Chapter Text
Usually, they didn’t feel like that. The language in which the Universe spoke rarely was that clear. It had only two ways to inform him of its desires. The most annoying was the feelings. They were cryptic, and the most impossible thing he’d ever experienced. They usually were a warm sensation when something was right, a cold one when things were wrong, and multiple other ways to tell him where to go, what to do and who to talk to. Of course for their several interpretations they weren’t always the most helpful. The others, were the signs. Symbols written in a language only people like Dirk could understand―and sometimes, only Dirk. They were displayed in front of him as numbers, or letters from a dead tongue, that only his eyes could see and read almost-perfectly. Those were the pleasant ones, and unluckily, the ones he had the least.
But this… this was nothing he’d ever felt or seen. This time, there was no guessing, no interpretation. Four words. As simple as that, and yet, way more terrifying than his worst nightmares. Like a memory, the juxtaposition of those four words showed up burning under his eyelids in the darkness of his sleep. Four words that incited an acute pain in his chest that soon got to his throat.
“I’M COMING FOR YOU”
And then he was awake, torn away from his dreams by the panic that started to rose up inside him. He couldn’t breathe, the air stuck in his throat as he desperately tried to push it down. “I’m coming for you”. His hands were shaking in a way that he couldn’t feel them, even as he dragged them over this neck to try to breathe. He was drowning. “I’m coming for you”. His chest ached, it ached too much. It felt like burning, as if a fire had destroyed his lungs and that was the reason the air wouldn’t go in. Shadows threatened to shallow him in the already dark room, and he couldn’t see. He wanted to run, he wanted to escape, but deep down he knew that it was impossible to run away from the Universe. “I’m coming for you”.
Suddenly, he heard his door fly open, and two steadier hands ran over his body. They ended up in his own hands, trying to calm him down as the owner of the hands said some words.
“Hey, Dirk, it’s alright, you’re alright man.”
Todd’s voice sent a wave of freshness through his body, but he couldn’t stop. They were going to find him. They were probably already there. They were going to get him. Todd took a tight grip in both of his arms to steady them and forced Dirk to look right into his eyes. They were pretty awake.
“Hey. Dirk! They’re not here. Whatever it is, it’s, not here. It’s not real. I promise. Is just a nightmare!”
He nodded, eyes still itching and open wide. His breath was uneven, but at still he could breathe. However, the presence of another person made it easier to deal with the panic, which had started to calm down. Todd pulled him in for a hug and whispered some comfort words to him. Dirk clenched his trembling hands on Todd’s t-shirt. He was crying. He closed his eyes, letting him get dragged by Todd’s words in his ear.
Eventually, the shaking stopped for the most part, and his lungs worked acceptably. Dirk let go of Todd, sitting on the left side of his bed as he ran his quivering hands across his face. He took a few minutes to fully recover from the attack. In that time, Todd had gone to turn on the light and went back to sitting next to him, giving Dirk the space needed but close enough to offer comfort if required. Things started to fall into place as the image of his bedroom offered him some sort of control over the situation. They sat in silence, waiting for the right time to speak.
Dirk licked his lips and opened his mouth to talk, failing miserably.
“Take your time,” Todd said. Being out of danger now, more relaxed, he noticed the huskiness in his voice. It probably was because of the sleep.
Dirk gulped and let the quiet words out, “Sorry for waking you up.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Todd smirked at his side and pushed Dirk’s leg with his.
They stayed like that, Dirk feeling more relaxed every second. Todd, expectant.
“So,” he carefully said, “you wanna talk about it?”
“It was just a dream,” he shook his head.
“Well, of course idiot. But it wasn’t, well, ‘just a dream’,” he said, using air-quotes in the last three words. “So, was it a Blackwing nightmare, or a Universe nightmare?”
Dirk felt how the shadows wanted to take control of his head again.
“I-I don’t really, want to, talk. Not now, at least.”
Todd sighed. Dirk didn’t want to disappoint his best friend, but if he tried to express what he saw, he didn’t know how that would turn out. Surely not good. But Todd didn’t look upset either, just tired.
“Okay, good, I’m not really awake to help either.” He saw him glance at the clock by his bed. “Besides, it’s like six in the morning, so it’s already late to go to sleep.”
They had to go to the agency at seven, and Dirk silently agreed one hour of sleep wasn’t going to do any miracle. And going back to the darkness of his room wasn’t so comfortable either.
“I have an idea,” Todd said, standing from the bed and stretching his arms. “Why don’t I go and make us breakfast and you go pick a movie?”
“Really?” he frowned. Todd rarely let him choose on that. Something about him not being so educated in pop culture.
“Yeah, I need my coffee so bad I don’t care if you choose another Disney movie.”
Dirk didn’t have the energy to tell him they were pieces of art. Instead, he stood up and went straight to the living room, where Mona was waiting for him in the shape of a fluffy blue blanket.
When they finally established the Detective Agency, they decided to use the rest of the money to rent new flats nearer to the building, since Todd’s place was inhabitable because of the Rowdy 3 and Farah’s was too far. To not spend all the money, Dirk and Todd decided to share one while Farah rented another on the floor above them. In result, Mona had moved with them, becoming a part of their furniture, decoration and sometimes even clothes. Dirk often thought she was the psychic one, as every shape she had was exactly what they needed at that moment.
When Todd finally sat down at the other end of the couch, he handed him his cup of tea while he himself drank his own mug of coffee. Now, Dirk felt how the tightness inside his chest started to disappear, but he knew it wouldn’t last that long.
In fact, when they arrived at the agency an hour later, the sole thought of telling Farah about it made his hands start to tremble again. Luckily, Todd had noticed this and decided to take the subject in his own hands. As soon as they arrived at the building, he informed Farah about the situation.
Dirk tried to explain very carefully what he had seen. For the record, he did it without hyperventilating, so it was a victory in some way. Both Todd and Farah remained silent after he finished, which left him with a bit of anxiety by the look they shared.
“Look, I don’t even know what it means,” Dirk tried to dissipate the tension in the air. “It probably isn’t what we think.”
“Do you realize you woke up screaming, right?” Todd reminded him.
“Well, if you put it that way…”
“And you were crying. Dirk, is not like it meant nothing. It has to have some meaning.”
He nodded defeated. He understood that his reaction wasn’t really helping him right now, but he wanted it so desperately to be just another bad night. His hunches never felt like this, not even other dreams. They were less… painful.
Farah, who had stayed quiet until now, started to pace in between the desks. Dirk noticed she was in the middle of what he called ‘the planning stage’. By the frown on the face and the look in her eyes, it was evident her brain was working on some strategy.
“Well, it’s more than clear this is a holistic thing, right? So… maybe it is a case?”
“Definitely not,” he shook his head. “This felt different from other times. Way more violent.”
“If it’s not a case, could it be…?” Farah left the words in the air, letting them all fill the gap in their minds. Blackwing. But Dirk said it was impossible, no one there had that kind of power, not even the other projects. It could only be a message right from the Universe.
And Dirk was scared of it.
“In all seriousness, Dirk, don’t you think this deserves at least one try?” Todd insisted. “Who knows, maybe this time we find something valuable to the job.”
“What do you mean? The work is going perfectly fine.”
“Yeah, tell it to our client. Oh, wait,” he raised a finger, “we don’t have one.”
Dirk thought the sassy tone was excessive, but Todd was right. Sadly, things weren’t as great as he thought they would be. The CIA had covered every proof of the cases they solved―with awesome efficiency, he may say―because they could make people aware of things they shouldn’t be aware of, so any recognition Dirk could’ve had disappeared with them. Stupid government and their tries to ruin his life. That added to the incredulity of the people about his holistic methods didn’t really help with the business.
Now, a year after the Cardenas case, they were trying to survive with minor cases and part-time jobs. The last part didn’t work out very well for Dirk though. He tried something simple as a flower shop but apparently even that was too much for him. And after the accident with the bees and the dog… he wasn’t so enthusiastic to try that again. So he would take care of the detective work while his two other friends earned money in the traditional way.
“The thing is… it wasn’t like a hunch. Something tells me this is a pretty bad idea, and if my presentiments are right, which they generally are, all this could end up horrible both for me and for a considerable number of people who should not be involved. The Universe is never kind, it doesn’t help me. I don’t have a single idea of what bloody threat is coming after me, but what I do know is it’s not something I would be glad to find on purpose.”
“Well, I guess that is important too,” Todd stood by his side, “but are you still going to ignore it?”
“You know what happened the last time we tried that,” Farah followed cautiously to not startle him. They knew Dirk could get nervous pretty quickly if he felt overwhelmed. “Even if Bergsberg was good, I would like to have a little more of preparation this time.”
Dirk slowly blew the air through his nose, his hands clenching by his sides, “You don’t understand what is on risk.”
“There’s nothing on risk,” Todd frowned with a reassuring smile. He turned to Farah, seeking for her support. She nodded instantly. “You know we’re not going anywhere, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“You’re right,” he suddenly stood up from where he was comfortably leaning on, pointing at both of his friends with his eyes open in a mix of fear and anxiousness. “you’re not leaving. But since when do we choose where we stay? You said it Farah, our last case is the perfect proof: The world does not care about us. At all.” His breathing was getting a little fast. He closed his eyes to control it. “I’ve already been in this situation. Thousands of times. The people that had left me before, didn’t always do so because they wanted to. Some of them ran away, others were kidnapped. Others just… died. I-I don’t want that to happen again. Not to you.” Dirk gulped nervous, his voice grazing the desperation, “What if Farah steps into a bomb and explodes all over the place? Or if someone grabs Mona and takes her far away from us? What if Todd’s eaten by a radioactive Unicorn?”
“Okay, I don’t see how that’s possible-”
“I don’t care if it’s possible or not. I’m not going to risk you in that way. I’m going to protect you like I…” he trailed off, falling on the office’s couch they had bought for possible midnight naps in between cases. “Like I couldn’t before.”
Dirk closed his eyes, already feeling the weight of his consciousness hanging from his shoulders. Dreams were usually more than just dreams, and Dirk knew that pretty well, but as for the magical part they carried, they stayed inside his head as well as the rest of the hunches, except these were heavier. It felt overwhelming.
The couch sank a little at his side. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Todd sitting there, his mouth hanging open, as if he looked for the appropriate words to say. Farah was crouched in front of him, her hand hovering near his knee in a reassurance gesture.
“Look,” Todd began, “we understand. What you are feeling is totally valid. But, this thing needs to be solved. We can’t just ignore it.”
“Yes, but-” he sighed.
“But nothing. There’s nothing you should worry about.” Todd smirked. “We’ve already traveled in time, man, remember?”
Dirk snorted. Of course he remembered that. It was one of his best cases in his professional history, after all. And the time he got his first friends. His family.
“How couldn’t I remember? It was one of the most killy experiences in my whole life.”
“And electric,” Todd added.
“Definitely electric.”
Farah was looking at them with a small smile in her lips.
“And then we went to another dimension,” his friend followed. His teeth were visible now. “Where we fought against an evil queen.”
“Oh! And don’t forget about the Purple People Eater!” Dirk had an equal grin.
“How is that I always miss the fun you two have?” Farah complained. “It’s as if you wanted to keep it all to yourselves!”
He let himself laugh along with them.
“We’ve gone to some pretty rad shit. We’ll be okay. All of us,” Todd reassured, stressing the last words. “We just have to take control, am I right?”
For someone who didn’t know how to manage his own feelings, Todd could read Dirk’s so easily. It could be all the time they spent together or maybe he was too obvious, but despite how much Dirk tried to hide behind a cheerful attitude, Todd never bought any of his crap. Most of the times, Dirk was grateful for that. It was good to have a hand to help you out when you were in the middle of a struggle.
He was about to answer when something rang over his silence.
A bell.
They looked at each other with similar frowns. Who could be there that early? It wasn’t likely to be a new client.
“If it’s another missing cat case you owe me five bucks,” Todd reminded him as they rushed to the main entrance of their building.
Dirk didn’t think the person on the door was another elderly woman looking for her Mr. Smittens. He had the feeling it was important, and as they approached the door the known tickling he usually associated with his hunches only grew more and more inside his gut. Maybe it was an aliens case. Or a Greek God. Or a giant robot!
But it wasn’t any of that. Dirk found a deep disappointment when, after reaching the principal door, the figure of the mailman stood confused in front of them. An irritated sigh left his lips.
“Uhmmm,” the young man hesitated, “does any Dirk Gently live here? I saw the sign outside and I thought…”
“What for?” Farah questioned with a serious tone.
“Well, there’s a letter for him.”
“Oh, I’m Dirk Gently!” he announced, with renovated energy as he left his hunches aside to claim his mail.
Behind him, Farah and Todd shared a suspicious look. Dirk didn’t know too many people, and every person he got a relationship with either had his number or were in that room. After signing the documents and once they were alone, they proceeded to open the envelope. And it was right there when Dirk knew it was especial. At the very moment his fingers got in touch with the paper, he noticed how old it was. It certainly wasn’t fresh from the post office, as the yellow material almost broke at the contact. When Dirk broke the blue wax seal stamp, which only helped to increase the stipulated age, two papers fell to the floor. He picked up the smaller one. It was a postcard. In the front Dirk saw the image of a snowy landscape, full of mountains and people having an apparently amazing time skiing. He personally couldn’t enjoy the enthusiasm. The sign in wood at the bottom of the picture read ‘Welcome to Wombourne!’. In the back, a messy handwriting left a perfectly clear message for him: ‘Please! Eastern Sun! Help!”
A smile spread over his lips at the sight of such words. This was exactly what he was talking about. He looked up to Farah and Todd, whose attention was focused on the larger piece of paper, from where the picture of a woman smiled back at them. When Dirk got closer to get a better view, something ringed inside his head at her sight. She was definitely younger than hem, but older than Amanda. The middle-length wavy hair reminded Dirk of a lion’s mane, and as well as the animal, the fierceness in her look screamed danger. Even with the smile she offered, her face had ‘DANGER’ written all over it, in capital letters.
“Hmm…” Dirk pursed his lips, “I think this is proof enough.”
“Proof for what?” Farah asked once she lifted her gaze from the picture.
“It’s kind of obvious, don’t you think?” he mocked as he folded the postcard and kept it in his pocket. “We’ve got a case!”
“But the Universe…” Todd began, soon interrupted by Dirk’s overexcited voice.
“The Universe has spoken and it clearly wants us to go to Wormborn.”
“Wombourne,” Farah corrected.
“What did I say?”
“So, what, are we dropping the whole dream thing now?” Todd crossed his arms over his chest.
“Well, it seems as if something more important showed up, don’t you think?
“More than the Universe directly speaking to you?” Todd frowned. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Wait, no, I think he’s right.”
Both of them turned to look at Farah.
“Are you really considering this?” Todd raised an eyebrow in her direction, but Farah wasn’t getting any of it. Dirk approved that.
“We just have to take the case. The Agency haven’t had one since, well, The Cardenas. And if you feel it too stressful, try thinking about it as umm… a relax trip,” Farah shrugged. “Like, as in a holiday.”
“You’re suggesting that we should be going to the Bahamas to avoid the Universe’s will?” Todd seemed more and more exasperated with every second.
“Well, clearly the picture in the postcard is not the Bahamas, Todd.”
Dirk slapped his head with the small paper, getting an annoyed look in return.
“C’mon, what else do we have to lose?” Farah tried to convince him.
Dirk waited expectantly for his answer. Farah was raising her eyebrows. Todd closed his eyes and gave a deep sigh.
“Fine,” he said raising his hands in self-defense. “But at least pick a good motel this time.”
The sound of the keyboard was starting to break his mind. The green codes on the black screen before him were probably already tattooed in his eyelids. It wasn’t the first time Ken had pulled an all-nighter trying to finally crack the code behind the possible other universes that hid under pocket dimensions. He ran a hand through his face, trying to take all the tiredness from his mind with one move.
After the sixth “CODE_ERROR” appeared in the computer, he finally gave up, clenching his fists in the attempt to avoid throwing the monitor away in an anger impulse. Ken inhaled deeply and let the air go slowly through his mouth, as his head ended resting on his right hand. This situation was driving him crazy, all the expectations Wilson had left on his shoulders weighting like two tons on his back.
The reality was, things had gone quite well for Ken Adams. After cleaning all the disaster the knights had left in the facility, the director of Blackwing named him the new Supervisor, filling up the place Friedkin left after his sudden, well, death. He convinced her that the new orientation of the program in the discovery of new worlds that blend with ours would be the best idea, since the initial project about holding the Universe’s creations hadn’t displayed in the best way under any mandatory. But, after that, it all got out of his hands. The investigations were leading nowhere, the scientists haven’t come up with a good result since the first days of analysis to the new metals, and the time was running out since Wilson started to dislike his made up excuses.
Long story short, he was fucked up.
The only hope he had left was his informatics abilities, but evidently, even that wasn’t enough to help him get his career back in track. He was starting to consider the chance to run away to Alaska to avoid the Director’s accusatory look when someone knocked on his door.
“Um, Supervisor Adams?” The head of the Lieutenant came into view shyly from the entry. His nervous eyes darted around the room, proving he lack of recent movement by its occupant. “Your presence is required.”
“Haven’t I specifically asked you to say I couldn’t be bothered?” he didn’t even look at him.
“Well, yes, in fact, you did, which is exactly what I’ve done, but, this is different,” he took some air before continuing. “It’s not someone from the staff who calls you.”
“Who then?”
“A Project, Sir,” the Lieutenant gulped. “Project Marzanna.”
Ken froze immediately at the name. He turned slowly, frowning at the fidgeting man in the door. He took his time to let the words out, intending to phrase each of them in the most careful way.
“What do you mean,” he stood up as the sentence went on, “when you say project Marzanna requires me?”
“Oh, well, she had, um… she may have expressed her desire to talk, to you, about a pretty urgent matter,” the dark hair at the top of his head wobbled with the several nods he gave him.
As soon as he finished Ken got to the door, without forgetting his access card, and walked right into the projects area. The first time he saw Marzanna after they part their ways was when she appeared, out of nowhere and covered in blood, in the researchers room where Ken had been helping. She just popped up in there, scaring the shit out of one of their researchers. She had smiled at him and attempted to approach him. But Ken knew better. After reading the files, where he fully understood what people like her were, he couldn’t keep playing around with his supposed friend. He talked with her until she accepted to be part of the program in the position she deserved: as another project. She even had communicated him the Universe desires of her to kill him, which only gave him more excuses to kept her locked up.
Now, as the so-satisfactory click gave him permission, he rushed through her room’s doors until Marzanna was just in front of him. She was sat in her comfortable position, looking at him from below and in complete silence, as if she hadn’t just asked for his presence as an urgent need.
“Hey Ken,” she greeted, barely lifting her head. “I finally can see you ‘round here.”
“Project Marzanna,” he answered, taking the seat in front of her with extreme professionalism. She didn’t seem to have liked that, as her eyebrows drew together. “You called, I’m here. What’s the so-desperate matter you need to discuss?”
Ken always tried to maintain a somewhat cold relationship with all the subjects. If there was something both Riggins and Friedkin had messed it up was in the way they approached them, being so close to the projects have made them vulnerable to them, so he wasn’t going to make the same mistake.
Marzanna pinched the skin around her nails as she began to talk, “Well, I remember you told me the first day here I should tell you if something happened, y’know, out there.”
“Is that why you called me?” Ken felt his shoulders fell in disappointment. “The Universe wants you to kill someone?”
“Well, it still hasn’t stopped screaming about you. But no,” she shook her head, “it’s not about that. It talked to me.”
His mouth went dry at that moment, as he leaned on the table, not really caring about how easily Marzanna could end him right there if she wanted.
“You must be more specific,” he whispered. The conversation was getting somewhere, he could feel it. Maybe, right where he needed it to be. “What did the Universe told you?”
“I think,” she stared at the ground before lifting her gaze up again, “it was a message for you. It didn’t feel like something aimed at me.”
“Right, Bart,” he sighed while closing his eyes. The formalism could go to hell now. “And what did it say?”
“It said ‘I’m coming for you’,” she explained, her eyes full of questions. “What does that mean, Ken? Why is the Universe trying to get to you?”
He didn’t know. He was speechless, but not because of the threatening words. The Cosmos, the huge force that dictated their destinies and entire lives, communicated straightaway with one of their subjects. That… that was something. They had a direct line with the Universe, and damned him if he wasn’t going to take advantage on that.
“Look, Bart, I need you to listen carefully to what I’m going to say, okay?” She nodded. “Right, this is what’s going to happen. Forget about the message. It isn’t important. But, I’m going to talk to one of the important guys over there to take you to a better room so we can talk about this,” he moved his hands between them, “in a much better way. What do you think?”
Marzanna kept staring at him, with a frown in her face. For a moment Ken feared she was going to decline the offer, but he was soon greeted with a nod. He let out a sight of dissimulated relief and stood up while fixing his suit to go back to his computer, where he could easily start investigating about the matter. But when he was at the door, he was stopped by Bart’s voice.
“But why do you think it said that?”
“I don’t know,” he licked his lips. “What do you think?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know Ken… it didn’t sound nice while it said so. I think,” her look was dead serious, “the Universe has made lots of mistakes. And now it wants to correct them all.”
With his lips pursed, Ken passed his access card and rushed to his office. He didn’t have time for Universe bullshit. Still in her place, Bart frowned deeper as the lights started to turn off one by one. The feeling she got bolting inside her chest wasn’t nice at all. And she knew sooner or later, it was going to explode.
Howls, Screams, Chaos. Amanda could feel all of that while her eyes were closed. Waves of pain flowing from her brain to her hands, where it morphed into a blue light radiating from the wooden wand. Her eyes behind the eyelids looking for a specific presence in the world. But her searching got interrupted when the same force she was using made her go back to the real world. Like a shock of electricity―and she knew how those felt―her body retreated a few steps and the wand fell to the ground. The Rowdies stopped their particular cheering, Beast even put a sad expression on her face.
“Nothing, it gets harder every time.” She hit the ground in anger.
After waking up to unusual movement, Amanda heard the boys speak about a Universe threat. The fabric of reality was getting every time closer to a rupture, and she was nowhere near her objective.
She picked up the wand from the floor, looking at it with a grimace of disgust. Since their comeback from Wendimoor, her search for holistic people wasn’t going how she expected. Although she had magic in her side, it wasn’t really helpful to find the Universe’s tools. The wand only worked as a way to express her powers, just as the pool in the magical land, giving her visions that fed of her pain. Without a proper control, it was kind of useless. The images in her brain after every try weren’t clear at all, just blue fog clouding her inner sight. Amanda wanted to break something.
Beast approached her and put a hand on her hair.
“Mandah hasa sad?” she pouted.
Amanda sighed. The Rowdies always got worried for her after her unsuccessful tries. It was true that maybe she had too many expectations, but not getting results was starting to make her hate the Universe a little more than she did before.
“Have you seen anything in your visions Drummer?”
Vogel’s eyes were wide as dishes. With all the time they’ve spent trying to find the rest of the boys the last year, he self-proclaimed himself the guardian of Amanda’s visions. He could understand them a lot better than the others. Amanda gave him a little shake with her head.
“I can’t get closer to them. It feels like there’s some kind of… barrier, impeding me to get there.”
“We could break the barrier if you want.” Gripps raised his bat. Cross took some bricks in his hands and Beast jumped with them.
Amanda smiled at the offer.
“Is there a way we could help with that?” Martin crossed his arms over his chest.
“Maybe… I could use your power to go a little deeper.”
When the Wendimoor methods didn’t help her, the Rowdies abilities were the only thing Amanda could rely on. Like every other time, they gathered around her, waiting for her order to feed. What was different, though was that this time she was holding the wand as well. After a deep breath, she nodded. Her shrieks could be heard as the blue light emanated from her body.
White walls, lights flickering. A hand taking the bars of a cell. Several metal doors closing one after the other. A flash of light brown hair. A man coming on fire, screaming in agony. Crying. More screams, specifically from a girl. A particular sign, with the name of a city in it. A rock.
Amanda gasped and fell to her knees. Her friends approached her to seek the damage. She was staring at her hands, with the wand on the floor. And laughing. Martin tried to hold Beast from going to her. Gripps and Cross exchanged a concerned look between them. Was she possibly going nuts?
Vogel failed to talk two times before asking “Er, boss… is everything okay? Have you seen something in your little brain?”
Amanda sighed, relieved.
“Yes, Vogel,” she beamed. Her words were almost a whisper. “I know where to go.”
The guys cheered in excitement. Martin offered her a hand to get up, and she took it more than happy. Finally, a lead to follow. Amanda went to the van and opened the doors.
“Get in there, guys. We’ve got to find some psychics out there.”
The guys roared as they followed her orders, Vogel even bumped her fist with hers in his way.
They were back to the game.
Nothing.
Complete emptiness surrounded him. It’s been quite a while since he actually felt something. When the void swallowed him, his spiritual form had detached from his body, sending him to the place where the real magic happened. All the secrets in the long Cosmos existence were revealed to him.
He’d felt… powerful.
But now, the Universe was in danger. It was suffering. It screamed to the void, asking for help, pleading for someone who could save it. It destroyed him to see how even the strongest threads were fighting to stay together.
The reality was falling apart.
He could see the threat in the real world. Moving, conspiring against existence without being aware of it. And he was the only one who noticed. It was reasonable, then, that he was the only one who could end it.
So he screamed. He screamed so loud that everyone capable of hearing him would catch his words. He was going for them. Every. Single. One.
This time, he was going to be the hero.
Behind the window, in the rocky landscape they were traversing, Todd began to make out some glimpses of snow intruding into the earth. A little smile found its way to his lips. Todd always preferred the cold wintery weather to the sunny and hot days. He liked activities that involved snow, hot drinks, or soft blankets on his shoulders as he watched a TV show on his sofa. So when the postcard’s place turned out to be a small town in the middle of the mountains, he couldn’t hide his happiness.
He tried to turn up the music―the songs on the radio weren’t that bad today―but Farah took his hand before he could even touch the knob and pointed with her head to the backseat. There, Dirk was lying asleep with his head against the window. His chest was peacefully going up and down, and Todd could only think of how much the detective deserved some time of nightmares-deprived sleep.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he looked at her, her eyes back to the road.
“You always do.”
She smiled, but it didn’t last so long.
“I am worried about him too. Yesterday…he didn’t seem like him.”
“I know… if you’d just heard him, Farah,” he shook his head, remembering how Dirk had screamed, waking him up and scaring him in the process.
Yelling his name.
He gave his best friend another look. His face was relaxed, and his body was curled up against the door. It was like seeing a big puppy.
“Do you think your plan is going to work?”
“Well, I hope so? Dirk has this ability to always find trouble. And you know it’ll be better if we look for it instead of run from it. At least in this way, we know what is coming.”
After convincing him of the idea, Farah explained to him the real reason behind her quick acceptance of the matter. In theory, Farah was just as convinced as him that the threat Dirk got was indeed worthy to keep in mind. They also knew that Dirk wasn’t going to jump into it with that ease. But every time they avoided the reality of the situation, the team ended up being dragged into it without skipping a beat, their last case was the perfect proof. When things took them by surprise, they didn’t develop in the best way. And people got hurt. Dirk hated when people got hurt. So this time, they wanted to do exactly the opposite: go right to the danger. They decided to let Dirk’s holisticness guide them from their first point: Wombourne, an unknown place for the three of them.
Todd didn’t know what to expect.
“Do we know what is coming though?”
“No, but… we are gonna find out soon.”
The town in question was much better than he imagined. In a village style that left him quite impressed, the streets were all covered in wood. From the signs with the street’s names to those announcing the centre shops, all of them were made from tree trunks. The pavement was covered with a thick layer of snow that reminded Todd of family trips back in his home-town. The people seemed to enjoy the cold, as it didn’t stop them from going out. He saw couples walking down the streets, hand in hand with the other; groups of friends laughing with beers in their hands; children with their parents playing in a square. All under the white light of what he felt as a Christmas atmosphere.
Dirk, who had awoken a few hours ago, was looking through the window with wide eyes, trying to get a view of everything in the outside. Todd had to admit that Wombourne gave him a peace sensation Seattle didn’t offer, and as soon as he gave a look at Farah, he saw it reflected in her eyes too.
The motel where they were staying in the outskirts of the town wasn’t so big. It had the same vibe of an enchanted wood as the rest of the village. Being in the middle of the trees, it raised with its walls made out of logs with a warm image. When Farah and him were inside, after picking their luggage, they entered to the hall, and found a red tapestry covering the walls, which would've given him the sensation of royalty if it didn't have holes with humidity stains in it. In the middle, there were tables and chairs made of dark wood, old enough to make him wonder if they would break in case someone sat in them. Some libraries completed the look, made of the same wood as the other furniture, filled with books that didn't give the image of being new. In fact, they seemed to have never been opened, with the only purpose of decoration.
Well, to be fair, it was an excellent start.
An old woman went to receive them, walking with a slight limp and open arms. Her brown eyes, with the same kind shine as her grin that reminded him of her grandmother, were framed by a short grey hair that in other times could’ve been of a light blonde shade. Her clothes, Todd noticed, tried to recreate the same style intended for the room, but considering the actual hall’s state, she seemed to outstand a bit too much. It reminded him of someone who stood up from his background as well. But, it matched her attitude perfectly, with too much energy for someone her age.
“Welcome, welcome! How was the trip?”
“It was more than great, Mrs. Denver,” Farah answered with the best smile she could offer.
“Did you enjoy the view?” the woman asked as she directed them to the reception desk. “I heard it’s been full of snow.”
“It was really pretty,” he resumed the chat, doing the small talk his friend surely didn’t want to do.
There was too much silence, though. A very talkative voice was missing there.
“I’m glad you liked it,” she smiled again while checking the computer. “So, it was two rooms right?”
Todd couldn’t stop looking at the door. Where did Dirk go?
“Uhm, there must be a mistake.” A frown took place in Farah’s face. “I’m pretty sure we said three rooms.
“Hmm, yeah, so it says the machine.” Mrs. Denver nodded as her fingers typed something else in the computer. “You’ll have to excuse me, Dona is the one who manages this stuff. Besides, I thought you two would’ve wanted a room for yourselves so, my mistake!”
“Wait, what?” Todd turned back at lightning speed, already feeling his cheeks warm up.
Farah stuttered, asking for an explanation, to which the woman only laughed.
“I’m sorry, sweethearts. You’re just not the first couple that comes to this place and I thought…”
“Uh, no, friends, we’re just…”
“Great friends. Amazing, in fact.”
Did they really give that vibe? Todd hoped it was only in the lady’s mind. Things with Farah had been… odd, since Wendimoor. He definitely had had a small crush—really small, not creepy at all as Amanda likes to say—with her, one that lasted longer than necessary, he had to admit. But while they were in the run, looking for Dirk under every rock they could find, they gave each other a chance.
As Farah told them in the Sound of Nothing, that night they kissed she had discovered a lot about her personality. First of all, that she was definitely one of the freaks. Second, that she didn’t like boys that much.
As bad as it was being the sexual awakening of someone, Todd had ended up accepting it, and they were in a very stable friendship at the moment with no surprises. But any time the subject was brought up (mostly by Dirk) both looked for an excuse to avoid the topic.
“Well, but you looked too cute I may say.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Farah was clearly struggling through that sentence, “But we’re definitely not a thing.”
“Yes, not together.”
He was going to keep going with his excuse when a sudden noise called his attention. On the door, Dirk appeared talking something about the snow piled outside, holding his luggage in one hand and a fluffy ball of white fur in the other.
Todd shook his head and threw him a confused look.
“Dirk,” he interrupted him, “how the hell did you get a rabbit?”
“Oh, this?” he pointed at the animal in his hand. “Pfft, it’s obviously Mona, Todd. Keep track of your friends.”
“That’s Mona?” Farah inquired. Her eyebrows were almost touching now.
“It’s adorable, isn’t it?” He suddenly noticed Mrs. Denver's presence. He passed the rabbit to Todd, who gave him a really serious―or at least he tried to make it seem like he was being serious―annoyed look, as the detective reached a hand in her direction, “Hi, I’m Dirk Gently.”
She had a lopsided smile, staring from Dirk to Todd and the little animal in his arms. That's it, he thought. The start of their trip was already weird. But the elder lady didn't seem so surprised about them, as she shook Dirk's hand with a curious look in her eyes.
“I’m Mrs. Denver, the owner of the motel.”
“Oh, you own this lovely place? Let me tell you, it looks wonderful surrounded by the snow, you should make it a whole-year thing,” he nodded decided.
“Dirk, that’s physically impossible, it would melt in summer,” Farah reminded him.
“Then she could use a non-melting snow,” he said matter-of-factly.
Todd opened his mouth to say how such thing didn’t exist or to ask what kind of snow they had on England, but he was interrupted by Mrs. Denver laugh.
“All of you are really funny!” she exclaimed trying to calm her breathing, “Come here, I’ll show you your rooms.”
Mrs. Denver headed the way, and Dirk followed her right behind after giving him two thumbs up. Todd turned to Farah, who shrugged with an amused smile.
“Don’t look at me, you’re his best friend.”
Todd rolled his eyes and followed the detective.
Apparently, the rest of the motel was in the same conditions as the hall, helped by the poor lightening in the hallway that led to the bedrooms. All the doors were of the same light brown wood, differentiated by the furniture in all the residence. Luckily they had little signs to identify one from the other, because Todd thought he would get lost without them. But Dirk seemed to have another idea. As they passed through another set of rooms, he stopped in front of a particular door. They wouldn’t have noticed if it wasn’t for his sudden question.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your fantastic story, Mrs. Denver but… did something happen to this room?”
To be fair with him, there could be some differences. Although it seemed to be an identical copy of all the others, this door seemed to have a lot more use than the ones beside it. There were little scratches in the wood, maybe because of constant objects used to open it when the occupant's hands were full. Todd felt Farah’s eyes in the back of his head, burning with the same intrigue than his.
“That room…”
She had trailed off, her eyes clouding with sadness in a way Todd had found really suspicious. But before she could finish her sentence, a young woman appeared from the left corridor. She was way younger than Mrs. Denver, and her long light brown hair moved softly in her back. Her eyes, though, weren’t as kind as the lady’s. They were digging in them like daggers.
“You shouldn’t ask questions you don’t have to know the answer for.” Her voice was as hard as her look. “Your rooms are the last three of this row.”
Then she took Mrs. Denver by her arms, protectively, as she ran away from their sight. In her infuriated walk out she hit Dirk in the shoulder, who had tried to get out of her way immediately.
God, and he thought the people in Seattle were rude.
“Well,” he sighed, “what a great way to start our holidays.”
The inside of their rooms wasn’t anything extraordinary either. A single bed, a small wardrobe, and a little TV. The walls were painted in the same red colour as the ones they walked before. Todd could feel the cold air sneak through his clothes, which made him frown thoughtfully at the thin green covers on the bed. He let out a sigh. Exactly like a case should feel.
Once they settled down and gathered in Farah’s room, he felt someone had to ask the question. Dirk was sitting in Farah’s bed, looking at the list of channels available in the TV. They looked at each other before Todd cleared his throat. That attracted Dirk’s attention.
“Hey, so, what do you think about the place?” Todd grabbed a chair and had a seat with its back facing the bed Dirk was sitting on.
“Oh, well, I found the place really endearing,” he answered with his usual smile.
“Yeah, I thought the same. But didn’t you, I don’t know, get anything suspicious?” Todd sat closer, waiting for his response.
Dirk seemed to think about it before shaking his head.
“Not really, it’s pretty ordinary if you ask me,” he shrugged nonchalantly.
Lie.
Todd closed his eyes, and he could hear Farah’s sigh in the background.
“Is everything okay?”
Todd opened his eyes again, catching the flicker of fear in Dirk’s eyes. He was scared.
“Dirk, just so we are clear here, if you notice anything, you will tell us. Right?”
“Well, of course.” Dirk focused again on the small magazine in his hands. “What makes you wonder that Todd? What kind of detective that would make me if I didn’t share clues with my team?”
“You could ask the door number 231 about that,” Farah crossed her arms, an accusatory tone impregnating her voice.
Dirk opened her mouth several times trying to find an excuse, resulting in a lot of babbling. He finally gave up, blowing air through his nose in frustration. Todd didn’t want to make him go through this situation, and he almost regretted it if it wasn’t for the possible investigation ahead of them.
“Whatever you saw in that hallway, was nothing. It was just a hunch,” he gaped and hurried to say “Not a Universe hunch though. More like a… heart-related hunch.”
“You can’t have a heart-related hunch.” Todd quirked an eyebrow.
“A gut-related then?” he tried with an innocent face.
Farah rolled her eyes and went to sit beside Dirk.
“Are you sure nothing important is happening here?
“Of course, Farah, if something mysterious was about to happen in that pretty interesting door you would be the very first persons to know about it.”
“And what exactly makes it interesting for you?” Todd asked.
“It…” Dirk trailed off, looking for an excuse, “it had a very, particular colour.”
“It was just the same as the others,” Farah frowned and shook her head. “C’mon Dirk. Why don’t you just tell the truth?”
The detective took his time looking at the white rabbit in the floor. He feared Dirk was going to close himself again, letting them out of the situation. He left the chair in its place and walked to his other side. Todd put a hand in Dirk’s shoulder, smiling a little at him to offer some comfort. Dirk returned it shifting his gaze to his own hands.
“We know, you don’t like this situation. But how many times have you tried to run from this and we got stuck in the middle of the danger?”
“I get what you’re saying,” he sounded tired, the kind of tiredness that came right from the inside. Todd suddenly got the urge to hug him. “I’m not really sure, actually. I think there’s something behind that door that is utterly relevant for us, but I’m not entirely certain about what could it be.” He stood up immediately, “Which doesn’t mean it is directly related to the thing I don’t wanna talk about!”
“Of course not,” he conceded. He didn’t really believe it, but his words seemed to relax Dirk’s shoulders so he went on with them. “It may be related to the other case, the reason why we’re here.”
He looked at Farah, who seemed to understand the message behind his words.
“Yeah, we-we might… investigate that.” Farah’s several nods didn’t help to sell her story, but either Dirk didn’t notice or he didn’t really care.
“Well, in that case-” he sat upright at lightning speed with a radiant smile, “-I think we can go to walk through the village. I saw it while we were driving here, and let me tell you, there is where the action will take place.”
“What exactly are you talking about now?” Todd gave up in trying to find an answer to his question the moment he caught the amused smile on Dirk’s face.
“I’ve got no idea.”
This was undoubtedly going to be another hell of a ride.