Tales from Dargo Island: The Complete Trilogy (3 page)

After I grew
less dizzy and my nose stopped bleeding, Rockne helped me to my feet and took
me to what looked like a sleek, futuristic golf cart. It was parked in a lot
along with four others at the bottom of a winding path. The purple seats were a
lot more comfortable than the bench.

Rockne drove us
up a dirt path, passing a large grassy hill on the left. The sky was light blue
with puffy white clouds. Staring at that sky helped me relax; I couldn’t
believe what was happening, but I couldn’t go back now. I didn’t want to go
back now.

“I think you’ll
really like it here,” Rockne said after a few minutes of silent driving.

And I do mean
silent. Like the rail, the cart was absolutely quiet. I could hear birds and
the ocean in the distance.

“I’ll have to
like it; I know about this secret place.” I gave him a sly look.

He chuckled.
“Oh, we have ways of fixing that.”

“You mean,
like, killing me?”

“Yes— no! Don’t
be silly. You caught me off-guard with that question. We can erase your
memory.”

“Is that what
you do to people who quit the job?”

Rockne looked
at me out of the corner of his eye. “No one has quit yet.”

I saw a look on
his face I didn’t like. All the mirth vanished quickly and he seemed sad now. I
was about to ask what was wrong when he rounded the hill and I saw what lay
beyond.

*
 
*
 
*

We drove down a
steep hill into a bowl valley filled with houses. Big houses. Not mansions,
exactly, but really nice. Words failed me.

Rockne saw my
expression. “It’s a great place to live.”

“You’d have to
be pretty rich,” I said, envious.

“It’s not
required. We have all kinds of crazy characters in here.”

“Like you?” I
grinned.

“Walking around
Dallas in a sparkly suit is hard work, my boy.”

“Not as hard as
being a doctor.”

He laughed.
Rockne seemed like a really nice guy and was helping me adjust to this
craziness. I like to think I’m open-minded (due to my steady diet of horror,
fantasy and science-fiction movies), and I was certain this wasn’t a dream.

“How do new
people handle all of this?” I asked as we drove down the steep hill. I braced
myself to keep from falling forward.

“Not as well as
you, to be honest.”

“I can’t
imagine anyone reacting worse than me. I didn’t think my nose would ever stop
bleeding.”

“One guy died.”

That shut me
up. “Died?” I finally managed to ask.

“Yep. Heart
attack. He was older than me, though. I tried to get him to change his mind
about coming before we even left the station in Dallas.”

I tried to say
something but could think of nothing. From the way Rockne told the story, he
sounded like he blamed himself. I touched the knot on the back of my head. Much
like everyone on the planet, I didn’t like hearing about death.

As we grew
closer to the valley, I saw it was surrounded by a large beige wall. I could
see over it when we were at the top of the hill, but now I could see nothing.
It looked like it was ten feet tall, at least. Directly in front of us, located
in a little break in the wall, was a small shack with many windows.

An old man
stood in front, waving at us.

“There’s your
supervisor,” Rockne told me.

*
 
*
 
*

The cart slowed
as we approached a two-lane entrance. The right lane was marked “visitors” and
the left, the one closest to the shack, was for “residents.” Rockne stopped in
the residents lane, just before the old man.

“Josh, this is
Ernie.”

I reached
across and shook Ernie’s hand. His skin was dry and thin. He had to be at least
ten years older than Rockne. His hair was thin, his scrawny arms covered in
liver spots. He was smiling, though, and seemed like a pleasant guy.

“Nice to meet
you, Josh,” he said as he reached into the shack and raised the gate arm to let
us in.

Rockne parked
just behind the shack, and he and I got out. We walked back around to where
Ernie waited. He was wearing an all-black suit with a gold badge over his
heart. I wondered what I’d look like in such an outfit.

Ernie escorted
us into the shack, which was pretty spacious but very old-fashioned. It even
smelled like an old building. I guessed it was built in the ’70s. We stood by a
desk with four monitors set into it. There were several cameras giving
different views of the entrance and exit. I saw a couch and bookshelf in a den
just outside the office. This place was almost like a small apartment.

“Pretty comfy,
eh?” Ernie asked me.

I actually felt
uncomfortable and overwhelmed, though I didn’t know why. I grinned
noncommittally.

“Well,” Rockne
said, stepping outside once again, “I should leave you two to train. Take care
of him, Ernie; he’s a swell guy.”

I grinned more
naturally. Rockne walked back to the cart. I watched him drive farther into the
neighborhood, disappearing down a hill.

“Have a seat.”
Ernie pulled a chair from a break room behind the office. We sat together and
said nothing for a moment. In any other situation this would have been awkward,
but I appreciated the chance to get my bearings.

“It’s a lot to
deal with, I know,” Ernie said. “Trust me, I know.”

“When did you
start working here?”

“Oh, going on
twenty-eight years this July.”

My jaw dropped.
“That’s a long time.”

“Nearly a
quarter of my life, but I don’t regret any of it. It’s good work. I consider
every resident a close, personal friend. Sadly, I’ve seen many of them pass
over the years, as well.”

I nodded. “I
can only imagine how hard it is to lose a friend.”

“That’s the
great thing about being young: You get to imagine more than experience. No
offense.”

“Some taken.”

We laughed, but
he was right—to an extent. I doubt he’d ever been sucked into a tornado and
killed. And then brought back to life!

“First thing I
should tell you is that this place is not your usual gated community.”

I rolled my
eyes dramatically. “You don’t say.”

He chuckled.
“What I mean is, the residents aren’t exactly what you’d call...human.”

That caught my
attention. “What do you mean?”

“Well, take
Rockne for example. He...knows magic.”

“Like a
magician?”

“More like a
wizard.”

I took a moment
to process that. “Is everyone here a wizard?”

“No, just him.”
Ernie grabbed a large book from the desk and flipped it open. “Here are all the
residents and their addresses. There are ten houses in all but only five
occupied ones, and most of the residents stay in their homes, so you won’t see
much of them. The main ones who come and go are Champagne DuBois, who lives
across from Rockne, Victor—no last name—who lives next to Ms. DuBois, and of
course Rockne.”

“Is Victor a
man?” I asked.

“Very much a
man. And by that, I mean he’s very macho. He’s constantly challenging me to
arm-wrestling contests. Some day I may take him up on one. To really answer
your question, he’s a dwarf.”

I nodded. “And
everyone else stays in their homes?”

“For the most
part. There are two sisters we call the Belles. Their names are Jasmine and
Chantel, and they’re psychics. They have hospice care, so nurses will come and
go through here as well. They’re all on the residents’ lists, so you can just
let them through. Always check the lists first, though.”

I nodded.
“Sounds easy enough. Where do the residents go when they leave here?”

“There are a
few entertaining places here on the island, places you are welcome to patronize
as well, and sometimes they’ll leave the island altogether on the rail.”

“Are those the
only three people I’ll see the most—Rockne, Victor and Champagne?”

Ernie took a
long moment to respond. “Well, there is one resident. She lives with Rockne.
She’s not allowed to leave the community under any circumstances, and believe
me, she tries often. Her name is Astrid, and I believe she’s your age.” He
paused. “How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“Yep. Your
age.” He considered for a moment before adding, “Also, you may encounter an old
woman with blue hair during the day, if you ever work day shifts. She’s not
allowed to leave either. She lives with Astrid and Rockne.”

“Rockne’s
wife?” I asked.

“No, not at
all. She’s...related to Astrid, so to speak. Astrid is the youngest person
living here, so you should easily recognize her.”

“What if she
has friends over?”

“She doesn’t
have any visitors.”

“That’s sad.”

“Well, I
misspoke. She has one visitor. You’ll know him when you see him. He’s on the
list, so you can look him up. Rockne allowed this one exception. Other than
that, though, no one else is permitted to see her.” He scratched his chin.
“You’ll only ever see Astrid at night, if at all, so keep your eyes open. If
anyone other than that one visitor comes along to see her, send them away and
call Rockne or myself. Our numbers are in the book.”

I studied him.
He seemed anxious. “For such an easy job, you’re making it seem complicated.”

“Every job has
its surprises.”

Over the course
of an hour, Ernie went over the residents’ names and addresses as well as a few
procedures, such as how to open and close the gates (very complicated, flipping
the switches up and down). He then scheduled a formal training session for
tomorrow afternoon. He gave me five uniforms and a badge.

Rockne picked
me up and took me back to the rail. On the way back to Dallas, I thought about
all the things I learned. There is an island at the edge of the world called
Dargo, inhabited by non-humans, including a wizard. I’d hoped there wasn’t
anything scary on the island.

That proved to
be too much to ask for.

I rode the rail
the next day without Rockne, but figured I’d see him on the island. Tack was
asleep on another bench this time; I felt bad for the homeless man, but at
least he had a dry, safe place to sleep. The long trip again took only five minutes,
according to my expensive watch that I bought last Christmas.

No familiar
face greeted me at the station, but I found a woman in a white shirt with tan
shorts. Her face was painted yellow and blue.

“My name is
Helen and I’ll be your courtesy driver today,” she said with a smile and slight
accent.

“Nice to meet
you, Helen, and thank you.” I guessed she was an island native.

We hopped into
the sole remaining cart and rode down to the community. I felt uncomfortable in
my uniform. All-black was the last thing I wanted to wear in the summer.

I trained with
Ernie for five hours and then we left together when his relief, an even older
man named Virgil, took over. Instead of leaving the community, however, Ernie
drove me around the neighborhood in his beat-up red truck.

The Village, as
it was called by some, was incredibly hilly, and the small mansions look
ancient. Some were even having repairs done to them as we drove past: roofers
replaced shingles, painters painted, and pool boys cleaned. The Village had a
simple setup, arranged like a horseshoe. The ten-foot brick wall completely
surrounded the place, and every resident had a fairly spacious backyard.

“There’s
Rockne’s house,” Ernie said as we passed a large one-story gray house with few
windows. The driveway was also shaped like a horseshoe, curved around a
fountain.

I saw someone
staring at us through one of the front windows, though I could barely tell.
There was a slight parting in the curtain. Ernie noticed as well.

“That’s the
blue-haired beauty I warned you about.”

I looked at
him. “Is someone in love?” I teased.

He looked at me
like I was crazy. “No. Never!”

He seemed
genuinely distressed, and I felt bad. “Sorry.”

“Oh! I see what
you meant. Trust me, if you knew her, you’d understand my reaction.” He
laughed.

“What’s her
name?”

“Florence.
Rockne’s sister.”

I almost missed
that. “I thought you said she is related to Astrid.”

“Ready to go
home?” he asked, ignoring my statement. He started back toward the exit gate.
When I looked back at the house, I saw that Florence was no longer watching us
from the window.

“Do you live on
the island?” I asked Ernie. “Or do you drive across the ocean every day?”

He laughed
again. “I moved here twenty years ago, completely left all my belongings on the
mainland. This island has everything I need. I live in town, ten minutes from
here.”

I looked back
at the community as we passed the guard shack. “What is this place? Why is it
here?”

“Well, that’s
an interesting, complicated story.”

“My favorite
kind,” I joked. I hated complicated stories.

“It started a
long time ago, when Rockne lived on the mainland. Believe it or not, he’s the
last living wizard in the country, one of the last living in the world. Back
then, there were a lot more magical creatures. Almost all of them have died
out, unfortunately.”

“How did they
die out?”

Ernie looked at
me for a long moment. “Murder.”

“Murder? Who
murdered them?”

“His name is
Nalke.” He pronounced it now-key.

Ernie continued
driving, but said nothing more. He seemed to not want to talk about it anymore,
so I prompted him. “Who’s Nalke?”

“A very
powerful nature demon, the last of his kind. There used to be more, and they
were responsible for some of the worst natural disasters Earth has experienced.
It’s sad to say the magical world has dabbled in war, same as the human world.

“Over the
centuries, wizards tried to put an end to the travesties of the nature demons.
A lot of lives were lost on both sides. Wizards joined with vampires and
werewolves to battle the nature demons, and, well, the world almost ended.”

“When was
this?” I asked, my heart racing.

“Well, it was a
few decades ago, before you were born. Every time the two sides fought,
earthquakes and tsunamis followed. Toward the end, there was only Nalke, Rockne
and a few other creatures on the good side. Unfortunately, Nalke went into
hiding and slowly took many of the remaining good guys out. Those who survived
feared for their lives and didn’t trust in Rockne’s ability to protect them, so
they did what any coward would do—they joined Nalke.”

“Rockne was
alone?”

“Not
completely. He had one sorceress on his side. Together, they came up with a
plan to infiltrate Nalke’s realm. The sorceress attempted to assassinate the
demon from the inside but before she could...she got pregnant with his baby.”

“What!”

“She didn’t
love him, mind you,” Ernie added quickly. “It was an unfortunate mistake on
both their parts, and she barely managed to escape with her life. She and
Rockne have been able to keep hidden from Nalke, and Nalke from them.

“They encounter
each other every now and then, and a tiny fight may ensue, but neither can seem
to finish the other.”

After Ernie
finished, we sat in silence for a long time. I didn’t even realize we were at
the rail station until he told me.

“Nalke doesn’t
know about this place?” I asked.

“Not to my
knowledge, no.”

“But we’re
surrounded by water and air. How could he not?”

“He’s the sole
remaining nature demon. He is weak, his attention scattered. He only expends
his energy if he knows it will benefit him.”

I thought about
the nightmare, about the tornado, with the face telling me to help find Dargo.
I told Ernie about it. He seemed unworried.

“Oh, I’m sure
he knows the name of this place, but not the location.”

“That’s good.”
I laughed. “And, despite all of that, with the war and everything, you trust
regular people like me to protect you?”

“Who else is
there?” he asked.

“The
government?”

Ernie shook his
head. “No way. The less people know about us, the better. Besides, if the
government knew about the super-humans living here, what do you think they
would do?”

“Study them?” I
guessed.

“Exactly. No,
things are better this way.”

“But you and I
would be no match against Nalke, would we?”

“I heard you
already had a run-in with him and survived.”

“I died.”

“And then you
returned.”

He let me think
about that for a moment before saying, “Besides, we’re there to keep the
islanders away. There isn’t much danger of the supernatural persuasion.”

“And there
hasn’t been a problem like that?”

Ernie stopped
in the lot, next to the trail that leads up to the rail. “Not yet.”

I thanked him
for the ride and took the rail home. The next day would be my first shift on my
own.