The Ninth Nightmare by Graham Masterton Page B

how special you are,’ the young man told her. ‘You’re descended from a long line of people who have the ability to enter the dreams and nightmares of other people, and to use that ability for the greater good of all humanity.’
    â€˜ What ?’
    â€˜I know, Katie. I know it’s very difficult for you to grasp, because I’ve never had to call on you before. Many people have a similar ability but they live out their entire lives and I never have to recruit them, ever, because their talents are simply not suitable. But I need you now, and that’s why I came here today to talk to you.’
    â€˜Who are you?’ Katie asked him. ‘And what do you mean by “recruit”? You’re nothing to do with the military, are you?’
    â€˜My name is Springer. I am the earthly representative of what you might loosely describe as the forces of good.’
    â€˜Terrific. I was right, then. You’re selling Bibles.’
    â€˜Katie—’
    Katie raised both hands. ‘I don’t know how you knew my grandma’s bird song, or what I dreamed about in Cleveland. Excellent sales pitch, I grant you. But I don’t need a Bible, thank you. I really don’t. And I think it’s time for you to leave.’
    Springer said, in a flat, expressionless tone, ‘Remember all those nightmares your sister Daisy used to have? Those really scary nightmares about that circus.’
    Katie stared at him, breathless with surprise. ‘Daisy died when she was nine years old,’ she said. ‘How the hell do you know what nightmares she had?’
    â€˜I told you, Katie. I’m not selling Bibles. I’m the earthly representative of the forces of good.’
    â€˜Daisy never told a soul about those circus nightmares. She never told anybody ! Only me.’
    â€˜I realize that. But like I told you – knowing about nightmares, that’s my job. And Daisy’s nightmare about the circus is the reason why I’m here today. Your nightmare – the nightmare you had at the Griffin House Hotel – that was part of the same nightmare, believe it or not.’
    â€˜How could that be?’
    â€˜Because the circus doesn’t vanish when you wake up. It exists in its own reality. It’s going on right now – even during the day, when there’s nobody asleep and dreaming about it. Do you understand that? The barrel-organ music is still playing. The clowns are still tumbling. The circus has a terrible unstoppable life of its own, in the world of dreams.’
    â€˜You said that my nightmare was part of it, too,’ said Katie. She felt badly shaken, and she had to sit down on the opposite end of the couch.
    Springer nodded. ‘That’s because Daisy was the same as you, descended from the same line. If the meningitis hadn’t taken her when she was so young, I would have been talking to her today, too, and asking her to help us.’
    â€˜What line ? I don’t understand any of this.’
    Springer said, ‘I know you’re not very religious, Katie, but the forces of good are embodied in a spirit which is known in the waking world by many different names, and in dream world by the name of Ashapola.
    â€˜Ashapola is light. Ashapola is purity. Ashapola protects us from the forces of darkness and destruction, and everything which would jeopardize our civilization and our sanity. Over the millennia, Ashapola has constantly battled to defend our world from being torn apart at the seams.’
    â€˜But what does any of this have to do with my nightmare?’
    â€˜ Everything – because the woman you encountered in your nightmare had deliberately been mutilated so that she could be presented as an attraction at the circus. The selfsame circus which your sister Daisy used to dream about.’
    â€˜Go on.’
    â€˜This circus has survived in the world of dreams for nearly nine centuries, believe it or not.