When Night Comes

Chapter Eleven

There was a strange tug at my body but then I was not seeing the medical bay anymore, I was seeing a horror scene. Blood waterfalls, human bones for bridges and houses made of flesh. This must be what gingerbread men feel like.
"Where are we M'gann?" Bruce asked as he looked around.
"The edge of his mind." M'gann explained, "We need to travel through until we find the heart, that's where Dick should be."
"Another quick question." Wally cut in, "Why am I healed?"
"This isn't your real body." M'gann answered quickly, "The only injures you can see here are mental, not physical."
"This is horrible." We all looked over to Roy who was inspecting a patch of the river bank, "How did this happen?"
"Hello there." We all jumped at the new voice and found someone standing on the bridge.
No not someone, a Tiger. And they were the same size as us,
"Who the hell are you?" I asked as we all clumped together and the Tiger came forward.
"My name is Cheryl." She introduced herself, "I live here. Now what do you think you're doing here?"
"We're here to find Dick." Bruce answered for us, "Can you tell us where he is?"
"Of course I can." She replied with a purr, "Through the land of Flesh, take a right at the glass pit and 5km down the pit of doom. I can show you the way if you want."
"We would appreciate that very much." Megan stepped forward and the cat turned and began walking.
"I'm actually so glad you're here." She explained as we began walking, "This happens every now and again and it's absolutely horrible. The entire world just changes with a snap of your claws. The first time it happened I panicked the entire three weeks. I was starving, and then we went to far towards the forbidden tunnel and my brother was shot. A single bullet to the forehead and he was silenced forever. But eventually Dick manages to overpower the Talon, and the world comes back to normal. It's so beautiful normally, shame you had to catch it like this."
"Dick overpowers the Talon." I mused, "So you mean to say they're always fighting?"
"Oh yes. That's why no one lives down there anymore. Talon just showed up one day and they've been fighting ever since. The noise is terrible." Cheryl explained.
"How long is going to take to get there? I'm hungry." Wally moaned and a small chuckle escaped my lips.
"A couple days probably." Cheryl said, "If your hungry we can stop at a diner on the way. There should be a couple once we get into town."
"A couple days?!" I burst out.
"It's a large place, and unless you want to take the shortcut-"
"Why didn't you mention the shortcut earlier?" Bruce asked, pulling us all to a stop.
"Umm, well." She sat down, her paw rubbing the back of her neck, "The shortcut, its the forbidden tunnel."
"And how long would it take?" M'gann asked.
"I don't know. All we know is that it's a shortcut. No ones ever made it through there." She said, "Every now and then a grave soul with try, but they never return."
"But it is shorter?" I confirmed and she nodded.
"We'll take it." Wally said, "Lead us to the forbidden tunnel mighty escort."
"I'm not sure I should. You might die." Cheryl argued.
"These aren't our real bodies. We can't be hurt in here." Roy said.
"Yes, you can." Megan bit, "You get injured here, you could lose your mind."
"Thanks for telling us this earlier." He replied, turning slightly red.
"I didn't think you'd be throwing yourself head first into danger." She admitted.
"Look, we'll be fine. If it starts going south you can pull us out." Bruce said, "Can you please take us that way Cheryl?"
"If you wish, but I'm not going in there with you." She said and turned the other way.
We followed in silence, still being creeped out by the wired town, but now there were more creatures in it. Lions, Elephants, Peacocks, Donkeys and then people all with them.
"It's like a circus in here." I commented as we continued through the town and saw even more.
"It normally is." Cheryl answered with a nostalgic sigh, "Its beautiful, the acts are amazing. And the Graysons, I've never seen such beauty when they perform. But when they fall, it's horrifying."
He still watches them in his mind, and he still sees them fall. None of us had anything to say to that. But we didn't have time anyway, the tunnel suddenly appeared in front of us.
"Good luck." Cheryl said as she stopped at the door of the bridge, "And if you need to, no one will judge you for turning tails."
"Thank you Cheryl." Bruce spoke, "But you shouldn't be seeing us again." And he went over the bridge.
We all waved our goodbyes to the tiger and followed Bruce across to the mouth of the tunnel. The blackness was intimidating, and complete. I couldn't even make out the path in there or if it was just one large drop.
"Roy, could you send in a light?" Bruce asked and Roy quickly did.
And boy am I glad he did. Inside the cave was of creatures, Rats, Bats. You name, I probably saw it.
"Watch your step." Was all Bruce said as he headed into the cave, cracking a glow stick so we could see.
I did the same and followed him in, behind Wally and in front of Miss M who was hovering through. The ground didn't feel overly stable, swaying side to side as if we were on a bridge instead of on a stone. In stone. There was a scuttling behind us and I jumped straight into Wally.
"Sorry." I muttered but he just put his arm around me as we continued to walk.