The Secret Hour

9



12:00 A.M.



RUMBLE



The black panther roared again.



The sound felt loud enough to knock Jessica backward, but her feet were frozen in place. She wanted to turn away, to run, but some ancient terror had taken hold of her muscles, leaving them paralyzed. It was fear of the huge cat's fangs, of its hungry roar, of the thin, cruel line of pink tongue that flickered out from its maw.



"Dreaming or not," Jessica said softly, "getting eaten would suck."



The beast's eyes flashed bright purple in the moonlight. Its mouth began to twist and change shape, the two longest fangs stretching out until they were as long as knives. It crouched, gathering itself into a bundle of muscle, head lowered and tail raised high like a sprinter setting up to start a race. Its muscles quivered, the huge paws kneading the ground. The grating sound of claws scraping asphalt reached Jessica's ears, sending shivers up her spine. When the cat sprang toward her, it became suddenly as long and swift as an arrow.



The moment it moved, Jessica was released from its spell. She turned and ran back toward the snakes.



Her bare feet slapped painfully against the asphalt, and the arc of snakes was arrayed across the street directly in front of her, so she veered off to one side, onto the softer strip of lawn. The snakes moved to cut her off, slithering into the high, uncut grass in front of a ramshackle old house. Jessica gritted her teeth as she ran, imagining sharp fangs piercing the soles of her feet with every step. When she reached the spot where she guessed the snakes were, Jessica launched herself into a long jump. The air rushed around her, and the leap seemed to carry her incredibly far. She leapt twice more, taking bounding steps until she reached the edge of the next driveway.



Jessica stumbled painfully on the concrete as she landed, but she managed to keep running. The snakes were definitely behind her now, and she realized with relief that she hadn't been bitten. But the footfalls of the black panther were still closing in. She might be fast in this dream, but the creature behind her was faster.



Images from a million nature specials flashed through her head: big cats taking down their prey, grabbing hold of gazelles with their teeth and disemboweling them with hind claws that spun like the blades of a blender. Cheetahs were the fastest animals in the world; panthers probably weren't that far behind. There was no way she could beat the beast in a straight line. But she recalled how antelope escaped cheetahs: by twisting and turning, so that the heavier, less agile cats shot past and tumbled to the ground before they could right themselves for another attack.



The problem was, Jessica was no antelope.



She risked a glance over her shoulder. The panther was only a few bounds behind, terrifyingly huge this close. Jessica angled toward a willow in front of the next house, a wide old tree that sheltered the entire yard. She counted down from five as she ran toward it, hearing the cat's footfalls tearing into the grass closer and closer. At one, Jessica threw herself to the ground behind the wide trunk.



The panther's leap took it over her, a dark shadow blotting out the giant moon for a split second. A ripping sound came with the wind of the creature's passage, as if the air itself were splitting.



Jessica raised her head. The big cat was scrambling to a stop in the next driveway, its claws drawing a spine-chilling screech from the asphalt. Then she spotted the marks inches from her face and swallowed. The tree trunk bore three long, cruel gouges just above where her head had been, the freshly exposed wood white for a moment before the moon leached it blue.



She stood and ran.



There was a narrow gap between two houses, an overgrown channel of grass and dark shapes. Jessica dashed instinctively for the narrow space. She crashed through the high grass, jumping the rusting shape of an old push mower leaning against one wall, then stumbled to an abrupt halt.



At the other end of the gap was a chain-link fence.



Jessica ran toward it. There was nowhere else to go.



She leapt as high as she could, fingers hooking into the weave of metal, pulling herself up. Her feet scrambled for purchase, toes gripping better than shoes but much more painfully. At least the fence was new, the metal smooth and rust-free.



As Jess climbed, she could hear the rumbling breath of the giant panther behind her reverberating between the two houses. The creature pushed through the high grass with a rushing noise like wind in leaves. She reached the top of the fence and swung over, coming suddenly face-to-face with her pursuer.



The beast was only a few yards away. Its eyes locked with hers. In those deep pools of indigo Jessica thought she recognized an ancient intelligence, remote and cruel. She knew absolutely, beyond any argument, that this wasn't a mere animal; it was something much, much worse.



Except, of course, that this had to be a dream: that pure evil staring back at her was all in her head.



"Psychosomatic," she whispered softly.



The creature raised a huge paw to swipe at Jessica's clinging fingers, still exposed through the holes of the fence. She released her grip and pushed herself backward. As she fell, a shower of blue sparks exploded in front of her, lighting the big cat's gleaming fangs and the houses rising on either side. The whole fence seemed to ignite, blue fire running along every inch of metal. The fire seemed to be drawn to the paw of the beast, spiraling inward toward the long claws entangled for a moment among the chain links.



Then the creature must have freed itself; the world went dark.



Jessica hit the ground softly, her fall broken by the unkempt grass. She blinked blindly; the weave of the fence was burned into her vision, dazzling blue diamond shapes overlaying everything she saw. The smell of singed fur almost made her choke.



She gazed at her own hands wonderingly. They were unhurt, except for triangular red marks from hoisting herself over. If the fence had been electrified, why hadn't it burned her as it had the cat? There were no sparks now except for the echoes in her vision, and the fence was whole before her. She was surprised that the panther hadn't ripped it down with a single swipe of its paw.



Jessica peered through the metal at her pursuer, blinking to clear her vision. The panther was shaking its head in confusion, backing away to the far end of the gap, limping slightly. It held up one paw and licked it, the pink tongue snaking out between the two long teeth. Then the cold indigo eyes locked onto Jessica. The cool intelligence was still there. The cat turned and padded out of sight.



It was looking for another way around.



Whatever the fence had done to the panther, she was grateful. The beast could've jumped the fence, which wasn't more than eight feet high, but the blue sparks had spooked it.



Her respite wouldn't last long, though. She had to get moving. Jessica rolled over onto her hands and knees and started to stand.



A hissing sound came from the ground in front of her. Through the high grass she glimpsed two purple eyes flashing in the moonlight.



Her hand darted in front of her face just in time. Cold shot through her from palm to elbow, as if long, icy needles had been thrust deep into her arm. Jessica leapt to her feet and stumbled away from where the snake had been hidden.



Her eyes widened with fear as she looked down at her hand.



The snake was attached by black filaments that wrapped around her fingers and wrist, her hand grasped by a spreading cold. The filaments came from the snake's mouth, as if its tongue had split into a hundred black threads and twisted itself tightly around her. The cold was moving slowly up her arm toward her shoulder.



Without thinking, Jessica swung the snake against the fence. The chain links lit up again, though much less explosively than when the cat had struck it. Blue fire shot toward her hand, then ran down the length of the writhing snake. The creature puffed up for a moment, its sleek black fur standing on end. The filaments unraveled, and the snake dropped lifeless to the ground.



Jessica leaned against the fence, exhausted.



The metal was warm and pulsing against her back, as if the steel had become alive. Feeling rushed back into her arm painfully, along with imaginary pins and needles, like blood returning after she'd slept on it all night long.



Jessica sagged with relief, letting the metal hold her weight for a moment.



Then, from the corner of her eye, she spotted movement. There was a narrow gap under the fence, like a dog would dig. More of the snakes were coming through.



Jessica turned and ran.



The backyard of this house was small, bounded by high fences. She might be safe from the panther within them, but in the uncut grass the snakes could hide anywhere. She climbed over the locked gate in the back, dropping to the ground in a narrow, paved alleyway.



The big cat had headed back the way Jessica had come, so she ran down the alley in the opposite direction. She wondered how she would ever get home.



"Just a dream," Jess reminded herself. The words brought her no comfort at all. The adrenaline in her blood, the sharp pain in her fingers from climbing the chain-link fence, her heart pounding in her chest - the whole experience seemed absolutely real.



The alley led out onto a wide road. A street sign stood at the next corner, and Jess ran toward it, casting her eyes around for the panther.



"Kerr and Division," she read. That was on the way to school. She wasn't so far from home. "If I can just make it past the hairy snakes and the giant predator, I'll be fine," she mumbled. "No problem."



The moon was fully risen now. It was moving much faster than the sun did during the day, Jessica realized. It hardly felt like half an hour since the dream had started. She saw how gigantic the moon was now. It filled so much of the sky that only a strip of horizon remained visible around it. The huge bulk hanging overhead made the world seem smaller, as if someone had put a roof on the sky.



Then Jessica saw shapes against the moon.



"Great," she said. "Just what I need."



They were flying creatures of some kind. They looked like bats, their wings fleshy and translucent, slowly gliding rather than flapping their wings. They were larger than bats, though, their bodies longer, as if a pack of rats had sprung wings. Several of them wheeled above her, making low chirping sounds.



Had they spotted her? Were they, like everything else in this dream, hunting Jessica Day?



Staring into the dark orb was giving Jessica a headache again, making her feel trapped under its light-sucking gaze. She turned her eyes back down to earth, watching for the panther as she jogged toward home.



The flying shapes stayed overhead, following her.



It wasn't long before she felt the rumble of the panther's growl again.



The black shape slid into sight in front of her a few blocks away, directly between Jessica and home. She remembered the intelligence in the panther's eyes when they had faced each other through the fence. The cat seemed to know where she lived and how to stop her from getting there. And its little slithering friends were probably already in formation to prevent any escape.



This was hopeless.



The creature started padding toward her, not breaking into its full stride this time. It knew now how fast she could run and understood that it only had to go a little bit faster to catch her. It wouldn't overshoot this prey again.



Jessica looked around for a place to hide, somewhere to escape to. But the houses here on the main roads were farther apart, with big wide strips of grass on every side. There were no tight spaces to crawl into, no fences to climb.



Then she spotted her salvation, one block in the opposite direction from the panther. A car.



It was sitting motionless right in the middle of the street, its lights off, but she could see that someone was inside it.



Jessica ran toward it. Maybe whoever was at the wheel could drive her to safety, or maybe the panther couldn't get inside the car. It was the only hope she had.



She looked over her shoulder at the cat. It was running now, still not at full speed, but fast enough to close the distance with every bound. Jessica ran as fast as she could. Her bare feet ached from pounding the concrete, but she ignored the pain. She knew she could make it to the car.



She had to.



The cat's raspy breathing and padded footfalls reached her ears, the sounds carrying like whispers through the silent blue world, closer and closer.



Jessica dashed the last few yards, reached the passenger side door, and yanked at the handle.



It was locked.



"You've got to help me!" she cried. "Let me in!"



Then Jessica saw the face of the driver. The woman was about her mom's age, with blond hair and a slight frown on her face, as if she were concentrating on the road ahead. But her skin was as white as paper. Her fingers gripped the wheel motionlessly. Like Beth, she was frozen, lifeless.



"No!" Jessica shouted.



A hissing came from below. Snakes under the car.



Without thinking, Jessica leapt up onto the hood. She wound up facing the driver through the windshield, the blank eyes staring back at her like a statue's.



"No," Jessica sobbed, pounding the hood of the car.



She rolled over to face the panther, exhausted, defeated.



The beast was only a few strides away. It paused, growling, and the two long fangs glinted in the dark moonlight. Jessica knew that she was dead meat.



Then something happened.



A tiny flying saucer came screaming past Jessica, headed toward the panther. The object left a wake of blue sparks and electrified air. Jessica felt her hair stand on end, as if lightning had struck close by. The panther's eyes flashed, wide and panicked, reflecting gold instead of indigo.



The projectile burst into a blue flame that wrapped itself around the giant cat. The creature spun around and leapt away, the fire clinging to its fur. It bounded farther down the street, howling a menagerie of pain - lions' roars and stricken birds, cats being tortured. The beast passed from sight around a corner, its cries finally fading into a hideous, tormented laugh like that of a wounded hyena.



"Wow," came a familiar voice, "Hypochondriac killed the cat." The nonsense words were followed by a giggle.



Jessica turned to face the voice, blinking away tears and disbelief. A few yards away, somehow invading her dream, was Dess.



"Hey, Jess," she called. "How's it going?"



Jessica opened her mouth, but no sound came out.



Dess was astride a rickety old bike, one foot resting on the pavement, the other on a pedal. She wore a leather jacket over her usual black dress and was flipping what looked like a coin in the air.



Jessica heard a hissing noise from below. A few dark squiggles were wriggling their way toward Dess.



"Snakes," she managed to croak.



"Slithers, actually," Dess said, and flipped the coin into the dark shapes.



It pinged against the ground among them, raising a single bright blue spark, and, with a chorus of thin screeching noises, the snakes scuttled back under the car.



Two more bikes rolled into view.



They were ridden by Dess's friends from the cafeteria. The boy with the thick glasses pulled up first, only he wasn't wearing glasses now. His long coat billowed around him as he halted, and he was breathing hard. Then the other girl who'd been at Dess's table, whom Jessica had never met, pulled up.



Jessica looked at the three of them blankly. This dream was getting weirder and weirder.



"You're welcome," said Dess.



"Be quiet," the boy said breathlessly. "Are you okay?"



It took a moment for Jessica to realize that the question was directed at her. She blinked again and nodded dumbly. Her feet hurt and she was out of breath, but she was okay. Physically, anyway.



"Sure, I'm fine. I guess."



"Don't worry about psychokitty; it's gone for the night," Dess said, looking after the departed panther. She turned to the boy. "What was it, Rex?"



"Some kind of darkling," he said.



"Well, duh," Dess said.



Both of them looked at the other girl. She shook her head, rubbing her eyes with one hand. "It tasted very old, maybe even from before the Split."



Rex whistled. "That's old, all right. It must be insane by now."



The girl nodded. "A few fries short of a Happy Meal. But still crafty."



Dess dropped her bike to the ground and walked over to where the cat had stood. "Whatever it was, it turned out to be no match for the mighty power of Hypochondriac."



She knelt and plucked a dark disk of metal from the ground.



"Ouch!" Dess passed it from hand to hand, grinning. "Still sparky."



It looked like an old hubcap, blackened by fire. Was that the dazzling flying saucer of a minute ago?



Jessica shook her head, dazed but slowly calming down. She was breathing evenly now. Everything was moving into more familiar dream territory: total craziness.



Rex rested his bike on the street and walked to the side of the car. Jessica shrank from him a little, and he put up both palms.



"It's okay," he said softly, "but you should probably get off the car. It looks like it's going pretty fast."



"Come on," Dess said, looking up at the sky. "It's like a quarter till."



"It's still not a good habit, Dess," he said. "Especially when you're new."



He offered his hand. Jessica looked down suspiciously at the ground, but there were no snakes apparent. She saw the same shiny ankle bracelets that Dess wore looped around Rex's boots. The other girl had them too, rings of metal piled up around her black sneakers.



She looked at her own bare feet.



"Don't worry, the slithers are gone."



"They departed somewhat overzealously," Dess said, giggling. Her eyes were wide, as if the encounter with the panther had been some exciting fairground ride.



Jessica ignored Rex's hand and slid off the car hood toward the front. She pushed off from the bumper and took a few quick steps away, peering into the shadows beneath it. But the snakes did seem to have disappeared.



"I wouldn't stand in front of it either," Rex suggested mildly. He looked at the tires. "It's probably going about fifty miles an hour."



Jessica followed his gaze and saw that the tires weren't actually round. They were oval, compressed out of shape and tipped slightly forward. They looked how wheels in motion were drawn in cartoons. But the car was absolutely still. The driver still wore the exact same expression, oblivious to the strange events going on around her.



Rex pointed up at the dark moon. "And when that bad boy goes down, it'll jump back into regular motion. No hurry, like Dess said, but good to keep in mind."



Something about Rex's calm voice annoyed Jessica. Possibly the fact that nothing he said made any sense whatsoever.



She looked up at the moon. It was still moving across the sky quickly, almost half set.



A gasp came from the other three. She dropped her gaze to them. They stared back at her.



"What is it?" Jessica asked sharply. She'd had enough of their weirdness.



The girl whose name she didn't know took a step closer to Jess, peering closely at her face with an appalled expression.



"Your eyes are wrong," the girl said.