Free Crampton by Thomas Ligotti, Brandon Trenz

could have taken another police assignment for that--some speedtrap out in the suburbs. What drew you to the Bureau?
    BRADY
    Do you really want to know? You'll laugh.
    HELEN
    Try me.
    BRADY
    You remember the t.v. show The F.B.I. ?
    HELEN
    (laughing)
    With Efram Zimbalist, Jr.?
    BRADY
    Who?
    HELEN
    The main guy, what's his name ... Erskine.
    BRADY
    Yeah, that's the show--not the later one, with the guy from Mannix .
    HELEN
    You're seriously telling me you joined the FBI because of a television show?
    BRADY
    No, that's bullshit. Just me trying to sound cool. I'm not sure if I can explain what led me to join the Bureau, or even what made me want to be a cop in the first place. It would probably come out something like what Ricky said, you know? Being able to do something about all the bad shit in the world.
    HELEN
    I think I know what you mean. Except it never seems to end--for every bad thing you turn over there's something worse underneath. And under that ... and under that.
    BRADY
    You never find that one big thing at the heart of it all. (Beat) Okay, so do I get to ask you something now? Since we're bonding and everything?
    HELEN
    Sure, go ahead.
    BRADY
    When we were in the car, during the storm ... you said you'd heard that sound before.
    HELEN
    Did I? I must have been thinking of that tornado that picked up my house when I was a little girl back in Kansas.
    BRADY
    Come on--no more bullshit.
    HELEN
    Right. No more bullshit. (Beat) Do you dream, Wells? I mean, I know everybody dreams, but do you remember your dreams?
    BRADY
    Sometimes.
    HELEN
    Have you ever had a dream where you're terrified, but you can't tell exactly what you're terrified of? Maybe it's a dark room, or a flight of stairs ... or some curtains that are fluttering just a bit.
    Brady jerks a little at the word "curtains," but Helen doesn't notice--she's starting to space out a bit, caught in the spell of her description.
    HELEN
    Nothing especially disturbing in itself, but still you feel that fear of something infinitely terrible. And the last thing you want to know is what that something is. The knowing would be the worst part. And it gets so bad that that you have to wake yourself up before you're ripped apart by your own terror.
    She comes back from her spell and looks at Brady.
    HELEN
    Have you ever had a dream like that? Because, lately, I have. And the sound in them is just like that storm.
    Brady looks away.
    BRADY
    You're just overworked. We both are. Let's get some sleep.
    CUT TO:
    INT. HELEN'S MOTEL ROOM - LATER
    The two agents are asleep, Helen in her bed, Brady in a chair. They are restless--having bad dreams.
    DREAM SEQUENCE - Brady and Helen stand together in an elevator, not unlike the one in FBI headquarters. Their stance is awkward and oddly posed--they look as if they've been caught off-guard, then frozen in place. TREACLY ELEVATOR MUZAK is playing a familiar but unidentifiable tune.
    MOTEL ROOM - CU ON BRADY
    He is twitching slightly.
    DREAM
    The elevator stops. The doors open a few inches. We get a glimpse of BLACKNESS on the other side--not just shadow, but a living darkness that seems to churn like a whirlpool. The muzak is drowned out by a ROARING like an approaching tornado.
    MOTEL ROOM - CU ON HELEN
    Her face is twisted into a look of pain.
    DREAM
    The doors open a little further, revealing more of the abysmal blackness. The ROARING GROWS. In the elevator, the agents are still frozen in place. A few more inches. The roar has become a HOWL.
    Finally the agents move, stepping through the doors into the roaring blackness--
    MOTEL ROOM
    The HOWL in the dream becomes the cacophonous RINGING of the phone. Both agents wake with a start and sit bolt upright. The phone RINGS again. Brady picks it up.
    BRADY
    Hello?
    No reply ... at first.
    BRADY
    Hello?
    STATICKY VOICE (ON PHONE)
    Hello? Brady, is that you?
    Brady turns his eyes to Helen. Though nearly lost in a storm of vague BACKGROUND NOISES, the voice on the phone is clearly hers.
    The voice