He nodded. “According to the Prof, creativity is already being affected. But if the collider goes unstable, it could take us over the edge. No matter how dumb I think the human race is sometimes, if we let this happen, then we’ll all end up cross-eyed and sucking dummies.” He looked glum.
“So how do you think we can find them?”
Nathan pursed his lips and hesitated. “That’s where you come in. I think we find them in our dreams.”
Sarina felt her heart pounding. “In MY dreams you mean.”
~~~
Sarina closed the door of the same room she’d slept in the first time she visited the Professor’s lab—but that had been a very different occasion. They’d been elated; having defeated Makthryg and Valkrog and returned control of the other world’s township to its people—but best of all, she’d witnessed her dear friend from the other world, Paolo, reunited with his mother and little brother.
That seemed so long ago now.
Now she was dealing with the onset of some serious mental health problems, possibly accelerated by all the recent stress. But what was worse—and who would have thought there could be something worse than going mad—was the fact that her entire creative world was in jeopardy.
And once again, it was up to her to try to do something about it.
She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. Funny that she’d thought of Paolo. He’d never given up. Even when everything felt hopeless. She would try to do as he did and do her best to stay positive. She yawned and lay back on the bed.
Did the lights just go out? The ceiling zoomed away from her and she felt herself falling into the blackness. She clutched the side of the bed with both hands. The madness was coming! Engulfed by panic, she gasped for air, then lost consciousness.
The yellow eye blinked at her. It was only a centimetre or two away from her face. She recoiled. Now a giant nose poked at her, below two large eyes. She screamed. Her most hated creatures: Rats!
The dark came again, and she couldn’t open her eyes. But she could feel the little feet clambering across over her legs; the sharp claws hurting her bare shins as tens, if not hundreds of rats ran over her lower body. She tried to yell, but nothing came out of her mouth.
She writhed and twisted, but still the creatures came. Her eyes opened again, to see sharp, angry teeth and aggressive noses sniffing under her chin. She screamed, and fell into the darkness.
She woke, shivering and drained. What on earth had happened? She looked around and saw she was still on the bed; the lights still on.
Thirsty, and very reluctant to try to sleep again, she stood and opened her door to leave, intending to walk to the café and find a drink, and walk off the tension.
Nathan opened his door at the exact same moment. His eyes looked wild and red and his clothes were bedraggled. “What happened to you?”
His voice was hoarse. “Nightmares. Thirsty. You don’t exactly look like a princess yourself you know.”
She looked down at her own clothes, twisted and rumpled. “Yes. Nightmares for me too. And I’m thirsty as well. Come on, let’s go and find something from the café.”
They walked together in silence, punched the drink machine for cold water and sat down in the lounge chairs. It wasn’t long before Agent Blanchard walked up to join them. Did he sleep in that black suit?
“What are you two doing up?”
“Nightmares. And thirsty,” Sarina said.
The Agent’s eyes narrowed. “What sort of nightmares?”
“Rats,” Sarina and Nathan said simultaneously, then looked at each other in surprise.
“Hmm.” Agent Blanchard swept his gaze between them. “I was in Professor Harrison’s office and fell asleep on his desk. I also had a very disturbing dream. Would you care to guess which small furry creatures it featured?”
Nathan and Sarina looked at each other, wide-eyed.
Blanchard nodded. “Let’s take this as a clue. We have another few hours’ sleep. Perhaps, uncomfortable though it may be, we should do our best to re-enter our ... dreams, and attempt to make contact.”
Sarina shivered. Alright for him to say that. He didn’t have crazy family members locked-up in mental institutions. She realised she didn’t know all that much about Agent Blanchard and that it was entirely possible all his relatives were in the loony bin. She stood to leave. “As much as I wish I didn’t agree with you, I think we have no choice. I will keep up my side of the bargain”—she looked pointedly at Agent Blanchard—“as long as you keep yours.”
Blanchard nodded. “You have my word, Miss Metcalfe. Come. Let’s get whatever sleep is left to us. I will wake us all early. Let’s hope we have more than rats to discuss in the morning.”
As they walked back to their rooms, Nathan whispered across to Sarina. “What bargain are you talking about?”
“I’ll tell you tomorrow morning,” she whispered back. “Right now I have to deal with the idea that I have to deliberately try to dream about the very creature I loathe the most.”
Nathan raised his eyes. “Rats?”
Sarina shuddered. “Yes.”
“Who knew?” Nathan said, and walked into his room, closing the door behind him.
~ 9 ~
Lost
Professor Harrison stared at the creature towering over him. His arms and legs ached and were sore from the tight chafing ropes. His head thumped, and he assumed the creature must have knocked him unconscious, however, none of this worried him for more than a moment.
No, what was terrifying him was the collider sitting on the crate in front of him.
And compounding the terror, the comforting steady blink of the orange light was absent. Someone had placed the machine into live mode. That was bad. Very bad indeed. He had to find out what the creature needed and find a way to thwart it.
“How did you get this?”
The creature’s expression resembled a sneer. “Surprisingly easily. Your daughter delivered it to me.”
Harrison looked over at Lena, fast asleep on the pile sacking. She appeared unharmed. “What did you do to her?” he said in a low voice.
“I have not harmed the girl. In fact, she was more than willing to help me and play along. I was hoping you would do the same.”
Harrison thought for a moment. He needed to buy time and figure a way to stop the creature. Having the collider outside of the lab was already a risk; but it was now in a live state, and worse, he and Nathan were midway through their investigation. Which meant some of the settings last used by Malden were accessible on the keypad. Time for a distraction while he gathered his thoughts. “What happened to your finger?” he asked, nodding at the bloody cloth.
The creature scowled. “It is not your place to ask the questions. But since you are excessively curious, it may motivate you to assist me if you understand what I am capable of if you do not. I will risk everything to be whole again and to return to my Master. You only need to know that my injury is a sign he is still alive and needs me. Your life, and that of the girl”—he pointed to Lena—“mean nothing to me. But if you wish to live ... you must cooperate.”
“You’ll get no cooperation from me unless you let the girl go free.”
Valkrog swung his wing hard against the Professor’s head, almost knocking him off the crate. “You will not dictate terms!”
He leaned in to the man. “Now tell me about this machine. Will it assist me to communicate with my Master?”
Harrison’s head swam from the blow. “Possibly. But it is a dangerous device. Used the wrong way ...” He shrugged against the ropes, then winced at the chafing. He glared at the creature. “You can torture me all you wish. Until the girl goes free, you’ll get no help from me.”
The bird-man’s beak-like countenance twitched and he let out a low rasp-like laugh. “You fool. If you do not supply me the information I need, then it is not you I’ll be torturing. Now, no more trickery. Tell me how I must use this machine to contact my master.”
Harr
ison nodded. He could stall no longer, but he would still need to escape. Somehow. He would try to occupy the creature’s attention while he loosened the ropes, then hope to run for help. “Very well. I ask for your patience, as I will need to explain the workings of the device. If you wish to return to your master, then I assume you wish to do so undamaged. Not in very small pieces.”
“Then speak. Efficiently.”
~~~
From the corner of the warehouse, Lena had woken on hearing her father and Valkrog’s voices, but something in their tone made her stay still and peek through partly-closed eyes. What game were they playing? Should she join in?
She had watched with horror as Mr Big Bird hit Daddy hard. That was not right at all. And Daddy was still tied up. She searched for an explanation. Her head still felt woolly and dream-like, so she shook it, and sensed something lifting off her mind. But the woolliness descended again. She gathered her dream focus as Daddy had taught her, tried again, and this time felt her head clear. She looked back at Daddy again and noticed that for the first time that he looked tense and frightened.
Her explanation arrived. Mr Big Bird had confused her with all his special instructions. Maybe he’d used some kind of spell.
But it was obvious now. Mr Big Bird was not her friend. And he couldn’t be trusted, he was hurting Daddy! She would escape and raise the alarm.
Not far away behind her was the broken window she had noticed. She was small enough to climb up and jump out to the pavement on the other side. She would have to be as quiet as a mouse, and after watching the rats run in and out of that little door in the warehouse, she knew mice were MUCH quieter.
She watched her father start to talk at length with Mr Ugly Bird, as she decided she would call him from now on, and saw they were paying her no attention. She was used to slipping unnoticed past adults deep in conversation and this would be no different, and the dim lighting would make it easy.
She crawled ever-so-slowly to the window and stopped.
They were still talking. Not looking anywhere except each other. She waited until Daddy looked like he was in the middle of a long explanation, then slowly stood.
The window was obviously broken long ago, the only sharp glass left that she could see was at the top, and she thought she would be able to duck under.
A quick look behind. Good, they were still busy talking. She jumped up lightly, and clambered through the window.
Outside it was dark, but she saw lights in the distance, and some cars. She would run, get help, and rescue Daddy from Mr Ugly Bird. But only if it was someone she trusted.
Because she knew Daddy’s machine had to be kept secret.
~~~
In the warehouse, Professor Harrison hoped he had left the creature in no doubt. To use the collider would involve considerable risk. To everyone.
The creature nodded. “I observe your caution. However,” he shrugged his winged shoulders, “nothing audacious is achieved when too much caution is observed. I suspect you are playing me for a fool. There is no danger with the machine.”
He leaned in close to the Professor’s face. “You will enter the codes. Now.”
The Professor stared back at him, unbending. “I refuse. I will not place my own people at risk.”
The bird-creature howled. “Then I will make you see reason.” He stopped suddenly and whispered. “I am sure you do not wish to see your little girl come to any harm.” He looked over to the corner of the warehouse and let out an angry hiss.
Lena’s sack-pile bed was empty.
Valkrog strode to the centre of the cavernous room and whirled around. “Lena? Oh, Lena? Are you ready for our game? Where are you? You may come out now.” He stopped and waited for a reply, but the building remained silent.
The Professor also looked around the warehouse from his captive vantage point, but Lena was not to be seen. He felt a rising flush of anxiety and wondered where she had disappeared to, then realised he would be better served pressing home any advantage. He pushed his concerns to one side and looked up at the creature. “I think you’ve just run out of options. Now why don’t you let me call some people in to help—”
“NO!” The creature thundered its dissent. “On the contrary, my options were never limited to just one child. No. I know precisely where your most treasured children will be.” He tore off a strip of sacking using a razor-sharp talon, and tied it roughly into a gag around the Professor’s mouth. Valkrog leered at him. “I will return. With some very persuasive options.”
Valkrog flew up into the rafters and made his way out onto the roof.
The Professor strained inside the rough gag. Lena was free somewhere—or was she? He tried to call out, but the gag made it impossible. Nonetheless, if she had hidden somewhere, she would have appeared by now. Was she safe, or was she still under the creature’s influence? He groaned. What had he done? The machine in front of him needed urgent attention. The rem issue might already be causing problems, and he thanked the almighty powers again that Sarina was nowhere near. Being the most powerful of the dreamer kids by a mile, she would be placing herself in jeopardy. He made a mental note to check with Blanchard as soon as he escaped from the ropes and could re-program and boot-down the machine. If anyone else touched the collider now it could spell disaster, and potentially create a similar accident to the one that caused Malden’s demise.
It was down to him. He would not place anyone at any more risk. He strained to loosen the ropes. If it was necessary, he would sacrifice himself.
~~~
The rat was close now. Sarina had tried hard to resist the nightmare, but in the end, it came.
And now a rat was about to chew her shoulder.
The tiny feet were all over her, and she wriggled in discomfort—then caught a glimpse of something through the heaving furry bodies. If she could wriggle a little more? But the weight of the creatures on her was too much. What could she do?
If she turned her head, she might catch the glimpse again. A wooden floor? A crate? What was it? But if she turned more, then that rat on her shoulder would be right at her face. Ready to chew. She suppressed a scream. Letting the rat climb on her face was her only option.
She fought the nightmare with all her might, and willed herself to find the core strength she’d been learning to harness, but it wasn’t there. Maybe her madness had taken a firm hold and was systematically destroying everything she felt confident about.
Well if it was, then she would do her best to get the information for Agent Blanchard before she turned into a drooling idiot. Anyway, she had no choice. If she was to find out where this place was and locate the Professor, she would have to endure the rat.
She turned her head and stared directly at the thing, and its sharp teeth snapped at her cheeks. She screamed and somehow kept her eyes open. Under the rat’s feet she could see something—she turned her head more and steeled herself to let the rat climb up her face.
Wait. If she moved her head quickly enough, she might be able to throw it off.
Now! In one sharp movement, she flipped her head and the rat flew off, raking its claws across her cheeks as it did so.
But she was able to see.
A wooden floor. A large expanse. Several packing crates strewn across the floor. A high ceiling. An empty warehouse. And at one wall, a man, slumped against the wall, and bound with rope.
Professor Harrison.
The rats advanced onto her neck and face and she screamed.
“Sarina!”
“Miss Metcalfe?”
She was being shaken by hands. Where was she? Who? What? At last her eyes opened and she saw an anxious Nathan and Agent Blanchard standing over her.
She tried to sit up and clamped her hands to her head, which felt like it was about to explode. Was the madness the nightmare, or the nightmare the madness? She didn’t know anymore.
She wiped her cheek and looked at her hand. It was dry. No blood. No scratches.
Sarina looked at Nat
han and the Agent. “Did you get any more information in your dreams?”
They both shook their head. “Only more rats,” Nathan said, with a grim expression. “You?”
She hesitated. Now was not the time to discuss her mental health. But she couldn’t take much more of this, or she was sure her mind would be gone. “Yes. I saw the Professor. He’s in a large, empty warehouse. With rats.”
Agent Blanchard nodded. “That figures. We’d better locate him before we all go crazy with these nightmares. Where is the warehouse?”
Sarina shook her head. “That’s not so easy. I have no idea.”
“Hmm.” Agent Blanchard looked at them both.
“It’s getting light now. How about we freshen up, have breakfast and make some plans before all the other kids get here?” Nathan said.
Blanchard nodded. “Let’s meet in the café in 10 minutes.” They both turned to leave and Sarina stood to go into her bathroom—and immediately fell over.
“Sarina! Are you okay?”
She looked up at Nathan. “Yes. Just a dizzy turn. These nightmares ...”
Nathan nodded. “I know. They’re crazy, aren’t they?”
Sarina stood again, gingerly this time, but could only nod. Surely this couldn’t be happening? She’d made a deal with Agent Blanchard to get her to the upcoming creative workshop as soon as they found the Professor. But she was hardly in any state to paint. She smiled weakly at Nathan. “I’ll be okay after a shower. See you for breakfast.”
He looked at her for a while, as if he was about to say something else, then turned and left.
~~~
They sat in the café discussing their plans.
“What else can you tell us about this warehouse, Miss Metcalfe? Tiny details you noticed that might help us to locate Professor Harrison.”
Sarina looked at Agent Blanchard and tried to remember her nightmare—the memory of the rats scratching her skin made her shiver—but she closed her eyes and recalled what she had seen, albeit briefly.
She spoke slowly. “A large area with a dusty, wooden floor. Empty packing crates scattered around. The Professor was sitting on one, slumped against the wall—”
The Dreamer Chronicles Trilogy Boxed Set Vol I - III: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles - Science Fiction For Kids And Adults) Page 39