Although that onus was now off my mind, seeing Bailey in a hospital bed with all kinds of monitors monotonously beeping out her progress made me more than a little concerned about her health.

  Much of my angst came from the dismal surroundings. Neil Gaiman, the celebrated author, once wrote that people who killed themselves in hotel rooms would never do it at home. I wondered if that was also why so many people took their last breaths in hospital rooms? Institutional indifference from inside these walls radiated an impersonal vibe that few could overcome, no matter how healthy they were. However, nothing could have been as unhealthy as carrying the cartouche in my pocket.

  Lizzie was frantic when she couldn’t find it and no amount of looking would uncover its whereabouts. She eagerly offered to pay for Bailey’s hospital bill but she wouldn’t stop asking me if I hadn’t taken it ‘by accident’. After considerable sleight of hand, I managed to convince her I didn’t have it.

  The cartouche was beyond dangerous and there was no way I was going to let Lizzie keep it. I could only wonder what damage it had already done to her. Furthermore, what grasp did it have over her, I had to wonder. And why had it affected Bailey so dramatically?

  Those two questions swirled around in my head as I paced the room. After my sixth or seventh circuit—I lost count after the third lap—I suddenly found myself face to face with an unexpected guest. Wearing the same t-shirt and jeans she wore earlier, the ghostly child Lorene suddenly stood in the middle of the room with a seriously concerned look on her face.

  Her worried eyes darted towards the prostrate Bailey, and instantly, a piece of the puzzle clicked into place. “Are you here to check on your sister, Lorene?”

  She didn’t seem surprised by my query, and looked back at me and nodded. “You shouldn’t blame yourself for what happened.”

  “Why shouldn’t I?” I asked, because I’d been blaming myself all along. If only I’d canceled our lunch, this never would have happened.

  “Because it wasn’t your fault,” Lorene said as if she were stating something as obvious as the sky being blue. She pointed at the pocket with the cartouche inside it. “You didn’t know that thing was dangerous.” Her eyes returned to her sister, lingering a little longer.

  “You know about this?” I asked her, carefully pulling the golden artifact from my pocket. I unwrapped it to show her.

  She nodded again. “The snake pictured on it is very old...” She looked at me with visible fear. “And very bad.”

  “Have you ever seen it before?”

  She nodded. “It’s never seen me, though.”

  “How come?”

  Lorene shrugged. “Because I know how to stay out of sight.”

  Her eyes remained on Bailey and I took her gently by the shoulders. “She’s okay,” I told her. “The doctors say she’ll recover.” I was once more struck by the solidity of Lorene’s form. Yet, I was fairly certain she was a spirit.

  “They’re wrong, Syd,” Lorene said with an anxious whisper. “The snake’s getting closer.”

  “How close is it?” I asked with narrowed eyes.

  “Too close,” Lorene replied, while worrying her lower lip. “Bailey’s trying to stay quiet but...”

  “How do you know so much about this? What exactly are you?”

  “I’m Bailey’s little sister,” Lorene replied, in a slightly impatient tone. “I’m the only one in the world who wants her to—”

  A sudden hiss came from her lips and her mouth opened wide. For a brief second, I glimpsed a flash of fangs materializing inside her mouth. When she lowered her head again, her face revealed full-fledged panic.

  “Syd, you’ve gotta help her!” she exclaimed with unbridled anxiety. “It found her!”

  “Where?” I asked.

  “The place that she goes when she sleeps!” Lorene answered. “You’ve gotta find her! Hurry!”

  I wanted to ask Lorene how to get there, but based on my previous encounters with Jormungandr, time was not on my side. Pulling out a fresh handful of sand, I hurried back to my chair, throwing the tiny grains into my own face. Its narcoleptic effect was no less potent on me than anyone else, and I was fast asleep in seconds.

  ***

  The moment I found myself in the dream corridor, I rushed down the hallway. My mattresses ensured the doors of my clients came first, but the corridor wasn’t totally cut off from other dreamers. It took quite a lot of running, however, before I finally located the doors of the hospital.

  My eyes darted back and forth, searching for Bailey’s room number. Additionally frustrating, none of the doors followed any sequential order, forcing me to examine all of them for the correct one. As a precaution, I put my hand over each door knob to sense the presence of the Midgard Serpent.

  Then I heard a familiar hiss inside the unending passageway, just ahead of me on the left. The sound was loud enough that I could pinpoint it being six doors down. I instantly found Bailey’s room and put my hand above the door knob. Doing so verified the dark presence of the wicked serpent. Wrenching the door open, I ran into the room.

  Nothing to obscure the features on my dreamer this time. Bedecked in a nightgown that looked like it came straight off a Gothic romance cover, Bailey was screaming as she ran in circles away from Jormungandr. Its fangs flashed less than a couple of inches from snagging her. Despite her valiant effort, I knew she was fatigued and losing ground an inch at a time.

  Thinking quickly, I popped open my colorful umbrella and twirled it at the great snake. The umbrella had its desired effect and distracted Jormungandr. Its eyes fell upon me and it hissed as it thrust itself my way. Rushing towards me, I caught a glimpse of a small hand grabbing Bailey and pulling her away from the charging monster.

  I barely sidestepped the brutish fiend before its snout bashed against the doorway I’d just escaped through. The corridor’s “no violence” rule was intended for creatures such as these, which could never be allowed to pass through its doors. I waited until it turned its head toward me again before taking out a fresh handful of sand and blowing it into the serpent’s left eye. It hissed at the grit which was obviously irritating its exposed orb and reacted by trying to sink its great fangs into me. Once more, I barely dodged the attack before blowing another handful of sand into its right eye. Jormungandr hissed even louder this time, its outrage fully apparent, but then it soon died before fading from sight.

  “Unpleasant dreams,” I said as I began looking for Bailey. She was utterly bewildered as she observed the scene before her. When her eyes found me, her lips parted and she gave me a smile. I was smiling back at her when I suddenly lurched...

  ***

  I awakened in the hospital chair barely a second before Bailey woke up in the hospital bed. She rose for just a second and said, “Lorene?”

  Then Bailey started looking all around, prompting me to do likewise. But the mysterious child was gone once more. Then, as if Lorene was the only reason Bailey had suddenly regained consciousness, Bailey collapsed on the bed and instantly fell asleep again.

  A nurse poked her head inside the door a second later. “Anything the matter?”

  I momentarily weighed my response. “She briefly woke up from a nightmare and said someone’s name before falling back to sleep.”

  Concerned by that, the nurse checked Bailey’s vitals. When she finished, she said, “She’s fine now.” Pointing her long finger at me, she added, “But if anything else strange occurs, let me know at once.”

  “I will do that,” I assured her, wondering if she were in the loop on the town’s strange happenings. Finding no reason to stay, the nurse departed, and I could only ponder the reason why the Midgard Serpent was targeting Bailey. I also wondered how in the world her ‘little sister’ knew about that.

  ***

  Sometime later, I woke up once again. I didn’t know what had disturbed me. The room looked the same as it had before I’d fallen asleep. Bailey was still resting peacefully, and the monitors hadn’t ceased their constant beeping. I rose from my chair and walked to the door. To my surprise and despite my best effort, the door knob refused to budge. I turned away in frustration, only to see that the room I was in had completely changed.

  The window and wall where I was previously seated were replaced by a vast starscape. A staircase made of floating stones led up to a floating island far off in the distance. At the foot of Bailey’s bed sat a jackal, a living version of the one at the foot of my own bed. Like the Midgard Serpent of earlier, its eyes didn’t blink as it stared at me. But I saw none of Jormungandr’s malice in the jackal’s eyes. And why should I have? So far as I knew, I’d done nothing to offend my god, Anubis.

  Putting the pieces together, I nodded.

  “Your father wants to see me,” I said to the jackal.

  That resulted in a growl of affirmation before it carelessly tossed its head towards the stairs. A sense of trepidation made me shudder as I viewed the staircase and my ultimate destination. My fear had nothing to do with my safety. In the realm of dreams, Sandmen were fairly hardy, no matter where they ventured. But Bailey was already attacked once tonight. What could happen if I weren’t there to protect her a second time?

  The jackal pushed the back of my leg with its head, accentuating its gesture with another growl. The message behind both actions was clear enough: Get moving!

  I obeyed the tacit command, and as I mounted the first step, I must admit I felt a little silly. If I couldn’t be safe with the ultimate guardian of the astral way, then no one was safe in this world!

  The closer I came to the island, the more details I noticed. Roughly speaking, it was a temple from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. I stared at the colossal columns on either side of the archway. They dwarfed me like skyscrapers, stretching high up into the night sky with nothing to obscure the view of their ascent. A long, red carpet stretched out before me. I followed it and began my approach as far ahead of me, I saw a great throne carved from stone, framed by countless pictures and hieroglyphics.

  Seated upon the chair was an imposing figure dressed in green. His stern face was accented by his kohl-shaded eyes. Once I was close enough, I noticed his body from the neck down was wrapped tightly in emerald green bandages. The sole exception were his hands, in which he grasped a crook and flail. A ceremonial beard pointed at me like a finger and I came closer still.

  Once I reached the foot of the dais, I gave a small bow. “Homage to thee, Asar Maa-Khemsu.”

  “And to thee, Sydney Blackstone of the Sandmen,” Osiris responded.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Osiris slowly rose from his seat of power.

  I wondered if his stiffness was due to the bandages, or the great injuries covered by them. For a moment, I caught a fleeting glimpse of something in the shadow of the throne. But I wrote that off as another shade like the ones that greeted me.

  As Osiris descended the throne, he announced, “You have courted grave danger this night.” That statement prompted me to cast my anxious eyes on the shades behind me. Were they preparing to exact a terrible vengeance on me?

  “Be at peace,” Osiris said in a gentler tone, placing the crook on my shoulder. “You have done nothing to offend myself or my secret son.” He cast his eyes towards the stars above us. “The same cannot be said for that which you have found. It has, in turn, found you.”

  He used his flail to gesture upwards toward the endless night sky. At first, it seemed as though the stars suddenly winked at me for some inexplicable reason. Then I spotted the elongated shape that temporarily obscured the burning light of a galaxy in its crossing. Even if I couldn’t hear it hissing from this distance, the shape and size were unmistakable.

  “Jormungandr!” I gasped.

  “So your ancestors called it,” Osiris said, lowering his flail. “Among my people, it is known by the name, Apep.” He viewed the passing monster with disgust. “It is the Devourer Snake that chases my father’s sun barque at night. The protection of great defenders, including my brother, are the only reason he can continue to keep this great beast at bay.”

  A frown creased the god’s face as he removed the crook from my shoulder. “And constantly does it strive to find a way to snatch the sun when it is undefended. That is why it often probes the weak points dividing our worlds, venturing where the lines of Geb intersect, which allow it to come into the daylight.” He crossed his arms, making the emblems of his office cross as well. “Such tears in the grand design of Ptah are more common than I am comfortable admitting.”

  “Haven Hollow has such a tear?” I asked, although it was anything but a question.

  “A few tears,” Osiris admitted on a shrug. “But there is one particular tear that calls to this beast. But the beast lacks the strength necessary to force its way through. That is why it feeds upon the dreamers it snares through its emblem to stoke its power.”

  “How many dreamers has it fed on?” I asked in alarm.

  “Fifteen souls have been sacrificed for their strength in recent times,” Osiris replied. “It needs only one more. When it gets...”

  Osiris left the sentence hanging in the air, prompting me to ask, “What happened to the ones it already fed from?”

  “Their life essences shall be consumed from within, starting with the most recent host,” Osiris answered.

  Memories of my first encounter with my mystery dreamer flooded me, forcing me to my knees. “Bailey?”

  “No, not her,” Osiris said while shaking his head. “After this night, yes, the creature has her scent. But your timely intervention shall spare her that horror.”

  I took a deep breath at hearing that slightly comforting news. “The most recent host... did they try to hire a mara for protection?”

  “They did,” Osiris confirmed, returning to his throne. “An ill-advised bargain that you were correct to break, I should add.”

  “Do you know the identity of this dreamer?” I asked anxiously.

  “Alas, I do not,” Osiris sighed. “I asked Uncle Thoth for a glimpse of their True Name in the Book of Life but he denied me the privilege.”

  “But why?” I asked in panic and confusion. “Does he have any idea what kind of danger—”

  “He understands the danger much better than you or I,” Osiris assured me. “But he does not want to upset the natural balance of all things. He told me the host is currently lodged in the Haven Hollow Inn and sleeping on one of your mattresses as of two days ago.”

  I rubbed my face. That information made the suspect list much too long for my liking.

  “But we have spoken enough of such matters,” Osiris said. “The time has come to know the true reason why you are here.”

  That surprised me. “The true reason?”

  Ignoring my inadequate reply, the Lord of the Underworld gestured toward the shadow of his throne with his crook. “Come forth, worthy soul.”

  In the dim recesses, I barely saw a pair of radiant eyes... eyes that seemed so familiar to me. Osiris waved for the owner of the eyes to come forward and that person stepped into the pale starlight. The moment I saw the freckles on her cheeks, my breath caught. Although she was so much paler than when I knew her, there was no way I could mistake the identity of my deceased wife.

  “Hello, Sydney,” Melody greeted me, a hopeful smile on her sweet face.

  My heartbeat quickened so rapidly, I was afraid it would break. It was too much and not enough all of a sudden, my emotions surging through me and threatening to explode. I strode towards her. Within three steps of touching her, I hit an invisible barrier that stopped me dead in my tracks. I pushed against it but to no avail. Melody made no effort to come toward me, she just smiled and shook her head.

  “Melody, what is this?” I asked in despair.

  “Think, Sydney,” she said as she finally took a step towards me. “Why would I be so close and yet so far away?”

  I didn’t feel like thinking, so I stubbornly did my best to penetrate the wall that separated us again. I got no closer to her and overcome with my own misery, sank to my knees as sorrow completely overcame me. Melody shook her head at me again.

  “You can’t keep doing this, Sydney. The harder you hold on to me, the longer I must linger.” She pointed at her gaunt cheeks. “Don’t you see what your grief is doing to me?”

  “Or more properly, Melody Blackstone,” Osiris interrupted from his throne, “what he’s doing to both of you.”

  “Why are you showing me Melody, Osiris?” I asked, turning to my god in despair, not understanding why he would choose to punish me in this way.

  “Your love for this woman is beyond dispute,” he responded. “But where it comforted you in life, in death, it has become your prison… and hers.”

  My heart broke all over again at hearing those words. “She was... she is my wife, Osiris!”

  “You must allow me to leave you, Sydney,” Melody whispered back to me.

  “I’m not unsympathetic,” Osiris said gently. “I know how hard it is to be separated from your one true love. But your hold over Melody is stifling, and you, alone, are keeping her from crossing into the Hall of Judgment so she can assume her proper place in the afterlife.”

  In desperation, I looked at Melody, imploring her to tell me Osiris was wrong. “You know he speaks the truth, Sydney,” she said.

  I choked the impulse to deny the evidence right in front of my eyes, and asked, “What must I do?”

  “Let her go,” Osiris said softly. “Say goodbye and permanently release her from your world once and for all. And remember you are still living… thus, you should live. Only then can either of you find true peace.”

  A heavy throbbing made my ears ache all of a sudden. My limbs grew heavy and the weight of the air alone burdened me.

  Melody looked into my eyes. “I’ll see you again, Sydney.”

  ***

  I awoke with a quick jerk and found myself back in the hospital room.

  The sweat on my brow and my heavy breathing made me think I was actually awake. But I’ve been inside too many convincing dreams to believe that was proof enough. I quickly checked the mirror on the right wall. When I saw my own reflection staring back at me, I knew I was awake.