by Jerry Hart
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.
Chapter 6: Training
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 com
munity, 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.
Chapter 7: Secrets
I wasn’t surprised when I dreamed about Nalke again that night. I was worried, however, about what I might give away to the nature demon. Nalke didn’t know where Dargo was and I didn’t want to be the one to give away the location.
I was in the center of the tornado again, with that face staring at me behind the swirling cloud wall. Nalke’s eyes were large, white and creepy.
“Tell me what you know,” he commanded. “Have you gone to Dargo? Where is it?”
“None of your business.”
I could tell at once Nalke wasn’t pleased with that response. I didn’t care.
“I could kill you right now—drop a tornado on your house or open the earth beneath your sleeping form.”
I gulped. “Go ahead.”
I waited to die, but nothing happened.
It was hard to tell, being in a dream, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t dead. And I was fairly certain Nalke couldn’t do anything to me. Ernie had said himself the demon’s power was very weak, and he’d expended almost all of it on the day of the tornadoes. Why do so? Who was he trying to kill? Was it Shae? It had to be; she knew about Dargo. But, just maybe, he wasn’t trying to kill anyone.
“I have my eye on you,” Nalke said. His voice was calm. “You think you can hide, but I will always find you in your dreams. Always—”
I woke up with my ears ringing. My right hand hurt, and when I looked, I noticed my car keys gripped tightly there. The key chain Shae gave me swung back and forth, like a wind was blowing against it. It also looked like it was glowing a little.
I lay back down, my keys still with me. I didn’t want to put them down, for some reason.
Later that morning, I grabbed a book from my bookshelf and picked up where I’d left off. Sadly, I’d been working on this book for a year; it was boring.
Unfortunately, I have to finish what I start. That inclu
des terrible books. It’s a trait I wish I could get rid of. I was past the halfway mark of the book but couldn’t remember anything I’d read.
My phone rang an hour later and I answered it, grateful for an excuse to stop reading. “What’s up, Estevan?”
“Wanna catch The Heifer at noon?” my best friend asked.
I laughed. I loved the title of the comedy that was just released. “Sure. I’m glad you want to see it so early; I have to work tonight, anyway.”
“Oh, yeah!” Estevan said. “I forgot to ask about your job. I was at work during the tornado outbreak. You start a new one or something?”
“Yeah. The very next day. I already trained, and I start my first shift alone tonight.”
“What is it?”
I hesitated, not knowing how to explain my new job. I guard a neighborhood full of supernatural creatures that are hiding from a nature demon called Nalke.
It just didn’t sound quite right.
“I work security for a rich neighborhood.”
“Oh, cool!” Estevan sounded genuinely impressed. “My grandpa got a job like that, but he died before he could start.”
I held the phone to my ear, not sure what to say. He’d never told me that before. Otherwise, I would’ve remembered when Rockne told the same story in Dargo. Had it been Estevan’s grandpa who’d died while traveling to Dargo?
“You still there?” he asked me.
“Yeah. Sorry. Just thinking.” I looked at my clock to see it was nearly eleven a.m. “I’ll get ready and meet you at the theater. Wait, which theater are we going to?”
“The Tavern. Do you even still work at the Movie Castle?”
“I don’t know. I asked my manager and he said, until the building is repaired, no one is working there. I couldn’t wait.”
“I see. Also, this movie better be good or I’m gonna knock you out.”
I chuckled. The last comedy we saw—A Pig Named Panda—was awful, and Estevan constantly reminded me of my poor movie choices. He always told me I wouldn’t know a good movie if it bit me on the back of my neck. I don’t think I’d know what anything was if it bit me on the back of the neck, but I’m not one to argue.
