By all outward appearances, the girl seemed so ordinary in her white oversize t-shirt and pink exercise pants, but Brandee knew she was anything but. She had inner demons haunting her dreams. And if it weren’t for her intelligence and her precision in describing the details of a place she had never been before, Brandee would have continued treating her with medication, like her colleagues had.
Before they met a week ago, Brandee had studied Heathyr’s file. File number X-167512 resembled a dictionary in thickness. Heathyr was much like any other thirteen-year-old girl. She had a mother. A sister. Lived in a middle-class residential neighborhood known as Romero Heights, and close to the infamous cemetery that fueled so many ghost stories. Heathyr had perfect attendance in school. Good grades. No brushes with the law. Plenty of friends. And happily dating a neighbor girl for almost a year. She had plans to go into veterinary medicine and already taking prep-classes. There was nothing unusual about Heathyr on paper, except perhaps, her IQ which rated just under 130. So when this bright little girl from an ordinary family was labeled an enigma by her colleagues, Brandee took notice and kept reading.
Several months back and for no apparent reason, Heathyr awoke in the middle of the night screaming about being eaten alive. She did it the following night, then the next, and the next. That same dream repeated itself every night since. At first, it only seemed to happen once in the middle of the night. Then it was several times at night. Then every time she napped or slept. Then, she was haunted by it all day long. She’d had the dream so many times, she knew the exact date, time, and place it would occur.
Today.
This place.
This time.
By then, her mother knew something needed to done. The panic attacks were only getting worse. Heathyr’s school attendance suffered. Her grades plummeted. She was sent to doctors, then specialists, and after numerous failed attempts at treatment, she was sent to Brandee because she had many years of experience, dealing with things like this.
After meeting little Heathyr, Brandee could find no real cause for her crippling night terrors, much like the other doctors discovered before her. Heathyr hadn’t responded to therapy, nor medication, nor mothering. Not in any real measurable way, at least. The next logical step in Brandee’s mind was to bring her to where it all happened. Would happen. Supposed to happen.
Rubbing Heathyr’s tense shoulders with a hand, Brandee started her interview slowly. “Think back and tell me who you can remember in your dream. Are there any certain people you remember?” She pointed across the busy street. “Are any of the people in your dream here now?”
Brandee had heard Heathyr recount the nightmare too many times to count, but she described it differently each time. It was the same story, only she would recount the dream in disjointed fragments. Disconnected images like snapshots of an event which were out of chronological order.
Heathyr pointed to Brandee. “You’re there. You’re scared. I was scared at first, but I’m more scared because you’re scared. There’s a cop, but she ignores me and flies off in a gray and white shuttle.”
Some things made no sense at all. Like this cop in a gray and white shuttle. The protectorate only owned white shuttles.
“And there’s a woman in a short blue dress,” Heathyr continued. “Really bright blue. Like someone turned a neon light into a dress. The whole thing is like in slow motion. She’s in a hurry to get somewhere. She’s wearing white panties with pink lipstick all over them.”
“I thought you said she was wearing a blue dress?” Brandee did her best to question her without it sounding like an interrogation. She wanted to picture what Heathyr saw, but her thoughts were too disconnected.
“I see her underwear.” Heathyr shrugged. “She doesn’t know, maybe.”
Brandee nodded. “Go on.”
“And there’s this man. His name is Dave. Dave is running in slow motion too. After that woman, I think. He’s shouting ‘Carol! Carol!’ He’s got her clutch in his hand. I remember it because it’s a fancy black leather purse and looked really expensive. He looked sad. Maybe worried. I don’t really know.”
“How do you know his name is Dave?”
Heathyr sniffled as she shrugged.
Brandee asked, “Are they the only people you remember seeing?”
After a whimper, Heathyr bit her lip and glanced across the street.
“Tell me, Heathyr. I’m trying to help you.”
“That’s all I can remember except those creatures. Eating. Just over there.” Heathyr pointed across the street at a small shop in the middle of the block.
The nightly rains had dampened the sidewalk and rainwater still dotted the buildings. The sun was just beginning to creep above the cityscape behind them to illuminate precisely where Heathyr pointed. It was a single story building with two palm trees in front, jutting up from the wet sidewalk. The building was rather out of place. Not simply because many of the other buildings were boarded up, it was because the building was uniquely painted in a metallic gold and crowded by the towering office buildings that surrounded it. With it still being wet, and with the sun hitting it like a spotlight, the building glistened like a solid gold brick with glass doors. The words “El Dorado” were written in large white script above the door.
For most of the colony, there weren’t many people to be seen. Nor much traffic. The downtown district was different. It was the only place in the colony where people still busily walked the streets. Between the passing traffic of hovercars and hoverbuses, Brandee studied the golden building and watched all the blonde-haired pedestrians marching past it on their way to work or running morning errands. They didn’t seem to be aware of anything unusual. There were no threats, as far as she could see.
“Over there?” Brandee pointed to the jewelry store. “Is that where the creatures are supposed to be?”
“Not right there,” Heathyr replied. “Just behind that place. In the alley. Behind a dumpster with a gold shopping bag on the ground. They’re there right now. They have gray skin and blue eyes. I hear them grunting. And growling at something. Dead, but not dead.” Heathyr’s eyes fluttered then she shrieked. “They’re eating. They’re eating me. They’re eating ME!”
Brandee turned Heathyr to face her, then clutched her shoulders. “Remember what I told you, Heathyr? You have to keep your voice down. Let’s not panic a bunch of people.”
The last thing Brandee wanted was to fan another wave of hysteria in the colony. Which is exactly what she feared would happen if Heathyr’s shouted words reached the people walking along the sidewalk.
Tears streaked down Heathyr’s cheeks as she drew in a deep breath, then exhaled. “Sorry, Ms. Brandee.” Then in a calmer voice, she added, “That’s when I wake up.”
After wiping the tears from the girl’s cheeks, Brandee looked at the shop again. It didn’t look creepy or unusual in any way.
“Behind that El Dorado jewelry store?” She asked.
Heathyr nodded.
“That store? And not another one that looks like it?”
Nodding again, Heathyr said, “Yes. That shop. Not a different one. There’s an alley back there. It’s dirty...”
As Heathyr continued her explanation, a flash of light caught Brandee’s eye. As the doors opened at El Dorado’s, the sun briefly reflected off the glass. A woman in a vivid blue dress exited. When the sun hit her dress it lit up like it had its own light source. The constant wind howling down the street and between the office buildings caught the bottom of her short dress, and for a brief moment, her underwear flashed. It was just like Heathyr described. White panties with pink lipstick designs stamped in random directions. The woman’s hand darted down to catch her skirt, and with one hand she held it to her thigh.
A hoverbus pulled up to the curb at the end of the block. The woman sprinted and boarded the bus, just as it pulled away. A moment later, a man in a black suit rushed out of the jewelry store with a purse in his hand. An expensive black leather clutch. He
did indeed look worried as he ran a few steps in one direction, then the other. Even from across the street, Brandee could hear his shouts, “Mrs. Carroll? Mrs. Carroll?”
Brandee’s spine chilled. This was not possible. How could anyone see something before it happened? How could Heathyr pick the exact day and time of a dream, and bring Brandee to the exact spot it would happen, and in a place the girl had never been before?
Heathyr pointed across the street. “See? That’s Dave. I remember now. He has a name tag that says ‘Dave.’ I told you this was today.” After a pause, she added, “You’re scared now, aren’t you?”
“Of course not.” Brandee caught herself blowing out a deep breath.
Was Heathyr’s dream like a reverse Deja-vu? Her dream seemed too fantastic to be entirely true. Monsters didn’t exist. Maybe it was more symbolism. Or part guesswork. Maybe she saw wolves? Dogs?
Doing her best to keep her voice calm, Brandee asked, “And you say you’ve never been to the downtown district before?”
Heathyr’s body shook. Even her voice trembled. “No. Never. I’m so terrified, Miss Brandee.”
“Relax,” Brandee said, perhaps as much to herself as Heathyr. “Honestly, I’m having a hard time with your story, Heathyr. I believe you’re having nightmares, but monsters like you described just don’t exist.”
Heathyr shrugged.
“Things that happen in our nightmares are scarier than they are in real life. If we’re scared enough, we’ll imagine all kinds of horrible things.”
“But, what if—”
“Yes, scary things can happen in real life, too, but there are no monsters.”
“That’s what people always say. I’ve seen them, Ms. Brandee. I keep seeing them... Everything’s the same as in my dream. Can’t you see? They’re real.” Heathyr’s voice rose in excitement as she pointed at the jewelry store. “No one can see them, but they’re there! They’re there right now.! Then she squealed. “They’re waiting to eat me!”
“Ssssh,” Brandee hushed. “You said I was scared in your nightmare. Do I look scared?” She forced a smile as Heathyr studied her face.
The girl then stared at her shaking hands resting in her lap. “Not right now.”
Brandee gave her a reassuring pat on the back. “See? This isn’t exactly like your dream. I can only guess that you’ve seen images of this place in the Archive or somewhere.”
She hoped Heathyr would feel less terrified knowing that Brandee wasn’t afraid. Then again, Brandee was worried. She couldn’t deny what she had seen with her own eyes. The woman with the blue dress. The man calling for her. All in a place Heathyr had never been before.
“Ms. Brandee, I know you don’t believe me, but this is real. They’re here!” Heathyr was starting to hyperventilate again. “They’re eating me! They’re-”
Brandee put a gentle finger on the girl’s lips to stop her from screaming. “Shhhh.”
After Heathyr’s teary eyes blinked wildly for several seconds, she drew in a deep breath through her watery nose, then exhaled. Brandee’s instinct told her to take Heathyr back to the hospital. This wasn’t working. She was getting more carried away by being here than she did in her room at the hospital. Then again, Brandee may not have been handling Heathyr’s excitement in the right way. Maybe she would respond better to logic.
“You want to go back home, don’t you? Home to your mom and little sister?”
“Yes, please,” Heathyr whispered.
“You promised me you wouldn’t get hysterical. I can’t help you if you keep screaming. People won’t understand why you’re screaming ‘they’re eating me’ over and over. I’ll have to take you back to the hospital if we can’t get through this without terrifying everyone around us.”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Brandee. I do want you to help me. Really, I do. I just want to be normal again. So I can go home.”
“Then let’s go do what we came here to do,” Brandee said. “You ready to go look behind—”
“No,” Heathyr pleaded as tears streamed down her face. “I... I can’t, they’re—” Catching her own voice raising, Heathyr paused, then spoke softer. “I don’t want to.”
Brandee wiped the tears from the girl’s cheeks. “Heathyr, you’re under incredible stress. You’ll drive yourself insane if this continues. Medication and therapy aren’t helping you. Nothing I’ve tried has lessened this constant anxiety attack you’re experiencing. So, unless you want to stay at the hospital until this goes away, you and I need to look behind the shop. Just a quick peek, so we can see what’s back there. I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll be right beside you the entire time. And I’ll bet we’ll both feel a lot better once we see there’s nothing behind El Dorado but garbage and dog poop.”
A long moment passed while Heathyr sniffled and studied the quivering hands in her lap. “Okay, Ms. Brandee,” she whispered. “But? What if you’re...never mind. I’ll try.”
Standing, Brandee pulled the girl to her feet by her hands. “Let’s go put this nightmare to bed once and for all.”
Heathyr chewed her lip as she nervously eyed the jewelry shop. “What do I need to do?”
“Just walk with me,” Brandee said. “You show me which way you went in your dream. Can you do that for me?”
After nodding, Heathyr grabbed Brandee’s hand. “It always starts across the street. On that corner.” Her finger pointed at where the bus had stopped near the intersection.
“Then, that’s where we shall begin.” Brandee smiled.
And with that, she tugged the girl away from the bench and to the crosswalk. After a break in the traffic, they sprinted across the street. Heathyr still seemed cautious, but she was cooperating now. Finally, Brandee felt like she was getting somewhere.
“I walk that way.” Heathyr pointed down the wet, side street and away from El Dorado’s. “Then I turn down the alley. It’s on the right.”
Brandee shrugged. “Lead on.”
Heathyr’s hand was cold and clammy and she pinched her grip tighter like Brandee might try to escape. She baby-stepped down the street, whimpering, shuddering, but never taking her eyes off the alley ahead. Pausing just before the alley, she looked up at Brandee with teary eyes.
“It’s okay, Heathyr. I’m with you this time.”
Brandee patiently waited for Heathyr to psych herself up to make the turn. She took several deep breaths, peeked around the corner twice, marched in place for several moments, then with another whimper, bravely took a step forward.
The alley was dirty, as Heathyr said, but not out of the ordinary for a back alley. Some old newspapers swirled about. Water trickled from the alley toward a storm drain on the street. A steel dumpster sat near a gray and white security courier’s shuttle. After seeing a gold shopping bag blow past the dumpster, Heathyr looked at Brandee and pointed to the shopping bag.
Brandee had to admit this was eerie. But she forced herself to smile again.
“We’re in the alley behind the jewelry store, Heathyr. There’s bound to be some old shopping bags lying about.”
“Ms. Brandee? I’m scared. Tell me you’re not scared, too.”
“I’m not scared,” Brandee lied. “Come. Let’s go take that quick peek behind the dumpster, then we’ll go get some ice cream. You’ve earned it today.”
If Heathyr’s hands weren’t trembling as bad as they were, she might have noticed that Brandee’s hands were doing the same thing. After taking a deep breath, she led Heathyr into the alley. The girl wrapped her free hand around Brandee’s arm and walked as close as she could, almost stepping on her feet. The girl’s eyes wouldn’t stray from the dumpster ahead. After a long period of inching forward, they had reached the edge of the dumpster. Just one more step and Heathyr would see the truth.
“I’ll go first,” Brandee said. “You can wait here if you’d like.”
“No!” Heathyr clung tighter to Brandee’s arm.
With Heathyr in tow, Brandee hurried a couple steps forward and s
topped behind the dumpster. She scanned the area. No creatures. Only an expansive courtyard between all the buildings and a solitary shuttle. When the rear door to El Dorado’s darted opened, the two girls jumped. A female security courier dressed in a gray and white uniform exited with a locked silver case in her hands. After securing the locked case in the shuttle’s hold, the courier jumped into the shuttle, then the engines ignited.
Trying to maintain her composure, Brandee nervously giggled. “See? No creatures behind the dumpster.”
“Not there.” The girl pointed at the dumpster.
As the shuttle lifted off and into the air, loose paper and garbage swirled around the courtyard.
“There!” Heathyr pointed at where the shuttle had been. The shuttle had disguised a stairwell that led to the lower level of a long abandoned, public parking garage.
The phrase “wild goose chase” came to Brandee’s mind. She would take Heathyr down the stairs, and if she found nothing there, she would take her back to the hospital. She couldn’t keep humoring her, walking all over town. Besides, Brandee felt herself getting all worked up the longer this went on. Heathyr had her about to crawl out of her own skin. She needed a break so her adrenaline levels would equalize. Then Brandee wondered if this was how Heathyr felt all day long. Poor girl.
With some resistance, Brandee tugged Heathyr to the stairwell, then stopped to see what lie ahead. The concrete steps led to an open doorway revealing nothing but a gritty and cracked concrete floor on a lower level. Heathyr’s teary eyes blinked wildly again. She began hyperventilating.
“Honey,” Brandee said. “Take some deep breaths. We’re only taking a quick look and we’re leaving. I promise.”
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