by Sean Platt
“Nothing,” it said. “I’ve taken everything I need already. The only thing I want now is to give something back to you.”
“You don’t want to give me anything.”
“Oh, that’s not true,” the voice soothed, flowing through her and making her feel almost ... good. “I’ve taken so much, now I long to ease your pain.”
“By taking my memories until there’s nothing left of me?” Paola shook her head. “No thanks. Tell me how to get my memories back and how to leave. You’re inside me, that means I know what you do, and you have to tell me.”
Something screeched inside the walls.
“You can leave whenever you want,” it hissed. “I’m not holding you here.”
“Yes, you are.”
The door where she’d entered disappeared, and a new one opened on the other side of the room, slowly widening to Oz-colored meadows. “See,” the voice said. “What are you waiting for?”
Paola looked out the window then shook her head.
The voice started to rumble as the walls began to shake and the red light within them grew brighter, hotter.
She closed her eyes and started slowly rocking back and forth, chanting to herself to keep the voice’s long strings of nasty words away.
“LEAVE!” the voice thundered.
Thick smoke smoldered through the room. It was what was left of the creature.
Paola smiled. Its anger was making her stronger.
The Oz-colored meadows outside flickered with ash, then turned warm again.
“Looks like your lie is wearing off,” she said.
The voice bellowed. “I’ll kill everyone left in the world, starting with your mother.” The black smoke swirled through the room, then added, “Then I will find your father.”
Something collapsed inside Paola. The evil had found her single biggest, creeping fear. She tried to keep the whimper inside, but lost it anyway.
The voice went still, and every inch of her world was quickly turning to black, the red walls of the castle now cold and dark. Wind howled through the room, wet and so cold.
She squeezed her eyes shut, bit her lip, and started murmuring.
You’re not here. You left because you’re an empty disease, and I was too good for you. You can’t hurt my mother, and you can’t hurt my father. You want me to leave because then you can take over.
“But I won’t let you,” she said, standing up and opening her eyes as the smoke swirled, gathering strength from the wind, growing thicker, and louder.
“Gooooooooooooooo!” it shouted, its voice an almost mechanical echo.
“You go!” she yelled, “YOU GO!”
The clouds above met the swirling smoke around her, spiraling into a funnel cloud of chaos that picked her up and lifted her toward the unseen ceiling. Scraps of memories slammed into her from all sides, coming and going so fast they blurred into one another, causing her to cry, fear, panic, rage, and scream all at once.
I won’t go.
She lifted higher, her body now spinning in the outer band of the swirling cloud, like Dorothy caught in the tornado.
She closed her eyes and thought of her parents, struggling to hold onto good memories as bad ones continued to assail her from all sides. Each time they hit her, they ripped into her body, piercing it like knives.
I won’t go.
Something slammed into her, and she felt her body fly higher and higher, fear coursing through her, certain she was going to hit the ceiling. But she kept flying upward, caught in the tide.
I won’t go.
And then, like that, she was in free fall through the clouds, the dark smoke gone. She closed her eyes, praying she wouldn’t plummet to the Earth, only to die. Before she fell, though, she passed out.
When she woke, she was back in Oz, under blue skies and a warm sun. She was still in the dream, but reality seemed closer than ever. She ran as fast as she could through the daisy-covered meadow to find a boy her age, or slightly older, swinging on a swing set in the middle of a clearing.
He slowed to a stop. “Would you like to swing with me?” he said pointing to the empty seat next to him. “I’ve been saving this one for you.”
Forty-Six
Luca Harding
This doesn’t feel like I thought it would. It’s like swimming, except it’s air and not water, and everything is clear instead of blurry. It’s like swimming through the sky with special goggles.
Everything faded to white, and Luca found himself walking through a large meadow with a tall, wooden swing a hundred or so feet in front of him. Two empty seats were there. Luca chose the one on the left and started to swing, saving the other for Paola.
He could see her not too far off, stuck in the shadows with that thing that hid in the terrible scary and made all the good dreams go bad.
Once she knows I’m out here she’ll want to come and join me.
Luca knew it with certainty, so he wasn’t at all surprised when Paola managed to make the bad disappear, then stepped outside and into their shared sun. She saw Luca, then crossed the meadow, and stood beside the empty swing as he slowed to a stop.
“Would you like to swing with me?” he said. “I’ve been saving this one for you.”
She said yes, then sat and started to pump her legs back and forth.
Up and down ... up and down ... up and down.
Luca swung, too.
Up and down ... up and down ... up and down.
They were quiet for a while until Paola finally broke the silence.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Coming to help me.”
“I’m not really sure what I did.”
“Me either, but everything looks so pretty now.”
Back and forth ... back and forth ... back and forth.
Back and forth ... back and forth ... back and forth.
“Do you know what happened?”
Luca shook his head. “Even Will doesn’t know.”
“Who is Will?”
“My friend. He’s the one who brought me here. He’s been dreaming about you and your mom, just like me.”
“Do you know what’s supposed to happen now?”
Luca shook his head again.
“Do you know how we get home?”
“I’m not sure, but I think we can probably go whenever we really want to.”
“Do you want to?”
“Not yet,” Luca said.
“Me neither. I miss my mom, but everything here is so ... calm.”
“Yeah.”
Back and forth ... back and forth ... back and forth.
Back and forth ... back and forth ... back and forth.
The Indian was leaning against a tall Jacaranda tree, like the kind across the street from Luca’s house in Las Orillas. The fallen blossoms painted purple on the ground around him as the Indian looked into the sky and smoked his giant, plastic pipe.
“Do you see the Indian over there?” Paola asked.
Luca laughed, “Yes, he’s my friend. He’s actually my dog.”
Paola didn’t seem surprised. “What’s his name?” she asked. “The dog, not the Indian.”
“I call him Dog Vader, but he doesn’t really like that very much. So I call him Kick, but only out loud. And most time, I forget, and call him Dog Vader.”
Paola laughed, and Luca joined her, then they fell into quiet together.
They swung in silence. They had no way to count minutes in a place that didn’t have any hours, but they swung back and forth and up and down until Paola finally flew from the top of her swing and landed with both feet in the soft, flowing grass.
“Okay,” she said. “I’m ready.”
Luca slowed to a stop, then joined Paola. He took her hand, because it seemed like the right thing to do, then they walked toward the rainbow together.
The rainbow was both near and far. They took only a few steps then the colors scattered into darkness. They found themselves blinking aw
ake beneath the dim light of the hotel lobby.
“Mom!” Paola yelled.
Her mom was sobbing. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”
Everyone seemed happy, but Luca felt another feeling in the room as well.
They’re staring at me, and they’re scared. They’re looking at me, but their thoughts are the same as if they were looking into the terrible scary.
Luca noticed that his clothes were all torn, including his shoes.
Will’s hand was on Luca’s shoulder. He dropped to his knee and whispered, “Come with me,” then led Luca across the room to a pair of full-length mirrors on the other side.
Luca stared at his reflection.
He was him, but not like he remembered.
He was now slightly taller than Paola, with a full head of hair that fell just past his shoulders. The face staring back at him was at least a good five years older, and looked remarkably like his father’s.
Forty-Seven
Teagan McLachlan
Teagan stayed hidden in the stairwell as Ed negotiated with the emo-looking guy with the bat. When the guy swore that he didn’t mean any harm, Teagan cringed, praying Ed wouldn’t shoot first and ask questions later as he’d been doing since they met.
When she heard the bat hit the ground, relief washed over her. She was fairly sure Ed wouldn’t shoot an unarmed guy. If he had, she might have lost it right there and taken off, as far and as fast as she could.
She was grateful to Ed for helping her and possibly saving her life twice, but that nagging part in her brain was still reminding her that not once had he waited to find out if the people he killed were friend or foe. Shoot first, ask questions later. Except when people were dead, there wasn’t a lot they could answer to.
Had the men in the gas station posed an actual threat to them? Maybe they were just people looking for answers, like them. And who was to say the helicopter wasn’t from the government looking to help?
When Ed started talking rather than shooting, Teagan found her breath again. Perhaps they’d found someone else after all. Someone they could work with to figure out what was going on, or maybe find others who were still here.
When Teagan heard Jade, she emerged from the stairwell.
Ed’s daughter looked like she was in her early 20s, with auburn hair and green eyes like her. If Jade’s hair had been long instead of a short pixie cut, she could have easily passed for Teagan’s slightly older sister. Their resemblance was uncanny, which made Ed finding Teagan, a girl who looked so much like his daughter, after the rest of the world vanished, a most odd coincidence.
Yet, there they were, all breathing just a few feet apart.
Jade ran to her father and threw her arms around him. Ed held tight like he’d not seen her in forever, and maybe never would again. As the two embraced, Teagan felt a longing for her own father. Not the man she’d come to know, but the one who’d once been a kind, doting daddy, not yet reduced to shreds by life’s slings and arrows. He hadn’t been that man in a long time, so Teagan was only missing a ghost of a ghost. A good feeling, once remembered.
As the two hugged, Jade’s eyes opened, then found Teagan, making her feel like the biggest third wheel ever in the history of ever.
Jade looked confused. She pulled away from her dad, and walked toward Teagan with a smile, “Hi, my name is Jade,” she said with a confidence that surprised Teagan, though it shouldn’t have, given how direct and confident Ed was.
“I’m Teagan,” she said, shaking the girl’s hand.
“I ran into her on the road. Her parents vanished right in front of her while they were driving home,” Ed said, almost apologetically. “She didn’t have anyone else.”
It was then Jade noticed Teagan’s swollen belly.
“Oh,” Jade said, “How far along are you?”
“Five months,” she said, her hands instinctively massaging her baby’s home.
“Do you know the sex yet?”
“I didn’t want to know. Wanted it to be a surprise. Didn’t expect this sorta surprise, though,” she said, shrugging her shoulders at the missing world.
“This is Ken,” she said, introducing the guy with the bat, who looked like a college student, too. A good-looking, emo-artsy-coffee house type.
“Hi,” she said, shaking Ken’s hand.
“Did you hear from your mother?” Ed asked.
“No, I called when the phones were still working. But no answer. I was gonna go to her house, but then we saw the things.”
“What things?” Ed asked.
“Whatever they are,” Ken said, “They’re nothing like I’ve ever seen.”
Ken looked frightened, as if he’d seen a ghost, monster, or something else unimaginable. Ed looked like he was about to make a joke, but then swallowed it, perhaps not knowing the relationship between Jade and Ken.
“Come here,” Ken said, “I’ll show you what I’m talking about. Do you mind?” he asked, pointing to his bat.
Ed’s foot found the handle, pushed against it, propped it up, grabbed the business end, then handed it to Ken in one quick movement. Teagan wasn’t sure if that was Ed showing his alpha dog status as dads tended to do with guys who dared to date their daughters, or if it was just Ed being the all-business, all-bad ass, all the time that he was. Teagan was surprised to find herself laughing inside.
Pity the poor guy who wants to date Jade.
They went into Apartment 410, which technically didn’t belong to Ken. He had been staying with a friend the night everyone vanished. When Ken said friend, and mentioned the friend was a guy, with a look in his eye and a momentary pause, Teagan figured maybe Ed had nothing to worry about concerning Ken and Jade.
Room 410 crackled with a blast of static coming from a battery-operated baby monitor.
“The other one’s downstairs,” Ken said. “That’s how we knew you were downstairs. We heard you in the hallway, and I waited with the bat, just in case.”
“In case what?” Teagan asked, surprising herself with the question.
“You were one of the monsters.”
Ed laughed.
“You didn’t see any when you were driving up? They’ve been outside since yesterday,” Ken asked.
“Monsters?” Ed said, “No, I can’t say we saw any ‘monsters’ on the way in.”
“No, I’m serious,” Ken said, “Take a look.”
Ken led them to the window, then pulled the shades aside three inches, raised a pair of binoculars to his eyes, looked outside, then handed the binoculars to Ed.
“There, in front of the building across the street.”
Ed took the binoculars, adjusted the focus on top, then froze.
It took him a while to find his voice. When he did, he said, “What the hell are those?”
“Monsters,” Jade said. “They killed a girl who left the complex last night.”
Teagan couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’re saying monsters killed someone?”
“Tore her to shreds,” Ken said, eyes dead serious.
“Lemme see,” Teagan said, joining Ed at the window.
Ed ignored her at first, not wanting to take his eyes off whatever was in his sights.
“Lemme see,” Teagan pleaded.
Ed turned to her, then shook his head, “I don’t think you should see this.”
She grabbed the binoculars from his hands and raised them to her eyes, focused, and saw the walking nightmares for herself. She was suddenly confused, and dizzy, as if the world were sliding out from under her.
The air gained weight and pushed her to the floor.
When she came to, Teagan was in a bed, daylight bleeding through thick, black curtains.
“Where am I?” she asked, head pounding. Her hands found her baby, and for a terrifying moment, she thought she couldn’t feel anything inside her. Then it kicked, as if to answer her fears, and Teagan found herself crying, then cursing herself for being so emotional.
“You okay?” a voice be
side her said.
Jade was lying next to her. “You fainted. But Dad said you’d be okay. I said I’d stay with you.”
Jade handed her a bottle of water.
Teagan was surprisingly thirsty. And hungry. “Thank you,” she said, gulping half the bottle. “Where is everyone?”
“Dad and Ken went to search the other rooms for more weapons, though I’m not sure if they’ll find any.”
“Why are they getting weapons?” Teagan asked.
“My dad said we’re gonna need all the weapons we can find to protect ourselves.”
“Yeah, that sounds like your dad,” Teagan said smiling.
“What do you mean?” Jade asked, face suddenly serious.
“Well, you know how your dad is, all that secret agent stuff.” Teagan said, waiting for Jade’s muscles to relax. Instead, her cheeks tightened.
“What did my dad tell you?”
Teagan was afraid she’d said too much.
What if Ed is so secret an agent that not even his own family knows what he does for a living?
Teagan was sure Ed said that his family knew what he did. Right? No, she wasn’t certain. But she was mortified that she might have dropped a ball that would destroy an already fractured relationship between Ed and his daughter.
“He didn’t tell me much, just that he worked for the government.” Teagan considered saying he was also an ace with a gun and had taken down two men and a helicopter, but decided to keep her big mouth shut.
“Listen,” Jade said, “I don’t know what my dad told you, or what you think you know about him, but he’s not some government agent, a spy, or cop, or whatever crazy thing he told you.”
“What do you mean?” Teagan said, “He told me you two never saw each other because he was always on the road working for the government.”
“On ‘the road,’” Jade said, with a bitter laugh, “That’s cute. I guess that’s what he’s calling it when he’s on the run from the law, ‘on the road.’ My dad isn’t what he says he is, or who you think he is. He’s been on the run for four years for murder. The reason we didn’t see each other was because he was locked in a mental institution until he broke out a few months ago.”
