by Andy Briggs
Marlow laughed - it was dry and humourless and Dan preferred it when she was being snarky. She pounded the wheel with the palm of her left hand.
“A hero? My Pa? You gotta be kidding. He retired. Threw the entire damn business in my lap. My lap, not my sister’s, ignoring the fact I had no interest in helping people like...” she faltered and waved her hand in Dan’s direction.
“Like me,” prompted Dan flatly. “Freaks who dream unlike the freaks who can't,” he added snidely.
Marlow sobered up. “Yeah. Exactly. He travelled the world a bit. Never checked if I was okay, alive, had all my limbs attached. Nothing. He doesn’t care, he just wanted to retire and study. Turned his back on everything. Turned his back on me.” Marlow lapsed into a silence only broken by the jarring engine and the screech of windshield wipers smudging snow. “Last I heard he had a cottage somewhere in Cornwall. Never told me; never sent so much as a Christmas card.”
“Maybe he was waiting for you to get in touch?”
“You're just a kid. What d’you know?”
Dan stiffened in his seat. “Yes. You're perfectly right. What would I know? If our places were swapped I would be asking for help and advice, but you’re the adult. You know best.”
Marlow's cheeks burned although she wasn't certain if it was with anger or embarrassment. Locking horns with Dan’s logic she was out of her league. It was made all the worse because his answers so happened to be useful. How dare he.
Dan yawned, his mouth extending so wide his jaw clicked. “I'm feeling really tired. I don't think I can keep awake much longer.”
Half a mile back, Marlow had seen signs for a lay-by so within a minute they had pulled over in the dark parking area. It was an unlit place, surrounded by dense forest. Dan was already asleep before Marlow stopped the engine. Fearing an immanent attack in the confide space of the Beetle, she snatched the kit bag from the back seat and climbed out into the snow. The air was still frigid but at least the snow was petering out and being outside was better than being close to the boy as he slept, plus the cold gave her a second wind against the fatigue that was making her limbs feel heavy.
She took the night-vision goggles from the bag and strapped them on her head. They were heavy, probably a decade out of date, but at least they worked. Worn padding weighed on her nose; the lenses gave a faint whine of servomotors as they struggled to adjusted focus. As she flicked the switch on the side of the helmet the blackness was immediately flooded with blues, greys and greens as the details hidden in the night reveal itself. The car's engine and exhaust pipe emitted ghostly white halos caused by the heat they generated. A red and orange Dan was clearly defined in the car, rolled onto his side, face pressed against the window in, his slow deep breaths fogging the window.
Marlow crouched and swept her gaze under the car, then to the trees lining the lay-by. Infiltrators didn't generate body heat, quite the reverse, but the goggles would give her a slight advantage against the darkness. Nothing was lurking in the fringes of reality.
She sighed and shivered, knowing that she would have to rest at some point. There were only so many hours a person could do without sleep before going insane and she was unsure which side of that barrier she was on. But what could she do? Sleeping anywhere near Dan was dangerous, the Infiltrators would go straight for her - the largest threat they faced. Conversely, she couldn't leave Dan alone to fend for himself. Sure, the kid would be OK but Marlow wasn't optimistic for anyone else’s survival rate.
And the Infiltrators... Dan was uniquely able to generate more than one and in the daytime too. Marlow shivered, this time not from the cold. The sheer size of the thing in the service station was terrifying. Every indication was a portent that something major was happening but Marlow had no clue as to what it could be. The problem was she had nobody to turn to. Whatever was going to happen, she was alone.
Alone…
She flinched when something moved in the trees. She slowly drew the baseball bat from the bag and cautiously approached the dark woods.
Dan woke feeling fresher than ever. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and gave a huge yawn as he glanced around the empty car. The windows were fogged and there was no sign of Marlow. With the ignition off, the car's clock was blank so he had no idea what time it was.
Stepping from the car offered no further clues. A soft fog clung to the road and drifted through the trees giving the scene a dreamlike quality. That was a worry. If he couldn't tell the difference between dreaming and reality...
“Marlow?” his voice was swallowed by the fog. He licked his cracked lips and tried a little louder. “Marlow? Where are you?”
Silence.
Dan felt his stomach lurch, not from hunger, but from the prospect of being abandoned in the middle of nowhere. To his own surprise the prospect of not having Marlow around worried him.
“Marlow, stop messing around!”
He scrambled around the car, heart beating faster. There was no sign of the woman. Surely she wouldn't have abandoned him?
Of course she would, nagged a voice at the back of his mind. She abandoned her own kids didn't she? You're on your own, Danny-boy.
Dan yanked the driver's door open and saw the keys still dangling from the ignition. If Marlow was going to do a runner then wouldn't she have left Dan somewhere and took the car? That didn't make sense. Unless...
Despite the chill air, Dan felt a cold hand grasp him from within. Unless she was dead...
The thought rattled him. He would be responsible, just like he was responsible for all the other monstrosities.
“Marlow?” he couldn't keep the anguish from his voice. He turned, shouting to the trees - then he saw something that made his dark thoughts edge towards reality. Marlow's half-open kit bag lay behind the car. The blunderbuss was on top. That sealed it - Marlow wouldn't have willingly left the gun.
Dan ran to the bag, tears numbing his cheeks. This had to be a dream.
It had to be...
The fog swirled. The silence was complete.
Then... he spun around, his eyes combing the trees trying to locate the growl he thought he’d heard. His own breathing seemed deafening, so he held his breath and listened.
There - coming from the trees, the unmistakable growl of a Nightmare.
Dan took a step towards it. He was unarmed, but if the beast was going to spring and end it all... so be it.
Branches cracked under his trainers as he stepped beyond the line of trees. “Here I am! Come and get me!”
The growl was nearer. Dan turned to his right. It was definitely close... then he was struck by a thought. If the Infiltrators could only appear when he was asleep, how could they hang around when he was awake?
He took a step towards the noise. Another grunt drew his attention to a low bush. Dan felt his heart in his mouth; his legs began to tremble as he took a hesitant step forward. Leaves as dry as paper crunched underfoot. His fingers wrapped around a long branch on the floor. They were so cold they were almost numb and he could only feel the wood when he gripped it tightly. He raised his cudgel knowing that a thin spear would do little to defend him, but it made him feel secure.
Another snort. Was the beast readying to pounce?
Dan girded his courage and swung the branch down as hard as he could into the foliage. He was rewarded with a sharp thud it broke in two. A pained howl came from the bush as the fowl-smelling creature bounded out.
“What the hell're you doing?” it roared.
Dan hastily backed, tripping over the uneven ground and landed on his butt in the mud. Marlow loomed over him, straggling vegetation hanging from her wild hair. She looked almost as confused as Dan.
“M-Marlow?” stuttered Dan. “Are you real?”
“You better bloody believe it!” Marlow reached a hand around to her shoulder to rub where Dan had struck her. “What the hell were you thinking?”
Dan stood, wiping the mud from his backside, the wet was already seeping through to his underwear.
“You were snoring like a monster.”
“I don't snore,” snapped Marlow.
“Just like you don't dream,” replied Dan with a smirk.
“I must have nodded off.” She glanced at her watch and muttered under her breath. She took a few strides out of the wood and was relieved to see the car was in one piece.
“Don't worry,” said Dan following her, “no nightmare popped out to steal your precious car.”
He didn't see Marlow give him a curious slantwise glance as she scooped up the bag and gun. Leaving equipment haphazardly around wasn’t her style. She tried to recall her movements and could only imagine that she must have fallen asleep mid-step.
“C'mon, we should keep moving,” she said, shoving the bag into the boot. “Especially now I'm awake enough to drive.”
“Where too?”
Marlow opened the car door, but leaned on the roof, drumming dirty fingers thoughtfully. If she didn't dream, then Dan thought there was little chance that the sleep had given her a chance to work up a plan. That would take imagination. Dan's stomach grumbled so loudly that Marlow flinched thinking that the boy had fallen asleep.
“I think breakfast would be the smartest move.”
It took them just under an hour to find a roadside restaurant. It was half full, the parking area dotted with cars and trucks. They sat in a booth as a middle-aged waitress took their order while industriously chewing gum. Marlow ordered a full English breakfast and Dan's mouth had already started watering when he saw the menu’s picture of a pancake tower smothered in maple syrup. A hanging television played the morning news in the corner of the room. A silence fell between them. This time not an uncomfortable one, but one of acceptance. They didn’t speak until after the food arrived.
Marlow clicked her fingers to get Dan's attention.
“Huh?” Dan managed through a mouthful of pancake.
“Our next step?”
Dan tried to recall the conversation but he had totally zoned out so shook his head blankly.
Marlow sighed heavily and stabbed a fork into the leathery bacon. “I was saying we need to work out our next step. We can't keep running like this. Especially since the Infiltrators are following you wherever you go. And I need sleep. Desperately need sleep. I can't keep doing this.”
“OK.” Dan gave an expectant silence but Marlow didn't fill it. “So what do we do?” he finally asked.
Marlow stared at the food, absently chasing a rouge baked bean with her fork. “No idea,” she finally admitted. “This is a little out of my experience. I mean, the usual Infiltrator cases are dealt with swiftly, violently and, more importantly, closed, after my first visit. You're being targeted for a reason.” Dan looked away as Marlow's gaze bore into him as if she was searching for answers inside his head. Dan focused on the TV again. “It can't just be the narcolepsy. I can't believe that. I mean, other people are afflicted with that but they don't suffer like you.”
Marlow's voice became a soft drone. Dan's eyelids fluttered before his brain suddenly kicked in, screaming at him to stay alert. His head jerked as he caught himself nodding off. He sighed heavily - that was a close call. Marlow didn't seem to have noticed, her monologue was addressed firmly at her food. Dan rubbed his eyes and looked back at the screen.
“Why're we on TV?” Dan suddenly asked with a hint of alarm.
It took a few moments for Marlow to register the comment. She followed Dan's gaze to the screen. The picture was split between a smiling photo of Dan, taken at the end of term in school, and an unsmiling, slightly out of focus picture of Marlow scowling at the camera. She was just about recognisable with her hair tied back in a smart ponytail, and the clothes actually fitted.
“What the hell...?” Marlow began. She didn't recognise the picture, but it had undoubtedly come from her ex. They hadn't even Photoshopped out the jagged line from where he had torn it in half, so it looked as if Marlow had no neck.
The TV was muted and Marlow didn't dare attract anyone's attention by asking them to turn the volume up, but the scrolling chyron at the bottom told them everything they needed to know.
Dan Glass. Kidnapped. Marlow Cornelius suspected. Nationwide manhunt.
Dan giggled. “Kidnapped? Cool! Where'd they get an idea like that?”
Marlow was staring at the screen, utterly appalled. Her usual pale features were, if possible, whiter than ever. When Dan looked back at the report he gasped when he saw his mum, sobbing in front of the camera. The brief spark of amusement now thoroughly snubbed. Her words were silent, but the anguish and tears rolling down her cheeks spoke volumes. His Grandpa stood behind, a hand on her shoulder as he stared at his feet. Dan felt his heart wrench.
“My God! They think I've kidnapped you!” hissed Marlow. She tried to angle her body in the booth and kept her head bowed to avoid eye contact with the other diners.
“Why would they think that? Grandpa paid you to find me, didn’t he?”
That was exactly what Marlow was wondering. She stared at Grandpa Boris. He was looking anywhere except at his own daughter or into the camera. Reading the guilt on his face was like reading a subtitle written in a very large bold font. Marlow's mind was racing.
“You bastard… your Grandpa…”
“What about him?”
“He didn't tell your mother!”
“What're you talking about?”
“Boris came to my house and pleaded with me to search for you.” She recalled details of their hungover meeting. “Your mother wasn't around. He hadn't told her you were missing!”
Dan frowned. “Why would he do that?”
Marlow hesitated. She had no idea why he wouldn't simply tell her the truth. Why would he claim Marlow had kidnapped Dan? That didn't make any sense.
“Right. We're heading straight back so you can explain this mix up to them.”
Marlow stood up but Dan made no move to follow.
“Come on,” Marlow insisted.
Dan desperately wanted to return home to put his mother's mind at ease, but what would he be returning to?
“Dan, this is no time for messing around,” Marlow warned. She felt as if her patience was being tested, but Dan refused to move. He slunk back into the booth, shielding his face with one hand to avoid being identified. Marlow spoke in a hissing whisper that was on the verge of erupting into full-blown anger. “This is serious!”
Dan nodded, his jumbled thoughts slowly reaching his lips. “I know. If we go back... it's the same problem isn't it?” Marlow blinked in surprise. Being branded a kidnapper had momentarily obscured the fact that the boy was pulling dark creatures from the abyss of another dimension that readily killed. Dan toyed with his half-full glass of cola. From where he was sitting it was half empty. “The Nightmares will still come.” He nodded towards the television. “Their lives will still be at risk, won't they?”
Fatigue was fogging Marlow's thoughts. If she returned the boy home, and his mother and grandpa were killed by a bloodthirsty Infiltrator, then she would be implicit in their deaths. Was that worse than being arrested as a kidnapper?
Yes! She berated herself. With a horrible twisting sensation in her gut, Marlow started to realise she was responsible, not only for the kid's safety but of those around him. She tried to imagine explaining the Infiltrator's to the cops. A mentally unstable kidnapper, she amended.
Out of the corner of her eyes he noticed their waitress was leaning through the hatch, in heated discussions with the cook. Their glance darted between the screen and Marlow as they spoke. They’d been recognised.
“Dan, listen. We gotta get out of here. I think our waitress has called the cops.” She just blown her tip, Marlow thought bitterly.
“I'm not going home,” said Dan definitely.
“If the cops get us then you'll have no choice!” hissed Marlow, panic mounting.
They stared at one another, neither willing to back down. Marlow's steely gaze broke first when she heard the sound of approaching police sirens.
>
“Dan...”
“You promise to help me?”
Marlow banged the table in frustration, gaining unwelcome attention from the other diners. She didn't care; there was little point in remaining anonymous now.
“What can I do?”
“Stop the Nightmares. Stop them for good and I'll get us out of this right now.”
Questions piled in Marlow's mind but the squeal of rubber outside and the cold blue strobes of police lights sucked up all his attention. Two cars had pulled up, the officers climbing out as a police van skidded to a halt behind them. Marlow watched in dismay as armed cops leapt out, lethal snub-nosed rifles in hand.
Christ, they were fast…
“Do we have a deal?” asked Dan extending his hand.
Marlow hated herself, but hated the kid more. She had no other choice than to shake Dan's hand. Her voice cracked as he spoke. “Deal.”
“This is the police! Marlow Cornelius, we know you're in there with the boy - come out with your hands up or we will be forced to enter!”
Marlow's blood ran cold. “Whatever you're gonna tell them, now's your chance.” Dan said nothing. “Kid, don’t screw around.”
Marlow switched her gaze from the cops to the boy. Her heart sank. Dan was slumped on the table, head cradled across his arms; fast asleep.
“Okay, Cornelius. We're coming in. Five...”
Marlow felt every eye in the diner on her at the same time people sank beneath their tables, eager to avoid being caught in any crossfire.
“...Four...”
Marlow stood. She knew it was futile to put up any form of defence - especially since she was innocent. She had done nothing except agree to help the kid's annoying Grandpa.
“...Three...”
Counter-thoughts raced through her mind. Whatever she said to the authorities would sound like delirious ramblings. She had no choice but to run. Her eyes swept from the front entrance, where police strobes blinded her, to the kitchen door. No doubt the cops would have people positioned out back.
The lights in the diner suddenly flickered - then extinguished. Marlow had watched enough films to know the police would cut the power before storming the building.
