by Jerry Hart
Chapter 3: Job Offer
I didn’t sleep well that night, not so much because of the tornadoes but because of what Dr. Harris—Shae—said earlier. She’d tried to tell me something important but I couldn’t figure out what. I would ask when I got the information about the new job from her.
In the meantime, I dreamed about the tornado. I was caught in its funnel, though my feet were still firmly on the ground. Even though I’d been inside a real tornado earlier that day I didn’t remember the experience at all.
I doubt it was anything like this, though.
Through the dark cloud I could see a giant, terrifying face. I couldn’t make it out exactly but I saw enough to scare the hell out of me. It was long, pale, mean. The tornado itself was not loud like the real one, and that was how I heard the voice beyond the funnel.
Take me there, the face said.
“Where?” I asked. Even though this was a dream I just had to know the answer.
Dargo, it said.
Dargo? I’d never heard of it and wasn’t sure if it was even a real place. “I promise!” I said. If it would get me out of this dream, I would promise anything.
The face became more pronounced, as if it were getting closer.
“Who are you?” I asked.
Take me to her, it said, ignoring my question.
“Take you to who?”
The face backed away from the funnel and vanished. The roar of the tornado grew by the second and then I woke up. My nose was bleeding.
* * *
I was in the kitchen a few minutes later, making coffee. One thing I pride myself on is not drinking coffee. I don’t hate the stuff; I just don’t like the taste. For some reason, I wanted a cup now. I feared falling asleep again. It was six in the morning. All the broken windows were boarded up, but I could see the early morning light through the front door’s window.
Someone was standing just outside the door.
I jumped in shock once I realized I was looking at someone’s silhouette. I stepped over the spilled coffee and figured out who my visitor was before I saw them fully.
“Good morning,” Shae said after I invited her in.
“If you say so.” My heart was still hammering in my chest.
I escorted her to the kitchen and offered her coffee. She drank her cup while I cleaned up my mess.
“How did you sleep last night?” she asked.
I looked up at her. “Not well. Why?”
“I didn’t sleep well either.”
I nodded as I threw away the soaked paper towel. “What did you dream about?”
She looked off into the distance again, the way she did yesterday. She must get easily distracted. “I dreamed about an old flame,” she finally said.
“I wish I had that same problem.”
“Why do you say that?” she asked as she looked at me.
I shrugged. “I’ve never had a flame.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Really? Not even one girlfriend?”
“Nope.”
“Why not? You’re a handsome young man. You should be batting girls away with a stick.”
“Thank you.” I turned toward the sink to wash out my cup. I could tell I was turning red. “No such luck, though.”
We stood in silence for a moment. I couldn’t think of anything more to say and Shae merely grinned at me.
Finally she said, “Oh, I asked my friend about the job. Good news: they’re hiring.”
I brightened. “Great. Should I call someone or go there or something?”
“They don’t have access to outside lines,” she replied in a way that made me nervous. “I can tell you how to get there. It doesn’t take long.”
“I hope not. My truck sucks.”
“You don’t have to worry about driving all the way there. The community is on an island.”
“Say what!” I blurted out before I could stop myself. We were nowhere near the coast.
“I knew you would react that way,” she laughed. “You actually take a really neat rail train to the island.”
“Where is this island?”
“Nearby.”
I shook my head. I hated vague answers. “Okay. I guess I’ll trust you. Does this island have a name?” I poured another cup of coffee.
She looked up at the ceiling. “It’s called Dargo.”
I dropped my cup and it shattered on the floor.
“What the hell is going on out here?” Christy asked as she walked from her room.
“Sorry. Coffee slipped from my hand.” I was already cleaning up before I finished my sentence.
Christy suddenly noticed our guest. “Hey, Shae.”
“Christy. Did little Jack enjoy the tornadoes yesterday?” She pointed to my roommate’s belly.
“He just stopped kicking an hour ago.”
We laughed.
“How are things with Barry?” Shae asked.
“Well, he was worried after what happened yesterday. We talked on the phone for a while and we’re going to meet for lunch later. I’m hopeful.”
“That’s great,” Shae and I said together.
“I know!” Christy shouted, noticeably happy. “I should probably start getting ready for stupid work.” She left Shae and me alone again.
I turned to Shae. “You said the island is called Dargo?”
“Yes. Does that mean something to you?”
I could tell she already suspected the answer to that. “I had a dream about it.”
“Really?”
“You’re not surprised. What is going on?”
“Nothing’s going on.”
I shook my head. “I just happened to dream about a place I hadn’t heard of.”
“You did hear about it; I told you the name of the place yesterday.”
I wanted to argue against that but took a moment to consider the possibility. I seriously doubted she’d mentioned the name before today. “In the dream, a face told me to take him to Dargo.”
“A face?” she asked, skeptical.
I told her about the dream, about being inside a tornado. After I finished, Shae no longer looked skeptical; she looked frightened. “Maybe you shouldn’t go there after all,” she said, laughing nervously. “It could be a bad omen.”
“You said you had a bad night, too,” I reminded her, ignoring her last comment. “What did you dream about?”
“Just that I was being chased by a bunch of tornadoes and floods and earthquakes.”
“Oh. Yeah, that does sound bad.” I scratched my chin, thinking. “I guess you did tell me the name of the island before. That explains a lot. My imagination must’ve taken over.”
“That sounds plausible.”
I laughed. “Do you really think I’ll get the job?”
“I sure hope so.”
I smiled, but then I remembered what she’d said before. “Wait, did you say I shouldn’t go after all?”
She smiled and waved my question away. “Forget I said that. You’ll do great.”
Chapter 4: Dargo Island
Around noon, Shae drove me to a rail station in Dallas but told me she couldn’t go to Dargo with me—she had an “appointment.” I stepped onto the rail and was repulsed by how filthy it was. Old newspapers and fast-food bags covered the empty seats. Would I really have to ride this thing every day for work?
I picked a relatively clean spot and looked at a large rectangular key chain Shae had given me on the way here. It was from the island, she said, and looked to be made of copper. It smelled like a giant penny and was incredibly annoying to carry around, but she said I should have it with me every time I journeyed to the island.
There were only two other passengers, sitting far apart. One was asleep and looked homeless; the other was an old man dressed in a suit that looked like it was made out of tiny shards of glass. I tried not to make eye contact.
The rail started moving a few minutes after I sat down, heading through Dallas. I got bored watching the city pass by and eventually closed my eyes.
I opened them some time later and gasped at what I saw out the window.
I was surrounded by water!
I pressed my hands and face against the window, as if that would help me see everything. I couldn’t see directly beneath the rail, but I assumed we were still on a track. What I couldn’t see was what held the track up. I couldn’t imagine columns rising from the ocean to support us.
I must have been dreaming. Right?
Despite the fact I knew I was going to an island before I even got on the rail, I still wasn’t prepared for this. I looked to one of the other passengers and said, “Are we really going to an island?”
The man, dressed in the glass suit, looked at me and smiled. “That’s what they tell me.”
“Why are you going to Dargo?”
“I live there. Why are you?”
“I’m getting a job there.”
“Oh. I guess you’ll be working for me, then. We only have one job, and that’s security for the community.”
“Yes, sir.” I smiled. I felt like I already had the job, for some reason. “How are we crossing the ocean from Dallas? When did we leave the rail station?”
The man laughed. “Well, to answer your first question, there are parts of Texas not many people know about. As for the second question, we left the station five minutes ago.”
“Five minutes?”
The man laughed again. “My name is Rockne Stockwell. That sleeping fellow over there is Tack.”
He offered his hand and I shook it. “I’m Josh Debelko.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Josh.”
“You too, sir.”
“Please, call me Rockne.”
“Only if you call me Dr. Debelko.”
Rockne stared at me for a moment.
“That was a joke,” I said quickly. “You don’t know me well enough to know my sense of humor.”
Rockne suddenly burst into laughter. It was a pleasant, squeaky laugh. I liked it a lot.
“Well, Dr. Debelko, I think you’ll like the job. It’s easy. It’s a very...eclectic community, full of...colorful characters.”
The pauses made me curious, but I said nothing, only nodded. “I guess I’m lucky there’s an opening. I don’t have to meet the security company or anything?”
“You just did, and I think you’re perfect for the job. Though lucky is a strong word.”
I like to think I’m perceptive, and I didn’t that last statement. “Did something happen to the other guy?”
Rockne looked away, taking in the sun through the tinted window. “He vanished,” the kind old man said.
“Oh.”
Rockne noticed my key chain in my hand. “Where did you get that?” he asked.
I held it up. “My friend, Shae, gave it to me today. She’s the one who told me about this job.”
“Shae Harris? I know her; sweet lady. Keep that key chain on you at all times while traveling to and from the island.”
“She told me the same thing. Is it important or something?”
He looked over his shoulder again, at the ocean this time. “Yes, Dr. Debelko. It’s very important. If she felt the need to give it to you.”
“Do you have one?” I asked.
“No. I don’t need it. Just...newcomers.”
Despite the ominous warning, I was excited about this journey. I was traveling over the ocean in a rail train, in a part of Texas not many people knew about. I felt like I was in a dream. I didn’t quite know how I felt about having to leave my truck in a parking lot every day in order to take this rail to work, but I would worry about that later.
“What do you do for a living?” I asked Rockne.
“I don’t work. I simply walk around the city in this wonderful suit.”
“Why?”
He studied me. “Dargo is nice, but what’s nicer is getting away from that place once in a while.”
The rail continued on, and for the first time I realized how quiet it was. It had been noticeably loud when we left the station, like all machinery, but now it made no noise whatsoever.
“You can hear the ocean, though,” Rockne said suddenly.
“Are you a mind reader?” I asked.
Rockne shrugged. “This rail was made with very special material. You only hear the ocean if you want to. If not, you can drown it out. So to speak.”
I wasn’t sure how that was possible, but I decided to try. I simply focused on Rockne. “How long does it take to get to the island?” I asked him. I could still hear the water around us.
“Five minutes.”
“No way.” I looked out the window again, but saw nothing except ocean and sky. “How long have we been traveling now?”
“Five minutes.”
“It’s been longer than that. Hasn’t it?”
“I told you this rail is special.” He spread his hands and grinned. “Do you still hear the ocean?”
I listened but heard nothing. Nothing at all.
* * *
Some time later, the rail slowed down. I only noticed because the water didn’t pass as quickly as before. I almost fainted when the ocean suddenly ended in a large waterfall bigger than Niagara Falls. It stretched on forever on both sides of the rail. I braced myself, expecting a long, deadly fall.
It never came.
We continued on our way, seemingly riding on air. I suddenly heard the roar of the waterfall, as if someone had unmuted a TV.
“You can hear the waterfall because you’re focused on it!” Rockne shouted behind me.
I turned to him and he laughed at what I guessed was my astonished expression. I reached a point where I couldn’t believe any of this was real. It couldn’t be.
I focused on Rockne again to drown out the roar of the water. The sound slowly faded. I sat down, never taking my eyes off my travel companion. “Is this real?” I asked simply.
“Indeed. It’s all very real.”
The Edge of the World, as I would later come to call it, was half a mile past us now. The water fell into a hazy abyss. Moments later, we passed tropical plants. And then we stopped.
“We have arrived at Dargo,” Rockne announced.
* * *
I followed Rockne off the rail onto a platform that looked like it was made of crystal. I looked back the way we had come and could barely see the Edge from here. I couldn’t see the track at all.
“It’ll return when it’s needed,” Rockne said.
“Are you reading my mind?” I asked, completely numb.
“No. You’re just incredibly easy to read.” He pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket. “Your nose is bleeding.”
I didn’t doubt it; I was terrified. I took the kerchief and wiped my nose. “I can’t believe any of this is happening,” I said, breathless. My head pounded.
“You’ll come to believe in time. Shae must have seen something special in you if she sent you here.”
Rockne raised a good point: Why had Shae trusted me with this place? “I saved her from a tornado,” I said in a dull, dreamy voice. I was still getting acclimated to this new environment. My heart was racing, my nose gushing. I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes either.
“I think you should sit down, Dr. Debelko.” Rockne pointed to a bench. It looked uncomfortable but was anything but. “This is a secret place. Not many people know about it. You’re one of the special few, Josh. You’re a hero. You belong.”
Chapter 5: The Village
After I grew less dizzy and my nose stopped bleeding, Rockne helped me to my feet and took me to what looked like a sleek, futuristic golf cart. It was parked in a lot along with four others at the bottom of a winding path. The purple seats were a lot more comfortable than the bench.
Rockne drove us up a dirt path, passing a large grassy hill on the left. The sky was light blue with puffy white clouds. Staring at that sky helped me relax; I couldn’t believe what was happening, but I couldn’t go back now. I didn’t want to go back now.
“I think you’ll really like i
t here,” Rockne said after a few minutes of silent driving.
And I do mean silent. Like the rail, the cart was absolutely quiet. I could hear birds and the ocean in the distance.
“I’ll have to like it; I know about this secret place.” I gave him a sly look.
He chuckled. “Oh, we have ways of fixing that.”
“You mean, like, killing me?”
“Yes— no! Don’t be silly. You caught me off-guard with that question. We can erase your memory.”
“Is that what you do to people who quit the job?”
Rockne looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “No one has quit yet.”
I saw a look on his face I didn’t like. All the mirth vanished quickly and he seemed sad now. I was about to ask what was wrong when he rounded the hill and I saw what lay beyond.
* * *
We drove down a steep hill into a bowl valley filled with houses. Big houses. Not mansions, exactly, but really nice. Words failed me.
Rockne saw my expression. “It’s a great place to live.”
“You’d have to be pretty rich,” I said, envious.
“It’s not required. We have all kinds of crazy characters in here.”
“Like you?” I grinned.
“Walking around Dallas in a sparkly suit is hard work, my boy.”
“Not as hard as being a doctor.”
He laughed. Rockne seemed like a really nice guy and was helping me adjust to this craziness. I like to think I’m open-minded (due to my steady diet of horror, fantasy and science-fiction movies), and I was certain this wasn’t a dream.
“How do new people handle all of this?” I asked as we drove down the steep hill. I braced myself to keep from falling forward.
“Not as well as you, to be honest.”
“I can’t imagine anyone reacting worse than me. I didn’t think my nose would ever stop bleeding.”
“One guy died.”
That shut me up. “Died?” I finally managed to ask.
“Yep. Heart attack. He was older than me, though. I tried to get him to change his mind about coming before we even left the station in Dallas.”
I tried to say something but could think of nothing. From the way Rockne told the story, he sounded like he blamed himself. I touched the knot on the back of my head. Much like everyone on the planet, I didn’t like hearing about death.