Escana (86 page)

'Going somewhere?' a familiar
voice asked.

Jakob opened his eyes, they were
in a cave.

'The seat of a squad car isn't
the ending I had envisaged, was it really the best you could come up
with?' the stranger asked.

Jakob wasn't shocked this time,
he had a feeling that this had been coming. 'The best stories are but
snapshots in time, the characters will live in that moment and
continue living long after it has passed. Whether their exploits are
documented or not is my choice.'

The laugh wasn't warm this time,
it was a belittling sound of mockery. 'My choice? My choice? Oh you
poor deluded soul. That you had the audacity to think you could leave
for any length of time was both delectable and frustrating. Your
choice? You have no choice. We are the ones who make the decisions
here, not you.'

Jakob stared into the stranger's
furious eyes with a calm that surprised him. 'And if I hurl myself
from this cave and onto the rocks below? What then?'

The smile he received for his
question was chilling. 'We have prepared for that eventuality this
time. When you have towed the line we will begin where we left off
upon the vessel with Gooseman.'

Jakob tried to clamp it down but
the stranger latched onto the worried look. 'Are you really willing
to risk your life to determine whether we care for your life?'

He walked away from the stranger,
who seemed nonplussed by his departure. Was he really sewn into this
world against his choice? Had his previous actions prevented any
future tearing himself away from this world? Would they really let
him die now if he cast himself out onto the rocks?

He ventured out onto the lip of
the stone, teetering upon the edge as the spray from the falls
drenched him. He felt pure.

The
water was everywhere. A streaming cascade pelting down upon the rocks
below as if from heaven. It rang in his ears in an oddly reassuring
way, yet what should have been a cacophony seemed muffled as if from
a great distance.

The
drop was sheer, all he need do was close his eyes and hope, yet some
semblance of his former self kept tugging at him, willing him back
into the cavern. He knew all too well this wasn't over yet.

Staggering,
his soaking steps guided him to a stone outcrop. Aching both within
and out, he slumped back against the rock face with a sigh.

There
was no way of explaining this, it went so far beyond anything he had
heard of, anything he could have possibly imagined before that day.

He felt his head resting in his
hands now, his chest betrayed him and a faint sobbing racked his body
before he locked it down. He knew it all now, he knew everything.

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