Storm Dreamer

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Storm Dreamer - book excerpt

Prologue

The howling wind knocked tree branches against the bedroom window while golf ball-sized hailstones pounded the roof. Thunder and lightning sounded in the distance. Valerie Hayes stirred and rolled over in her sleep. The raging storm itself wasn’t enough to awaken her and she slept on undisturbed until the chilling screams from the baby monitor echoed around the room. In a matter of seconds, the internal bond between mother and child kicked in. Her eyes shot open and she sat upright in bed in sudden panic. “Madie?”

Her shrill cries were indicative of something more than being hungry or a wet diaper. In a shot, Val was racing barefoot to her bedroom. Her daughter was standing in her crib, her little hands gripping the bars tightly. The muted blue light from the purple ladybug night lamp on the dresser illuminating the baby’s frightened expression made the whole scene more distressing to her. Val picked up the nine-month-old baby, coddling the shaking child whose green eyes were huge with terror.

The child’s moist red curls stuck flat to her head. “Oh, Madie, look at you,” she said soothingly, feeling the cold wetness of the infant’s sweat-soaked sleeper against her bare arms. Val felt the rapid beating of her daughter’s heart pounding against her chest as she rocked her back and forth. “Shhh, baby girl, shhh, Mama’s here.”

As Val rubbed her daughter’s back, the screams turned to sobs, then gasps and body shudders. Madie’s breathing normalized and she began to hiccup. Val tilted the baby’s face up to hers. She stared deep into her daughter’s eyes. “What’s got you so scared?”

Bad dreams were one thing, but the sheer terror on Madie’s face unnerved Val.

“How about a warm bath?” She stripped the baby, but as soon as she ran the water, her daughter started to scream again. “Okay, no bath.” Shutting off the water, the young mother hurried back to the bedroom, carrying her daughter, along with a warm wet cloth and towel. There she wiped down Madie and dried her, applying cream to her bottom and inner thighs, with a fresh diaper and sleeper completing her efforts.

“How about some warm milk? Hmm?” Val asked and carried the baby into the kitchen to warm up a bottle.

A few minutes later, she settled on the couch to feed her night terror-stricken daughter. For a while, Madie relaxed but the storm had moved closer, and with each boom, she tensed and tightly grasped Val’s fingers. “It’s okay, baby girl. Just a noisy rainstorm. It won’t hurt you.”

Exhausted, her daughter finally fell asleep halfway through her bottle.

Val took her daughter back to bed, placing her daughter on her tummy. She covered her with the blanket, making sure to place her favourite stuffed toy beside her. Val smiled at the long-eared white bunny. Hopper was almost as big as Madie and when she was up, she carried it everywhere. Picking up a snow globe from a shelf, she wound its key, setting the timer for twenty minutes. The soft notes of Brahms’ Lullaby began to play.

Val returned to her own room and cuddled under the covers. But sleep evaded her. It broke her heart to see Madie so terrified. I’m at my wits’ end. Maybe it’s time to talk to the doctor about it. Perhaps there are things we can do to help her. By we, Val meant she and her husband, Brad who was in Vancouver at a medical conference. He was due home in a couple of days. They both worked at the local hospital; she as a lab technician and Brad as a radiologist.

Madie had been having the nightmares for a couple of months, whenever there was a storm. Normally, once down for the night, her daughter never woke up until seven in the morning. Outside, the rain pattered on the window, the worst of the storm over. Val heard a noise come through the monitor and listened to the sound of Madie sucking her thumb in her sleep.

A quick plumping of her pillow and Val settled down again. She loved being a mother and being home with her daughter. Soon, she’d have to return to her job at the hospital. Luckily, her mother offered to babysit Madie when she and Brad worked the same shifts. The idea of leaving her daughter to return to work bothered her, though, especially on nights like this. It made her feel like she was abandoning Madie.

And yet, here I am, unable to help her anyway when these episodes happen. Sometimes, I feel so inadequate as a mom. Yes, it’s time to take her to the doctor and get an opinion on what might be happening with her. I mean babies can’t talk; they have no awareness about the world beyond their family home. Feed them, change them, wash them, cuddle them, play with them, and love them; give them that and they’re happy. And Madie’s a happy child.

Val frowned. Isn’t she? Maybe babies can have bad dreams about the family dog chewing their favourite stuffed toy or maybe getting shampoo in their eyes. But what kind of nightmares could cause such terror?

Chapter 1

Twenty-two years later

Slipping on the wet patio tiles, she tried to balance to keep from falling. The wind blew her long wet hair across her face, blinding her further in her quest to slip into the darkness of the grasslands. Even the cracks of lightning bolts, followed by thunderous booms, couldn’t cover his yells and curses as he chased her through the night. She pushed her hair back and pulled hair from her mouth. Each time a lightning bolt exploded, the night sky lit up, allowing her to adjust her direction—it also allowed her pursuer to see her and continue his pursuit.

“Stop. Dammit. We shouldn’t be out here. It’s too dangerous,” he yelled through the rumbling.

But she wouldn’t stop. She’d reached a flat plateau. Her lungs hurt and her chest heaved. She sucked in the cold air and found the strength to keep running. Fear was her adrenalin. The torrential rain had soaked her to the skin and her body shivered. The lightning strikes were getting closer.

In a matter of seconds, her hair stood on end and a tingling sensation spread across her skin. She crouched low to the ground with her feet together and balanced on the balls of her feet. The bolt hit the ground a few feet away and a reciprocating bolt left the ground and surged into the sky. That was way too close.

Frozen in her crouching position, she took a moment to catch her breath—too long a moment. As she stood, a hand from behind grasped her by the hair and pulled her backwards. Her feet flew out from under her and she hit the ground hard on her back, knocking out what little wind she had left. A series of lightning bolts exploded around them and she stared up at his jean-clad legs and saw his new black and white Nike Air Max runners as he straddled her.

***

The noise grew louder and more intense. The buzzing sound filled her head and her eyes flew open. “Uh …” Madie Hayes gasped. She groaned and reached out, fumbling around the nightstand until she found the button on the alarm clock and turned it off. She closed her eyes and relived the horrific dream she’d just experienced.

There she was again. Different scenarios but always the same woman and always the fear.

Madie sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her body shuddered. Her mother told her she’d had night terrors as a baby, lasting until she started school. She didn’t remember any of them and had forgotten about them years ago. Now they were back. The dreams had been haunting her for a few months. But this one was particularly violent. Why are they back? Why now? And who was this woman?

The pinging of rain on the tin roof reminded her of the thunderstorm that had occurred in full force throughout the night. All she knew was the nightmares only occurred on stormy nights. Why? Another unanswered question.

Madie stood and headed to the shower. The hot steam settled her frayed nerves and her body relaxed.

Thirty minutes later she rinsed her coffee cup, grabbed her car keys and the lunch she’d made the night before, and headed to her car. It was a short drive to work at the Stoney Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. She worked closely as an Administrative Assistant with Chelsea Grey, one of the owners. Chelsea had survived a twenty-year abduction by a neighbouring farmer; freed by her daughter that she never got to raise and a mother who’d considered the farmer, and his deceased wife, a friend. Madie was impressed with the strength and compassion her boss brought to the Centre and looked upon her as a mentor.

The Centre had only been in operation for ten months and they were coming into the late spring and it was already busy. She’d started working for them a couple of months before they opened their doors, readying education and internship programs and working with Chelsea to set up Administration. They’d had a successful first year and Madie looked forward to the summer season. Her twenty-third birthday was coming up and she felt content that at such a young age she’d found her dream job.

She parked her car in the employee parking area, taking note of the extra cars not normally there. As she entered the administration building, her eyebrows shot up. The reception was full of people, sitting and standing.

A male voice beside her said, “Uh-oh, here comes another one.”

She turned to see a young man in his mid-twenties staring at her. She could have lost herself in his deep blue eyes and boyish grin but, instead, she stared him down. “Are you referring to me?” she asked.

“Welcome to the jungle,” he said with a laugh.

“And you are?”

“Cody … Cody Diaz.” He put out his hand.

Madie shook it. “Madie Hayes.”

“I should wish you good luck but hopefully it’s all mine.”

She stared into his eyes, sparkling with humour. She had no idea what he was talking about but decided to go along with it. “Well, Cody Diaz, my being here in the jungle has nothing to do with luck. So, it’s all yours.” She pushed her way through the crowd of people and entered her office at the far end of the reception.

Instantly there was a knock on the door and Chelsea entered, carrying a pile of folders. “Good morning, Madie. Quite the zoo out there.”

“Hi. Have a seat and tell me what’s going on.”

“It seems we’ve lost Peter. He called Wenner on Saturday and told him he’d decided to take a year off to travel the world with a couple of friends.”

Madie’s eyebrows shot up. “Just like that? No notice?”

“Nope. Another friend had dropped out and they needed someone to take his place this week. Wenner posted it online right away and told people to apply in person Monday morning as the position was available immediately.” Chelsea nodded over her shoulder. “We never expected this kind of response.”

“Impressive. Where’s Wenner?”

“Stitching up a deer caught in a wire fence. Came in thirty minutes ago. So-oo … he’s left this up to you and me. I thought we could go through the resumes together and shortlist the top five and send the others on their way.”

“Sure. We can do that.”

“It’s not the usual way to do this, but since they’re all here, we might as well weed them out now. I’m going to move them into the conference room and tell them I’ll be back shortly with a short list.”

Chelsea handed half the folders to Madie. “Here … you know what’s required for Peter’s job. Choose the top five and I’ll do the same with my pile when I return.