Parked several houses down from the address Kenzie found for Mister Randolph Carter, the three of us waited for night to fall; the three of us consisting of Kenzie, myself and my "partner", the subcompact pistol I usually carry in the small of my back.
As we waited for all the lights to turn off inside Randolph Carter's rundown house, I continued our hours-long conversation. The intent of my questions were twofold. One, to gain as much information as I could about the Great and the Dreamlands. Two, to keep Kenzie awake.
"So tell me again, you met Randy after you began lucid dreaming?" I asked.
"Yes." Kenzie answered after taking another sip of coffee. "After I began, but before the nightmares started." Kenzie thought for a moment before continuing. "So I guess that means Randy can't be the Great. I mean, I met the Great, before he went crazy on me, when I started lucid dreaming and Randy afterward."
"But before the nightmare phase?" I asked.
"Yes. I guess so." Kenzie answered. "Maybe right after? I don't exactly remember our meeting that much."
"Huh." I commented. "But you also said time between our world and the Dreamlands gets mixed up, right? Tell me again, how did you start this whole lucid dreaming thing?"
"Like I said, the Great kinda pulled me into it. Like I did with you. He brought me into one of his dreams, showed me the ropes and all the wonders of lucid dreaming and of the Dreamlands. Once he tricked me into signing my name, however..."
"Just out of the blue?" I asked. "You were sleeping one night and this Great guy sucked you into his own lucid dream?"
"Yeah."
"Doesn't that seem strange?" I asked.
Kenzie punched me in the arm. "Of course, it seems strange! It is strange! This whole damn thing is strange. Strange and evil. I wish I never listened to the Great. I don't even know what the hell we're doing here? I mean, this loser Randy can't be the guy we're looking for, right? I met him after the beginning of my lucid dreams. Plus, Randy isn't scary like the Great is."
"I don't know." I explained. "If he's not the right guy, maybe there's some clues inside. Look. His lights just went out. Let's wait another hour and go take a look."
Kenzie yawned. "I don't know if I can wait that long, Nash. I'm getting sleepy. Using those sleeping pills makes me super tired the next day. Didn't that doctor we stopped at this morning give you something to keep us awake?"
"No. Something even better." I told her. I'll let you know what it is only if we need it. "Now stay awake. Tell me about your childhood. Start on your tenth birthday."
"Well," Kenzie began, "As you know, ten years old is a big deal, so my parents planned out this huge surprise party..."
* * * * * * *
With all the doors locked with heavy-duty, high-security deadbolts, I found it odd to find one of Randy Carter's kitchen windows open.
When a cat jumped out of the window, startling Kenzie and me, I realized the purpose for the lack of security on the kitchen window.
"I guess he has a cat." Kenzie stated after stifling her scream of fright when the cat leaped near our heads.
Risking a glance inside, I turned away, holding my nose from the stench of cat urine and feces. "More than one I would think."
"Gross." Kenzie agreed when she put her face near the open window. "I guess Randy doesn't believe in having his animals fixed or anything."
Kenzie and I placed the rubber gloves I brought with us on as I wished I'd brought surgical masks or something to deal with the smell. Placing a nearby box under the window, I carefully climbed inside the dark house, trying my best to avoid making any unnecessary sounds.
As I made my way in, I heard dozens of claws scampering away in the darkness. Once completely in the kitchen, I flicked on my red-lensed flashlight and examined the area. Apart from cat piss stains and feline scat everywhere, most of the empty space in the kitchen contained empty pizza boxes and dirty dishes, all licked clean.
Finding myself alone with no threats presenting themselves, I assisted Kenzie through the open window. "Breath through your mouth." I cautioned her as she began gagging from the stench inside.
From what I could tell, the house consisted of a kitchen, a small living area, a bathroom and a single bedroom. As Kenzie and I made our way from the kitchen into the living room, hundreds of glowing cat eyes tracked our every move.
"Damn that's a lot of cats." Kenzie whispered unnecessarily. "Is there some law against neutering or killing cats I don't know about? I mean, I know there has to be a law against this. Hundreds of cats in a single house."
"Shhh." I hushed her.
Moving my flashlight around the room, apart from the torn furniture, empty pill bottles and skeletons of dead rodents littering the floor, I noticed a single bookcase containing zero books, but instead, dozens of different types of small antiques and miniature statues. None of the antiques or sculptures appeared helpful in any way, but two struck my curiosity for a moment. The first, a weird brass bookend which appeared to depict a strange rat-human creature. The second, a little cloth, faceless doll reminiscent of a cheap, handmade toy.
"That rat statue looks a little like the creature from our dreams. I don't like this at all. Nash, I want to wait outside." Kenzie whispered in my ear. "I have a bad feeling about this place. It's evil... And it smells."
Are you serious? I thought.
"We're almost done." I whispered back. This statue is pretty good evidence, but we need a little more. "Be tough. Two more rooms."
Before Kenzie could protest, we made our way into the bathroom. "Wait here." I told Kenzie after my first glance into the bathroom. The mess in the rest of the house paled compared to the disaster waiting for me in the bathroom.
Holding my breath, I entered, searched and retreated from the disgusting room. "Find anything?" Kenzie asked quietly.
"Just bottles and bottles full of sleeping pills." I told her.
"Let's go." Kenzie pleaded. "Randy must be sleeping in the last room. I don't want to wake him. There's no clues in here. Let's go."
"I have to check." I told her. "And if he is also one of the lucid dreamers, if not the "Great", based on all of those sleeping pills, he won't wake up anyway."
"I don't know." Kenzie replied, standing extremely close to me, her head darting around to watch the hundreds of cats tracking our every move.
"Trust me." I told the scared woman. "We came this far."
"Fine."
"Follow me." I told Kenzie as I placed my hand on the doorknob leading to the bedroom. However, before actually turning the handle, I yanked my hand away and whirled around, reflexively pushing Kenzie behind me.
As soon as I touched the doorknob, dozens of the cats surrounding us hissed angrily, causing my overreaction.
"They're hungry." Kenzie explained in a low tone, her voice betraying the fact the odd feline behavior freaked her out as well. "Their food must be inside his room. That's why the cats made that weird sound right before we went in."
"This is why I'm a dog guy." I joked, returning my attention to the bedroom door.
Turning the handle and ignoring the hissing cats behind me, Kenzie and I quickly entered Randy's room, carefully closing the door behind us.
"Gross."
Kenzie involuntarily gagged at the overpowering smell in the bedroom. "You should smell the bathroom if you think this is bad." I joked.
She answered me by punching my shoulder.
The first thing I noticed in the room was the lack of cats. Of course, I could barely see the floor through all the clothes on the floor, but I doubted any cats hid underneath. Laying on the bed, Randy's scrawny body snored loudly, completely unaware of our presence. Tinfoil on the outside window kept the moonlight out of the foul-smelling room. Resting on a table in the bedroom corner, a large cage, containing a black and gray mass of something moving inside, captured my attention.
"What's that?" Kenzie asked, her attention also grabbed by the movement in the cage.
Stepping over the piles of clothes, we made our way over to the corner with the cage. "Rats." I stated.
Inside the cage, approximately a hundred rats continuously climbed over each other in an apparent attempt to reach Kenzie and me. All the rats snapped their jaws at us hungrily.
"They're starving." Kenzie observed.
Upon closer examination, I verified the malnourished state of the rats. That, combined with the lack of food and the dozens of rat skeletons inside and immediately outside the cage, confirmed Kenzie's assessment.
"Food for the cats?" I wondered out loud.
"Possibly." Kenzie replied. "Ready to leave now?"
Disappointed at the lack of clues in Randy's house, I nodded in agreement.
After Kenzie and I made our exit from Randy's bedroom and into the living room, I closed the bedroom door behind us.
"Nash!" Kenzie screamed as an unseen force knocked her to the floor, causing me to drop my little flashlight at the same time, plunging us into total darkness.
Before I could take any action or even assess the situation, I found myself attacked as well!