In The Region Where Madness Dwells

The Robin Randle Stories

In The Region Where Madness Dwells

Part The Fi rst

By
Wood Dickinson
Page Draft 2.0 9
In The Region Where Madness Dwells






1

The Night Crawlers









We w e r e h u n g r y b e f o r e w e w e r e b o r n
U n c o v e r y o u r h e a d a n d f e e d y o u r s o u l

F e v e r R a y

Page Draft 2.0 10
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
The Long Walk Home
This was how it started. I think its really how all stories start. The stories we live and the stories
we tell each other. They're important. Without sharing this part of ourselves surely that which
makes us human would fade away. As it turned out my story was long and complicated but the
beginning was small and simple. Like the epics of old, events had been put into motion out of
the control of the people who would ultimately pay the price. There was no hint at what was
coming. Especially for me. Im Robin Randle, waitress extraordinaire at a dive on Mill Street
called, "Mel's All Night Diner. Thankfully, or so I thought, on this particular night, my shift
ended at midnight. With the chime of the lthy Coors' clock over the bar it became the rst day
of October. My most loved month. You know, it's good to get off at midnight. I mean I get to
avoid the inevitable drunks who started arriving around 2 AM. Really, I never could understand
how those men got up at 7 AM and made it to work. Four hours just doesn't sound like enough
time to sleep it off. Not for me anyway. But shit, every night, their they were, the same drunks
wandering in. Small town familiarity plus the alcohol prompted these men to take liberties they
shouldnt have. Especially with waitresses. To them we were just toys to play with. If you didnt
take all their obscene shitty remarks along with their endless bitching and small tips, the job
would simply end. At that time in my life I really didnt feel like I deserved much better.

Now listen, when I say familiarity its because Mason wasn't a big city, just a punk town of about
two thousand people nestled away in the Texas Hill Country. For anyone who stopped for gas as
they were passing through or maybe visiting relations, they were sure to learn that it was the
home of Fred Gipson , Masons little claim to fame. For those who arent literary types, hes the
1
guy that wrote, Old Yeller which I can proudly state, Ive never read. In fact reading wasnt high
on my to-do list anymore.

Every night had a high strangeness point and tonights moment came when a woman sat at one
of my tables and told me that I glowed. That was just plain strange but no one extends a hand to
me so I was surprised by her caring. Her name was Macy Beas. I remember because she gave
me a card with her name and phone number on it. Said I could call her. God knows why I
would. I talked with her for a few minutes. There was something about her like she wasn't all
Page Draft 2.0 11
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
there. Not in the head but in her being I stuffed her card away. She was right, I would need it
some day.

Now for the disadvantage of getting off at midnight? Id have to walk home alone. Carrie and I
werent friends but we did live in the same wreck of a boarding house. The Hartford Arms. I
don't know, walking with her just felt better. It felt right. Now and I mean right this very minute
everything felt wrong. The balance of the world had tilted today but no one had noticed except
me. Surprise.

I went to my locker in the kitchen and stopped looking at the rusty locker door I claimed as my
own. I examined the names scrawled on it. A lot of years, a lot of women. I shuddered
wondering the fate of these women. Were they even alive? Now my name was gouged into the
rusty door too. Shit, Id never know. Opening the locker I retrieved my backpack and turned
away from the kitchen and headed out the back door not knowing I'd never return. Tonight was
denitely different. The slamming of the rusted out kitchen door sounded more like a closing of
some part of my life not just a door. I became light-headed so much so I slumped down against
the dirty brick wall and just sat on the ground amongst the empty beer cans and cigarette butts.
Looking up the blind alley the walls were covered in grafti and dirty needles scattered across the
ground. Evidence that even Mason had a drug problem. No one else was in the alley. Just me
and Mel's good old dumpster. The smell of sweet and rotting food made me think of the putrid
men inside the bar.

I fumbled through my pack producing a cigarette and lit it letting smoke envelop my head
bringing a gray haze to the dim alley. As always, I started coughing and felt some pain in my
chest. At least I couldn't smell the dumpster any more.

Wow, dim alleys and smoke gray haze; my life. I shunned the daylight hours and had become a
vampire that would be asleep before sunrise and wake after sunset so the world wouldn't notice
she existed. This was what I'd come to. A life wasted by violence and confusion with no guide to
show me the way out. If there was ever a person born without purpose, with out hope really, Im
Page Draft 2.0 12
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
the one. So far my role in the world has been to be on the receiving end of hate. I mean I know
I was never wanted. That's a no brainer. I mean not from the very day I was born.

I took a nal drag on my smoke and icked it against the dumpster. It broke into pieces hot ash
scattering the alley. Looking down at my tattered jeans I noticed cigarette ashes had dropped
onto my old white baggy sweatshirt. I brushed them off and stood, grabbed my pack and shed
out my Nano. I put my ear buds on and started listening to Mogwais, Im Jim Morrison, Im Dead

2
as I started out onto the street. Done. Smoking was done. I was a fool to even try it. Just one
more desperate attempt to run from myself and seek my happiness in another substance. I used
to drink. A lot. Drugs too but only marijuana. No more. There wasnt anything in the world
that would lift me from the darkness Id sunk into. I wondered why God had bothered with me.

I came out onto Long Street and was greeted by a northern wind blowing through Mason
brining a chill to the air. Funny, I could feel the coming frost, the breath of the Snow Queen
blowing a call to death as her dried leaves blew down the street circling in crazy little tornados
and blasting off into the alleys to carry on their antics in private. October is a ckle month but I
still like it best. The imagination conjures witches and monsters all nothing more than an
extension of our own personal turmoil and evil. Leaves scattered everywhere painting the world
in a pallet of brown and reds unlike any other time of year. The loss of leaves from the trees
allowed more moonlight to lter to the ground, making it easier to navigate the night. In the
past, home was the last place I wanted to be. That was before my Mel's days. I was still in high
school then and thinking maybe Id survive my dad long enough to graduate. I liked going out
with Lucy and Jim downing a fth of Southern Comfort or smoking weed, sometimes both. All
this made it so I would get home late. By then my dad had passed out and mom would have had
her nightly beating. I tried to miss the being beaten part. I was plane scared. I just knew one
day dad was going to hit me too hard, maybe it would only take just once to end my life. I'm not
a big girl, just ve four and barely a hundred pounds and I mean he was a very big man and did I
say mean? His anger seethed out of his body like snakes out of ood waters.

October was also the month all this started. It would be the month of endings too, but I cant
jump ahead.
Page Draft 2.0 13
In The Region Where Madness Dwells

As I walked down Long Street the emptiness frightened me. I could feel the wind trying to hold
me back so I just stopped and standing very still let the wind engulf me. I could feel the air blow
softly around my face like a gentle piece of silk. I breathed in the smells of fall. The last vestiges
of burnt leaves and dust. Then there was something else. Something buried inside the wind
using the wind to carry its evil intent. Another wind, subtle and laced with ice. I got this crazy
chill. Monsters. It was the wind that would bring the monsters. Not the monsters of Halloween
that play and run from house to house collecting a treasure trove of candy. No, my monsters.
Monsters hidden from the waking world only revealed to the few who'd crossed that line of life
and death, and dared return. This hidden part of the wind cut through me not gently but like a
dull knife slicing slowly just to make the pain last longer. I pulled my ear buds off. I needed to
hear. Something was wrong.

I started walking with urgency. Now I have an unnatural fear of the dark. Darkness was
something I used to love. I'd wander the streets at all hours of the night and escaping down to
Ft. Mason City Park. At the park Id take one of the paths into the deeper darkness of the
woods. Alone and with no ashlight I would use the light of the moon to guide me. I never
caught on a root or fell tripping over stones buried deep into the ground. Sometimes Lucy would
come along and Jim too. Wed go deep into the woods near the old Union Pacic mainline.
Hiding off in the woods, we'd watched as trains would y by like banshees in the night unaware
of our presence. We'd put pennies on the tracks and if we could nd them after a trains passage
we'd considered them mystical objects. Back then the night was soft, friendly and concealing.
The forest helped me step out of my wretched life. At least for a little while.

How times have changed. Now, darkness holds an evil power over me. A power that creeps like
a tapeworm moving its way toward my gut. Slowly and methodically it cuts a trail deep into my
body without me ever feeling a thing. That scares me; leaves me crippled. Being alone in the
darkness is so frightening my anxiety would build to a point where I could hardly breathe. Last
fall Id spent what would become my, nal day walking far out into the country so when Id made
it back into town it was late. Night had stolen over Mason preparing to take me with it. I
decided to cut through the park walking in the woods that eventually formed a wall in my back
Page Draft 2.0 14
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
yard. I could see just beyond the break in the trees toward the back of my house when the peace
I had claimed suddenly ed. Something grabbed me from behind pulling me back into the
darkness. I twisted and strained to see who it was thinking maybe Jim was playing a joke. I'd let
him have it but what I saw wasnt Jim. In fact what I saw couldn't be real. It wasn't a person
even though it walked on two legs. Shit, I know a person when I see one and this was absolutely
no person. It was something blacker than the shadows surrounding it and it smelled very old.
Rotting. Its touch on my skin was cold as death. A monster, I could think of no other expression.
It was breathing heavily as it pulled at my arm. I screamed and screamed but no sound came
from my mouth. I pulled my arm with all my strength and it slipped from the monsters grip. It
retreated into the darkness but I couldn't tell how far. How could such a thing be? I should have
stayed to nd out. I mean, where could such a thing come from? It was then that I felt it. Going
home was going to be a horrible mistake. The night had suddenly become hostile. I was scared
and where are you supposed to go at 16 to be safe? Home; just not my home. Not on this night.
I barley remember what happened to me once inside the house.It just all happen to fast and yet I
always saw it in slow motion. A thing Id never seen except in the movies. That night I was
beaten by my father. I cant remember much of it. I do remember what came before my
beating. An inhuman and brutal trauma. I woke up briey in the ER at Hill Country Memorial
Hospital. Everything was blurred and the words people were saying didnt make sense. Light
then dark, I was fading. I was scared. I knew I was dying and struggled to come back from the
black place I was fading to. I couldnt stop slipping into what felt like nothing. My last thought
was death is the end. Just black all around. I couldnt hold it back so the black tide took me. I
faded away.

I stayed faded away for seven months. During that time I traveled. In my head I mean. I fell
into blackness then woke in The Region; a land of perpetual night. I learned I had to make a
journey to a place where there were these balls of light. I had to nd my ball because only it
could dispel my darkness. I had to shatter it on the ground. Most of this time was missing from
my memory. There were things that tried to stop me. Dark things with snapping teeth and
claws. Sometimes theyd keep to the shadows and other times meet me in the open. Fragments
of terror ripped through my mind. I remember a girl. She helped me. She fought with these
monsters like a warrior and told me she could y, but only sometimes. I just didnt remember her
Page Draft 2.0 15
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
look or voice, not even her name. When I think of her now I feel a sadness like you get when you
think of old toys and comic books now lost in childhood. Those things that grounded us but now
they're gone and only shadows remain.

Day never came to The Region. Always a full moon up in the sky to illuminate the way, that
darkness I feared.

I lived what seemed like a lifetime hiding from those things bent on my nal death, trying my best
to ght with my weak arms and small frame. I know I lost friends. Their names lost to the
darkness of The Region never to be remembered again.

Then it happened. I found my ball. My warrior friend was dying. She'd just taken too many
blows. The monsters were right on top of us and she fought them as I took my glowing ball and
broke it on the ground. Light ooded around me. I looked up and in her eyes I saw a century of
sadness. Then I died.

In this world I woke up. I was in a hospital room with tubes running riot all over my body.
There were others sleeping in the room as we'll. I tried to lift my hand and look at my arm but
felt so weak I couldnt. It was like being weighed down. Something was pressing down on me
and restraining me to the bed. I could move my head though so I turned toward the windows.
All I could see was dark swirling clouds throwing sheets of rain at the glass.

I couldn't believe Id woken up or that Ive been in a coma. It took awhile to realize all that Id
been experiencing, the monsters, wars, even my special friend, was all a dream. Itd seemed so
real. I really ached for my lost friend with a true longing you can only have with certain loss; not
a dream. Maybe in the emptiness of a coma is another world, no dreams at all but a place where
you really live another kind of life. One things for certain, Ive never told anyone about this
world.

Well, Im seventeen now and on my own. That sounds funny. Really, I'd been on my own for
years. You see, the rst monster I ever met was my father. He killed my mom. That was just
Page Draft 2.0 16
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
before he almost killed me. He shot her dead right in the living room. The bullets went right
through, her spraying blood all over the living room wall. He did this right in front of me but I
was lucky in a sadistic sort of way. He'd used up all his bullets, making sure mom was dead so
when he turned to shoot me his gun just clicked. That made him furious. I turned and tried to
run but he was a big man. He lunged for me and took me to the ground. Then I felt pain as he
broke my jaw. An explosion of light and thats all I remember until I woke up in the dark world.
The Region.

I found out later the cops busted the door down and shot him dead as he was beating me. Like
everything else in that sick fucks' life, he couldnt even kill his family right. All he did well was
drink, then get angry and beat my mom and try to beat me. That's if I was around. Ill never
understand why mom didnt leave him. Maybe even take me with her. She seemed resolved to
stick it out. Until death do us part. She sure did that. No thought for me. I suppose the truth is
neither of them cared much about whether I was alive or dead. Now it doesnt matter.

I crossed 4th street at the edge of Macmillan Park. There I saw a dark slithering worm trapped
by the concert sidewalk unable to burrow back into the moist darkness of the earth. I stopped
and looked down at it. There was a time I had grandparents. The memories are dim but I do
remember my grandfather calling them night crawlers because they mostly came out of the
ground at night. He raised them, if thats a thing you can do, in stacked boxes in the basement
of his house. Wed go dig out a bunch and take them for bait on shing expeditions. I
remembered the pungent odor of those crates. A sweet mix of rotting vegetables and dirt along
with the mold growing on the old stone walls. I leaned down and picked up the worm. It twisted
in my ngers wanting to escape the horror of a giant who possessed the power to rip him apart.
I dropped him back out on the grass. Best I could do. Then something moved out in the
darkness of the park. It sounded much bigger than the worm I just rescued. I decided to move
on. The sound of irregular footsteps kept pace with me. When Id stop there would be a
scurrying sound like something shufing a little deeper into the dark. It wasnt human. People
just dont make a sound like that. There was a smell too. The stink of rotting esh mixed with
cinnamon and the smell of the ocean. In one moment it intoxicated me and the next I wanted to
throw up.
Page Draft 2.0 17
In The Region Where Madness Dwells

Adrenaline pumped, sharpening my senses. Standing still I yelled, Hello? Somebody there?

Silence answered. The street light above my head grew suddenly bright then died, leaving me in
the darkness I feared. I stared into the park, hoping to see something, anything that would
explain the sounds. Turning my head I looked down the empty street to see just how much
further I needed to go. I felt stupid doing that but at the edge of my eld of vision something
large moved in the darkness of the park. It was moving toward me. I snapped my head around
to nd it but it hid from me somehow. Was that even possible?

I took in slow deep breaths and tried to calm myself. I knew there couldnt be anything out in the
darkness except maybe a person walking in the night like me. I took a step and heard a loud
scraping sound like a large metal pipe being dragged along the concrete walkway in the park. I
started back down the street then stopped. The sound didnt. It just got louder. Closer maybe.
As I listened the memories of my dream world, the one inside my coma shivered through my
mind. Thats when I started running.

I only had two blocks to the boarding house. I felt stupid reacting this way but still I wouldnt
look behind me. What ever it was I could hear foot falls but not in pairs like a running person. It
was more like a crab. Click click click and that dragging pipe I was sure wasnt a pipe. I shed in
the pocket of my jeans for the outside door key of the boarding house so Id be ready to plunge
right inside. Crossing 5th I left the park behind me. I could see the light over the boarding house
door. Even with the park behind me now the sounds didnt stop after Id crossed 5th. It seemed
closer and more urgent. I reached my door and rammed the key home. Turning the knob I
risked a look back down Long. Nothing. Just the leaves blowing around in emptiness. I noticed
the street light over the park entrance was on again. Just as I heaved a big sigh the bulb in the
light over the door where I stood ickered out. Enough for tonight. I stepped across the
threshold and locked the door after me then ran up the stairs to the second oor and down to the
end of the hall where my room was. Unlocking the door I went inside and shut and bolted it.
After a moment I checked it again like I was expecting the door to have unlocked itself, but it
hadnt.
Page Draft 2.0 18
In The Region Where Madness Dwells

I walked over to the kitchenette pulling off my dirty sweatshirt and dropping it on the oor. I
caught myself in the tattered mirror glued to the wall of my room. I stopped and studied the girl
on the other side of the mirror. She was too skinny with small breasts. She had dark red hair,
long and tossed uncontrollably. That girl had never worried about a bad hair day in her life.
Slim waist and wide hips turning I looked at my full ass and noticed my jeans were starting to
wear through my butt. Time to hit the Salvation Army Store. A mess of a person but at least
standing straight. No slumped shoulders but condent ones daring the world to fuck with her.

I turned away and sat at the small table Id pushed up against the wall. All I could do was put my
head into my hands. There was something that would explain all this. I thought of the my life
before the coma. I was little then. Shit, I still am but it felt like another persons life all jumbled-
up till I was almost beat to death. My time in The Region was another persons life. A story told
only in fragments. I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths to help calm down. I was
having a hell of a life. Time had stopped for me when my coma ended. I didnt have anyone I
could ask for help anymore. My old friends avoided me like I was a leper. I was the talk of the
town even though I didnt do anything but survive. There had to be something wrong with me.
Who has their dad try and kill his whole family? Sure you hear about it on the news or a TV
program but thats someplace else. Not Mason. Just maybe I could kill my whole family too but
I couldnt you see, I didnt have a family anymore. Just me. Really itd always been just me. My
eyes grew heavy and I nodded off; my memories mixed with dreams. It all felt like memory. I
remembered Lucy. I really loved Lucy and Jim too. They stuck with me, through my hard times.
At least until the murder. Then even they scorned me. I didnt know where they were now but in
the day wed had good times. I remembered how we snuck down to old Readings Mill. Wed
been drinking Southern Comfort all night and we were drunk and I mean drunk.

Readings Mill was the town pool. It was on the edge of town and after dark no one goes out
that way. It was Lucys idea to go. We climbed the chain link fence. Straddling the top, Jim
slipped and fell eight feet onto some lounge chairs. Lucy and I started laughing so hard we both
almost fell too. Once inside we stripped for some skinny dipping. There was one small thing we
didnt know. The pool manager lived at the pool.
Page Draft 2.0 19
In The Region Where Madness Dwells

Howard Beam. Im not making this up. During the school year when the pool was closed
Howard was the custodian of Hockers Middle School. Since Mason only has one middle school
Howard knew all the kids in town.

We all broke the surface at the same time, laughing, then the lights came on. Howard was
sauntering toward us. Well, if it isnt little Jimmy, Lucy and Robin Randle. You kids must be
well along in high school by now.

There was no place to run and we were all naked anyway, which was OK when the lights were
off but now the fact posed a formidable problem. Howard continued, Lets see, should I call
your parents or call the cops? Got to think this over a minute.

Jim always trying to be the suave one was a guy with a cool exterior but he didnt have the goods.
He spoke up, Mr. Beam. How yah doing? Uh, listen, we've learned our lesson Mr. Beam. I
mean, were here on a dare and who could resist. Well just go on home and never do anything
like this again.

It sounded weak to me and Howard shook his head. Thats a good story boy but the bait is
weak and Im not biting. You kids naked?

Embarrassed out of my sixteen year old mind even through the Southern Comfort haze I
answered simply, Yes. Always dreams about the past were hazy to me but tonight they seemed
very clear. Things shifted. That tilt in the world Id felt earlier tonight left me suddenly feeling
like an observer sitting outside my life watching to see what damn fool thing Id do next. I didnt
know hell was about to pay us a visit. This memory was all wrong. We all started swimming
toward the side where Mr. Beam was standing and Lucy was bringing up the rear as usual.

I made it to the edge of the pool rst, just in time to hear Lucy scream. This was all wrong. It
was an, Im gonna die" kind of screams and to tell the truth, Ive never heard that kind of
scream until that night. Then she did. Die that is. Something in the water grabbed her arms and
Page Draft 2.0 20
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
lifted her naked body out of the pool. Huge brown worms started to wrap themselves around
her body until she was completely covered. They reminded me of the Night Crawler Id rescued
earlier tonight but way to big too be real. Then a little squeeze and pop. Lucy was now all over
the pool and us. Jim turned to me and I said, Ill never forget this day.

Looking into his eyes I said, Neither will I.

As Lucys screams drifted into the night Jim and I stood shoulder to shoulder waist deep in the
red tainted pool, ready for anything but what came next. I heard something like the rhythm of
someone pounding a drum. The smell of ashes lled the air then I slipped away from that
moment. Id shut the entire world off so when the pounding on my door came I jumped awake.

Someone was really pounding on my door. I fell out of my chair hitting the oor. Not moving I
listened to what was in the hall like I had super hearing or something. Feet shufed and again
bang bang bang. This time someone said, Robin Randle. Open the fucking door and let me
in.

I screwed up some courage and screamed, Go away you shit! I dont know you. I wont open
shit to a stranger.

Quiet again. I could feel the man in the hall, Im assuming a man, standing still, thinking. Then
in a gentle voice now, Robin, please let me in. I have something important for you.To help you
with the thing in the dark.

My breathing quickened. Maybe it was real. Here is a man saying so. Maybe my imagination
wasnt playing havoc with my shattered brain. I was still too scared, I have a gun and I know
how to use it.

I could hear the man sigh. Thats ne Robin. You wont need it against me and Im not sure it
will help against whats coming. I didn't own a gun. I hated them. I walked toward the door
Page Draft 2.0 21
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
grabbing my sweatshirt and pulled it back on and removed the chain, like the fool I am, and let
the man in.

Who are you, I demanded. The man was not bothered a bit by my brusk tone. Bending over
he took a moment to smell some wild owers Id picked the day before.

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. He looked up at me for a moment. Finally I
yelled, This is bullshit. We need weapons, we need purging in our ranks.

The man walked over to me, Robin. Not doing too well tonight it would seem.

I'd shocked myself into silence. The man was tall to my 5 feet 4 inches. I looked up into his face
and saw a hooked nose and pointy chin adorned by wrinkles. Lots of wrinkles; yet they didn't
betray his age. It was hard to x him but I could tell he was powerful. A strong and deadly force
from who knows where. He simply answered, Robin, rst we need ranks to purge.

I slumped down in my only living room chair. I dont even know where all that came from. Its
like all of a sudden, today Im living two lives. The hopeless life of a 17 year old near homeless
wreck who didnt even nish fucking high school and a life xed in a coma. Dizzy, I felt vertigo.
There was something else I couldnt see or maybe feel. Something left over from my coma days.
Unnished business. Now leaking into my real life as well as my dreams. Or maybe this was my
real life. Shit. My sleep was a wreck, why not torture me with a half remembered life lived now
in my sleepless mind. Deep inside I knew this would happen someday. I just wouldnt walk
away clean. Now I believed. As impossible as it was, the journey I took while in my coma had to
have been real. Its just after waking up Id never given myself a chance to believe it. I hoped
from day to day it wouldnt come back to nd me but shit, with my luck, today it did. I blurted
out, Im new to all this. Maybe thats good. My eyes are fresh and may see something you've
missed. I could teach you a new way of living and seeing while you teach me the old ways.
Together we can do it, brother. I reached out my hand. I felt a sudden kinship to this stranger
and wanted, needed, his friendship. Of course I have no idea what needs xing.

Page Draft 2.0 22
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
Robin, he reached out and took my hand. His grip was rm and reassuring. His eyes were
scanning the room. My name is Sloan. How much in this place is yours?

The question puzzled me, What difference does it make?

Because you need to pack and weve got to move. Things are unsafe here. I shouldnt have to
tell you that after your walk home from Mel's tonight.

Now that creeped out. This guy had been keeping close tabs on me. What in the world do I
matter to anyone? I looked him in the eyes, I have a packs worth of gear. The rest was here
when I moved in. If we need to go I can be ready in ve minutes.

Sloan said,Do it.

I watched as Sloan picked through some junk in the living room. He must have been at least six
foot ve and two hundred forty pounds. He wore a long black duster made from the hide of
some unknown creature and of all things a at rimmed cowboy hat. Funny how he smelled of
honey and mint which was pleasing, but he felt very strange. Like he wasnt really there. I knew
I really had no choice in this matter. After my walk home tonight along with my attempts at
xing things in that other world I was left with no doubt in my mind I was in trouble. I had to
nd out why. Really it felt like somehow we were all in trouble. I do me all of us.

Sloan asked, Get the tattoo yet?

I stopped packing. Looking up I studied his yes. Howd he know I was thinking about a tattoo? I
hadn't told a soul.

Sloan said, Its very important. The tattoo I mean. It wont be the last one but you need the
star on your right shoulder now. The Star of David I mean. Time to reclaim what was taken
from you. I know a good place we can go.

Page Draft 2.0 23
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
Was choice something that I had any more? I felt like the proverbial puppet on a string. Some
puppet master was pulling and I jerked and moved where he wanted me to go. It was all
happening too fast. I mumbled, Great. then from nowhere this overwhelming sorrow about
the girl I'd known in The Region passed over me. She had stuck with me till the end. Im sure
she paid the ultimate price and she'd done it for me. Just what everyone needs you know, a dead
girl trying to learn to y and me just getting ready to ght the good ght about hell knows what.
In the dim reaches of my memories I started to see the afternoon of the day of my mom's
murder. I'd been walking in the country and I met someone. I think she said she was a witch.
She told me to go home. That turned out to be the worst advice of my life.
Page Draft 2.0 24
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
The Night Crawlers
One thing was certain, Sloan wasnt a talker. He sat silent and almost motionless behind the
wheel as we headed down old US 56 in his 1984 Cadillac. The car smelled of old vinyl mixed
with cigarette smoke and whisky with a little pot thrown in for good measure. Years of use.
Creating fear and doubt in my heart. Here I was heading away from Mason for the rst time.
Leaving all Id ever known behind and with a perfect stranger. I knew my face would end up on
a milk carton soon. I leaned my head against the passenger window and looked out into the black
night. To think about it, there wasn't really much to leave when it came to Mason, Texas. Just
not much to leave I kept telling myself. I dont even know where those feelings were coming
from. Sleep crept over me and I never even noticed.

Then...

I was standing alone on what seemed like an old two lane highway. It was a narrow road without
any stripes or shoulders and riddled with cracks. It seemed to go on forever. Just ahead was a
cross roads. The land was at like the high desert I'd seen in pictures so I could look up and
down these roads forever. Nothing was moving. I recognized this place. Id been here before.
Was this part of the dream place Id lived in while I was in the coma? Fear raised its head as I
though this. I wasnt ever supposed to come back here but shit, here I was. Alone and at night
standing on a decaying blacktop road as a tepid wind blew and the full moon shined. The
crossroads beckoned to me. I had an strange, almost uncontrollable urge to go stand in the
middle of it and see what would happen next. It felt like a gun I was holding to my head unsure
of the fact that it was loaded or not but unable to stop myself from pulling the trigger. Then I
sensed movement off to my right. I turned and about fty yards away was an impossible
abomination. A horror that couldn't exist. A creature that was over two stories tall. It had four
long and spindly legs that merged under a squat box like body. It was turning toward me so I
didnt move. There was some kind of face on the box. It was smelling the air. Then it began to
walk away in the same direction as the road I was standing on. Night Crawlers. Thats what
they were called in this world. The sound was the same as what I heard in the park on my way
home from Mel's.
Page Draft 2.0 25
In The Region Where Madness Dwells

I knew these creatures. They are dangerous and best to avoid if possible. I watched as it moved
rapidly away from me and I hoped they didnt travel in packs. Again, I scanned the desert. Lit
by a full moon, I could see the rest of the land seemed empty. I looked at the crossroads again
and felt danger so I turned and started walking down the road in the opposite direction the Night
Crawler had gone. I found myself having eeting thoughts of the girl I traveled with in The
Region. She really felt like more than just a guide or protector to me. Could I have loved her?
That seemed impossible. I was deantly straight.

After about a half mile of walking I was stopped by a sudden movement of the ground around
me. Just off the road to my left something was burrowing up out from the dirt. As a head
emerged, I realized it was another Night Crawler but this time only yards away.

I was unable to move. Fear had me nailed to this spot. There was nowhere to run to anyway.
The creature pushed its self up from the hole it was making. It seemed to be climbing now the
enormous legs extending up higher and higher until it was completely out of the ground. I held
my breath. The creature turned slowly toward me and stopped. I really couldnt tell if it could
see me but this was a dream anyway right? None of this was real. That didnt help as it walked
toward me stopping directly over my head. Silence. The wind had stopped. Slowly these worm
like tentacles seeped from the bottom of the creature. They were dripping a black oil. I couldnt
tell if it was poison or the creature own blood. Maybe the blood itself was the poison.Impossible
tendrils black like worms started to wrap around my legs then my waist.

Alarmed, I tried to back away. Another tendril slipped around my waist and pulled me forward.
Closer to the creature.

This was a dream. It had to be. I was sleeping in Sloans car heading east toward Abilene but
strangely I knew Id seen this before. A man walked out of the distance toward me. He was tall
and thin. I couldnt see his face. Where it should have been was lled with darkness. There was
terrible power there. Power in his darkness but there were also stars. Another place. Maybe
another universe. It was bad power. For some reason I thought of all the days Id wasted drunk
Page Draft 2.0 26
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
or drugged out on the front porch of my old house in town after my parents were gone. I just lost
myself. No one checked on me. I couldnt really nd much reason for life to go on but seeing this
man sparked something deep inside me.

I was wrong. Life is important, I thought. Even my life, wasted and beaten as it was. He called
out, Robin. Robin you cant run away. Im your destiny. All that you fear dwells within me.

I shouted back, Thats not true. Running is all I can do you fucker. I wont be part of you!

He kept walking toward me. I could see the stars and blackness of space. It was calling to me to
enter. To just give up and hand over my life to madness. That man was hard, old, dead. You
just dont understand yet. When you do you will be glad you came with me. He held out his
hand. The urge to travel with him was strong. I wasnt worth the effort. Not even my own.

I was being held very still. The worm like things from the creature above had embraced me fully.
I though of Lucy. How it must have felt to be squeezed to death. It happened so fast, did she
even know? Wait. That was a dream too, wasnt it? Now everything was totally confused.

Jesus, I was a kid no one wanted in a world that didnt give a shit if I was alive or dead and I was
worried about Lucy whod walked away from me in my darkest hour. What the hell was going
on? Never and I mean never, had I felt loved, wanted, or anything like that. Id always felt like
the biggest piece of shit ever created. If I was about to be squeezed to death by a monster, who
cared? Only me and that was never enough.

The man was nearer and he was changing shape. He was screaming something at me over and
over but I couldnt make it out. Then I jolted awake.

Sloan was on top of me shaking me like hell. My mind was swimming. Suddenly Im back in the
car with this stranger. My eyes were open wide and I tried to move away from Sloan. He said,
You were screaming in your sleep. Like to never gotten you awake. He slumped back into the
drivers seat wiping sweat from his brow.
Page Draft 2.0 27
In The Region Where Madness Dwells

I was covered in sweat too and breathing like Id just run ten miles. Where are we?

Sloan answered, Just outside Abilene. You were screaming so loud I had to pull over and shake
you awake. I dont think theres enough screaming at you that I could have done to wake you
up.

The man in my dream. Thats why he changed. It became Sloan trying to wake me up. It was
still dark. I opened the door and stepped out of the car. I had to see if the monster was there.

Sloan jumped out too and walked over to me, What the hell you doing now?

Night Crawlers. Thats what they are.

Sloan had a look of alarm cross his face, Damn. I though wed lost em.

I reeled back looking at Sloan, You mean theyre real?

Sloan took my arm and opened the car door. He pushed me back in and slammed it. Then he
was back behind the wheel and peeling out fast. What do you think was in the park? What do
you think followed you home? Shit. We got to get to Rexs place.

I sat frozen in my seat. Now I didnt know which was the dream or what was real. Maybe its all
the same thing. I couldnt speak and Sloan didnt say a word as we sped down the two lane
highway.



Page Draft 2.0 28
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
Tattoo
We hit the outskirts of Abilene at about 2 a.m. I remember thinking just a few hours ago how
lucky I was to get out of Mel's at midnight. Now I had no idea if it was lucky or not. One
thingss for sure, Id never been so far from home. Unless you count the places I visited in my
dreams. I watched the tired houses pass by. Really things looked much the same as in Mason.
Hopeless houses full of darkness and probably violence. People holding on to the edge of life
wondering where their humanity had gone. We pulled into an ancient strip of old shops. Half
were boarded up. Spaces that would never see the light of day again. Poverty had blown over
this place like a hurricane leaving little in its wake. I could see a bar on the corner. A couple of
cars and a motorcycle parked out front. I knew the men inside even never having seen them. I
guess nothing really changes. The only other place that was open had a neon sign in the window
proclaiming it to be Rexs Tattoos. I could see through the window that the place was empty.
Half the lights looked burned out.

Sloan pulled the car in the space right in front and switched the engine off. Then said, Night
Crawlers are the weakest ones. Kinda like the dogs of hell.

Some dogs, I spat out. That fucker was two stories tall! Really Sloan, have you ever seen one
of those things up close? He didnt respond so I continued, I didnt think so. What are we
doing at Rexs anyway. Ive done some dumb shit but this is the worst. Ive changed my mind. I
want to go home.

Sloan sat in silence for a long time. I was starting to get uncomfortable with the silence when he
nally said, Look Robin, I know you didnt see this coming and that nothing makes any sense to
you right now. When you were in your coma you traveled. Not just in a dream but to The
Region. Its a place we arent supposed to go until we die. But you broke the rules somehow. Its
like you leaked into it then used something to get back to here.

I said, It was a glowing glass ball. Thats all. I broke it and then I woke up. It felt right.

Page Draft 2.0 29
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
Sloan answered, It wasnt right or we wouldnt be sitting in front of Rexs right now. Did you
ever think just maybe you werent supposed to wake up?

I snapped my head up, Youve got to be shitting me? Would you just stay dead in a coma if you
knew there was a way out? I dont think so. I dont remember even thinking what the
consequences would be. Shit, I was living in a world full of monsters and all they wanted to do
was kill me again. Where would that have sent me Sloan? Do you know that?

You have a point, Sloan said. No. I would have found a way out same as you. Right or
wrong. I dont have a clue where you go after the second death but I dont want to nd out. You
just didnt know the possibilities.

Sloan opened his car door and got out. I joined him at the door of Rexs place. Sloan said,
The tattoo will keep the Night Crawlers away. They may be big but trust me, theyre weak.
Theres worse coming. We have to get you ready.

I just sighed and pushed the door open and walked into the dingy room where a man sat smoking
an unltered cigarette creating a haze in the room mixed with the smell of rotting plaster walls
and mold, along with the putrid lovely smell that greets you in a gas station bathroom. That
smell that reminds you that youd never pee in a place like this except you really have to pee so
boundaries are broken and for a few minutes you suspend the reality around you as you sit and
pee then instantly forget about it as you walk out the door. I assumed the seated fellow was Rex.
He was reading an old L. Ron Hubbard paperback with the cover torn off. Looking up he said,
About time you got here. Its two in the fucking morning. The damn bars are closing leaving
me no place to go and forget this nightmare.

We had a little trouble, Sloan replied. Just shut up and get it done.

Rex grunted and turned toward me, Take your sweatshirt off honey.

Page Draft 2.0 30
In The Region Where Madness Dwells
I laughed, Youve got to be kidding me. Notice my small boobs? I havent worn a bra ever in
my life.

Rex looked like he wasnt kidding. With a bite to his voice he said, I got to get this on you 100%
right or it dont work. I also want to get the fuck out of here. Ive been here too long as it is.
Really, Im not in the mood.

Sloan turned toward me and said quietly, Dont worry. Hes gay anyway. He just wants to be
done with us. With the trouble youre goin to bring. Dont blame him just cooperate.

I sighed. My life wasnt mine any more. I crossed my arms and grabbed the hem of my
sweatshirt and pulled it off over my head. The chill in the room hardened my nipples. Rex
really seemed very disinterested. Maybe he really was gay. Sloan had turned away. More a
gentleman than Id given him credit for. Rex took a pencil and found the perfect spot on my
right shoulder. There he traced my star then took his tattoo gun to start. "Not to be fussy but do
you clean your equipment after each client?

Rex let out a rush of air and got even more irritated. "Look sister, I follow all safety precaution.
Now be still." In about ten minutes I had my rst tattoo. It looked exactly like I imaged it should
when Id dreamed about it. I dressed and Sloan turned from the window. You have reclaimed a
bit of your life Robin Randle. The start of a boundary between here and there I hope.

Sloan started to reach for his wallet and Rex stopped him. This ones on me brother. Hell is
coming. Time for me to pack up and go far away.

Sloan said, You know theres more.

Hey man, have I ever let you down? Ill be there when you need me but I have to disappear for
now.

Sloan shook his head in agreement, I understand. Thanks brother. Remember; ride with me.
Page Draft 2.0 31
In The Region Where Madness Dwells

There it was again. Like what Jim had said to me in that dream. Or was it a memory? Sloan
looked at me. Youre safe for the moment. The Night Crawlers will leave you alone now. Time
to nd a place to rest then on to your new home in Lawton, Oklahoma.

I could tell by the tone in Sloans voice there was no choice. Me wanting to just go back to
Mason wasnt even up for discussion. It seemed suddenly, after a lifetime of being invisible to the
world, Id become fucking important to everyone. But still I was teated like shit. Go here. Now
go there. Oh and by the way, dont let your dreams bother you.

Motel 6 for the night then to my new life in Lawton. At least I survived the Night Crawlers.
Sloan had a parting piece of advice as he dumped me by a boarding house with some cash to get
started. Get two more tattoos around the star. A circle then a larger circle. Writing needs to go
between them. Dont let anyone touch the star. Now I have to leave but you are safe for a while.
Ill be back before the shit hits the fan and dont and I really mean dont befriend anyone. No
strangers. Got it?

I looked at this man. Was he a man or a creature. Another monster in a hidden form. Was he
the thing that tried to grab me in the woods by my old home? Maybe a member of The Region?
Just maybe Sloan had a true identity. Some link to my past or even my travels in The Region.
Maybe he knew that girl that seemed to care about me. Maybe just because he cares, next time
hell explain why me. I sighed and said, Your the boss.
Page Draft 2.0 32