Part 10

At first, David didn't even know he was asleep.

He stared up at the faces around him, and at the wooden beams of the roof. The entire world seemed to consist solely of this image. He wondered when they would move... or speak... or blink... Then, without warning, everything changed.

Someone was holding him. Someone else was singing. No... EVERYONE was singing, but the song was strange and unfamiliar, the words sharp and halting. Some voices were louder than others, but none of them was intelligible. There was an odd smell in the air... the scent of the candles and incense multiplied a thousandfold. The scent clawed at his nose and throat. David lacked the strength to cough. He was so tired... so...

...everything changed again. He was still being held, and there was still singing. There was talking, too. He heard his mother's voice, but couldn't make out the words. He could HEAR them... but the sounds weren't fitting together properly in his mind. He called out... and heard a low moan. Who was that? Was that him?

Why was it so dark?

Oh.

David opened his eyes.

Okay, everything was STILL dark. Now what? Now...

...nothing. The darkness lasted for a long time. He felt himself moving... but not under his own power. He felt several pairs of hands touching him... lifting him... carrying him. It took him several seconds to realize he was being passed from one person to the next like a sack of potatoes. It was a GAME! Only slower... with chanting.... and crying... and strange, strange words...

More darkness.

There was a brief image of Gayle Grieves looking down at him. Again. She smiled and nodded her head. He was wet. He was...

...taking a bath? Hands touched him... bathing him as the chanting continued.

Still more darkness.

There were no more images.. only sounds. Women's voices talking... people moving around. David listened for his mother's voice, but didn't find it. Instead he heard a male voice... NOT his fathers'... say something about a stranger. There was lots of talking after that... the beginning of an argument...

Nothing.

The world skipped forward yet again.

The sound of a closing door woke him. His eyes opened slowly. Too slowly.

He was in a room. He was in a bed. He was in his parent's bed, in the only real room of the house... the only one that had a door.

And someone had just closed it.

He sat up-

-or tried to. The room spun around him... first wheeling one direction, then reversing and tilting wildly from side to side. He clutched at the pillows and tried to scream.

...he only moaned.

"Shhhh..." said a voice.

David didn't hear it at first. The room spun so fast that it made his ears ring.

He inhaled deeply and opened his mouth to scream-

"Don't. Do That."

This time, he heard it. And hearing it made him realize that he'd heard it before, a few seconds ago.

The scream caught in his throat. He paused... listening. The voice. It was... familiar?

"Do you know my name?" it asked.

David sat up, this time succeeding. The room still spun, but the spinning was distant. He blinked. He was alone. Someone had just closed the door.... and now... someone was talking to him?

"Who's there?

"You only have a few hours."

David peered down beside the bed, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

"Where are you?"

"That's the wrong question." the voice said. "Are you ready to find my name now?"

"You said you were going to show me magic," David said, remembering the conversation he'd had with the nameless voice earlier.

"I've already shown you."

Another confused pause. Then:

"...huh?"

"You should be asleep. But I took it... and gave it away, just like... well... you'll see."

"Where are you?" David asked again.

"Are you ready to find my name? Or should I give you your sleep back? You won't like what you see when you wake up, though."

Confused, David only continued to look around. The voice was close... but wasn't actual IN the room. It was-

"The window," it said. "Come and see."

"See what?"

There was no response.

David waited a few moments... then slid out of the bed and padded over to the room's only window.