When He Calls (Moons of Nibiru - Book #1)

chpt - 20: the comfort of darkness

ELLE OPENED HER EYES. SHE FELT exhausted and sponged of energy, like she was a washcloth twisted to release water. Her eyelids were ready to fall back shut. She felt her muscles tightening as she pushed herself up. The water she lay in dripped from her clothes and hair. It was rancid and made her pull an expression of disgust.

Elle gazed around her to see where she was, and the only conclusion she could come up with was that she was standing in a giant empty space with four large walls surrounding her. A hole was at her far left that led to the rest of the sewerage tunnels.

Stumbling a bit, Elle walked further, but tripped over her own feet and fell back on the wet ground. She gazed at her reflection in the dark water and saw her cheek was cut where blood dripped from.

Sighing, Elle got ready to stand up, but stopped when she saw a bright circle reflecting in the water. She gazed above her and gasped when she saw a giant hole far above her where light was shining through.

She crawled carefully and was now underneath the massive hole. When she looked up and concentrated on the hole, she had no choice but to squint her eyes to make sure she was seeing what her eyes were showing her.

Black and white stripes spiralled far above this hole that looked more like one big tunnel. When she really saw what it was, she realized she was right underneath one of the circus tents; the only circus tent in Marbel.

Shielding her eyes from the light with her hand, she looked carefully and saw an approaching figure floating down from above and towards her. At first she thought maybe it was a parachute with an object attached to it. But when the floating object came down even faster and she could clearly see what it was, she started to move backwards as she felt her heart leaping out of her chest.

It was him — the jester —and he smiled down at her. The jester was floating down towards her with about two-hundred helium-filled black and white balloons all tied together with string.

"Hiya Elle." the jester giggled as he floated towards her, his legs moving back and forth like he was doing jumping-jacks. He wore the traditional costume of the jester: a motley coat, tight breeches and a cap'n'bells over his head, all tied together with a capelet and pointy shoes: all of which were black and white.

Terrified, Elle turned and ran, her quivering legs struggling to keep her from falling headfirst into the ground. Her shoes splashed in the water as she hurried to the exit that led to the tunnels, her only way to safety, but she didn't even come five feet of the exit when invisible hands wrapped around her legs and pulled her to the ground. Muddy handprints were left behind on her clothes and moved towards her chest. As Elle realized they were children's handprints, childlike laughter roared in her ears and the sour smell of fish penetrated her nostrils.

She was screaming and squirming as the grip of the invisible hands got stronger and she was suddenly pulled up off the ground and lifted up in a standing position. The invisible hands spun her around and she had her face right in front of the jester's, who was still floating a few feet in the air and bending himself to have his face in Elle's.

His mouth was in the shape of an upside-down frown, like in cartoons.

"Why do you run from me?" asked the jester. "Why do you run from your fates? No — why do you run from Heaven?"

Elle squirmed to release herself, but the grip of the invisible hands seemed to tighten with every resistance she made. Her body filled with uncomfortable heat, her heart raced too fast, her lungs felt heavy, and soon she would pass out.