“One of the other research teams had hypothesized the existence of this kind of rare individual…The mystics and occultists referred to them as children of special destiny, individuals who had been chosen by some higher power and given special gifts. At the time I thought that was nonsense, only now I must admit there really is something to it. We know there are other worlds, other realities, that infringe upon our own. These are the source of some of the creatures that end up here. Sometimes there is a rare individual inexorably connected to one of these other realms. It is as if they are chosen to accomplish something, sometimes good, sometimes evil, or even completely incomprehensible. They exhibit strange abilities, even connections to tap into these other unknown realms. Intrusions by other worlds seem to create these specimens. Sometimes the abilities are passed down genetically, though they rarely manifest, but when they do, remarkable things happen.”
Mosh and Holly exchanged a glance. “We know somebody that fits that description.”
“I strongly doubt it. The odds are astronomically against it.”
“Odds go out the window when my brother’s involved,” Mosh said. “Owen has collected some absolutely bizarre karmic baggage. He’s why I’m here. He’s one of the people trapped inside the Last Dragon.”
Dr. Blish’s mouth fell open but no sound came out. For a second Mosh thought that he’d simply died of shock. Then his mouth began to move again, like a fish out of water gasping. Finally he was able to get the words out. “No, no, no. Another one of them? And he’s on the other side? This is terrible. Absolutely terrible. Do you have any idea what this means?”
“No.” The door was kicked again. There was still no give. Mosh was just glad they had a hostage so they couldn’t just start shooting through the walls. “Not really.”
“In the intervening years we have learned from other incidents involving the bonding of humans to spirit entities from other planes. Stricken has procured some ancient weapons that he believes will not only destroy the host, but at the same time permanently banish the alp back to its home…But if the host is destroyed, and there is another one of these chosen vessels present in its home realm…”
“We’d be banishing it to someplace where it could just take over another body…”
“And doubtlessly continue to travel between our worlds, wrecking havoc on us all,” Blish finished for her.
“Oh, hell no. This nightmare thing is not going to possess my brother.” Mosh looked to Holly. “Is that possible?” She shrugged. Holly had no idea either. “No way, man.”
Mordechai’s voice came into his head for the last time. “Thank you, boy. We know enough now. The Champion will be warned. Now you must prepare yourself. You must face your fear.”
The lights flickered. The banging against the door ceased. Mosh realized that Holly’s breath was visible as steam. A tingle of dread rolled down his spine. He began to shiver uncontrollably.
“It’s too late.” Dr. Blish sounded utterly defeated. “He’s found me.”
“Crap. He’s here!” Holly sprang into action. She grabbed onto the shelf that was keeping out Paranormal Tactical and began pulling it aside. “Help me, Mosh!” Potentially getting shot by angry Hunters, but maybe having help, sounded a lot nicer than being stuck inside with the nightmare monster. The metal of the shelf was cold to the touch.
The lights died.
There was a new presence in the storage room with them. Mosh could feel it, only a few feet away, standing dark and cold over the wheelchair that held the cowering scientist.
I remember you…The words pounded their way into Mosh’s thoughts.
“I’m sorry.” The doctor’s voice cracked. “I’m so sorry for what we did to you, Marcus.”
It’s too late for apologies.
Mosh screamed as the world was swept away.
Chapter 21
Mosh!
I was Owen Zastava Pitt again.
It all hit me in fast succession, leaving me with what felt like the worst ice-cream headache ever. “Oh, man.”
Sam Haven took his ghostly hand away from my head. “Yeah, that looks like it really hurts. But soak that shit up quick. I need you motivated. This is a job for the living. And since you’re the guy with all the connections between worlds, you got the job. Congratulations. That’s getting to be a habit with you. All us dead Hunters have nicknamed you Short Straw. Believe it or not, we mean it in the nicest way possible.”
I was still being overwhelmed with information, and as it came grinding to an end, I realized with a shock that my brother was in danger. “The Nachtmar’s got Mosh!”
“Among others. It’s spreading out into Vegas, looking for minds to raid. So you need to hurry up and waste it before it’s too late.”
“How—”
Sam pointed up like I had seconds before.
“God will smite him?”
Sam laughed at me. “I was pointing at the roof. Get to the chopper. Power’s out. You up to twenty flights of stairs?”
My wife was up there. Damn right I could take the stairs. “Ankle’s buggered, but I can do it.”
“Ace-wrap that fucker and walk it off,” Sam ordered like any good SEAL would. “This casino is drifting in dreamland, but you can still fly out. You’ll need to piss the monster off good so it’ll chase after you, but knowing you, that shouldn’t be a problem. Mordechai pulled some strings and will have what you need waiting. He’s sort of your guardian angel. Turns out there’s a lot invested in you, Z, so when it comes to meddling in your particular business, we get a little more leeway. You’ll find backup on the way. Me and the boys need to go waste some demons. We’ll hold them off as long as we can. Tell Milo I said hi, and I’m really honored he named his kid after me. That was mighty cool of him.”
I could see through Sam. “Wait—”
But then Sam Haven simply vanished as if he’d never even been there at all.