Nightmare Stalkers

by Michael La Ronn

  When we arrived at Kemiston Central, drove past the police barricades, and pulled into the concourse, I stepped out of the SUV as if I were sleepwalking.

  I felt nothing.

  I should have been freaking out.

  Anyone would have been freaking out!

  But I couldn't feel anything.

  Just calmness inside.

  I should have been crying. I should have been scared at what awaited Darius and Destiny when I was gone.

  But all I could do was march forward, up the long concrete stairs into the depot, ready for my fate. Ready to see what this nightmare train was all about.

  I felt so deep into darkness.

  I felt dead.

  I didn't want to be dead, but I couldn't think of any other way.

  Unless…

  No. I hated myself for thinking it.

  I couldn't.

  I couldn't…

  But then I heard myself think it.

  Heard my Aunt Letty warning me.

  Heard myself saying I had no choice.

  The darkness was so deep around me that I had no choice.

  Feeling a knot in my throat, I swallowed hard.

  Darius, Destiny, Rodgers, and Allegra ran into the depot, but I stood on the top step, in the snow, looking up at the darkening white sky.

  And I heard myself think it again, hated myself for what I was about to do.

  And then I said it.

  Said her name.

  Soft, like a whisper.

  “Harriet.”

  And that was all it took. Something in the corner of my eye pulled my head down.

  At the base of the stairs, Harriet stood, swirling in a wreath of shadows.

  “I am so glad you called,” she said, ascending the stairs to meet me.

  29

  “You have finally experienced what it feels like to see into the darkness,” Harriet said, taking me by the shoulders. “You have finally become humbled in the face of what's before you.”

  Despite her shadow form, her hands were warm. Her pearl necklace beads were as white as the falling snow. Her eyes were as dark as the shadows.

  I shirked her away.

  “This is an awful day to die,” I said. “But if it's gonna happen, I at least want to know what the hell I’m up against.”

  “You're not going to die,” Harriet said.

  “The dream foretold it,” I said. “Allegra’s dreams haven't been wrong.”

  “But they changed, did they not?” Harriet asked.

  “How did you know that?” I asked.

  “Hunch,” Harriet said.

  She turned and walked down the stairs, toward a footpath that wrapped around the station.

  “Come with me,” she said. “Let's take a walk.”

  I hesitated.

  “No strings attached,” Harriet said, not turning. “You called, and I answered. This is just a chat. One that will enlighten you and illuminate your situation. Nothing more.”

  I glanced back at the depot doors.

  Darius stuck his head out.

  “Cuz, you coming?” he asked.

  I looked at the footpath.

  Harriet was gone.

  But her voice lingered.

  “I'm waiting, Aisha,” she said.

  “Give me a few minutes,” I said. “I want to take a walk.”

  Darius nodded and shut the door.

  I jogged down the stairs, and Harriet appeared out of nowhere.

  “I was beginning to think you'd back out,” she said. “That would have been a shame.”

  “I'm not backing out,” I said. “But you understand why I'm suspicious.”

  We walked down the snowy path. We passed an officer. He nodded at me, but I don't think he saw Harriet.

  “This is by far the worst winter I've ever seen in the city,” Harriet said.

  And then I realized she wasn't wearing a jacket.

  “Aren't you cold?” I asked.

  “The shadows protect me,” she said. “Feeling warm and safe is important, is it not?”

  I said nothing.

  We approached the gardens on the side of the building. The cherry blossom trees were bare, shaking down their snow in the wind. The garden’s rectangular pond was frozen in a sheet of dull gray ice.

  “The police were smart to barricade the premises,” Harriet said. “Have you watched how they let people in and out? They are careful in their operations, and they have a protocol that they follow no matter what.”

  “So?” I asked.

  Harriet laughed softly.

  “It makes sense, doesn't it?” she asked.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Do you understand why they do it?” Harriet asked.

  “Of course I do,” I said.

  “It's quite common sense, isn't it?” she asked.

  “Protecting a property?” I asked. “Sure.”

  Harriet stopped. A frown spread across her face.

  “Aisha, how thoroughly do you vet the customers that visit you in your shop?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “I…I don’t do background checks or drug tests, if that's what you're asking.”

  “Then what do you do?” she asked.

  Her tone sharpened.

  I didn't feel like talking business right now. I didn't need her to tell me how to be a fucking shopkeeper.

  “I check their IDs,” I said. “I have a unique craft. People don't come and see me unless they need help. I don't need to vet them.”

  “And how’s that working out for you now?” Harriet asked.

  “What are you trying to tell me?” I asked.

  “Aisha, the fact that you can't see directly what's in front of you is concerning.”

  Sighing, Harriet walked through the gardens quickly, and I struggled to keep up, slipping on the ice to catch her.

  Harriet stood at the edge of the pond.

  “You can't see it, Aisha?” she asked.

  “See what?” I asked.

  “You can't see it?” Harriet asked again.

  “No!” I cried. “If I could, then I wouldn't have called you!”

  Harriet clucked her tongue.

  “Your grandmother used to complain about Destiny being naïve. She always said you and Darius had street smarts. Had a way of reading people. Maybe you do. But you have no sixth sense, girl.”

  “I grew up on the streets,” I said. “I've had to be tough. I've got sense enough.”

  “You don't,” Harriet said. “Don't be lulled into the false illusion that you don't need it. Darius and Destiny don't. They have enough magical powers to get them out of any situation. But what can you do outside of dreams? How will you protect yourself?”

  “I know how to fight,” I said.

  “With a shovel,” Harriet said. “With a gun. But you don't win against the darkness with those. And you sure as hell don't win by hoping or praying that you'll get by.”

  “So I don't know how to fight,” I said. “I don't have a sixth sense. What other qualities do you want to make fun of?”

  “I'm not making fun of you,” Harriet said. “And I mean no disrespect. I'm just helping you see.”

  She pointed to the glass enclosure that held the subway terminal.

  “You're not dealing with garden variety demons like last time,” she said. “You're dealing with something far more sinister. And if you want to understand it, you must backtrack to where this all began.”

  I rewound throughout the day, back to last night, when Allegra first walked through our door.

  “You're telling me I should be suspicious of Allegra,” I said.

  “I'm saying she's not who she says she is,” Harriet said.

  “She lied?” I asked.

  “Not to you,” Harriet said. She started toward the enclosed terminal. “Your Aunt Letty gave you partially good advice. The part about listening to yourself. Maybe you should pass it on.”

  “You eavesdropped on us,” I said.

  “It's
what shadows do,” Harriet said, grinning.

  “Can I count on you to help us or what?” I asked.

  “My help doesn't work that way,” Harriet said. “You solve your own problems. I help you do that. If you're smart enough to survive this, we’ll talk again. And then perhaps we can talk more about your grandmother, as I know you have questions. Good luck, Aisha. I'll be watching. And whatever you do, you must board that train.”

  My stomach knotted.

  “Aunt Letty told me not to board it,” I said. “Why are you telling me the opposite?”

  In an instant, Harriet disappeared, leaving me alone in the snowstorm.

  “Harriet!” I cried. “Answer the question!”

  But she was gone.

  I didn't know what to do.

  I didn't know how to process what she had just told me.

  But I told myself I'd figure it out as I ran to the front doors.

  30

  I found Darius, Destiny, and Rodgers under the terminal’s giant golden clock.

  Just like I thought, the place was full of police officers. It looked and felt exactly like it did in the dream—like Christmas—but all of the kiosks and food stands were shuttered from the evacuation.

  Darius saw me first.

  “Chilly out?” Darius asked. “Don't know why you suddenly needed to take a walk.”

  “Had to clear my mind,” I said. “I feel better now.”

  “I don't,” Darius said.

  “There's something I have to tell you two,” I said.

  “Don't make your farewell speech,” Darius said. “That's not cool, cuz.”

  “I won't,” I said. “But in the interest of transparency, I wanted to tell you that I just met with Harriet.”

  “What?” Destiny asked angrily.

  “You can't get mad at me because I told you,” I said.

  “Why did you talk to her without us?” Destiny asked.

  “Because I asked her for help,” I said.

  Darius frowned. “What the hell’s the matter with you? She manipulated us last time.”

  “Not this time,” I said. “Not this time.”

  “What did she suggest?” Darius asked.

  “Nothing,” I said. “Nothing…that I could use.”

  I hated lying to them.

  But I didn't think they'd understand.

  “Where’s Allegra?” I asked.

  And then I saw her, sitting on a bench by herself next to an information kiosk. She hugged herself and stared at the floor.

  I left my cousins and sat down next to her.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hey,” she said, smiling. “How was your walk?”

  “Cold,” I said.

  We sat in silence for a moment.

  “You ready?”

  “I don't know,” she said. “I don't know what ready feels like.”

  “Funny, because neither do I,” I said.

  Harriet’s advice flowed through my mind.

  “But my Aunt Letty gave me some great advice,” I said. “She told me to ask myself tough questions, then get out of my way and listen.”

  “Your Aunt Letty sounds like a smart woman,” Allegra said.

  “That's why I am so calm right now,” I said. “Because I've asked myself the tough questions.”

  “Like what?” she asked.

  “Like why do I even get out bed in the morning,” I said. “Outside of a dream, I'm nobody.”

  “But your powers are amazing,” Allegra said.

  “Sure,” I said. “But Dream Readers LLC isn't why I wake up. It's the fact that I'm not…I'm not…wasting potential, you know?”

  I took her hand.

  “I'm a high school dropout, Allegra. I left to go live with a boy. Biggest mistake of my life, even though I loved him. I don't want Darius and Destiny to make the same mistake. So for me, as long as I am doing my best to live life on my own terms and take care of them, I'm at peace. I slide out of those sheets in the morning easy, open the windows, and greet the sun with a smile, you feel me?”

  Allegra tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

  “Totally understand,” she said.

  “What about you?” I asked.

  “I've never done it,” Allegra said.

  “Only a little while left,” I said, laughing.

  We waited. Time crawled.

  At five minutes to seven, Rodgers, who was talking to a group of officers, nodded to them and jogged toward us.

  I rose.

  “It's time, ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “We’re in position on the platform. We’re ready for this damn train.”

  “Any last-minute revelations?” I asked.

  “I've become comfortable with improvisation,” Rodgers said.

  “That's our strategy, apparently,” Destiny said.

  “All I know is that Aisha ain't standing anywhere near those tracks,” Darius said.

  “Darius, let's take this one step at a time,” I said.

  “Yep, and the first step involves you staying alive,” he said. “Actually, it involves all of us staying alive. Coincidence!”

  Rodgers nodded. “Let's not do any cavalier shit, any of us,” he said. “How's that sound?”

  Allegra remained on the park bench, staring at the floor.

  “Yo, you all right?” Darius asked.

  Allegra said nothing.

  Darius snapped his fingers.

  “Allegra?” he asked.

  She looked up, almost confused. She smiled.

  “I'm fine,” she said. “I'm ready.”

  “Then let's do this,” Rodgers said, glancing at the clock.

  Two minutes to seven.

  We started the short walk across the depot, down the spiral ramp to the subway platform. Several concrete barriers had been placed on the platform, though I didn't understand why.

  The snow raged against the glass.

  A line of officers waited with rifles trained on the arched tunnel.

  “Guns aren't going to work,” I whispered.

  “Humor us,” Rodgers said.

  The clock chimed.

  Bong…

  Bong…

  Bong…

  Bong…

  Bong…

  Bong…

  Bon—

  The intercom spoke.

  “Train approaching the station.”

  My heart raced.

  It was finally happening.

  Part of me was ready for this, ready to see what had been tormenting Allegra’s dreams all this time.

  The rest of me?

  Scared completely shitless.

  The white light appeared in the tunnel.

  The ground shook. The rails rattled.

  And then the bone-shaking whistle, that sound from a distant time.

  Whoooo…whoooo…whoooo…

  “Train approaching the station,” the intercom said.

  And then the wheels on the tracks.

  The screeching.

  A flash!

  Sparks!

  A fire rushing through the tunnel as the third rail exploded.

  The light flared for a moment and then the train exploded out of the tunnel, sending a wall of fire, sparks, rails, and bricks ahead of it. Furious clouds of steam swathed the sides of the train, making it difficult to see.

  “Good god,” Rodgers said. He grabbed me and Destiny, pulling us behind one of the concrete barriers. Darius followed, leaping over it.

  Now I understood why the barriers were here.

  “Where's Allegra?” I asked.

  Allegra stood on the edge of the platform, fingering her necklace.

  She turned to me.

  “Thanks for helping me ask the hard question,” she said.

  “Allegra,” I said. “What are you—”

  “You don't have to die anymore,” she said.

  The train barreled for the platform and let out its bone-shaking whistle.

  The platform rumbled, and the officer
s shielded themselves as the fire approached.

  Allegra jumped onto the tracks.

  The train whistled again.

  “That girl is crazy!” Rodgers said.

  God.

  I didn't want to look, but I couldn't look away.

  Neither could Darius and Destiny.

  Allegra held up her hands.

  “I'm the one you want!” she shouted.

  A screeching sound filled the air. Sparks flew up from the bottom of the train’s wheels.

  The glass enclosure shattered, and we covered ourselves as glass and snow rained down across the platform.

  Screeeeeeeeeeech…

  The screeching grew louder and the sparks brighter as the train dug into the rails.

  It was slowing down.

  The fire wall vanished.

  The sparks reached their pinnacle of brightness and height, and then they too began to fade.

  Allegra closed her eyes as the train approached.

  The train whistled again as it came to a final stop, inches from Allegra’s face.

  Steam filled the terminal and I covered my eyes, coughing.

  As it cleared, I got a better look at the locomotive as Allegra climbed inside.

  A black steam locomotive. A name was written in gold lettering that was too faded to be legible.

  It pulled several passenger cars behind it. The windows cracked.

  “The damn thing stopped,” Rodgers said.

  The police aimed for the cab. The smoke around it settled.

  Rodgers approached, his gun at the ready.

  “Whoever’s in there, come out with your hands up,” he said. “If you're a demon, relinquish your magic.”

  Several police officers gathered behind him, magic glowing in their hands.

  The last bits of smoke cleared, revealing the cab.

  There was no one inside.

  Rodgers looked around the terminal.

  And then the passenger doors opened, and a stream of purple spirits flew out, shrieking.

  “Get down!” Rodgers cried.

  The spirits, purple plasma, circled the terminal. The snow passed through their bodies.

  “Damn!” Darius said.

  I studied them.

  They were people.

  Well, the ghosts of people.

  Their moaning filled the terminal and swelled into an ear-splitting crescendo.

  Then the spirits gathered on the platform, hovering and footless.