Rushed (19 page)

“That’s so weird to think about.”

“I know.”

“Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah.  Just…  Tired.”

“I should let you catch your breath.”

“Yeah.”

“And you should call your brother.”

“I should.”

“Call me back and let me know he’s okay.”

They said goodbye and hung up.  Eric made his way to the far side of the field and climbed another fence.  There, he stepped onto another dirt road and found that it was familiar.  He’d been here in his dream.  He was back on the path. 

He wondered what he missed by taking his detour by the church.  Hopefully it wasn’t anything important…

He dialed his brother’s number and continued walking. 

Paul answered on the first ring. 

“Where are you?”

“I’m at that Gold Sunshine place.”

“Still?”

“Yeah, still!  I’m hiding in one of those little cabins.”

“From what?”

“I don’t even know!  Absolutely no idea!  Damn thing came out of the corn!  Looked kind of like a little bitty rhinoceros…”

“Rhinoceros?”

“Lots more teeth, though…  Funny little legs, too.  No bigger than my dog…  Came charging right at me! 
Mean
little bastard!  Bit me!  Tore my pants leg all to hell…”

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.  Just a few scratches.  But I almost didn’t make it to this cabin!  You didn’t tell me about those things!”

“Mutant mini rhinos are a new one to me.”

“Grunting and snarling…  Scared the holy hell out of me!”

“I warned you it wasn’t safe.  Should’ve listened to me.”

“I know.”

“Is Kevin on his way to pick you up?”

“Not yet.  Him and Damien were still looking for this place when I called him.” 

“And you haven’t worked up the guts to go back out so you can make a break for the driveway?”

“Can’t!  Stupid thing’s standing guard out there!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!  I’m looking at it right now, through the window!  It’s just sitting there, dozing in the grass,
waiting
for me!  Little freak!”

Eric laughed.  He couldn’t help it. 

“It’s not funny!”

“It’s exactly what you deserve.”

“It’s still not funny!”

“Well it’s got to go away sometime.”

“You’d think…”

“Well, as long as you’re safe…”

“Safe, yes.  Free to leave this smelly old cabin, not so much.  Hot as shit in here, too.”

“Should’ve gone home when you had the chance.”

“I know…”

“Keep an eye out for Taylor.  He was there when I went through.  Maybe he can help you out with your little…rhino-thing.”

“I haven’t seen anybody all day.”

“Well keep your eyes open.”

“Right.” 

“Could be worse.”

“I’m sure it could.”

“At least it wasn’t corn creeps.”

“Corn creeps?  What the hell’s a corn creep?”

“About a hundred times scarier than a mini-rhinoceros.” 

“I’ll have to take your word for that.”

“Yes, you will.  Did you get a picture of it?”

“About twenty of them.  Not much else to do in here.”

“Send it to Karen.  Let her know you’re safe.  She’s worried about you.”

“You told her I’m here?”

“I did.  She’s pretty pissed.”

“Well, shit.”

“I told you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Let her know.”

“I will.”

“I’ll check on you again later.”

“Okay.  Chances are I’ll be right here.  Stupid…whatever the hell it is…”

Eric hung up and stuffed the phone back into his pocket.  He had to admit, it gave him a chuckle to think of Paul being held prisoner in one of those little cabins by a pint-sized rhinoceros. 

He gazed around at the surrounding pastures.  No dwarf rhinos were charging him.  No corn creeps were stalking him.  There weren’t even any coyote-deer watching him.  He seemed to be alone except for the cattle, and so far they seemed to be nothing more than ordinary cows.

Hopefully it would stay this way for a while.  He needed a break. 

He kept wondering about Father Billy.  Was he okay?  Had he escaped the golem?  He hated to think that his untimely arrival had brought tragedy to any man, much less one with such a unique relationship with God. 

His phone rang again. 

When he checked the number to see who was calling, he found it blank again, like it had been when he received the broken call in the church.  Curious, he opened the line and pressed it to his ear.  “Hello?”

“Eric!  I think I finally got the hang of this!  Sorry I cut off before.”

“Who is this?”

“It’s me, silly.  Isabelle.”

Eric stopped walking.  He was shocked.  “
Isabelle
?”

“Yeah!  I got out!”

“Away from Altrusk?”

“Yeah!  Well…  Sort of…  I mean I’m definitely well away from Altrusk.  He’ll never find me now.  But I’m still kind of stuck.”

He couldn’t believe it.  He’d honestly believed that he’d never hear the girl’s voice again.  “How?”

“Remember that room I told you about?  The one with the door I was afraid of?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I did it.  I went in.  It didn’t let me out, like I’d hoped.  And it hurt really bad…but it sent me somewhere else.  Apparently, there’s lots of places out there like Altrusk’s house.  And I guess I can move between them.”

“That’s…kind of cool.”

“I know, right?  After you left, Altrusk was insanely mad.  He couldn’t really hurt me—he’s already done all he can possibly do to me—but I decided I had to do something.  So I went to that room with the door and I just went for it.”

“That was very brave of you.”

“Thanks.  But…I have you to thank for that.”

“Me?  I didn’t do anything.”

“Yeah you did.  You were my friend.  I needed a friend.  Plus…  Well, this is kind of weird, but do you remember how I told you I had that connection to my family?  I could feel them?  I was in their thoughts?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, after you left, I realized I have that with you now, too.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.  So I’m kind of in your thoughts now.”

“Oh.  That’s…”

“Weird and kind of creepy?  Yeah.  I know.”

“I wasn’t going to say that.”

“I know you weren’t.”

“Okay, yeah, it’s weird and kind of creepy.”

“I know.  But hey, I may not be able to get back to my family, but I can at least move around.  And I found out I can talk to you.”

“Yeah.  How exactly are you doing this?”

“I found a way to hop into the phone lines.  And since I’m in your thoughts, I know your number.  I’ll be able to talk to you any time I want, as long as you have a phone. 
Any
phone.”

“That’s…cool,” he replied.  And he meant it.  After assuming she was lost, it was incredible to actually be able to talk to her again. 

“In fact, even without a phone, you can always talk to me.  I’ll always be able to hear you.  And I think I can help you, too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  I’ve learned a lot after all these years of being stuck in Altrusk’s house.  I have all that he knows, for starters.”

“You do?”

“And the knowledge of all the other people trapped in that house.  Plus, I think the house itself gave me an intimate connection to the fissure.  I could even feel Father Billy a little bit.  I’m not sure if it was because he’s in the fissure or because he was with
you
, but I could see where he was and how to guide you back to him.”

“Wait…  So that was
you
sending me those text messages?”

“Yep!” 

“How did you—?”

“I’m in your head, remember?”

“Right.  That’s useful.  Thanks.”

“By the way, Father Billy’s fine.  He might’ve lost some of his hearing, but he’s definitely not dead.”

“That’s good news.  I was worried.”

“I know.”

“This you-being-in-my-head thing is a little weird.”

“I know that too.  Sorry.”

“It’s okay.  I’m just happy you’re safe.”

“
I’m
just super excited to be able to talk to you!”

“Me too.  Where are you?  You said you could go to other houses like Altrusk’s?”

“I can.  And not all of them are super-scary.  This one’s kind of nice.  It’s in Australia.”

“Australia?  Really?”

“I know, right?”

“So there’s a fissure in Australia?”

“There’re fissures all over the place.  They’re not all well-defined.  And they don’t all connect to nightmare worlds like the one you’re in.  Like I said, it’s nice here.”

“Cool.”

“But I should go for now.  You need to concentrate on the path.  I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Oh.  And can I call Karen?”

“What?  Oh.  Yeah.  I guess.  You can do that?”

“Of course.  I can call anybody now.”

“Even your parents?”

Isabelle paused.  “Um.  Yeah.  I can.  But…”

“What would you say?”

“Yeah.  They’d think it was a cruel practical joke.  And that wouldn’t be cool.  But Karen’s a real nice person.  And she already knows about me.  I’d like to talk to her.”

“Knock yourself out.”

“Thanks!”

“But she’s going to be a little surprised to hear from you.” 

“I know.  But she’ll be cool with it.  I’m sure of it.”

“Me too.”

“I’ll talk to you later.  Bye-bye!”

“Bye.”  Eric hung up the phone and stared at it for a moment.  That was probably the single strangest telephone conversation he’d ever had.  But it was also very likely the happiest. 

Smiling to himself, he continued on. 

Chapter Twenty

The road carried him past more pastures and a
lot
more cornfields.  There was even a soybean field.  That made for a nice change of scenery. 

Yet the usual peacefulness of the rolling farmland was gone.  He was constantly watching these fields, waiting to see something dark and green rise up above the corn stalks and peek at him.  And of course, if there were such things as corn creeps, why not soybean creeps?  Cow creeps?  Hay creeps?  Or even just another pissed off monkey. 

The sun had begun to sink in the western sky, but he still had a few hours left before dusk.  The temperature had not even begun to drop yet.  He considered what Father Billy told him about the corn creeps not coming out at night and wondered if it would really be safer after dark, or if those horrors would only give way to even more dangerous creatures.

He had a feeling that, regardless of the time of day, there would always be something in the fissure to fear. 

For the time being, however, the only threat seemed to be sunburn.  His arms and neck had grown noticeably hot from his time in the August sun.  It was going to be an uncomfortable night.  But at this rate, he’d count himself lucky if he lived long enough to suffer through it. 

He was also starving.  He’d now missed both breakfast and lunch.  If he was stuck out here much longer, he might find that he’d gladly go a round with Furious George for a McDonald’s drive-through. 

In the dream, he recalled making his way along this path.  He also began to recall something else.  An injury.  His arm was bleeding.  It wasn’t bad, but in the dream he kept looking at it.  It burned. 

Looking at his right arm now, in the waking world, Eric saw no sign of the injury, of course, but he could remember it vividly.  It looked like teeth marks. 

During the time he was off the path, taking his unplanned detour through Father Billy’s church, he was supposed to be continuing along the road, across that wooden bridge.  Because he hadn’t gone there, the memory of that part of the dream never came back to him like it did in the other places he’d visited.  Only vague snippets recurred to him. 

He wondered why he’d been able to recall perfectly the details of the rooms back at the resort building without entering them.  Merely standing in the doorway and looking toward those rooms had brought back vivid recollections of the dusty, empty spaces behind those doors.  Similarly, he realized that he’d remembered much more of the grounds surrounding Altrusk’s house than he had actually seen.  He’d even used the memory to save himself the trouble of searching for the path leading away. 

Perhaps it was his proximity.  After all, he recalled getting as far as the wooden bridge, though he never saw that structure during his flight from the corn creeps. 

Maybe it had to do with straying so far from the path he took in the dream. 

All he could recall was some sort of building.  A house, he thought, but he couldn’t quite be sure. 

A series of incoherent images rolled around deep in his mind.  A porch.  A driveway.  A decorative well.  Something strange about a tree…  Something watching him…?  Noises.  Panic.  Running. 

He couldn’t make any of it come together.  It was no use. 

But somewhere along the way, he’d been bitten.  And the shape of the teeth marks in his arm was almost human… 

He couldn’t even tell himself that it was only a dream. 

But at least he hadn’t been seriously harmed.  He’d continued on, little worse for the wear, meaning that Dream Eric had
still
probably ended up with the preferred path.  He had only traded a bite mark on his right arm for a painful scratch on his left. 

Around him, the fields were quiet.  These were mostly fallow, empty, allowing him an unobstructed view all around him. 

Nothing stalked him here. 

But perhaps farther out, beyond where he could see clearly…

He walked and he watched for unnatural things, until at last he crested a hill and looked down into the next valley.  A large building waited there for him. 

It appeared to be an old factory of some kind.  Several smoke stacks rose from one end of the facility.  Several large storage tanks stood at its back.  A large loading dock with six bays stood empty and silent.  A single stretch of blacktop led away from the building and off through the open hayfields. 

An old sign still stood out by the road.  Half of it had blown off long ago—likely in a storm—so that it was impossible to read the name of the company, but its logo was still visible.  It appeared to be a Canada goose. 

Standing at the top of the hill, looking down at the sprawling structure, his only thought was,
What now?

He closed his eyes and recalled the dream.  Two days ago, the Eric who would never have met Father Billy set off down the hill toward the silent factory.  Today, the Eric who was never bitten did the same. 

He had barely begun when his phone rang again.

“I just had the strangest conversation of my life,” Karen announced before he could even say, “Hello.”

He didn’t have to ask who this conversation was with.  “Isabelle’s a sweet kid, isn’t she?”

“Very sweet, yes.  Also kind of spooky.”

“Well she
has
been trapped in a psychotic, inter-dimensional house for the last thirty-six years.”

“That’s going to take some getting used to.”

“I’ve dealt with harder things to accept today.”  The foggy man’s three golems were not the least of these things.

“I guess you probably have.”

“She looks really good for someone old enough to be your mother.”

“I couldn’t believe it when she told me who she was.  Not just that she got out of the house, but that I was even talking to her.  I mean I believed you…”

“You
sort of
believed me,” Eric challenged.  “You didn’t entirely believe me.  You never did.  You
couldn’t
have.  It’s too much to accept. 
I
didn’t even entirely believe it.  I’m still not sure I do.”

“I guess so.  But it was like when you sent me those first pictures.  Those things from the barn…  It was such a shock.”

“I know.  If it’s even remotely the way I felt when I
saw
all those things, when I
experienced
them, then I’m amazed that any part of you believed me at all.”

“I’ve known you too long to doubt anything you tell me.  I trust you.  It would be impossible for me to
not
believe anything you say to some degree.” 

“That’s good.  Because I’m racking up some mileage over here.”

“You are,” she agreed.  “She’s really taken with you, you know?”

“What?”

“Isabelle.  She adores you.  She went on and on about you.”

“That’s…sweet…I guess.  I didn’t do anything though.  I just stumbled into the house.  She was the one who rescued
me
.  I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for her.  I would’ve vanished into that house just like she did thirty-six years ago if she hadn’t appeared in that hallway and led me to her secret room.  I was nothing but trouble for her.”

“Well,
she
doesn’t think so.  She thinks you gave her the courage to get out of that monster’s house.  It’s kind of adorable.  I think she might even have a little crush on you.”

“That’s awkward.  I’ve never been into older women.”

“Thinking about it now, I kind of like it.  You’re her hero.  And she’s ours.”

“She’s definitely mine.  In fact, I seem to be collecting those today.”  He recalled Grant’s timely intervention with his tractor and Father Billy courageously taking on the freak-in-the-box.

“I’m just happy you’re running into so many helpful people.”

“I’m not sure how
helpful
most of them really are.  No one wants to tell me exactly what it is I’m expected to find in the cathedral.”

“Hopefully they all know what they’re doing.”

“No kidding.”

“So where are you now?” 

“I’m heading toward what looks like an abandoned factory way out in the middle of nowhere.”

“That sounds lovely.  I can’t imagine it possibly going wrong.”

“I know.  What do you think?  Another of the foggy man’s golems or a nest of ravenous monsters?”

“Maybe it’s where you’ll have your epic showdown with the foggy man, himself.”

“Nice.  I can’t wait.”

“Isabelle promised me she’d watch out for you.”

“That was nice of her.”

“I’m really glad someone is.”

“You’ve done a fine job watching out for me yourself.” 

“Me?”

“Yeah.  If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be standing around at that dock, trying to figure out where to go next.”

“You’d have figured it out on your own.  Eventually.”

“I’m not so sure of that.”

“
I
am.  You’re pretty slow, but you usually get it in the end.”

“Thanks.  You’re too kind.”

“I know.”

“Did Paul call you?”

“He did.  He’s in a real mess, isn’t he?”

“It’s pretty damn funny, isn’t it?”

“Kind of, yeah.  Did he send you a picture of the thing that won’t let him out of the cabin?”

“No.”

“I’ll have to send it to your phone.  It’s almost cute.”

“Doesn’t sound like Paul’s thinking about bringing it home.”

“No.  It doesn’t.”

“At least he’s safe in the cabin.”

“I know.  Hopefully Kevin can get to him before too long.”

“I hope so.”

“Oh, I’ve got to go.  Toni’s here for the cake.”

“That’s okay.  I’ve got to go get the living hell scared out of me by whatever’s waiting in this factory.”

“Have fun.”

“You know I will.”

“Eric…”

“What?”

For a moment, Karen was silent.  He could tell she was frightened.  Between all the pictures he’d sent her and now talking to the undeniably real Isabelle, it was becoming harder and harder to dismiss all these things with a joke and a smile. 

“Be careful,” she said at last.

“I will.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Bye.”

Eric said goodbye and hung up the phone.  He didn’t like hearing so much worry in her voice.  She was usually much stronger than that.  He could tell that she was ready for him to come home. 

The factory loomed ahead of him. 

It was silent. 

The overgrown lawns and crumbling parking lots confirmed that this was not merely a day off.  No one had worked here in a very long time. 

Glancing down at his phone again, he saw that he was beginning to lose his signal.  The factory was on the edge of the gray zone.  He recalled his dream.  This was like the lake.  He wouldn’t be able to go around.  The only path was
through
the facility. 

Had the fissure always been here?  Surely a factory could not have been built in such a place without someone noticing it.  Perhaps the fissure was always growing.  Perhaps it had spread to this place only after the facility was built.  Or maybe it was like the resort and someone chose this place specifically because of the fissure, with intentions that went well beyond manufacturing American-made products. 

He crossed the parking lot with its weed-choked cracks, following the same path he recalled taking in his dream, and found himself walking toward a heavy, steel door with peeling, green paint. 

The lock was broken.  The door remained closed only because it happened to be weighted so that it rested closed.  He recalled this from his dream.  He also recalled the darkened hallway behind the door, the eerie silence that had settled with the dust. 

Now he climbed the steps and pushed open the door, trying to prepare himself for whatever terror must await him in the darkness. 

The hallway was brightly lit. 

He stood in the doorway, confused, as a tall man in business casual clothes and a white hairnet walked from a doorway on the right-hand side of the corridor to a set of stairs on the left and ascended out of sight.  At the end of the short hallway was a door with a scuffed plastic window.  The room beyond was well-lit, too.  As he looked on, someone walked briskly by. 

A heavyset woman in a pair of bright yellow coveralls came down the stairs and entered what appeared to be an office without glancing at him. 

Where was the darkness he remembered?  Why were these people here?

In the dream, there had been no one.  The entire building had been bathed in gloom so deep it was difficult to see anything.  There had been no signs to indicate that anyone had been here in a very long time.