The Dream Catcher's Daughter (9 page)

“The Guardian told me. He said the Dream
Caller...” Jason stopped, because he noticed the darkness falling over Len’s
face.

“Why the fuck would you listen to him?”
she said. “He doesn’t know
anything
.”

This caught Jason off-guard, but he couldn’t
show it. “What are you talking about? He’s one of the oldest, most powerful
magi...”

“I know what he is. But, I’m telling you,
don’t trust him.”

“Why not?”

“Can’t you see? It’s clear as day!” When
he didn’t have an epiphany, Len grunted. “The Dream Caller’s been dead for
years. The Guardian released your dreams.”

Jason shook his head. “No. That can’t be.
He doesn’t have that kind of power...”

“Oh yeah? Who do you think taught the
original Dream Catcher and Dream Caller? Why do you think the Guardian was able
to seal your dreams? If he can seal them, he can most certainly drag them out.”

“But I heard the Dream Caller’s ability is
to materialize dreams.”

“Dream Callers can turn dreams into flesh
and blood, because they have a contract with the King of Dreams.” Len waved a
hand. “But that’s not important. Whether or not he can turn dreams into reality
doesn’t matter. What matters is what the Guardian wants.”

“What he wants?”

She nodded, glancing back over her
shoulder at the Dream Catcher, who coughed. “He wants to kill my mistress.” She
turned back to Jason, crossing her arms. “And when that happens, the world will
plunge into chaos.”

“How do you know any of this?”

“Because he killed my parents.”

Dream Catchers adopt because their bodies
age rapidly. There are signs of a suitable apprentice: The child must be a
girl, and the Dream Catcher must hear the child’s first words. Then, if the
Dream Catcher has a powerful vision after hearing the first words, she will
adopt the child as her apprentice, no matter what the true parents say.

“My parents didn’t want me to leave,” said
Len. “They probably complained, maybe even put up resistance. But the Guardian
didn’t like it. He struck them down. All because they didn’t want to give up
their only child.”

Jason rubbed his eyes. The Guardian was
well-respected. Well-feared. Why would anyone be willing to jump on his bad
side? Len had an answer to this:

“Years ago, when I first met the Guardian,
he said something. At first, I didn’t think much of it. Then, when my mistress
told me my parents were dead, I put two and two together.”

“What did the Guardian say?” said Jason.

“He said, ‘You were lucky to have been
chosen before your parents died. Now you will never have to worry about having
your memory erased’.” She looked up at Jason, and narrowed her eyes. “You’re
familiar with the law.”

“Yeah. Normies born to magi parents get
their memories erased.”

“Parentless mage kids suffer the same
fate. Unless, of course, you have a mistress or master, like the Dream Catcher.”

“And you think the Guardian might be
trying to do her in?”

“It would make so much sense. Without the
Dream Caller, the only other magi around who’s as powerful as the Guardian is
my mistress.”

“But why kill her?”

“Without a Dream Catcher, more and more
people would fall victim to their darkest, evilest desires. Trust me, you
wouldn’t want to be around when that happened.”

“That doesn’t sound bad.”

Len crossed her arms. “Ever heard of
Charles Manson? John Wayne
Gacey
?”

“Okay. Still doesn’t explain why the
Guardian would want that. The Dream Caller makes more sense. My dreams are in
real life. I can see them. You can see them.”

“I can see them because I’ve been trained
to. You can see them because they’re your dreams. No one else can see them.”

Jason thought about how Amor and Bootelia
had grabbed that kid. Then again, they hadn’t grabbed him; they’d pulled him
out of his body. Darlene hadn’t seen Talshe in the industrial district,
either. His brain hurt.

“Maybe you have a point.”

Len placed a hand on Jason’s shoulder.
“It’s okay. We won’t let him get away with it. I know enough to be able to
return your dreams to you. After that, Mistress will be able to unseal your
dreams and...”

“No,” said Jason. “I don’t want that.”

Len’s mouth fell open. “You...don’t want
your dreams unsealed? Why not? You should want your dreams, I mean...”

“No. I don’t want them back. They aren’t
dreams anymore. They would only be nightmares.”

He turned and headed for the staircase.
Len caught him with a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, wait a moment,” she said. “I
know all about that. But I can help. Well, my mistress can help...”

“That’s what the Guardian said. But it
doesn’t even look like she could rise from bed.”

“Don’t talk that way about my mistress.”

“Don’t try to convince me to do stupid
things.”

He tried to turn again, but Len spun him
around and clamped her hands upon his shoulders. “Listen. I’m doing this more
for you than myself. You’ve nearly died how many times now? All because of
those dreams? Don’t you feel a little betrayed by the Guardian?”

“Betrayal’s nothing new.”

“I get that. Okay? But you
gotta
look at the big picture. Do you realize how many
people are going to suffer? Think about it. Do you want that many people
suffering, all because you thought it was stupid to try and help?”

Before Jason could reply, something
moaned. A pinprick of light appeared dead-center of the basement. This light
floated steadily upward until it stood as tall as Jason and Len. Then it dived
into the floor and flooded the basement. A giant circle was drawn in glowing
white chalk upon the floor. The light seeped into each line of the circle—lines
that weaved together like cobwebs in the circle’s middle, in the shape of a
dream catcher. With every inch of the circle illuminated, it rose from the
ground, spinning slowly. Then it exploded, the circle’s borders touching each
of the four pillars. Jason and Len were plunged waist deep in the circle’s
light. Only seven feet away, two blinking green dots appeared. Len wheeled toward
them.

“This isn’t good,” she said.

“What? What is it?”

She motioned toward the circle. “Doesn’t
this look familiar? At all? It should.”

He glanced around a bit. It wasn’t until
he spotted a mark on the circle, this particular stretch of line inscribed with
the words, ‘Silver Moon Grocery.’

“A map of Sheriffsburg?” said Jason.

“It’s how Mistress detected the runaway
dreams.” Len nodded toward the two dots. “Those are the twins, I think. If we catch
them, you can return them to your body. Then they won’t be running around
trying to shank you.”

Jason didn’t like the idea of facing
Bootelia and Amor again. Last time he ran into them, he ended up in that
strange way station. An experience he could go without repeating.

He looked back at the glowing dots. He
noticed where the dots were located. He glanced back to Silver Moon’s marker,
then followed the streets. He trailed them like a vampire trailing its victim’s
veins. When he reached the twins’ dots again, his stomach dropped. Suddenly,
the twins’ dots darted away. Running.

He whipped around and tore up the stairs.
Len called after him, but he didn’t stop. She followed, easily able to keep
speed with him. Outside, Jason ran north along South Hollow, then west along
Orchid Street, his street.
A few more blocks,
he thought. He could
already see the elementary school in his mind. Just a couple more blocks.

Jason and Len were only a block away when
they heard the ambulance siren.

***

Len waited outside the hospital. She
didn’t need to follow Jason inside to know it would be bad. She didn’t own a
watch, so couldn’t keep track of time. She sat on a bench near the entrance,
her flute in her lap. She stared down at it, tempted to play. This part of the neighborhood
wasn’t like her own: People in downtown Sheriffsburg didn’t care much for live
music on their street corners. Besides, Len didn’t know any dirges.

When the sliding doors
whished
open, Len looked over. Jason walked out clutching something in his right hand.
He didn’t look upset, but Len knew by now this was a trick.
Thanks to the
Guardian,
she thought,
he can’t show any of his feelings. That’s one of
the prices of having your dreams sealed.
She stood. A slight breeze rolled
through, ruffling her skirt, her gray hair billowing about her. Jason leaned
against the wall, crushing the thing in his right hand to his chest. Len
thought it looked like a plastic doll. Boys called them action figures, but Len
called them dolls, no matter how many guns they toted or how macho they looked.

“Steal that from a dying kid?” she said,
pointing to the doll.

“No,” he said. “I let this kid have it
cuz
he was getting a lot of grief. Figured it was the least
I could do.” He spaced out for a moment, then glanced down at the metal-gray
toy. There was a purple, triangle-shaped insignia on the doll’s chest. Len
recognized this symbol from a kid’s dreams.

“Well, why did you take it? The
kid’ll
want it back, won’t he?”

The wind died down, and a wall of cloud
passed in front of the sun, blocking out the light. More people were coming out
of the hospital, throwing glances at Jason. One kid snickered upon seeing the
action figure in Jason’s hand. Len noted this particular kid and decided she’d
skip his dreams that night.

Jason lifted his head. “He’s as good as
dead,” he said. “That’s how deep a coma it is. His parents are split on what to
do. They don’t know whether they want to keep him alive or transfer him to a
hospital that will just pull the plug.”

He gripped the Transformer tight, and his
face twitched, then he scrunched his nose, his brow knitting together. That was
the most emotion she’d seen out of his face since they’d met.

“I’m sorry,” said Len.

He lowered his head. “I thought my dreams
couldn’t hurt anyone. Darlene couldn’t see Talshe. I figured my dreams couldn’t
touch anyone.”

“They aren’t supposed to. But…but who
knows? Maybe the Guardian
did
something.”

Jason stood. “It doesn’t matter.” He
looked at Len, his face softening. “I’ll go after Amor and Bootelia and
retrieve the key. But don’t think I’m doing it for you. It won’t even be for
me.” He glanced down at the toy again, then set it on the ground.

Without another word, Jason stalked off.
Len followed slowly.

As they walked, Len explained something to
Jason: “I can’t destroy dreams. Mistress fell ill before she could teach me. I
tried to learn by myself, but that didn’t go so well.”

“Then what are we supposed to do about the
twins?”

“They’re your dreams. I may not be able to
destroy them, but I can rejoin them with you. The dreams will go back under the
seal.”

“I have to let them inside me?”

“You might have to fight them. I don’t
imagine they’ll go easy.”

The rubber floor of the playground sank
slightly under their weight. It was empty, and the slide looked like a lonely
war monument set aside from the jungle gym and the giant plastic castle. Jason
remembered playing here when he was younger. Nothing but smiles and laughter
and kiddy-adrenaline. Then he wondered: If his dreams came back to him, would
he be happier? Would his face work properly? Would he be able to smile, to
laugh? Be Jason from before?

Who was I before?

Len pulled out her flute and played four
notes. A small map appeared before them, hovering mid-air. The two dots,
Bootelia and Amor, blinked to life on the map.

“They’re nearby,” said Len. “They didn’t
get far.”

“No, look. They’re coming back.”

Len squinted. “Huh, guess so. Man, I need
glasses.”

They moved to the south side of the
playground and hid behind a climbing wall. While they waited, Len looked up to
Jason. “Okay, so, we’ll have to be careful. Who knows how hard they’ll try to
hurt us?”

“Who’s trying to hurt you?”

Jason and Len whipped around, finding
Darlene there, smiling at them. Her Silver Moon shirt was untucked and
unbuttoned, revealing the tank top beneath. Len’s eyes drifted to Darlene’s
exposed collar bone. She looked back to Jason, her face aflame.

“Oh, no one. Not you, I mean. Definitely
not you.”

Darlene chuckled, glancing from Len to
Jason. “
What’cha
doin’? Makin’ out seems to be out of
the question.”

Before he could answer, someone started
crying; Bootelia and Amor had sat down on a bench across the playground. Amor’s
arm was around his twin. Bootelia was hunched over, hands pressed against her
eyes.

“Wonder what her problem is,” whispered
Darlene.

Jason and Len looked up at Darlene,
wide-eyed. Then they looked at each other. He pointed at the twins. “You can
see them?”

“Yeah? Like, can’t you?”

“Of course I can,” said Jason. “But that’s
not the point. Darlene, I need you to pull out your cell phone and prepare your
best defense spell.”

“Well, I’ve only got Shield Dome Lv. 7...”

“That’s fine. It’s only a precaution.”

Darlene punched in the number for the
spell, her eyes set on the twins. “They look harmless.”

After Darlene queued the spell, Jason
stood, as did Len. With another deep breath, Jason stepped out from behind the
wall. Len and Darlene walked beside him, arm-to-arm. They didn’t stop until
they stood right in front of the twins. Amor noticed them first, looking up from
his crying sister.

“Oh, if it isn’t
you
,” he said.
“Come to run us over with that train again? Well, go ahead.”

Jason ignored Amor and looked directly at
Bootelia. Suddenly, he was filled with rage. Before he could think, before he
could assess what was wrong with him, his mouth flapped open: “How did it feel?
Tearing that boy from his body?” Jason clenched his fists. “Does it feel good
knowing you may have killed him? He’ll never wake up, thanks to you. He’ll
never wake up.”

Len touched Jason on the arm, but he
jerked away. Nothing would hold him back from this. Not even Bootelia’s mucus-y
sobs. She didn’t deserve to cry. She’d chosen to hurt the boy. “It’s all your
fault,” said Jason, pointing a finger at Bootelia. “All your damn fault.”

Amor pulled his arm away from his sister
and stood. He barely topped Jason, but the difference in height was noticeable.
“What do you know?” he said. “You saying she
wanted
to hurt that kid?
You’re fucked up. We never wanted to hurt him. We only wanted to...”

“Wanted to what?”

Amor shook his head. “I’m not going to
explain myself to you.”

Jason grabbed Amor’s shirt collar, and
Darlene tried to pry Jason away, but he shook her off. Amor didn’t struggle. He
only stared into Jason’s face, a look of childish defiance in his eyes.
Defiance, and absolute disgust.

“Why won’t you explain yourself?” said
Jason.

“Because I don’t have to. I don’t have to
explain myself to someone who threw us away. You got rid of us, just so we
wouldn’t bother you. All we wanted was to help you. Now look what we get. We
could’ve helped you cope.”

Jason shook him. “Chasing me hardly seems
like helping me. You’re no better than the nightmares. No better than that
shadowy creature with red eyes. I bet it told you to go after Trevor. You sick
freaks.”

“What nightmares?”

Bootelia had raised her head, her eyes
raw, makeup streaking down her cheeks. She wrinkled her nose at Jason. He let
Amor go and turned toward her.

“The nightmares. Talshe, Leech,
and...Shades. That’s its name. Shades, the creature with red eyes.”

Slowly, she shook her head. “There are no
nightmares. Only dreams. Even so, this...Shades...I don’t know. It’s
different.”

“Different?”

Len interjected, “You call Leech and
Talshe dreams as though they’re good.”

“They
are
good. They only want to
help Jason.”

“Yeah, right,” said Jason. “They want to
help me like a terrorist wants to help government. Shades isn’t any
different.
The nightmare is. Just. Like. You.”

Darlene grabbed Jason’s shoulder. “Hey,
man, she sounds sincere.”

Jason turned on his best friend with a
snarl: “Fuck off, dike!”

Darlene’s eyes narrowed, and her hand
dropped slowly. She pursed her lips. Chuckled. Backed away, hands up in
surrender. “Hey, I read you. Man, I read you like a bad drama.”

Something in Jason’s stomach clunked and
rolled away. “Darlene, wait...”

“Hold on, I’m almost finished. I liked
you. Thought you were cool. Thought maybe, if you got married, I could be your
best man or whatever.” She sighed. “Guess you just don’t give a shit. You can’t
get past yourself. That’s what I’ve noticed these past two years. You can’t
think of anyone but yourself.”

But Jason was thinking of other people. He
didn’t want Bootelia and Amor to hurt anyone. “You’ve always been my best man,”
he said.

“Yeah, well, not anymore.”

She flipped him the bird and then stormed
off.

His arms felt like they each weighed ten
tons. The liquid stone quickly overflowed into his legs and up into his waist.
He fell forward, thudding against the rubber floor. Len and the twins stooped, calling
out his name, shaking him. Snap out of it, they shouted. But Jason’s ears were
filled with stone. His breaths came shorter and shorter. His heart pounded
faster and faster.

This is the end,
he thought.

“Forth!” shouted Bootelia and Amor. “Say
it! Say forth, Jason!”

Just hearing the word brought enough
function back to his lips: He muttered the phrase. In seconds the stone
recoiled and drew back. His body ached from the fall, his chest felt like it
might explode, and he tasted rubber in his mouth. Len sat him up. The twins
hugged him.

“We thought you were good as dead,” said
Amor.

So had Jason. But he didn’t say this. He
looked up at the three of them, and shook his head. “You helped me…but why? I’m
selfish.”

“We’ve wanted to…It’s just…I don’t know.”

“It’s like,” said Bootelia, “until we
jumped that kid, we could only think about getting you.”

“We went after that kid because…well, he
smelled
like you. After that…we felt terrible for what we’d done. Jason, we’d do
anything make it up to you.”

Len cleared her throat. “I know a way.”

The twins tilted their heads. Jason didn’t
want to ask. He didn’t want them inside him.

Still, he said, “Will you come back? Will
you two rejoin me?”

The two looked at each other, then back to
Jason. “We’d love to,” said Bootelia. “But won’t we go back under the seal?
It’s
cold there, Jason. A prison. Can you take off the
seal?”

“The nightmares would come back.” He shook
out his arms, and he opened his mouth to continue explaining, but Amor held up
a hand.

“We get it. We do. But promise us this:
When you have all your dreams back, once you have all your nightmares sorted
and settled, please come see us. Let us out every once in a while.”

Bootelia then reached into her pocket and
fished out the large golden key. “Almost forgot this. It’s important, isn’t
it?” Jason nodded, and Bootelia handed it to him. Then the twins hugged him.

Len stood and played her flute. Warmth
filled Jason and the twins. The two dreams glowed—first just their outlines,
then their whole bodies. Jason stood, and as he did, the twins dispersed into
dust, coating him in golden particles. As the dust settled into his skin, he
glowed like the sun. Just as Len was about to finish the song, Jason closed his
eyes. A maw with green flesh gaped before him.

He ripped his eyes open, screaming as he
flung himself forward, running into something, knocking it over. The music cut
off, because Jason had slammed into Len. She dropped her flute.

“What’re you doing?!” she shouted.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I...I
saw...”

Len’s flute exploded, flooding them in a
blinding light. Jason wrenched his eyes shut. When he opened them again, he
wished he hadn’t.

Talshe grinned at him, her face engulfing
most of the sky. “Well, well, we meet again, Jason
McEntree
.”
Talshe reached down, trying to scoop him up, but he rolled away, just dodging
her fingers. Len helped him up and pulled him toward the slide.

Talshe’s
hand wrapped
around the slide and tore it from the ground, chunks of metal and rubber
showering the earth. The giantess opened her mouth and stuffed the slide
inside. She chewed and crunched on steel. Plastic snapped. Glass shattered.
Finally, she swallowed and a noticeable bulge trailed down her neck. She patted
her stomach, and Len stiffened beside Jason. He felt as though his legs might
give out from beneath him.

Just a few feet behind them, claws
click-clacked on cement. There, growling, stood Leech.