by Gareth Otton
Tad avoided looking down, not just because the sight was horrifying, but to escape the rage that had been building all night.
After first arriving on the scene of the nightmare, it didn’t take him long to recognise what no one else had spotted. There were dead bodies everywhere, including the fledgling recruits to the Dream Team, but Tad’s attention was on the open church door and the remains of the melted dreamcatcher.
It didn’t take a genius to guess what happened. The fire of his rage that had been burning since Kuruk’s attack on his home flared into an inferno.
Furious, he needed to vent his anger, so he turned his attention on the nightmares. In that moment he saw one chasing down a woman who was crawling away, sobbing as she used her body to shelter her terrified daughter. The girl couldn’t have been more than four years old and should never have had to wear a look like that on her face.
Instinct made him want to fire a beam of light through the creature’s head, but it was not the only nightmare. Miles had filled him in with the details from the nine-nine-nine calls and from other members of the Dream Team who were trying to deal with this. Killing one simply wasn’t enough.
Fuelled by his anger, an idea struck. It wasn’t something he had tried before and would take a lot out of him, but the three ghosts inside him had furious fires of their own, and when he asked for their strength, they happily obliged.
Carrying the same gear as the tactical units, he had access to a small but powerful torch secured in one of the pockets of his trousers. He fished it out and activated it, then with a touch of Dream to augment his strength, hurled it as high as he could. It spun end over end, higher and higher, until it was barely a pinprick of light against the darkness of the sky. Then Tad pulled on the strength of his ghosts and called Dream in abundance. Energy rushed through him like he had opened the door into his mind onto a raging river, but he didn’t take even a second to enjoy it. He channelled all that energy into that torch high above his head, and for two seconds he brought the sun back to this part of Wales.
This was brighter than daylight and for those two seconds there was not a shadow to be found in the entire village where the nightmares could take refuge. The light washed them away in an instant, destroying them and sending their energies back to Dream.
Even with the ghosts inside him it was a bit too much for Tad and he fell to his knees as agony consumed him and his vision blacked out. However, with three ghosts his recovery time was incredible, and soon his eyes readjusted to the darkness.
The first thing he saw was Growler looking at him with a grumpy expression. He was standing over the woman and child, and Tad guessed he must have rushed there as soon as he saw the nightmare chasing them. Judging by his expression, Tad dealt with it before Growler had chance to intercede like he wanted.
Half an hour later in the waiting room of the hospital with the latest victim of this tragedy in his hands, he felt his anger building again, but he didn’t have an outlet for it this time. Therefore, when the double doors beside the reception banged open and a doctor rushed out with a much smaller person one step behind him, Tad tensed up and reached for Dream, instantly ready to fight.
Then he blinked in surprise, too stunned to even move as his mind struggled to understand what he was seeing. The shock only lasted seconds before his rage doubled as he stalked forward with the dying man in his arms.
“What is she doing here?” Tad snapped at Dr Burman, his voice barely more than a growl. Dr Burman backed off, hands raised like he was warding away an angry animal. The little figure behind him, however, was not so easily cowed into submission.
“I’m helping, dad. Leave Dr B alone, this was my idea.”
Jen was dressed in a set of hospital scrubs, a mask covered her face and her copper curls were tucked away under an ugly blue surgeon’s hat. All Tad could see of her were the freckles over the upper parts of her nose and cheeks, and her eyes, which were glaring hard at him.
“It’s his job to stop you from doing anything this stupid, though,” Tad said, turning back to the doctor. “What were you thinking bringing her into this?”
“I was thinking she could help save lives, like that of the man you’re holding in your arms,” the doctor said, regaining his nerve as he analysed the patient. “Follow me. You can vent some more while we get him somewhere where we can help him.”
He took a step back and held the door open for Tad while Jen took the other door, still glaring. That glare robbed some of his anger, as did the needs of the old man in his arms. Tad swallowed down his desire to fight and stepped through the door.
“She’s too young,” he repeated lamely as they rushed down the corridor beyond, dodging nurses and emergency beds that had been set up in the hallway.
“I’m thirteen, dad,” Jen protested, her aura flaring red with anger.
“And that’s too young. You promised she wouldn’t be exposed to anything like this when we agreed to let Jen work with you,” Tad accused the doctor. “She has already seen enough to fuel her nightmares for the rest of her life, she doesn’t need more.”
“Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Jen all but screamed, her hands clenched into fists at her side. “This was my decision. I can help. You can’t stop me.”
Tad’s memory flashed back to the countless times she had said something like that before. She said it before she merged with Maggie. She said it before she helped with the dragon nightmares. When she was living with him and at her worst, she had said it a million times more. Annoyingly, ninety percent of the time she was right. When she got like this, she became a force to be reckoned with. A smarter part of his mind understood this and had already given in the fight. That part of the brain wasn’t leading the way right now.
“She’s too young to be here, and you promised you would keep her safe and look out for her best interests. I trusted you,” he snapped at Dr Burman, ignoring Jen in favour of an opponent he could deal with.
However, here he was out of luck as the doctor had found a bed for the patient and his nerve along with it. He directed Tad to lay the man down on the bed while he started checking the patient, all the while answering Tad’s concerns.
“I am not a dreamwalker, Mr Holcroft. I have no ability to stop her doing anything without putting a bracelet on her arm like the kind her last guardian used. Being as I refuse to shackle her like that, what choice did I have but to bring her with me and guide her instead? At the moment she is my assistant, learning along the way and helping where she can. I don’t have her using her gift all the time because I know how much it takes out of her and we need to use it sparingly. She’s only helping with the worst cases... Cases like this poor man.”
He looked up from his examination, and the eyes that met Tad’s were cold.
“I assure you, I am looking out for her as best I can. But tonight alone she has saved at least ten lives that would have died were she not here. I will not apologise for that.”
Despite himself, Tad’s anger was slipping, and he was beginning to feel foolish. But the part of him that was still trying to hold on to the high ground let slip one last remark.
“There will always be another life to save. There are seven billion people in this world, thousands of whom die every minute. If you put the weight of the deaths of everyone she could save on her head, then she will never leave the hospital and she will work herself into an early grave.”
“Which is why we are trying to figure out what she can do and replicate it. But I think you will agree that this right now is an extreme circumstance. Extreme circumstances call for extreme measures.”
Tad looked around to make sure he wasn’t overheard and then whispered, “This is the start of a war, doctor. This might seem extreme now, but it might also be the new normal for a while. My worries are more relevant than you think.”
The doctor’s shock robbed him of the ability to speak. However, it took more than shock to keep Jen quiet.
“I could say the s
ame about you. You’re going to be out there every night, trying to save as many people as you can, aren’t you?”
“That’s different, there are other dreamwalkers who can take over for me when I’m not there, not to mention people with dreamcatchers.”
Jen snorted to tell him what she thought of that excuse, and while she had no more words, it was enough time to let Dr Burman recover from his surprise.
“I will look after her, Tad. That is what I promised, and that is what I will do. As you know, I can’t stop Jen, so we have struck a bargain. She will help, but she has to agree to do what I say. That means she is honest with me about how tired she is and she stops when I stop, if not sooner. If I say she needs a break, she has to take one. If she doesn’t agree to this, then she is on her own, and while I might not be able to stop her, I can stop helping her, and she knows more people will die that way.”
“I just... It’s just... You shouldn’t have to be doing this, Jen. You should be thinking about school and about—”
“I want to do this,” Jen interrupted.
“And we’re out of time to have this discussion. This man needs to see the inside of an operating room.” Dr Burman said. “So, are you going to keep getting in the way, or are you going to let us work?”
Tad glared at the doctor for only a moment, but then his anger faded and he sighed in defeat.
“Fine. She can stay. But I’m holding you responsible for this. Don’t let her take all this onto herself. She deserves better than that.”
“She does,” the doctor agreed, and then as soon as Tad stepped aside, he and Jen wheeled the injured man out of the room and deeper into the hospital.
Tad watched them go and shook his head. Part of him wanted to be proud of Jen for fighting so hard to do what she thought was right, but he just couldn’t shake the feeling that she was too young and it would have a detrimental effect on her.
But the doctor was right, he couldn’t stop her, and history had told Tad the same thing. He had to settle for being the father of a girl whose acts of rebellion were saving lives. It could have been a lot worse... and for many families tonight, it was a lot worse.
Thinking of those families reminded him that there was still work to do. Turning his mind away from the argument he had with the doctor, he thought of Todmoryn, and changed the channel.
13
Sunday, 25th December 2016
01:32
Even with his ghosts, Tad was exhausted.
He’d ferried thirty people to the hospital, fixed as much damage as he could to the church, and helped Mitena install dreamcatchers so this could never happen again.
Swaying on the spot, he realised he hadn’t slept in a long time. Unlike Stella, he knew he couldn’t survive that way. Thoughts of a bed left him wondering just where his bed might be right now. Stella had set up a safe house for them somewhere, but in all the excitement of the day he never thought to find out where that was.
Therefore, what he hoped would be his last channel change of the day took him not to a home, but to the centre of the chaos; the DTHQ.
He appeared in the garage, making nearby people jump at his sudden arrival. He waved to the Dream Team members guarding the entrance, and they lowered their guns, then he ignored the awed looks of the newer members of the team and he made his way deeper into the building.
Even this late at night, the place was a hive of activity. Over the last month they had grown the Dream Team as much as they could in so short a time. Seeing what happened tonight, Tad feared it wouldn’t be enough.
Despite the troubling thoughts, he forced himself to smile and nod at people who greeted him, but wrapped in a haze of exhaustion he may have ignored some people without realising it. Growler made up for any rudeness on his part as he had a tail wag and a cheerful expression for everyone, accepting being petted by most people along the way and loving the attention.
Tad’s feet were on an automatic path for Stella’s office and he would have walked straight in without thinking had Growler not nudged the back of his leg to get his attention. Looking down at his dog, he found Growler already moving on past Stella’s office and wanting Tad to follow. Trusting the dog, he didn’t hesitate, and they carried on down the corridor until they reached Miles’ office.
Once again Tad was overwhelmed by blinking LEDs, tangled wires and ultrawide monitors, so it took him a second to realise that both Miles and Stella were seated at his desk, staring at a monitor that was covered in little windows that each showed a video feed. The footage was shaky and hard to make out, but when Tad saw a familiar face on one monitor, his weariness vanished in a second and he growled a single word.
“Kuruk.”
Stella and Miles jumped, both of them so engrossed in their work they hadn’t heard him approach. Freckles, however, was ready and waiting and didn’t care about Tad’s mood, he wanted his fuss in greeting. The big dog jumped up and he was tall enough now that his paws landed on Tad’s chest, putting his head high enough that he could lick Tad’s face in greeting. Despite himself, Tad choked out a laugh.
Stella received similar treatment from Growler, and only her impressive strength kept the big dog from swamping her. After struggling to get anywhere with Stella, Growler turned his attention on Miles, and the big geek didn’t have the strength to fend him off. Between his giggles, there were what sounded like genuine shouts for help, but Tad ignored them and focused on the screens.
Surprisingly, he didn’t feel the surge of anger he had a moment ago. The dogs had interrupted that thought process, and his thoughts were clear once more.
“What are you looking at?” he asked.
“Footage from the body cams,” Stella said, her distaste clear in her voice. “Our guys didn’t stand a chance.”
“They walked into a trap,” Tad agreed. “There are melted dreamcatchers all over that village. For some reason Kuruk singled that place out. There were...” His voice broke as he struggled with the thought. “There were kids there, Stella. It was a Christingle service for God’s sake. How can anyone do that?”
Stella grabbed his hand and squeezed in sympathy.
“I know, it’s horrendous. But we think we know why this happened,” she said.
She released his hand so she could grab Growler by the scruff of the neck and drag him off the technician, whose face was now glistening with saliva.
“Miles, show Tad that clip we found.”
Miles hesitated long enough to wipe his face and glare at Growler in mock anger before doing as Stella suggested. A new window opened with a preloaded clip. It was from a strange angle as it was being filmed from the floor, the footage coming from one of the recently murdered Dream Team members.
Tad watched as someone was fleeing the church, only to be stopped by Kuruk. None of them could look away from the screen as the poor man was lifted from his feet as Kuruk passed on a message he wanted to share with the world.
“This was all just to send a message?” Tad asked, horrified.
“No, this was to make people scared,” Stella disagreed. “They’re using the tactics terrorists have used forever. Make the consequences of doing something so severe that just the thought of doing it fills you with fear. In this case they’re trying to make people afraid to support anything Dream related.”
“As if we don’t have enough to deal with already. We can’t let this clip get out. People can’t know about this.”
“Obviously we’re not sharing this,” Stella said, but then she shot a glance at Miles that made the technician flinch. “But we’re already too late to stop the message getting out.”
Tad’s tired mind wasn’t working at one hundred percent, but it didn’t take long to figure things out.
“Oh, Lizzie. What have you done?” Looking at Miles, Tad asked, “You told her about this?”
“No,” Stella answered for him. “He did something worse. He brought her here.”
“She dropped me off,” Miles protested. “I never brought h
er inside.”
“Then how did she find out what was happening?” Tad asked.
“Because the Prime Minister was careless about a little chat he was having with Ryan. Apparently he didn’t want us overhearing him, so he went to a blind spot for our cameras. In the process he got overheard by the biggest loudmouth on the planet.”
“What does she know?” Tad asked, dreading where this was headed.
“Too much,” Stella said. “And if that wasn’t bad enough, she turned up at the village and spoke to the guy in that clip. She’s already got it edited and published. If I wasn’t so angry I’d be impressed with how quick she works.”
“She’s told the public about the war?” Tad asked, wincing at the thought of what people might do with that knowledge.
“No, but it’s only a matter of time. She’s probably just looking for the right angle to come at this. Norman is with her now trying to talk her down.”
“I’m sure that’s going well,” Tad deadpanned.
Stella snorted to show what she thought about that, and Tad sighed. It looked like his night wasn’t over after all.
“I better go see if I can help. She won’t listen to Norman on this.”
“You think she’ll listen to you?” Stella demanded, like she had more hope that Tad could teach pigs to fly.
“Maybe I should go too,” Miles tried.
“You’ve done enough,” Stella snapped. “And you’re needed here. Tad, when was the last time you slept? You look exhausted. Go get some sleep.”
Tad smiled at her obvious concern, but shook his head.
“This won’t take long,” he argued. “I’ll be right back.”
Without giving her chance to speak further, he dreamwalked to Lizzie’s studio.
Once again he arrived to find guns pointed at him as people jumped at his sudden appearance. The Prime Minister’s guards had dreamcatchers of their own and were trained for the sudden appearance of dreamwalkers. However, thankfully they weren’t trigger happy, so Tad could wave them off.