Dreaming God

by Rik Johnston

PARTY

  SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 1980

  The nearby house was filled with people coming and going, loud music emanating from within, and permeated with the smell of booze and smokes of various kinds. Megan Ackerman was coming up the street to attend the party followed by her entourage of boys, who were laughing and joking with her. She was in high spirits, looking forward to going to the party and blowing off the terrible events she had experienced earlier that week. Doctor Frederiksen knew exactly what Tuesday was attempting to do.

  “Miss Moxley, what are we doing here?” Doctor Frederiksen asked, rhetorically. “Let’s work on streamlining your power so you can save lives.”

  Tuesday ignored him as she approached Megan and the four boys. “It’s really you, isn’t it?” She marveled, looking at how young and healthy her mother was.

  Megan Ackerman stopped in her tracks, looking at the girl who spoke to her, and seemed to have a lot of resemblance to her. “Isn’t it a little late for you to be out, little girl?”

  The four young men began laughing at Megan’s dismissal of Tuesday, but Tuesday knew who they were and what their part in this tale was destined to be. She could feel her hatred for these men rising as thoughts of the notes in her mother’s medical charts began to spring into her mind. Though she knew what they were planning to do, they hadn’t done it by this point, and even though the thought enraged her to no end, she could not kill innocent men.

  “You four need to leave, and you need to leave now!” Tuesday commanded, not just telling them what to do, but putting images into their minds about what would happen to them if they harmed this young woman. The men scurried off to the party like the rats they were, leaving Megan alone to talk with Tuesday, with Doctor Frederiksen observing from the future.

  “Oh, freaking wonderful!” Megan shouted, expressing her frustration. “I’m supposed to go to that party with them, now I probably can’t even get in.”

  Instantaneously, Doctor Frederiksen makes a plea to Tuesday. “Miss Moxley, you can’t do this!” He screamed at her, which only she could hear in her head. “This could destroy all that you have worked to build!”

  Megan began to walk off, toward the party and away from where Tuesday was standing. “Wait! Where are you going?” Tuesday called out to Megan, trying to reacquire her attention. “I need to talk to you!”

  “Why would I want to talk to some kid?” Megan rebuffed Tuesday, walking away from her in a dismissive fashion. “If I’m lucky, I can make it up to those guys and still get into that party.”

  Tuesday ran down the block, moving in front of Megan to block her, trying to be empathetic in her speech. “You shouldn’t go there, it looks like it could be dangerous.” Tuesday tried telling Megan without giving too much away.

  “Dangerous for you, maybe.” Megan spoke without a care in the world. “Not for me, I’m going to have some fun in there.”

  Tuesday repositioned herself to block Megan, who was becoming increasingly frustrated with this child’s attempts to ruin her night and make her life worse than it already was. “Look, I know you’re going through a rough time right now.” Tuesday plead with Megan, hoping the sincerity in her voice would shine through enough to demonstrate how much she truly cared about her. “This isn’t the answer!”

  No such luck. Tuesday’s claim of understanding her plight sent Megan into a fit of anger, propelling Megan to level of frustration that Tuesday had become all too familiar with over the years. “You don’t know what I’m going through!” Megan screamed, practically spitting her words all over Tuesday. “You don’t know who I am! Who are you to judge me? Just take your teddy bear and leave me alone!”

  Suddenly, the darkness of that August night felt a little darker, and the temperature felt much cooler. Instinctively, Tuesday knew what was coming and what was about to happen, almost as if it was scripted. Tuesday looked at Megan, changing her tone suddenly.

  “Megan, find cover and stay down!” Tuesday shrieked, hoping to protect her mother at all costs. Megan ran and hid behind a parked car, fearful of what was happening around her.

  The sky split apart, and The Nightmare rained down, slamming onto the street in front of them, causing the ground to shake. Tuesday stood her ground, truly unafraid of The Nightmare, relishing her opportunity to avenge the death of her mother.

  III

  AN ENEMY REVEALED

  Everybody at the party was oblivious to the events happening just down the street. If they had come out and had seen anything, they would have run for their very lives. The fact that Megan Ackerman hadn’t run, but only hid was of some concern to Tuesday, but she was focused on destroying this creature, once and for all.

  “I’m no longer afraid of you!” Tuesday called out bravely. “You can no longer control me, and the only life that will be lost here is yours!”

  The Nightmare laughed, and while Megan was affected by it, Tuesday stood her ground, unaffected by it for the first time. “That’s what you keep telling me, child, yet people keep dying.”

  “You can’t make me kill her!” Tuesday reasoned with The Nightmare, spitting her hatred at him. “If you make me kill her this time, I will die too!”

  The Nightmare stopped and thought about this for a moment. Was it possible this girl had this creature in check? The Nightmare wasn’t so unprepared that it didn’t have a backup plan, and Tuesday knew it, which was what made it such a dangerous adversary. “You’re clever, but who says that I want to kill her?” The Nightmare hissed, taunting Tuesday, it’s powers were greater than just physical control of her. “I can make you go anywhere and kill anybody that I desire!”

  Tuesday recalled how manipulative the creature could be. It didn’t take much effort to convince Tuesday to kill Principal McCauley, and it seemed as if the monster were gearing its voice up to manipulate her to kill again.

  “I thought you would have learned not to cross me when you killed your mother!” The Nightmare seethed. “Is another lesson in order? Perhaps that boy?” The Nightmare extended its hand toward Tuesday, moving to take control over her as it had done so many times before. Tuesday was completely unaffected by the control of The Nightmare, so it moved toward her to get inside of her.

  The mention of Jason sparked Tuesday’s hatred and desperation to protect the last living thing in the world that she loved. As The Nightmare approached her, Tuesday balled up her fists thrust out at her sides, consuming them in the blue flames. The Nightmare stopped dead in its tracks, shying away from the unnatural fire emanating from Tuesday’s hands. The Nightmare took up a more defensive stance, enlarging his size by twice as much, ready to do battle with Tuesday.

  “I’m not afraid of you!” Tuesday shouted. Before she realized what she was doing, Tuesday found herself running at top speed toward The Nightmare, punching it with her flaming hands as hard as she could. Everywhere that her fists contacted it, the fire burned out the blackness of it, and it became a brilliant, glowing white.

  The Nightmare howled in pain, as the power of its evil hemorrhaged from its body, spilling out onto the street in a thick black ooze that ran down the gutter and into the sewer. The creature flailed wildly, trying to land a blow on Tuesday but couldn’t circumvent his way around the flames that were causing him so much harm.

  Tuesday kept punching the phantasm, transforming it into a beautiful creature with each blow she landed. The sound coming from The Nightmare was excruciatingly deafening, but Tuesday was unaffected by it, allowing her love for Jason and for her mother to fuel the flames of her attacks. The Nightmare returned to its regular size, and Tuesday landed a blow inside the hood where the face should be, cleansing the nearly last of the blackness from its soul. The creature slumped to its knees on the ground, defeated, the last shred of darkness speaking out.

  “Don’t you know who I am?” The Nightmare said, breathing heavily as it labored to get its words out. “Don’t you know what I could do to you?”

&
nbsp; Tuesday stepped forward, ready to deliver the final blow to The Nightmare. “I do know you are, Doctor Frederiksen.”

  With that, she punched The Nightmare one last time with everything she had, separating the form of a man from the creature with enough force to throw him many yards away. The Nightmare, who had transformed into a brilliant white creature of beauty and light rose and stood near Tuesday.

  A specter of Doctor Frederiksen stood to his feet, looking smug. “It appears you’ve figured out my secret.”

  “I know more secrets than you think!” Tuesday screamed at him, trying to goad him into a one on one confrontation with her. “I know what you did to this young woman!” She stated, making a grand gesture in the direction of Megan Ackerman.

  “Step into my office, then.” Doctor Frederiksen taunted invitingly. “Come back to where you left me, and let’s discuss it.”

  Tuesday ran to where Megan Ackerman was hiding, terrified. “Stay right here, whatever you do, don’t go to that party.” Tuesday told her. “I have to come back here and save you!” Megan nodded in agreement, realizing what she had just witnessed was far beyond any drug she ever encountered.

  Tuesday spared no further words as she brought herself back to the park where she had left the crooked therapist waiting. She hoped that she could think creatively enough to defeat him, but the prospect seemed exceptionally bleak to her.

  If Tuesday couldn’t defeat Doctor Frederiksen, she shuddered to think of what he might continue to do to her, but what he might do if he were to encounter another child with the abilities that she had. The responsibility weighed heavily upon her, and she couldn’t imagine the price of her failure.