The Oneiro Rangers: First Night (10 page)

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Roland asked.

Errol nodded. “What should we use?”

Roland searched around, his head a swivel with his body stuck in
the desk chair. The room didn’t have much to work with. Most of the decor was
made up of a few cheap paintings and a lot of “Mind Your Manners” posters,
every poster with a different lecture and picture. The drawings of Nightmares
punishing kids for their wrong-doing were never taken serious, each one more
cartoony than the last. Averting his gaze from the dreadful eyesores, he saw
the front end of a mousetrap poking out from between two bookshelves.

“Perfect...” He checked on the morpheus, who had his eyes trained
right on the door. “... And that makes it even better.”

Rolling out of his seat, Roland crawled under the desks to
retrieve the mousetrap. Clint’s head didn’t budge in the slightest, completely
unaware about what was happening in the very room he was in. Stifling his
laughter, Roland was back at his seat in no time flat. A small brown rat was
caught in the metal bar of the trap he held, its body limp and smelling far
worse than it looked. The wooden mousetrap clattered gently against Angelica’s
desk, positioned inches away from her face.

“Oh, Angelica,” Roland said with a forced back snicker. “We gotcha
something.”

Angelica’s eyes fluttered opened, a tiny figure showing through
the haze of her eyelashes. The sudden change in smell caught her off guard,
flushing the sleep right out of her. Once she took sight of the dead rat, she
instantly slapped it away with a high pitched scream. The wooden trap slid
under a desk as Roland and Errol laughed their heads off.

“Eww, yuck!” She groaned in disgust, wiping her hand off on
Roland’s sleeve. “I touched its tail!”

“Hey, that was your breakfast,” Roland taunted.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, making a snide smile. “Sorry, I
saw yellow teeth and a rat face and assumed was you.”

“Ouch,” Roland replied sarcastically, “That’s going to leave a
mark there.”

Angelica got up and so did her fists. “I’ll leave a mark all
right!”

Roland lifted his hands, but they were passive unlike hers. “Okay,
fine. I’m sorry, biddy.” He reached a hand out to her, right when she was about
to take a swing at him. “No more gags and no hard feelings?”

Angelica made a grin to the side, dropping her fists. “Yeah,
sure.” With a nasty snort, she spit a big glob of mucus and saliva into her
palm, getting Roland in a handshake before he could even react.

Roland raised an eyebrow, not able to do anything against her powerful
grip. “Ya learn quick, kid. Looks like I got a run for my money this time.”

Angelica smirked, patting him hard on the back. “Ya sure did, ya
dirty rat.”

“Someone’s outside,” Glenda said with her face near the edge of
the window. “Clint, someone’s coming.”

Clint finally took his eyes off of the door, hearing his name
being called. Walking over to stand beside Glenda, he peeked between the
blinds, opening them up with two fingers. Outside–just passing the haze of a
dim streetlight–was a large shadowy figure, making its way to the front
entrance. All he could make out from the dark blob was the back end of a
brimmed hat. It crossed into the cover of night too fast to tell of any other
features.

Energy hummed throughout the building, the academy coming back to
life. All of the lights came back on all at once, the room feeling bigger now
that everything was visible.

“Finally, something good happens.” Clint moved away from the
widow. “I hope it’s him.”

“Who?” Roland asked, turning off his lantern.

“The Oneiro representative.” Clint slapped himself in the
forehead, grinding his palm against his skull as he continued. “Oh, that’s
right — I forgot to tell all of you. I might as well. The representative is
coming to check up on something strange that happened. Apparently, it seems
that everyone has… vanished.”

“You mean like, in the whole world?” Errol asked worried.

Clint gave him a blank stare. “No, I mean in the Oneiro Academy.
We think a Nightterror is behind this entire thing. I just hope it isn’t that.”
He shook his head slowly. “I really do.”

“Well then what are we waiting for?” Roland got up and started
heading out the door. “Let’s go meet the guy.”

The other teenagers followed after him, only Glenda still sitting
by Clint. “Come one,” he said, “let’s get going.”

Glenda peeked at the hallway. “Okay,” she said getting up, “Just
don’t leave me alone out there.” Her necklaces jingled as she bent down to pick
up her messenger bag, not willing to leave it behind.

“It’ll be fine,” Clint assured as they started walking. “The
lights are back on, so we don’t have anything to worry about.” He held his
pistol out to show her. “And I have this to fend them off, just in case.”

The gun made her feel worse in a different way, but she quickly
headed down the stairs–along with the others–to see who or what was at the
academy’s front door.

Chapter 11

The second floor was different than the rest, looking more like
the stoop of a police station in Redlight than something that belonged to a
school. Being a backup department for the Oneiro Rangers, the floor held the
front desk and offices for in the area and on duty. Only now, it was nothing
but empty space. Nothing but silent phones and still ceiling fans; the only
sound coming from the marble steps as the group went down the grand staircase.

The wide double doors sat before the mouth of the staircase, at
the other end of a long gold colored carpet that welcomed all who entered. The
group just got to the first floor when the doors started to rattle loudly,
moving like crazy. Banging came from the other end, joined with the left
doorknob jiggling. Everyone froze, Clint holding them back with his arms spread
out in front of them — his gun waiting to be used. Finally, the door unlocked
and flung open with a loud slam.

A massive man draped in a brown cloak took a step inside. His head
hung down, the wide brim of his grey hat covered his face.

“Who are you?” Clint demanded.

The man lifted his head, revealing an aged face with a thick
fluffy beard. He took off the hat, showing more of his long dark grey hair, the
top of his head visibly thinning. “Ovid is the name, Dr. Ovid,” he answered in
a cheerful voice.

“O-kid?” Errol asked.

“O
vid
,” He corrected deeply, “with a viddy-viddy-vi, see!”
He looked around in amazement, his beady eyes filled with glee. “Marvelous,” he
chirped, “simply marvelous! This academy is better than I could ever imagine.
The sights, the smells, the feel; everything is just perfect.”

Clint gave a sigh of relief. “It’s just the representative.”

“He seems like a nut bag to me,” Roland murmured to Errol.

Ovid pointed over to Clint with both hands, hovering in for a
handshake. “And
you
must be the morpheus who called.”

“Yes, that’s me. Just call me Clint; no need to be formal.” He
held out a hand.

Ovid shook it rapidly with energy, laughing happily. “Clint, of
course. Yes, yes, how do you do.”

Clint took a second to collect himself after, feeling like he was
just poured out of a mixer. “... What took you so long? I called you quite the
while ago.”

“I just came back from P.S. 118 and on the way I stopped by one of
the Oneiro Departments.” His voice instantly changed to a gloomy mumble. “The
same thing happened to them.”

“Are you saying everyone’s gone in the grade school and the
department as well? There’s nobody left?”

Ovid let out a deep grunt. “Yes, I’m sorry to say
they are
and there
is not
.” As if someone flipped a switch in his brain, he
raised his head up with a big hairy grin. “Now, let us get on with getting our
little students up and at it, shall we? Where are the little ones?”

Clint motioned a hand to the group of teens that were standing
right in front of them. “There they are.”

Ovid looked at them and jumped in surprise. “Oh, splendid! Let us
make haste and suit you all up to have you prepared for duty.”

Clint held an arm out when Ovid started walking forward, stopping
him in his tracks. “Is... it possible to use anyone else?”

“There
is
no one else, dear morpheus.” Ovid glided up the
stairs, passing through the bunched up students. “Come now, there is no time to
waste. The faster we get get you in gear, the faster we can send you out.”
Right after the teens started following him up the stairs, he turned around to
face Roland. “... And I am
not
a nut bag.”

Neither one of the teens knew where the room to get suited was,
but Dr. Ovid guided them to the far end of the second floor’s right wing
without hesitation.

“You guys may not think it, but you are very lucky to have met Dr.
Ovid,” Clint said proudly as they walked. “Not everyone gets to meet the
inventor of the metransistors.”

“
You
made the metransistors?!” Roland rested the back of
his hand against his forehead, pretending to be lightheaded. “Someone catch me,
I feel faint.”

Ovid counted with his fingers as he listed everything off. “The
metransistors, the suits, the weapons, the pantophobia vaccine, the Panzeriese;
everything to allow humanity to survive the Nightmare phenomenon. I didn’t do
it alone though — those monsters have helped advance science in ways nobody
could possibly imagine. Only with the help of our limitless ability to adapt
was I able to be successful. If only I had known something like
this
would happen...”

They stopped at a room labeled:
Oneiro Ranger
Outfitter
, the window on the door made to blur and create shadows of
everything inside. Dr. Ovid pulled out a key and was about to unlock the door,
but seemed to suddenly change his mind.

“I just realized something,” he said as he turned back towards the
teens, spinning the key between his fingertips. “To save time, you children
should look in all the rooms for any clues you can find. The morpheus and I
will get the machine ready in the meantime.”

“Machine?” Glenda asked a little worried. “What machine?”

Ovid gave them an excited grin. “The machine that will determine
your district! It’s the most important part of being a ranger. Your district
tells of your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your preference. Your
district is just as important as your badge itself. Normlock is a mighty big
city and there is no reason to have all of you bunched up together like how you
are now.” He waved his hands at them, like he was shooing a cat away. “Now run
along and don’t forget to bring back anything you find. Oh, and don’t wander
off for too long. The machine will be ready in about half an hour. I expect all
of you to be back before then.”

“I say we all split up into threes,” Sova stated as they started
to walk away from the room, “That way, we’ll get more done in less time without
being all alone.”

“And who made
you
team leader exactly?” Errol questioned,
stopping the whole group to puff out his chest at Sova.

“Nobody,” Sova replied, “’Twas simply a suggestion.”

Roland wedged himself between the two of them, pushing Errol back
before he could do something stupid. “Whoa, easy there. That was actually a
good idea. Come on, we’ll just split off from here. Three can go can go that
way,” he pointed down the left corridor, “and three can go in the other.
Understand?”

“Come on Sova,” Glenda said, leading the way to the left. “We’ll
go this way.”

“Right behind you,” Angelica added, following them.

“I guess that leave us with the right side.” Errol said to Roland.

“That’s right.” Roland looked down at Malory. “Come on sis.”

.  .  .

“Find anything yet?” Angelica asked, flipping over covers on empty
beds. She searched under a pillow, seeing nothing but the white bed cover.

“Nothing here,” Glenda reported, walking out of the adult’s side
room. She walked towards the middle of the dorm, a quiet crunching noise coming
from under her boot.

Sova set down the lamp he was tilting and pointed down at her
feet. “Wait, did you just hear that?”

The two girls waited in silence, the only sound coming from the
morning birds chirping in the distance.

“I don’t hear anything,” Angelica answered.

Dropping to the floor, Sova aligned his head with the wooden
boards. The long front of his hair flopped over his eyes, having to be brushed
away so he could see. Little grains were scattered all over the floor, almost
completely see-through. Seeing a loose pile next to him, he scooped it up with
a hand. The girls were looking in someone’s half-opened storage chest, unaware
of what he had found.

Sova stood up, his hand cupping the clear grains. “Does it strike
you as odd that there is sand all over the place?”

Angelica walked in closer to see the strange substance. “I don’t
think that’s sand...”

Glenda nodded. “It looks like glass to me. I’ve never seen sand
that’s clear like that. Be careful, you’ll cut yourself.”

“Don’t worry about it, they’re not sharp. In fact, it feels like
I’m holding powdered sugar. Do you suppose this is a clue then?”

“I’ll say it’s a clue,” Angelica answered. “Let’s see if those two
chuckle heads found anything yet.”

In the other room, Roland laid in a bed, relaxing. “Anything yet?”

Errol kneeled down and lifted the bottom end of a bed with one
hand, looking underneath and shaking his head. “Not yet.” He let the end down,
kicking up a wave of dust.

Roland coughed and swatted the cloud away. “It’s only been a few hours
and this place is already like a haunted house. Dust, spider webs, broken
lights; everything but a stinking clue.”

Malory’s legs wiggled excitedly, her upper body hidden under a
bed. “I found something, I found something!”

“Hot dog, whatdya’ got?” Roland asked, getting to her at the same
time Errol did.

“It’s a super ball!” she said happily, dropping the red ball to
the ground and watching it bounce. “These things get distance!”

Roland and Errol slapped their hands on their legs in frustration.
From the hall, the other three teens entered. Before the two friends could ask
why they were there, Sova leaned down, his leather coat draping over the floor.

“Just as I suspected,” Sova said, getting up. “The sand is here
too.”

“What sand?” Malory asked as she caught the ball.

“We found this strange sand in the other room,” he replied,
pointing to his cupped hand, “and now that we know it wasn’t the only room to
have it, we got every right to say it’s a clue.”

“Finally,” Roland said with a huff. “Now we can get back to
getting our guns.”

“Is that really all you care about?” Angelica questioned.

“Dames dig guns,” he replied as he walked out. “Makes them feel
all warm and fuzzy inside.”

Angelica honked out a loud laugh. “Okay, whatever you say,
lady-killer
.”

Taking less time than given, the students entered the outfitter
room, and saw that Ovid was almost ready with the machine. Metal panels covered
with buttons and switches surround a lone chair in the middle of the room,
tesla coils buzzing on its two sides. The grey walls and ground made the room
dark, only a single light bulb swinging from the ceiling.  After pressing
a few more buttons, Ovid looked up to see the teens walk in, clapping his hands
together. Clint wore a surprised look, as if he expected them to be in the
Withering Woods by now — like earlier.

Ovid approached them. “Did you find anything?”

“I think we did.” Sova held out his hand to show him the sand.

“Splendid. Let’s have a look then.” He chuckled as Sova poured the
sand into Ovid’s hand. His eyes instantly bugged out, his hands shaking
violently. “You — this — this is
Sandman Sand
!”

Clint stood next to Ovid with his hands on his hips. “It should be
invisible then.”

Ovid held up a finger. “Ahh, but this sand is different. It’s an
altered type of sand, a more powerful kind. Only a Nightterror would be evil
enough to conjure up something such as this.”

Roland shrugged. “Sand is sand, ain’t it?”

“Normally, Sandman Sand is used by Mara to send dreams to the
person. This sand, however, sends the person to the dream.”

“How do you know that?” Clint questioned.

“What other explanation is there? Everyone is gone, sand was used;
it’s the only possibility.”

“So everyone’s in dream land?” Errol asked.

“Precisely! They are trapped in the infinite void of Skepsi: the
land of dreams.”

“We’ll what are we waiting for then,” Roland shouted. “Let’s get
them out!”

“Patience, dear boy, patience. That particular part is impossible
right now. There is no way to enter Skepsi other than this sand that was used.”
He pointed at the small clump in his hand excitedly. “I can replicate it, now
that we have a known product. I will work on it every given moment until enough
is made to send you rangers in there and return everything back to the way it
should be.”

“How come you can’t just use the sand around the Academy?” Malory
asked. “It should be enough. Shouldn’t it? There's a
whole
lot of it.”

“It’s simple really. To affect someone, the sand has to be active.
This sand that we have with us is already well beyond used. The energy inside
escapes quickly when exposed to air in our domain and turns into static
electricity. This sand is an altered form, so it is even more unstable. Both sands
are only able to affect a human for no longer than a minute. It will be
difficult, but with time, I will be able to reproduce this substance and bring
everyone back to where they belong.”

Angelic crossed her arms, not liking the sound of that. “So, what?
We’re just gonna wait until then?”