Waking Nightmares
Ch. 1: The Summons
Katy Fletcher dragged herself across the threshold of her apartment in San Francisco after a long and unnaturally busy day at work. She had been up for ten hours straight and the need for sleep almost wouldn't let her get ready for bed. But Katy somehow managed to resist the urge long enough to slip on a long shirt that stopped mid-thigh and mix a night cap. After downing the drink she let the day take its toll and succumbed to the sweet embrace of sleep. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
"Huh? Where am I?"
Katy looked around in a stupor as she attempted to gather all her marbles. After a few seconds her mind started working again and she recognized where she was. She was in the suburbs, the houses all lined up in neat rows. But what was she was doing here in the middle of the night? Indeed, it was night and the only illumination came from the insides of the houses and the street lights and Katy was in the middle of the street still in her night clothes. She was about to look for a street sign when she heard a malevolent chuckle that seemed to come from all directions at once.
"H-hello? Is anyone there?" she managed to stammer.
Silence.
Katy swallowed nervously and decided it would be best to hail a cab back to her apartment before remembering she was in her nighty. That's when she noticed something else. The street was empty and the city was absolutely silent. There was always noise in this city even at night and for there to be no cars at all to be seen was highly irregular. Katy's breathing became heavier and she moved towards the nearest house. Nobody answered the door when she rang the doorbell or knocked on the door. Katy was going to try another house when the same chuckle she heard earlier once again penetrated the uncomfortable silence and she whirled around.
This time Katy saw someone. There was a man in a long coat and fedora hat standing in the light of a streetlamp at the corner across the street. The backlight obscured his face and cast a long shadow on the ground.
"Is somebody lost?"
His voice was rough and gravelly, like someone who smoked too much.
"Are you lost… Katy?"
"How do you know my name?"
"Oh Katy, I know all about you," the man said and stepped away from the lamp.
Now that the stranger was in better lighting Katy could see his face and it made her nauseous. He was disfigured, scarred, his face looked as though it had been melted and someone had done a sloppy job putting it back together.
"What do you say, Katy?" he continued as he advanced. "Care for a night out on the town? I think it would be something to die for!"
"Stay a-away from me!" Katy pleaded as she pressed up against the door to the house.
"With all that fear I couldn't stay away from you if I wanted… and I don't want to," he said with a wicked grin that showed pointed and rotten teeth.
"Please, just leave me alone!"
"I can't do that, not with the fear and that I need you to send a message for me."
"I-I'll do anything you ask, just leave!"
"Yes, Katy, you will do anything I ask."
The man flicked his arm and a razor sharp blade extended from above his hand on a spring loaded contraption.
"Now die for me!"
Katy whimpered in her bed, struggling as though trying to get away from something. Suddenly her nightshirt was split open down the middle and a bloody gash was carved into her flesh. She started screaming but it only lasted mere seconds before another deep gash appeared across her chest she started choking and coughed up blood. A second later she became absolutely still.
An unseen hand started carving on the flesh of her stomach, making a message on the dead woman's body. It was a message for one particular person.
I'm back!
Come and get me if you dare,
Griffin
One year. That's how long I had been in nineteenth century Arendelle. One year of peace and happiness. One year I had been with Elsa. It was the best year of my life. Now our one year anniversary was right around the corner and I wanted it to be memorable for Elsa. The only problem was I didn't have the slightest clue what to do. I knew she loved chocolate almost as much as Anna but I wanted something more, something really special. Perhaps a drawing? No, I didn't have time to make one as elaborate as I'd like and I was not going to take a rain check. Then maybe a musical composition? That seemed doable if my imagination didn't up and leave me. And with time so short it was my only option. But I wouldn't be me if something didn't happen to disrupt my efforts in the worst or, in this case, the best way possible.
It was afternoon and Anna, Kristoff, Elsa and myself were finishing our midday meal.
"Alright, those movies sound terrifying!" said Kristoff as he drank some wine.
"They are, they wouldn't be called horror films otherwise," I responded with a grin.
"Why would anybody want to see them?" Anna asked.
"For some reason we just like to be scared. I don't know why, I'm not a psychologist, but we like the thrill and suspense we get by watching these movies. It's not just movies that can scare us, there are also some pretty scary books. You've all read Frankenstein, how did it make you feel?"
"I barely slept for a week after I read it," answered Elsa.
"Did you read the whole book?"
"Yes, I did."
"OK, why did you read it all the way through if it scared you so much?"
The queen hesitated for a few seconds before answering. "I don't know. It terrified me, but at the same time, I couldn't stop reading it."
"It was the same for me when I read it the first time," added Anna.
"That's part of the magic of the horror genre. It introduces us to characters that we can sometimes relate to and like and puts them in life or death situations. Will the heroine survive and vanquish the killer or will she become his next victim? What keeps us reading or watching is that we want to know what happens to the hero or heroine. That keeps us from putting the book down because then we never know, is there a happy ending? That's not always the case with horror movies from when I come from. There are horror franchises where almost all the characters we like die by the end of the movie. But the movies keep on coming with the same villain going up against different people.
"Sometimes some of the heroes will survive we see them again in the sequel, but don't get too attached because now they're going to die and we have to watch and see if the new kids will survive. But it's that we get invested in the characters that keeps us hooked, that keeps us from putting the book down or running out of the theater. We just want to know, does my favorite character make it? That's why we like horror movies and books. Once we start we have to know. It's that simple. Of course the price we have to pay is a bout of insomnia for the fear that the monsters we saw or read about will come and kill us in our sleep."
There was a brief silence as we returned to our meals. I was about to speak again when I heard a noise.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Anna asked with a mouthful of bread.
"I thought I head something."
"I didn't hear anything."
"There it is again! Shush!"
There was no doubt about it. This time the noise lasted longer. It sounded like one continuous arc of electricity. Arcs began to play around some of the metal object in the dining hall and a sphere of energy appeared close to the doors and created gusts of wind. The energies inside the sphere swirled around before it was all drawn back into the device that it had originated from. Standing where the sphere had been was a man with a staff not too dissimilar from my own. To add to that, I recognized the staff and the person it belonged to.
"Andrew?"
"Daniel! It is good to see you, how have you been?"
"I've been fine, what about you?" I grinned as I got up to greet my friend and former apprentice.
"Great, I've been just great! However, I am here for a reason."
"I'm not surprised. What does the Confederation need me for now? Has the Merlin misplaced the keys to his chambers? No, wait, don't answer that! I'm forgetting my manners. Please sit down and I'll introduce you."
"And I am looking forward to that."
"Don't start," I groaned.
"I'm just messing with you," he grinned as we sat down.
"I can't believe I still for that."
"Daniel, who's your friend?" asked Anna.
"Everyone, this is my former apprentice, Andrew Slacedo. Andrew, this is Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff."
"Pleasure to meet you all, Elsa! Daniel told me about you before he came back here. Let me say, his description does not do you justice! You could make an angel jealous."
It had been a while since I'd seen Elsa turn that red.
"As much as I'd like to catch up I have to ask, why are you here? I know the Confederation wouldn't let you come here on a social visit."
"You are right, something has come up and the Protectorate wants you to come back for the investigation."
"What happened?"
"That I do not know, they wouldn't tell me."
"Well that's a good sign right there," I muttered. "Tell you what, spend the night here and we'll go back in the morning."
"You won't hear any arguments from me, I've not been getting much sleep lately."
"You look like hell, I was wondering about that," I commented. "How have you been staying awake?"
"Triple espresso is now my best friend."
The rest of dinner was mostly filled by Andrew finding ways to make us laugh, be by telling jokes or sharing an embarrassing story about me. I was now secretly plotting my revenge. At the end of dinner I pulled Andrew aside and took him to library to talk to him privately. If this panned out the way I hoped then I could do something extra special for Elsa for our anniversary.
"Andrew, this is mine and Elsa's one year anniversary and I want to do something special for her. Do you know if I can take her with us to 2019?"
Andrew smiled. "Daniel, you can bring all three of them."
"Really? You mean it? The Confederation won't throw a bunch of red tape in my way?"
"Renner told me that the Confederation said that it's alright if they come with us. Go tell them to pack a bag."
"What's got you in such a good mood tonight?" asked Elsa as I walked into our bedchamber whistling.
"Well, as you know our one year anniversary is right around the corner and I have been struggling to find a special enough present for you. But, Andrew has just given me some good news."
"And what's the news?"
"Elsa, how would you feel about a trip to the year 2019?"
"What? Are you serious?" she asked incredulously while sitting up in the bed.
"Yes, the Confederation says that it's alright for you to come with me. What do you say?"
"When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow after breakfast, don't bother to pack a bag, we can get you all some clothes there which you will need if you're to blend in."
"Thank you, Daniel, this is the best anniversary present!"
"Actually, on second thought, maybe this isn't a good idea."
Elsa whipped her around so fast I thought her braid might hit her in the face. "Why not?"
"Well If I take you to the twenty-first century now how am I supposed to top this present next anniversary?" I asked half serious half jokingly.
Elsa hit me playfully in the arm. "After everything you've told me about your century I very much want to see more of it than just the few items you brought back with you. We're going."
"Alright, we'll go," I said with a fake groan.
Elsa giggled at my antics and snuggled up to me as I extinguished the lights. She couldn't wait for the next day.
I think it is going to be a memorable anniversary, just not in the way they're hoping. Happy Halloween, don't egg houses or do anything foolish. Hope you like this chapter, reviews=love. (Hint hint)