Jarvis Street Chapter 11
James knew it was a dream. He knew because on some level he was still slightly awake in his bed and on another, he had this same fucking dream all the time. But he was driving the van as it went slower and slower, creeping up that goddamn hill in the middle of Leominster State Forest as Robin drove him off the road.
The rest of the team were yelling, their voices all mingling together so that he couldn’t hear a single actual word they were saying. But he didn’t need to, he could feel the same fear, and he knew just as well as them that they were all about to die.
And then Robin was there again, his car pulling up closer as the van slowed nearly to a halt. James was about to kill his team. Robin might be trying to do it, but James was the one behind the wheel. The van needed repairs. It didn’t have tires. Why had he driven it out here when it didn’t have tires?
And then Robin’s face was next to his, the blood flecking cold off of him and onto James’s face. One eye was missing, and the socket seemed to look right into James’s soul as Robin leaned in close to whisper something he’d never hear. Bone protruded from the split skin of Robin’s face, gleaming so white that James had to squint to see. But he couldn’t see anyway and the van had stopped.
And then the van was gone. The team was gone and all James could see was Robin’s body, crushed and contorted in his tiny car as James approached it. Had James killed him? He couldn’t remember. All he knew was that his body was humming with panic. And now there was a buzzing noise cutting in, getting louder and louder and-
Without opening his eyes, James reached over and pressed the snooze button on his phone’s alarm. He did this so often that he got the spot on the screen on the first try and the buzzing went quiet. After a second of trying to settle his racing heart, James opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling of the pink bedroom.
Right. He’d slept at work last night. He hadn’t been scheduled to stay on overnight since his shift with Bradley two nights ago, but he’d been so exhausted after the past week that he hadn’t felt safe driving even the short distance home. Had he told anyone he was staying here? Somebody must’ve known. Had anyone come in while he was sleeping? Or had he snored loud enough to alert anyone to his presence if they didn’t already know? It wouldn’t be the first time, but to be fair, he’d had a head cold that time.
He stayed where he was, letting the dream fade away. This wasn’t anything new. At least three nights a week, James went to sleep and dreamed about Robin’s death. He didn’t need a therapist to tell him it was trauma, he was well aware. Even after everything he’d seen on this job, seeing the corpse of his boss so shortly after he’d betrayed them had apparently rattled something deep inside James’s psyche. Especially if it was also manifesting in the daytime too.
He sat up and reached for the glass of water he usually had on his bed stand. Of course it wasn’t there, he was at work. So instead, James stood up, stretched, tried to ignore the headache throbbing on top of his head, and walked out of the room.
Madelyn was coming out of the bathroom as he walked by. “Good morning,” she said.
“Morning,” James replied through a yawn.
“Did you plan to stay here last night or did it just happen?”
James shrugged. “No idea,” he said. “I think I meant to take a nap.”
She laughed. “It happens.”
“How are you feeling?”
He was a little worried that the question was invasive, but Madelyn didn’t seem to mind as she shrugged now. “Pretty good,” she said. “So I’m taking advantage of it as long as I can. Amelia’s going to go do a quick scope of the college to see if there’s any sign of the bear thing. Do you mind if I tag along?”
If he was itching to get back into the field, he knew it was nothing compared to how Madelyn felt. So even though he was a little hesitant, he nodded. “Yeah, I’m good with that.”
She grinned, and even through his headache and exhaustion, he had to smile back. “She’ll be here in twenty minutes and we’ll go from there,” Madelyn said.
“Great.”
She went into the gray bedroom and James kept walking. He went into the kitchen where a fresh pot of coffee was just finishing brewing. He gave it a cautious glance, then went to the fridge to pour a glass of water.
“What are you doing here?”
James jumped, then turned and raised his glass in greeting to Bradley, who was scowling in the kitchen doorway. “Morning.”
“Morning. What are you doing here?”
“I fell asleep in the pink bedroom before I went home.”
Bradley stared at him for so long that James felt like maybe more explanation was needed and he was just missing something. But then Bradley shook his head and went over to the cabinet. He pulled out two mugs and handed one to James.
“You look like shit.”
James poured coffee into Bradley’s mug, then into his. He took a sip and couldn’t hide the wince. Clearly Bradley had put this batch on. It was bitter and still blisteringly hot.
“I feel like shit,” James admitted.
“Go home then.”
“I can’t,” he said, taking another, more careful sip. “There’s too much to do.”
He waited for the retort, some comment on his work ethic or the fact that James wasn’t going to do the work correctly, anyway. But Bradley just drank his hot coffee in a way that was just a little too fast for James to be comfortable with.
“Are you going home?” James asked.
“No, I’m on at noon.”
He glanced at the clock. “It’s not even seven now.”
“Congratulations on learning to tell time.”
Rolling his eyes, James took a careful sip of the thick, bitter coffee. “Go take a break at least,” he said.
This schedule couldn’t stay the way it was. They were all working almost around the clock. Five staffers, twenty-four-hour coverage with at least two people on. Before he’d become leader, he’d found the schedule frustrating, but doable. But now that he was in charge, he felt like he was doing his team wrong by scheduling them so much.
“Hey,” he said as Bradley was about to walk out of the kitchen.
“What?”
“What do you think are the chances the Foundation will hire another person again?”
“Considering Robin tried to kill the last one, I don’t think they’re great,” Bradley replied. “But we could possibly use that to our advantage.”
Before James could ask him to elaborate, he left the room. Wheels turning, James took his coffee and headed toward the back door for some fresh air. Maybe he’d be lucky and get a few minutes of cool air before the summer heat took over for the day.
***
A couple of hours later, Amelia and Madelyn returned to the house. Madelyn looked tired but happy as she came in and sat down in the living room. James looked up from his work at the computer as Amelia walked in after her.
“How’d it go?” he asked.
“Good,” Amelia replied. “It was spotted the other night behind the dining hall, so that’s the first sighting since we were there.”
“Excellent,” James said. “If it’s getting comfortable coming out again, hopefully we’ll get another shot at it sooner rather than later.”
“We can go back in a couple days and do another patrol,” Amelia said, looking at Madelyn, who gave her a thumbs up.
“Sounds good to me,” James said. “Just, if it seems like you’ll be interacting with it, make sure you’re armed.”
Amelia nodded, her face tinged pink at the reminder. James turned to Madelyn. “Mad, your shift is over.”
“I’ll leave in a minute,” she said, politely waving him off. “I just need to sit for a few.”
James nodded and went back to his email. There were a few from the Foundation higher-ups that needed answering. Then one from Dr. Oliver looking to follow up with Bradley and one about some kind of social event that the Foundation was holding. But of course not his training or anything about why it was taking so long to arrive.
Maybe later today. Though he knew he had about as much chance of getting those modules today as he had getting Bradley to call the Foundation doctor about his field accident. So James closed his email and stood up to get more coffee.
