Dark City

51.

Nathan floated through a grid of gold and silver netting a purple sea. In the distance, a grotesque and hideous hound clawed its way up a mountain dense with black smoke. At the top of that mountain stood a woman with jet black hair that swirled on the wind, shedding tendrils of ink that blotted his eyes.

A neon orange sunset beamed behind her, and the skies rained daisies. And the daisies turned to ash as they came too close to the witch's aura. Her black, insect eyes found Nathan and her purple lips twisted into a smirk. Her mouth opened wide and like a black hole it sucked him in and swallowed him up.

He was in outer space now, watching as a white Chinese dragon flew in circles and devoured the stars. One by one, it would kill every light in the universe until there was only darkness.

Nathan had the most overwhelming desire to destroy it, but the dragon was in another solar system. And the witch, well, Nathan was inside her. He decided he could cut his way out.

He thrust his arm forward, his sword tattoo glowing silver. A spirit sword materialized in his hand, translucent and yet made of something tangible like a hunk of the moon. He slashed vertically. Shrieking pierced his ears, shrieking like steam erupting from a pressure cooker.

The universe tore in half and fell away in pieces of starry fabric. And then came that mutant hound again. The beast had three bulbous eyes that shed neon paisley when it blinked. It's amorphous black tongue came out of its mouth and licked up the scraps of the universe.

Nathan roared at the beast. The beast roared back, bearing hundreds of sharp teeth in layers down its throat.

A glowing white hand touched his arm. An angel stood beside him, her long red hair floating up around her head as if they were underwater. She wore a mandala as a halo, its rings of chrysanthemum petals Orbiting her head. She said, "You must complete three trials or Alexandria will burn. You must kill the witch's familar, then the witch herself. Once she is no lonnger feeding the dragon, you will have to slay him too. Then the ultimate evil of the forest will reveal itself to you. Once you have vanquished that, your heart and mind will be restored to you. And you can finally rest."

The ultimate evil. The thought of an ultimate evil consumed him as he returned from his spiritual voyage. He felt he had been questing for a thousand years. His eyes were damp, his heart calm for the first time in years, and when he recognized the world around him as a familiar place, he found Lacey lying next to him on the bed, her hand in his.

"Where is the hound that bit you?" He asked her.

Lacey opened her eyes and sighed listlessly. "I'm coming back to earth."

"It seemed so real," said Nathan.

"Maybe it was. They call it the spirit molecule. Some people think your mind enters other dimensions."

"It showed me the truth. I know what happened to you."

"Do you?"

"The witch Hypatia tried to sacrifice you to the dragon. You escaped. But she sent her hound after you."

Lacey turned to face him, tears streaming from her eyes. "Yes," she whispered. "I stole from Hypatia and she sent Jacob after me."

"What did you steal? The DMT?"

"Among other things. I was in over my head. At first I thought they were my people. They were different from the usual hippy pagans who pour orange juice for fairies. They worshipped hedonism and chaos; I felt like I belonged. But there was bad blood between Liam and Hypatia. He was using her girls, exploiting their addictions to sleep with them."

"Girls like Alex."

"Her especially. Liam has wanted her for years. And Hypatia is insanely jealous for some reason. Maybe she thinks Alex is actually someone who could replace her.

"Ever since Halloween, Hypatia has been living in Liam's apartment on Cookman and giving him the silent treatment. I visited her a couple times last weekend. The first time I went to see her she was with the guy you hate."

"Jacob," Nathan said, his eyes darkening.

"She and him had been friends since they were kids.  Well, Liam told me to go there and get his thumb drive. He made me swear not to watch it. It was a blackmail tape. Whatever. I went and slept over and while H. was in the shower, I found the usb drive in her purse. I plugged it in and took a look at what was one it. It was a video from her phone. You could hear her talking and see Liam and Hannah kissing. But then Hannah's head tilts back and her eyes roll over. She starts ODing. But nobody notices. Liam is there on camera having sex with this girl as she's dying. I realize now what Hypatia has on Liam."

Nathan covered his eyes, whispering, "Oh God."

"I was disgusted. This is a video of someone's final moments of life. So I stole the flash drive, but not for Liam. I was gonna give it to Tom's dad, but Jacob came up the stairs as I was leaving. And he saw me and just knew. He beat me down. I had to fight for my life. He bit my shoulder like an animal, but the blood made me slippery and I was able to wriggle away. I ran. He got my purse, my phone, the flash drive. Everything. I just kept running. I didn't trust anybody. I didn't stop until I found this motel. And then I called you."

Nathan's eyes glazed over. He looked like he was somewhere else in his head. Lacey couldn't tell if he had heard any of what she was telling him, until he said, "Don't tell anyone that we spoke today."

"Why?" she asked.

"It's better if you don't know."

"Nathan?"

"I need the Cookman address."

Lacey picked up the hotel stationary pad and wrote it out for him.

"I will return to you in a few hours." He stood, folding the stationary and pocketing it. "Don't leave this room until I get back."