Nightmare Three: Pleasure
Jack stood on the white road that stretched into the night, like a reflection of the moon on water. The moon above was black. It had a face and it smiled a terrible smile. Behind him was his shadow, and it ate the road he walked on.
Around him the black butterflies watched, skull faces grinning like the moon.
He stepped forward on the road, and music started. It was cheerful, in a manic way. A little sinister, maybe. But it was dance music, ball music. The name of the type was something… a tarantella perhaps? It played to his steps as he walked down the white road, the strings covering the sound of his shadow devouring the road behind him, and the chittering of the monstrous butterflies as they kept pace with him.
The road ended at a mirror. Above it the moon loomed, leering. Behind the mirror was nothing, there was no more road to walk, only still blackness. Behind Jack there was no more road to retrace his steps on.
In the mirror was a figure. A pale white, eyeless shape, a blob that grinned so wide its mouth divided its face unnaturally. Its teeth were sharp and sharklike.
His chest ached and he fell to his knees as the creature in the mirror slowly resolved shape-maggot white skin darkening to match Jack’s dark flesh, forming eyes and nose and features, hair and even clothing, a beautifully tailored suit and top hat that it adjusted as it stepped out of the mirror.
The other, the mirror-creature with his form, lifted a gloved hand, looking impassively at the butterfly that landed on its finger, before kneeling down in front of Jack.
“Tyki.” The creature said, his name. “At last.”
“Who are you?” Jack asked, shaking with pain.
“Me?” The creature touched his shoulder, and it was agony. “Why, I am Pleasure.”
“Why am I here?”
“You’ve kept me asleep too long. But I’m awake now. And we shall have fun.” The grin on the face that looked like his was the same grin as the blob’s-too wide, shark-toothed and predatory.
Jack felt himself falling as the road collapsed beneath him, and he stared up into the face of the man that stood on nothing, watching him fall and laughing.
“We will have fun!” The creature called to him, as the butterflies filled his vision.
---
Jack woke up sweating, his skin ashen grey and stigmata marks healed and visible-there was blood but he wasn’t bleeding any more. His scars hurt worse than he could describe, but as he struggled out of bed that subsided.
More than that, he felt… Truly alive. Truly, and deeply whole and alive and awake for the first time since he’d arrived in the god-forsaken tree.
He started to laugh.
Around him the black butterflies watched, skull faces grinning like the moon.
He stepped forward on the road, and music started. It was cheerful, in a manic way. A little sinister, maybe. But it was dance music, ball music. The name of the type was something… a tarantella perhaps? It played to his steps as he walked down the white road, the strings covering the sound of his shadow devouring the road behind him, and the chittering of the monstrous butterflies as they kept pace with him.
The road ended at a mirror. Above it the moon loomed, leering. Behind the mirror was nothing, there was no more road to walk, only still blackness. Behind Jack there was no more road to retrace his steps on.
In the mirror was a figure. A pale white, eyeless shape, a blob that grinned so wide its mouth divided its face unnaturally. Its teeth were sharp and sharklike.
His chest ached and he fell to his knees as the creature in the mirror slowly resolved shape-maggot white skin darkening to match Jack’s dark flesh, forming eyes and nose and features, hair and even clothing, a beautifully tailored suit and top hat that it adjusted as it stepped out of the mirror.
The other, the mirror-creature with his form, lifted a gloved hand, looking impassively at the butterfly that landed on its finger, before kneeling down in front of Jack.
“Tyki.” The creature said, his name. “At last.”
“Who are you?” Jack asked, shaking with pain.
“Me?” The creature touched his shoulder, and it was agony. “Why, I am Pleasure.”
“Why am I here?”
“You’ve kept me asleep too long. But I’m awake now. And we shall have fun.” The grin on the face that looked like his was the same grin as the blob’s-too wide, shark-toothed and predatory.
Jack felt himself falling as the road collapsed beneath him, and he stared up into the face of the man that stood on nothing, watching him fall and laughing.
“We will have fun!” The creature called to him, as the butterflies filled his vision.
---
Jack woke up sweating, his skin ashen grey and stigmata marks healed and visible-there was blood but he wasn’t bleeding any more. His scars hurt worse than he could describe, but as he struggled out of bed that subsided.
More than that, he felt… Truly alive. Truly, and deeply whole and alive and awake for the first time since he’d arrived in the god-forsaken tree.
He started to laugh.