Reality Bites (10 page)

‘I thought you just said …’

‘There’s more than one way to save somebody.’

* * *

Denny was thinking the same thing, only in a different context.  ‘Maybe,’ he thought, ‘if I just concentrate on Tamar herself, I can teleport straight to her. That could work.  Except I’ll probably end up in a bad situation. I should think about this, I mean if she is in trouble, what can I do about it?  Even with all this power, I’m not as juiced as
she
is.  On the other hand, I
have
got this.’
 
He took out the Athame. The idea of perpetrating some mayhem was extraordinarily tempting.  On the other hand, again, the idea of having mayhem perpetrated on him was not so much.  He was torn; he could not decide what to do.  He actually looked in the mirror to see if there was a little devil Denny on one shoulder and a little angel Denny on the other. (Denny watched far too many cartoons.) That’s what it felt like though. The angel was telling him to do the brave and unselfish thing and go and save her.  And the devil was not entirely opposed to this plan if there was a chance of breaking some heads, but mostly it was saying,
No
,
stay
here
where
it’s
safe
.
Look
out
for
number
one
;
she
didn’t
want
your
help
.  The angel interposed here with.
But
now
she
needs
your
help
,
you
know
she
does

That’s
her
problem
, said the devil.
You
can
always
break
some
heads
around
here
;
someone
you
know
you
can
beat
. 
Go
–
stay
–
go
–
stay
.  Denny shrugged and went back to his Cheerios.

* * *

 ‘So, what’s the plan?’ asked Stiles.

‘Well, we’re nearer to the middle of nowhere than we were half an hour ago.  So may I suggest that you save your breath, we may hit it soon.’

‘I meant are we going to look for witches?  (I just can’t get used to talking like this.)  Or are we going to fetch this
Denny person
,’ he almost spat the last two words.

‘Why’d you say it like that?’

‘Oh, no reason,’ he said hastily. He had no wish to set her off rhapsodising about him again.  ‘I haven’t even met the guy,’ he thought, ‘and I hate him already.’

‘He sounds like a prince,’ he said, ill advisedly.

‘Then I didn’t describe him very well,’ she said. ‘Most royalty have better dress sense and larger egos, not to mention less brains. Anyway, to answer your question, I think we head for home –
my
home I mean, and if we happen to find a witch on the way we can change our plans then, okay?’

‘Okay, so, we’re going for the Hecaté plan?’

‘Unless you’ve got a better idea.’

‘Better than brilliant? The Hecaté plan was
my
idea, remember? If there is a better one, it’s going to have to come from you; you’re the expert, aren’t you?’

‘Hmm, perhaps I
should
try to come up with a backup plan.  After all, even if we do manage to summon Hecaté, she could still say no, and we can’t force her.  Although in the old days, the gods liked nothing better than a good slaughtering.’

 Stiles stopped short and folded his arms. ‘Okay. How the hell do you know
that
? You talk as if you’d met them.’

‘No, I just get around, hear things.’

‘But you
do
talk about them as if you remember them. How old
are
you?’ This was a rhetorical question, so Stiles was fairly staggered when she answered. ‘Oh, I don’t know, I lost count several millennia ago.’

He stared at her; she nodded.

‘
Jesus
! You’re not kidding, are you?’

‘Nope.’

‘So, you’re
not
human then, you weren’t just saying that?’

‘Yes I am – now. But I didn’t use to be. It’s a long story.’

‘And we’ve got
so
much else to do,’ he said sarcastically. ‘I mean there’s still a hundred verses of ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall to get through.’

‘Listen you!
 I’m
the queen bitch around here. If you’re going for the title, you’re going to have to do better than that.’

‘
Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety nine …’

‘Okay, okay.’  She clapped her hands over her ears. ‘Christ, do you need special vocal cord surgery to sound that bad?’

She grinned slyly at him.  ‘Denny can sing like an angel.’

Stiles grunted. He did not want to hear any more about this paragon, but, hear it he did.  Tamar told him her story.

By the end, he was amazed, and, if possible, hated Denny even more than he had before. Also he realised something. ‘Wait a minute,’ he said. ‘I
do
know you. I mean in a way; you’re “The Demon”. You
have
to be, it all fits.’

‘The Demon?’

‘That’s what they call you, it has to be you.  I thought it was just an urban legend – well you would, wouldn’t you?  But you’re
real
.’

‘
I’m
an urban legend?’

‘It has to be you,’ he repeated. ‘They called you the Demon Avenger, and then it got shortened to The Demon. A shadowy superhero who saves people and then just vanishes.  There couldn’t be two of you.’

‘It sounds like me,’ she agreed. ‘You know, the name is strangely appropriate. A Djinn’s powers are technically demonic, you know.  That’s why they cause so much trouble.’

 Stiles nodded thoughtfully. ‘So, why can’t we “teleport” was it, out of here? I mean I see why you didn’t before, but now that I know …’

‘Um, you know how you thought we weren’t really in Scotland?’

‘Yes,’ he narrowed his eyes.

‘Well, we are, but not exactly. Oh hell, I don’t know exactly what they did, but … look, this
is
Scotland, right?’

‘Okay, but …?’

‘Oh, Christ, I don’t know how to explain it.’

‘Try.’

‘But I don’t know what’s going on myself.’

‘But you can’t teleport?’

‘Technically I can, but it wouldn’t do any good.’

‘Because?’

‘Perhaps I should just show you.’

* * *

‘What are you playing at?’ said the tiny angelic Denny, otherwise known as Denny’s conscience. ‘How can you think of your stomach at a time like this?’

Denny looked at the bowl (his third) with sudden distaste.  ‘What am I
doing
?’ he thought. ‘I have to get moving, what’s wrong with me?’
His appetite failed as he imagined Tamar in the clutches of the ashen faced man and himself arriving too late.

Before he could change his mind, he concentrated on Tamar and even said out loud. ‘Take me to her.’

The whirlwind picked him up and deposited him apparently in a black hole.  No, wait, he was outside, it was cold, and there was snow crunching under his feet.  He heard a wolf howl in the distance.  As his eyes adjusted he found that he could see, just a little bit.  He was sure that he was alone.

‘TAMAR,’ he called.  ‘TAMAR ARE YOU HERE? 
TAMAR
.’  Damn it, it had not worked.  It looked as if he had just landed at random, and yet, she had been here; he could faintly smell her perfume.  That was the thing about Tamar, even after three weeks stuck in a coal mine
she would still look and smell good; she made sure of it.  It was kind of windy, so she could not have been here too long ago.  He looked down; there were no footprints, the snow was like icing on a cake, and it was not snowing.  ‘That’s weird,’ he thought. He tried calling again; she was nearby, he thought, she had to be; he could almost hear her. He tried teleporting again and was set down just a few yards away.  The perfume smell was stronger here, but there was no sign of anybody.  He felt a rush of air, and the scent dissipated. ‘What the hell? Was she invisible?’  But in that case, why had she not answered him?  Well, she was gone now.

* * *

‘Okay, take my hand.’

‘Where are we?’

‘My place – sort of.’

‘Then it worked?’  Stiles looked around.  ‘Kind of a dump isn’t it? Sorry, that was rude.  I think your Denny’s out,’ he added.

‘Hmm, he might be, and he might not be, we wouldn’t be able to see him if he were here.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I don’t know, I just feel it, you felt it too, on some level.  You said we weren’t in Scotland, but what you meant was – something else,’ she finished lamely.

‘You mean like a parallel universe?’ asked Stiles, getting the idea as he tried to put it together.

‘Yes – no, not exactly, that’s different. That’s still the same world, in a way, but split off because of people’s different choices.  It’s all theoretical anyway.  And then there are magical universes, small pockets of virtual reality that co-exist with the real world.  This is something else.’

‘But this
is
the real world.’

‘Yes it is,’ she agreed.  ‘It’s more like …
we’re
not real anymore – trust me, I know that feeling.’

‘That’s ridiculous.’

‘Think about it. You said this place is a dump, can you imagine me living here, and leaving it like this?’

‘Well, no – but still…’

‘I know, I know.’

‘So, okay, all that walking, where exactly did you think you were going?’

‘I was trying to retrace my steps. When everything changed, I felt it, I thought if I could find that place again …’

Stiles shook his head.  ‘I’m getting a headache.’

‘Anyway, we can call it a parallel universe for the sake of argument, and I suppose it is, in a way. The point
is
we’re still in it; we travelled within it; we have to go back, so we can find a way out.’

‘I’m freaking out here.’

‘I don’t blame you, and I’m used to this sort of thing.’

* * *

Denny did not know what to do, well would anyone?  He went home.

As soon as he got there, he was aware of her presence again, that scent was unmistakable, she manifested it herself.  Also, it made sense that she would come here after leaving the snowy field.  But if she was here, why could he not
see
her? This was weird, creepy even, not to mention extremely frustrating. 
Damn woman!

What was she up to now?  ‘Tamar,’ he said to the air.  ‘This isn’t funny you know, I know you’re there, I’d know that stink anywhere.  Come out – come out – wherever you are.’  He waited.  Okay, this was not working.

She’smessing
you
around,
said the devil on his shoulder.
Hasn’t
she
always
?
She’s
laughing
at
you
. 
If
she
wants
to
play
silly
buggers
,
let
her
,
you
don’t
have
to
play
along
,
just
ignore
her
.

Why would she do such a thing?
returned his conscience. 
You know her better than that.  She’s in trouble.

So what if she is?
argued the other side of his mind.
There’s nothing you can do about it, so why worry?

‘But I
am
worried,’ said Denny out loud.  ‘I just don’t know what to do.’  He drew out the Athame.  ‘What do I do?’ he cried in frustration.  ‘How do I find her?  What do I have to do? Where is she?’

Those who are quicker off the mark than Denny will not be surprised that as he said these words, the answer came to him.  ‘Bingo!  Why didn’t I think of that before?  All I had to do was ask. I am so stupid.’  For the first time, he wondered what was happening to him.  It was as if he did not care. Normally, he thought, he would have asked the question a lot sooner.  He shook his head.
‘
I’m just tired,’ he thought.  ‘So, here I go.’ He raised the Athame.

What Denny had realised, of course, was that Tamar was on another plane of existence, not a spiritual plane, but another physical plane. A veil had been dropped between the layers of the universe, separating it into two distinct planes that encompassed the entire world and the people who had been living in the areas where it had started from.  This had happened several hundred years ago, in an age when people tended not to travel or have relatives in other parts of the world, so they probably never noticed a thing.  How Tamar, and probably Stiles, had ended up there, was still a mystery, but one thing was certain, she would never be able to find her way out. 

But if there’s a way in …  ‘There’s a way out,’ he said to himself.  And now he knew how to find it.  He “cut” the air in front of him, in a mystic symbol, the meaning of which he did not know, but he could look it up later – probably.  Still, it looked impressive, sort of – it shimmered in the air, like letters of fire. 
Cool! – What now?
Then, suddenly the veil came down; he actually saw it drop, although he sensed that the two planes were very much intact.  But now Tamar and a man, whom Denny assumed to be Stiles, were back on their own plane.  Had he reversed the symbol, he would have ended up on the other plane with them.  This knowledge came suddenly and unbidden into his mind, but there was no time to wonder why.

Tamar shivered. ‘Did you feel that?’ she said.

‘No,’ said the man. ‘What?’

‘Oh, it was probably nothing.’

‘So,’ said the man, who was probably Stiles. ‘We’re going back to Scotland then?’