The Nightmare Game

by Martin, S. Suzanne

  “And nobody’s won against her yet, right?”

  “That’s true.”

  “So if no one has won in all that time, what hope do I have? What happens if I don’t win?”

  “You can’t think that way.”

  “With these odds, that seems like a very logical question to ask. I mean, so many people have failed before I ever came along. So what happens if I’m one of the losers? What makes my work any more important than all of theirs?”

  “You’re right in that there would still be a little hope left. It would be, however, only a very little. It’s true that I’ll call on others to help me stop her and perhaps one of them will win. Time is running short, though. She has to be stopped now. In the past, she’s enslaved entire nations for eons at a time. One of the flaws that makes her fallible is that she is fickle and bores easily. Immortality is one thing that has made her that way. She’s given up absolute power for hundreds and even thousands of years at a time in search of other pursuits. It is only these flaws that have protected our species from her up until now. However, things are different in this day and age. The human race has developed technology, so she is very, very interested in us once again, more interested in a way she has never been before. She feels that we are on the verge of being capable of learning the science behind all the machines she uses. Many are on the verge of breaking down. She feels that using backward technology, we could repair anything that needed repairing. She’s hopeful we can create more machines to make her even stronger. She’s looking forward to being the ultimate dictator of the entire world.”

  “Isn’t she afraid that we would use her technology against her if we learned its secrets?” I asked.

  “No, she would be sure to keep the scientists working on separate parts her projects, unaware of the end results until we were all thoroughly, irreversibly enslaved. Currently she is still obsessed only with gaining control of your amulet, because it, and it alone, can kill her. Once she gets that, there is nothing that can stop her.”

  “So it’s the talisman that’s been stopping her all along?”

  “Yes, fear of the amulet’s power terrifies her, reigns her in. But I suspect that very recently she may have found a way to defeat it or to capture it. She taunts me with veiled threats but she hides the method. She may just be tormenting me with bluff, but I can’t take that chance. I must assume those threats are real.”

  He turned to me and took both my hands in his, so tightly it almost hurt. “Please don’t give up. You have to fight. You’re our best chance. I’ve never had anyone that I could revive as easily and completely as you, anyone that could receive what I could give them as efficiently as you’ve been able to. I want you to stay and win. Besides, I’ve become so attached to you in the time since we first became truly connected through your dreams. You have to continue, my dear. Don’t ever let her frighten you away or control you. You have to be strong now, for yourself, for me, for everyone.

  “I can tell and show you no more because we have to part now. I can feel her looking for me. She doesn’t see us quite yet, but she will soon, very soon. Before I go, I need to give you more to sustain you until we can be together again.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly in his grip. At that moment, I wanted to tell him that I adored him completely and loved him deeply, but the words seemed out of place. For half a moment, I thought he would kiss me, but again, instead of the kiss I so eagerly desired, he opened my willing mouth with the thumb of his right hand, opened his own, and, as before, breathed his life into me. Once again, I felt his energy enter me, the force of his life giving me strength.

  He released me, again taking my hands and I felt a strong, vital energy flow from his body into mine. We stood quietly for a while, simply looking at each other, motionless, immersed in each other’s eyes, enjoying a still moment before the battle would have to begin again. Suddenly he pulled away from me, uneasy. He looked startled, as if he were a small woodland creature that had just smelled a predator. I looked around, trying to see what was making him so nervous, but saw nothing.

  “What is it?” I knew the answer before I asked the question, but did not want to acknowledge it.

  “We have to leave. We’ve been here too long and she has found us.”

  “When will I see you again?” I asked quickly, but even as I spoke, my hands were torn from his and we were pulled apart, skidding away from each other at breakneck speed. I watched helplessly as he slipped farther and farther away, becoming smaller and smaller as he was sucked backwards into a tunnel that had suddenly appeared, the same tunnel from which I had so recently escaped.

  I screamed loudly, but my voice became dimmer and dimmer as I felt myself disappear altogether.

  Everything was dark and silent for a few moments. Eventually, I became aware of the sound of running water and I felt wet coldness beneath me. I took a deep breath, cognizant of my own breathing for the first time in a long time. I opened my eyes to a new environment, recognized it as reality, and realized I was sitting on the wet, cold floor of the bathroom. The shower was still running.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Now almost fully awake, I sat up a little straighter, a great deal more alert but still a tiny bit groggy. The bloody death threat on the shower tile wall was gone completely and I felt immediate relief. I ran the fingers of my right hand through my wet hair without effort, a simple act that caught my full attention. I was amazed that I could now move my right hand without any pain or stiffness. I studied my hand and arm with awe. What had been flesh burned and mangled to the point of destruction such a short time ago was now sound and intact, without the slightest sign of any damage whatsoever. Gone even were the very bad sunburn and the welts I remembered from my last bout of consciousness. I checked my chest. There wasn’t a mark on it. I felt my throat. It wasn’t even sore. Only yesterday, I would have rationalized everything I’d just endured as a nightmare or an hallucination, but today I knew better. The nightmare had been real, as were the dreams. Edmond had come to me today twice more in my dreams and he had rescued me again. There was no doubt in my mind whatsoever that I would have died from my injuries had it not been for the healing power contained in those dreams. All of the damage that had been done to me during my struggle against Rochere in her vortex had been repaired. What kind of magic, I wondered, both for good and for evil, was at work here? It was stronger than anything I could have ever imagined. I knew not to dwell on it because it would certainly cripple me with fear, something I simply could not afford right now. I was just grateful that I had someone as powerful as Edmond on my side.

  I was awake now, I was alright. That had to be enough. This endeavor was so overwhelming I could only take it one step at a time. I needed to get up off the floor now, get dressed and get ready for the next move in this hideous game. Virginia was right: it did help a lot to think of it as a game. I could understand completely why Marcus insisted upon calling it that. Now that I knew more about it and the terrifying implications of what would happen should I lose, I made the decision that the only way I could continue without freezing with fear would be to follow Marcus’ lead and do the same. My calmness about continuing the game was uncharacteristically composed. Never a terribly brave person, I should have been in a wild panic after finding out what I just did. I supposed that Edmond must have passed some of his bravery on to me along with the healing and that the necklace was now operating in a higher gear.

  I pulled myself up off the hard, wet and cold bathroom floor, my joints groaning a little after being on such an uncomfortable surface for so long; but it was just the aches and creaks that were normal for me these days. It was certainly more than a fair trade for the excruciating pain I’d expected to find should I wake up at all. That I was still functioning normally and was not completely shattered, either emotionally, mentally or physically by the fantastical turns my day had so far taken still left me in complete, yet optimistic disbelief. When I finally wedged myself off the flo
or, I was suddenly jolted out of my thoughts by an unexpected noise. It was the doorbell.

  “Now who the hell could that be?” I wondered. “Nobody knows I’m here except Carolyne and she couldn’t get here that fast, not even if she were still speaking to me.”

  I walked over to the tub faucets, turning the water off with trepidation, suspicious of the vortex reappearing. This time the physical world stayed put as it should, the only annoying aspect of it being that the doorbell wouldn’t stop ringing. I tried to yell out to say I would be there in a second, but only a hoarse whisper came out. It didn’t hurt, the attack had only left me with a bad case of morning throat, so I had to clear it a few times to get my voice to work.

  Before I could get my vocal strength back, however, the doorbell turned into a knock on the sliding glass door. Fear gripped me for a second as the thought hit me that it might be Rochere coming back to finish me off. What a ridiculous idea, though, I realized. That monster wouldn’t bother to knock or ring the doorbell. She preferred attack by way of bathtub, the epitome of dropping in unannounced.

  Who could it be then? I didn’t know anyone here. How did they get past the gate? I held my breath.

  “Hello? Hello? Cleaning service,” a woman’s voice emanated loudly through the glass of the apartment door. Oh, thank God, I thought. It was the maid. “I’m a little early today, but is it okay for me to come in and clean?”

  I had to clear my voice a few more times before anything above a whisper would come out.

  “Just a minute,” I said, still not as loudly as I’d intended. My voice was coming back fine, just not fast enough.

  I cleared my throat again but it was already too late because I heard the sliding front door open.

  “The do-not-disturb sign’s not on the door. Is anybody home? I’m coming in, okay.” I heard her put down something heavy, most likely her supplies, and walk into the apartment.

  “Just a minute,” I yelled in a panic as I grabbed a large towel and wrapped it around my naked body as fast as I could. “I’ll be right out.”

  “Hi, sorry if I caught you in the shower,” she yelled back. “Do you mind if I get started in the kitchen awhile or do you want me to come back in a half hour or so?”

  I scrambled out of the bathroom, clutching the towel, so I could talk to her more easily from behind the semi-closed bedroom door.

  “Hope I didn’t come at a bad time,” she said.

  “No, actually, except for maybe another minute, your timing’s pretty good.” I was so glad she hadn’t arrived in the middle of my healing dreams. “I’m afraid I’ve made a bit of a mess in the bathroom here, though. I slipped in the shower.”

  “Oh, dear. Are you okay? Do you need me to call an ambulance? Do you need to go to the hospital?” she asked, concerned.

  “No, I’m fine,” now, I added mentally. “Which is more than I can say about the shower head.”

  “It happened again? Cheeze.”

  That was not the reaction I expected. “It’s happened before?” I knew the answer, but wondered how much she knew.

  “You’d be amazed how often that happens in this apartment. I’ve never seen anything like it. I don’t know what kind of cheapo plumbing fixtures they use here but I need to find out so I can avoid them like yesterday’s plague if I ever get a house of my own. It’s gotten so bad that it even happens when nobody’s officially even renting the place. Personally, I think this apartment has gremlins. I am so glad they installed that weird floor drain way back when or else I’d be mopping up bathroom floods constantly, not to mention that the bedroom carpets would get all moldy and mildewed, too. How did it happen this time?”

  “I’m afraid I slipped and grabbed hold of the shower head trying to catch myself when I fell. But I just succeeded at taking it with me when I went down. I hate to tell you this, but I also bent the shower pipe.” I figured that was a plausible lie. “And the shower rod’s down, too. Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad that you weren’t hurt. Is the water still on?”

  “No, I just shut it off.”

  “I’ll let the water drain off awhile, then, and I’ll get to the bathroom in a minute. I’ll just straighten up in the front while you get dressed, okay?”

  I walked into the next room and closed the bedroom door. Taking off the towel, I put on my clean underwear and jeans, a fresh top, and a new pair of socks after pulling them from my suitcase. Then I reopened the door so I could talk to her.

  “I guess this’ll be put on my tab now, too.” I said, trying hard to sound blase.

  “Are you kidding? No way. Don’t even worry about it. I’ll get a handy man out here later today to straighten out that pipe and stick the old shower head back on it so you can at least still use the shower if you want to. We’ll have to wait till Monday at least before we can get the plumbing completely replaced, though. It’s not that big a deal. It happens way too often. That’s why I put so many non-slip decals in the tub, but I guess it hasn’t helped much. Don’t worry about your deposit. You’ll get it back and probably a little extra. I think it’s Rochere’s way of paying people off. I don’t think she wants to get sued and I guess it’s worked so far, ‘cause nobody’s sued her yet.”

  “Does everybody that stays here slip in the tub?”

  “No, not everybody. Some people get away unscathed, but I tell you, the chances are worse than the odds in Vegas. Go figure. It just amazes me that nobody’s been killed or seriously hurt yet.”

  If you only knew, I thought, but instead just answered blandly, “That’s good to know,”

  The lucky ones, the ones that didn’t “fall” in the tub must have been just regular vacation renters, who most likely rented the apartment in the quiet times between those called to play the “game”. I’m sure they came in handy to deflect suspicion from Rochere. I realized how lucky I was, for most that fell never survived to tell the tale; they were silenced by death. I wondered what cock and bull story that horrible bitch would have told my family and Carolyne, my emergency contacts, if she had succeeded in killing me. She couldn’t have used her standard “she never showed up” line, because Troy had seen me in her office and I’m sure he would have come forward once news of my disappearance hit the papers. I was certain, though, that she had a myriad of other excuses worked up over the years to cover all sorts of situations.

  I didn’t let on that I had any knowledge of the real answer because I was sure it was more than this lady wanted to know or would be able to accept. Besides, I didn’t want to do anything to endanger her life, especially since there was nothing she nor anybody else could do about it. In the real world, that responsibility rested squarely upon my shoulders alone.

  “Just to be on the safe side, though,” she reiterated, “if you think you need to get to a hospital, let me know. I’m serious.”

  Dressed now and my hair combed, I walked out into the front room to meet the person to whom the smoky voice belonged. I was surprised. She was a young and pretty redhead, a little stocky but athletic. She was a very different picture than the one I’d envisioned as we’d been speaking.

  “Why don’t you go on and sit down in here while I finish the kitchen,” she told me. “I’d feel better if you sat for awhile and took it easy after that fall.”

  “Really, I’m fine now,” I said, sitting down at the table anyway.

  “So, just a little trash and no dishes, huh? Been eating out?” she asked, trying to make conversation.

  “Yep. Mostly just takeout.”

  “I love clients like you. You don’t make a lot of work for me. When I finish in here, I’ll just mop up the bathroom, change the towels in there and vacuum over the carpet. You need me to make the bed, too, right?”

  “Actually, I do have to be a little more work. Could you please change the sheets? I’m afraid I had too much to drink last night and passed out in the bed with my clothes on.” I left out the part about landing face first in the alley last night
. I didn’t even want to think about that any more; the thought of having to sleep on those filthy sheets again made my skin crawl. I was clean now and wanted to stay that way.

  “Sure, no problem. Funny, but did you know that sometimes I have to change the sheets when nobody’s even renting the place? I know that makes no sense, but it really does happen once in a blue moon.”

  It may have made little sense to Brenda, but it spoke volumes to me. Those people were the few that slipped somehow through Rochere’s cleanup system. Time must have run out on these few individuals before Rochere could get the sheets changed prior to Brenda’s arrival. Virginia was right, Rochere did have her weaknesses. It was a thought gave me hope.

  “But hey,” she continued, “there’s got to be a logical explanation, right? I mean, forget gremlins, this place must get squatters. Whatever the reason, this apartment can get a little creepy, which is why I guess that a lot more people pack up and leave this place early than with any of the other properties that I clean. A lot of them get sick and have to go home right after they first get here. Most of the ones that stay just one night clear out without notice, too. You’d find it hard to believe that just how people check in and then just leave. It’s kinda nice finding somebody here to talk to, cause too often, they’ve cleared out already even before one night. I know I shouldn’t say this, but just between you and me, I think that maybe there’s something wrong with this place. Maybe there’s some kind of mold or fungus in the walls that makes some people dizzy and fall and makes other people sick. Maybe all the bathroom flooding’s done its damage despite that drain they had put in the floor.”

  If you only knew, I thought.

  “I wouldn’t worry about it,” was all I said. “At least it’s not our property. We don’t have to worry about it, right?”

  “Hey, I’ll drink to that.”

  She cleaned the bathroom, then walked into the bedroom and began to change the sheets. I wasn’t used to having anyone do housework around me and the silence was becoming a bit awkward.