“Jack!”
…
“Jack! Are you in there?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“There’s some guy asking for you.”
“What does he look like?”
“He’s in a tuxedo with a really nice jacket, and he has on a pair of sunglasses!”
“Ugh, what time is it?”
“Uh, It’s—“ “—about 4:30 am.”
“…Okay, one moment…”
The owner of the FastHammer walked back to the front desk and sat down. He eyeballed this man asking for Jack, and something just didn’t seem right about him. A man all dressed up to see Jack, of all people. And to top it all, he was wearing sunglasses at 4 in the morning! It’s like in the horror movies when the stranger, all dressed up, starts killing the characters one by one…This guy standing in front of Martin was odd in every way!
Man I don’t like the presence of this guy…it’s creeping me out!
The man started to stare back at Martin, with an undying glare. He was studying all of Mark’s facial expressions, tiny movements – cracking knuckles, looking at his fingernails, etc. – and seemed to be looking for a weakness of any kind that Martin may have. He grew up making his strengths outdo any weakness he may have. And yet, this guy…
“Ah, at last,” the man in the sunglasses said, with a light smirk on his face.
Martin looked over his shoulder and saw Jack wearing a pair of plain black pants, no shirt, shoes lazily tied – and in his right hand was a neatly shining .357 revolver, loosely gripped.
“Do you have any—”
“Yes, Jack, I do.”
“Then why come to me of all people at this hour…dressed like you are?”
He looked at the gun in Jack’s hand, and said, “I did not come to inflict pain upon you, so there’s no need for that gun.”
Gripping the revolver slightly, he asked, “Who are you anyway?”
“Oh, I must apologize. You may call me Tsukoyomi.”
“Tsukoyomi…Hmm. Why were you looking for me?”
“You will have to follow me outside.”
“Let—“
“I’m sorry but I do not have the leisure to waste time. I must show you what I’ve come to show and be off, my dear boy.”
Jack and this Tsukoyomi walked outside to the coolness of late night. Parked was a very old taxicab. Tsukoyomi motioned toward the cab and both of them walked to it. Tsukoyomi opened the door and asked for Jack to climb inside the back passenger-side door; at this Jack stared at Tsukoyomi, trying to register the man, and at his suspicious looks he said the following:
“It is okay my son. All I ask is to show you something, to give you a gift, to better put it. You must remember, I am on a very tight schedule, and I must be off.”
Jack just glared at him, and after the longest time he finally got in the cab. Tsukoyomi shut the door and walked around to the other side of the car, and climbed inside, right next to Jack. Then it hit him: something…smelled like shit. It was like a mere irritation at first, and then as Tsukoyomi got next to Jack the smell got worse and worse, like road kill that threw up and took a dump on itself before being run over, then left in the summer’s sun. It was to the point where Jack wanted to gag. He took a look at the man next to him…and wondered, wondered if Tsukoyomi, if that were his real name, was human at all.
Night Mares have a similar smell…could he be one of them…?
“Jack, I am not one of those creatures you had to face on your way to this hotel. If you are wondering why I know this, don’t be alarmed: I cannot read minds. What I can do though is watch your progress from afar, and so far you have lived a good life. About your daughter; she was not killed in the accident you heard of. That was a corporate slug’s lie to cover up the truth about your dau—“
“She’s not dead?!”
“Jack, remember, I am on a very tight schedule. No more interruptions. Now, as I was trying to say, your daughter has a very unique illness. I have not the words to describe it but if the Night Mares, as I’ve heard you and your friends call them, infect a human with any amount of liquid from their body, they will turn very slowly and painfully into a creature that words lack to describe. Your daughter is the key to these mutants’ undoing. Her DNA contains, what you may call, a cure to this affliction they may cause.”
He paused for a moment to let Jack sink it all in, and continued.
“I know this may be too much for you, boy. So I will let you ‘see’ the truth behind my words.”
Before anything else could happen Jack said,” don’t turn me into anything or hurt me.”
Tsukoyomi laughed and said, “My dear boy I am not here to harm you. You have already faced enough pain and toil for two lifetimes.”
“Then what are you going to show me?”
He chuckled and replied, “I want you to close your eyes tightly and hold out your hand.”
“How can I trust you?”
“Jack, for the umpteenth time I am going to be late. Just know that in the future I will show you my answer to your question of trust.”
Jack sighed and held out his hand….
(END of chapter 8)
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