“The thing is,” John said slowly, “I’m just a burned out cop with a cat who’s a long way from home and would never pretend to be the smartest guy in the room, so I can only assume what you’re trying to say is that this thing inside our blood can cause visions and stuff. And I guess what you’re also saying is that different people interpret these visions in different ways?”
“You underestimate your standing in the room. The dreams have been inside of us for so very long, and you’re right that nobody hears them quite the same. But Talitha here is the first to truly understand the nature of the dreams, to actually communicate. For reasons we don’t yet understand she’s the chosen one. We’re all in the midst of something dark, waiting for her to reach out and stir the light awake.”
“Bad stuff is coming,” Talitha barely whispered, “but if I can see the Star People then there’s still a chance for magic.”
John looked deep into her green eyes and began to notice traces of fear lurking near her tear ducts. Above her waist nerves kept her muscles twitchy and spasmodic, but below her hips her skeletal legs were motionless. Whether it was true or not that she was the chosen one was a mute question as far as he was concerned, at least for the moment anyway. After all, what did that even mean? No, slightly more important was being sure she really wanted to be taken to some safe house.
“I’m not going to lie to you,” he said, “I’m still struggling with the bad stuff and what’s supposed to be headed our way. It’s not that I don’t believe it, I’m just… struggling. But if we’re days away from a big change in weather, isn’t there somewhere beautiful you might want to go? Maybe someone special you’d like to see?”
Talitha frowned deep in thought for a moment, leaving John to wonder if maybe he asked something he shouldn’t of. A sudden thumping noise caused them all to shoot a glance back towards the glass. John’s eyes widened at the appearance of a sleek but none the less menacing shark, its nose bumping and sliding along the barrier as though it were sure a feast laid waiting on the other side. Judging by the size it was probably better that it had no chance of breaking through.
“Sharks see anything that lives as food,” she said as it scurried back into the darkness. “I already know where the beautiful place is, but I just need help getting there, and someone special is right next to me. So are we going to go on an adventure together?”
John smiled and reached out for her contorted hand. “Since you put it that way, it would be my pleasure.”
The soft touch of her skin suddenly grew tight as her misshapen fingers pressed against the inside of his palm, surprising him with the power and the fact that she was drawing his face close to hers. An apple scented fragrance radiated from the edges of her hair. With his nose almost touching her cheek he could hear for the first time the way the air seemed to struggle in and out of her lungs.
“The world is small but the dreams are endless,” Talitha whispered with a warm breath against his ear, “and destiny rests somewhere in the middle. Maybe that’s why I know of you already.”
John kept as still as he could. “Talitha,” he said quietly, “we only just met right now.”
“Of course we did… in this world.” Astoundingly, her contorted fingers pressed into his palm with even more pressure. “You know, she really likes you a lot.”
“You mean Klementina?”
“No silly, I mean Doctor Garland. She thinks about you a lot.” Now her cheek was pressed against John’s nose. “Please tell Doctor Garland that I really want to see her again, and that the bad blood has to die.” She began to release her grip. “She’s been waiting a long time for someone like you. I hope that together you have… hope.”
Chapter 28
Not only could John feel the tension in the car but he had a pretty good idea it had something to do with him. It wasn’t that he wanted to give Vanessa the silent treatment on the journey back to the hotel, it was just that his grip on reality was drawing on a lot more mental energy than normal. Oh, that and the fact the question hadn’t surfaced yet.
The vivid colours of the city washed across the glass of the windows in a chaotic endless swirl, the towering buildings seeming to puff and grow while unshackled from the rays of the sun. Reds like blood soaked roses and blues that bridged the gap between water and electricity, greens promising pulsing jungles and purples that seemed torn from childhood comics, all racing through the interior to ensure his heavy eyes were never settled.
Now that the hotel was in sight a break in the silence was imminent. He turned from the window and watched Vanessa from the corner of his eye. He had meant what he’d told Klementina of course, that he wouldn’t do the drive across the city without her, yet now she was just an arm’s length away the idea seemed a little more daunting. That he was quickly becoming entwined in a giant web was no longer in any doubt, but now there was the question of whether bring Vanessa into the sticky situation was in any way a good idea. But then it was also true that the world was coming to an end, and that was a pretty sticky situation itself.
Screw it, he thought with a quick nibble at the bottom of his lip. The best he could do was put the offer on the table, and whatever happened beyond that would be her decision to make.
“You mind if I ask you something?” he said cautiously.
“You been staring out that window like Jesus himself is gonna come tearing through the clouds without so much as a peep,” Vanessa almost sang, “so yeah honey, you go and ask me anything you like.”
“I’ve got a job to do and I could really use your help.”
“You’ve already bought my help so no point in asking.”
“No,” John corrected her, “I bought your services. What I need now is your help.”
“I didn’t know there was a difference,” she said a little confused.
“Sure there is. If you drop me off and never come back, I can find someone else who offers a similar service. It won’t be as good, but I can purchase it easy enough. What I need though is your help, and that’s not something I can swipe with a credit card. It’s worth a lot more than just money.”
“So this job doesn’t pay anything huh?” Vanessa joked. “Well come on, don’t go gettin’ quiet on me again. Tell me what the job is so we don’t have to worry about no suspense.”
“That’s fair enough,” John said with a smirk. “I’ve been asked to drive someone out to the edge of the city, and I want you with me.”
“That’s it? A trip across the city? I know I’m a special kinda wonderful but any driver can do it. They don’t have no one?”
“Well,” he began with a deep breath, “it’s a bit more complicated than that.” Here goes, he thought. “The passenger is… pretty important, I guess you could say, and there’s the feeling that there might be a few people who won’t like what we’re doing. That’s if they find out of course.”
“Well I’ll be,” Vanessa smirked with the rise of an eyebrow, “looks like mister policeman is looking to dance with the devil in the city. If that be the case, I’d be happy to oblige.”
“Nothing to do with the devil, I promise. Nothing illegal either. Hell, it’ll probably be nothing but a test at keeping cool in the traffic, but just in case…”
“Did you not just hear me?” she laughed. “Whatever it is, I’m in.”
“That’s lucky,” John sighed, “because I said I wasn’t going to do it without you.”
The car slid into the cool lights of the hotel lobby where a lone porter stood quietly smoking a cigarette, captivated by whatever was on his phone’s screen and unconcerned at their arrival. John checked his watch and saw that dawn was just a couple of hours away.
“There’s only one problem,” he said, turning to her while opening the door. “The job is scheduled for later in the morning. As in, just a few hours away.”
“You sure know how to keep a girl on her toes that’s for sure,” she hummed. “You let me know when you’re ready and I’ll be here.”
He�
�d had been hoping she’d say yes but didn’t think the answer would come so easily. Maybe being a driver meant strange requests were par for the course, or maybe curiosity had grabbed hold, but either way he was glad she was on board.
“You’re one in a million you know that?” He took one last look at her then began his exit from the car. “I owe you a whole lot more than money, that’s for damn sure.”
He stood and watched her head back into the dead of night then sneaked past the porter before the moment could turn into a transaction. As he rode the elevator the familiar itch for a chemical shut down was growing stronger and stronger, but he knew he had only one single pill left. He also knew that if he didn’t swallow it then it wouldn’t be too long before an electric storm ravaged his brain and left his muscles twitchy and weak, so he would have to let the demons out of their cages for a little longer than normal.
As soon as he walked through the door he sensed he wasn’t alone. There was a lingering scent in the air that only shower steam and shampoo could conjure and one of the lamps was glowing in the corner of the room. He had made sure everything was off before he’d left, and the keys resting on the edge of the dining table certainly weren’t his. For a split second he wondered if he had somehow let himself into the wrong room, but another step forward revealed Bobbie’s blanket empty by the balcony doors.
Definitely on edge now, he stepped softly towards the living area. A golden beam of light stretched out from the partially open bedroom door. Natural instinct had him tap the edge of his waist in search of the cold, deadly steel that was once a permanent fixture but he knew it was futile the second his hand moved. Regardless, he crept forward and peered through the crack into the bedroom. He was right to think he wasn’t alone.
Candice was curled up with her knees against her chest and one arm slung over the edge of the bed. Her face was pushed against the pillow with mouth slightly open. While she didn’t exactly look comfortable, she was none the less asleep. John was surprised to see Bobbie draped across her neck, barely acknowledging his arrival. Through all of the madness he’d forgotten he had given her a key, and the vision before him brought and instant warm rush. As much as passion called him into the room, he knew he had something to take care of first.
Treading lightly he moved to the kitchen, tossed the final pill into his mouth and washed it down with tap water. The urge to chase it with a few more was automatic but the bottle was empty and the dawn of a new day was quickly approaching.
“That’s a different type of midnight snack.”
He spun around to find Candice standing in the shadows with surprise lurking in her sleepy eyes.
“More like midnight relief to be honest,” he said as guilt warmed his cheeks. “I was hoping I’d see you again, but I didn’t think…”
“That I’d come back so quickly?” She took a step closer so that the light from the bedroom backlit her frame. “I stared at your door for a long while wondering if I should just turn around crawl my way back home. I mean, you gave me a card and all, but I wasn’t sure if you really wanted me to be here.”
John bridged the gap, reached for the back of her neck and gently parted her lips with his. It started slow, but the kiss soon became urgent and made obvious how he felt. “Seeing you lying on the bed like that could be the most beautiful thing I’ve seen since getting off the plane.”
“I look like shit,” she replied.
Ignoring the baseless commentary he tasted her lips one more time and then carefully guided her back to the bed. The smell of her skin was intoxicating and as they fell onto the mattress he lifted back the oversized business shirt and bit playfully at the flesh of her stomach. The fact that the only other clothing she wore was a dark pair of panties made it easy to trace his mouth down to the inside of her thigh, but just as he was about to ease them from her waist her hands brought his head up.
“You don’t know how much I want you to keep going,” she moaned, “but right now I really want your arms around me.”
He nibbled at her stomach one final time and stretched out so that her back was pressed against his chest. “I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one who got shot with the crazy gun huh?”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
“Anything bad?”
“Nothing a one way ticket to Antarctica wouldn’t fix.” Candice turned so that her face was close his. “I think whatever is going to happen has started already, and I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do. Nothing makes sense, nothing…”
John ran his fingers through her hair and along the edge of her scar. “I don’t think what I have to tell you will make anything clearer.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“What I mean is that tonight I was introduced to your colleague, Doctor Hendrix.”
Candice straightened her back and searched John’s eyes. “Say that again.”
“You were right. Hendrix is part of the Hallucigenia Project and I had the chance to chat with him tonight. I wish I could tell you the meeting was uneventful, but that would be a far cry from the truth.”
“Did you give him the letter?”
John tapped the edge of his pocket and shook his head. “I had it with me and was going to give it but the opportunity was kinda taken away.”
“I don’t understand…”
“This is all so fucking crazy I don’t even know what to tell you,” he said with a trace of frustration.
She scraped a finger along his chest, concern drifting into her voice. “If things weren’t so fucking crazy I wouldn’t be laying here in your bed, so I don’t mind crazy. Whatever it is you can tell me.”
“You sure you don’t want to grab some one way tickets and watch the world burn from some deserted island somewhere? Hell,” John smirked, “I know that’s moving pretty quickly but if you ask me it’s not a bad plan.”
“It’s not a bad plan at all,” she sighed. “The truth is I’d love to pack a suitcase right now and fly the hell out of here but I just can’t. I don’t know why exactly, it’s as if there’s something holding me here, something I can’t put my finger on. Maybe ask me again in a few days when I can think a little more clearly.” She studied his face to ensure he understood. “So tell me the fucking crazy.”
“Okay then. First of all your work buddy is straight out of some acid induced comic with a glass dragon eye you never warned me about, but to be honest I kind of like the guy. Don’t get me wrong, he’s as eccentric as they come but I never felt like he was taking me for a ride. Call it instinct I guess.”
“Hendrix is a bona fide genius,” she assured him. “Eccentric is an understatement.”
“True enough,” he agreed. “The thing is, the meeting wasn’t exactly just the two of us, and the reason I forgot to hand over the envelope is because this person, a young girl, had a message for you.”
John watched Candice’s mouth fall open. Any remaining traces of sleep in her eyes vanished and as he continued he could feel goose bumps rising across her skin.
“She said that she’s looking forward to talking with you again, and something about making sure the bad blood dies.”
She jumped up from the bed and began to pace up and down along the curtains. “Does this young girl have a name?” she asked.
“Yeah, Talitha. Is she like a friend or something?”
“No,” she shook her head, “up until a few hours ago I never knew she existed. Now though? Now people all around the world want to know who she is.”
“Hang on a second,” John said with a rise of his hands. “Are you telling me this kid has run away or something?”
“Nothing like that.” Candice made a dash for the night stand and grabbed a remote, then clicked through the channels until she stumbled across a news broadcast. “Check this out.”
John turned his attention to the large screen mounted on the wall. A silver haired host was in the middle of a monologue and, in the top right hand corner, a smiling and seemingly innocent T
alitha stared back into the room. Candice increased the volume then pointed at the screen with the remote.
…has seemingly made her presence known on computers and phones all around the world. It seems that Talitha, or whoever might be behind the photo, appears when devices are initially switched on in the form of a photo and accompanying text and audio in multiple languages. And the cryptic message that people across the globe are receiving? As strange as it sounds, Talitha wants us to know that when the stars fall we should believe in hope, and that those stars will fall any day now. Computer experts believe…
Candice switched off the screen and ran frantic fingers through her hair, leaving the remote to fall to the ground. Thanks to the gold of the lamp her shadow stretched across the fabric of the curtains like the outline of a wavering tree etched with charcoal.
“It started earlier today. There was an incident with the lab’s computers and once the dust had settled the entire system had Talitha staring back from the screens. At first I was sure it was some kind of taunt, a digital slap in the face from whoever had the balls to hack into a government controlled lab with the power to make people disappear, but then another possibility landed on the table.”
“Whether hackers are behind whatever happened to the lab doesn’t change that fact that this kid seems to know you,” John suggested, confusion contorting his face as he stared down at the sheet. “They said people might be looking for her but they forgot to mention the fact that her face was going to be beamed around the world. I just don’t get it.”
Candice shook her head with disbelief. “Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. My boss, I think he knows more than he’s telling me. He said there’s evidence that Talitha was a patient of Hendrix but I didn’t believe it at first, but from what you’ve just told me he may have been right.” She sat on the edge of the bed and let Bobbie crawl into her lap. “I don’t know who Talitha is because of her face being splashed all over anything, I know who she is because today we shared the same dream.”
John glanced up from the sheet, unsure if he heard correctly. “I don’t know much about dreams but Talitha was deep in an underground facility, not in a lab in the middle of the city. I saw her with my own two eyes, and as far as I know you can’t be in two places at the same time.”
The Hallucigenia Project Page 48