The heads of the dragon shouted out in unison “Lucifer!” their mouths smoked but the breath looked cool in this heat, it gently circled and reminded me of moistness on a frosty morning, misting their icy eyes, and that was why, the faces were young and the souls in the faces were old and cold, unaffected by torture, there was nothing of fire in them.
I asked the burning question that I knew the answer to “Why are you missing a head?”
The reply came “The missing head is yours.”
I asked disturbed, my brow furrowing the question “Do you expect me to join with you?”
They all replied “Do what thou wilt.”
I ordered Jay “Stay here and fish for more bodies, I need to get back, I have the task of finding Jane, and although I don’t think it is necessary here, I would like to sleep on it.”
Jay flashed anger “Surely you don’t expect me to stay in this place; I need to be back with you.”
I thought about it “Okay, you could be useful, I’ll get you back.”
To the dragon I said “Spread the word and fish for our legions, your time in Hell is nearly over.”
The heads nodded, their eyes looked eager and the creases on their faces looked resolute.
“How do we get back?” asked Jay
“It’s easy” I said, now realising my powers out on the lead waves, I thought it and we were gone.
We were back at my flat and I immediately, looked for some clothes for Jay in the bedroom. The only ones big enough that would suit him was an old pair of jeans and a hoody made out of a striped Indian material, of course the material was now a sort of living second flesh, as I had found out when the dissolved trainers on my feet had reformed, I also got him a pair of shiny black shoes, he would look like an undercover cop.
Jay got dressed quickly ripping a hole in the back of the hoody for his wings. Jay asked with a broad warm smile, with something devious behind it, that was however totally offset by the strength of his grin “Shall I make us both a brew Monster”
“Yeh great” I said “But you don’t have to call me Monster, I haven’t used that name I years.”
Jay’s smile got even broader “But it’s kind of appropriate don’t you think? I think I will carry on using it, I’m not going to call you fucking Satan.”
“No, don’t do that” I said, feeling slightly queasy.
Jay went into the Kitchen, whistled, then the kettle whistled and he was back in with two cups of coffee. He handed me a cup insinuating strength in his hand and I put it to my lips. I immediately felt a bit drowsy.
Jay noticed “Here lie down Monster, I’ll watch over the fort.”
I put my feet up on the couch, almost unable to move, and my eyes rolled and my eyelids would not stay open so I let them stay shut.
I slept lightly however, drugged as I was, I heard Jays voice, then Gods, paralysed and unable to move or open my eyes, yet I dreamed perfectly what was happening around me.
Jay took a step back from God, his attempt at a smile, ending in open mouthed apprehension. “He’ll sleep for hours, why don’t you take him out now, get it all over with.”
God replied leaning and booming “I want him to suffer after what he did to me, to go through the effort of finding her only to be tricked and powerless; to see him watch the girl suffer in person.”
Jay shook his head uncomfortable with the thought. God handed him a slip of paper with symbols on it of a magical nature.
God boomed, insinuating my sleep “This slip with the seals on it, will take away his powers when you put it in his pocket, do it when we meet, give him clues to find the girl if he still doesn’t work it out.”
Jay replied “Well, okay then.”
Having been scarred and vulnerable I now had to nearly laugh, God would help me find Jane and all I had to do was keep my enemy close and out of my pockets, my mind at ease I allowed myself to fall back asleep, the worst that would happen is I would awake with my eyebrows shaved off. But; even before I was asleep I was taken by a sinking disappointment that took me under faster, so I slipped down into a welcome feeling of death overtaking me; it was so disappointing, I had wanted so much to believe in Jay, give him a chance to do the right thing, I had thought that I had known something inherently reliable in him, beneath his faults and mistakes, instead I was experiencing the betrayal that had lurked there inside him, it seemed to be his defining feature after all.
I awoke some hours later to Jay staring at me protectively from his seat across the room. I immediately sat up and examined the postcard in my pocket, ‘so Jay will help me find her.’ The picture made me swell with tortured anger, a big man in a suit with his trousers around his ankles was abusing her. The fascination I felt for her kept drawing me back to the picture, my anger had a trinity, it made me angry with myself for being fascinated; and for caring; giving the response God wanted, finally at the petty mindedness of God, though the bible should of informed me of that, and a far from happy life, when I was alive.
“Any clues?” asked Jay.
“She always dances in the early hours of the morning”, I said edgily
“Let me see” Jay demanded in a friendly manner.
I handed the picture to Jay “Looks like the guys some kind of bouncer” Said Jay.
I surged upright and banged my head with my fist “Of course she’s in a night club! May be if I could watch her dance I could tell the songs from the rhythms of the music, the tunes in her eyes, maybe tell that the song meant something to her, a memory I can isolate, narrow down the kind of place and the era. I don’t know what to do, he’s hurting her because of me, who I am, I made it happen; we’re fishing again.”
“No” said Jay, “it’s simpler than that, he may want you to find her, is there an appropriate night club, somewhere with memories or somewhere apt to him? Does it ring any bells Monster? I want to help you really I do.”
I believed him, and with a sense of triumph because I knew where he was leading me and his guess was not a guess and there for reliable, there was only one place ‘apt’, but I would still have to hunt for it.
I searched Jays face for evidence of his sincerity, he really wanted to make this as easy as possible, I said “She was raped in a night club some years ago, I don’t know where, could have been Liverpool. I’m guessing he took her back there, to that time and place. Do you know where?”
Jay looked bemused, possibly hurt; “I can’t tell you that Monster, there’s no way for me to know. A police report might have been filed by the other girl.”
“The other girl?” I said. Jay had slipped up; he would expect me to quiz him on it.
Jay looked cool, “You said there was another girl involved.” Jay flexed his fingers and made a cage out of them, smiling, I was sure he didn’t realise he was unconsciously signifying a trap
“I must of” I replied, disconcerted by Jays charming exposure of what was on his mind.
Jay looked disconcerted too; I wondered if he had seen through me. “Jon, you know I’ve never let you down, remember when I wouldn’t serve scouse some draw and he insulted you and you fought him, I joined in when he had you in that head lock, we took care of him and threw him out. I’ve never let you down, we’re solid. I wouldn’t let you down ever if I had a choice.”
A little touched I replied “Just do what you have to do Jay, as I said to Kieran and Frazer when they were ripping off my grass; if you feel you have to take then take, just don’t take the piss.” I started to roll a fag.
Jay’s eyes went far away “I would never let you down, not in my heart, we go way back. Some times when we help each other, we can’t even say.”
I always wanted to trust Jay, never quite sure I could, or any one else for that matter. Caught in the past I had a thought, as I spoke I got carried away, I lit my fag and spun circles of smoke, dotted the red tip in the air like I was drawing a map, a plan of action. “We should bring the streets to God. What do we know, skip diving, begging, rolling dog ends, drugs, fighting, improvised weapons, shoplifting, burglary; we have a knowledge he isn’t as conversant with, he should fight on our ground not the other way. Drugs of all sorts, known or invented, can give us an edge in speed of thought or imagination, increase strength. I have lock picks for the advantage of surprise, I have a survival manual with every kind of home made weapon and explosive, we can leave here and lie low, we can squat, we can survive anywhere, in all three worlds.” With that I flicked ash on the floor, watched it sail, land and disintegrate with the thought of destruction. My little bombshell.
I looked at Jay “I’m going to make a Gollum to find Jane; we are going to be busy with other things. I will make him small and he can go unnoticed.”
Jay looked intent and put his hands in the air “Okay; what ever a Gollum is.”
I looked him in the eyes and replied “A Gollum is voodoo, it is a miniature version of me brought to life to do my bidding, he will search unnoticed and find her, he will be telepathically connected to me, I will be able to find him in my mind and know what he is doing all the time. He can find the place and recon it. Meanwhile we can make weapons and powerful drugs, since we’re going to be taking him on in the physical world and our magic won’t be so strong. We need a zip gun for you since I have shotgun cartridges; I have my Dessert Eagle” I patted the gun at my waist “We also need powerful drugs both positive and negative, If we can imagine a different world down there, our magic will still be as effective, we need a contact poison, my lock picks, and some more improvised weapons.”
Jay started walking to the kitchen whistling “Well I will take care of the weapons and the pharmacy; you can get on with your Gollum thing” He said between whistles.
As Jay got to work in the kitchen, I made a cardboard cut out of a little man. I cut out little internal organs for him and glued them on, heart, intestines and penis. Then I cut out an old passport photo of my face and glued that on. I pulled a nail off my finger and glued that on to him, I stitched him little clothes out of the fabric of a t-shirt; Pants and jumper; all in black for camouflage in the night. I wrote my message of what I wanted him to do along with the name I had chosen for him, and rolled it and stuck it in his clothes. Finally; as an after thought; I dug two fingers inside my head searched around the spongy goo giving myself a headache, pulled out a piece of brain so he would be intelligent; I stuck that to him. Then I breathed a piece of my soul into him, holding him in my hands. I put him down.