The Dark -- part one

Author: Annie B. Goddess of Torment

CHARACTERS:

Xena -- Warrior Princess

Gabrielle -- Xena's best friend

Autolycus -- King of Thieves

Kurtan -- Evil-doer extraordinaire

Various other small characters...

Rating: R -- Extreme violence at times and definitely not for younger readers!

Language: Definitely NOT "squeaky-clean"!

Author's Notes: This story is based on a Batman graphic novel written by Jim Starlin. This story is mostly written in a first person format, from Xena's POV, and is the first time I have ever attempted this before. Enough with the seemingly endless babble... I sincerely hope you enjoy this story!

What is this? I've been this way many times before and don't remember seeing that run-down house before. It's horrible! It doesn't belong here in Amphipolis! It's crazy... almost surreal looking. I shouldn't be entering this place! I should be back at my mother's with Gabrielle. But there's something about this house... it beckons me... I can't seem to resist it! I can feel a cold sweat trickling down my back. My heart is beating wildly in my chest as I open the front door! I don't belong here! I want to leave but I enter instead. I think it's the rush of fear-induced adrenaline that entices me to stay. There's danger here... and death... I can sense it. I savour the fear that threatens to overwhelm me... it can't hurt me. I'm Xena, the warrior princess! I have beaten gods in combat! I'm invulnerable! At least... that's what Gabrielle writes in her scrolls... I'll beat the bad guys and live to see another day... won't I?

I see the door at the end of the hall and begin to doubt myself. There's something evil behind it... something sinister! I can feel it waiting for me! By the gods, I'm terrified! My footsteps echo in the still air and my mouth is suddenly dry. I want to break free of the spell I'm under! I want to scream and run! But I open the door instead... I couldn't stop myself! I feel compelled to follow the steps down into the darkness. I can hear the distant dripping of water and I try to turn around... but can't!

My terror grows within me... I can almost taste it. The steep stone steps lead down as though straight into the depths of Hell itself. Why did I enter this dreadful place? A useless question now... it's too late now to turn back... not that I could. Its hold over me grows stronger with every step I take. I have no idea what form it will take. No matter where I run... where I hide... it always finds me. Maybe this is why I never settled down. I finally reach the bottom of the stairs and can see a trapdoor in the floor. I can't stop myself from opening it... it silently calls to me. I see a familiar form leap from the hole in the ground and land in front of me... grinning wildly! Callisto!

But... it's not Callisto... it's a demon wearing her body...I can smell its fetid breath and see its yellow eyes staring at me. "Ooh! And what have we here? A little girl? Mmm, I love little girls... and you're just my type!" I try to protest as she steps closer... her long blonde hair blows around her face... it makes her look like a ghost. "You don't have to be scared of your Auntie Callisto! I'm only here to play... just like a cat plays with a mouse... before she eats it!" She raised her sword... where did she get a sword from? I didn't see it before. Where's my sword? It's not on my back... and my chakrum is gone too!

Too late! She's bringing her sword down... I'll be dead in a few moments... in a way, I almost look forward to it. I try to move but can't seem to move my body! She's grinning wildly as her sword touched my head and... nothing. Nothing but the sound of her insane laughter! "You should have seen your face!" I am finally able to move and speak again...

"You're sick! I've had enough of you! So many people have died because of you!" I raise my sword above my head... I don't know where I got it from... doesn't matter... "Because ... of ... you!" I screamed the last words at her as I bring the sword down and felt it bite deep into her shoulder! I relished the look on her face... a mixture of fear and hate! I pulled the sword out and raised it to hit her again... and again... and again! It felt great! I should have done this years ago when she kidnapped my best friend and tried to kill her! My best friend, Gabrielle... Gabrielle...

"Gabrielle!" I scream out as I came to. I open my eyes and look around... it was a dream, just a dream... the same one I had been having all week. Good thing I'm not a superstitious Roman... I might think it was an omen. But I don't believe in omens. I'm Xena and I don't believe in superstitions! I believe only in what I can see ... and touch ... and kill... No! I've changed! I don't kill anymore... at least... I don't think I do... do I? The pain of my shoulders and arms were beginning to remind me of the present.

My hands are tied above my head by a rope that was digging into my skin and re-opening the same wounds it had caused in the first place. No matter how hard I try, I always come back to the here and now... back to the constant pain... back to the agony... back to the madness. I think I've been here a week, maybe more... I can't really tell... there's no sunrises... no sunsets... not here... in the dark dungeon of a forgotten castle long abandoned... and just the constant pain... and the chanting. Someone is coming... I don't know their real names... I call this one the Rat... it scuttles along like a rodent. He had a torch in his hand and I can see his face... he even looked like a rat... I smiled grimly.

"He is coming! The god is coming! He was here before your gods and he will be here long after! His glory will live forever!" The Rat spoke for what seemed like an eternity... trying to tell me of the history of this "god"... how it was entombed by unbelievers... how it remained entombed for a thousand years... he ended by finally telling me the "god's" name... Kurtan. That was the first time I had heard his name.

"You can tell Kurtan he can go to hell!" My voice sounded strange ... kind of dry and scratchy... I tried to spit on the man, but my mouth was so dry I couldn't do anything more than make the motion at which the man laughed at me... which made me angrier. I struggled against the rope but cried out in pain when I felt a burning jolt of pain shoot through my body. "You don't really expect me to buy into that load of..."

"If you expect to live, you will accept it. It is the word and the word is good! The longer you resist, the greater will be your pain!" He slapped me across my face and I could feel the saltiness of blood in my mouth. My cheek burned where he hit me. I longed to reach out and tear his rat face apart.

"Patience, my son!" This was a voice I had never heard before. I turned my head to see who was talking, but couldn't quite see the person. "She must be given time to accept the truth. Do you forget so soon your own doubt when you first joined? Remember that she will soon be your sister in truth."

The man who was speaking finally came into view... a tall man with long white hair and a deep tan... and... horns? I saw the image of the man before me flicker and saw a brief glimpse of a demon. I shook my head and saw the man again. I looked at the Rat and saw him cowering and bowing low before the man. So, this is Kurtan... if I could get free, I could take him! Even the way I am now, I could still take him! He stood before me... strong... powerful... confidant... He seemed to glow with an inner light. I could almost believe... No! I can't think that... I can't allow myself to even consider that! That's what they want! To doubt... to weaken... to believe... If I do that... he's won.

I still remember the first time I met him. Gabrielle and I arrived in Amphipolis to visit my mother and he had just set up a home for the homeless across from one of the taverns. I stopped by to make sure that he was alright, but he seemed to get along fine without me. Gabrielle and I had decided to stay for a few weeks so that Argo could rest up, she had thrown a shoe and may have pulled a muscle. My mother didn't mind the extra help Gabrielle offered either.

After about a week, I was being blamed for several attacks on some of the town's thugs and lowlifes. I didn't do it, of course, and had an alibi for the most recent attack... the town's own guards. There had been a brawl at a tavern while I was having a drink and I tried to settle things down. The guards showed up and assisted me, taking the ones who started the fight to the town's gaol.

I went to the scene of the last assault and look around carefully. A guard was with me and I pointed out several sets of footprints. "Looks like you've got at least four people who are trying to clean up the streets." I told the guard. He agreed with me.

The question was: Who were they? At first people were happy with the unknown vigilantes. It was safe to walk the streets at night again... there were hardly any fights at the taverns... nobody sleeping on the streets. Nobody thought about where the homeless people went, not at first. But then other people started disappearing and I began to wonder... where did these people go?

It all came clear one night when I was walking alone. I heard the sound of swords clashing and ran to investigate. I should have known better, it was the bad side of town. As I rounded a corner, I saw a man lying on the ground trying to protect himself from two punk kids. I ran to help the man. The battle was short and I was pretty gentle on the kids... one had a broken arm and the other a couple of cracked ribs. They were young and would heal in a few weeks... they would also learn a lesson about bullying. I was anxious to get back to my mother and Gabrielle... I had promised I wouldn't be gone long.

I got careless... and I paid for it. It was dumb! There's an old saying... no good deed ever goes unpunished. I learnt that rule that night. Even though I heard someone behind me, I didn't look to see who it was. I should have.

I don't know who hit me and I lost consciousness. I don't know how long I was out, but long enough to drag me... here... wherever here is... and tie me up. When I came to my hands were tied above my head and no matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't free myself. People came and went... telling me stories about this wonderful god. I heard the same garbage about every other god, this one was no different... if indeed he was a god.

Several people stepped forward and told their own story of how Kurtan had saved them. I kept my mouth shut. I've heard it all before. This was the classic recruiting method used by religious cults. First they take the person away from all familiar surroundings. Then they starve him... or her... to lower their resistance. The person begins to feel disorientated... and might start hallucinating... leaving him vulnerable to suggestion. It's not long until they experience revelation... enlightenment. Standard brainwashing techniques. It won't work on me... I'm too strong. I have a good sense of reality. I'm too strong...

I came to hearing the Rat's voice. I didn't realize I had passed out. The Rat was telling me some more of Kurtan's history. He finished by saying, "Let evil beware!" Another man brought me some food and spooned it into my mouth. It is never enough. The food tastes horrible... I think they put something in it... who cares? I am starving and devour everything they feed me. Licking my lips afterward to make sure I get everything. The men leave and take the torches with them. The blackness closes in and I pass out again...

The guard's office in Amphipolis...

"...and that's been around ten days ago now." Gabrielle finished.

"Is this the first time she's left you for an extended period of time?" the guard asked without looking at her.

"She's left for a day or two at a time... but never anything like this. And she's always told me when she left. She would always send word to me... one way or another!"

"Gabrielle, isn't it?" She nodded and he continued, "Gabrielle, do you realize how many missing person reports we have? Come here... look out there. What do you see?" The guard took the bard to the window and pointed out. "Well?"

"I don't see anything..." she began.

"Exactly. There's nobody out there. At this time of night we should be having several reports of fights and there should be several whores out there. It should be packed out there." He sighed and sat down again, leaving Gabrielle to continue staring out the window. Another guard walked into the room with a pile of papers and dumped them on the older guard's desk. "How many does that make it?" the older guard asked wearily.

"Over 100." The young man answered and continued, "I've been doing some checking into those reports. Came up with some interesting stuff."

"Like what?"

"Almost all of them have committed some crime and get this -- most of the people who reported them missing are criminals too!" the younger guard said.

The older guard sighed and walked to the window again. "It's got to be really bad out there if the criminals are coming to us for help. Something very scary is going on out there."

I was tired of hearing the same old stories... I should have known better... I should have kept my mouth shut. The Rat was telling me another story, about how some settlers in the area had seen someone approach them... I couldn't help it...

"Let me guess, it was the big bad Kurtan, right?" That couldn't have been my voice... it sounded so weak... so tired.

"She has no respect for the word! We tell her the parables and she laughs! We must punish her blasphemy! She must learn the error of her ways!" The Rat raised an iron poker... it was glowing dull red. He raised it close to my face and I could feel the heat coming from it. My tunic was ripped off my body and he jabbed the poker deep into my belly. I screamed and before I passed out again, I heard the Rat give orders for the wound to be taken care of. The last thing I remember was a burning desire to kill the scrawny rat-faced bastar...

I was awoken by a female voice... at first I thought maybe it was Gabrielle... but it turned out to be just another demon here to torment me.

"Isadorus was my master. I worked hard for him for over two years."

Her voice was soft and I felt somewhat comforted by it. I looked at her and saw a thick veil covering her face.

"He accused me of stealing from him. I told him he was wrong, but he wouldn't listen to me and pulled out his dagger." That's when she lifted the veil from her face... I was horrified. Her face was slashed almost beyond recognition... one eye was gouged out and her nose was almost cut off. She lowered the veil again and turned away.

"That man will never harm another woman. He has paid for his heinous act." Kurtan was back.

"You... you murdered him?" I could barely hear my voice now. I knew I couldn't hold out much longer. "We executed him. It was the right thing to do." Kurtan spoke with soft confidence.

Standing there in front of me... he looked like a god... "no... it's wrong..." I was losing it. I had to keep focused...

"What would you have us do? Allow the animal to run free to perhaps kill next time?"

"guards... should have gone to the guards..." my voice was growing weaker...

"They would have simply given him a lecture and allowed him to go free." His voice was strong...

"... no..." I tried to protest... but what was I protesting? He was right and I knew it. There were many times when the criminals I had tracked down and brought to justice were simply set free and the animals would laugh in my face as they walked away.

"Xena, you know as well as I that the law is only for the rich. The poor and unfortunates are allowed to suffer. How many vile lowlifes have you brought to justice only to watch them be set free? Set free to take over the streets! The criminals have taken over the world!"

He was right... why didn't I see it before? I looked at him again and his eyes glowed with a brilliant light.

"Every vile act imaginable runs rampant in this city! The guards can no longer handle it! We must help these people turn away from their evil deeds! This is not a choice they can make on their own... that is why I have chosen you to help me!"

The Kurtan god chose me? Me? My eyes widened as I looked at him... there was a light all around him! I saw the god... in all his glory! I wanted to help him!

"Let the glory be revealed to you!" Kurtan raised his hands and the light grew more intense... I could feel the light envelop me... it was a warm gentle feeling... "Xena, you and I are on the same side! The right thing to do would be to join forces! Say the word!"

The words sound familiar... I remember another god... a dark god... who loved war... but this god wanted to help... I opened my mouth to speak... but nothing came out... I tried to nod... I closed my eyes knowing it was useless. "Cut her down! Give her food and drink! Bring her to me when she is awake!" Kurtan's voice rang through my head...

I could barely feel the hands lifting me to cut me down. I collapsed into the arms of the other worshippers. I could feel the ground under me and could feel myself drift off again.