The Girl Who Could Not Dream (29 page)

And then screams, shrieks, and howls split the air.

“Go! Help him!” Sophie shouted at the rabbits.

They didn't hesitate. As she threw open the door, the rabbits charged in. She took a step to follow, and Monster bounded through. Close on his heels was a slobbering mess of ooze, covered with hundreds of eyes. Monster ran for the stairs.

Behind him, the ooze monster left a path of gunk. Goo stuck to the steps and smeared on the walls. Sophie slapped a dreamcatcher on the creature as it ran past. The dreamcatcher stuck to its hide, and the monster faded before it could catch Monster.

Sophie stared at the gooey dreamcatcher. The threads had absorbed the monster itself, but leftover ooze still clung to the steps and the wall, where the monster had smeared its slime.

“Brilliant,” Monster said.

Sophie pulled dreamcatchers out of her pockets and dumped them in the ooze. She then opened her backpack and dropped those dreamcatchers in the goo too. As soon as they were saturated, she scooped them up, ignoring the way the ooze stuck to her own skin. As the monsters came through the door, snarling and hissing and spitting, she threw the dreamcatchers at them, one for each. The dreamcatchers stuck to their fur and their hides. She backed up the stairs as they came after her—and one after another, they vanished.

She reached the top of the stairs, rubbed the last dreamcatcher in the goo from her shirt, and waited—ready. But no more monsters followed. Crouched on the top step, she listened. She didn't hear anything. No hisses, no snarls, no footsteps, no claws on the cement.

“Is that all of them?” Sophie asked.

“Maybe?” Monster said.

Cautiously, they crept back down the stairs.

Below, she heard the door creak open. She halted and crouched, the last dreamcatcher ready. Ooze congealed on her hand and dripped down her wrist. Beside her, Monster bared his teeth.

And then Ethan and Madison ran up the stairs, followed by a herd of rabbits.

Monster threw his tentacles around Ethan's leg in a hug, and Sophie, without thinking about it, hugged Madison. As soon as she realized what she was doing, she jumped back. “Are you guys okay?” Sophie asked.

“The ridiculous rabbits rescued us,” Madison said.

“After Monster unlocked the cage, the monsters went nuts,” Ethan said. “But the rabbits fought them so we could get the dreamcatchers. We turned a bunch of the monsters into dreams, and it looks like you took care of the rest. Sophie, do you—”

“Are my parents down there?” Sophie interrupted.

At the same time, Madison asked, “Where's Mr. Nightmare?”

“Trapped by a giant spider,” Sophie said as she hurried downstairs. Her parents could be in a cage that Madison and Ethan couldn't see, or in another extra room.

“A
what?
” Madison followed her down.

Sophie ran through the storage room, looking in cage after cage. There were no other rooms, except for the little bedroom with the painted walls. Maybe they'd been put there after Madison left? She flung open the steel door to the bedroom. It was empty.

M
ADISON MARCHED UP THE STAIRS TO THE KITCHEN.
“Are all the monsters gone?”

“I think so.” Pausing on a step, Sophie stuffed the used dreamcatchers into her backpack. She wouldn't be able to use them again—they were full—but she didn't want to leave them for anyone to find, and she couldn't bring herself to destroy dreams, even nightmares.

Madison opened the door at the top of the stairs, stuck her head into the kitchen, and screamed. She slammed the door. “Spider. Big spider.”

“She's on our side,” Sophie said. “I told you.”

“Right. You said that. Sort of. More details next time, okay?” Madison cautiously opened the door again, and they all crowded into the kitchen.

Mr. Nightmare lay on the kitchen floor, swathed in spiderweb.

“Whoa,” Ethan said.

“Friends of his?” The spider woman's feet skittered over the floor. Her body bobbed as she moved, and her spinner had a trail of thread hanging from it.

“Friends of mine,” Sophie said quickly, and then wondered if that was true.
It can't be,
she thought. Given what they knew about her, she'd be lucky if they considered her the same species.

“Ah, very well, then.” The spider backed away, allowing them to come up. Madison hugged the cabinets, her eyes glued to the spider. She was fingering one of the remaining dreamcatchers.

Sophie turned to Madison and Ethan. “I'm going to free Christina and ask if she knows where my parents are. She's been here the longest. She might know more about the house.” She skirted the tied-up Mr. Nightmare. “Can one of you watch for the police and make sure they know he's the kidnapper, not a victim?”

Ethan caught her arm. “Wait, you called the police?”

“Yes, before I found you.” She tried to sound as if it wasn't a big deal, as if it didn't make her feel like she was being wrapped in threads like Mr. Nightmare.

“But your family secret! You said—”

Sophie cut him off. “I said if we saw anything suspicious, I'd call.” She stepped back, out of his grip. “You'd better call your parents. Let them know you're okay.”

Madison picked up the phone by the fridge. “You're one hundred percent certain the spider won't eat me?” Backing against the sink, she evaded the spider's legs.

“I do not eat children,” the spider said.

Her eyes on the spider woman, Madison dialed, while Ethan pulled out his phone and began texting. If the police weren't already on their way, they would be soon, Sophie thought. As if reading her mind, Ethan looked up. “If you find them fast, maybe you and your parents can be gone by the time the police arrive,” he said.

She nodded. At least she could try.

With Monster on her heels, Sophie ran up the stairs and threw open Christina's door. Christina rushed out. “Why are you still here?” she cried, seizing Sophie's arms. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, everything's okay. You're safe. We turned all the monsters we could find back into dreams, and we captured Mr. Nightmare. The police are on their way. Here”—Sophie gave Christina a dreamcatcher—“in case we missed any.”

“You
what?
How? You called the police?”

Craning her neck, Sophie looked up and down the hall at the other doors. She'd already looked in all these rooms. “Christina, I haven't found my parents yet. Do you have any idea where they could be?”

Monster nosed at the wall. “Any hidden rooms? Secret passageways? Portals to other dimensions or what-have-you?”

Without answering, Christina pushed past them and hurried downstairs. Sophie and Monster followed close on her heels as she barreled through the living room.

Madison and Ethan had left the kitchen and were perched kneeling on the living room couch so they could see the street. “Good. You found her,” Ethan said. “Does she know where—”

Christina sped toward the kitchen and then halted. Sophie and Monster nearly bumped into her. Retreating fast, Christina pressed her back against the living room wall. “What's
that?
”

“She's from Mr. Nightmare's dream.”

Christina's face was pale, and she looked as if she was going to be sick. “Make her go away.”

“Yeah, kind of felt that way myself,” Madison said. “Don't worry. The police are coming.” She waved at the window. “They thought the first call was a hoax, but they believed
me.
They're on their way now.”

“The spider woman is on our side,” Sophie told Christina. “She helped us.”

Flattened against the wall, Christina looked petrified. “I don't care. Send her away. Please!”

“We probably should send her back into a dream before the police come,” Ethan said. “They might not get that she's a
friendly
scary spider.”

Spontaneously, Sophie hugged Christina. “It's almost all over. And then you'll be back with your parents, and everything will be fine! You'll see.”

“Just please, get rid of her, okay?” Christina begged.

Sophie nodded and then went into the kitchen. The spider woman was busily adding more thread to Mr. Nightmare's wrappings. He looked like a plump mummy. “Um, hi. Sorry to interrupt, but I need to send you back into a dream before the police come. There'll be questions, and . . . it would be better.”

To Sophie's relief, the spider woman nodded. “I understand. I do not belong here. I can feel the air pressing on me, making me feel heavy. The physics of your world do not want me to exist. My true self is out there somewhere, in a body that isn't a spider. She will complete my work. For now, it is enough that even the memory of the woman I was had the opportunity to triumph over him.”

“You were triumphantly triumphant,” Monster told her.

“Thank you,” she said gravely. Sophie had never thought a spider could be regal, but she was both grand and gracious. “You may send me now.”

Reaching into her pocket, Sophie pulled out a dreamcatcher. It was her last unused one. The used ones were all stuffed in her backpack. With more than a little regret, Sophie used the dreamcatcher on the spider woman. She faded away with a contented smile on her human face and her spider leg resting lightly on Mr. Nightmare's encased chest. Sophie gently put the dreamcatcher in her backpack with the others and then called to Christina, “Okay, it's safe now.”

Christina came into the kitchen and stopped when she saw Mr. Nightmare, trussed up on the floor. Emotions flickered across her face, too fast for Sophie to read.

Outside, sirens wailed in the distance.

“They're coming!” Madison cried from the living room.

Monster tapped Sophie with a tentacle. “Come on. We have to find your parents
now.
Ask her again.”

“Christina, do you know—”

“He must keep them in the safe room,” Christina told her, crossing to the basement door. “It's beneath the fight pit—there's a secret door in the floor. I'll show you.” Together, they headed downstairs, passing the balcony and stepping over the ooze that clung to the stairs and dripped down the walls. Christina opened the red door to the fight club arena.

Sophie and Monster followed her in. The sand was still speckled with blood, and ooze had congealed on the fence. Various empty beer cans were under the benches.

Without hesitation, Christina led them into the fight pit. “The trapdoor is buried under the sand.” She pointed. “Right in the dead center.”

Dropping to her knees, Sophie began to dig. Inside, she was screaming,
Mom! Dad! I'm coming!
Sand filled her fingernails and flew into her eyes, but she didn't stop. Beside her, Monster used all his tentacles, flinging sand behind them.

Watching them, Christina asked, “Your monster . . . He's been with you a long time, you said?”

“Years. He's my best friend.” It would be nice if they had a shovel.

“I didn't know they could be friends,” Christina said. “I've never had any friends.”

Pausing, Sophie looked up and smiled at Christina. “We'll be friends.”
We already are,
she thought.

“Something's here!” Monster cried. Digging faster, he unearthed a handle. Sophie swept the sand clear of the trapdoor. She tugged on the handle—locked!

Christina took a key out of her pocket, knelt next to Sophie, and unlocked the trapdoor. She lifted the door and sand fell inside. Sophie peered into the darkness. “Mom? Dad?”

“Why do you have a key?” Monster asked Christina.

From below, Sophie heard familiar, wonderful voices: “Sophie?” It was them! “Sophie, run! Get out of here!”

“It's okay!” Sophie called. “We stopped Mr. Nightmare. You're safe!”

Key in hand, Christina backed away from the trapdoor. “I'd like to be friends, Sophie. But I don't think that's possible. You see, you've destroyed my life. That's hard to forgive. In fact, I think it makes us enemies.”

Sophie felt as if all her muscles had frozen. “What?”

“
This
is my life.” Christina waved her hand at the fight club arena. “This was to be our future. My father's idea; my monsters. But you ruined it by bringing
her
back.”

“Your father?”

“The spider . . . She wore my mother's face. The very first monster I ever created was a giant spider. My mother saw it, and she called the Watchmen. She said it was for my own good, that they knew what to do with people like me—but you and I both know what the Night Watchmen do with people like us. They hunt us. My father fled with me before they came. He saved me from them—and from her.”

Sophie shook her head, as if that would make Christina's words make sense. It wasn't possible. Christina couldn't be a part of all of this. She was a prisoner! She was like Sophie!