Jigsaw World

by JD Lovil

  They had pulled into this rest stop for the night, and everyone had taken advantage of the opportunity to sleep. Tom had also taken advantage of the opportunity of trying for touching that irresistibly gleaming dark skin that was consuming his attention.

  To his surprise, she had responded very positively to his advances. This came as a relief to Tom, as he had determined to have her, and he really didn’t want to have to clean up any loose ends afterwards. He also wasn’t sure how many others of the group would have become loose ends if they saw him dispose of her. All water under the bridge now. He could have his fun, and everybody got to live.

  He went out to find whatever passed for a tourism building in this rest stop. He finally found it on the last path that he looked for it, and found that it had a map showing that the border of Arkansas was ten miles ahead, and at the border they would be treated to the great Metropolis of Paw Paw, Arkansas, population 812.

  He returned to the RV, where he found that the womenfolk had banded together to brew a pot of coffee, cook an egg, bacon and toast breakfast, and gossip. He got a cup of the coffee and a plate of the breakfast. He also got a lingering kiss from Veritasia, fetching immediate glares from Sally and Charla. Tom wasn’t sure why Charla would be upset, but he decided to file it away for a rainy day.

  Tom had a vague sense that a long time ago, this sort of situation would have been much more traumatic to him then than it was now. He had no memory of this, for the period was probably back more than the twenty year limit on his memories. Somewhere along the way, he had got the hang of being unconcerned by other people’s reactions to him or about him. You get more girls, you get less pain, and it makes disposing of loose ends a much simpler matter.

  “Our next stop will be the wonderful Arkansas town of Paw Paw, which is one of the thousands of towns that has apparently popped up out of thin air.” Tom said to the group. “It seems to have replaced the city of Texarkana.”

  “Historical territories of the Quapaw, the Ouachita, the Caddo and a half dozen other Indian tribes.” George said. “And all those tribes loved to eat the Paw paws.”

  “Aren’t you just a fount of useless knowledge, George?” Tom quipped. “Although I have to agree with the Indians. Paw paws do taste mucho gute. Everyone batten down. We are on the road right now.”

  In a matter of seconds, Tom had slid into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and set the wheels to rolling. The morning sun was warm and bright, and Tom felt the miles dragging away a small tension that he must have been harboring for a while. That was good evidence that they were going in the right direction.

  In practically no time at all, the sign appeared that proclaimed that the indicated road would lead the pilgrim to the enchanted town of Pawpaw, on the border between Arkansas and Heaven. Tom dragged the wheel in the proper direction, and they cruised down the off ramp and into a small hamlet. There was no telling what strange monsters lurked in the shadows here, but the land was certainly good.

  Almost at the town limits, they found the famous eating place Mama Silvia’s Diner. Not one to pass up a new culinary adventure, Tom pulled into the graveled parking lot and parked. Everyone could kick back and enjoy being waited on, even if nobody actually needed food after that breakfast this morning.

  They all entered the establishment and took a seat at one of the tables. The place was a display of rustic décor, with the floors, walls and furniture composed entirely of wood. As far as Tom could tell, the furniture must have been made locally. He had noticed as he came in that there were bee hives arranged at the periphery of the parking lot. This was definitely country, and one should expect country ways.

  A woman with a beehive for a hairdo came over to take their orders. Tom assumed her to be Silvia. She neither agreed or disagreed with that conclusion, but she brought some damn fine coffee, and she didn’t blink when Tom ordered a slice of blueberry cheesecake for each member of the group. She couldn’t have had it on hand, but a few moments later, she brought it out. While she interacted, she flirted with all the guys, and she treated all the gals like daughters, so she was okay with Tom.

  Everyone ate their cheesecake, and drank their coffee, and when they were done, Silvia brought out a bowl containing several vaguely banana shaped, green to brownish fruits, which she proudly informed the group was the local variety of the Pawpaw.

  Everyone got one and gave them a nibble. No one could positively place the flavor. It had some similarity to plum or persimmon, most everyone admitted to tasting a banana like flavor, and most thought that they had a mango like flavor. No one could agree on the best description of the taste, but everyone agreed that they were good.

  A middle aged man with long dark hair in a ponytail came over to the table and introduced himself as Charlie. He sat down at the table without invitation, and proceeded to greet each of the travelers by name. When Tom and George demanded to know why he knew them, he said that he had been expecting them, ever since he had seen them in a vision.

  “Where is the goofy looking army type guy?” Charlie asked. “I didn’t think that he would leave you as long as the pretty piece over there was with you.”

  “He got held up, what with being digested by a big bug, and all.” Tom said. “We didn’t wait around to see what came out the other end.” Markus whispered in Tom’s ear.

  “Never mind that.” Tom repaired. “My informant here tells me that nothing comes out, so I guess we would have waited a while.”

  “So who are you, again?” Markus asked. “I am not so interested in that you had a vision of us, as I am why you had the vision. Gotta be a reason, right?”

  “I have friends that are interested in seeing that you are successful” Charlie said. “They couldn’t be here, right now, so they sent me. Most of them are in other worlds, or other planes.”

  “Sounds like you guys are the right ones to hook up with for the good drugs.” George joked. “Is there a reason that you are spectrally stalking us, other than knowing some other stalkers?”

  Charlie went on to tell them several interesting things. He said that Tyr would meet Tom soon. He said that each of them would be on a vision quest very soon, and each of them would be tested by the quest, and that not all of them would survive it. He said that he was half Cherokee, and his mother was one of the last of the Caddos. He said that he had studied under many of the best shamans in the world. When George asked why he looked like a white guy, Charlie patiently explained that the Cherokee and the Caddo were both from proto-Caucasian stock, not the Asian looking stock of the west coast tribes.

  He said that when the vision quest started, they would discover that they had what they needed to complete it with them, but their fates would be decided by innate qualities, not by weapons or tools. He said that he would wait for them to finish their quests, and then he snapped his fingers.

  Sally was back in her home in Grande Prairie, waiting for her parents to return. A lioness had just growled outside the door, and Sally was hunched down inside the living room with the only weapon she could find, a kitchen steak knife. There is something else in her hand. It is a card, and it is blank with only one word on it:

  Victim

  She didn’t know why she had the card. She vaguely remembered being on a road quest with several other people, and so this all had to be in the past, but it felt like it was real, and like it was now. Somewhere deep inside, she knew that her parents and her brother were already dead. She had no idea how she was expected to survive the rest of the day.

  She remembered that just a couple of days ago, she had gone out into an ordinary day. The sun was shining, the road was filled with Fords and Chevys, and the boys were out on the road drag racing. When they revved the engines, you could hear the four barrels kicking in. That day, the lions had been freed to roam the streets, and the cattle started being found dissected, and many people who wandered off alone disappeared. The boys started acting like animals themselves, and she barely made it home that night without being rap
ed or killed.

  She knew that she would never survive alone. The only other place she knew to go was her Grandmothers, which was only a few houses over. It should be safe. She pulled on her sweater, and made ready to dash for her grandma's house.

  She opened the door and walked out. Too late, she saw the lioness that had growled outside earlier. Before she could turn, or run, the lioness was on her. She felt the pain, and the terror, and then she felt nothing.

  Tom found himself on the same battlefield that he had dreamed of just the other day. The comrades in arms that he had in the dream, the lady that he awaited, and the weapon that he carried were not around. The moon was in the darkened sky, and fogs walled in the slight valley of the field. The corpses of the fallen were still on the field. Tom held the Moonblade in his right hand and a card in his left with one word upon it:

  Fate

  He suddenly realizes that he knows his past in this place, even though he still has no memory of it. He knows that he is the son of massive abuse and neglect, and the sense of injustice and outrage that he feels deep within his soul are the result of his upbringing. He knows that he is able to kill without hesitation when it is needed, because he has come to terms with death, both his and others.

  He brings death when it is needed, and he honors the dying as they fade. There is no pleasure in it, only duty. It is always the way with his kind. He senses the presence of another, and he looks up from his reverie. A form stands shadowed beneath the olive tree where Tom had last seen Yama.

  The other is wearing a robe with a hood. He throws back the hood, and reveals himself to be… Tom. The other Tom grins, and loosens his blade within its scabbard. As he edges out from under the tree, Tom rotates in place to keep him centered in front of him.

  “You know we have to fight.” The New Tom says. “In a thousand worlds, there are a thousand of me, but in any one where there are two, one must die so that the fated path is followed. We must fight in this place of death; our weapons will be our blades and the days of our life. Only one may survive this trial, and it is he who will return to his comrades.”

  Tom suddenly knows that he can move from now to then if he tries. He pulls his blade, and concentrates. There is a fading, a distancing, and he now faces the Other’s back as he waits to meet himself. The Other now fades, and now he stands to the side, prepared to strike the Tom who stands to stab the Other beneath the tree in the back. Now Tom steps back ten minutes, and watches the Other as he walks up the path to surprise Tom with his presence. Tom rushes out and his blade slides smoothly into the chest of the Other, piercing his heart and a lung. Tom knows that he has won this choosing, and he feels the energy that will send him to find the others who survive this trial.

  Veritasia is home in Tucson, where her parents were laid to rest, and where the many friends that she had made while attending the University resided. She is in her family home, where the clock is ticking audibly, the television and the radio are silent, and she smells that mysterious ‘other’ smell that distinguishes the house in which someone slept last night from the ones where it has been vacant for some period. Somehow, the nostalgic memories are flooding her mind just now.

  She feels the need to do something, but is not quite sure what to do. She almost wrings her hands because she feels a little on edge and out of place, but she feels something in her hand. In her left hand, she finds a single card, and upon it is a single word:

  Love

  As she sees the word upon the card, the world around her shimmers, and flickers, and fades. She finds herself in the cemetery where her parents were laid to rest, in front of their headstones. She feels the sharp loss of her Father and her Mother, and tears come to her eyes. For a moment, her vision is clouded, and when she clears her vision, she sees her parents before her, looking as they did the day before the car accident took them away.

  ***”Veritasia, don’t cry for us. We are exploring all those parts of the world that we never could see before the accident.”*** Her father said. ***”We feel no pain here, and our lives are full of joy”***

  This brings more tears to Veritasia’s eyes, but now they are tears of happiness. She had worried that their pain would continue after death, and this visit relieves her. For a second more they tarry, and then the world once more fades about her. When it returns, she is thirteen, and she is crying as she holds her dying dog Jacky, who had been hit by a car that never stopped.

  For a second, she can touch the mind of her dying dog, and she sees that she brings the best gift for her dog that anyone can bring the dying, that she is there, so that her dog does not die alone. She feels the pain, and there is fear, but there are comfort and gratitude for the company. When she finally knows this, deep inside her heart, the world around her again shimmers and fades.

  She is riding her bike, and the woods are strange. They are far too deep and humid for the area around Tucson, but how could they be anywhere else? She started her bike ride on the canyon trail, and she hadn’t gone far enough for things to be this different. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knows that she is no longer close to Tucson. She bikes around the bend, and she sees an RV parking beside raging water. It looked to be trapped by flood waters from going any farther. Somehow, she knows that her destiny lies with the people in that RV. For a final time, the world fades.

  Markus is back at home, watching the jets coming in from the Imperium. The war had been going badly for the Western Republic lately. The Pacific Authority had destroyed several of the Republic’s Moon Bubbles. The daily hack attacks and limited attacks and counterattacks were so common, they hardly even made the news anymore. Whole areas of the world were in chaos from the EMP and nuclear attacks that smaller players had carried out. New diseases were appearing on a regular basis now, and everyone suspected biological warfare. The government was of no use to the citizenry in this. Ever since the NA President had declared martial law, and retained the office of president for the third and fourth terms, the world had gone rapidly downhill. The Republic was formed almost immediately after NA martial law was declared, with a series of influential and powerful people falling into line, and the NA military going to trouble areas to mop up. The Republic and the Authority faced off over the decimated lands of Europe.

  Markus sees that he has a card in his left hand. The card contains a single word, and that word is

  History

  From this place, which is and is not his homeland, he can see that the place he came from is a failure of history, and the place he was recently in is a place that is a mirror made of fragments of the place that the powers desire. He sees himself as he was, with straw blonde hair, thin and tall, a bookish man who had seen too little of the world, but had so much knowledge of it. He saw that the He that now was, and the world that would come of this one, was the man and the world that should be. He was no longer the original Markus, but was Markus and his host as one. The world fades around him.

  Vera is back in hiding with Bobby. Some of the others she had not met yet, and some were already dead. She has a machete in her right hand, and in her left hand, she sees that she holds a card. The card is blank except for a single word, and that word is

  Hunt

  She is keeping as quiet as she can. The demons have swept into this part of the town, killing or possessing everyone they could find. There were a few strange possessions where the body of the victim did not seem to house a demon, but instead they contained what was essentially another person. They were no danger, but the demons would kill them if they found them, since the demons could not possess the possessed.

  Bobby is ahead of her when the demon suddenly leaps from the nearest shed roof. He reaches out and touches Bobby, who falls to the ground and kicks in the sort of pseudo epileptic seizure that the newly possessed exhibit. Vera rushes the demon, and with a sweep of her sharpened machete, she takes its head. With her tears falling, she takes Bobby’s head while he jerks, so that he will not know possession.

  She was slowl
y growing desperate. There seemed no end to the demons, and a simple touch could end your existence as a human being. How do you win against an endless and relentless enemy? The only answer she could come up with was a question. Do you want to be the hunter, or the prey? The world around her fades away.

  George is sitting in a Texas café, sipping on a cup of coffee and lolling about, eyeing the waitresses and avoiding unreasonable effort. He defined ‘unrea-sonable’ as being any effort beyond that necessary to maintain an open eye condition. He notices that he has a card in his left hand. On the card is a single word, that being the word

  Apathy

  He sees that his lazy nature is just a way to make sure that he doesn’t fail. He cannot stand failure, but he is too afraid of failure to risk success. As he sits there, the world is just too comfortable with no movement in it, and the sun is rising, bringing the morning light and warmth to lull him further into lethargy. He feels himself sink even further down, as though he is sinking into his chair. Looking downward, he discovers to his waning horror that he is merging with the chair in the middle of the café, and there is none who notice. The world begins to fade to black around him, and he feels a small anticipation of the sleep that comes to take him away.

  The priests unchain Charla’s arms from the altar. The ceremony is over. The High Priest looked as though he was going to kill her with that Athame of his, but after waving its suggestively over her naked body a few times, he set it aside, and then he pierced her body with his penis instead. He took her in the name of Yog Sothoth, and then he released her. She feels something in her left hand. She looks, and finds a card in her hand, and on the card was a single word. The word was