The Dream Catcher's Daughter (12 page)

Do not worry, old friend.

Jason’s neck froze, his gaze locked with
the Guardian’s.

Everything is moving according to plan.
With my dying breath, I swear that the nightmare will never find its end.

No one spoke or moved for what seemed like
an hour. Then the Guardian clapped a hand on Jason’s shoulder, and squeezed. He
turned to Darlene and handed her phone over. “Go to Lenmana and pursue
Talshe. After you go through the portal, Darlene, be sure to use the second
spell. Good luck to you both. The invisibility charm will wear off in ten
minutes. Find a suitable place to appear when it does.”

The Guardian turned and dissolved into the
shadows.

Before Jason and Darlene left, Jason heard
the Guardian’s voice: “As for Len’s accusation—everyone does something they
would rather forget. They jump to conclusions, or they cannot think clearly. We
shroud our faces and forget the things our eyes have seen and our hands have
done. Even you do not remember the nightmares of your childhood.”

Jason looked at Darlene. “Did you hear
that?”

“Hear what?”

“Never mind.”

***

They headed to the industrial district.
Not many people paid attention to the decaying buildings, especially at night.
After the invisibility charm wore off, they headed toward the bridge and
climbed up the stairs. They meandered down the sidewalk, and Jason looked up
across the road. Silver Moon’s parking lot was thinning. Not a surprise, even
on a Friday. The dinner rush usually ended around seven or eight o’clock.

“Jason?”

Without realizing it, Jason had stopped.
Tears were budding in his eyes. He quickly rubbed them away.

“It’s nothing,” he lied.

They turned east on the four-way
intersection. About fifteen minutes later they were on South Hollow Avenue.
Jason noticed that most if not all the lights were lit, and quite a few people
were rising, dressing for work, and getting in their cars. Len’s house appeared
on the right. Lights were on inside, and a single flood light illuminated the
porch, which looked a bit tidier than normal. Jason mentally smiled at this.

“Looks like a nice house,” said Darlene.

Jason could hear the nervousness in her
voice. Obviously, there would be no mention of Darlene’s relation to the
Guardian. Jason hadn’t even asked much. He just wondered why he hadn’t known
sooner.

“You never asked,” said Darlene.

On their way over, Jason had used
Darlene’s phone to call Len. When they knocked on the door, Darlene and Jason
didn’t wait long, and when Len popped up at the door, Jason nearly lost it. For
the first time since Jason had met her, Len looked halfway presentable: Her
normally greasy, tangled mess of gray hair was washed, brushed, and put up in a
ponytail; she wore sea foam-green mascara; her cheeks and nose were slightly
powdered; her lips were full and luscious with electric blue lipstick. None of
it went with the red, low-cut dress. The dress looked a little worn. In it, Len
looked like a two-dollar hooker.

“Hi there,” said Len in this cutesy
high-pitched voice. Jason so badly desired to smile. He wouldn’t laugh, because
he knew what Len was trying to do. By the smile on her face, Darlene realized
the same thing.

“You
gotta
get
outta
that mess,” said Darlene. “No one’s
gonna
get a boner from that unless they’re middle-aged
pedos
.”

Len didn’t look hurt, but mildly confused.
“I thought this kind of dress is what people like to see full-figured girls
in.”

“Lenny, you need some make-up lessons and
a new wardrobe. But the thought was sweet. Like you.” And she winked.

As they headed inside, Jason swore he
could see two somethings poking through the bust of Len’s dress.
It
is
cold
out,
he thought.

***

After Len cleaned up and dressed in a
t-shirt and jeans, the three of them sat around the now-clear table. There
wasn’t a bag in sight, and for this Jason nodded at Len, offering her a
thumbs-up. Darlene looked around the spotless house as Len watched her
nervously, measuring her reactions. Jason cleared his throat.

“Okay, so, here’s the thing. You know that
subway, the one I found in the alley near my house?” Len nodded. “Talshe
disappeared through the portal. And I got to thinking. That train has to lead
somewhere, right?”

“It certainly does, but I find it strange.
If it’s the train I’m thinking of, then I wonder why there’s a portal to it in
your backyard.”

“Well, what if the Dream Caller put it
there?” said Darlene.

Len’s face reddened a bit.
“Um...Well...Could be, I guess. If that’s the case, then we need to head over
there and check it out.”

Jason didn’t want to go, but he thought
about Trevor. About the ruined playground. All handiwork of his dreams. And, maybe,
if he captured his dreams, he’d be able to find the Dream Caller. The
Guardian’s words also rang inside his head: “Heed my warning, and you will not
have your memories erased.”

Len reached toward the counter, where a
small box rested. She set it on the table and opened it. Inside rested a corded
necklace with a pendant made of purple crystal. She handed it to Jason, and he
held it up, scrutinizing it.

“
It’s
amethyst,”
said Len. “Amethyst repels bad dreams and curses. Since you can’t use magic,
it’ll be useful.”

Jason nodded, though something nagged him.
Darlene poked his shoulder.

“
Yo
, what’s up,
Jiggy?”

Jason shook his head. “I feel like I’m
forgetting something.”

“If you forget it, then it must not be a
huge deal.”

Jason shrugged. “Guess not.”

***

It was about nine P.M. when they headed
out, taking the long way around, sneaking north then west until they hit
Jason’s street. His father might’ve been home, and Jason didn’t want him to ask
any questions Jason couldn’t answer. They walked side-by-side, Darlene between
Len and Jason. Their footsteps echoed on the pavement. Most houses were dark,
few alight with news-watchers. Others were empty—graveyard shift workers gone
for the night. The alley’s mouth loomed ahead, and as they drew closer, Jason’s
heart felt lighter and lighter. Then his head. Then lungs. Legs. Feet.

He collapsed on the sidewalk just outside
the alleyway, hyperventilating.

In his ear, Tara Engel’s voice said, “Your
story ideas are amazing! I wish I could come up with half your ideas...you
bastard.
Traitor
.”

Len and Darlene kneeled next to him. “Hey,
get up,” said Len.

He wanted to, but couldn’t. He whispered,
“Forth.” The liquid stone kept away, but he still couldn’t stand. He tried, but
his legs and arms wouldn’t obey. Tara’s voice rang inside his head: “Traitor!
Liar! You said you’d love me no matter what!”

Len and Darlene sat him up against the
fence. Len patted his arm. “Hey, pull your shit together. Talshe would love to
crunch your bones. I don’t want to see that. Can’t even stand blood in movies.”

Tara’s voice hushed. Deep in the sky, the
stars glimmered. Talshe rose from the darkness and her smile eclipsed the moon.
She reached for Jason, and he curled up and screamed. The earth shook, and it
felt as if everything around him was burning and falling apart. He screamed and
cried.

“Mommy! Tara! Shemillah!”

Then he felt hands on his shoulders.
“Jason, snap out of it!”

“She’s gone…Mommy, Tara, Shemillah…all
gone. Everything’s burning! Everything’s dying! The nightmare…the nightmare’s ending!”

“
Yo
,
J.Kinney
! Open your eyes, man!”

He did, and there were Len and Darlene
standing above him. Jason lay flat on his back, the ground cool against his
neck. He ran the back of his hand across his damp brow. Len glanced up at Darlene,
whose eyes were downcast, blank. A tear teetered at the edge of her eyes. Len
turned back toward Jason and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

“You were screaming. For your mom and—”

“My girlfriend,” burst Jason. He snorted
back a gob of snot and swallowed. Tears ran down his face.

“Get it out,” said Len. “That’ll make it
easier.”

The air seemed to freeze, Len’s words
hanging in the air like frozen cavemen. Jason coughed, a strand of drool
escaping his mouth. He wiped it away with his sleeve. He sat up, his cheeks
still moist. But the flow had stopped. For now, at least.

“I met her years ago. I’d wanted to write
stories. But, much like everything else, I didn’t have a lot of talent. I had a
great imagination, great ideas, but what good would they do if I couldn’t get
them on paper? So I was at the library, and I met her. She wrote so
beautifully. I proposed we join and create wonderful stories together. She
liked that idea.

“Then we started dating. We started
kissing each other on the head, on the cheeks. Eventually the lips. Then
tongue. We started taking our shirts off in front of each other. We even took
naps together, when Dad wasn’t home.

“Then she committed suicide.” He gripped
the back of his head with both hands, then let his arms slide down so that his
hands were atop his chest, as though he were holding onto backpack straps. “And
it was all my fault.”

Darlene kicked at leaves skittering along
the sidewalk, trying to hide her tears. Len hefted a breath through nose, then
said, “Get over it.”

Jason looked up at her, bristling. Anger
lapped at the back of his subconscious, telling him to release his fury.
Bring
down the hammer of rage upon this bitch.
But he didn’t. Because he knew Len
never did, never said anything without a reason.

“You may think she committed suicide
because of you, but you just don’t know. Taking her life was a decision she
made. A decision anyone can make. All you can do is get up and walk.”

Len stood and extended her hand, a slight
smile on her lips. Jason regarded her hand for a moment, then grabbed it. Len
helped him up and pulled him into a hug. Jason stiffened. His eyes stung as he
wrapped his arms around her. When they pulled away, Jason looked at Len.

“Are you okay, now?” she said.

Jason nodded, and smiled.

He smiled.

Len smiled back. “Welcome back to the
world of the living.” They turned toward Darlene, whose eyebrows nearly touched
the top of her head. Her smile cut through the dusk like a beacon.

They turned back toward the alley. The air
shimmered like heat rising off blacktop—the portal. Talshe, and possibly Leech,
waited somewhere on the other side. And the Dream Caller? Jason’s eyes floated
to the sky, where he had seen
Talshe’s
face and her
outstretched hand. He remembered: Ten years ago, Talshe had appeared here, just
as Sirin had said. But why? And why couldn’t he remember anything else?

The pain in the back of his head—the chip
in the seal—it had to be connected.

As they walked toward the portal, the
fence and ground seemed to undulate and waver. Halfway through, the alleyway
suddenly disappeared. No flash of light, no heavenly music. The alley vanished,
and the tunnel now enclosed them. They walked through broken tile and black
puddles, as Jason had done before. He led them to the platform where he’d met
the conductor. Currently, the rails were empty. Jason and the others glanced
about.

“Are you sure she came through here?” said
Len.

“Yeah,” said Darlene. “Doesn’t look like a
giant could fit in here.”

“She can change size,” he said.

As they pondered this, the train whistle
echoed through the tunnel. A light flashed just before the train burst through,
its slipstream whipping up Jason’s hair. He stood back, the blur of yellow and
red whooshing by. Much like Jason the first time, Len and Darlene gaped at the
sight of this giant train and its speed. Eventually, the train slowed, then
stopped, a metallic screech reverberating everywhere. A door hissed open, and
heavy-soled shoes clunked on metal railing. The conductor, in his ivy cap and jacket,
stepped down from the stairs and stroked his goatee. He flashed a grin with
stained teeth.

“Boarding? Any boarding to Visonia?”

Jason walked up to the conductor, his
friends following right behind him. The conductor only noticed them when they
were right in front of him.

“Ah, come back, did you?” The conductor
crossed his arms. “Did you bring a ticket?”

Jason pursed his lips. “Ticket?
Um...Afraid not. But can’t you just let us on? We have to follow someone and we
think they came through here.”

“Oh? Is that so? Well then, how about I
just let every wandering band of strangers onto my train? Trust me, if I did
that, the damn thing would’ve been blown up a long, long time ago. Now, I’ll
ask again: Tickets?”

Jason realized what had been nagging him:
the tickets. The conductor had asked for tickets before. How could Jason have
forgotten? No time for beating himself up now, though. He had a mission. He was
getting on this train no matter what. If only he knew how.