Chapter 22 Borja
Borja
Ugh. My head feels like an elephant is sitting on it.
I crack my eyes open only to find myself surrounded by complete darkness. Where the fuck am I? Sitting up, I rub my forehead, desperately searching my memories but coming up blank.
A soft humming noise reaches me, drawing my attention to my left, but there’s nothing there. I try to stand but something pulls me down. It’s what I imagine standing in quicksand feels like.
Blinking, I try to adjust to the darkness, but I can’t see anything. Not a shape, not a hint of light, nothing.
Panic rises within me, my heart races, and a sudden sweat coats my skin, but I’m not hot. Far from it. I shiver, drawing my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around myself for comfort and warmth.
Where am I?
How the fuck did I get here?
The silence is broken when I hear the sound of heavy, shuffling footsteps. The hair on the back of my neck stands at attention, every warning signal in my body pinging at the same time.
A shadowy figure appears before me, gazing down at me with hard black eyes.
“Who are you?”
The shadow chuckles, stepping closer. It snaps its fingers and a soft haze appears around it, illuminating its face. It’s a man with a craggy face, a large nose dominating his features. His brown hair hangs limp, and he’s pale. Very pale. Unnaturally so.
“I asked you a question.”
“You don’t remember,” the man says, his voice grating and irritating. “Perfect. You won’t fight me.”
“Fight you? I don’t even know you.” I look around again, but still there’s nothing. It’s just a dark room. “What is this place?”
“It’s the space between realms. The state occupied by those who are not living but not quite dead.”
I pull my head back. “Uh, what?”
“Look.” He waves his hand and a scene appears in the darkness.
I recognize it as my living room right away, but when I look closer, I see myself lying on the couch. But how can that be if I’m here?
“What’s going on?”
“Watch.”
My body stumbles to life, rising from the couch and moving unnaturally. I realize quickly that the man next to me mirrors the movements of the me we’re watching. Almost like he’s a puppet master.
“What the fuck?”
“What’s going to happen is your friend is going to show up to save you, and then you’re going to end his life once and for all. Once that’s complete, I’ll be able to enact my plan and live fully again.”
“My friend?”
The door to my apartment opens and a man steps inside, hurrying over to talk to me. My chest warms immediately upon seeing the man, my body trembling with the need to be close to him. I don’t even recognize him, but I’m sure I know him somehow. I need him.
He seems aware that something isn’t right as he looks around the room, then back at me. He places his hands on my shoulders, and I watch in fascination as he presses a kiss to my lips. Oh. We’re more than friends.
But the me in my living room right now isn’t having it and shoves the man away.
He looks momentarily hurt, but he quickly composes himself, speaking words I can’t hear in this place.
The other me wraps his hands around the man’s neck, apparently attempting to strangle him, and I feel a strange tugging sensation in my chest, gripping my organs.
“No,” I whisper.
The man in my living room doesn’t back down though. He pushes me back onto the couch, straddles me, and kisses me so hard I swear I feel my lips tingling from here.
Farnsworth.
A flood of memories rushes back in. My breath catches and I stumble a bit, watching myself and that beautiful man tangle on my couch. It’s all coming back to me now. I’m a Soul Chaser, and I’m in a bad situation right now.
The man next to me—no, the Horror—curses under his breath. “That man is a parasite. Why can’t he just mind his own business?”
“This is his business. Mine too.” I turn towards the Horror. “Sorry your little memory game didn’t work out.”
The Horror growls, but I’m not afraid. I feel stronger and braver than I ever have as I recall the lessons from the handbook.
To banish a Horror you need them to admit their underworld name.
Closing my eyes, I try to remember the details in the file.
I know it’s their initials from when they were living and a number, but I can’t remember the number.
“What’s your goal, Horror?” I ask, hoping to draw some information out that might trigger another memory. “What do you plan to do?”
“World domination. I’ll build an army, occupy the most powerful cities, and build an empire.”
Snickering, I shake my head. “We’ve been over this. None of that is even remotely possible. You’d be imprisoned or killed long before you saw the inside of any government building.”
“You underestimate me. My witch friend is very powerful, and I’m sure he will be more than helpful in achieving my goals.”
“At what cost though?”
“Why don’t you let me worry about that? You won’t even be alive to witness it.”
The sneer on his face and his ominous tone send shivers down my spine. I turn and look back at the scene. Farnsworth is sitting with me on the couch, touching my face, and again, the sensation is palpable. I’m positive he’s smart enough to know that’s not really me. Well, not entirely, anyway.
“I just want to know how you pulled it off?”
The Horror turns to me, tilting its head.
“How did you manage to curse all those objects before you died?”
“I made a deal with a witch. In my time, longevity was not guaranteed. I wanted to make sure I would live forever, no matter the cost.”
“Okay, but you didn’t account for how the world would change around you. You thought you’d be dead for a decade or two, not hundreds of years, right?”
The Horror looks annoyed and ignores my question.
“You definitely didn’t count on Farnsworth. It’s his whole purpose to banish you and he’s very good at his job.”
“He’s up against some very powerful magic. He won’t win. Not this time.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Suddenly, I’m flying across the dark space and crashing into an unseen wall. Apparently, the Horror didn’t like my taunting. It didn’t hurt, but it was alarming just the same.
“I could kill you here,” the Horror says. “You’d be dead for good and I could find a new body to inhabit. I happen to like yours though, so don’t piss me off.”
Weird compliment but I’ll take it. Instead of replying, I focus all my attention on Farnsworth.
I want him to know that he’s important to me.
He’s… special. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so connected to a person.
I know it can’t continue long term, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the time we have together before we go our separate ways.
Farnsworth tilts his head back as if listening to something. I focus on his name, chanting it in my mind, replaying our moments together. My chest expands, filling with warmth, and I swear I feel a light pulsing in the center. He must feel it too as he rubs his sternum.
“What are you doing?” the Horror demands. “Stop it.”
“Stop what? I’m literally just sitting here, bro.”
The Horror snarls at me. “You’re communicating somehow.”
I shake my head. “Nope.” An image pops into my head. It’s a page from the handbook about the astral plane, which must be where I’m at now. I’m powerful here. I can fight back, and the Horror doesn’t know I know that.
The image of Farnsworth and me fades, which is a bummer, but I have a new focus anyway. Standing, I turn to face the Horror, then launch myself at it, wrapping my hands around its throat. We tumble to the ground as I manage to choke the thing.
“Tell me your name, Horror.”
It scoffs, writhing beneath me and pulling at my wrists. “Fuck you.”
“No, thank you. Name?”
“John Henry Wolcott.”
I make a buzzer noise. “Wrong. John Henry Wolcott is dead. Very, very dead. You are an abomination of that man, and sorry to ruin your plans, but you are not staying here.”
The Horror vibrates enough that the sensation is unpleasant, making me want to let go and get far away, but that’s just a tactic to get me to back off. Instead, I double down, squeezing as hard as I can until it’s literally choking and gagging.
“If I die, I take you with me.”
Oof, that’s a sobering thought. Still, I have to fight. “Your name and I’ll stop.”
“No,” it says weakly. “I won’t go.”
“I disagree.” Farnsworth appears next to me. “And this time, you’re going for good.”
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”
Farnsworth winks at me. “Don’t ease up. We’re almost there.”
“On it.”
“Hey, Horror. See that box on the table?”
The scene in my apartment appears again, both mine and Farnsworth’s bodies draped across the couch, but mine is writhing and clawing at my neck, just like the Horror is.
The Horror turns its head, focusing on the coffee table.
“Calex gave it to me,” Farnsworth continues. “It’s got something very important to you in it. Want to see?”
The Horror turns several degrees cooler beneath me, clearly reacting to what’s going on. Farnsworth leans closer to me so that only I can hear him.
“On three, I’m going to pull us back and open the portal to the Below. Keep a tight hold on the Horror. If it gets what’s in that box, we’re in big trouble.”
“Got it.”
“Listen, Horror,” Farnsworth says. “I’ll take you back and give you a shot at the item. All you have to do is admit your name.”
I see the choice bouncing in its eyes, then, surprisingly, it blurts, “JHW62.”
“Thank you, Horror. Now, a deal is a deal.” Farnsworth grips my collar, yelling “Hold on tight” as we slip through the realms and land in my living room.
Before I can even process what’s happening, Farnsworth chants something and a hole opens up right in the center of my room. It’s filled with blackness, the smell of sulfur wafting from its depths.
Farnsworth and I make eye contact as he grabs the box from the table, and the two of us, the Horror screaming in my clutches, jump through the portal.
“No! Noooooooo,” the Horror screeches as we fall through the darkness.
Seconds later, we land with a thud. Everything is silent around us until a dark mist fills the room. I’m expecting to cough or have some other reaction to it, but it doesn’t seem to affect me.
“You can let go,” Farnsworth says, gripping my shoulder. “It’s safe now.”
I get to my feet, bracing myself for whatever the Horror is going to do to defend itself, but there’s no way I could have expected what happens next.