Nashville II
My senses came back. A wood floor was under my feet. That was good. I thought for a wild second I might slip between all worlds. Fall into an empty space between dimensions where mindflayers would eat my eyes and have sex with my bone marrow. I’m glad that didn’t happen.
The smell was because we entered a barbecue joint. It would have the exact same address as the bar before. It was of course in the same space. But in one reality. I imagined that lot had instead been bought by a restauranter. I willed it. I imagined it. And I entered it. Not a different space per-se, but a different when.
“Oh shit it worked,” Chewy said astonished. “You wanted to go here? This wasn’t an accident?”
“Yeah I did, look at that.” I said equally surprised.
The people inside were late night drinkers getting pounds of meat scooped onto plates. Pressed to the right against a wall covered in street signs was a line of ten or so people. A small rope barrier separated the line and the dining room. It was nothing fancy. It had a dozen plastic tables and plastic chairs. Ahead was a cafeteria style kitchen where employees scooped the food on the peoples red trays. It smelled absolutely divine. All in all a nice little joint called the Funky Chicken of course. This time the logo was a chicken dancing on a grill. I wondered if me being hungry helped me get here so easily.
“Should we eat?” I asked. Leashing Chewy once more before we got kicked out.
“No,” She said. “Those men can do the exact same thing you can. It just takes them a while. We have to keep moving.”
“Ask her how she knows so much about them?” Chewy said, growling at her softly.
“You know a lot about them?” I asked, winking at Chewy. He winked back.
“I’m a witch, didn’t I tell you that?” She rolled her eyes, just as my wife used to. It unnerved both Chewy and I.
“She smells like Tim!” Chewy said. “This isn’t right! She’s working for him!”
“My dog thinks you are working for Tim.” I said.
“Who?
“The guy you met with.” I replied.
“I already told you that.” She stuck out her tongue to Chewy. “I don’t work for anyone.” She poked me in the chest. “But he asked me to keep you there. He, or one of them, gave me my powers long ago. I signed the contract and I knew what would be asked of me.”
“Then why are you helping us?” I asked.
“Well.” She shrugged. “I don’t like taking orders like a dog.” She prodded Chewy with her pointed boot and Chewy snapped at her. “You looked pretty pathetic. I didn't want them to scoop you up. I don’t know. I act on my whims.”
“So what is Tim?” I asked. “You said, you've dealt with things like him. So he is some creature? I knew he wasn’t just a man.”
She thought for a moment. “I don’t think we have time to go into this here.”
“Try us, smelly.” Chewy said.
“Try us.” I replied.
She sighed. “Well there's the world. Or worlds, plural, right? And there's mainly them in it.” She pointed to the others in line. Mostly ignoring us as we kept our voices low. “Regular folk. 9-5 people. Nothing special. Then there are people like us.” She curtsied. “Witches. Warlocks, Psychics, Plane Shifters, people that have been given or granted power from other things. More powerful things. Just an inkling of power, more like perspective rather than power. They are not really able to do much with it. But able to peek a little bit behind the curtain. Use it.”
“We’re following.” I stated.
“Then there’s the things that are behind the curtain altogether.” She shuddered. “Things like this Tim. Or just Tim. He might just be one thing with many faces. I don’t know. You use that word Evil but I think that’s just a short term word. I don’t know if it’s the best way to describe it. But they are definitely playing games with a bigger picture in mind.”
“Like?”
“Like not worrying about the curtain. Worrying about the play that is going on. Who cares about a fucking curtain?’ She was panicking. “They are coming.” She picked up the wet floor sign leaned in the corner and placed it near the door.
“Chewy any good doors?” I asked.
He sniffed the air. “Not the emergency exit but the kitchen door out the back. Things are thin there. Tasty too”
“Alright,” I pushed through the dining room and headed to the kitchen. An acne riddled teenager washing trays gawked at me. “Uhhhh, Gary?” she called out. Chewy reached up on his back feet and took a chicken leg out of the trash next to her. She was frozen. But up from behind us was a plodding short-statured man.
I imagined this Gary was the manager. He started following us as we passed the stainless steel smokers. Huffing at us. I ignored him. But the bell above the entrance ringing did catch my attention. I saw three suits crowding into the restaurant. Stocky, bald men, with thick necks and huge hands. And those damned sunglasses. The front one stepped into the room but the door had budged the wet floor sign just so. It slid to the floor and planted under his heel.
He flipped backward with his legs flailing in the air like some cartoon character. There was a thud as he landed on his back and people gasped and laughed at him. Immediately there was a crowd around all of them to help. The manager abandoned us and went to see if he was going to get sued. We were practically out the back anyway.
Good call Gary. Go slow them down.
I reached the large steel door. It had a metal bar for a handle. Only used for pushing out. I felt my skin prickle and tasted the floating smell of charr in my throat. I gripped the handle and felt the icey metal under my hands. I closed my eyes.
“If you don’t do this we are fucked.” Chewy said.
“Take us anywhere but here.” The witch pleaded.
I breathed deep through my nose. “Hold onto your butts.”
~
“I always wanted to say that, was it cool?” I was still shaking off my headache as I bumped into a street pole. “Ow fuck” I rubbed my nose.
“Super cool.” She replied as she stepped around people walking along the street. Outside the night air was alive with festivities. We had walked out into a different layout completely. The back alley became a main thoroughfare. And it was full of shops and bars spilling over with patronage. The street had been renamed to Peach Trees Way. Interesting. It wasn’t just the bars that were pumping out music. The music was on the street. A large parade of sorts was rolling away from us. With hundreds, maybe thousands of people in both directions. They were all celebrating and drinking. The lights above them hanging like icicles across the street as a canopy.
Happy Birthday Elvis! Read across a banner hanging from some shops across the street.
“Elvis?” I leaned to a man in his forties with rhinestone pants on. “It’s his birthday today?” I asked as I pointed to the sign.
“Of course!” He replied. “Turning 85 today.”
“He’s not dead?” I asked.
“You can’t kill the King baby.” He said as he scoffed and shuffled away.
~
“Did you do that with the wet floor sign back there?” I asked. We had shot across the street and started working away from where we previously were.
“I put a little charm on it. Bad luck spell. Simple.” She said as we weaved in and out of the crowd going the opposite direction. Jailhouse Rock was playing out of the back of a truck, live from a band of impersonators. “If you give me that necklace I can put a protective spell on it.”
I clutched the little sack of leather around my neck. I hadn’t even remembered getting this thing. “I thought it already had that on it?” I asked.
“Oh honey. Is that what she told you?” She laughed, showing her beautiful smile. She was just like her. Even her giggles. Even under duress. “It’s magical alright. But it’s a difference of the practitioner's power. I’m trying to stop interdimensional police from finding you, not keep you from stubbing your toe.”
“Hmm. Well not here.” I replied. “Let’s get off the street.”
We walked into a smaller shop that was less crowded. The noise died down as we entered but a smell of tobacco hit us. It was a cigar shop. The man in a mahogany blazer came from around the counter. “Aw what an adorable dog? How can I help you tonight?”
“We are just browsing,” I said.
“Well let me know if you want to go into the lounge.” He pointed to a small room seated in the corner of the store with glass paneling for walls. More smoke filled it than out here. The threshold between the two rooms was a large red door brimming with power. Or lack of it, a thinness Chewy called it. Seated within were a couple people atop fine chairs puffing on their choices. Out here the walls were lined with cigars and cigar boxes. It made my heart flutter for a second. I loved a good cigar. The smell here was humid and thick with that earthy scent. I browsed a bit while out of the corner of my mouth talked to my dog. I was trying to do it in a not so crazy person way. “Chewy anything we should know about this world?” I asked.
He thought for a second. “Well Elvis didn’t die. Pigs aren’t a thing here. Everyone eats sheep I guess and the work week is two hours shorter. Those are the main differences as far as I can smell. Cigars still give you cancer.” He tugged on my pant leg.
“Are you really gonna buy something right now?” The witch asked. Her eyes were wide, like the disappointing stare a teacher gives you when you are caught looking at your neighbors test.
“I’m sorry. I’m feeling a little drained. Nicotine could help push this headache away.”
“I think you are gonna need more than that. We’ve been passing through worlds like a hot knife passes through butter. It can’t be good for you.” Her disappointment faded. “Jesus christ, you’re bleeding out of your eyes.” She said borderline shocked.
I felt the warm liquid pooling on my skin. Dripping straight down like tears. I smeared it across my face and pulled free to see the crimson on my fingertips. “Holy Fuck,” I said. “Help, please,”
She had stepped forward untying her bandanna from around her neck. She wiped under my eyes in a huff, making sure the clerk didn’t have a good angle to see the mess.
“Witches don’t mind blood and guts huh?” I said, embarrassed she was so close to me. I took the bandanna from her hands and finished the rest. Finally the pressure lessened and I was leaking no more, for the time being.
“How do I look?” I asked.
“A mess.” Chewy answered. “Your face is stained pink but it doesn’t look like you’ve been massacred.”
“Alright.”
Behind me the red door opened and closed. “I’m sorry I must have missed you two. Are you members of our smoking club?” The owner asked curiously. I slowly turned around, still wiping my vision clean.
Out of the smoking room were two men, clad in shadowy suits with microphone chips in their ears and blackout shades over their eyes. The smoke curled around them and dissipated from the open door. We stood there for a second. I felt glued in place. Like I was a deer staring at certain death in the middle of a highway.
Chewy let out a pitiful whine.
They moved first. And they moved fast. They sprung forward, running like machines with bladed hands. In turn we did all that we could. I stumbled back and we burst out of the shop and back into the crowd with them only inches behind.
~
Like the pathways stretching across this country a brain is similar. Instead of a million linking roads in the brain there are billions, the drawback of that of course is it’s not as scenic. If one could map the synapses and pathways the electron pulses take in a human's mind it would not simply fit on a foldable piece of paper for $2.29 in a gas station. No, it would take terabytes and terabytes of storage to properly identify it and stake it out.
The individual running for his life right now was indeed human and shared what is common between most humans, a brain. Although it might be deranged and less cognizant then others it still did its job, I wouldn't say well. Because this is the same individual that had the great idea to bake a frozen pizza at 600 degrees for four minutes because he was hungry “now.”
One never knows exactly how they are going to act in a certain situation. The mind has a mind of its own and although you have 20 years in aikido training, and have an open carry permit that you constantly utilize, you still might pee your pants during a light mugging. But it can go the opposite way too.
An individual has dark, little-used, pathways through their brain. Ones seldom seen and only ignited when certain circumstances present themselves. Like floodgates opening one by one. Or dominos falling into place. This can be described as an eureka moment. Or when reflexes whip you into action. Or your mind goes blank and you can hardly drool.
Like the roads one takes to arrive in a destination it can be a jaunt to get there. Especially if the paths go around and around and should we say, take the long way. Often that is why in stressful situations things tend to slow down. Time isn't moving slower, it’s going the same speed it always goes, it is just going further. Basically, time is taking the scenic route in a very un-scenic brain. Let me use the situation as an example. Our protanganist immediately thought of things in the following order.
Running looks very much faster in the movies.
The ice cream cone that was knocked to the ground in this foot chase, smelled heavily of chocolate, was it rocky road?
Was there a correlation of ice cream eating and the area that is used for a foot chase? Seemingly, in all forms of media the two always take place near one another. Usually to disastrous effects.
Running is hard. Especially when he is very much out of shape and was going to be caught. Soon
He parked on that same side road that they were passing now but his meter would probably be expired by now. And he was parked in a different plane of existence. It was too late to check to see if it was there now. They were already across the street.
Did the ice cream cone fall in that world too? The one his car is in? Or better yet was it the same flavor? What if it was banana split?
Would a banana peel actually make attackers slip?
He is a slow runner, and feels like he is practically running in place.
This is all comically similar to a cartoon chase, where ice cream is spilled, he runs in place with legs churning under him, banana peels, and they run through doors in a hallway and come out across the way...
This is where he arrived. This thought process took 2.9 seconds and for most of it he was not aware he was really thinking it. It would be silly to be thinking about ice cream when your life was threatened. But when a frantic brain is trying to solve a puzzle to save your life, answers are found in peculiar places, along the scenic route. Sorted out and sifted through without you really knowing. He had figured something out. A way out. An idea that was crazy enough it just might work. To arrive at this conclusion in this way was lucky above all else. But like I said, you never know how you’ll react to something until it happens.
Now, he had had a great idea for once when it mattered most. He hadn’t had one like this since the time he asked his wife out on their very first date. He wouldn’t have one again until…
~
The witch I was with had helped keep distance by tying the men’s shoes together with a charm. I thought witches were more prone to curses and eating children than mediocre pranks but what do I know? We had ducked into another dimension and lost them in a rave. Yeah, that was a weird world. A rave in the Nashville music district. I thought we might get lucky and a fight might break out as they pushed their way through the crowd. But they were only met with well wishes and a beast of a man picking one up and asking if he was okay.
But opening the doors and working through the city was buying us time. We were constantly moving and skipping across realities. It seemed that it took them longer to follow and their forces were thinning. As I lightly jogged in my sweat soaked clothes in the slow downtown district I finally noticed no one was right behind us. The parade was only music simmering over buildings half a mile away.
“They must have regrouped at their car.” She said.
“I don’t smell them nearby.” Chewy agreed.
“Alright, well, watch for the blue high-beams. You can’t miss them.” I crossed the street as traffic was far away. The only lights along this road were not from cars but yellowing street lamps.
“Where are we going?” She asked.
“I don’t know. Well. I do. It’s confusing. I know where I'm going in some worlds. And it’s this way.” I pointed to the park ahead. “I think.”
“What’s here?” She asked.
As we crept closer we saw together what was before us which was nice because I didn’t have to stumble through an answer. Ahead a large marble structure was lit up with small spotlights criss crossing across it’s walls. It was huge, seemingly the size and width of a football field. It’s wide white columns stood strangely in this contemporary landscape of openfields and sitting space. It was a greek structure. A temple. The Parthenon of Centennial park. And tonight due to the various signs around they were having a late night showing of art pieces housed inside. I was slightly disappointed there was no worship of Athena here and it was a simple gallery but I digress.
I took a second to catch my breath. Compose myself and walk through the cars parked on the street.
“Should we really be going in here?” The girl asked.
“If you could smell what I could you wouldn’t ask dumb questions.” Chewy said. Although it was unclear if she could understand him. I didn't stop to ask, both of us were being drawn in. The thinness was so clear I could taste it here just like Chewy.
And he was right. If she could feel what laid on these grounds…
The air above it was almost vibrating. Like rice bouncing along a speaker. Almost tearing itself apart. And up top the paintings of little people and harps and other olden things were moving. Dancing along the rim of this ancient roof. Of course it wasn’t ancient but it could be, in a way. Maybe it ended up here from a different time? I looked closer and saw pale serpent creatures hiding in the sculptures. They were long snakes with wings, fluttering around like gargoyles. Things from beyond. Watching.
“Things are very thin here.” I muttered.
“Hey, I said, should we really be going in here?” She said again.
“We already are.” I stared over her shoulder and saw the SUV coming into the narrow street lined with parked cars. But a tranquility had washed over me. Here they might never find me again.
The attendant wearing a bronze blazer looked at me. I felt like I had almost floated towards the entrance. She unclipped the velvet rope letting us through. “Good to see you again,” She said on the verge of confusion. She let all three of us walk by.
The highbeams of the truck flipped off and their doors cracked open with a screech. But I was already past the threshold. Walking into the axis point of many worlds. And I was scared deep, deep down. But also enamored with the pure chaos that laid before me.
~
I walked the packed halls and admired the paintings. One I particularly liked was different brown smears with no particular reasoning.
“Ode to a baby's diaper.” I said to the woman next to me who rolled her eyes and huffed away.
This place was a dozen small rooms with art hung from the white pop up walls. Hundreds of people milled about. Sipping from champagne flutes. Looking at sculptures, pictures, and painting.
“So?” The doppelganger witch asked.
“So, we came here cause I had an idea.” I couldn't help but smile at the genius of it. “I guess it wasn’t just my idea… But it was.” I shrugged.
Her eyes narrowed at me.
“There's lots of realities out there. Right?” I continued. “And that means there's lots of versions of myself out there. Probably some of them are also being chased by this space force. So I figured what would happen if we all go to the same place? It would be mighty confusing right?”
“You didn’t?” She said, her eyes wide.
A hand grabbed me by the wrist and twisted it back. Pain shot out as the bone was on the verge of snapping. I could smell the metallic musk he wore. Maybe they are machines. The burly suited man leaned into my ear. “You are coming with us. Do not make a scene.” People around didn’t seem to notice. Too busy admiring the art.
“You got the wrong guy.” I hissed out. With my free hand I pointed to a figure coming into the threshold of this room. He wasn’t there before but now he stood. Flip flops, cargo shorts. A black tee covered in sweat. He huffed and puffed and next to him stood a brown labrador in a service vest. They skidded to a halt. Both heads tilted sideways looking at my arrest.
Appearing from over his shoulder was another suited man. He gripped the man's shoulder tight. Almost making the man spillover and out of his sandals. “You are coming with…” He trailed off looking at the scene before him. “Uhhh.” He said.
They all started pouring out. Crisscrossing from different rooms and different worlds. Like rats running out from a flooded drainpipe. Different in various ways. Some were taller (better hair, damn), some had different style, different dogs by their sides or being held. Many were far enough away from any men chasing them that we started surrounding them. The suited men were sputtering and overwhelmed.
The one released me for a second and went to grab one that had a better jawline.. He carried a teacup poodle that growled at him. This made him pause and go back to grab me. But I was already gone.
He looked back and forth his mouth agape. The people around thought they were caught in some performance art. They were hushed and whispering. Clogging up the cracks of this gallery. But it was enough to throw the few suits in here into a panic. Like all of sudden they walked into a revolution that they did not have the numbers to handle. One grabbed his earpiece “ALERT!...” He shouted, then he yelled in pain and pulled the wire out of his ear as it screeched to life with hundreds, maybe thousands of voices talking into it at once.
~
We ducked out of there and headed across the park kicking up wet trails from the freshly watered grass. It was easy enough to slip away. There must have been so many doors in there, no way they could track where we went. Like trying to untangle thousands of shoelaces. We had some time. Finally some time.
The city bus with an ad for a phone plan on the sides saddled up to the park bench. Its doors opened and white light spilled out, it looked like heaven from here. We all got aboard and sat in a huff. Chewy was softly growling. I pulled on his leash. But waves of lethargy were washing over me. Now that we could finally rest I was fading quickly, too quickly. Chewy yawned and settled down, almost reading my own emotions. I pulled my head up to see why he was worked up. Next to me, eyes rolled back an old weathered face from under her hat was muttering incantations. I saw her clearly with a face I hadn’t before, she looked a hundred with grotesque dangling skin.
“What?” I asked her and saw, in her hands she gripped that small leather charm that was around my neck. I went to my throat with a sluggish hand and felt it was indeed missing.
“Oh wanderer.” She said to me, green hue to her lips. “Sleep, and rest. Nothing is as it seems.” She pulled a palm to her lips and blew sparkling dust at me. Then the world went quiet and calm and dark.