He was asleep again. It was strange, that he could be so sure of that while it was actually happening. It wasn't supposed to work that way, right?
And here comes the same old nightmare...
Deep in sleep, he watched as the ghost emerged from the wall again accompanied by the usual black goo and eerie groans. He backed up the same few steps, and was knocked to the floor as usual…
…and here he comes, crawling over me…there's the weakness…the blinding red headache...
And everything went black as before. Same old same old.
Getting kind of blasé, eh, Henry?
Who was that? He was surprised by his own presence of mind in the middle of sleep to ask that question. But no answer came, so he waited for the dream to play out. Everything was going as usual, so...at least he knew what was coming.
...and we're done. This is where I wake up.
But he didn't wake up.
...as I was saying, this is where I wake up.
He couldn't wake up. He was in his room, sitting on his bed, and try as he might, he couldn't move a muscle.
...wake up, Henry. Come on.
His eyelids were firmly closed, but he could see everything around him clearly, hear the cars going by in the street…
Wake. The. Hell. Up.
He tried to lift his hands, to pound them into his thighs to force himself awake, but nothing doing. He was trapped in his own body…for once.
No, Henry.
...oh shit.
Looks like I'm going to have to take you further this time.
No! WAKE! UP! Goddammit…
Instead, he felt himself slipping away again.
It was dark, completely dark.
I…am.
God, no, his brain cried. Not again.
No, this was different. Definitely different.
As his head turned, he felt no huge metal helmet, nothing. Wait…that was wrong. There was something there. His head was completely wrapped in something heavy…not fabric, maybe leather or…skin? That was why it was so dark…he couldn't see. He tried to touch whatever it was that was covering his head, to feel it and find out what it was, but his hands wouldn't obey. They remained fastened on the wheel in front of him, gripping it tightly of their own volition. He tried again, to move his arm or leg or anything, but he couldn't. It was as if his body was on autopilot.
I…I can't control my own movements. What the hell is going on here? Am I just along for the ride? Again?
But the thick, heavy cotton draping his body and legs felt the same, and he felt bigger than usual, as he had before. His arms and legs felt powerful. So that was familiar...as was the stench of old, rotten blood. Similar, but different.
If I'm not that thing with the helmet…who am I? Am I alone?
He closed his eyes and tried to reach out to the Other…and felt nothing. There was nobody there.
So I am alone.
That hurt in ways he hadn't felt in years.
A sound echoed from somewhere above. It sounded as though he was in some long corridor or deep well. All around him was cold white tile, stained with blood. He saw the walls around him as clearly as if with his own eyes...but the image was deep in his mind. He shouldn't be able to see anything at all, but there it was. Good enough. His hands turned the wheel, which squeaked and protested. One turn…two…three…
A bigger noise came down the long shaft, from above again. It echoed and rumbled down as something large and metallic approached rapidly. For a moment, Henry feared that whatever it was would run him down, but then he realized that the sounds were bouncing around in a small space just around him, and that he was in a small side chamber off of the main shaft. So he was out of harm's way for now. He steadied himself against the rumbling and waited.
It was a metal cage, like in one of those old-style elevators, but rusty and bloody. As it approached, he sensed that it was unoccupied. There was no life coming from it. It stopped just across from him, blocking the alcove he occupied, and its doors slowly creaked open.
There was someone there now...someone alive. It was a girl, a teenage girl, only a few feet away from him. He saw every detail of her short blonde hair, her white satiny vest and boots, and her freckles…and the panic on her face as she flattened herself against the side of the elevator, looking around wildly.
Suddenly, she saw him. She seemed even more terrified, and she gasped and drew back further. He leered at her as the thrill of her fear rushed through his veins and the memories of his purpose became more clear. Now he remembered who he was and why he and she were here and what he had to do and the wonderful thing that would happen, soon, so very soon.
It was finally...time.
"Is this a dream?" she said. "It's got to be!"
Not a dream, not for you. Your nightmare, but our dream come true. I've waited so long for this…we all have. Just a little longer.
The doors slammed shut, and the elevator began to descend down the shaft. He heard her talking to herself as she zoomed away from him.
He could travel in a flash. From anywhere, to anywhere. All he had to do was imagine himself in a place, and there he was. But he preferred to crawl through the miles of tunnels that snaked their way through the back walls and underground caverns of his world. He liked the cool, dark metal pipes and ventilation shafts. He was cozy and safe there, and there was nothing to distract him from what he could see happening with his mind. At that moment, he was descending vertically, like a spider, which was a favorite thing to do. He reached the bottom of one shaft, and moved smoothly along the next horizontal until he came to the junction of six large tunnels, which ran off from either side of the huge room. In the middle slept the reason for his visit.
Time to wake up, my friend.
The thing stirred, and then was still.
It's time for you to do your duty. You remember.
No response.
I have a special treat for you. Guess what?
Something massive moved. Against the faint light that crept in through the tunnels, he could see it shift and stretch. He sensed its anticipation, and smiled to himself. It had always liked surprises.
Someone's coming to see you.
It stopped moving, listening intently. He couldn't hear anything yet, but evidently it did.
You're going to have so much fun.
There it was. He could hear the clink, clink clink of someone coming down the long ladder from the floors above them. The thing's head lifted up. Then, a crash echoed down the tunnels, and he could see the splintered rungs of the ladder lying on the cold ground.
Go to her, but do not kill her. Not just yet.
The enormous worm shook its huge head and vanished up one of the tubes. He was left alone in the dark, damp room. After a minute or so, he heard a roar from above.
Before, I was the monster. Now, I'm the one who controls them. Makes them do my bidding. And my bidding is to do what it takes to ensure Her rebirth. I answer only to Her. Nobody else.
I like this. A lot.
He was suspended at the top of another long, deep passage. Another elevator shaft, probably. There were wheels and gears within his reach, and nothing for several floors below him. It was cool and dark and quiet, just as he liked it. The only sound was his own heartbeat echoing down the shaft.
Then, there was another noise…something metallic. Someone was forcing the elevator doors open a floor or two down. Slowly. He heard the metal of the doors screech, and then a squeaking sound that was familiar, but that he couldn't identify. The sliver of light below him widened. A car jack was wedged in the space between the doors, and someone was slowly winching them open. The squeaking noise stopped, and after a few moments a long white rope snaked down from the space to the open doors on the floor below.
He saw her again. She was far below him, down in the shaft, climbing down the rope as best she could in her boots and short skirt. He watched her slowly lower herself, foot by foot, until she was even with the lower set of doors, and he watched as she carefully pulled herself through the doors to the floor below. He turned back to his wheels, and was about to start turning when he heard a sound below.
She was looking up into the shaft, directly at him.
"Hello?"
The silence was thick and velvety.
"Is there someone there?"
The fear in her voice was sugar on his tongue. He held perfectly still and after a few seconds she shook her head and disappeared. But he could still see her as she walked down the hallway and through the door to the remodeling shop. She moved cautiously, carefully, through the sinks and toilets and bathroom fixtures, and finally to a solitary bathtub in the middle of a room.
His hand gripped the valve wheel above him.
Her little hand grasped the tub knob and turned…
And the wheel in his hands squeaked in rusty protest as it turned.
There was a horrible pause, then blood started to well up from the tub drain. She recoiled and collapsed to the floor, screaming, and he heard Her call to him.
You are not alone…
A deep peace flooded his veins.
I am yours to command, he said.
As always.
He rested for a while, feeling Her presence. It had been so, so long that he'd been alone, and now it was just a matter of time until his purpose was accomplished.
She's there. She's growing stronger. Just a little longer…so near now…
He allowed himself to be lost in visions of the future for a little while. Then he remembered. He had somewhere he needed to be.
He concentrated, and in a moment he was there, on the roof under the stars, with the man who had been trained since he was young to do exactly what he was about to do now. It had been a long time since he'd seen him, or the woman who stood next to him...had he ever actually met them? Or had he only known of them from afar? The arrangement of such things was delegated to others, and he had little involvement with the day-to-day workings of Her clergy. He preferred to work alone. No matter. They were here now, and they knew their purpose.
The man stood there, fragile, empty-handed, by the side of the priestess. Had he really been that small, that vulnerable once? Both had ghostly white hair, that seemed to glow like the moon in the darkness of the night. They looked like brother and sister, but he knew that they were not related except in Her.
At his appearance, they both knelt in front of him.
Ah. Yes, I like this indeed.
He turned to the woman.
You know what you must do, and what he must do. This is the most important step. Under no circumstances must you fail. But remember, whatever happens, she must be kept safe.
The priestess bowed her head. They stood, and he nodded toward the man. It was time.
As he watched, the man's shape began to change and stretch. His clothes tore from his body and fell away, and his mouth opened in a silent cry moments before it was covered in the coarse, soft rags that swirled through the air and swathed his lengthening limbs. It was a matter of only a few seconds before he was entirely wrapped in blood and rust. His face was now obscured by a huge turban that towered above his head, and long blades appeared in his gloved hands. They were nearly of the same height now, and he smiled to himself when he saw the man's muscles bunch and flex as he got used to his new body.
You are one of us now. Go earn your keep.
With a final nod, the man who was now no longer a man turned and headed down the fire escape. His heavy footsteps echoed down the metal steps, and faded away. It was just the two of them there now, him and the priestess. They stood side by side in the blackness. He could feel her eyes upon him, and he marveled at how the stars themselves could be blotted out so completely...there should be a moon, tonight, but there was none...he had made sure of that.
Then, without a sound, it was done.
He nodded at her, and wished himself away. She could handle the rest for now.
There were no valves here. Nothing for him to do. So he waited as the walls around him thrummed with blood and life. As he hung there, suspended upside down, he listened to the pulse of the room, of the whole building slow bit by bit to match his. After a while, they pulsed in the same rhythm, as if parts of the same being.
He saw her again, running along a darkened street. In the dark he could just make out a slight smile on her face. She turned up a side alley and ran up a short flight of stairs to a door on a building. There was a brass plaque by the door.
Daisy Villa Apartments
His pulse quickened in anticipation. She let herself in to one of the doors in the hall and tossed her keys on the table just inside.
"Dad, I'm home," he heard her say. "Listen…something really crazy is going on. I think we should…"
Her breath caught in her throat, and so did his.
"Dad?"
He could see what she could not.
Look at him…the blood…oh, it's glorious...he looks so peaceful but for the blood…
Yet there was a faint smile on the dead face. Had he gone so willingly? Not feared his own death? He could understand that. He had done the same once, for Her. Anything for Her, anything. But...an unbeliever? The Unbeliever? How could he? He couldn't understand sacrifice, not like they did. He never had. If he had understood, years ago, none of this would have been necessary.
The girl's hands reached out, trembling, and…
There it was. She was growing. He could feel it. He felt the impact as her knees hit the floor, he felt the shock rip through her, he felt the agony and pain and the ANGER flow through her veins and through his.
Ah…
It was heady, too. Like the power, but a more visceral thrill, the satisfaction that came with things setting themselves right.
Her voice rang in his ears.
Not much longer now.
But the smile on the Unbeliever's face stayed with him for a long time after that.
