The Legend of Ghost Swamp

Part 2 of a two-part Halloween special of The Book of Dreams Adventures series.

Author’s rendition courtesy of Starryai

The Legend of Ghost Swamp is a two-part special featuring the characters from The Book of Dreams series. In this installment, diplomat Agent Kira Wood and Mister, the Z’Dhia to whom she is assigned to help in his work, time shift onto a school on the human settlement Beta-2, to recover a volume of The Book of Dreams. While there, they end up getting drawn into the legend of strange swamp creatures that attacked the school’s students and faculty. Is the Legend of Ghost Swamp real, or is something else going on? Kira and Mister will find out in part 2 of The Legend of Ghost Swamp. Part 1 is down below.

Word of what happened quickly spread through the school like flash fire, upsetting students and faculty alike. Children sobbed and pleaded to go home, and the school's administrative chef, a tall, burly man with a bald head and several earrings in his left ear, roared that he had had enough. "I ain't working in this haunted school no more," he told Ms. Toomer, then, peeling off his apron, stormed out of the lobby. Several other faculty staff tendered their resignations as well, leaving poor Ms. Toomer looking beside herself, her shoulders sagging and her expression gloomy. Mr. Barnabas sighed with amused resignation and comforted her with a, "At least we still have our health." She cast him a look hot enough to melt the sun.

Kira tried to help by reassuring everyone that what the children heard in the swamps was merely the snapping of twigs, but that only made the situation worse. The girl who had been there cried out, "I'm not a liar," and clung to Joy even tighter. Ms. Toomer instructed the older students to escort the children back to their dorms, then, once when only the adults were left, sighed heavily and threw up her hands.

Kira turned to the Z'Dhia.––I feel so bad for her.

He stared hard at her, his silver eyes glistening in the LED lights overhead.––Have you forgotten that she failed to tell you about the insurance claims being made on the school?

––No, but what does that have to do with anything?

––Those strands of fur you found, Valestria, were manufactured.

Her lips parted in surprise. She couldn't believe what the Z'Dhia was implying.––Are you suggesting she's somehow behind this?

The Z'Dhia cocked an eyebrow, then addressed the principal instead. "I sympathize with your troubles, Ms. Toomer," he said flatly, "but I came for the volume, so if you will direct me back to the vault, I will recover it and leave."

She let out another resigned sigh and shrugged. "I'll have to check, but I suppose the security timer is run out." She cast a pleading look at Kira. "But wouldn't you rather stay for a little while to get something to eat? Dinner will be served shortly anyway."

Mister started to speak, but Kira shot in, "Yes, we'd be delighted," then looked at the puzzled, then disapproving Z'Dhia. 

Supper was held in the large dining hall in the third building on the campus. Large plate glass windows overlooked the swamps beyond. Spectral lights danced among the silhouetted trees. The view was lovely, but spooky. Though the hall had a one hundred seating capacity, less than twenty people dined that evening. Most of the children ate in their dorms, and the few faculty staff left at the school huddled in the near front, bending over their meals of vegetable soup and toasted garlic breads, whispering and casting glances at the head administrators, Kira, and the Z'Dhia, who all sat silently at a lone table in the center front.

Kira broke off a piece of her garlic bread and dunked it in the soup. Mister, who sat beside her, did not touch the food, but clasped his hands instead on the table and watched Ms. Toomer and Mr. Barnabas as they quietly ate.

––Why do you think Ms. Toomer's the one trying to scare the students and staff away?

He looked at her.––To shut down the school and collect the insurance.

––So you think this is all about greed. She shook her head.––I don't believe that. She doesn't strike me as the type. You saw her earlier when the chef quit. And besides, that insurance money would go to the directorates for services rendered, not to her.

––Perhaps, but either way, she has several motives, one of which includes the volume. The timing delay, the distractions––all of that would benefit her if she so wished to slip away with the volume.

Kira couldn't help but reveal the shock on her face. Glancing furtively at Mr. Barnabas, who was now watching her over his soup-filled spoon, Kira quickly recovered and said––That makes no sense. Why would she arrange to have it transferred to you if that was her plan? If anybody was attempting to steal it, I'd say it was Mr. Barnabas. He's the one whose been itching to get out of here.

––Or, it could have been the young man Simmons, considering his shoes were muddied just before the incident in the swamps. I cannot say one way or the other, can I? These are your kind, Valestria, so I will defer to you on who might be responsible for all this. My only concern is the volume. The longer I am delayed from my mission, the more concerned I am that it is not secure.

Insulted, Kira cut the Z'Dhia a hard look. Sometimes his indifference, his coldness, his otherness really annoyed her. She turned to the principal, and mentioned the theater on the third floor. "Joy told us about your recent production of MacBeth."

"Oh, yes, we're quite proud of that theater."

"I'm surprised you'd include the arts, given your mission statement."

Ms. Toomer brightened, no doubt pleased to discuss a less controversial subject. "That was the founder's idea. They believed the arts offered unique opportunities for our students to see things from multiple perspectives. We put on historical and contemporary plays––tragedies, comedies, social and political dramas––then host Q&As so that the students can analyze what they'd seen, how the students performed their roles, and so on. It was an effective teaching tool, but––" her expression flattened again, "unfortunately some of our drama instructors were the first to leave. Mr. Barnabas now heads that department."

Mr. Barnabas slurped his soup, then leveled his gaze with the principal's. "I'd hardly refer to it as that, Mary," he said. "The students have the run of the place. All I do is approve of dramatic productions, inventory wardrobe, handle equipment, engineer effects, put up playbills, and so on. I am less an artistic director than I am a bloody jack-of-all-trades." He sniffed demonstrably, then finished slurping his soup. The contempt in his voice quieted everyone at the table.

"Well," Kira said after a few quietly awkward moments, "I imagine if the directorates have their way, you won't have to be a jack-of-all-trades anymore."
Ms. Toomer frowned. "What do you mean?" When Kira told her what she'd heard, her expression turned serious. "Who told you that?"

"Nobody really, just something I've heard."

"By nobody you mean Joy," Barnabas remarked. He dropped his spoon in the bowl and splashed broth onto the table. "I knew it, Mary. We can't keep any secrets at this school."

Mister frowned. "So then it is true."

"No," Mary blurted, taken aback. "I mean, it's certainly been floated about since we've been having these…issues, but we're not filing any insurance claims. Not anytime soon. I've been working closely with the directorates. They visit the school at least once or twice a week, and I hold daily virtual conferences with them. Believe me, they have every intention of making sure this enterprise works. Quite frankly, I don't see how that is any of your business."

"I agree," said the Z'Dhia. "My business is to recover that volume. So if you hand it over to me, we can end this association."

"So you're saying the directorates aren't attempting to cash in on shutting down this school," Kira shot in. She glanced at the stunned faces of both administrators.

"Exactly what is this?" Barnabas said, glancing at Ms. Toomer. "Are we being investigated for something?"

"No," she said, relaxing back into her chair. "No, of course not."

"I'll have you know that I am the one who keeps reminding everyone that this is nothing but childish imaginations gone wild. I've been in those swamps, so I know how easy they can play tricks on you and make you see things that aren't there. The very insinuation that we're trying to pull a fast one––"

"Oh, for the love of God, Barnabas, give it a break," Mary said. "We know why they're here, and it ain't to investigate. Though," she said, deflating, "it'd be nice if you were, I'll admit."

Kira frowned. "You want to be investigated?"
"I want whatever the hell is going on around here to be investigated. I don't know whether or not these stories are true, but something is out there scaring everybody to death, and, yeah, so sue me, I'd like to get to the bottom of it. This school is our lives, Agent Wood, but it don't do us any good, no matter how much input we get from the directorates, if it's reputation is shot. That's why I've been delaying handing the volume over to you. I was hoping you'd stay long enough to witness some things."

The principal's admission stunned Kira. "You want us to verify the legend."

"If you can," she said with a pleading tone. "But I know that's not why you're here." She stood up, then placed her napkin down on the table beside her bowl. "I'll take you back to the vault."

"Ms. Toomer," Kira said, rising. "I'm so sorry. I never meant––"

She waved her hand and sighed dismissively. "Let's just get this over with."

As they all stood, a terrible, bone-chilling scream from outside the hall startled them. It was pitched, very male, and terrified.

"My God," Mr. Barnabas gasped. "That's Simmons."

Barnabas took off out of the dining hall with Kira and the Z'Dhia close behind. Simmons stood in the lobby outside the hall, near the staircase winding to the second floor where the school auditorium was located. He faced the large glass windows with a view of the side pedestrian walk outside. The gasps and then screams of the other diners who crowded outside the hall entrance directed Kira's gaze to what caught his dumbstruck attention. Beyond the window, within the muck just outside the swamps, were three shadowy figures. Though it was dark outside, the light globes that lined the building shed some light over them, revealing the horror that, like the others behind her, caused Kira to gasp and press her hand to her mouth. The figures were tall and matted in long green fur that covered them from head to foot. Through the thick fur, two eyes glowed like fire in the darkness. Their arms were outstretched, as though attempting to grab their victims through the thick plate glass.

More screams bellowed in Kira's ears. "Dear Lord," she heard Mary Toomer say to her right.

Mr. Barnabas dashed toward Simmons and turned him around. "Simmons," he shouted.

The boy appeared to be in a state of shock. Barnabas shook him a few times to snap him out of it, but he instead looked at the assistant administrator with a blank expression. "Simmons?" Barnabas said. The boy looked at the older man, blinked a few times, then screamed.

Stunned silence filled the lobby. All eyes turned helplessly at the strange tableaux of the older man and the younger man, and the three frightening creatures standing outside, motionless. Strangely, as it dawned on Kira, motionless.

Simmons turned on the small crowd and pointed curled fingers at the principal. "Leave, leave now!" he growled in an inhuman voice. "Or suffer! Suffer!"

The boy crumpled to the ground. Barnabas gathered him up in his arms as the lobby plunged into darkness. More screams flew up.

As Kira's eyes adjusted to the dark, she noticed shadows darting and turning. One caught her attention, its familiar silver eyes piercing the darkness. Unlike the others, who scrambled for safety back in the hall, the Z'Dhia darted toward the stairway and climbed the steps with lightning quickness. She followed after him, but stopped at the bottom steps when Mr. Barnabas cried for help. She glanced once up the dark steps, then went over to the assistant principal and the boy. "Help me carry him back to the dining hall," he said. Ms. Toomer joined them, and they all lifted the extraordinarily heavy boy off the floor.

Kira glanced back outside the windows. The creatures were still in the same position they were before. She recalled the synthetic fur she and the Z'Dhia found in the swamps. She frowned, then gasped once again when the creatures vanished.

"They're gone!" someone screamed, then more screams flew up.

Kira turned to the principal, whose astonished face shone in the lights streaming from the globes outside. "Is there a circuit breaker nearby? We need to get these lights back on before people get hurt."

Just as she spoke, the lobby flooded with light.

More startled screams and shouts rattled the air, followed by a silence even more unnerving.

Footsteps echoed on the stairwell. All eyes turned toward it as the Z'Dhia appeared in view, taking each step slowly and casually. In his hands was a hologram projector, whose disabled cords bobbed to and fro. 

Kira went to him, a million thoughts dawning on her. "It was a hologram," she muttered, then turned to the principal, her assistant, and the still unconscious Simmons. All the things she had observed in the few hours since she and the Z'Dhia timeshifted onto the campus suddenly clicked into place.

The others gathered around the smaller group as the Z'Dhia showed the head administration the media platform, explaining that the creatures were merely a hologram projected from a small window above in the main theater. The hologram disappeared the moment he dismantled the platform. The principal frowned, then glanced at both Kira and the Z'Dhia.

"A hologram? Who would put up a hologram of something like that?"

"That's a good question," Kira said, then glanced at Mr. Barnabas, who was still carrying Simmons in his arms.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Didn't you mention during supper that you were responsible for handling effects in the drama club?" She glanced at the media platform. "Effects like holograms?"

"Now, just wait a minute," the head assistant flustered. "Are you implying that I had something to do with this?"

The boy fluttered his eyes open and glanced startled at the group around him. Barnabas set him down on his feet. He continued to look startled at the group. "Whuh––what happened?"

"Simmons," Toomer said, snatching the platform from the Z'Dhia's hands. "Do you want to explain this?"

"Are you accusing Simmons?" Barnabas said, astonished. "He's just a boy."

"When he came to your office earlier," Kira said to the principal, "I noticed there was fresh mud on his shoes. Mud from the swamps." She pointed to Simmons' canvas shoes, which were still stained with dried mud. "Right after that, the two children saw the creatures. When the Z'Dhia and I investigated, we also found fur clotted on one of the branches."

The principal looked thoroughly confused. "Fur? But I thought you said these things were holographic?"

"They are," Mister confirmed. "But the fur we found was synthetic, possibly replicated."

"Mr. Barnabas," Kira addressed him, "you also said you handled wardrobe inventory. That includes replicating costumes, doesn't it? And Simmons––he's also in the drama club, which you teach. A perfect recruit to con a whole school into believing they're being invaded by monsters."

"Why, I've never heard anything so ridiculous," he spluttered. "Why on Beta would I replicate fur or scare people out of their wits?"

"For the insurance claims," she said, hands planted on hips.

He cackled and threw his hands in the air. "Oh, for the love of God. Obviously you didn't hear a word Ms. Toomer and I told you earlier. Those were rumors." Kira instinctively glanced back at Joy, who stood at the edges of the crowd with the small children crowded around her. A puzzled look crossed her features. "Besides, you don't have any proof. Where's this replicated fur you keep speaking about?"

Ms. Toomer glanced at Kira. "Do you have this fur, Agent Wood?"

Taken aback, Kira looked helplessly from Ms. Toomer to the Z'Dhia. "Well, no. We left it in the swamp. But––"

"There, you see," Barnabas interrupted. "All conjecture. And the most ridiculous conjecture I've ever heard."

Kira looked at Simmons. "We haven't heard from you," she blurted desperately. "Do you know anything, Simmons?"

"Leave the boy out of this––" Barnabas answered, but Toomer cut him off when she raised her hand.

"Let him speak." She turned to Simmons. "Do you know anything about this?"

Simmons widened his eyes and blurted out, "I didn't wanna do it! I swear, I didn't want nothing to do with it." He pointed at Barnabas. "He made me do it," he said to confused gasps.

"I don't believe this," Barnabas said with nervous, incredulous laughter.

"Let him explain," Kira said.

Simmons gushed how the entire idea had been Mr. Barnabas'. He had approached Simmons with a proposition: if the young man helped him play a little prank on the school, he'd be rewarded with a Level 3 admittance to the Katherine Dunham Academy of Performing Arts, one of the finest performance arts schools on Beta-2. It was privately run and very exclusive, so a Level 3 admittance would have shoehorned Simmons right into its student body. All Simmons had to do was spread rumors about the creatures, plant a few things around the campus, and make sure others saw them.

"You mean like the synthetic fur," Kira said.

He nodded solemnly. Ms. Toomer glanced from Kira to Simmons. "And what about the hologram?"

"I'm assuming Mr. Barnabas had it timed to project the images," said the Z'Dhia.

"This is nonsense," he protested, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Obviously this boy is a delusional liar. I have absolutely no authority to provide anyone with a Level 3 admittance, so right there you can clearly see he's making this up. He is, after all, an actor."

Simmons' eyes widened in shock. "You promised me."

Kira placed her hand on his shoulder and asked if he knew about the troubles the school had been going through. Mr. Barnabas made little mewling sounds of protest before Ms. Toomer shot him a hard look, then encouraged the young man to answer. Simmons' gaze focused on the crowd of people behind them, before they fell on Joy.

"She told me."

Everyone turned to Joy. Shyly, the young woman stepped forward and confirmed what he said.

"Wonderful," Ms. Toomer said, throwing up her hands in frustration. "Were you in on this too?"

A frightened look flashed across Joy's face, and she stammered out a denial before Simmons interrupted her.

"She didn't know anything. I roped her into this. Mr. Barnabas wanted somebody else to witness the things, and I convinced her to meet me in the park that first time." Kira noticed the look of hurt surprise on Joy's face. The poor girl thought Simmons' kindness was the start of a high school romance. She felt bad for her. "I couldn't tell her the truth," Simmons continued. "When I found out what was going on, I went to Mr. Barnabas and told him I didn't wanna do it no more, but he…he threatened me. He said he'd tell you––" he looked at Ms. Toomer––"that I was playing a prank and have me expelled. He said nobody would believe me."

Mr. Barnabas splurged with nervous laughter. "This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Me? Threaten a child? Nonsense! There's no evidence of any of this. You can't prove a thing."

"He's right," said Ms. Toomer. "He directs the drama club here. He probably handled that media platform countless times. Dozens of people at this school have. How can you prove he was the one responsible for this?"

Mister removed The Key from his cloak. "There is one way we can prove these allegations."

Ms. Toomer frowned. "What is that?"

"It is a precisely calibrated scientific instrument that can detect organic compound residue on objects or in the air, and determine the DNA structures that were imprinted on them within the very millisecond they were left behind. If you know anything about my people's scientific advancements, then you will know how precise and accurate our technology is. All I have to do is scan this media platform and everyone in this room, and I can calculate who handled this machine down to the millisecond before I dismantled it." He cocked an eyebrow. "I would be more than willing to perform this scientific task to narrow down who is responsible for frightening these children."

The sheer confidence in his voice was enough to make Barnabas break down and admit the truth. He was responsible for it all. One of the directorates had approached him and promised that if he came up with a plan that would frighten students away from the school, he could have it shut down for "natural causes" and be rewarded a portion of the insurance claims from the Trade and Economic Commission that would be rewarded to the founders and the directorates.

"I just wanted to be rid of this contemptible school," he hissed.

Kira wished she could be shocked by his admission, but she was not. Instead, she felt enervated. As she glanced at the grim-faced head administrator, she realized she was not alone.

"So this has nothing to do with the volume," Mister said. He sounded disappointed.

Ms. Toomer alerted the school security, who took Barnabas in their custody, then directed her few faculty members to escort the students back to their dorms. She settled on the depressing task of alerting the proper authorities of the fraud. She did not look forward to it. "I honestly believed the directorates were going to help us," she told Kira. Then, with a sigh, "I suppose we're on our own now."

Kira assured her that perhaps not all of the directorates were involved in the fraud, though, without a thorough investigation which was sure to come, she couldn't substantiate that. Still, she felt the need to let the principal know it wasn't all hopeless. Ms. Toomer smiled sadly, then nodded. "No, I suppose not. If it weren't for you, we never would have gotten down to the bottom of this at all."

"What will happen with Simmons?" Kira felt sorry for the young man. He had dreams, and Mr. Barnabas took advantage of them.

"Nothing," she said. "Simmons is a good kid, ambitious, like all good kids. I'll have a talk with him and straighten all this out. But, he will remain a student as long as this school is open. He is a good actor, though. His talents are wasted here."

The principal escorted Kira and the Z'Dhia back to the vault, where he at last recovered the volume. He placed the heavy book into his satchel, then thanked the principal for her help. She seemed perplexed by his gratitude, given that he had done more for her and the school than she ever did. But Mister assured her that she was the one who contacted the Idris-Sarran consulate to return the volume. "Very few are willing, so my help is simply an extension of your good-will."

They said farewell to the principal, then, once outside, Mister opened a portal back into the nRoom. As the portal glowed brightly against the night, Kira glanced once more at the thick swamps. The ghost lights, the bioluminescent creatures swarming amongst the thickets, swirled and danced like stars. She knew the legend of the swamp ghosts was a mere story, but she still shuddered. There was something forbidding and mysterious about the swamps. While the thing everyone feared turned out to be a child's tale, those stories would not have had any credence were it not for the swamps themselves.

She stepped into the portal and joined Mister on the platform. As the hypersphere began to collapse on itself, she told him how grateful she was that he helped Ms. Toomer and the school. He didn't really have to. Indeed, when they first timeshifted onto the planet, he was eager to recover the volume and return it to Idris-Sarra. But she was curious about one thing.

"What changed your mind? What made you decide to tell everyone what The Key was capable of doing? You were never that frank about your work with anybody. Outside of me, of course. What made you do it?"

Mister stared down at the holographic console of the TC, its soft, dull light coloring his dark face, when he looked up at her with a soft expression and said, "I could not bear to hear the cries of all those frightened children."

He returned his gaze to the console and began opening windows. Smiling softly, Kira placed a warm hand on his shoulder, took a deep breath, and waited for the universe outside the nRoom to swirl around her in light-speed.