Chapter 4 - Here We Go

Jake woke up to a cold, smelly darkness that dripped on his head. He cried out in utter disgust only to realize his mouth was gagged with an equally filthy rag, which in it self seemed to be far more dirty than the liquid substance that continued it's flow on his head. Jake didn't make an attempt at seeing anything yet, too painful. His eyes were unwilling to move, to lift even an eye lid. His entire body was unwilling to move to an extent. He moaned softly, trying to open his eyes only to be meet by more pain and a harsh light that shined down on him fiercely. Distant voices could be heard in the background but he didn't really hone in on their conversation, which actually would have been pointless considering they were speaking in German, one of the few languages foreign to him. But that didn't matter at the moment for him, all he cared about was moving his head away from the damned light so he could stop squinting, which hurt to do. He groaned again and a voice spoke, very near him in German to a partner who as far as Jake could tell moved the light.
"No need for that is there." His voice was smooth, yet fake with mockery or cockiness dripping from every word he spoke. It was painfully obvious that whoever this man was he seemed to strive in it. "You won't be going anywhere soon, now will you Jake?" That was a pointless question; of course he couldn't go anywhere. He was bound and gagged, and in so much pain even if he wasn't constrained Jake still wouldn't have been able to get too far. Jake grunted as if in reply and the man chuckled softly motioning —unknowing to Jake- to one of his men to remove the gag.
Jake felt the secure rag tied behind his head tugged at roughly then become limp, as the man undid the knot and the let the cloth fall. He spit it out eagerly; dirt and grime combined with a small amount of bile exited his mouth as he continued to cough.
"Okay, that's much better, isn't it Jake? Now we can talk like sensible beings, or civilized ones at least." He laughed at his own joke, which foreshadowed what was going to happen if things didn't go his way. Things were going to get bad for Jake real soon if he didn't answer this man with every answer he could possibly want and more, and Jake planned on doing that until the man's first question.
"How's your brother doing?" He paused; licking his lips as if savoring the moment and continued, "Gabriel, I mean." Jake let out an involuntary gasp and managed to squeak out, "How…" Pause. "Do…y-you know about him?" His voice got stronger as he spoke more but still wasn't up to speed. "I know far more than you give me credit for Jake." The man smiled a crooked smile that tilted off his face. He looked up at him, straining his eyes to make out the man's features. With that coy smile Jake knew that he was telling the truth. If he was lying about that he would have a more resigned look to him, but he was gloating in accomplishment, which was Jake's capture. "I know your parents died not too long ago and that horrible man received their vast fortune, shoving you and your dear brother to the streets." The man made a 'tisk-tisk' noise with his tongue and the roof of his mouth. "How sad." Jake saw the deep wrinkles in the man's face rise with the small smile that curled across his lips, the furry eyebrows lifted up with that same smile.
"Such a shame considering you have such a brilliant mind, Jake. Far more impressive than anybody else we've monitored." Jake grunted again and spoke, "Who, are you?"
"Who am I? No more like who are we, since this is a combined operation. We are a group of people working for other people." He stopped and started again. "Those books you read, have you been able to summon anything?" The man put special emphasize on 'summon' as he questioned Jake. //How do they know about that? Who are they?// Questions flew through his mind but he knew better than to ask them himself, things would just turn out worse for him since this man wasn't planning on telling him anytime soon. "Summon?" But maybe he could play dumb, it might not… no, probably wouldn't work but it was worth a try since he had no other options available at the moment. The man laughed again, but more high-pitched, it sounded impatient. "Playing dumb won't work on me child, I'm a professional and you're just a kid." But then he had learned something important, he was a haughty individual who believed him to be better than Jake. He had also revealed that they didn't know about Bartimaeus yet because they were asking him if he had summoned anything and their intelligence wasn't as grand as the man played it out to be. Jake would still have a chance if Bartimaeus hurried up, which was a scary concept. No, Jake couldn't solely rely on the Djinni he would have to think up his own plan and fast now, as the man removed a large knife from a case and stroked it lovingly. "I told you I'm a professional… at torture."



---------------------------------------------------

Now, I was in a pickle.

Yes, a pickle. Like a conflict, problem, or possibly —like in my case- just a raw emotion that refused to leave you be, eating at your very essence, which —also in my case- was horrible for my complection. Whatever /you/ choose to call it, it troubled me, requiring the upmost attention. I wasn't sure how to handle this vast amount of information, blab it or hold it in. Holding it in was personally getting to me, but I've had much worse things eating at me before -cough, cough Jabor- and if worse came to worse, concerning the well-being of my dear, young Master it could remain contained, even though I highly doubt anything would happen to him. But that was my luck. Yeah, I had none.
This information, to sum it all up could change the face of this earth. Okay, I'll indulge into detail. Any religion, any basis of modern science would be trashed. That's how important or deadly this bit could be. Of course everything could recover, that was true and somethings could be covered up -example: go back to the times of Christ, yeah he had a girlfriend and children. The blood line of Christ still lives today, who would have thought it (haha...da vinci code)- but I had a feeling that this was a little too big to be denounced that easily. Humans always recovered, -damn them- they were adaptable beings. Some were. There was also the concern of coming from a djinni's mouth. It was highly unlikely that he would believe me. Which, in my point of view, was horrible. I mean by now I think trust should have been established, we've been together what three hours. Yeah, my @$$. So, if I decided to let loose this information that continually ate at me I would have to show him. Give him a full force personal tour like I got. Well, it was a rush to say the least. I'm not too sure how he would take it. Hopefully he would break down, go into a depression or something. That would be in my best interest because this mouth never stopped and sooner or later he would get annoyed and send me home. Actually what would be even better would be he'd mess up in that effort and I'd get my chance. I honestly haven't tasted human in a while. But, there was also the possibly that he took it fine, embraced the thought and went with it, dragging me along of course. That would be the worst outcome, but I didn't think he was strong enough for that. So, hopefully my original thought would prevail. There was also the possibility that it didn't phase him in the least, that he refused to believe it. That could and couldn't work in my favor depending on how he handled this denial.
I wasn't sure what to do. He would be surprised, to say the least. He would be squeamish, confused and vulnerable. That was a given but it's what's happened afterwards the concerned me. Maybe I should just let it take it's course but there would still be the same possibilities, just set at a slower pace. Fast good, slow bad.
There was another thing on my mind, other than this stunning conflict that would change the world. Like how to get out of here.

Currently I was floating in a colorful mixtrue of nothingness. It felt uncannily like home but it wasn't. There was a missing feeling here, I still didn't feel like I belonged. My human appendages hindered no problem, like usual, with solid fluid movements that propelled me forward. My body was the only solid object here it seemed like and I needed it to maintain motion. The lights swirled around me, gathering near me. They licked at my fingers, curling in between them and slinking back out. It was as if they were analyzing me, making sure I was an acceptable being. It was then that I realized that this place was moving. The walls were pushing past me, gathering in closer than they were before. It was taking me somewhere. Then suddenly the swirls reeled back, obviously unsatisfied by something. They quickly departed leaving me be. I floated there for a few moments when the area I was in ceased all movement. It froze there, hanging for a few seconds. Now this didn't look good. Just then in the opposite direction the thing started back up again, sucking me into it like a vacuum. I fought against it, swimming forward but eventually it won and I was pulled into it, falling into darkness.

I hit the ground hard, and in a highly ungraceful manner, ricocheting across the ground as I skidded into a podium. "Ouch..." I moaned, rubbing the back of my head. Then, to make things even better something fell on my head, crashing and scattering on me. I scowled, brushing pieces of vase out of my hair. The alarm sounded, a blaring noise that echoed through out the room. "Goddamit...." I cursed, getting up on my feet and running over to the pendent. I grabbed at it, this time it didn't react to my touch, and slung it over my neck. It limply hung around my neck as I transformed yet again, this time into a beautiful cat, with slender, features. My fur was entirely black, a perfect hue for the night. With my added agility I jumped up into the air, aiming for the podium I smashed into for before. After that it was a easy jump up onto the small ledge with the propped open window. I stole out of there just as the guard came rushing in with his flashing beaming and escaped, into the impenetrable blackness of the night.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment