Hubble Bubble - 6. Chapter 6

I try to run back but Lucifer stops me. At first I think that he is going to push me forward and abandon Ariel but, instead he turns back, running lightly in a distinctly catlike way. I see him grab Ariel by the arm and yank him onto the road as the smoke creature pours darkness into the place where he had been.

“Run Sam, run.” I run, concentrating all my efforts on Nick and following the path his light picks out for me.

It seems as though I have been running for a very long time and, at the same time no time at all. I dare not look over my shoulder. I can hear the others close behind and they are panting. One of them, I am sure it is Ariel, occasionally gives a soft cry, like a sob and I wonder what it must be like, to have emotions for the first time ever and for the overwhelming emotion to be fear.

Somewhere along the way the smoke demon has given up and disappeared. There have been others, appearing and disappearing out of the darkness but none of them has bothered us, not really, apart from scaring the living shit out of us. And now I have come to a platform where there are no more paths ahead, no more of the extra shiny threads and I feel... I feel... close.

We all pause for breath and look around. It is strange here... even more strange than the other platforms we have passed through. There is something different, something... corrupted, dark. The shadow creatures cluster thickly on the edges of our awareness, just out of range of our physical sight, and there is a sense of... waiting, of the world holding its breath.

“Now what? There is nowhere else to go.”

“Then this must be it. This is Nick’s platform, his dreams.”

“What do we do?”

“We open the door. Are you ready?”

“Ready? How can I be ready? Ready for what? What happens?”

“I told you, we open a door. We walk right into his dreams and out the other side.”

“What do I have to do? What will it be like? What happens when we get there?”

“Just stay close.”

Lucifer puts his hand on my shoulder and I feel a soft touch on the other side and turn my head to look into Ariel’s face. His eyes are glittering with emotions I cannot begin to guess at. He is... tight, everything closed down and held in, in pain. I know that part of that pain is mine, that it is because of me but there is nothing I can do about it and I feel helpless. He tries to smile but it comes out as more of a grimace, pinched and hesitant.

“It’s alright Sam. I’m here.”

Lucifer laughs out loud. “Cold comfort coming from you. What do you think you can do?”

“Shut up Lucifer. You’re just not funny.”

“I wasn’t trying to be.”

I smile at Ariel and I pour as much love as I can into it. He doesn’t return the smile, and it chills me to see how hopeless he looks. His eyes flick up to Lucifer and the look is dull and dead. Without thinking about it I put my arm around him. As I do so the air in front of me begins to shimmer and I have no more time to think as Lucifer pushes my shoulder and I stumble forwards, taking Ariel with me.

At first there is nothing but a sizzling, blue tinged darkness and then it turns a deep pulsing red and there is a kind of pressure that makes my head pound as if it is being squeezed in a vice. My eyes bulge and it is impossible to breathe. I hear Ariel cry out and Lucifer curse and then there is an explosion of pain in my head and everything abruptly stops.

When I open my eyes we are back on the platform. Ariel is crouched down, bending over me anxiously and Lucifer is stalking the edge of the platform snarling occasionally; presumably when something seems to be coming close. I know I should get up, should move, should say something but my body and mind are dull, feeling like lead. It is too hard to move, too hard to think; better to just lie here and stare into those blue eyes; deep, deep, deep.

“Sam, are you alright?”

Deep, deep, deep. I sigh and close my eyes; mind and body sinking deep, deep, deep.

The pain shocks me back and my eyes snap open to find that Ariel’s anxious expression has been replaced by Lucifer’s annoyed one. My cheek is throbbing and my lip stinging and there is a metallic taste in my mouth.

“Did you have to hit him so hard?”

My eyes slide over Lucifer’s shoulder to see Ariel bending closer. He looks different, less helpless... more...

“What happened?”

“You were sinking back. This is the Dreamtime Sam. Nothing is quite what it seems. If you lose yourself here we will never be able to find you, you will be trapped here forever and you were in danger of doing just that.”

Lucifer sinks back on his haunches and I sit up. My head is throbbing. I lift my hand to my sore lip and it comes away red. “You hit me?”

“It was the only way. Ariel tried it his way... and failed.” The ‘of course’ was silent. “Then I tried it mine and here you are.”

“You didn’t have to hit him that hard.” There is an unfamiliar tone in his voice, a firmness that is alien and somehow ... shit, I shouldn’t be thinking this, but it is bloody sexy.

“He’s back isn’t he?” Lucifer’s sneer is accompanied by a snarl that makes Ariel’s eyes spark.

“What happened?” Eager to forestall the eruption of the animosity that has been brewing between the two of them this whole time, I get to my feet and look around. “Are we back where we started?”

“It was safest. We stepped into Nick’s mind at exactly the wrong time.”

“What do you mean ‘the wrong time’? Oh, of course.” It was obvious really... the red pulsing pain... it was his.

“It would have been madness to step through then... they would have been with him. It should be safe now. I doubt they would hang around... afterwards. But we should hurry.”

“Why the hurry all of a sudden?”

“Because when we were stepping back, just before we entered the gateway, I felt something.”

“Felt something? Felt what?”

Lucifer’s face is dark... even darker than it usually is. His mouth is set in a hard line and his eyes are cold. “They’re crossing a line. He’s a hair’s breadth from cracking.” He looks at me for he first time. “They’re killing him. Nick is dying.”

“What? But...” My heart drops and my stomach twists. “No. I can’t let that happen, not again. I can’t be too late again. Please... can we go now? Please can we go now?”

“I think we have to.”

I am a little unstable on my feet and the fear that is gnawing at my guts isn’t helping but that very same fear keeps me strong and pushes me forward. This time I am barely aware of the hands on my shoulder and I don’t need a push. As soon as I see the shimmer in the air I step forward.

This time there is only soft darkness filled with shifting, sparkling blue. We seem to be moving without moving. There is a draught of air as if the breeze is kissing us as we pass through the still air. Every now and again something drifts out of the darkness and floats past. They are not demons, they are memories.

And then I see a lightening in the darkness. “Be prepared.” Lucifer hisses in my ear and the next moment we step out into blinding light.

I stumble slightly as we pass through the barrier and Ariel steadies me. Lucifer’s hand is gone. I glance around. It is as I saw it before. A circular chamber with a high ceiling painted with blue sky and white clouds. All around there are tall windows showing a bleak scene of broiling black and purple skies and sharp mountains. The chamber, at least the half of it I can immediately see, is empty. And then I turn.

There is a part of the chamber wall, about ten feet wide that does not have a window. It is the only part of the chamber wall that is not glass. The cold stone is draped with black velvet, which extends as a canopy over a bed. The pillows and covers are also black velvet, their surface, absorbing light from all around, is unbroken and unrelieved by any decoration. They are smoothed flat without wrinkle or crease and the matt blackness of them is a stark contrast to the paleness of the figure that lies in their midst.

“Nick.”

His hair is even blacker than the pillow beneath it and it is spread out evenly, as if someone has arranged it carefully and deliberately. It is even longer than I remember and thick strands have been pulled forwards and fanned out to cover his shoulders. His eyes are closed and the long thick lashes tremble on high cheekbones that are bleached of colour. His arms are outside the covers lying straight at his sides.

Lucifer is frozen, staring at his brother, a strange expression in his eyes. His lips are moving as if he is whispering something silently to himself. At first I think that he is simply shocked, as I am but then I feel the power build and I realise he is silently chanting the words of a spell.

As the power builds the air begins to crackle and tiny discharges of electricity sputter and crawl across the surface of the velvet, playing around Nick’s fingers and dancing in his hair.

“What are you doing?”

“Sssh.” Ariel touches my shoulder and when I look at him he shakes his head. “Can’t you feel it?” he whispers.

“Feel what?” But even as I say the words I can feel it. There is something dark and heavy all around. The space around the bed is thick with it.

“They’re holding him here with a spell. Unless we can break it we won’t be able to get to him.”

Time stretches into infinity. I have no idea how long we have been standing here but it seems to be a very long time. Lucifer is still whispering the spell. He is drenched with sweat and trembling with the effort. At some point Ariel has moved forwards and has his hand on Lucifer’s shoulder, adding his energy to the spell.

The sparks which dance and crawl over the bed are thicker and encase Nick in a fine tracery of flickering blue light but the thickness in the air is still there and Nick has not moved at all. I have been watching him carefully and the only sign of movement I can detect is the slight rise and fall of his chest as he breathes.

The whole thing is like some kind of tableau from a fairy tale. The rich hangings; the high tower; the dramatic scenery outside and the pale beauty asleep in the royal bed under an enchantment. He is truly the sleeping beauty, doomed by a curse to sleep for a hundred years, until woken by true love’s kiss. The thought makes me smile. He is beautiful, there is no doubt about that, even more beautiful than I remember but the beauty on the outside had always been the very least part of Nick. It was the beauty on the inside that had charmed me most; the beauty that looked out of his eyes; that was there just for me, that came from the most intimate part of his soul.

Suddenly Lucifer gives a gasp and takes a step back. Ariel sinks to his knees, his head hanging. “I can’t do it. I can’t break the spell.”

He sounds angry and incredulous but, worse of all for me who have never seen him anything but strong, he also sounds weak and defeated. He turns to me and there is a crawling horror in his eyes.

“Sam... I can’t get to him. I can’t save him.”

The horror jumps from his eyes, from his words, into my heart and I look, again at Nick. He seems peaceful, gently and deeply asleep, just asleep. Surely if I touch him, if I stroke that glorious hair, he will stir, just like he always does, and the corners of his mouth will twitch into a smile even before he blinks open his eyes and gives me that sleepy look that is so cute it always makes me want to kiss him... to kiss him... to kiss him.

I am not aware of having moved but I am standing at the side of the bed. I reach out to touch his hand. It is cold, very cold. Someone says something behind me but I ignore it, barely even registering their presence let alone their words. I am suddenly very tired and sit down on the edge of the bed.

After so long my soul has become hungry for the sight of him and I drink him in until I am brimming over with his essence, with the love that I had thought died with him. I can barely believe that it is true, that I am here, that he is here; barely stand the joy that is filling me and spilling out of my eyes and my lips as I whisper his name.

“Nick.”

The air ripples with the sound and the power that comes with it, an unconscious power that I am not trying to call up. Nevertheless it is there and as it ripples through the air it seems as if it is sweeping away the darkness, even though it has never been dark.

I find that I am holding his hand and it makes me shiver to acknowledge how cold it is, how limp and lifeless in my grip. My thumb strokes the soft skin on the back of his hand and I may be imagining it but it seems to me that it trembles slightly under the touch.

My skin crawls as I notice that the pale skin of his arms is blotched with the dark smudges of bruises, some old and some fresh. I bend closer and brush away the hair and see that his shoulder and throat are bruised too. There are even bruises on his jaw and temple and his soft lips are cracked and torn where he has bitten them in his pain. The sight makes me angry and I want to hurt someone... badly.

My fingers gently trace the lines of his face, lingering over the bruises as if my touch alone can wipe them away, and I am sure there is a response, so very slight but there nonetheless.

There are tears in my eyes as I run my hand through the silky soft hair, lost in memories of happier times when I had done this very same thing just to watch the smile break over his face, just to have him tilt his head back, his eyes closed, sighing with pleasure. Oh to hear him sigh again. Oh just to hold him, to kiss him... to kiss him... to kiss him.

Our lips meet even before the intention forms and I am surprised that, as I decide to take the action it is already happening.

For a moment his lips are as still as the rest of him and the kiss is cold, frightening in its sterility. And then... and then...

Did I imagine the sigh? Am I dreaming the slight pressure that returns the embrace of my lips with his? Do I think that his chest heaves only because I want it to? Is it my own mind that is imbuing warmth into the cheek beneath my hand?

I lift my head and I am not imagining the fluttering of those obscenely long lashes. I am not imagining the soft pink tongue that tentatively licks the swollen lips as if to savour the taste of sweetness. I am not imagining the small white teeth that appear as the lips part with a deep sigh. And then... and then...

Nick’s eyes blink and crack open. For a long moment he gazes upwards with no awareness, no comprehension then, achingly slowly his eyes widen and settle on my face. Slowly, sweetly, his lips curve into the smile I have been so longing to see... and then I am in his arms.

There are no words to explain how I feel when his hands bury themselves in my hair, gripping convulsively. It takes a while to realise that he is crying because of my own sobs which choke me and release me at the same time. All the pain of the last two years flows like pus from a lanced boil and I feel the weight of an unbearable burden lift from my soul.

“Sam.” His voice is weak, barely a whisper but it is the sweetest sound I have ever heard.

All too soon I feel a touch on my shoulder and, initially it makes me angry. I glare up at Lucifer and snarl.

“It is not safe here. They will know the spell is broken. They will be coming.”

“You...”

The look on Nick’s face is of shock and almost of loathing. For the first time he looks around and realises where he is.

“Where am I?”

“It’s a long story Nick. We have to get out of here. Can you stand?”

“I... don’t know. I feel strange.”

“I bet you do. Come on, try.”

I drag off the heavy velvet covers. Beneath he is naked, his entire body covered with a tracery of bruises, some faded almost away to nothing, and some fresh. They are strange bruises, all the same size and perfectly circular. I shudder at the sight of them but Nick merely frowns, puzzled. There are different bruises on his legs, his inner thighs... they look like finger prints and I go cold at the thought of someone’s hands there.

Nick is not looking there, he is not looking at himself at all, he is looking around, a stunned expression on his face. He is shivering and I realise that it has gone suddenly very cold.

“Hurry, they’re coming.”

I help Nick to sit up on the edge of the bed. He leans on me, his head on my shoulder.

“I... can’t. I feel dizzy.”

“Sit for a minute then, get your bearings. I’ll help you.”

“I can’t Sam. I...”

“No such word as ‘can’t’ Nick, wasn’t it you who told me that. Anything’s possible... remember? You haven’t even tried yet.”

He looks at me, a strange expression in his eyes and then he grins. “You always were one for preaching my wisdom back at me. You were always the wisest in the end.”

He is trembling as he rises and it takes a lot of effort just to stand there, leaning heavily on my shoulder, but he makes it. His arm is around my waist and it makes my heart brim over to have it there, to smell his smell, to feel his touch. I didn’t think that I would ever feel complete again and now I am so much more, overflowing.

I look up and meet Ariel’s eyes. He is staring at Nick, at us, and he is unguarded, the pain raw and deep. There is nothing I can do, nothing I can say. I want to... I so want to take away that pain, to sooth him, to make it better, but I can't.

Nick senses something; he has always been sensitive to deep emotion, soaking it in like a sponge. He had to work hard to shield himself and, of course all his shields are down now. Ariel’s eyes widen when they meet Nick’s and he turns away, his usually pale cheeks flushed.

“We must go NOW.”

I hear something, something rhythmic and pounding, getting louder. I realise that it is footsteps, coming closer. The door bursts open but I don’t see who or what comes through because, in that instant I feel Lucifer’s hand on my shoulder and then we are in the Dreamtime again.

As we hit the platform Nick slips from my arms, sinking to the ground with a sigh.

“Nick?”

He is no longer cold but he is shivering uncontrollably. “I’m sorry Sam. I tried but... but I am... I am so tired. I can’t make my body work.”

“That’s alright. I’ll help you. The others are waiting. We’ll look after you.”

“Haven’t they gone home yet?”

“Gone home?”

Nick rolls over onto his back and stretches out, his hands behind his head. He always had the trick of making himself comfortable no matter where he was, just like a...cat.

“Well... I have no idea what’s been going on but...it must be days surely, since the sabbat.”

“Days?” Of course, he doesn’t know. “How much do you remember about what happened to you?”

“Not much. I was... it was the day of the sabbat. I was about to leave for the ceremony. I packed the car and... and...” his eyes flick over my shoulder to meet Lucifer’s. I do not turn my head but I can imagine the expression. “Is it true? What you said, is it true?” He isn’t speaking to me. Lucifer must have nodded because Nick mirrors the movement.

“Of course it’s true. I mean look at you.” He laughs shortly. “I think that is something I’m going to need to think about. We need to talk, my friend, but not now.” He closes his eyes and his brow creases as if he is struggling to remember. “I got completely freaked out. I mean who wouldn’t? My cat... my bloody cat for goddess sake turns into a man and tells me I’m a fairy.” He opens his eyes and grins at me. “Well I knew that but I mean...”

The grin fades and he turns serious again. “I freaked out and ran. I didn’t know where I was going, I didn’t care. I just wanted to get away from ... him. I got to the edge of the village and was running through the trees when... when I... I ran into something. I don’t know who or what it was but it grabbed me and I struggled like hell but I couldn’t move, it was too strong. I never got to see it, it was always behind me but...” He swallows nervously. “I don’t think it was human. It had fur.

“In a while, when I had stopped struggling, a man came. He was... young, cute. He had curly blonde hair and he looked... friendly. I thought... I don’t know what I thought but I wasn’t afraid of him. He said ‘Hello Nick’, like he knew me and I was puzzling about whether I had seen him before. He was smiling but he... he had this... look in his eyes and I went cold all over. He touched my face and it made me cringe.

“I can’t describe it but he had this... feel about him... corrupt and cold and...” Nick shivers and sits up, resting his head on my knee. My hand, of its own volition begins to stroke his hair from the crown of his head, down his back. “He had something in his hand, not the one that was on my face, the other one. He held it up and, at first I couldn’t see what it was, except a kind of glint in the darkness.

“It was a needle, a syringe and I knew then I was in trouble. I struggled as hard as I could and he started to laugh, he was enjoying it. He let me fight for a while, until I was almost exhausted and then he twisted my arm up behind me. He was really strong, stronger than I expected, a lot stronger than me. I didn’t have a chance.

“He was laughing when I passed out and... I don’t know but it seems as if he has been laughing ever since. Maybe I dreamed it but...” I can’t see his face but he must have looked down at himself because he hisses and says, “What the hell did he do to me?”

“I don’t know, not exactly. I know he’s been hurting you.”

“I don’t remember. Sam...” he sounds uncertain, hesitant, unlike Nick. “Some of these bruises look more than days old Sam.”

I can tell by the way he says it that he’s asking because he has to without actually wanting to hear the answer that, somewhere deep in his heart he already knows.

“It’s been almost two years.”

He lifts his head and looks up, his eyes wide, shocked. I had forgotten how bright they are. The colour had faded in my memory and it was quite a shock to realise that they are as vivid, in their own way, as Ariel’s although they are deeper, almost purple. Why am I thinking of Ariel at a time like this? Without realising, I glance up at him. He has his back to us, standing on the edge of the platform, as far away from us as he can.

“I know you’re not up to it Nick, but we have to get out of here. The Merlin is looking for a way to follow us and he is close to breaking through. We have to get back. We won’t be safe until we do.”

Nick raises an eyebrow. “Merlin?”

“I’ll fill you in later. Can you walk now?”

Nick tries, he really does try but he simply doesn’t have the strength to stand. I try and haul him to his feet but I don’t have the strength to carry him. In the end he reluctantly allows Lucifer to lift him in his arms and he carries him as if he is a child, as effortlessly as he had once carried Ariel but with infinitely more care.

As Lucifer sets foot on the track I glance back to see the air shimmer and begin to swirl. Ariel sees my eyes widen and follows my glance. He turns back.

“Ariel, no!”

I feel Lucifer pause behind me as Ariel raises his hands. “Leave him Sam. Let the damn fool play the hero if he wants. We have to get Nick to safety.”

“But we can’t...” My words die on my lips as a torrent of some kind of silvery, mercurial liquid streams from Ariel’s upraised hands and pours out towards the place where the air is thick. Instead of passing through, it disappears into what I know is the doorway. There is a sound like a cork coming out of a bottle and the liquid falls, as if suddenly released from a burst balloon and splashes onto the ground.

Ariel turns and is at my side in three quick steps. His face is more alive than I have ever seen it, his eyes glittering silver discs. He lays a hand on my shoulder and, for the first time I feel the power in him, his enormous strength. I would have stumbled backwards if not for his grip on my shoulder.

“I am an elemental Sam.” He smiles and I find myself returning it, despite feeling shocked and shaken. Lucifer makes a sound of annoyance and I turn, angrily prepared to make a comment. However, it is Nick’s eyes I meet and the expression stops me dead.

Before anyone can speak again Lucifer begins to run and we have to follow or be left behind. The threat from beyond the gate and the sudden memory of the ‘things’ in the darkness make that an impossibility.

Somehow the sense of threat is greater this time and my heart is pounding as I run, Lucifer in front of me and Ariel a breath behind. It is a while before I realise that this time I have no idea where I am going. I am following nothing but Lucifer.

“Do you have any idea where we are going?”

“I am presuming you want to go back to where we left your body.”

“I mean.... do you know how to get there?”

“Of course. I am a cat, and a pretty poor one I would be if I couldn’t follow my own scent.”

“Oh. Good.”

Lucifer seems to have limitless strength and, even with his extra burden he is very difficult to keep pace with. I realise that, although I am running flat out I am not getting out of breath, or particularly tired. For the first time it hits me... I am not actually ‘here’ at least not in my physical body. I’m not but they are, all three of them. What does this mean?

When Lucifer stops, I almost barrel into him and Ariel does run into me. I half turn and throw my arms around him to steady him. He is laughing, exhilarated by the run. He is more ‘alive’ than I have ever seen him and his eyes are so, so blue. The smile fades slightly as our eyes lock and is replaced by something else, something deeper. I am mesmerised and hold him for just a shade too long. When I straighten and turn back I see it in Nick’s eyes and am horrified. Horrified by what I see, horrified by what I have done... and horrified by the way it made me feel.

Ignoring me Lucifer opens the door and then we step through. Unlike previous times, this time I feel as though I am being thrown forwards forcefully. I reach out with my hands to save myself but hit the floor with a wrenching blow and everything goes black.