Title: Come

Author: lmeden

Gift For: assimbya

Fandom: The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Summary: A story of the horrible, terrible Cesare.

Rating: PG

Word Count: 1211

Author's Note: Well, I found the Yuletide Challenge and thought, perfect. Then I saw NYR, and the request for Dr Caligari, and that was it. I had to do it. I don't speak German – it's all from online dictionaries. But, as an English reader, you should all get the gist – I've tried to make the subject of the conversations obvious. Enjoy, assimbya!

I opened my eyes to find myself standing on the base of a mountain. Below me, the mountain sloped up, rising to great heights and piercing the bend of the sky. My mind rebelled. Was I upside down? Was I standing inside the earth?

A dream, then. It must be a dream. But, no.

The light around me wavered and flinched – I saw clearly. Not a mountain at all, but a box. Harsh wooden sides crushed me, chained me inside. I was standing inside a box that sloped drown and away, pinching my toes together and tying my arms to my sides. I stood still, unmoving.

"Cesare, Komm, Komm."

Ah, the command. Slowly, I blinked. My eyelids slid down. Then up. The command, yes, the call. I stepped forward.

I pulled my right hip up, and thigh forward, and with a shift my shin and ankle fell forward, too. A sharp jar, the vibration running up my leg. One step, taken. Then my left leg. Patiently I moved, my concentration on each twitch and shudder of my body.

"Bleib!"

I halted at the rough voice. The master's command worked its way into my mind, wrapping around me. Stay, halt, stop.

The stage fell, tilting sharply, to my left. The mountain? Was I once again on the mountain of my dreams? I certainly felt not pull - I felt no falling twist within my body and mind. I stood still, steady, on the twisted stage.

The master's voice rose again. It was a deep wave - of what, I dimly wondered - overwhelming my mind.

"Mien Leute, Liebe Leute, Komm näher! Schau!"

I saw them then, crowding around the stage. Great insects, buzzing and clicking with their desire to see me, to come closer and perhaps even touch me. I wanted to pull back. But the master had said stay, so I stayed.

Dimly, revulsion curled within me. Keep away, fairgoers, viewers of the mad. I tried to push them back with my thoughts. But they pushed closer, and I stood still against them, waiting for the master's command.

The sky sloped high above me like a vibrant blue quilt. Staring up, I could almost seem the tiny, deft stitches that secured the clouds to the sky. What happened when it rained, I wondered. Were those cold drops that slicked back my hair and dripped over my eyebrows the sewing of the gods – work labeled inferior and ripped out to fall down upon us poor, degraded souls below?

The clouds blew across the sky, carried by a wind felt only by those up above. What made that wind? Was it a gigantic breath, as some called it? Or was it angels and demigods running, pulling the clouds with tiny strings attached instead of their wings?

"Cesare!"

Her shout broke into my musings, and I turned to see her.

"Angelika!" I shouted back and waved.

She was running through the waist-high stalks of wheat to me, fighting their pull on her skirts and laughing. Her laugh was high and delicate, like the call of a bird. But truly, I thought, her laugh was so much more beautiful.

As she stumbled, I moved towards her. How silly she was. I could move through the wheat easily in my trousers, but in her skirts… I was amazed she had made it so far already.

Now she was tangled and had stopped. "Ich komme!" I called, and moved faster to her. She attempted to wave me back.

What a fool she was, to come out here for me. But I loved her for it. When I finally reached her I slipped my arms under hers and lifted her high, far above the treacherous wheat.

"Oh!" She cried out, and laughed again.

I pulled her close to me, and her hysteria slowly subsided. Her dark brown hair, so deliciously kinked and thick, fell over my face. The world turned to night under it. My heart swelled with a pure and simple gladness.

After a time I set her down. She pulled at her hair, attempting to set straight, but I grasped her hands with my own and held them close to me. She smiled softly and narrowed her eyes, examining me.

"Was machst du denn hier?"

I shrugged at her question. What was I doing here? Not even I knew. I had woken up and felt so strangled in my small house. I needed to be out here, in the fresh air and under the grand sky.

I loved standing in this wide field in summer, the golden plants swaying softly around me. I felt as if I was in a sea of richness. Sometimes I mourned having been born a human. I longed to run across the land as a spirited horse, or fly as a great eagle.

I wanted to be free.

As a human, I felt caged by society and my family. At least I had Angelika. When I had no words to describe my feelings, as now, she would stand and smile. She never forced a word from me – never expected more than I was willing to give.

Her small smile grew to a grin, and with a thump she sat down on the ground, her skirts billowing around her. We leaned against each other and stared up.

Then a twitch of motion caught my eye. I turned my head and saw a small, dark figure moving quickly through the wheat. I frowned. I didn't want to be disturbed. I wanted to sit here with Angelika and enjoy the beautiful day.

As the figure grew closer, I saw that it was a small man and no one I knew. How odd. What would a strange man be doing in the middle of a wheat field? I patted Angelika's hand and stood.

She looked at me questioningly, and I shook my head. I would take care of it. I'd get rid of him. And then we could go back to enjoying the sunshine.

"Entschuldigung!" I called out to the small man in dark clothes. "Was machen Sie da?"

The man stopped and turned. I stared. He was very pale and small, with a frighteningly craggy face. He said nothing, his jaw thick and set. He stared unwavering through a pair of thick round spectacles. A tall hat shadowed his face.

I wished that he would answer my question. The sooner I knew what he was doing and got him out of the field, the sooner I could go back to Angelika. I swallowed. Why was he looking at me like that?

Suddenly he smiled, and I staggered back. It was a horrible smile, full of malice.

"Sie sind perfekt," he said.

I was perfect? Unease festered in my stomach. Perfect for what? But his voice was mesmerizing, and though I worried, I stood still. I was enraptured.

"Cesare?" I heard Angelika's voice call, distantly worried. She seemed so far from me, and I felt my sharp desire for her, and even the memory of her voice, fading.

The old man reached out a small hand. "Komm."

And though I didn't wish to, I reached out and clasped it. His voice overcame me, closed around me like the rough-hewn slabs of a wooden box.