The Nightmare Game (21 page)

“Nah. She was tryin’ to pull you in. The
stranglin’ came from this little sweet dragon tryin’ to pull you out the only
way that it could. It’s what pierced you, too. It needed to anchor you for traction
so it didn’t slice off your head with its chain from the tug. You see, it had
to pull you by the throat to get your head far enough out from the edge of the
vortex so it could set off that detonation that threw you out of the bathtub
and outta her reach. Good thing for you that it worked.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, appalled.

“It don’ always work. Most times people get pulled
into her vortex too far, too fast.”

“What happens then?”

“The necklace won’t let her take ‘em. No way it’ll
let that happen. So it sets off the explosion anyway. It might be a tiny blast
in this world, but it packs one helluva wallop in that other one. Without bein’
too graphic, you might just say that after somethin’ like that, you can forget
about gettin’ ahead.”

“It decapitates them?”

“Give the little lady a prize.”

I was shocked and betrayed to discover that the
same necklace that was supposed to protect me was also capable of killing me.

“Oh, don’ look so hurt,” he said. “I know what
you’re thinkin’. It’s what all of us think. It gets to most people, some worse
than others. But give that little dragon some credit. It did it to save you and
since we’re standin’ here talkin’, I guess it succeeded, huh? “

“And those that it didn’t succeed with? How many
of those have there been?”

“Oh, lots of ‘em. But like I said, it can’t let
you get sucked into that other world. You saw that hellish pit with your own
eyes. It’s where she keeps her enemies. You think it would let you get pulled
in there? It woulda killed you before it let her drag you into that. It didn’t
have a choice. It would’ve been better for you to go into whatever afterlife
that was awaitin’ you than for you to get imprisoned, maybe forever, in the
hell of that evil woman’s makin’. Just for kicks, didn’t you wonder what that
drain in the middle of the bathroom was for?’

“I thought it was to make the floor easier to
clean.”

Marcus laughed a gallows cackle.

“You’re right there, miss, you sure are right
there. Can’t leave a dead body just lyin’ around in her bathroom waitin’ for
the police to find, now can we? So she dissolves ‘em. Removes all traces of
‘em. They just get flushed down that infernal drain. Her lackeys remove the
belongin’s so nothin’s left to prove they were ever there. If somebody saw ‘em
earlier, like they did you, she just says they checked out. She’s got people
that’ll back her up, give her alibis. She’s also a genius at forgin’ other
folk’s signatures on sign-out papers. It’s why she tricks people inta comin’
here alone. No witnesses. Your friend Carolyne didn’t have to work. It was a
trick so you’d come alone. She was callin’ you this mornin’ to tell you she was
comin’ in tonight, but the witch stirred up the air to cause you two to fight.
Your friend ain’t comin’ now. And don’ try to call her, cause you don’ want her
getting in this mess. You don’ want her goin’ down that drain.”

“I wouldn’t think of putting her in danger,” I
said defensively.

“See to it you don’t,” he said shortly. “It’s time
you be on your way. You got a lot left to do. You were goin’ in the wrong
direction, by the way. What happened? You were awfully gung-ho till you got to
that corner.”

“You were watching me?”

“You bet I was. And this is the last time I get to
do it, so we make it count.”

“I-I don’t know what happened. When I got to the
corner, I spooked. I just lost my nerve.”

“No you didn’t. You got close enough to feel her
power.”

“I thought she couldn’t get to me anymore now that
I’ve got this thing on,” I said defensively, pointing to the necklace.

“She didn’t get to you. You’re the one that got to
you. She just let you feel her power.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean it’s time for you to get hold of yourself.
You’re still spooked; you’re still, what do they call it these days,
traumatized, from that vortex in the shower. She did nothing to you at that
corner. She just pointed her power at you, turned it up, and you took the bait.
You caved. You can’t let her get to you every time you get scared. You’ve got
to learn to ignore that feelin’, push it aside. You can’t give her any more power
than she already has. You’ve got to have more guts than that.”

“I don’t know why, but I felt more confident
before she did that.”

“The confidence was the effect of the dream. It
can stay with you for a long time if you just buck up and you don’t throw it away.
Your little friend,” he said, pointing to the necklace, “can help more than you
know now, but you’ve got to do your part, you’ve got to stay and fight. Come
on, woman, give it somethin’ to work with.”

My eyes implored him. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“Nobody ever does, you’re no different. But you
gotta go in there again. You’re not finished with The Crypt. You got two more
doors to go through before you can get to the end of the game. That is, if you
even make it that far.”

“Why two more doors? Why can’t I just get it over
with now?”

“Cause you don’t make the rules. That witch does.
She likes watchin’ people squirm, likes wearin’ ‘em out. If she can’t get rid
of ‘em right at first, she toys with ‘em. She’s the spider, you’re the prey.
That’s the game you gotta win. And she’s damn good at playin’ it.”

“So what chance do I have to win?”

“Some people do better than others. Your
connection with the guy in the paintin’, the guy in your dreams, is real
strong, and that’s the big plus. You wouldn’t be standin’ in front of me, so
whole, so healed if it wasn’t. Yeah, that’s right, I know what she did to you,
you’re not the first. If your connection wasn’t so strong, you’d at least have
a few bloody marks to show for it. The connection, it could be your ticket
outta here if you do this thing right. Those of us, all of us, that had strong
connections always did better, went further in the game.”

“But still, you all lost.”

“Yeah, but the ones with the strongest connections
go on to help them that come next. I only had that sweet lady at the flat to
guide me. You’ve got her, you’ve got me and you’ve got the man you’ve not met
yet. Whenever the witch has made the game harder, we’ve had more people on our
side to help. I had one person to help me, you’ve got the three of us. And
you’ve got the strongest connection with the man in the paintin’ of any of us.
I don’t know what makes the connection so strong with one person and not
another, nobody does. You might as well ask, why are you friends with this
person and not that one; why do you fall in love with the girl in the blue
dress when the girl in the green dress is prettier and richer? Nobody knows. It
just happens; and it’s happened with you. It don’t happen often. Don’t waste
it. Please, don’t waste it.

“I know what you’re thinkin’ now. We’ve all
thought it. You think you can just go home and die peacefully, but that’s not
an option any more. You’ve been too much trouble to her and she won’t let you
off the hook so easy any more. You survived the first round, so she’s got a
real taste for you now. She’s playin’ in earnest from here on in and you’re way
past the point of being able to chose a nice, quiet, painless little death. And
if you leave, that necklace will desert you. When that happens, your death’ll
be hell on earth. You remember how you felt when she tried to kill you earlier
this afternoon? That’s just a taste of what it’s going to be like if you go
home. Oh, she won’t be able to capture your soul. You chose the right side so
she can’t take that away from you. But she can trick you so you feel like she’s
takin’ it while she’s killin’ you. It won’t be easy and it won’t be pretty and
it won’t be quick. It’ll be damn nasty; she’ll make sure of that. You’re gonna
wish that you stuck around and at least put up a good fight. Nobody’ll be able
to help you and nobody’ll ever figure out who killed you, either, not that it
would matter cause they couldn’t do nothin’ about it anyway.

“Memorize this: you’re at a point in the game
where the witch always thinks she’s got a real good shot at gettin’ that
necklace, probably the best shot she ever gets, and she wants you to keep
playing now. Leavin’ will just piss her off big time. Torturin’ you to death if
you leave is her way of getting you to keep playin’. You gotta go on with it
now whether you want to or not. The stakes are even higher than when I was in
it; I know our good gentleman tol’ you about that. You really are our best hope
that’s come around in a long time.”

“That’s what E…,” I started to say his name but
when I saw the shock on Marcus’ face, I remembered. “That’s what the man in the
portrait told me,” I corrected myself. “I still don’t see how. No way I’m the
hero type.”

“Tell me about it. I was hoping that when another
really strong connection came along it would be with somebody with more guts
than you’ve got. So don’t be flattered, it’s not you, you’re not the one doin’
it. You failed the first test that came your way, but then so do most
everybody. Only thing makin’ you special is that because of this connection,
and you’ve got a helluva strong one. So you got a helluva a lot of protection
from our man in the paintin’. It’s a lot stronger than it’s been decades. Do
you think most people get revived like you do with the dreams? No, that almost
never happens. That’s why you’ve got to continue, that’s why you’ve got to
pursue this to the end. That’s why you’ve got a real chance here. Combined with
what you’re gettin’ from that little piece of jewelry, he might just be able to
give you what you need to continue, maybe even to win. Keep away from the
witch’s poison and keep that necklace on. She wants it more than anything else
in the world. And like he said, later on, it’ll help keep you goin’. Let me
remind you again, that the longer you wear it, the more it gets to know you,
the more it can help you. You’re not in this all alone. Remember that.”

“I’ll remember. I promise. Can you tell me
anything new? Like what I’ve have to face next?”

“What, do you think I know something he don’t?”
Marcus seemed insulted by my question. “I don’t know what she’s going to do
next. Nobody does. She changes things around. I know he told you that.”

“So in other words, all I can do is pray that I
catch on before it’s too late.”

“Pretty much. Look, I’d tell you if I knew and so
would he. We all want you to win. I wanted to tell you more the first time,
explain things to you proper, but I didn’t have time. She had her feelers out
big time, listenin’ in. Once we pick up that she’s tuned in to us, we can’t
tell you anything any more. We quit talking and we’re outta here. I can only
talk to you now because she’s busy getting ready for you now, preparin’ the way
for what she’s got in store for you next.”

“Preparing? She’s preparing?”

“Oh, yeah, she’s preparin’ quite a lovely surprise
for you. She’d love to have her spies out listenin’ in on us right now, but
they can’t see or hear me. Can’t see or hear you, either, till I leave. Only
she can, and it takes real effort on her part. Besides, she don’t like to
delegate too much, only when she really needs to, she likes to do things mostly
herself. But she can get sloppy. She’s too convinced of her own infallibility.
She thinks she’s omnipotent, but she ain’t. So she won’t be listenin’ in for me
for a little while longer.”

“What happens if she catches us and you’re not
‘outta here’ and you just keep talking to me?”

“Your dream man gets tortured. Bad. We found that
out early on. It gets real nasty for that poor bastard. Happens when one of us
fails, too. The further you get into this game, the worse she makes it for him.
If you get too far and almost win, like with us three helpers, she makes that
poor man suffer the torments of the damned. That’s one more reason for you to
win.”

“That’s horrible!” I said, feeling worse and worse
for Edmond.

“Not only that, but then she gets real careful for
a few years afterward, listenin’ for us all the time makin’ it downright
impossible for us to help anybody. We can’t do shit until she starts to get
cocky again.

“You just have to remember that the point of this
whole game, the only thing she really wants, is that,” he pointed to the
necklace around my neck, “but don’t ever forget that she can’t get it and keep
it unless you give it to her. I can’t drill it inta your head far enough. She
can trick you into giving to her, she can mislead and deceive you into it, but
she can’t force it off of you if she wants to keep it and she definitely wants
to keep it. Don’t ever forget it. That is a constant.

“So remember, the only way you can really screw
this up is to let her have the necklace. Even if you die, there’ll be others,
there always are, to play this game. You’re the only chance a lot of people
have, though. The longer she’s out there the more people are goin’ to die.
You’re the only chance they have. And here’s a prime example.”

He handed me a newspaper.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Just take it. There’s something I want you to
see.”

I took the newspaper from him.

“Nice headline, huh?”

It was copy of the Times Picayune. On the front
page there was a picture of Brenda. The headline read “University Student Found
Stabbed to Death.” I began to read the copy. “The body of Brenda LaBlanc was
found in her apartment today, where she was brutally stabbed to death early
this morning. She was a sophomore at the University of New Orleans, studying
criminology and law enforcement. Police are withholding details of the
post-mortem mutilation to help them in their search for the killer. Anyone with
further information is asked to contact the New Orleans police department.” I
looked at the picture of Brenda, which looked as if it might have come from her
high school yearbook. It was indeed the woman I had met today.