Dreaming of Jizzy

  “That doesn't make any sense,” Rick whispered.

  Reaching out and taking Kitty's hand, Rick decided right then and there that he wanted to get to the next area of light in front of them as quickly as possible. Something just wasn't right, and as he turned to proceed up ahead, he suddenly saw that all the lights in front of him had now somehow all gone out as well. The two of them now were in complete darkness, and it was as if they were walking blindly into nothing. Even when he did a quick double-take behind him again, he saw no light, and it was as if a cloud of the darkest of night had suddenly descended upon the two of them.

  “Meow?!” Kitty's voice sounded more frightened and urgent this time.

  The next second, Rick distinctly felt as if he was suddenly being watched, as if predatory eyes in the darkness were staring at him and tracking his every move, and in reaction, he let go of Kitty's hand and pointed his shotgun directly in front of him.

  “Who's there?!” Rick challenged, his voice lined with fear even though he tried to sound as tough as possible.

  The next heartbeat, Rick heard Kitty hiss, like a threatened cat, and then he heard what sounded like her swiping at the empty air with her claws. A moment after that, he felt her bump into him, and because he was completely in the darkness now and unable to see a thing, he was afraid to point his shotgun anywhere now for fear of firing it and hurting her.

  “What's going on?! Who's there?! Show yourself!” Rick challenged, as Kitty suddenly back into him and forced him against the wall of the sewer.

  A heartbeat later and more quickly than he could even react, Rick then heard and felt someone breathe a hot breath on the back of his neck, and Kitty, a second later, again swiped at the air with her claws and was now growling in challenge almost continuously.

  “God damn it! What the fuck is...?!” Rick rambled in frustration, feeling threatened but unable to see a thing and feeling fear closing in all around him and threatening to completely overwhelm him.

  A moment later, he heard a playful giggle that he was pretty sure didn't come from Kitty, and it, in fact, fluttered on the air, first on one side of him and then crossed in front of him to the other side. Knocking his shotgun from his arms the next minute, he suddenly heard Kitty make a strange exhale of a sound, almost as if she were swooning, and then he felt her fall into him. Letting go of his falling gun and wrapping his arms around the petite cat-woman, Rick felt the dead weight of her in his arms and his heart suddenly lodged inside his throat in worry. Had she suddenly been killed? Who the hell is out there in the darkness? How can he possibly fight, what he couldn't even see? Not only that, but he had just dropped the only weapon he had. He was in deep shit, and he knew it.

  “Kitty! Kitty! Are you all right?!” Rick panicked, pulling her limp body up and shaking her.

  A heartbeat later, Rick heard that playful giggle again in the air, and this time he knew for certain that it couldn't have been Kitty. He was now surrounded on all sides by complete darkness, and it was so bad that even though he was holding Kitty close to him, he couldn't see her at all. In fact, if he had put his hand right in front of his face at that moment, he knew he wouldn't even be able to see his own fingers.

  “Who is there?! What do you want?! Why are you doing this?!” Rick shouted out frantically, being completely disarmed and at the mercy of whatever mysterious force had attacked them.

  “You summoned me,” a sultry female voice whispered then into his ear, and he could even feel her hot breath on his earlobe.

  Jerking away and pulling Kitty with him, Rick smacked his back up against the sewer wall once again, his eyes wide and his breathing heavy.

  “Who... Who are you?! And what have you done to Kitty?” Rick asked, holding Kitty in his arms but still blinded by darkness.

  “She is only asleep,” answered the playful voice, which seemed to be on his right one moment, then, the next instant, was over on his left.

  Not being able to see anything at all, Rick was scared out of his mind, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his knees were weak. Like when he was a little kid certain that there was a monster in his closet, Rick just wanted to run out of there as fast as his feet could carry him. Not only that, but he had now lost all track of where he had dropped his shotgun in the dark. He distinctly understood that he was completely at the mercy of whatever was toying with them.

  “Are you with the Constables?” Rick warily asked, his head whipping one way, then another.

  After a playful laugh that seemed to dance all around him for several seconds, the voice finally whispered, “No.”

  “Then... Then what do you want?” Rick asked, stepping as far back as he could, to where his ankles were pressed right up against the sidewall of the sewer.

  “A deal,” simply replied the sultry voice, and then he felt a hot breath again blow on his ear and cheek.

  “A deal? Who are you? Why don't you show yourself, and... and we can talk then?” Rick asked, trying to master his fear.

  “Sorry, my... self isn't here right now. I am but a faint echo of it,” the voice teased.

  “What are you? A... A ghost?” Rick asked, feeling goosebumps pepper his neck and back.

  “No, not quite. I need you to set me free, Rick Hancock, and then I can help you find... Jizzy! Oh, what a wonderful name!” the voice breathed passionately, like a hot and excited lover.

  “How... How do you know my name? How do you know about Jizzy?” Rick defensively asked, wondering exactly what else this secretive voice in the dark might know.

  “I know... everything about you, Rick. I can go into the darkest of places, and I have wandered the roads of your most hidden thoughts and desires, even those you'd never put word to. In fact, your desires are what drew my attention to you,” the playful voice admitted.

  “Who are you?” Rick then pointedly asked.

  “No, you don't get that... too dangerous. But, instead, you can call me... Darkness,” the teasing voice answered.

  “Why don't you give me your real name?” Rick asked.

  “Among my kind, giving out one's real name has... too many strings attached, you might say. You can call me Darkness though,” the voice assured him.

  “Why did you harm, Kitty?” Rick asked, still holding up his feline companion close to him.

  “Harm her!?” the voice breathed in shock. “I hardly harmed her. I just put her to sleep, so that we could talk, that's all.”

  Rick had seen all kinds of scary movies over the course of his life, and his mind was filled with all the horrible possibilities of everything this bodiless voice might be. He was still frightened and trembling, and he felt a deep drive to know exactly who he was dealing with.

  “What... What are you, Darkness?” Rick asked after a few silent moments.

  “I told you, an echo of a voice. That is why I am here though. I need your help. You help me, and then I help you. How does that sound?” she simply asked, and again, he felt hot breath on the back of his neck.

  “What do you need me to do?” Rick then asked.

  “Free me. Unlock a door. It's that simple...”

  “And in turn?”

  “In turn, I can bring you to the dungeon where your djinn is being held,” the voice shrewdly bargained.

  “How do you know where she is being held?” Rick asked.

  “I have heard her screaming. I can hear everything in the dark when I want to. Nothing is hidden from me in the dark... nothing,” giggled the playful voice.

  “So... So Jizzy is near?” Rick tried his luck, his eyes scanning the pitch black around him but still not seeing a thing.

  “Near, far, what is the difference? Those things are not limitations. I can take you to where she is being held,” Darkness assured him.

  “How... How do I know I can trust you?” Rick asked, his mind still alive with all the monstrous possibilities of what Darkness could be.

  “Trust!? Really, Rick Hancock? You cannot really trust anyone, but what you sh
ould know is, if I swear an oath, unlike you, I am wholly bound to that oath. I will swear an oath to you that after you set me free, I will bring you to the dungeon where your Jizzy is being held,” Darkness explained to him.

  “Why? Why would you help me do this? You must not be a kull, then?” Rick guessed, trying to eliminate the possibilities of what she could be since she was being so evasive and vague in her answers.

  “No. I am not one of them!” she growled, her voice, for the very fist time, laced with anger.

  “What... What are you then?”

  “Does it really matter, Rick?” she asked, her voice sounding as if she was growing bored with him and his questions.

  “It does,” Rick immediately replied. “I don't know who or what you are. I have no idea the consequences of the deal I would be making with you.”

  After a moment, Rick heard a loud, impatient exhale nearby, and then the voice finally spoke again.

  “Let me just tell you this. You and I, both, have no love for the kull, and they certainly have no love for either one of us. Isn't that enough? An enemy of my enemy is my ally, right?” the sultry voice argued.

  “Not.. Not all the time. Tell me, why don't you like the kull?” Rick asked, trying to pry more information from her.

  “Because they imprisoned me...”

  “Behind this door?”

  “Yes. Now, is that enough?”

  “No.”

  Again there was a silence, and Rick heard another impatient exhale in the void of the sewer around him.

  “Why not, Rick? It should be enough that your enemy is my enemy. I have already chased them away from pursuing you down these tunnels. I have already done you a favor. Isn't that enough to show you my good intentions?” the voice shrewdly asked.

  “So those were the kull? I am in a fucking city full of kull?!” breathed Rick, realizing this fact for only the first time.

  “Correct. I can help you though.”

  “Why would you do this? Why do the kull hate you?”

  “They do not so much as hate me, as they... fear me. Have you ever been in one of their homes? There is not a room or corner without a light on,” she giggled deviously.

  “You... live in the darkness? Always?” Rick asked, his eyes following her floating voice in the darkness around him but still not being able to see a thing.

  “Like a fish in water, I am a creature that lives in darkness, yes. What does that matter, Rick? Let's get back to the deal,” Darkness pressed.

  Though Darkness tried to steer the conversation back to this mysterious deal, Rick felt he had to know who and what he was dealing with before he made any promises about what he would or wouldn't do.

  “What are you? Like a... a vampire or something?” Rick asked, having watched a ton of vampire movies and knowing they were creatures of the night and couldn't stand the light.

  After a long, playful laugh, the voice finally replied,” Oh, how nice! A vampire! I suppose I could be one, yes, if you'd like. ”

  “What do you mean, if I'd like?” Rick asked, really confused now.

  “Rick Hancock, do you believe your actions have consequence across the universe, that like a pebble being thrown into a lake, the ripples extend out to all sides of the lake?” Darkness proposed.

  “Yes, I suppose that's true.”

  “And then, do you also believe that your very thoughts have that same power?” she shrewdly continued.

  “You mean, like if I think of killing...”

  “Something dies somewhere in the universe,” she concluded for him.

  “God, I don't know?!” Rick breathed, wondering how or why their conversation had taken such a philosophical turn.

  “Nicely put. But let us say, to answer your question, I was created in this way,” Darkness proposed.

  “By a... a thought?” Rick asked in disbelief.

  In response, the sultry voice only laughed again, clearly enjoying toying with him.

  “What are you really?” Rick then asked, his eyes narrowing as he suddenly had an idea now of what exactly he might be really dealing with.

  “I am one of the peerless rebels of the great rebel, and my pride was so great that I even broke from him. I am now... an independent operator, I guess you can say,” Darkness vaguely answered.

  Rick had a good idea now what he was dealing with, and after a few silent moments, he finally offered his conclusion.

  “You're a demon.”

  “What does it matter, Rick? You set me free, and I will lead you to where they are holding Jizzy,” her voice bored, she once again steered him back to the bargain.

  “You are a deceiver by nature,” Rick charged, as if he had suddenly discovered the answer to a riddle.

  “I told you before, Rick. If I make an oath, I am bound to it. I will make you an oath as part of the deal, that way you know I am duty-bound to follow up on it. It shouldn't matter who I am. I will honor my word. That is all that matters between the two of us,” Darkness reasoned.

  “Why... Why would I want to let loose a demon? What are you not telling me?” Rick warily asked.

  “What does it matter, Rick? You've traveled across great distances of space and time to retrieve your stolen djinn. You are lost, have no idea where you are, or what you are going to do. I can help you with all this for a very small service in return,” Darkness cleverly argued.

  “Why? Why did the kull lock you behind this door?”

  The next sound he heard was a long, impatient exhale once again.

  “Really, Rick? Must we...”

  Fed up with Darkness' game playing and secretive nature, Rick finally had enough, and he decided to test her.

  “Look. I don't want to deal with you. You know the full ramifications of this deal, and I don't know what I'm even agreeing to. I don't want any part of...”

  “All right! All right! Hold on a moment. Listen closely, and I will tell you all. Sultan Kull made a deal with me and some of my kin to help his people against the djinn a long time ago. Then, just when he finally overthrew the djinn with our aid, he found a way out of honoring his bargain with us and instead betrayed his word to us...”

  “By sealing you... and your kin behind this door you want me to unlock?”

  “Yes, so you see, you will be just righting a wrong, an injustice. You can clearly see that, correct?” argued Darkness.

  “I will be unleashing hell on this place!” Rick corrected, his eyes bulging at the realization.

  “Sultan Kull and his people have made their bed, let them lie in it. It is a long time in coming, and it is their just desserts considering their treachery. They could have never overcome the djinn without our help. What does it matter to you anyway? This isn't your home. The kull want to only capture and torture you for what your holding in your pocket. You think they'd bat an eye twice listening to you scream for an eternity?”

  “I don't know about that? But I'm just thinking about that ripple going to the edge of the lake,” Rick countered, thinking of Earth and the consequences of his actions here, reaching there.

  There was a long pause then as Rick quickly riffled through his thoughts. Did he even want to make a deal with this demon? If so, how could he be certain, she'd even follow through with the deal? Like walking on slippery ice, Rick felt like any deal with Darkness was a disaster waiting to happen.

  “You are more clever than I initially surmised, Rick Hancock. Yes, if you set me free, you will be unleashing my brethren loose once again. In fact, you will also return this place to its natural order, which the Sultan disrupted with his betrayal. So you see, you will be setting things right once again... as they were originally intended by the creator,” Darkness explained.

  “What do you mean?” Rick asked with a dubious tone.

  “The Sultan not only sealed us away behind this door, but he also sealed away night itself. Tell me, have you seen it nighttime here since you've arrived? I think not. Evening here always turns to morning, and the kull keep all area
s of their homes lighted at all hours,” Darkness explained.

  “Out of fear of retribution?”

  “Oh, yes! Retribution will come, but I will assure you and your friends safety... at least for a while,” purred Darkness, and Rick thought he could hear the excitement in the tone of her voice.

  Rick wasn't stupid, and he had to assume Darkness, or whatever her real name was, wasn't either. Once he had Jizzy, he could have her just wish whatever outcome he wanted, and if that meant returning Darkness and her demons back behind that door, he could very well do just that. But, knowing that he was now dealing with a demon, Rick knew that demons were natural deceivers. After he set her and her kin free, there was nothing binding her from this oath, regardless of what she said to the contrary. She could very well kill he and Kitty and go and retrieve Jizzy for herself. No, Rick needed more certainty if he was going to strike this hard bargain.