O'Hare Airport

O'Hare Airport, one of the busiest transportation hubs in the United States, serves as the Chicago terminus for the Creed family's flight from Bangor International Airport. It is at this airport that the psychological toll of Gage Creed's death and the supernatural events surrounding it become unmistakably visible in his six-year-old sister, Ellie Creed.

Arrival and Ellie's Distress

United Airlines Flight 419 touches down at O'Hare at ten minutes past three, central standard time, on the day after Gage's funeral. Ellie Creed is in a state of low hysteria, trembling continuously and jumping at any casual touch. Her body quivers without letup, as if she were full of electricity. When Rachel takes her hand to lead her through the terminal, Ellie trips over her own feet and falls to the carpet, lying there passively as passengers step around her until Rachel picks her up. Ellie then tells her mother she is going to be sick, and Rachel leads her to a ladies' room, where Ellie suffers only dry heaves of total nervous exhaustion.

The Revelation of the Dream

In the terminal, as Rachel washes Ellie's face, the girl reveals the source of her terror: a dream in which a man named "Paxcow" took her to the Pet Sematary and told her that her father was going to go there and that something terrible was going to happen. Ellie struggles to recall the dream's details, saying the man told her he was sent to warn but could not interfere, and that he was near her father because they were together when his soul was "dis-" — she cannot finish the word. Rachel, struck by a sudden cold recognition, asks if the man's first name was Victor. Ellie confirms it, and Rachel corrects her pronunciation: "Pascow." The name triggers a visceral terror in Rachel, who now understands that Ellie has somehow accessed knowledge of Victor Pascow, the student who died in Louis's infirmary on his first day of work — a death Rachel had deliberately kept from her daughter.

Rachel's Decision

Dory Goldman, Rachel's mother, watches the exchange with growing alarm, noting that Ellie reminds her of Rachel herself after Zelda's death. Rachel immediately tries to call home, but there is no answer. She then calls the university infirmary and speaks to Joan Charlton, who confirms Louis has not been in. Finally, she calls Jud Crandall, who accepts the collect call. Jud's evasive answers and the evident strain in his voice convince Rachel that something is dreadfully wrong in Ludlow. Despite Jud's advice to stop in Portland and rest, Rachel decides to drive straight through the night, overriding her exhaustion and her parents' protests. The airport becomes the point of no return: it is where Rachel's passive grief transforms into active, desperate action, and where Ellie's nightmare — a precognitive warning from beyond the grave — is first articulated and believed.