The Children of Hypnos

sandma____________

This woman is the devil.

She—Juno, the Devil—holds the Sandman captive in her cages, both versions of him. He stares at himself across a grassy expanse. His other self still spills poison onto the ground, but he can't hurt anyone now. The collar is no longer on either of them, but these cages stop them from hurting themselves. Or anyone else.

The cottage stands nearby, and the lake, and the field of poppies, with the gray sky overhead. Nothing changes here, not the light or the weather. Juno comes by to talk to him sometimes but he can't hear what she's saying. It sounds like gibberish. She scowls at him. She pokes him with sticks, laughs at him, makes fun of his weakness.

Or maybe he only thought she was doing that. It's hard to tell—his imagination runs away with him. It gets so boring here in the cage. He's got enough room to stretch out, to stand up, to walk around a bit. To throw himself against the bars and yell, though that doesn't do any good. The louder he yells, the less Juno seems to react. Eventually she goes back inside and lets him rant.

He doesn't know how much time has passed. He doesn't see anyone except Juno and himself. He hates himself and he's pretty sure he mostly hates her.

Then something changes. He hears yelling from inside the cabin. Long, pealing cries of pain. Strings of curses he's sure he's heard before. The sound comes and goes, and the cycles of it last hours. He recognizes the voice before too long. It's her. It's Marcia.

She's in pain.

His heart picks up. He has to help her. But he can't get out. He needs to tell Juno that he has to help, but Juno doesn't come out again.

The cursing and cries of pain go on and on. As long as she's cursing, he's reassured. It's the crying out that feels like a stake being driven through his chest. Marcia never does that. She doesn't react to pain that way. Whatever pain she's in, it must be excruciating. He yells to be let out until his voice is hoarse. He yells until he realizes his other self is yelling to be let out, too, yelling the same things. The need to get to Marcia is so great, it has united both halves of himself, if only for a little while.

Then the crying stops, and a new crying starts. It's higher, sharper, and not Marcia's. This crying makes him retreat to the far corner of his cage.

Juno returns. She carries a small bundle in her arms, wrapped in a spring green blanket. She stands equidistant between his two cages and looks back and forth between both parts of himself, his waking form and his dream form.

"I've been busy," she said, "so I haven't had time to explain why you're here. I'm goin' to help you get...back in one piece, as it were. It'll take time, and it'll only work if you decide to do the work, understand? That doesn't make sense now, but it will. You might need some incentive to do the work, I know I did, so I've brought it to you." She lifted the bundle slightly. "This is the only time you'll get to see her for a while. If you do well, you'll see her more. But if I notice even a bit of violence—out of either one a' you!—you get your privileges revoked."

Neither one of his selves moved. Juno carefully shifted the blanket, revealing downy hair and round pink cheeks.

The Sandman—Klaus—the Sandman approached, pulled inexorably forward by the little swaddled human. Both parts of himself moved in tandem, like mirror images, both forgetting the other in their absolute focus on the baby.

The baby yawned. She yawned.

Sleeping peacefully, here in the Dream.

His daughter.

The End

Of the Hypnos State as We Knew It