Where Nightmares Ride

by R A Baxter

  “Then how are we going to keep Intershroud from finding us here?” Katie winced when her shoulder bumped against a doorframe.

  “When we return you to Materia, I’ll teach you how to embrace your Shadow, so you can control your dreams as Free Dreamers. The side benefit to that is that you’ll be able to remember every moment of your dreams.”

  “That’s if we can survive this one,” Katie said.

  Jack tripped on a wooden threshold and fell against a doorframe.

  “Let’s rest for a minute,” Marina said.

  Jack leaned against the frame. “Sherry’s book told me a lot about controlling dreams. I can lucid dream, but I have no idea how to control my Shadow. How do I find out who my Shadow Archetype is?”

  “You said you recently awoke from a dream,” Marina said. “Did you meet anyone that was out of place? Unexpected?”

  Jack thought for a moment, then smiled. “There was an old woman talking to Katie right before the imps showed up. She said all kinds of rude things and Katie just nodded her head."

  Marina pursed her lips and looked at Katie. “That would’ve been Katie’s Shadow. The old woman is a Senex Archetype. She’s an old hag on whom you project your feelings of low self-worth. I suggest that you don’t embrace her. Subdue her instead. Defy her. Your worth is far greater than she tells you it is. Next time you dream about her, confront her and tell her she’s wrong. Don’t be afraid of her. She can’t hurt you."

  Katie nodded. “I’ve dreamed of that woman a lot, now that I think about it.”

  Marina turned to Jack. “So, how about you? Did anyone else unusual show up?”

  Jack took a deep breath, surprised at how tired he felt. He thought about the dream and shook his head, but then he remembered. “There was an old Korean monk. He showed up and fought off some of the imps, until they overpowered him. I recognized him from other dreams. I assumed he was the ghost of some old relative of mine.”

  “Sounds like a Hero Archetype,” Marina said. “I should’ve guessed it, judging from your personality. Hero Archetypes follow you around, waiting in the shadows for an opportunity to come out and protect you from enemies in your dreams.”

  “You make me sound like a wimpy little kid.” Jack reddened and frowned.

  Marina grinned. “He probably started showing up many years ago, when you were a wimpy little kid. He’s the hero your subconscious believed you needed. Evidently, you don’t see yourself as a hero. Be that hero, Jack. Embrace him.”

  “What about me?” Clara looked at Marina. “I dream about so many things, I can’t imagine which one would be my Archetype.”

  “I have to admit, you’re a complete mystery to me, Clara. You dream to the same location night after night—even with Intershroud tech trying to force you not to. Either something very unusual happened to you or someone else is manipulating your dreams.”

  “Someone else?” Katie’s eyes widened. “Clara lived alone with her mother for years. There was no one else.”

  “You can never know who might be sharing your dreams,” Marina said. “Some people can dream in the form of other people. Some can dream without being seen. Agents of Intershroud aren’t the only ones manipulating people in their dreams.”

  “Like those soldiers.” Jack said. “They seemed to think they were fighting in some war.”

  Marina nodded. “Exactly. Those soldiers are just ordinary Sleepers, unsuspecting veterans or war buffs that Lynch fools into dreaming they’re serving in a real war, searching for three kids behind enemy lines.”

  “Speaking of enemy lines, we better get moving,” Katie said.

  Marina shook her head. “You three look exhausted. I think we’ve come far enough.”

  “What do we do now?” Clara asked.

  Marina took a quick breath. “I’ve noticed your minds aren’t affecting the dream world as much as they would if you were actually asleep. That gives me a little more power to do things I normally wouldn’t be able to do in the presence of other dreamers. I may be able to verge to another location where I have friends that can help us. They might be able to verge all of you to a haunt far from here.”

  “What do you mean ‘verge’ us?” Jack scratched behind his left ear.

  “Some Free Dreamers have a power to transport people. They’re called ‘Vergers.’ Damien’s one. He can disappear from one dream location and reappear in another. That’s what we’ll need if we’re going to get you out of here.”

  “What? So, every dreamer has some special power?” Jack smiled.

  “Before you were enlightened, your mind had every power imaginable. But Free Dreamers can’t come to terms with doing the impossible. From now on, you’ll be limited to the power in which you have the most confidence. I’m a Shaper, for example.”

  A baseball appeared in Marina’s hand and stretched into a baseball bat, then shrunk and turned dark brown until it took the form of a small chocolate muffin. She popped it in her mouth.

  “Derek’s also a Shaper. Mr. Lynch is a Shade, which means he can dream invisibly.” Marina flickered out of view for several seconds.

  “We can talk about this later,” Katie said. “You need to go get your friends. I need to get out of this place before I lose my mind.”

  Jack’s legs gave out and the ground swelled up below his feet. He fell back against a window and held the walls that now rattled and flowed like liquid waves. Katie and Clara held on to each other, then collided with Marina.

  Marina grabbed the door frame and pulled herself out of the room. “They found us! Run!”

  Jack felt like a ball in a bingo cage, flinging against one wall, then stumbling against Clara and spinning sideways before slamming his shoulder against a door frame. The floor undulated, robbing him of his sense of balance. He reached for Clara’s hand and steadied himself before following Marina into the next identical, undulating room. Jack bit his lip upon seeing Katie holding her breath and pushing as hard as she could to loosen herself from between door jambs that had bulged in on her from both sides. The wooden jambs spread out and she stumbled into Jack’s arms.

  Columns of blinding light sprung through new cracks in the paneled ceiling, forcing Jack to look away. Marina glanced back at him, stopped, and closed her eyes tight. She leaned her head back, fists clenched. The room grew dim and a thin gray mist blocked the view all around the four of them, slowly densifying into new shapes: a white concave ceiling, a long row of square windows to each side of them, and two rows of blue cushioned benches. Jack’s leg brushed against the soft upholstery now running along both rows of windows.

  “This looks like one of those old mining trains,” Clara said.

  Marina, her eyes still clamped shut, put up an index finger to silence her, then squinted and tightened her fists so hard she began to shake. Jack fell backward into Clara and Katie, who both slammed with him against a locked door. The subterranean train lurched forward, curving nearly straight down with such speed, Jack felt lightheaded and feared the bile rising in his throat would soon find its way out of his mouth. He slid sideways, dropped onto a side bench, and gripped its armrest tight. Katie and Clara did the same, taking seats across the aisle. Marina remained standing, shaking so hard Jack couldn’t understand how she was staying asleep. He imagined they were a mile deep by the time the train finally slowed and stopped.

  The train dissipated instantly, rendering Jack weightless for a few seconds before his knees and hands found the cool surface of a solid concrete floor. Marina fell to her knees and rolled onto her back, staring upward, her eyes closed.

  Clara pulled herself up and ran to her. “Marina! You okay?” She shook Marina’s shoulders.

  Marina lay still for several seconds before rolling her head to face Clara. “Now, that’s the kind of concentration that hurts.”

  Jack took a deep breath, pulled himself up, and looked around the vast open room. Curved wooden beams supported an ornate vaulted ceiling at least thirty feet over their heads, divided by beige pla
ster panels and stained-glass skylight windows. Balconies with black wrought-iron railings ran along the side walls, ending at giant round windows at both ends of the long hallway. A row of arched openings, rimmed with flowery ornamentation, ran along both walls for hundreds of yards.

  “This place is amazing,” Katie said. “It looks like an old railway station.”

  “It’s an old Union Railway Station I saw once in Indiana, to be exact. Best I could do under these conditions.”

  “When can we get out of here?” Jack wiped away sweat and paced back and forth. “I can’t take much more of this.”

  Marina sat up. “Each of you look away from me. Stare at that rose window. I’ll try to verge out of here. When I do, you need to stay here so I can dream back to you again. It’s extremely important that you remain in this exact location.”

  “We’ll do it,” Jack said, nodding.

  Jack joined the girls, turning around. A few pigeons fluttered around the sill of the round window. The ceiling and walls started to close in.

  The room continued shrinking and Katie wondered if it had anything to do with Marina’s attempt to verge away.

  “It’s no use,” Marina said.

  Everyone turned to her.

  “It looks like your thoughts are still strong enough to keep me from dreaming out of here. Jack’s claustrophobia is making the room shrink. I created a large room to combat that, but it isn’t enough. You’ll need to learn how to overcome phobias like that, Jack. Fear has a way of transforming your dreams into something you don’t want.”

  “Why don’t we just go to sleep right here?” Clara’s eyes brightened. “It worked against the Ghost Knights. We can go to sleep, then Jack and Katie can go find Mr. Farley and the others from camp. Then, when they wake up, Farley will think we’re gone, and we’ll be able to go to the haunt.”

  Marina shook her head. “Not a bad plan, but I’m afraid Farley and Lynch won’t give up so easily. If they believe you’re ghosts, or in a coma, they’ll know you won’t wake up easily. Since you’ll actually be easy to wake up, they’ll know you’re still alive somewhere and you’ll eventually dream back to Essentia. They won’t stop looking for you.”

  “So, we’re toast,” Katie said.

  “No. I’m just going to have to wake up and fall back asleep so I can start my dream in another location. It’s risky, but I don’t see another way.”

  “How’s it risky? Lynch will want you to go back asleep anyway,” Jack said.

  “True, but he’s already wondering why I didn’t wake up in that landslide. If I go to sleep again and don’t immediately show up with his crew, he’ll be suspicious.”

  “Then we need another plan,” Katie said.

  “Actually, I think I can still make it work. When I wake up, I’ll tell them one of you caused the landslide, but I dodged it. I’ll say I spied on you. I’ll come up with some story and convince them I need to leave camp. There are a few guards at the camp who are sympathetic with the resistance. With any luck, I’ll convince Lynch to let them drive me to Kalispell. I’ll sleep in the car and Lynch’ll never know it.”

  Jack grinned wide. “Well let’s get on with it then. How do you wake up?”

  Marina slid a black metal handgun from her waist and handed it to Katie. “A shot to my face ought to do the trick.”

  Katie cringed and forced the gun into Jack’s hand. “I can’t shoot you in the head.”

  Marina turned to Jack. “You’re not killing me. You’re just shocking my mind out of its sleep state.”

  Jack hesitated for a few seconds, then raised the gun to Marina’s forehead. He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. Marina’s body fell limp, disappearing within seconds. Jack opened his eyes, his face registering relief upon glancing at the empty floor.

  “All we can do now is wait,” There was a hint of fear in Clara’s eyes.

  The walls creaked, and the room decrease slightly in volume. Katie looked at Jack but stopped herself from saying anything. His sheepish expression told her he knew he needed to control his fear.

  A shuffling sound turned Katie’s gaze upward. White dust drifted from a small round hole in one of the ceiling panels. A small rodent poked its forepaws and buck-toothed head from the hole, gazed down at her, and scurried back into its hole.

  Katie gave Jack a smile, but it faded when the floor lurched up below her and her knees buckled, forcing her to the concrete floor, along with her companions. She rolled onto her back, feeling like she weighed five hundred pounds as the entire structure rocketed upward, the glass skylights rattling and loosening from their frames before crashing to the ground in thousands of pieces. The balconies twisted and creaked, and plaster dust swirled in the air.

  When the movement finally stopped, Katie pulled herself up. Jack stood, massaged his left elbow, and helped Clara to her feet. A cool breeze brushed against Katie’s face, flowing in from one of the arched openings, and a stream of black smoke snaked from the arch and gushed across the concrete floor.

  “No, no, no! Not now!” Jack looked at Katie, his eyes wide with fear.

  The Ghost Knights emerged from the archway and surrounded the three Dream Runners, their obsidian black steeds stamping their silent airborne hooves.

  Ezekiel lifted a hand to his side, informing his cohorts to stay back. He raised his lance and a deafening violet bolt of lightning blasted from its metal tip, slammed into Jack’s chest and sending him flying backward. He crashed against a pilaster, sinking a half inch into the Venetian plaster, which now cracked and sloughed off the wall and slid, in hundreds of powdery pieces, across the polished concrete floor.

  Clara’s scream had hardly finished before Jack pushed himself away from the wall unharmed. He glared at the Ghost Knight leader, brushed plaster dust from his arms, and stepped forward.

  Ezekiel looked at each of his five companions in turn, nodded his head, and faced Jack. “The rumor is true, then,” Ezekiel said. “Thou art truly awake in a world of dreams?”

  “You didn’t have to blast me across the room to figure that out!” Jack clenched his fists. “Move this room back where it was. Marina needs to meet us there.”

  “Regrettably, we cannot return thee to the exact location,” Ezekiel said. “Our spies determined your friend to be in the service of Intershroud. It was our intention to rescue thee from her grasp.”

  “You might as well get revenge on yourselves then,” Jack said. “You’ve as good as killed us. Marina was our only hope of escaping this nightmare.”

  “Now, now, don’t be so sure o’ ye self.” Jeb’s voice echoed from behind the six mounted knights. He stepped around Ezekiel, faced Katie with a twinkle in his eye, and pulled the reins of three misty black steeds. On his right shoulder sat a familiar frog, its flimsy left arm hugging the old miner’s sunburnt neck. It grinned, enjoying the attention.

  “A crow done showed us how ye awakened ye selves right here in Essentia,” Jeb said. “’Tis certain I couldn’t believe me own eyes. That ol’ varmint, Avard, was telling the truth. Ye truly are Dream Runners.”

  “Yes,” Jack said, “and now we’re going to die here because you made it so Marina won’t be able to find us.”

  “No worries, me friend. We came here to rescue ye. I’s gonna lend ye me own haunt, see.”

  “Why would we trust you?” Katie scowled at the old man and marched up to him. “You shot me in the head!”

  Jeb stepped back, frowning and furrowing his brow. “No, no, miss. I apologize, but I had to awaken ye. ’Tis certain I had to show ye that Jack weren’t dead.”

  “You could’ve just told me.” Katie folded her arms.

  “I tried, but ye was convinced the boy was dead.”

  “You didn’t have to force me to fight at all!” Jack said.

  Jeb shook his head. “Tis most certain that I did. That rascal got it into his head that the three of ye were Material beings and that ye murdered him. I was certain he’d lost his mind. I was certain ye was just a few y
oung Aspects off a dreamin’.

  “That’s when I done convinced Ezekiel to let the ole rascal wake ye, thinking he killed ye. Ye must know that ol’ Avard would’ve followed ye for the rest o’ yer days if we didn’t give him his revenge. So, we let him fight ye. I made sure yer Essence body remained, looking all stone cold and dead. It worked. We fooled him. Once avenged, ol’ Avard hadn’t no thoughts left to hold onto his soul. He dissipated, and he’ll never bother ye again.”

  Katie let her arms drop and she cracked a half smile at Jack.

  “We were thousands of feet below ground,” Clara said. “How’d you find us?”

  “I helped them,” the frog said. He stood up on Jeb’s shoulder, folded his arms, and looked Clara in the eyes. “We frogs are most adept at detecting subterranean vibrations, if you must know. Your efforts to abandon me were neither successful nor appreciated, but don’t worry about me. My adventures with the three of you have been nothing but peril. It’s most frustrating attempting to walk and talk with people who feel inclined to run and hide every five seconds. I’ll be confining my walking and talking to Mr. Colton from now on.”

  Clara smiled at him and held out a hand, but the frog stepped back and looked away.

  Jeb rolled his eyes. “Don’t ye be listenin’ to this feckless little toad. ’Tweren’t him who found ye. A crow showed us the blue-haired lady steelin’ ye below ground. This here frog set us in the right direction, but it were our gophers that sniffed ye out. I was frankly surprised we was able to bring ye back up.”

  “I just want to know how we’re going to make it past Lynch’s troops without being seen. They’re everywhere,” Jack said.

  “Don’t ye be worryin’. These Ghost Knights know all the tricks. Intershroud certain don’t want to get on their bad side. We’ll make it to me haunt. You’ll see.”

  “I thought the Ghost Knights only cared about revenge,” Jack said.

  “Tis true, fer certain, but the knights’ll make allies with the livin’ when it serves them. Miss Abigail convinced me to lend ye me haunt ’cause she needs your help to seal Farley’s fate.” Jeb held his hand toward a rider next to Ezekiel and, upon noticing it, quickly dropped his hand. Everyone turned to the rider who now stared down at Jeb.