by Carver Pike
“If you don’t believe me, ask the Soothsayer. He sent us to pick this guy up,” T-Nate informed them.
“The Soothsayer did say that he was expecting a visitor,” the guard closest to T-Nate said.
“Do you really think we’d bring Cutter into the Dwellings?” Sergio asked them.
“Fine,” the guard replied. “But you’re responsible for him. And I suggest you keep him on a short leash.”
The guards stepped back to their positions at the door to the shack, but continued to eye Gabe suspiciously.
Between the guards was a short line of people. At the front of the line was a desperate woman, barely able to stand in one place. She fidgeted and rocked back and forth from one leg to the other. The others in line seemed to be at peace as they patiently waited their turn.
“I really need to see the Soothsayer. Is it true that he can see the future?” the desperate woman asked one of the guards.
The guard ignored her and focused his attention on Gabe’s group.
“I need to find out about my kids on the other side,” the woman continued.
Finally, an older man drunkenly staggered out of the shack. He stumbled a little and grabbed hold of one of the guards for support. The woman looked to the guards for permission to enter the shack.
“It’s my turn, right?” she asked.
One of the guards nodded his head and waved her in. There was something about the woman that bothered Gabe, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It was as if he’d seen her or met her before. He rummaged through the pointless information he had stored in his mind, most gathered from countless hours sitting in front of the TV, and fished for any recollection of the woman.
She wasn’t a family member, or a friend, or even a friend of the family. He thought about his co-workers and the people he hated standing in line behind at Starbucks. Was she one of those soy drinkers with no foam?
Nothing was coming to him. T-Nate had been an athlete so he ran through possible sports stars and celebrities that she might resemble. Finally, it hit him. He leaned over to Sergio.
“I knew I recognized that girl from somewhere. We’ve got to stop her from seeing the Soothsayer,” Gabe said.
“Why? What’s up?” Sergio asked.
“She was on the news. She snapped and drowned all three of her kids in the bathtub,” Gabe informed him.
“Her image did,” Ty reminded him.
“She needs to know,” Sergio said. “Her image could yank her back over there at any time, but only if she wants to go back. It’s better to find out from the Soothsayer than to sit in prison on the other side.”
It didn’t take long for the woman to hear of the horrible news. She ran out of the shack, sobbing uncontrollably. She only made it about twenty feet outside of the door when she pulled a pistol out of the back of her pants, put it in her mouth, and pulled the trigger.
Gabe and Sergio both jumped back at the sound of the gunfire. The woman’s body fell lifeless to the ground. The gun bounced next to her.
“Should have stopped her,” Gabe said, shaking his head in disappointment.
“What do you think she would have wanted? She’s with her kids now,” Sergio said. “Most of us wish we had the guts to do what she just did.”
The guard stopped the others waiting in line and waved at Gabe and his group.
“Yo! Newbie! It’s your turn,” T-Nate called out.
The guard held the door open for Gabe and hissed at him as he passed. “Looks just like him.”
There was just enough light outside to illuminate the path that led into the shack. Gabe followed it and as soon as he entered, the guard pulled the door shut behind him, leaving him alone in a dark room.
Two candles on the wall provided just enough light for Gabe to see that he was standing in a small waiting area lined with cots and wooden benches. Strange feathers, bones, and teardrop crystals hung down from the ceiling on strings. A Native American dream catcher was attached to the wall.
The air reeked of cinnamon incense and body odor. There was an open doorway in the far corner that led into a darker room.
“Come in here! I ain’t got all day!” the Soothsayer called out from the other room in a dry, hoarse voice.
Gabe leaned forward and tried to peer into the darkness of the next room. He was hesitant to enter, not knowing whether to expect a swami with a crystal ball or witch doctor with a peace pipe.
Either way he felt that he’d have to fight back the urge to laugh. Superstition and fortunetellers weren’t his usual thing. No psychic hotline occupied his speed dial back home and as far as he was concerned, tarot card readers were only hopped up poker players who used their storytelling and bluffing skills to make an extra buck.
He’d always found the claim that someone can see something that hasn’t happened yet to be quite hokey. Allie had always been into palm readings and such, but she’d also been into sleeping with the boss, so in Gabe’s opinion, she was full of shit.
“What are you afraid of?” the Soothsayer called out. “I ain’t gonna bite.”
Gabe cautiously entered the room with his hands up and ready, in case he needed to defend himself. He hadn’t exactly had the most comforting experience so far in this strange, mirror world, and he was starting to learn that he needed to expect the worst at all times.
The Soothsayer’s table was lit by one single candle. The rest of the room was pitch black. It looked as if his table was floating in the center of an empty void, like the light at the end of the tunnel. The flickering candle flame provided just enough light for Gabe to barely see the Soothsayer’s face, and it creeped him out.
He was a black man, but with white, almost transparent looking blotches and burn marks on his face, evidence of a disastrous life on the dark side of the mirror. His lips were cracked and blistered and the hair at the top of his head was patchy, with shiny spots of thin skin being invaded by the hair that still tried to grow, regardless of the scorched flesh.
Gabe squinted, but for some reason couldn’t see the Soothsayer’s eyes. They were blocked out by the shadow created by his cheekbones. Gabe sat down across from the man and folded his hands in front of him.
“Cutter,” the Soothsayer whispered.
“For some reason every time I hear that name someone tries to kill me,” Gabe replied.
The Soothsayer leaned forward and the candle illuminated his face. His eyes were completely white and he stared downward as if concentrating on the candle’s flame. His left ear was nearly gone, melted away. The bubbled up, scorched flesh told Gabe that his pupil-less eyes were probably the result of whatever’d caused his other scars.
“You didn’t jump back in fear like all the others,” the Soothsayer said.
“Are you blind?” Gabe asked, ignoring his previous comment.
“Yes, but I can see,” the Soothsayer informed him. “I see through other windows, Gabriel.”
Gabe was impressed, well, somewhat impressed. It was possible that one of his rescuers had passed his name along to the Soothsayer, but then again, he was pretty sure that they’d all remained with him outside of the Soothsayer’s shack.
“Only my mother calls me that,” Gabe replied.
“And the Soothsayer,” the Soothsayer said.
“Yeah, and you,” Gabe agreed. “So you said you can see. Do you see anything about me?”
“I do. How ready are you to hear the truth?”
“I’m no less confused and no more ready than I was a couple of hours ago when some maniac branded me in the street and his cult tried to beat me to death.”
The Soothsayer cracked a smile.
“At least you’re not crying like most of the people who come to see me.”
“What am I doing here?” Gabe asked. “You knew I was coming. You sent those guys to rescue me.”
“I did. You are the Haissem, chosen to do great things here. That’s why I sent for you,” the Soothsayer answered.
“Chosen one? Yeah,
that’s original. Come on. Look, I don’t get what’s going on here, or how any of this is possible. I just want to go home.”
“What you want is neither here nor there. Interfering will not change anything. What is to be has already been set into motion, so by assisting you I am only leading you down the right path.”
Gabe was confused and uninterested in the Soothsayer’s ramblings. He slapped the table with both of his hands and slid his chair back, preparing to stand up and leave.
“The girl came first. I sent for her before she arrived though, so she was protected. You came sooner than I thought,” the Soothsayer said.
“The girl. What girl?” Gabe asked.
It suddenly donned on him which girl the Soothsayer was talking about. He knew that day in the office that something wasn’t right. He’d seen people go through radical changes before, but he’d never seen even an ounce of Ivy’s behavior in the Lisa he’d known all those years.
“Lisa,” Gabe said before the Soothsayer had a chance to answer.
Gabe was instantly concerned. He remembered the fear and confusion he’d felt when he fell through the mirror and into the dark, destroyed bathroom. Lisa wasn’t built to handle the type of horror he’d witnessed on the streets of Darkar. He wished he’d been with her to comfort her.
“She was shaken up, but she is fine. No one hurt her the way they hurt you,” the Soothsayer said.
He had read Gabe’s mind. He had known exactly what Gabe was thinking.
“How do we get back to the other side? Lisa doesn’t belong here. I don’t belong here, and as much as I hate Allie right now, she doesn’t deserve to die. I have to stop Cutter from killing her,” Gabe said.
The Soothsayer shook his head in disagreement.
“You’re as stubborn as I feared,” he said as he waved a hand in the air and shooed him away, as if to say, “Piss off.”
“How do I save Allie?” Gabe asked.
“If you really want to save your woman you have to cross Los Diablos and enter the Slums of York.”
“What does that…what? What do you mean?”
“Your girlfriend on the other side traveled to New York. Cutter is going after her. Here Darkar is the image of Detroit.”
“So the Slums of York is the image of New York.”
“Yes. Go there. Then, if you find him, you will face him in the mirror. Only when you are both standing at the same mirror, can you physically reach through and force Cutter to cross back to this side.”
“So if I find him, and face him in the mirror, then I can pull him back?” Gabe asked.
“Yes, take the old freight train to Los Diablos. The tracks end there. You’ll have to travel by foot the rest of the way to the Slums of York.”
Gabe stood, not wanting to waste any time, and was about to leave the room.
“And Gabriel,” the Soothsayer added. “Going back may not be for the best. Cutter has already murdered and so over there you are a murderer.”
“You’re an image,” Gabe fired back. “You wouldn’t understand what it means to go home.”
The Soothsayer chuckled a little under his breath and nodded.
“You’re blinder than I am. I was once like you, new to this world. I lost my sight and skin in the acid bath of the outer rings, trying to find my way home. I can’t see my own fate, but even a blind man can see that back isn’t the way to go forward.”
“So I shouldn’t go back?” Gabe asked.
“That depends on whether or not you want to go forward.”
Gabe shook his head, tired and confused. He hoped it would all make sense once he had time to mill it over.
“You will leave in the morning. I will send others with you to lead the way,” the Soothsayer called out as Gabe walked out of the room. “Oh, and Lisa is in the Nest.”
To Gabe, the Nest looked like something out of an old Vietnam movie where fifty or so men lived in one pale green tent that seemed to stretch on for miles. Uncomfortable-looking grey cots lined both sides of the tent.
Most of the inhabitants were travelers who’d stopped for a night’s rest. Many of them drank alcohol from satchels or jugs while they played card games. Much to Gabe’s surprise, everyone seemed to be in good spirits.
Even the few women who’d stopped for rest were flirted with a little bit but then left alone when they showed no interest.
Gabe entered and scanned the room, searching for Lisa. He didn’t see her, but instead found his eyes drawn to an object writhing around underneath one of the blankets on a cot, in a darkened corner.
The blanket slid back and Gabe caught a glimpse of a woman, her mouth open and sucking on two fingers, as she sighed and continued riding the man beneath her. Her tits were bare and shook as she hopped up and down on top of him. She was attractive in a wild, dirty kind of way. She looked over at Gabe as the man bucked and went deeper.
“Ohhhh fuck!” the girl yelled as her eyes rolled back and she fell onto his chest.
She glared at Gabe and then smiled and waved him over.
“Hey stud,” she said. “Why don’t you come join us? I love me some double pounding!”
She cackled and Gabe snapped out of it, finally realizing he’d not only been standing in full view gawking at them, but he was also starting to get an erection.
The girl pulled the blanket back over her and moaned as she kept fucking her man. Gabe had to reach down and adjust himself.
T-Nate walked up behind him and slapped him on the shoulder.
“Even the peaceful images have their vices. Sexin’ it up in public is a high for most people,” he said.
“I wouldn’t know,” Gabe replied.
T-Nate laughed and walked ahead of him to find an empty cot. “I would,” he said over his shoulder. “That’s one of the perks of being a star athlete. The ladies will do just about anything.”
“Are you sure you’re not the image?” Gabe asked as he wiped some crumbs off an empty cot and sat down.
“Nah, man. My image did some real dirty things. I just enjoyed the company of many women,” he replied.
Sergio sat down on the cot next to Gabe. Gabe tilted his head in the direction of the couple going at it on the cot in the corner. Sergio followed his gaze and laughed.
“I’ve learned that sometimes, when the image girls flirt with you, you might as well go along with it. They’re wild,” Sergio said.
Ty set a backpack down on the cot across from them and plopped down. “Yeah,” he added. “That’s if you don’t catch somethin’ that’ll make your dick fall off.”
They all laughed, but then Gabe stopped abruptly. His attention was drawn to the door of the Nest.
Lisa stood at the entrance. She looked like a lost, innocent angel who’d been corrupted by the insane world around her. Her hair had fallen down to her shoulders and her glasses were slightly bent and crooked on her face. She looked so out of place in the dirty environment, as if her body had been superimposed over the dreary landscape. She moved forward a couple of steps, her feet sliding over the gravel ground.
When she discovered Gabe, her eyes fixed on him and didn’t waiver. She reached a hand up to her mouth and stifled the cry that wanted to escape her lips.
Gabe sat staring at her for a moment, admiring the beauty he’d missed all those years. Her creamy soft skin was soiled by the soot that drifted through the dark-side air. Something about the slight imperfection reminded him of Ivy, the darker and grittier of the two.
He felt guilty for sleeping with Ivy as if he’d cheated on a girl he hadn’t even dated. He wondered though if sleeping with a woman who was the exact mirror image of another was considered cheating. It wasn’t as if he’d known it wasn’t Lisa.
Lisa approached Gabe slowly as if skeptical of the reality of his presence. T-Nate, Sergio, and Ty all talked amongst themselves, not noticing Gabe’s distracted state. Their words were drowned out as he focused all of his attention entirely on her. As she neared, tears streamed down her face.
/> He stood up and walked towards her, meeting her halfway between the door and his cot.
“Is it true?” Lisa asked.
Oh, how sweet her voice sounded to him. It seemed like forever since he’d heard such a soothing sound.
“Lisa?” Gabe asked.
She bit at her bottom lip as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks. She scrunched up her face and Gabe felt his heart flutter. It was the real Lisa.
“Lisa, what are you doing here? You’re the sweetest, most innocent girl I’ve ever met. It’s what I’ve always loved…”
