The Ninth Nightmare

by Graham Masterton

  Xyrena said, ‘I wasn’t going to kill you, anyway. You’re too beautiful to kill.

  For the first time, she saw uncertainty in Brother Albrecht’s eyes.

  ‘We’ve tried all of our best weapons,’ she said. ‘Dom Magator even fired his Absence Gun at you, which is supposed to stop you having ever existed. But I thought, maybe you do have a heart, underneath all of that rage and all of that cruelty and all of those tattoos.

  ‘And then I saw your face as close as this, and I thought, in spite of everything, maybe this man needs only one thing to change him back to what he once was. You were a man of God once. You were a lover once. You could be those again, if you could find somebody to love you for who you are.’

  Brother Albrecht said, ‘You’re lying to me, Xyrena. You’re trying to deceive me. You could never love me.’

  She rested the palm of her hand between his legs, and squeezed him very gently, and looked intently into his eyes. ‘I could – and if you want me to, I will. But I need to see the true Brother Albrecht. I need to see you for who you really are. I need to see what you’ve been denying for eight hundred years.’

  ‘I can’t. I’ve hurt and mutilated too many hundreds of people, all in the name of my own anger. Look at this circus! Look at these freaks! Look at these clowns! Nobody could forgive me for all this!’

  ‘Me,’ said Xyrena. ‘I can. If you’re not the same as me, and you don’t come from the world of dreams, then show me who you really are.’

  Brother Albrecht’s nostrils flared with passion and lust. ‘I can’t! It’s impossible! I can’t!’

  ‘Then I’ll go, shall I?’ said Xyrena. ‘I’ll let you take your circus through to the waking world, and cause even more havoc, and even more pain, and even more killings. I just wonder what your Lisbeth would have said had she ever known what you would do.’

  She turned away from him. All of the hundreds of people in the big top were standing silently, staring at her – even Mago Verde and the ringmaster.

  ‘What have you done, you slut?’ said Mago Verde, his voice quaking. ‘What have you done?’

  ‘I’ve tried the only weapon against Brother Albrecht that I thought might work.’ said Xyrena. ‘Now why don’t you get on with your sacrifice, you ghoul?’

  ‘What have you done?’ he screamed. ‘What have you fucking done?’

  Xyrena gradually became aware that the faces of the people who were staring at her were becoming more and more brightly illuminated. She could see reflections in the visors of the Night Warriors’ helmets, and on Jekkalon and Jemexxa’s black and silver suits. Within a few seconds, the whole interior of the big top was lit up so intensely that by comparison the chandeliers looked dim.

  She turned around. Behind her, a tall figure of a man was standing, but a man so dazzling that she had to shield her eyes with her hand. Although she was almost blinded, she recognized his face. It was Brother Albrecht, as beautiful as ever, but now the wild flowers had blown from his hair and he was crowned instead with scintillating sparks, rather like the crown that she herself was wearing.

  He was wearing a golden robe that matched her golden cloak, and his arms were spread wide. His arms were whole again, and his legs had been restored, and the demonic tattoos had all been bleached from his body. Now Xyrena was sure what he was.

  The whole of the big top was filled with a high singing sound that was barely audible to human ears, and every chandelier was jangling with its resonance.

  Dom Magator stepped forward and put his arm around Xyrena’s waist. ‘You did it,’ he said. ‘I don’t know how you did it, but you did it.’

  ‘I told him I could love him, that’s all. Don’t you understand? He’s an angel. That’s why the Absence Gun didn’t work on him. He was never born in the same way that you and me were born. You can’t reverse something that never happened. But give him love – that’s something different. God didn’t love him any more. He lost the woman he loved. That’s why he was always so vengeful.’

  Brother Albrecht reached out his hand. ‘Are you prepared to come with me, Xyrena, and love me?’

  ‘Where?’ asked Xyrena, but she already knew the answer to that.

  Dom Magator said, ‘I can’t ask you to do this, Rhodajane. You can’t sacrifice yourself for the rest of us.’

  Xyrena looked at him and smiled. ‘Yes, I can. And how much of a sacrifice are we talking about? Heaven has to be better than Cleveland.’

  Zebenjo’Yyx came up to her now and held her tight. ‘You had the best weapon of all of us, all the time, didn’t you, sweet cheeks, and Springer knew that. You was the only one among us who could bring this full circle.’

  Jekkalon and Jemexxa hugged her, too. ‘Thank you, Rhodajane. We’re never going to forget you, ever.’

  ‘What about the circus?’ screamed Mago Verde. ‘Albrecht, you treacherous bastard! What about the circus? What about me?’

  Brother Albrecht raised both arms. Shafts of bright light radiated from his outstretched hands like a brilliant sunrise. ‘The circus is over,’ he said. ‘The tents are struck. The dreamer awakes.’

  He took hold of Xyrena’s hand and drew her toward him. He put his arms around her, and kissed her, and then they slowly streamed upward toward the roof of the tent, more like a shining golden fountain than two people embracing each other.

  The roof of the tent opened up like the petals of a huge black flower. Brother Albrecht and Xyrena rose up into the purple sky, and with a last scintillating glitter they were gone.

  There was a moment’s silence. Then, with a soft thunderous sound, the big top started to collapse. The audience screamed and panicked and rushed for the exits, but even as they struggled to escape they began to disappear. Brother Albrecht’s dream was over and they were waking up, too.

  Tonnes of black canvas dropped on top of the stage, drowning the clowns and the freaks and the circus hands like a huge black tidal wave. Jekkalon tried to battle against it, shouting out, ‘Mom! Mom! Mom – where are you? Mom!’ Dom Magator grabbed his arm and shouted, ‘It’s too late, Jekkalon! It’s all over! There’s nothing you can do!’

  ‘But that’s our mom!’

  ‘She died, Jekkalon. She died a long time ago. We need to get out of here before Mickey Veralnik wakes up.’

  Zebenjo’Yyx was tugging loose the knots that had fastened An-Gryferai to her chair. He untied her gag, and helped her down from the stage. Her wings had shed some feathers, and her arms were badly bruised, but otherwise she was unhurt.

  Together, the Night Warriors struggled their way out of the big top and jogged out between the marquees and into the wheat fields. When they were clear of the circus site, they turned around to see the last of the black tents collapsing and the last of the caravans falling apart. In only a few minutes, the entire traveling circus and freak show was blowing away in a boiling cloud of black dust, which rose hundreds of feet in the air. Clowns and freaks blew away with it as if they had never existed, which most of them never had. The last structure to teeter and fall was the archway carrying the sign which said Albrecht’s Traveling Circus & Freak Show.

  As it fell, though, An-Gryferai said, ‘Look! Over there!’’

  Running across the fields in the opposite direction was Mago Verde, his white hair flying behind him. His head was lowered in determination and his arms and legs were moving like a clockwork spider.

  ‘He’s escaped, the bastard,’ said Zebenjo’Yyx. ‘Why didn’t he blow away like the rest of them?’

  ‘He’s a Dread, that’s why,’ Dom Magator told him. ‘He belongs in his own dream, not this one. He’s trying to get back there before this one collapses for good.’

  ‘He’s not getting away,’ said An-Gryferai. ‘Not after what he’s done.’

  She started to limp after him. Dom Magator said, ‘Stop, An-Gryferai! You’re hurt! He’s not worth it! We’ll get him some other time, in some other dream, I promise you!’

  But An-Gryferai was determined. She ran faster and fast
er, and she began to beat her wings, harder and harder, and at last she took off and climbed up into the dark purple sky.

  ‘An-Gryferai!’ called Jekkalon and Jemexxa, but she ignored them and flew after Mago Verde like an eagle flying after a coyote. Stray feathers blew from her wings, and the crosswind made her angle and dip, but it took her only a few minutes before she had caught up with Mago Verde and was flying right over his head.

  Panicking, he turned his head around and looked up at her, but he kept on running. ‘Go away, you bird-bitch! Get the fuck away from me!’

  But An-Gryferai was thinking of her grandmother Gryferai, and the way that Gryferai had finally destroyed the Black Shatterer. She knew now that it was a Night Warrior’s duty to annihilate every kind of evil, regardless of the danger and regardless of the cost.

  She opened up her talons and swooped down on Mago Verde, grasping his shoulders. Her claws pierced his black tailcoat and buried themselves an inch deep into his flesh. He screamed in pain and rage, but she beat her wings in a deep, steady rhythm, and she lifted him clear of the ground and up into the air. His legs pedaled wildly, but she took him higher and higher.

  As she flew, she looked down and she could see her shadow flickering across the wheat fields, with Mago Verde dangling below her. She saw her fellow Night Warriors, the sun glinting off their armor. They waved up at her and she tried to smile back at them, although by now she was gasping with effort.

  She turned in a semicircle and flew with Mago Verde back toward the township of Melancholy. Mago Verde was screeching and cursing, but he was helpless.

  ‘You will suffer for this, bird-bitch! You will suffer so much!’

  She reached Melancholy and flew along the main street. Strangely, nobody looked up at her. The dream was coming to an end and their existence was gradually fading away.

  ‘I am Mago Verde! I am the Green Magician! I am Mago Verde!’

  An-Gryferai lifted him up over the diminutive church. He was screaming and sobbing now, because had had guessed what she was going to do. She took him up a little higher, and hovered over the church spire, flapping her wings steadily to keep her position against the wind.

  ‘Do you want mercy?’ she shouted at him.

  ‘Mercy!’ he screamed. ‘For Christ’s sake, mercy!’

  ‘You should have thought of that, a long time ago,’ she told him; and then she released the mechanism of her claws and he dropped from her grasp, his arms and legs windmilling wildly.

  He fell directly on to the gilded cross on top of the spire. It pierced his belly and was driven right through him. He ended up face down, his arms and legs dangling, with blood slowly sliding down the spire.

  An-Gryferai circled the church once, and then she flew back slowly to join the rest of the Night Warriors. When she skip-landed in the wheat field next to them, they all whistled and clapped her, and Jemexxa hugged her tight. ‘You’re so brave, An-Gryferai. You’re amazing.’

  Together they walked through the fields toward the flickering blue portal in the distance. Halfway there, they saw four faded figures standing in the wheat, their images blurred in the dust and the sunlight. When they came closer they saw Kieran and Kieran’s mother Jenyfer, in a simple gray dress, her hair pinned up, smiling at them. Not far away stood Michael-Row-The-Boat-Ashore-Hallelujah, holding his puppy. A little further in the distance stood Detective Wisocky, one hand in his pocket, chewing a wheat stalk, and next to him, smiling, Maria Fortales.

  Dom Magator raised his hand to Detective Wisocky and Detective Wisocky waved back. Then he turned around and started to walk away.

  ‘Mom!’ shouted Kieran and Kiera, and ran to put their arms around her. ‘Mom, you came back!’

  Jenyfer Kaiser kissed each of them. ‘No, darlings, I haven’t come back. I’ve just come to say goodbye, and thank you for saving me. I belong in dreamland now. But this is a happy dreamland, with good people, and you can always come visit me, any time you fall asleep.’

  Dom Magator went up to Michael and hunkered down beside him. ‘How are you, little fellow?’

  ‘I’m happy, too,’ smiled Michael. ‘Jenyfer and me and Froggy, we’re going to stay together and Jenyfer’s going to bring me milk and cookies.’

  Dom Magator took off his helmet, and tousled Michael’s hair.

  ‘Did I ever tell you that I love you?’ he said.

  Michael shook his head. ‘You didn’t have to, Mr Dauphin,’ he said. ‘I always knew.’

  TWENTY-THREE

  Awakenings

  Kiera was woken by a persistent hammering on the door of Room 237. She lifted her head from the pillow and looked around, blinking. The clock beside the bed said seven fifty-three a.m. and the sun was shining between the drapes.

  ‘Kiera! Kiera! It’s Lois! You have to wake up!’

  Kiera drew back the covers and climbed out of bed. She felt bruised all over, as if she had been riding on roller coasters all night. She shuffled across to the door and opened it. Lois was standing outside, already dressed in a black polo-neck sweater and a black beret, and huge dark glasses, so that she looked like a giant insect.

  Several other people were hurrying along the corridor behind her, carrying suitcases and coats.

  ‘Lois? What’s wrong?’

  ‘They’re evacuating the hotel. You have to get dressed as quick as you can. Jessie will pack up your things for you.’

  ‘They’re evacuating the hotel? Why?’

  ‘I don’t know exactly. But there’s cops swarming all over the place. I’ve arranged for rooms at the Renaissance downtown.’

  ‘OK,’ said Kiera, blearily. ‘Just give me five minutes. I really need to take a shower.’

  ‘Quick as you can, sweetheart. I’m going to wake up Kieran now.’

  Kiera closed the door and went through to the bathroom. In the mirror she looked no different from usual, although her hair was tousled and her eyes were puffy. But she raised her right hand, palm outward, as if she were Jemexxa, about to fire thousands of volts of lightning to Jekkalon; and as if she were pledging her allegiance to Ashapola.

  She knew that her life had changed for ever, and that standing in front of three thousand applauding fans would never match the feelings that she and Kieran had experienced when the fire breather had exploded over Brother Albrecht’s circus, or Xyrena and Brother Albrecht had risen into the sky in a fountain of fire.

  But she had achieved something even more important. She touched the mirror’s surface with her fingertips, and said, ‘Goodbye, Mom. We love you.’

  John arrived at the Griffin House Hotel to find its driveway blocked by more than a dozen police cars, as well as ambulances and TV vans. He parked on the opposite of the road and walked across to the main entrance. As he mounted the steps an officer came to meet him with his hand raised.

  ‘Nobody’s allowed inside, sir. The whole hotel is being evacuated.’

  ‘I’m a cabbie. I’ve come to meet up with a couple of guests.’

  ‘OK, then. Who are they? I’ll have them paged for you.’

  John tried to see inside the hotel lobby. It was crowded with guests and luggage and police officers. ‘What’s going on here? Why is everybody having to leave?’

  ‘Just tell me who you’ve come to collect, sir, and I’ll have them fetched out.’

  ‘OK. It’s the Kaiser Twins, Kieran and Kiera.’

  ‘The Kaiser Twins have their own limo, sir.’

  ‘I know that. But I have to talk to them. It’s important.’

  ‘Sorry, friend. That’s not going to be possible. We have a major situation here. Why don’t you write them a fan letter or something?’

  ‘Tell them that D.M. is here. That’s all I’m asking.’

  ‘I’ll see what I can do. But wait here.’

  The officer disappeared into the hotel lobby and John knew that he wasn’t going to make any attempt to tell Kieran and Kiera that he was here. Guests were already starting to leave the hotel, and police were escorting them to a
line of taxis waiting in the side street.

  He was about to give up when Detective Hudson came down the steps, looking harassed.

  ‘Hey!’ he said. ‘Remember me?’

  Detective Hudson frowned at him and then nodded. ‘Sure I remember you. The cab driver with attitude.’

  ‘What’s going down here? Why is everybody having to leave?’

  ‘You’ll see it on the news soon enough. They found dead bodies in nine of the rooms.’

  ‘Jesus. Do they know who did it?’

  ‘All of them killed differently. Including my partner.’

  ‘You mean Detective Windsocky? The guy who looked like me?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Detective Hudson. ‘The guy who looked like you.’

  ‘I’m real sorry for your loss,’ John told him.

  ‘Well, I doubt if you are, but thanks.’ Detective Hudson’s lips tightened and John could see that he was close to tears.

  ‘Listen,’ said John. ‘You’re tired. You’re in shock. But take it from me, your partner is in a real nice place now, with real friendly people. And he’s a whole man again.’

  Detective Hudson stared at him. ‘What do you mean by that?’

  John realized that apart from the police, and whoever had found his body, only the Night Warriors knew how Detective Wisocky had been mutilated.

  ‘I mean he’s at peace. I’m sure of it. That’s all.’

  At that moment, a woman TV reporter came pushing her way through the crowds calling out ‘Detective! Detective!’ and Detective Hudson turned away. John walked back across the road and climbed into his cab.

  He wasn’t entirely surprised to find Dean Brunswick III already sitting in the passenger seat. Dean looked haggard and very sick now, and as John made himself comfortable behind the wheel, he started to cough.

  ‘You’re in a bad way, Dean,’ John told him.

  ‘Oh, I’ll get over it. We all get over it, in the end.’

  ‘Cheer me up, why don’t you?’ said John. He started the engine, and checked his rear-view mirror. ‘So, where do you want to go?’