A startling, instant sensation of warmth and thick grass pushing between her toes made her look down to discover that she was as naked as the day she was born. Her flesh seemed pink beneath the fading light that wrapped her in an embrace more soothing than any blanket and the scars on her stomach were nowhere to be seen. She took another step while enjoying what seemed like a forgotten freedom from a time that might or might not have been.
The fire flies will show you the way…
From somewhere unseen the sun burned brightly for a brief flash and then was gone, but it wasn’t complete darkness that followed. A soft, electric like cool blue hue kept the wonders of the garden just visible, and looking up Candice found two enormous moons that felt close enough to touch. Flashing tendrils of lightening raced across the surfaces but there was no accompanying thunder.
Up ahead the majestic trees formed a deep canopy with an inside kept hidden by the cover of shadows. Tiny orange sparks began to spiral and dive at the edge of her vision like exploding embers from a campfire, before coming together in a dancing swarm and floating towards the tunnel entrance. Mesmerized, she followed the colourful tour guides deeper and deeper in the garden. When she reached the entrance to the canopy the fire flies broke formation, raced around her waist and legs a handful to times, and flew into the tunnel to light up the darkness.
She glanced one more time at the surrounding plants and trees before continuing forward, the glow of the electric moons already now a memory. As the fire flies continued their dance up ahead she began to sense she might not be alone so braved a scan of the tree soaked walls, carefully moving her gaze from one side to the other. She didn’t find any kind of animals though. What she found instead were human like eyes staring back at her silent and still. They shone with a strange purple ambience, but for reasons that Candice was sure would never be known there was no fear where it should have been. Puzzled by the way fear seemed so distant, she kept moving.
There was no way to tell how far she had gone. Had it been mere minutes or several hours? A look back over her shoulder revealed only darkness and unblinking eyes. Focussing once again straight ahead she saw that the orange coloured tour guides had come to a stop and were patiently waiting for her.
An eternity or second later she reached the end and stepped out of the shadows back into the electric blue of the two moons, only this time the garden came to an abrupt stop at the edge of a cliff just a stone’s throw away. She took one more step and became still, peering over the edge as the fire flies circled several times and then disappeared. In the dark sky there were no stars, but to the right of the moons sat three enormous planets lit by an unseen sun.
I’m so happy you came, said the soft voice that seemed to live in the breeze, hopefully we can be friends.
“How can we be friends if I don’t even know your name?” Candice asked while staring up at the spheres.
You already know my name. I’m Talitha. I’m here to preserve memories and show the way to the stars. I wanted to talk with you before the bad people make you do bad things. I’ve learned a lot about you.
Candice traced a finger across her stomach and savoured the wind against her flesh. “How should I believe any of this is real?”
Are you experiencing it?
“I guess so, otherwise we wouldn’t be talking.”
If you’re experiencing it then it must be real, because if it’s not real there’s nothing to experience. I’m here. Now you’re here. Together we have a reason to believe.
“I don’t know where I am, but it’s so damn beautiful.” Candice stretched her arms out as though ready to fly. “It’s like nothing I’ve seen before and yet…”
This is just one of the many waiting rooms. Beyond this lies everything you’ve dreamed of and more. Not everyone is welcome though. That’s why I called for you. The stars hold your name Candice, but the darkness wants to hold you tight. Be careful with your trust.
A rustling noise joined the breeze. Candice looked to her left as thick plumed ferns began to shake and bend, and then by the light of the moons and silent planets she watched as Kiki leapt from the foliage, bounded along the ground and launched into her arms. His fur was like velvet against her skin and his nose was warm as he nuzzled the bottom of her chin. Tears fell as she rediscovered the feel and smell of her friend.
“How is this possible…” she wondered out loud.
There’s a world that sits between what has been created and what will be created. What has been has the chance to be. Here the clock has lost her way but on the other side time is short. Someone’s coming. You need to get to the blood. If you don’t destroy it the bad people will come to play. Get the blood Candice, please.
Kiki nuzzled the bottom of her chin one last time and then jumped to the ground. The breeze was becoming cooler now, and the silver light of the moons was fading.
“I don’t know about any blood,” Candice offered as she watched Kiki sit majestically by the edge of the cliff. “I don’t know who these bad people you’re talking about are either. I just want to lay down with Kiki and wait for the moonlight to come back…”
You can’t stay. Not this time. They’re calling your name. It’s time to jump Candice, to remember the blood and jump. The wind will carry you back.
Candice was unable to resist the cliff’s edge. It beckoned and seduced her, the darkness that cried with the cool breeze, and left nothing to do but step up to the brink. Kiki watched as she opened her arms out wide. There should have been fear, she knew that, but as her skin pulled tight she felt excitement at the idea of learning to fly. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
I can see you. I can remember you. Let go now…
Candice drew her eyes from the moons, smiled down at Kiki, and jumped. For a split second she thrashed her arms with the intent to soar but when the winds of the darkness screamed across her ears she knew she was falling.
This time the sense of fear was reconnected. The abyss below opened wide and now more than anything she wanted to scream, to cry out with every ounce of fight left in her heart to try to bring a stop to the sickening descent, but the sound was stolen as quickly as it had begun when the darkness exploded with an ocean of colours and swirling sounds of white noise that rushed her ear drums.
Lightning bolts of memories ignited a thousand thoughts, crackling and sparkling with a symphony of chemical surges. She was no longer falling, but nor was she still. The smell of chlorine stung her nose as she splashed at the water to prevent her face going under again. When her mother’s hands grabbed her tiny body Candice looked up from the water and knew that she was safe. Those hands wouldn’t let her sink back down. She kicked her legs to get close enough to clamp around her mother’s neck but the water surged and now she was wrapped in a blanket on the bedroom floor, the room awash with the glow of a midnight movie.
There was a long treasured warmth as she wriggled in the blanket and turned to see her best friend sleeping peacefully with discarded pop corn resting by her cheek. Not just her best friend, but her only friend at a school that mocked her awkwardness and laughed at her attempts to fit in. Candice slid a little closer so that their heads were touching and wondered if they could somehow share dreams…
The blanket was cold and wet but something was burning below. Her eyes shot open as the taste of freshly cut grass tingled her lips. She could hear her father calling out and so pushed up onto her knees with arms that were weak and shaky, but when she looked up it wasn’t his face that was glaring beneath the street light but the man who had promised so much. There was a grin curling his lips like she hadn’t seen before. Candice felt the burning again and as she clutched her stomach, something warm and sticky oozed through her fingers. Like a wounded animal she rolled onto all fours and clawed at the grass.
“Don’t touch her until we know what’s going on.”
Her opened her eyes with a start. At first she thought she was suddenly in the presence of four overhyped men with gun
s but realized the mirror was playing tricks on her. There were only really two, and by the way they were staring at her you would have thought that she was somehow intimidating them.
The one closest to her sported an unusually thick neck and stood as though he was expecting the floor begin to shake. Surprisingly his eyes seemed kind, but that didn’t change the fact that his finger was hovering above the trigger at the ready.
“Doctor Garland should we be calling medical?” he asked somewhat suspiciously.
“Jesus do I look that bad when I’m sleeping?” she replied.
“We didn’t know if you were asleep or…”
“Spend enough time down and here and trust me, you catch what you can when you can so yeah, congratulations you caught me nodding off,” Candice lied as she gripped the device that was now resting in her lap. “I might not look too good and I sure as hell don’t smell like a rose but you don’t have to hold those guns so tight.”
Her head felt heavy, felt as though the inside of her skull was itchy. Whatever had just happened wasn’t slipping away like a late morning dream that was for sure. The memory was still so vivid that she had to make a point not to check the room for the whereabouts of the little blue bird.
“Sorry doc,” the guy with the thick neck said, “I don’t wanna come across as some thug with a gun but we heard what happened earlier and, well, you know, gotta be careful.” He removed his finger from its position by the trigger and took a moment to peer around the room. “We only came down to collect your backup drives, so if they’re good to go we’ll be outta your hair.”
“If you give me another twenty minutes or so they should be ready to go.”
Making a point to stare at the device in her hands he indicated his agreement with a brief nod. “We’ll clear the other floors and come back through on the way up. Try not to fall asleep this time okay?”
He signalled to his partner and together they marched out of the room. Candice waited until the sound of their footsteps were all but gone then dropped the brave face she had conjured, weeping into her hands. There was no point in trying to make sense of the trip she’d just taken even if she wanted to. She was mentally and physically exhausted and her thoughts were fragmented. No doubt she should confront the experience somehow, to attempt to analyse the vision and determine how it was created, but for now it felt just fine to simply close her eyes and cry.
Chapter 27
John snuck a glance at his watch. Midnight had passed but dawn was still a while off, not that it mattered much for the moment. Sleep was the furthest thing from his mind as he walked down the arched corridor with Klementina to his left, Rebecca to his right and Aaron several steps ahead leading the way. They were heading for the door at the end, a fact that seemed to quieten his entourage and burden the atmosphere with suspense.
What a young girl had to do with any of the insanity he was falling deeper and deeper into was a mystery no doubt, but the answer was probably waiting for him on the other side of the door. Whether or not it would make sense was another matter entirely, and all he could do for now was push forward into the unknown.
“We won’t be going in with you,” Klementina announced quietly. “This time of night he prefers company to be kept at a minimum.”
“Don’t worry though,” Rebecca added, “he knows you’re coming.”
“I feel like I should’ve brought a bottle of wine or something,” John joked.
“Trust me that wouldn’t be a very good idea,” Klementina replied.
The sound of footsteps echoing along the concrete walls fell silent as they arrived at the door that marked the end of the corridor. Aaron turned around and stood as though proud he had got them there.
“Just so you know,” he addressed John directly, “it’s because these ladies here trust you that you get to go through this door, so I really hope you can remember that and not go fucking things up.”
“Easy there soldier,” Klementina muttered.
“Aw come on,” Aaron grinned, “I thought now was the perfect time for the tough guy act.”
“I think it worked pretty good,” John said.
“It’s better when I’m around someone I don’t like,” Aaron replied as he slapped a hand on his shoulder. “Seriously man, from here on in it’s all about trust. I just wanted you to know that.”
“Message received mate.”
Aaron stepped aside as Klementina reached out with her hand and placed it against the scanner. “Trust is important,” she said as mechanical grinds groaned within the steel door, “but it takes courage to change the world. We’ll be here when you’re finished.”
Compressed air hissed as the door opened, and John stepped on through into a shadow speckled blue that rushed his senses. The door closed behind him. He blinked several times, suddenly captivated by the scene laid out before him.
The room, square unlike the others, was a lot bigger than he had expected. Soft blue lights ran along the base of the walls, captured by the ceiling that was a giant mirror so that it felt as though dawn were about to break. To his left was an enormous screen displaying a silent and turning Earth as a darkened sphere glittering with tiny city lights, while to his right sat a long leather sofa decorated with silver patterned cushions. In the centre of the room on a raised, circular platform rose a stunningly detailed dragon etched out of glass with wings outstretched in readiness for flight. Purple tinged veins of electricity swept silently in random directions within the structure, eventually reaching the tip of the wings before beginning the journey again from deep in the base. As impressive as the powered artwork was though, it paled against the wonder of what lay just beyond.
Staring straight ahead at where the far wall should have been, John struggled to believe the darting movements and strange shaped colours of the ocean floor that was visible thanks to an enormous sheet of glass that separated the two worlds. Unseen floodlights illuminated the marine wonderland but did so only for a short distance, with the ink black of the sea sucking away at the light in the background.
Fish large and small seemed to be part of some epic battle, fighting to grab a mouthful of disintegrating cubes of meat that danced and swirled in the tail spun currents. Clumps of seaweed that ranged in a spectrum between brown and green slid against the glass, while shimmering bubbles that looked like globules of liquid mercury raced each other to a surface that lay on the other side of darkness. As far as making an impression was concerned, this reveal left no room for contender and John couldn’t even imagine the logistics behind building something so magnificent. As for who might have wanted an office with an ocean view like no other, he figured the man standing at the window with his back to him was probably a safe bet.
The veins of electricity continued shoot along the inside of the glass carved dragon as he debated whether to step up to the desk or keep standing where he was. Beyond the glass several larger bubbles seemed to come alive by the glow of the lights, and as they spiralled towards the surface the ceiling mirror caught their reflection and created the illusion of sliding into the room and racing overhead towards the door. It was disorientating to be sure, but also hauntingly beautiful.
“Years ago I stumbled across a book written by a deep water photographer,” the man with his back to the room began. “His tales of the sea were more a diary from some distant alien planet than a few words to accompany a collection of photos. Truly amazing.” He reached out to the glass and gently followed a curious fish with his finger. “This photographer would head out beyond the horizon and wait until the dead of night before diving in with his equipment, pushing down as deep as he could get, and then letting the dark take over. He didn’t move. He didn’t use any lights. He would just float there, suspended for hour after hour, until he thought the underworld no longer sensed him. Have you ever dived at night?”
The question caught John off guard. “At night? Can’t say I have.”
“When you turn off your torch you’re suffocated in a featureless b
lack like nothing above the surface. It only takes seconds,” he emphasized with a click of his fingers, “for an ancient, primal fear to be brought back to life. Justified, I might add, by the fact that deep ocean is where the monsters live.”
“Not to be rude,” John said politely, “but doesn’t quite sound like my cup of tea.”
“Many would agree with you, and would probably admit it sounds the very definition of terror.” His finger fell away from the glass. “So there’s this weightless photographer, blind and alone in the depths where monsters dwell with nothing but the sound of his oxygen and beating heart to stimulate his senses, waiting… waiting… and waiting. You know what he does next?”
“I’d be a fool to try and guess,” John replied honestly.
“After being deathly still for hours he finally waves his arms, and what happens might well have been a dream or perhaps a glimpse of forbidden magic. The path of his arms exploded with ultra violet and neon colours that radiated electric light before fading back into the darkness just seconds later. It was as if his arms were engulfed with psychedelic flames that he could extinguish by simply becoming still again.” He began to waive his arms in slow, fluid motions. “I mean, can you imagine? So accepted by the darkness that for the briefest of moments you are treated with the gift of wizardry.”
John took a moment to try to visualize the deep sea tale but struggled with the imagery. “I don’t understand,” he admitted, “how is something like that even possible?”
The man at the window rested his arms and turned around. “The answer is deceptively simple actually. His tenacity to remain still for so long meant a gigantic school of tiny iridescent fish had enveloped him absolutely and the sudden movement triggered a defence mechanism. Fascinating wouldn’t you say?”
The Hallucigenia Project Page 46