She was standing on a dock, surrounded by swampland. Directly above her the moon cast its silver glow on the smooth, dark water. The only sound was the gentle lapping of the water against the legs of the dock. Xandra turned towards the shoreline but all she could see was a single paved pathway leading up the bank. She began to move towards it, her footsteps echoing in the silence and stopped. She could hear faint strains of music coming from out on the water. Xandra, straining hers ears, turned back toward it. The music was getting closer; she recognized the song, but couldn't quite place it. On the horizon there was a faint light about 200 feet away and growing steadily closer. She realized it belonged to a boat, a ferry to be exact, and she could now make out the lyrics to the song – a rock version of Zippa Dee Do Da. But the music was getting fainter and the scene around her seemed to be fading, Xandra fought to hold on - she was so close - but, even now she could feel the cotton of bed sheets against her feet instead of the wet surface of the dock, and the sound of early morning traffic outside her window was replacing the lapping of the water. The next moment she was awake, staring at the crack in her ceiling with Zippa Dee Do Da still ringing in her ears.
Part 1 - Dawn Chapter 1Sighing Xandra sat up and swung her feet over the side of her bed feeling with her toes for her dilapidated pink slippers. This was getting ridiculous, it had been almost a month since the dreams had started. Every night without fail, Xandra would find herself standing on the dock in the moonlight, but tonight had been different. There had never been a boat before, only the music and a light on the horizon. What did it mean? Xandra considered herself an intelligent girl, she got decent enough marks in school and read faster than any of her class mates, but she couldn't for the life of her make any sense of these dreams. Dreams are supposed to be thoughts and feelings that the brain has warped as you sleep but, Xandra had never seen that dock before and that kind of dark and quiet was rare in Toronto. And to have the exact same dream every night? That was definitely bizarre. She felt her questing foot make contact with something fuzzy, knocking it under the bed. Getting down onto her knee's she retrieved her left slipper and headed downstairs in her pyjama's leaving her bed unmade even though she knew this would drive her mother mad. Her mother looked up from her coffee as she came shuffled into the kitchen, "Good morning dear, aren't you going to be late for school?"
"Mom it's Saturday" Xandra answered reaching for the cereal. "Right. My mind's all over the place. Mrs Drew has decided she wants fresh orchids now. Where am I supposed to find orchids in November?" Xandra's mom was a wedding planner and her latest client, the mother of the groom, was throwing her hoop after hoop. Last week she had insisted that the wedding procession include an elephant. An honest-to-god elephant. She was paying enough to cover Xandra's tuition for the next year though. "So what are your plans for today?" "Joanne wants to do some Christmas shopping" "Getting it done early this year are you?" "Yeah, well" Xandra said through a mouthful of Special K, "Joanne doesn't like the crowds" "Oh yes that's right. She's a peculiar girl Joanne. Well have fun " Anyone else might have been offended by this comment, but Joanne was peculiar and proud of it. "Normal is just another word for dull. Normal people have no imagination" she had told Xandra when they met on the first day of third grade. They had been friends ever since.
Giggling, the two girls raced across the platform and up the stairs past the disapproving glances of disgruntled grey-clad commuters. "Where to?" asked Xandra panting when they reached top. "Where else?" replied Joanne coming reluctantly to a stop beside her friend. Xandra could never understand how Joanne always had so much energy. Xandra had to lean against the wall to catch her breath, while Joanne was clearly ready to go, her black and purple curls bouncing up and down as she hopped from foot to foot impatiently. "Of course" grinned Xandra, "Disney store". At sixteen both girls were a little old for most the things in Disney store, but it was a guilty pleasure of theirs. No trip to the mall was complete without a visit. Finally able to breathe again, Xandra linked her arm with Joanne's and together the girls made their way past the brightly lit windows towards the colourful store in the distance.
"Uh-oh" said Joanne as they got closer "What?" said Xandra Looking around she spotted the three people she least wanted to see. Stephanie James and her groupies Janis and Christine were seated on a bench sipping iced coffee and comparing purchases. Christine and Xandra had been friends once, but when the girls began school Christine started to hang out with Xandra less and less. Befriending Joanne seemed to have been the last straw as Christine had revoked Xandra's invitation to her birthday party, telling her that if she wanted to spend all her time with "weirdos" like Joanne she might as well leave her alone. Xandra whispered "Why? We can't let them control our lives. That means she wins" Xandra knew she was right, but cringed at the thought of dealing with Stephanie and her clones on her day off.
"Oh look who it is" cooed Stephanie as they drew level with the little group "The weirdo twins"
"Not feeling your best today Steph?" retorted Joanne, "Weirdo Twins? C'mon you can do better"
"Whatever loser, it's not like your opinion matters anyway. Where are you two off to? There's no Goodwill here". Janis and Christine twittered appreciatively at this witty remark until Janis spilled her drink.
"Way to go" snorted Stephanie as Janis fumbled with her napkin before the brown liquid seeped into her designer top. "Here" said Xandra holding out a pack of Kleenex to the flustered girl, "Ugh, I don't need your help", sneered Janis as the sugary brown substance continued to spread across the right side of her top. "Right, we can see your doing spectacularly here on your own" said Joanne dragging Xandra towards the store, leaving the three teens squabbling amongst themselves.
"What is their problem?" fumed Xandra "I was just being friendly" "Exactly" said Joanne from behind the curtain, "They can't believe that you would still do anything nice for them after everything they've said to you. They're bullies Xan, they make themselves feel more superior by trying to break you down. Accepting your help would've, in their eyes, meant admitting you were the stronger one and they can't accept that" "It was just Kleenex", laughed Xandra. ten years of friendship and Joanne was still surprising her with her sage-like moments of insight. "So what do you think?" asked Joanne sweeping the curtain aside with a flourish. "Oh – My –God" gasped Xandra between laughs. Joanne was dressed in full Cinderella princess gear, from the wand to the little matching tiara. The only thing out of place was the purple converse on her feet. "Yeah, the shoes didn't fit" she said, following Xandra's gaze, "Here, you try 'em" "Those are so not going to fit" Xandra said eying the sparkly silver slippers on their tiny pink display clip. "Just try" prodded Joanne, poking at Xandra with her ridiculously bejeweled wand. Sighing, Xandra sat down on the ground and slid them off the clip. "Go on, or Ill have to turn you into something nasty" warned Joanne. "Okay, Okay" Xandra stuck her foot into the toe of the right one, expecting resistance. Oddly enough, her foot slid right in. "That's strange" she muttered under her breath. Confused she reached for the left shoe, it felt oddly warm in her hand, she quickly put it on and looked up at her tule-clad friend. "Well, happy now?", but Joanne just stared at her. "What?" asked Xandra standing up to look in the mirror , "C'mon there's no way I look nearly as ridiculous as – Oh" Instead of the flimsy silver slippers she had put on, Xandra was wearing a pair of shimmering clear heels. They looked like they might be made of glass, but that was ridiculous, no one made glass shoes. Not in real life anyways. "How? What? It's gotta be the mirror. That's cute." "Uh, no Xan, I see them to" said a stunned Joanne. "Jo, give it up, it was funny yeah, but now you're freaking me out" But looking down Xandra saw that it wasn't just the mirror; she really was wearing the mysteriously warm, shimmery shoes. "K, well I'm done here, lets go to the food court. Hurry and change so we can check out before the line gets to long Jo" "Ye-yeah" said Joanne rushing back into the cubicle. Xandra kicked off the shoes, but when she went to pick them up they were made of fabric once more. What was that? She wondered. Did I imagine it? But Jo saw it too. Maybe it was the lights. Mall lighting always does weird things. Joanne came out dressed in jeans once again and they made their way to the counter near the front of the store. "Good afternoon ladies" Smiled the guy behind the counter He young looking with blonde hair styled in a fake mohawk like many of the guys at their school. His name tag said James. "We're having a contest today. For every 30 dollars you spend your name goes into a draw for a free trip to Walt Disney World for you and one of your friends!" Joanne had three younger sisters and worked part time at her father's health store so she got two entries, but Xandra's total only came to $29.95. On a whim she reached for an overpriced chip and dale chocolate bar sitting at the counter. "You really want to be in that draw don't you?" laughed James as he bagged her things, "Well good luck to both of you". Later, under the bright lights of the food court and the comfortable influence of lots of trans fats both Xandra and Joanne agreed that the "deal with the shoes" must have been a trick of the light and by the time she got ready for bed that night Xandra had forgotten about it.
As she lay in bed staring at the ceiling Xandra sighed, she knew what was coming, but what could she do? Not sleep? It wasn't like the dreams we're frightening, just annoying and they were getting sort of dull to. The same dream, night after night. What she wouldn't do to have a nice normal dream about battling the giant dust bunnies under her bed with a toothbrush. At least those showed some creativity. Below her window the cars continued to speed past, and the whoosh of their wheels soothed her. She heard a duck in the park across the street and somewhere far off there came the sound of a boat.
Chapter 2
That night Xandra and Joanne were eating microwaved s'mores in front of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation and taking turns putting their school notes through Xandra's Mom shredder when the phone rang. "Xandra! It's for you!", Called her Mom from downstairs, "Keep it short please sweetie. The weddings tomorrow and Mrs Drew will throw a fit if she can't reach me"
"No problem Mom" called Xandra as she picked up the living room phone. "Hello?"
"Is this Alexandra Anderson?", asked the unknown male voice on the phone, sounding a long way off. Xandra winced slightly at the use of her full name. No one ever called her Alexandra, not even her Mom, who could possibly be calling? "Speaking, may I ask whose calling please?" She had to duck as Joanne, laughing at her prim phone manners, lobbed a cushion her way. "I'm calling on behalf of the Disney Store - Canadian branch. I believe you entered a contest recently at our Eaton Centre location?"
"Y-es", said Xandra slowly, not daring to acknowledge that spark in the back of her mind. There was no way. "On behalf of the Walt Disney Corporation, I would like to congratulate you on winning our ...", but Xandra didn't hear the rest of his well rehearsed speech. Joanne looked up from shredding four pages of particularly nasty math equations, alarmed by the thud of the phone on the carpet. "What's wrong? Who is it?" "I...I won" said Xandra so quietly that Joanne would not have even heard her had she not been able to see her lips moving. "You...what? Won what?". Then simultaneously, both girls seemed to get it. The resulting screaming brought Mrs Anderson running, certain something catastrophic must have happened.
For the first time in three weeks, Xandra did not dream of the dock, because that night Xandra didn't sleep. Ignoring Mrs _'s warnings not to get their hopes up, both girls had dragged Xandra's suitcase off the top shelf of her closet and spent the night planning out what they would pack, reloading their mp3 players with new music for the flight and listening to The Mickey Mouse Club on repeat.
Mrs Anderson insisted on accompanying her daughter to the Disney store where an employee would explain in more detail about exactly what she had won and ultimately, award her the prize. Joanne of course came too, because there could be no doubt as to who the one friend she was bringing would be. "Hi", said her Mom to the employee behind the counter. We're here to see the manager, apparently my daughter here has won some sort of contest?"
"That would be me". A middle-aged man in a suit came striding towards them. "I'm Fred Trundle, and you must be Alexandra. Or is it Alex?"
"Xandra actually", she said shaking his outstretched hand awkwardly.
"Really? Interesting" Xandra wasn't sure if she liked the way he said "interesting", but said nothing. She was used to people thinking her name was odd. She had never felt Alexandra fit her. It was the kind of name one of Stephanie's friends would have. When she started school, there had been a boy named Alex in her kindergarten class, and she didn't want to have the same name as a boy. So Xandra it was.
"So Xandra" said Mr Trundle smiling as he sat down behind an enormous desk in his office, "You must be very excited". Xandra was about to respond when her mother cut across her, "Before we begin Mr. Trundle, I want to make a few things clear. We aren't interested in any timeshares or vacation property and I frankly I think it's a bit underhanded the way you market to children like this. So," she continued, ignoring Xandra's groan, "whatever the catch is here, let's save us all a lot of time and effort and get it out on the table now."
Xandra was afraid to look up at Mr Trundles expression. She studied the texture of her jeans, trying to ignore the disappointment welling up inside her. She knew this had been a possibility. Things like this didn't just happen to people out of the blue. Sixteen wasn't very old, but she was old enough to realize that there was no such thing as something for nothing, but it was nice to dream, that was the draw of Disney after all. The belief they marketed, that anyone could be anything no matter what, but that was just it. As magical as it seemed, Disney was a business, and this was real life not a fairy tale. The silence seemed to stretch on for ever, but finally Mr Trundle spoke. "I understand your...concern Mrs Anderson, but I assure you there is no catch. Xandra", he smiled warmly in her direction, "entered our contest and her name was drawn at random by a computer program. It could have just as easily been anyone, of any age. Lady Luck seems to like your daughter". Xandra felt a tiny glimmer of hope, but her mother wasn't convinced. "Mr Trundle, you are telling me that your store is going to send my daughter to Florida simply out of the goodness of your hearts, for no personal gain?" Hearing her mother voice her thoughts made it her hopes seem so much more childish.
"Well," began a still smiling Trundle, "our store, as well as the Walt Disney company obviously gets media coverage from this and of course, you daughter was entered in the first place because she gave our store her patronage. So you are correct, we are not giving away something for nothing, but your part has already been played. This is no scam, or sales pitch." Judy was silent for a long time and Xandra suspected she was trying to find a flaw in his speech, some loophole. After what seemed an inordinate amount of time, she smiled. "Well then Mr Trundle, where do we sign?"
Chapter 2
Joanne had had Xandra's hand in a death grip since take-off. Apparently she was a nervous flier, something even she had been unaware of until that moment.
'I don't think the plane is supposed to be making that noise' she'd said when the engines had roared to life. 'Should it be that loud?' Both Xandra and her mom had done their best to reassure her with little luck.
"I bet this is how they felt on 315 before it plummeted to the island. Oh my god we're going to be trapped. I'll have to learn how to fish."
"Relax Jo" said Xandra holding back a laugh. "This isn't LOST and as far as I know there are no tropical islands in the continental United States."
"You wouldn't know. It moves" muttered Joanne under her breath, but she closed her eyes and seemed to relax slightly. Now, miracle of miracles, she was asleep and Xandra was able to close her own eyes for the first time. She had been too wired to sleep the previous night (as with most nights since The Phone Call) and in any case they'd had to be at the airport three hours before their nine AM flight to be sure they made it through security in time. Her mind was still whirring with snippets from all of the guide books she had red in the past week. "The Magic Kingdom opened in 1981", "The property boasts 33 hotels and resorts, "The largest cucumber plant ever was grown in EPCOT in 2006", but eventually excitement of the last several days caught up with her and she began to drift off.
She was back on the dock. Once again Xandra could hear the waves gently lapping against the underside of the wood and feel the thick night air on her skin. This dock was definitely nowhere local. It was far to humid. She turned around and looked back toward shore. All she could make out in the dark was a paved path gently sloping away from the dock into a wooded area. She began to move towards the path (it's not like she was going to get lost. It was a dream) when she heard it drifting across the water. Zippa Dee Do Da. Sure enough, when she looked back around, just as it had many nights before, the boat was making it's way across the water. There was something unsettling about it. Apart from the fact that she had been dreaming of exactly the same boat every night for nearly month. A boat she was certain she had never seen before the dreams began. It was closer than it had ever been before. She deliberated for a moment as the large yellow vessel docked. As curious as she was about where that path led, and as disquieting as she found it, something about the boat seemed to be drawing her in. With a deep breath and one last glance at the wooded bank she boarded the boat and ducked the open door. As dark as it was outside, it was even darker in the cabin. When her eyes had adjusted slightly, Xandra could make out what appeared to be rows of benches to her left and a set of steps to her right. Carefully, keeping one hand on the wall and using the other to feel ahead of her Xandra climbed the stairs emerging into what seemed to be a control room of some sort. Presumably where the captain would sit. Curious, she moved toward the a console of various knobs and gauges wondering what they could all possibly be for? Clearly driving a boat was not, as she had always assumed, like driving a car. Just on water. She was reaching for particularly shiny looking lever when she caught a flash of movement from the corner of her. Whipping around she bashed her knee against yet another lever sticking out of the floor. Squinting through her now-watering eyes, Xandra watched a tall figure step out of the shadows. Almost as if materializing from their midst. It seemed human, apart from the head which stretched far to high and came to a point. "Great", she thought "I knew watching 'Coneheads' that time would mess with me". As the figure – alien? - advanced she backed up until the back of her knees hit what must have been the seat of the captains chair. She lost her balance and landed hard, in the seat. The figure stopped and she heard a crackling sound. Next moment the tiny cabin was illuminated by a soft flickering glow coming from a ball of flame in the man's palms. For in the flickering light she could see that the figure was indeed an elderly man. Not grandpa old, but Dumbledore old. Tall and wiry and with a beard that, had it not been caught up over an arm, would surly brush the floor. Ancient, but capable. His large eyes seemed to pierce her as he took yet another step towards where she was sprawled in the captains chair.
"Who are you?", she asked. The question came out squeakier than she had intended.
"I am the sorcerer Yensid". His voice was deep and powerful and despite her fear, the sound of it sparked something reassuring in the recesses of her memory. As if she had heard it once, a very long time ago. "Master of The Magics and the four Kingdoms"
"Is this your boat?" Of all the questions questions jostling about in her mind, this was the one that came out.
"I have much to tell you and precious little time to do so", was the sorcerers reply.
"What? Got someone else's dream to hijack tonight?" she was still frightened, but her annoyance with the whole thing was getting the upper hand. All she wanted was to go to sleep and have a nice, normal dream. Yet here she was, on a mysterious boat she'd never seen before, talking to this weirdo wizard, or sorcerer or whatever, whom she had definitely never met before. You don't forget a thing like that easily.
"Soon there will be no need for these midnight projections I hope, but for now, they have been a necessary precaution."
"Are you being intentionally vague just to annoy me?", Xandra asked.
"Then let me be plain.", replied Yensid, "you have a destiny Xandra _. One that will make itself known to you in the coming days. You need to prepare yourself for what is coming. For The Darkness. You need to recognize it. Take heed Xandra. We will meet again soon. Please be careful when opening the overhead compartments"
"Wait. What?"
"Xan. Wake up. We're here."
She blinked groggily, taking in the seat-back in front of her and Joanne's grinning face. "You were out Xan. You kept twitching. Your Mom tried, like, three times to wake you up when we were coming in."
"I must have been really tired", said Xandra wincing at the pins and needles in her legs. "I had this really intense dream"
"Oh yeah? Me to", said Joanne pulling bags down from the overhead bins. "My grandmother came to the apartment and replaced all the furniture with zoo animals. Which is weird, because she never visits. What was yours?"
"Uh. I'll tell you about it later", grunted Xandra, heaving her own carry-on down. "I really want to get off this plane"
"You're telling me" grumbled Joanne under her breath. Xandra had told Joanne about the dreams, but she didn't want her Mom, who was fighting to get her purse out from where it was wedged beneath the seat in front of hers. And this one had been weirder than the others. She wanted some time to sort it out for herself. A sharp pain in her knee interrupted her musings. "Oh, I'm sorry hon", said the harassed-looking mother who had swung her diaper bag into Xandra's knee. "S'ok", mumbled Xandra, but the woman had already turned back to her wailing toddler. Gingerly, Xandra rolled up her pant leg (despite the heat Florida is known for, she'd read that the air-conditioning everywhere made most buildings quite chilly) and was only half surprised to see a large purple bruise on her knee. She had a funny feeling Ms Diaper-bag wasn't to blame.
Chapter 3
As soon as they entered the main plaza of Orlando International Airport, Xandra spotted the waving Mickey Mouse hand beckoning to them.
"Hello Princesses", gushed the beaming Cast Member, continuing to wave to the rest of the passengers surging out of the arrivals gate. "You catch your Magical Express transportation down on level 1. Look for the old guy with the Mickey gloves. If you hurry, there's a bus leaving for Animal Kingdom Lodge in about ten minutes. Oh and Xandra" she added turning to her, "get a good rest tonight. You need to be ready".
"Wha-?" gaped Xandra intelligently, but the girl had spotted Ms Diaper-bag and hurried over to her.
"They must have been told we were coming", said Xandra's mother laughing at her daughter
s stunned expression. "Good advice too. There's so much to see, I don't want you girls tiring out in the middle of it"
"Come on Mrs. _. We're children. All we have is energy. Most of us anyway" she added, prodding Xandra who was still staring after the waving, cartoon handed, Cast Member."You don't think that was weird?" muttered Xandra to her friend as they headed for the bank of escalators to their right. "How did she know who I was?"
"Like your Mom said. She was probably told we were coming. You know, big contest winner and all."
"And what about that totally creepy message?". Continued Xandra, "'You need to be ready'. Ready for what exactly?"
"Probably for the Zombie apocalypse", Joanne deadpanned. Then seeing her friends startled expression she added, "Jeez, what's up with you today? You're so jumpy." Joanne had apparently forgotten that she had spent the morning convinced that a wing would snap off the plane and they'd all end up living Lord of The Flies style on an island. Completely ignoring North American geography. Now that they were back on terra firma she was back to her usual unreserved, self. "Sorry. I've just been a little on edge. It's these dreams. They're really starting to weird me out."
"Still the dock every night? God. It's a wonder it took you this long to loose it."
"Always supportive" grumbled Xandra, "but that;s the weird part – well, weirder. This time it was different."
She went on to fill Jo in on the latest dream sparing no detail. That was another thing. She rarely remembered her dreams after she woke up, but this one was still crystal clear. Almost as though it were a memory and not a fantasy concocted by her subconscious. Outside the windows a huge blue and yellow bus pulled up. Painted like something out of a vintage Hollywood movie. The air outside the frigidly air-conditioned building was thick and hot. There was so much moisture in the air that it felt almost as though she were swimming, not walking toward the bus, the windows of which were streaming with condensation. "So you think the girl with the Mickey gloves has something to do with your dreams?, clarified Joanne, climbing onto the coach. "Well, yeah. O guess so", said Xandra following her once more into the icy air with relief.
"The dreams that aren't really dreams, but actually some kind of...premonition."
"When you say it like that, it sounds crazy." They found a pair of star spangled seats near the back.