Strange Nightmares

Strange Nightmares 2

Stephen turned. Behind them, growing slowly wider, was a door-shaped portal outlined in golden light. A decimated landscape lay beyond it, covered in morning fog, and a low moaning arose that gave him chills, like wolves howling in the distance. Bursting out of the fog, a man ran as fast as he could toward the portal, followed by rotting, moaning zombies. Dr. Strange stood and immediately threw on his Cloak of Levitation, letting the disguise spell fall away. No use in shielding his identity now.

Restaurant patrons began to clamor and scream and move out of the way of the expanding portal. The man leapt through the door, falling and crashing into tables as he did. Some sort of device that looked like an orange palm pilot fell out of his hand when he hit the ground. The battery got knocked out of it and went flying, landing on the floor with a clatter.

"Shit!" the man screamed, scrambling for the battery and doing his best to stuff it back into the device. The portal stayed open. The zombies advanced and Stephen forced himself to do something other than stand around and gawk.

"Everyone, out of the way!" he bellowed to the astonished diners.

He readied a spell, one that would seal the wound opening between their universes, making magical sigils through his hands, which miraculously decided to work correctly just then. He sent the complicated web of energy outward. It hit the portal, but to his amazement, it did absolutely nothing. The portal stayed open with stoic indifference as one zombie just barely reached it, stretching a rotting finger through the door.

"What the hell?" he muttered.

"That won't work, Dr. Strange," said the man on the floor, smacking the device against his hand. Christine was on the floor with him, trying to get him to stand up, but he gasped with pain and sank back to the ground.

"How do you know me?" yelled Strange, readying another protection spell for himself and everyone still standing around and screaming.

The man didn't answer. He held down a button on the device with both thumbs like his life depended on it. The portal glowed a little brighter, like a computer coming back from standby mode, then abruptly shut itself into a sliver of light, cutting off the zombie's arm at the elbow. It plopped to the floor with a squelch, like the rotten slab of meat it was.

The man sat back with a relieved sigh, but Stephen knew the danger wasn't gone yet.

"Why are you still here?" he screamed at the people still in the restaurant staring at the scene and taking videos and pictures, like idiotic cows. "Get the hell out of here! Go!"

At that, they made a stampede for the door, shoving each other to fit through the entrance. He threw a simple spell at the detached arm, which was still twitching, and set the thing on fire. Christine and the man startled and backed away from the flame.