately hairy chest, shoving him back down.
"Lay still, I need to hook you up to this monitor, so we can keep an eye on your heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension and brain activity. All of this should give us a good indicator for when you're under stress or in any sort of pain?" She says, sticking various coloured wires to different parts of his body
Kevin walks over to a large silver cabinet next to the wash basin, "Darcie, Is there a marker pen in here?" He asks.
She continues sticking the wires to Lukz, "Ermmmm, yeah. There should be a few different colours in the third draw down?" She replies.
Kevin opens it, noticing a pack off three. He grabs a red one, "Right, here we go!" he says, slamming it closed, then walks back over.
Darcie sticks the last few wires on Lukz's head, then gently grabs his arm, "okay, next I'm going to insert a tube into your vain, which will allow me to anesthetise you?"
Lukz squints his eyes, "What's that?" He asks, confused.
Darcie slaps her hand to her face, "I'm going to put you to sleep, numb nuts! Then it's all up to you!" She says, concerned.
Kevin takes off the pens cap as he opens Lukz's right hand while Darcie raps a tourniquet around his left arm, "Right, so you remember what to do?" Kevin asks, intently.
"Yes, yes, look straight at my hands when I wake up, if there's no dots.. I'm dreaming. Right?" Lukz says, glaring at him.
Darcie slips the needle into his arm,
"Ouch!" He yelps, turning towards her.
"Whoops, I might have forgot to mention I need to use a big needle?" She says, sniggering.
Kevin turns Lukz's head back towards him, "Remember, you need to look deep within your mind, try to find something which resembles a broken gate or cut lock? Maybe even a giant wooden horse?" he says, unsure.
Lukz scowlers at him, "So, you basically have no idea?" He replies, bluntly.
Darcie and Kevin glance at one another, both completely unsure on what to reply. She quickly pulls out a small glass pot from underneath Lukz's bed, then jams a thin needle in its top while pulling an un-easing smile.
Kevin looks back at Lukz, "Well... I'm not sure? Just don't think of any demon's while you're in there!" He says, patting Lukz on his bulbous shoulder.
He nods as Kevin hands Darcie the pen; she draws another dot in the centre of his left hand. Taking a deep breath, she slips its lid back on.
Lukz slows his breathing as he lays back and closes his eyes, "Let's do this." he says, determined.
Darcie places the pen down and slowly slots the needle straight into a small tube which is attached to Lukz's vein. A white liquid spirals down, loop, after loop, until... silence.
A *Beep, beep, beep*, noise lingers in the background from Lukz's heart monitor, Darcie and Kevin both watch him lay completely still, breathing heavy with anxiety.
"Do you really think he is going to be able to find something?" She asks.
Kevin stay's fixed on Lukz, "I believe in him, he may be the dumb one out of us, but he has an unnerving sense of commitment? It's like everything he does, he has too complete or finish it? Otherwise, he just keeps trying?" Kevin says, smiling as he looks up towards her, "I guess, living on the streets made him a fighter, but his Love for the people close to him is what really keeps him going?" He adds.
Darcie nods her head, "Agreed, he most certainly is a relentless mother fu**er!"
They both stair at one another, then begin to laugh.
Darcie looks back up to the monitor and notices Lukz's heart rate slowing down, "He's asleep. Here we go!" She says, un-settled.