Sanctuary

by E. Edgar Price

  *****

  The equipment shed was gray against the night sky. It seemed to shimmer in and out of view as Tyler walked around it. He shook his head to clear it, but the shed continued to fade in and out. I must be dreaming, Tyler thought. As soon as the thought entered his mind he understood the truth of it. He was asleep in his bed and this was a dream. Why was he dreaming about the shed?

  He stood facing the shed for a moment, perplexed. Then he turned around. It wasn’t the shed. It was the tree line. He was dreaming about the tree line at the northwest edge of the farm.

  He followed the fencing around a field, keeping his gaze on the boundary of trees. They, too, looked gray in the moonlight, but they did not shimmer. They seemed solid, almost too solid, like a wall instead of a forest.

  A growl issued from behind Tyler. Still aware that he was dreaming, he rounded on the source of it, unafraid. A gray wolf was running towards him, teeth bared with violent intent in his eyes. Dream or no dream, Tyler began to run, trying to find a break in the wall of trees. If he could enter the forest he would be safe. Somehow he knew that if he could find a way in, the wolf at his back would cease pursuit.

  There! A gnarled black sapling hung in a vague arc over a rough path.

  Tyler dared a backwards glance. The wolf was gaining, a few moments more and its claws and teeth would shred Tyler’s back. Tyler pushed his legs harder and stumbled underneath the twisted branch just as he heard a jaw snap behind him.

  When he looked back there was no wolf. There was no field and no farm, only a tunnel of trees. A look forward revealed the same.

  Tyler was breathing heavily, but tried to remind himself that this was only a dream. It was just a dream and he would find nothing harmful through the trees. He walked on, following the path before him and tried not to look back again.

  Ahead, Tyler saw light through the screen of leaves. It brightened as he got closer until he found himself in a clearing. There was a fire going in a large ring of smooth stones. Tyler was drawn forward to the fire and stared at the small gathering of flames.

  In the flames a scene began to play out. A girl was dancing in the red-orange heat, a girl who looked a lot like Tyler’s sister. A wolf entered the scene, dancing a waltz with the Sarah-like figure as if it was human. Suddenly the wolf bared it’s glowing fangs and tore at her throat. Her mouth opened in a silent scream and the girl and wolf merged into one larger red flame. The flame twisted and danced like a hurricane before molding itself into a new form: a huge red wolf. The red wolf faced Tyler with flaming eyes and seemed to leap out of the flames. Tyler backed away instinctively, shielding his face from the heat. But there was no heat

  Tyler lowered his arms and looked around. He was standing at the edge of a narrow lake. When he looked down, he found his face reflected in the water, but as he watched the reflection it changed . His skin roiled and blackened, but Tyler couldn’t look away. Mirrored in the lake, where his face should be, was a wolf.

  Tyler woke abruptly, his hands on his face. He’d known it was dream. He always recognized the dream for what it was, but he was, nevertheless, compelled to hurry to the mirror above his bathroom sink.

  Human. A human face was reflected there. Tyler ran water over his face and briskly toweled it dry, shivering. Goosebumps ran up and down his arms. The dream gave him the creeps.

  This was the third time he’d woken like this, with the same nightmare running through his head. At first, he chalked it up to Grandpa’s rules and ominous warnings. Now he was not so sure.

  There was something about the vision that seemed all too real. It annoyed Tyler and frustrated him. He wasn’t a kid to be scared by night terrors. He was nearly grown. He was strong and capable and he didn’t get scared. So thinking, he calmed his mind and schooled his expression. When he looked back at his reflection, it was serene, but his dark blue eyes still carried residual fear and worry.

  His bedroom was faintly illuminated. The white drapes let in a little light and drawing them back revealed a dull early morning. It was drizzling outside. He stepped out onto his terrace, bare chested in just his pajama bottoms and shivered at the icy sting of the rain. He would never get used to the cold up here, he thought, ducking back into his bedroom. It always took him by surprise. It was June for Christ’s sake! It was supposed to be warm and humid, but up here in the Rocky Mountains chill breezes still brushed chills down his spine and the rain was practically arctic. The view might be beautiful, but Tyler would trade the thin air and craggy peaks for the humidity and heat of the South any day.

  He shucked a t-shirt over his head and changed into a pair of ragged jeans. A glance at his cell phone told him it was still early. He pocketed the gadget and headed down to breakfast.

  He was usually the last one down and today was no exception. He found the kitchen table covered with lukewarm food and not a soul in sight, although, he could hear Jessie grumbling in the next room about dusting in the parlor.

  Tyler sat and poured himself a glass of orange juice. He filled a plate with cold eggs and ham and polished it off quickly. Everyone else was probably already out and doing the myriad of chores that always seemed to occupy them. Tyler gave serious thought to returning to his room instead of doing his chores this morning. It wasn’t much work really, but he didn’t relish the thought of having to be out in this frigid rain. But he knew he wouldn’t seek out the solace and warmth of his bedroom. Instead, he’d find Grandpa and Uncle Matt and do whatever random task they assigned him, but going back to bed was still a nice thought.

  He grabbed a baseball cap from a rack near the back door and donned it to shield his eyes from the rain. As soon as he was out the door, Tyler regretted not grabbing a jacket too, but was stubborn enough to forgo a trip back inside to collect one. He loped through the dark and wet into the barn and found Uncle Matt and Benji milking cows. “Morning,” he called. Tyler hadn’t yet had the pleasure of milking anything and he hoped to skip it completely.

  “Good morning,” Uncle Matt said. Benji mumbled a response, too, but he was intent on the job at hand. “I think David and Adam need help in the stables,” Uncle Matt told him, waving him off. Tyler murmured his ascent and jogged back out into the dreariness of the day. He passed Sarah and Kimmy feeding the rabbits in rain slickers. They were laughing at something Tyler could only guess at and waved to him as he went by.

  Lately, ever since the dreams had started, Tyler experienced a sharp pang of worry every time he saw his sister. He felt a growing need to protect her. With each dream, it rose up more fierce than before. He didn’t want anything to happen to her, but he wasn’t thrilled at his newfound protective instinct either. Mostly, he just ignored it, like he did today, passing her by with barely a wave of greeting.

  The barn was warm and smelled of hay and perfume thanks to Aunt Rachel’s workshop. It was not unpleasant, but neither was it a comfortable smell. He could hear music coming from the workshop (Aunt Rachel liked to listen to jazz and swing while she worked), and headed in the opposite direction. He found David Landon in a narrow room beyond the horse stalls fiddling with several lengths of rubber hose.

  “Ah, Tyler,” David said looking up. “Just the man I wanted to see.” David’s English accent always startled Tyler. It seemed so out of place among the rough mountains.

  “Good morning,” Tyler said. “What’s on the menu for today?” He wanted, like most days, to be handed his assignment and left in peace. But he also knew that, like most days, David would try to turn the day’s labor into a social activity. The man could talk for days and was always explaining things in minute detail. Whether Tyler needed to hear it or not. More importantly, Tyler didn’t want to hear it, but he endured anyway. He braced himself for the chitchat and was not disappointed.

  “These are for irrigation,” David said holding up the hose.

  “It’s raining,” Tyler pointed out contrarily. “Why do we need irrigation hoses?”

  David guffawed like Tyler had just told
him a joke of singular hilarity. Tyler waited, annoyed but used to this kind of response. He liked David, but the man found absolutely everything funny.

  “Well, we get our dry seasons just like anyone else,” he said still chuckling a little. “These aren’t for the outside fields, though. These,” he said as if announcing something of vast importance, “are for the greenhouse. I found some of the old ones rotting and so we’re going to replace them this morning and put fresh connecters on them.”

  Tyler listened as David described how the irrigation in the greenhouse worked and how they were going to improve it this morning. At the end of the unwanted lesson on irrigation systems and the operations of greenhouses, Tyler asked what exactly he needed to do.

  “Well,” the older man said congenially, “I sent Adam over to the equipment shed for a box of bolts and connectors. That place is always a mess,” the Englishman shook his head, “and he seems to be having trouble finding it as he’s not back yet. For now, why don’t you go help him out and when you two get back we’ll replace the tubes in the greenhouse before the morning wastes away?”

  It was a question, but not a question. Another of David’s habits. Tyler nodded and headed out the back of the stables. It wasn’t an awful chore to be given, but honestly, Tyler would be more comfortable mopping floors. Not only would he be inside and out of the cold, but he actually knew how to mop a floor. Grandpa, David and Uncle Matt didn’t seem to understand how ‘farm work’ made Tyler truly uncomfortable. It made him feel less-than somehow because he didn’t know how to do any of it.

  Tyler gritted his teeth against the rain and jogged over to the equipment shed. The rain faded the wood to a dark gray and it reminded him of his dream. He stopped just short of the shed, an idea percolating in his brain. Adam was probably deliberately procrastinating. He hated chores and his dad’s repetitive and detailed conversation almost as much as Tyler did. That meant Tyler wouldn’t be missed if he took a small detour. He decided to check on Adam first and walked to the door of the shed trying not to make too much noise.

  Sure enough, Adam was sitting on an old tractor tire halfheartedly going through a deep tool chest. Tyler slunk past the shed door and ended up on the far side facing the tree line. Unexpectedly, his heartbeat sped up and he felt a coldness run up his spine that the frosty drizzle alone could not account for. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he calmed his speeding heart.

  Tyler followed the fence row that ran alongside the tree line, just has he’d done in his dream. He inspected the trees intently looking for something familiar with the vague hope of finding nothing. His nightmares would then be truly unfounded and perhaps they would end. The thought of a return to dreamless rest was incredibly appealing.

  About fifteen yards down, the fence turned to the east and Tyler was brought up short at the corner. There, northwest of his current position was a blackened and gnarled sapling. It climbed and then dipped down low like an archway. Beyond it, Tyler could make out a faint path. It was barely more than a deer trail made more apparent because of the rain. Tyler froze, his widened gaze pinned to the trail and tree.

  It was real. There was the tree. There was the path. Would there be a tunnel of trees beyond it? Would there be a blazing fire ringed by stone? Tyler was dumbfounded at the thought. He must have seen this before, he rationalized. Maybe that first day, on the tour with Jessie and Adam. Yes, that must have been it, although he couldn’t recall coming this direction, but he must have. The rest was probably his own fancy created in response to Grandpa’s talk of wolves and rules. Tyler tried to reason his way back to a comfortable understanding, but soon gave up.

  Grandpa Lee was very insistent on keeping to the inside of the boundary. He reminded them often to stay inside the tree line as if worried they might forget. Despite most teen’s typical rebelliousness, Tyler actually wasn’t one to break rules without good reason. But determining the meaning behind the night terror that plagued him seemed like a pretty good reason to break a rule at the moment.

  Not now, though, he told himself. He couldn’t risk being missed. If this turned out to be nothing but excessive imagination, he didn’t want to get in trouble for investigating. He doubted Grandpa would even believe him about the dreams, much less condone Tyler’s forbidden excursion. Tonight, Tyler decided, while everyone slept. After all, in the dream the moon was up, it was night. It seemed fitting that he investigate during the nighttime as well.

  Tyler hurried back to the equipment shed. Adam was still rummaging around in the same tool chest, but began to search in earnest when he heard Tyler approach. He slacked off when he saw who it was, though. After exchanging greetings, Adam described what they were looking for and, by unspoken accord, the two wasted as much time as possible finding it.