The Spiral Journeys
(or)
Origins of a Magician

The first five chapters are up. I would put up the whole story, but I don't know if it will effect my chances of getting a literary agent. There are 23 chapters. My name is Michelle Billich but that can change.
THE SPIRAL JOURNEYS (or) ORIGINS OF A MAGICIANOriginally called The Spiral Journeys book 1 Origins of a Magician
 Chapter 1 The Retrospect 1988 
            After midnight, on the south side of Chicago, Midori hears a block party loud enough to make the earth shake. This is great because she isn't tired anyway. She rolls out of bed and puts on a black slip, using it as a dress, as she often does. She pulls it tight over her round rump, but not before stuffing her thighs into fishnet stockings. Midori is thin but her hips are too large and butt too big. It also doesn't help that she is five feet and six inches tall. From her experience, guys usually prefer the tiny, framed women. She has no problems, however, with her face. Men, who seem to pay attention, are more interested in that. She sits on an antique, backless, vanity chair, inherited from her grandmother, and applies a thick coat of eyeliner to her large almond-shaped, brown eyes. The dark purple room, that she painted herself, against her mother's will of course, is dimly lit by a small lamp on her dresser, covered in black paint, makeup, and cheap jewelry. She then looks in the large oval mirror hanging above and pats her eyelids with dark, gray eyeshadow.            When she is done getting ready, she sneaks out of her bedroom window quietly, not to wake her mother. Not that she had much control over her since grade school Midori just did not want to hear it.            She doesn't give much regard to safety because she does not have to. In gym class, she was considered a freak because of her unnatural strength. One time she threw a basketball so hard against the wall it deflated. Now in high school, things have gotten worse. Lunch time is spent getting drunk until she gets caught and is sent home. The few suspension days are spent hanging out at the beach or wherever she wants to go. Once, an adult attempted to attack her, until she beat him up.             Midori hits the ground, from her second story window, and walks to the street in the direction of the noise. When she turns the corner, she gets startled by what she sees. In the distance, buildings merge like one world is blending into the other. Part of the houses and trees become transparent, showing another city behind it.
            She is drawn to this place and must know if this is real. The whole situation is beyond bizarre. She walks towards it expecting, to smack her face into the thick brick wall that is supposed to be here. Instead, she walks through it. A high, rushes through her head and body while she passes through this invisible doorway, making her feel lightheaded, but she is conscious of every atom and molecule in her body. Her vision is blurred for just a second. Everything whites out and for a moment and she forgets where she is. When she regains consciousness, she realizes that she walked into another dimension. Excitement pulsates through her body like electricity and her heart rushes.            The weather is humid. The buildings are close together and extension after extension is added on, built out of wood. The roofs are made of large sheets of corrugated plastic. While peering into a bar, she notices everyone dressed in black leather and chains. The men have wooly beards and hair as long as the women. She never experimented with drugs and did not drink today not that drinking would ever cause her to hallucinate something like this. She slaps herself on the arm hard a few times to verify that she isn't dreaming. She knows none of these buildings were here an hour ago.            Prostitutes walk every street corner. The smell of old beer and sweat fills some pockets of air. Groups of people have set up card tables outside the bars, and barter for drugs in the open. It is debauchery at its finest. Midori looks around in amazement.            She walks underneath an overhead bridge that connects two streets, past a man getting a blowjob. Not wanting to see this, she quickly walks into someone's house that has been opened to the public, or a bar, she can't tell the difference. A man with long black hair and a top hat sits on a dark red, velvet, wingback chair. Other characters stand around him and do an assortment of drugs on a heavy, round, antique, wooden, dining room table. They talk about politics. The wallpaper behind them is old and dirty.             “I saw a hole in the sky this morning, bigger than this entire sad, little, city,” says the man in the top hat.            “You know the Magicians? They opened a full assault on the Hollow. I bet there’s going to be a raid tonight,” says a Rastafarian adjusting his sunglasses. He wears a hooded sweatshirt made of hemp string. Midori laughs to herself. It seems dark for sunglasses. She stands in the doorway looking in. The Rastafarian sits on top of a bar in the back of the room and, to the left of her. A large elaborate golden mirror behind him shows how long the back of his black dreads are.            “We've got our own problems, but the Hollow blame us. Like we control the Magicians,” says the man with the top hat.            “I wouldn't be talking about the Magicians that loud if I were you,” answers the Rasta man.             “Fuck the Magicians and fuck the Hollow!” The other man fidgets nervously, with the brim of his hat, yet yells with great confidence. “If the Hollow were so brilliant, they would think of a way to stop them instead of terrorizing us.”            “What do you expect? They're demons.”            “Watch your racist mouth! My wife is a Hollow. That’s a derogatory term! Don’t forget: the Hollow were once angels! It was the wars, led by the Magicians that changed them. They were cornered by fire and darkness, in the rock, for a thousand years. Yet they still survived!” He snorts a line of some white substance that Midori guesses to be cocaine. He then lifts his head up and adjusts his top hat again. “The world they come from is still considered an ethereal world.”            Midori looks at the man's wife, through a large arched doorway leading to another room. She sits on a bed and is topless. Her eyes are hollowed out, glow, and her skin is blends of different greens, an alien looking babe. She almost blends into the dimly lit green walls. She gets on her hands and knees then rocks back and forth, in a playful manner.            “But they’re stupid to blame us. The Magicians aren’t on anyone’s side but the Magicians,” the Rastafarian man says. He drinks wine from a white, tin coffee cup, with a black lip and handle.                  “Can you tell me where I am?” Midori asks the man with the top hat. They hadn’t noticed her standing there, listening to their conversation, until now. She walks a few more feet inside.            “Now where the fuck do you think you are?” says the man in the top hat.            “That was rude,” she tells him.            Siren’s ring. Everyone outside, besides a few staggering drunks, frantically run for shelter. The man in the top hat tells Midori, “Now I don't know who you are but get outa here! Go on!” He waves his hand. She walks outside. He gets up. “You look like one night's fuck,” he yells. The others laugh with him as he slams the door behind her.            “Fucking bastard!” she yells, then walks through the streets as a few stragglers run past her. She looks at the sky. Massive demonic beings, of different shades of blues and greens, except for one that is bright red, ride down from the clouds. Their eyes glow and from what she sees in the distance, they have antlers. They are larger than the average man, perhaps seven to nine feet tall. Their horses are even bigger to hold such creatures. Some of the beings emerge from the earth, shooting into the air then landing in slow motion perfectly on their feet. They wear ninja-looking outfits held together by leather straps. Their eyes glow white, some of them red. She stares at them in amazement, catatonic, and probably with her mouth open. Police units with mirrored face shields arrive, but the beings fight with great skill, tumbling officers on their backs. Some of them crash through the cheaply made buildings. One, a large red being, smiles widely to an officer, showing large sharp teeth. He then grabs the officer by the head. Midori can't bear to look, so she walks down another street.              One stands out. He is much smaller than the others, but average size for a man. He rides down from the sky on a spiny, organic looking, black carriage then jumps off the side, four stories before it hits the ground. He seems to be a man in costume, but his eyes glow like the ones he leads. He directs them with hand-signals as they run through the streets throwing explosives into windows. Brilliant flashes of light are everywhere. He fights off several SWAT team members on his own, kicking them and tossing them to the sides like rags. Midori can't take her eyes off him. They corner him from either direction under an arched bridge, but he spins around and kicks them, knocking them into the stone walls of the underpass. He runs into a narrow alley and gets cornered by a dozen SWAT. He faces the wall then turns around with two skinny blades. While running through them, he moves from side to side and slashes them to the ground, until his path is clear. He walks into the street, stepping over a body or two.            He turns his head and notices Midori staring at him from a distance. He walks towards her. She looks behind herself, thinking possibly it's something else that grabbed his attention but when she turns around, he is much closer than he should be. She steps backwards, he steps forward. He stands within four feet then slowly circles her, looking at her curves through her slip, her hips, her thighs, her breasts then her dark brown eyes. He seems to be enjoying her while glaring at her, forcing her to look away. His beaming eyes change from white light to red as he leans in closer to smell her. She stands perfectly still, shuddering but not from the cold. She knows the way he is looking at her and it makes her feel naked. He smells her a few more times as if he is puzzled by her scent.            He reaches to grab her wrist but turns his head fast, like an alert cat. More law enforcement arrives from behind her, and he runs off. She stands still as a swarm of officers run past her all at once. She then stands in the street alone and motionless.            Daylight begins. She walks down the street and recognizes a red, brick, three, flat, apartment building from her neighborhood. It appears in the street. More of her neighborhood becomes visible and the sky turns a darker, royal blue. An imperfect square that fades at the edges starts to form around her block then gets smaller and smaller. She realizes that the doorway to her world is closing. She runs towards it and jumps through it. It feels like a cross between water and vapor, but she is completely able to breathe. She gets lightheaded, and by the time she can see clearly, she is in the middle of her block.            After she climbs back up the wall, and arrives in her bedroom, it is still night. Midori stays awake in her room until morning, trying to figure out what happened. She never mentions it to anyone. Who would believe her?             Late at night, in the hollowed-out depths of the Subterranean World, a meeting is being held. A woman sits in a massive chair made from the same colorful, translucent rock as the walls behind her. She is a human resistance member and waits for the man she is going to have sex with.            A man walks in with a heavy disguise, all black. Black gauze is wrapped around his entire head. He unwraps the part around his face to expose his true glowing eyes and sits down beside her. He is slightly angry with this strange woman. Smoke rises from a residential part of the city. By the command of the Magicians, people from the Prime World invaded his city a day ago. They retaliated this morning when it was still night in the other world. “I am Akashaw," he tells the woman. “But most from your world refer to me as Shaw.” He looks at her. She is not what he is hoping for. “And why do you want to do this?” he asks.            “Because, like yourself, I am a freedom fighter. The magicians have ruled long enough.”            “Well, as long as you know what we will be doing.” He leans in to smell her. Her smell reminds him of that woman in the Prime World, standing in the streets of Matez, like she didn't know better, or she wasn't from there. “You will stay here until the baby is born?” The plain looking resistance member nods her head. “Take off your shirt.”             She undoes the buttons on her blouse, takes it off, and sits awkwardly in a white bra. He looks at her then leans in again to smell her. It is only this type of woman he can procreate with. He thinks of Midori once more although he doesn't know her name, looking lost with those big brown eyes and soft round hips. It dawns on him what she is. He should have taken her but how was he to know what she was? What a mistake. He wonders how long it will take to track her down. He smiles slyly, if he is to have one woman, for the sole purpose of mating, she should be the most doable.  He needs to find her. “I can’t do this.”            “Why?” He gets up. “I don’t understand. Aren’t I the correct makeup for this? I wanted to do this for the sake of all three worlds. I wanted to be the mother of this special child.” She looks at him, expecting an answer. She puts her shirt back on and buttons it. “I've been preparing my mind all day to have sex for this.”            “Well? If you like you can still give me a blowjob.”            “And you can fuck off! Asshole!”            Shaw laughs. “It was a joke!”             A bright, red, large Hollow enters the room as she stomps out. He looks out the window with his hands behind his back.            Shaw points towards the direction that the woman walked. “She does not leave the premises.” The woman knows too much and has seen his eyes. No one that has ever seen his face, besides his trusted members, is allowed to leave.            The red Hollow says in a low voice, “What shall we do with her?”            “Put her to work in the kitchen.”            “Why is it only this type of woman you want for mating when there are so many sacred women in our world to choose from?”            He gets up. “Because my good friend.” He puts his hand on the red Hollow’s massive shoulder. “Since the first spark of energy, universes have always grouped together in three. This type of woman is from both twin worlds and the child we make will be from all three worlds. An all-powerful being able to do anything by just a thought.”            “A Magician?”            Shaw grins under his mesh. “Better than that!”
            Althea shouts across the rooftop, "Why are you here?” She sits on the dirty tar, full of gravel and wonders if there is a place in this entire city where she can be alone. Tall buildings surround them. Windows illuminated from the inside show the only other signs of civilization. A middle-aged man, in a beige trench coat, blocks the exit door. He just appeared out of nowhere. But that is impossible. He must have been there, and she just didn't see him before.“Are you attempting suicide?”  He is condescending and his voice is nasal. His hair is blond and thinning. It barely covers the top of his head. His eyes are light ice blue and expressionless like glass.            Now how would he know this? She thinks he has some nerve to ask her such a personal question and wonders who he is. He looks demented. “WHY?” she yells. “Are you a psychiatrist? Are you going to stop me, tight ass? So, you can run back to your boring household and tell them what a hero you are!"            “On the contrary,” he replies. “If you feel this strongly about it, then I think you should. Do you think you friends would really care, Althea?”            “How do you know my name?” She looks away from him then looks back. She tries hard to think if she recognizes him but keeps drawing a blank.             “Your friends and family?" He pauses for a moment then lets out a long-winded exhale,                 "They’re tired of hearing about the sexual assault. Over and over again. You’re a burden.”            While looking at the ground, she wonders how he knows so much about her. Her parents must have hired him or something. When she looks back, he is gone. “I must be losing my mind.” She takes a few long breaths then climbs up on the ledge, hesitates slightly then slips. Windows streak past her then suddenly change into trees. She is expecting a quick death but the concrete ground changes to a lake. She hits the water SPLASH! The cool wet water weeds tangle around her neck, almost drowning her. Instinctively, she swims to the shore covered in lush viridian green grass. Her shoulder-length, curled, red hair is sopping as she stands up to see what looks like paradise. “Hello Afterlife.”            She looks around in amazement. She is proud that she went through with this decision. The place looks nothing like the afterlife she read or heard about. Tree trunks resemble purple, thick glass. She touches one. It is polished and smooth. Looking around, she expects to see her grandmother who passed on. She knows she would come to get her--Althea was her favorite-- but she isn't there. In fact, there are no people at all. It looks like a beautiful island, but prehistoric in ways. She walks through a sunny sandy path almost stepping on a leaf bigger than a tablecloth. The weather is perfect, warm with a cool breeze and the air smells fresh. On her left, bright, green, grass hills extend to the horizon. She walks for what seems like hours, expecting to see some sort of civilization, but there is nothing. Her legs start to hurt. She thinks it's strange how afterlife pains her like normal life would, and she is thirsty.            In the distance she sees a forest worth investigating. The trees seem like they almost reach the sun in some areas. She finds a small waterfall. Thank God! The rocks look like iridescent glass, as if it had been man-made. Inside the thick woods are balls of fur, no bigger than a foot tall, and they roll around like tumbleweeds. This is how they travel. She finds one accidentally by kicking it. It screams when she sends it flying. She is puzzled by her hunger pains and finds some bright pink berries the size and texture of champagne grapes. They pop when bitten and almost taste like strawberries mixed with the tartness of a star fruit. She walks through a clearing, surrounded by large flowers, in neon colors. There are smaller ones that glow.            Beyond this is a completely different land, made of bright colored molten rock that is translucent in some spots. In between polychromatic monoliths are small forests of twirls. Different colors merge like melted candle wax, and some extend maybe thirty stories high. She must take a closer look, so she hikes there.            What she sees in the distance startles her. At first, she thought they were some types of branches until one creature turns around and she sees its glowing eyes! They have antlers and they are as colorful as the rocks they dwell in. Their skin is shades of reds, blues, greens, and yellows. Many of them are a mixture of colors. They are humanoid, but much taller, demonic, but beautiful.            Althea makes her way up a small, colorful, rock hill, then crouches down. Her eyes fix on a clearing where a market is set up. Twirl in front of her, keep her hidden, this way she can take a closer look at them.            Their faces look like three-dimensional paint splotches. Layers of skin, or horns, along with the colors make different designs. Each one is unique. The bodies are muscular and large. She can't tell from where she is, but they look to be eight feet tall. The females have thin tentacles for hair. Some of them are six to seven feet tall, but some of them are much smaller. Their eyes glow and they talk in a strange language that sounds like bellowing echoes.            Large tents in different hues, of rose, teal, blue, and violet, with gold and silver trim and additional decorative tapestry around the top, trail off in the distance, creating a large circle. Small swirls of rock like trees create barriers for stands to be set up. They are selling jewelry, clothing, and caged balls of fur. She is amazed by how colorful the afterlife is. It still does not make much sense. She watches as a demon picks up one of the balls of fur, opens his mouth like a snake, and swallows it whole. Althea's heart sinks into her stomach. Some of the demons have sex in public, like animals. Her eyes trail off to a small city made of the same colorful rock. Smoke rises from one section in the background. It is blackened, like it had been blown to smithereens.            It is here that the man from the ledge appears again. His arms are full of blood. When she sees the large goat head in his hands, sopping wet with blood, she nearly jumps out of her skin. Slowly, he put it on, and it comes to life on his face. He takes a deep breath through it. Its eyes roll over and look at her. He can talk through its mouth. Her heart falls into her stomach and she falls to the ground. “You think there would be no consequences, Althea? You committed suicide. That is a mortal sin.” Althea cowers in the corner and feels completely hopeless for what is to come. Her heart races. She wishes this moment could end but if this is the afterlife it could last forever. She closes her eyes and clenches her fists. “I know you were brought up Catholic,” he says. She was brought up Catholic. “Are you CATHOLIC!”            "Yes," she says. Her voice shakes. She brings herself to ask, "Why?" None of this makes any sense. What if she were Hindu? She wonders what would happen then.            She opens her eyes to see him extend his arms out like he is on a cross. “Because I'm Satan!”            She gets up quickly and runs, through the neon clearing and back into the forest of more natural looking trees. She hides and waits silently for a few minutes that turn into hours, hoping she can hide from this evil being. Her heart slowly goes back to normal by deep breathing, but she is still afraid to sleep. Her stomach aches from hunger and her mouth is dry. The endless night is spent in darkness, not knowing what animals move around. There are all sorts of weird chirps, buzzes and a moaning that sounds like a big dog. But it's not a dog. She doesn't know what it is.            Althea finally closes her eyes and naps for almost an hour when day light wakes her up. The man from the roof appears again. Not with a goat head, but as he first appeared in his beige trench coat and suit underneath, standing in front of a gigantic, blazing orange sun. It is larger than she is used to seeing, making it unnatural. She shakes her head and sits up. She is beyond exhausted. If she saw other people, it would be comforting to some point. She asks him humbly,             “If you are Satan then where are all the other sinners?”            He laughs, “Where are all the people you ask?” She feels her body fly into the air then fall in a matter of seconds. They land on a pit that is full of movement. A breeze carries the piercing, strong, horrendous, stench of bodies that have decayed for weeks. Carcasses crawled out half rotted on top of each other. A torso pulls itself out with its arms, but it has no head or legs. “Life can get unpleasant around here.”            Althea stands up while the muscles around her exhausted heart constrict. It hurts tremendously. She can hardly breathe and falls to the ground. When she catches her breath, she cries and grovels at his dark brown shoes for forgiveness. Perhaps she can bargain with him. "I really didn't even commit suicide! I slipped! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She hopes that if she appears innocent, he will show mercy.            “Get up!” he yells. She lies on the ground, closes her eyes and cries. The hard rock from beneath her changes to grass. It smells fresh, as if it had just been cut. She lifts her head to see paradise again and his polished shoes. She thinks he has got to be toying with her or at least trying to confuse her. “Don’t be ridiculous Althea, I’m not the devil and you're not even dead.”            “What?” She can feel her tears as they roll down her fat cheek and into her mouth. They taste salty. "Can you repeat that?"            He sits down on an old English, tan, leather chair that appears out of thin air besides her.              “Before you hit the ground, in your world, or even fell a few feet, I opened a doorway to another world… This place, to be exact.”            “I’m not dead?” she asks herself. “I am in another dimension?" She tries to digest this, but it is unbelievable. She thinks about it. She never hit the ground. Her heart rate and breathing return to normal as her eyes widen to scan the bright grass. If this is true, she's discovered something amazing. Her entire universe has just gotten incredibly larger. "Who are you? And where am I?”            “My name is Clarence, and I am an all-powerful magician. There are five of us. We control all three worlds including yours... Right now, you are in the Subterranean or what we call the demon world.”            He must be a real magician or some sort of a wizard. His powers are undoubtedly real.                   “Control our world. How do you control our world?” she asks timidly.            “You may vote for your presidents and your leaders, but the people who are really in charge, are all in compliance with us, our ancestors, our human children's, children… and so on. We are older than any of your religions.”            She looks at him with a twisted face. She knows he is immoral. His presence makes her incredibly uneasy. Knowing now that she is alive is a relief. He speaks so condescendingly to her. She wishes she could rip his head off, but for now she just wants to be as far away from him as possible, back in her world where she knows where to find basic comforts. He stands up.             “Now then... I’m going to return you back to your world with a gift.”            What kind of gift could he have?            He opens his skinny, small, light blue eyes as wide as he can. “You will have the ability to take revenge on the ones who assaulted you… But I do ask one small favor in return.

Chapter 2 New Orleans
            The current year is 1993. Industrial music runs prominent in any slightly cool club. The thing about Goth is it has so many sides to it, some influenced by Punk Rock, some Heavy Metal leading industrial, some dance and techno, and some just an extension from the 80's. Midori thinks it's brilliant although she is one of those people who only listen to the most underground music, and once a band starts to catch on it is time to find a new one. It keeps her current.             Supposedly, New Orleans is the best place to live a Gothic lifestyle. That's what Midori's been told. She is always searching for something. She has no clue what it is but was sure she would know it when she passes through it again. She had an inexplicable high seven years ago while walking into an alien dream world that she convinced herself was not real.             Midori thought New Orleans was going to be it, but it ended up being one of the sorriest mistakes she’s made. Danny, the man she moved with, told her that he had friends they could stay with who had a huge place. It ended up being a squatter house, in a condemned building in Bywater, with a group of gutter punks and a hippie. Other Gutter punks that she knows live on the streets and sleep on the porches of New Orleans. It is warm enough to do so. In fact, it is hot in October.            The sun banked cobblestone streets are higher than the broken sidewalks. She sprained her ankle the first week she was here from tripping on a pothole. They're everywhere. The buildings, however, are fascinating. The frilly iron fences wrap around the buildings like black lace. It's like a squat version of Paris that is sinking into the earth.            She is nauseous from her slight stench of dirt without proper showers. It was hot and humid when they first arrived. She got a cranial cut then let her hair dread. In mid-October the heat gets bearable. She dyes her hair black. A friend does her piercings with a needle and a bottle of alcohol. She ends up with seven through each ear, one under the bottom lip and the piece of skin between her eyes, or a bridge piercing. It hurts like hell, but it looks tough. That's what attracted her to Danny, and about the only thing going for him.             She keeps a lot of rubbing alcohol around for infections. She never felt feminine but to her scary is beautiful and a look she does well. She paints her eye makeup like Cleopatra in the movies.            Her mother wanted her to go to college, but she decided she needed some “Fuck off” time first. She tells her mother she is staying with friends. The truth is too embarrassing, and besides she knows what her mother would say, "Midori? You're too old for shit like this." The worst thing is, she would be right.             Midori bathes in public washroom sinks and sleeps on a used mattress on the floor. There is no electricity, so they live by candlelight. The cockroaches in this area are large enough to carry furniture. She never goes to bed without cotton balls in her ears for fear of something crawling in.            The worst thing of it all is Danny. He has several piercings himself, five, between the two eyebrows, three in the nose, and hair that is jet black, long and silky. His goatee is kept long and pointed like a pharaoh. She used to think he was a badass. Now he is just an ass, not mysterious and intriguing but stupid. And the sex is lousy. There is no point in even bothering. He is probably out this night getting laid, and she doesn't care. Midori walks down the less used streets past a group of Gutter punks getting high. A tall, thin man's black, matted hair falls in pointed chunks, in front of his face. It looks like it had not been washed in months. He offers her some smoke. She takes some, thanks him, then walks away.            Her head starts to spin rapidly, and she realizes there was hash in the weed. She stumbles for a moment becoming incredibly dizzy for a few seconds and forgetting where she is. When she comes to, she realizes that she walked down another block. While noticing the midnight sky, she figures she should at least enjoy this moment. The moon shines through the dark clouds over the antique, old buildings.             Suddenly, two men pull her in a doorway. Now most women might get freaked out by a situation like this but not Midori. She needs money and if no one has a gun she welcomes these opportunities. No man can match her strength. She shakes her head a few times to get rid of some dizziness then kicks the stocky man in front hard enough to make him fall.            His head hits the ground. She then elbows the tall skinny man behind her, turns around and punches him in the gut. He doubles over while grunting, “You fucking bitch.”            The stocky man peels himself off the street. She lights a cigarette then kicks him in the head, with her black, Dr. Martin combat boots, knocking him out cold. The tall skinny man tries to punch her, but she grabs his hand, twists it, and breaks his wrist. When he cowers over, she knocks him out too. She goes through each of their pockets, takes the cash out of their wallets that she throws on top of them. She counts it. “Fifty-three dollars?” she yells. “Between the two of you? Fucking cheap bastards! Now I need a drink.”            Midori has robbed several attackers before and had a stash of money saved up for a security deposit for her own apartment. A week later, it was stolen by one of the members of their house. There was no way to know who it was. Now she must start over. She walks around the corner, into a narrow, wooden restaurant, painted yellow and turquoise. A long bar is on one side and tables and chairs are on the other. She wants to be drunk before going to a club.            A stout woman, mid-thirties, with wavy, shoulder length, red hair, and squinty, hooded eyes, sits at the end of the bar and marvels over the cider. She looks like a fortune teller, dressed in pagan jewelry, and a long flowing skirt made of violet and red patchwork. “You should try this," she tells Midori, "It’s wonderful.”            “Does it have alcohol in it?”            “I suppose you could add something to this?”            Midori wipes her forehead with her sleeve and orders a drink. She is enjoying the air conditioning compared to the hot building. On unbearable nights, she sleeps on the roof. The woman smiles then looks at Midori and extends her hand. “I’m Althea.”          “Midori.”            “Midori...” Althea hesitates, “Is anyone in your family...?”            “Japanese? No. My mother? Liked the name.” She tries hard to smile. “Probably just heard it somewhere.”            “Well… I think you have a remarkable name.” Althea checks her beeper and laughs.            “Thanks,” is her deadpan reply, she then tilts her beer bottle up and takes a drink.             This woman checks her beeper again. Midori examines her pentagram, and other necklaces, wondering if she is one of those Wiccan hippies. She also wears many silver rings, some with big stones. “I should check out what that boy did to my home. He keeps beeping me. I do have to get back.”            “Like a Cabana boy?” Midori says sarcastically.Althea laughs, “Oh no! It not anything like that. He’s gay. I’m a lesbian. I met him in San Francisco, sleeping on a park bench. I offered him a place to stay. He hasn’t left yet… but he does come in handy. He helped me on my move out here, packed up the dishes, even labeled the boxes.” She giggles.            “How very nice of you.” Midori takes another drink. “To offer him a place to stay. I live in a cockroach infested abandoned building with some dick and other people. Can’t remember the last time I had a real shower.”            “That sounds dangerous; you must come stay with me, at least for a few nights.”            This is the reaction Midori is hoping for but not expecting. “I might just take you up on that,” she says casually, trying to hide the fact that she is desperate. A few nights with a shower and a nicer place to lie her head sounds great. They stand up to leave and Midori notices that Althea is almost a foot shorter than her.            The night gets muggier, and the hike is full of small talk about the weather. When she first walks into Althea’s apartment, the air conditioning feels amazing, and she notices the smell of old paper and incense. The place is filled with antique furniture, and many dusty books on shelves, or on the floor in nice stacks. On top of some of these stacks are candles, trinkets, and a crystal ball. Other things are placed in boxes. The floor itself is made of large planks of hardwood covered by a red oriental rug. Midori wonders how much stuff this woman has.A little man, with lime green hair, shaved in the back and long in the front, scurries around with a rag in one hand and a can of wood cleaner in the other. “Oh Girl!” he shouts at Althea. “I’m still up from last night. I cleaned the whole place! The kitchen! The bathroom!” He stops dead in his tracks and stares at Midori.            “Midori, this is Albert. Albert, Midori.”            “Oh my GOD!” Albert explodes. He touches one of Midori’s dreads. “I LOVE your hair! I love your look! Oh my God Girl! You are one fierce dyke!”            Midori exhales. “I’m straight actually.”            Albert laughs. “Yeah right.” He continues to circle her in amazement.            “Do we have any wine left from last night?” Althea asks Albert.            “We have that, and we have a little something else!” He looks at Midori and does a loud sniffing sound.            “I can’t do that stuff,” Althea says. “It always makes me so jittery.”            Albert looks at Althea then at Midori. "I know you want a big juicy line!" He packs his cigarettes on the side of his wrists. He doesn’t smoke muck. It’s more of a social thing.            “Give me one of those.” Midori says.            After a few glasses of wine and coke, Albert tells his story. He ran away from home and had been living in the streets as a hustler since he was seventeen. “My dad used to chase me around the dining room table when he was drunk. He said he tried to beat the Gay out of me. Well?” he says angrily, “Sorry dad! Didn’t work!” He takes a long drink of wine. Midori changes the subject. She doesn’t like talking about personal feelings, hers, or anyone else’s. Althea pours them another glass of Merlot.            “It is interesting here.” Midori takes another sip. She looks at the dark wooden vintage bookshelves towering above her head behind the couch. She then gets up with her glass to look out the window at a few gutter punks that walk by wondering if they will be sleeping outside tonight. Midori then sits back down on an antique armchair. She fidgets while lighting a cigarette and has a hard time keeping it still.            “It’s got its charm.” Althea looks off into the distance. Her eyes look like she is watching a movie. “It’s like another dimension. And I’ve been to another dimension.”            Midori laughs and chugs her wine... “Yeah... Me too.”            Althea looks at her seriously. “It's really not all that funny.”            Not all that funny? How serious does she want me to take this? Pretentious snob! “I know. I’ve been there.” Midori decides to toy with Althea, using her experience of the world that she convinced herself is not real. “It’s much like our world only more fucked up.” Althea looks at her seriously. Midori can’t tell if she is patronizing her or sincerely believes her. She continues. “Except they did have these demons.” She laughs at the sound of herself. “With horns! And big glowing eyes!”            Althea looks at her more intensely. She opens her dark blue eyes as wide as she can. “So, these... I don’t know if I would call them demons. Their skin-their faces were shaped...Oh how can I describe it’s almost like those paint splotches for a psychological evaluation, but brilliant hues of greens and blues. Just beautiful. I remember them being incredibly muscular, and almost eight feet tall!”            A cold chill runs throughout Midori’s body. She knows Althea is talking about the same beings. “Yeah, but there was one small one,” she says humbly.            “Wow,” Althea exhales. “I knew this day was going to happen. A friend of mine pointed it out in a card reading just a few weeks ago. The cards are never wrong, but a small part of me was hesitant.” She shakes her head and looks at the floor, “It’s amazing, isn’t it? Most people are completely clueless about other worlds.” She then stares at her.            Midori looks down, swirls her wine then looks back at Althea. She can't understand how Althea can have such a similar experience. “You can’t be serious. There is a reasonable explanation. A scientific one, I’m sure. It must be some self-induced hallucination, like seeing a light at the end of a tunnel when being operated on, and you think you’re dying and seeing heaven because your heart stops or something?”            Althea twists her face in disappointment. “So...” she says sarcastically, “You think this is all in your head? And this survival mechanism would make you believe in other dimensions?”            “Exactly! Like euphoria.”            “I was not on any drugs? Were you?”            Midori thinks about it. She wasn’t. This is before she even tried a joint. She shrugs her shoulders instead and rolls her eyes to the side.            “I wasn’t lying on a hospital bed unconscious but instead very much alive, awake, and aware. My family could not find me for two weeks!” Althea's face starts to cringe and turn red.                 Midori thinks she looks like an angry, nylon, sock puppet. “Why can’t you just accept this wonderful gift that you experienced and stop making up ridiculous notions to disprove it?”          Midori guzzles a mouthful of wine. “Because… if it were real, I’m sure everyone would know about it.”            Althea laughs. “I hate to tell you this, but most people don’t know Jack Shit.”            Albert interjects, “My uncle? When he lived in Mexico? He saw a Chupacabra!”            She can't tell if Albert is serious or not until Althea yells at him. “Oh Albert! Shut up!”            “No, I'm fucking serious!” he shouts.            Both women ignore him. Midori is more interested in knowing if there are any other similarities about this unknown dimension. “So then? Tell me about this other world? What did it look like?”            “The scenery was fantastic, trees taller than skyscrapers except for the smaller ones that had these crazy purple glass trunks! The water was like...” She stares into space, like she's trying to see it again. “Like the water around Caribbean, that brilliant blue? But I’ve never seen anything like this place, not even on a postcard. And I’m from San Francisco.” Althea goes on to describe the bright grassy hills, monolithic mountains and rock formations, enormous flowers and even some of the animals.            This place sounds like a cartoon to Midori. “Well, there you go right there,” she says. She wants to prove Althea wrong, and this was it. “The world I saw looked totally different. Like our world only more fucked up.” She thinks that Althea is insane for believing that any of this is real.Midori, now buzzed, from both coke and wine, pours another glass from the third bottle. She starts to walk around the room with Albert. She picks up a voodoo doll, sold at most tourist shops, made of straw and a large black bead for the head. There are big crevices for eyes. It's dressed in a colorful polyester outfit with a ribbon around it that reads, "New Orleans." The oversized teeth are painted yellow. She picks off pieces of straw and lets them fall to the floor while walking. “The world I saw was different,” she repeats. She sits back down the same time Albert does and sets the doll down on the coffee table in front of her.            “So maybe there are two different dimensions, but these mystical beings, can pass through both? Hmm... Interesting.” Althea touches her chin, pauses for a moment, while looking proud of her conclusion.            Midori remembers for a moment the raid in her other world that came from the sky. Perhaps it was this third world.            Albert slaps his hands on his thighs. “OK I’m bored with this conversation.” He gets back up.            Althea gets up with a bit of a grunt. “I'm going to hit the hay,” she says. She hunches over like an old lady and pulls a blanket out of the bottom drawer in a wall hutch. She throws it on the couch next to Midori, then goes into her bedroom and closes the door.            Midori does not fall asleep for another three hours. She is busy talking philosophy with Albert. She thinks the inventions and ideas they come up with are brilliant although they won't remember any of them the next day. Albert mentions how amazing they are and that they should record their conversations next time.            When they run out of blow Midori wraps up in the blanket and lies down. It is wonderful to cuddle with the AC cranked. She smiles with contentment and falls asleep after an hour.             “Rise and shine!” Albert yells while standing over Midori. It is two in the afternoon the next day. “Anyone up for dirty eggs and steak? I'm cooking breakfast!”            Midori rubs her face then looks at the large black smears on her hands. Perhaps she should have washed her face before bed. While sticking her finger in the corner of her eye, and pulling out blackened eye boogers, she notices her makeup on the blanket.            “What are dirty eggs and steak?” Althea asks from the kitchen.            “You fry the eggs in the steak grease.”            “Albert? That sounds disgusting! And it can’t be too healthy.”            “Yeah, but it’s goooooooooooood!” He looks at Midori. “You know you want some!”            Midori rubs the back of her head, starts to twirl the dread at the scalp then stops to point to a dead stuffed iguana. It sits on a large antique dresser, set up like an altar. “And who is that?”Althea walks into the room while wiping her hands on a towel. “Oh, that’s Sergio. A friend brought that back from Mexico.”            Midori looks around at all the mini statues of different deities. Most of Althea's books are on witchcraft and mysticism. She picks up and studies a framed scarab beetle, an iridescent and alien looking bug. Its shiny black legs stretch across a piece of matt board.            “I’ve gotten rid of a lot of stuff. I’m leaving the state.”            Midori picks up a book on tarot spells and flips through it. “Really? When?”            Althea smiles. “Soon enough. You are more than welcome to come with me.”            “Where are you going?”            “I’m taking a road trip to Chicago.”            Midori shrugs her shoulders. The last place she wants to go is Chicago. “It's not like I have a job set up there or anything.” She does not take Althea seriously.            “Don't worry about it. At least until you get on your feet.”            It seems strange that Althea is offering her a place to live after knowing her for a day. No one is this friendly. Midori wonders if there is some hidden agenda. It is still a place to stay, and she is thankful for that.
            After a heavy breakfast Midori wishes she had coke. She is ready for a nap but decides to go back to the building for her belongings. She wants to get it over with. Albert accompanies her. He wears a t-shirt that reads ‘bottom’ and laughs. “I know my place.”            Althea offers the use of her car, an old Monte Carlo painted primer black. It's bad ass. On the ride there, Midori explains Danny’s amusing temper to Albert. She sighs in a relaxed way. “I hope he’s not there,” she says.            “Did he ever hit you or anything like that?”            “No... He knows better.”            “Oh, should he now?” Albert's voice quivers.            Midori laughs. “He did pull a guy out of a cab once to beat his ass.” She laughs.            “So, this Danny.” Albert fidgets. “Is he like a big guy?”            “Trust me I can take care of myself. I just don’t feel like dealing with him right now.” Her head is pounding from the previous night, and she does not feel like getting into an argument.They pull up to an industrial building, get out of the car and Albert slams the door. Midori gives him a look as they walk up to a large, metal, door that had been mostly eaten by large, rust, splotches Midori barely lets the latch give. They walk into a huge open room made of wood as she creeps around the floor. She kneels before a large thrift store dresser and opens the bottom drawer. It is full of her things, mostly black jeans, and shirts. She shoves them in a black, jean, bag, used like a backpack. Albert hits the coffee table, made of two milk crates and a board, with his knee. “Owe Fuck!” he shouts.  Four or five empty beer cans hit the floor making a large clanking noise.            A dirty hippie sleeps at the far end of the room. His torn and grayed bell bottoms hang off the broken-down couch. He is knocked out drunk and didn't hear a thing. “Looks like everyone is out,” she says.            “That’s all the stuff you got?” Albert asks. “Traveling light? I hear you.”She goes into the bathroom. A few gallon jugs, full of warm, stale water, lay around since there is no working plumbing. Albert follows. He looks down at the rust-stained sink and the years of dirt crusted on the floor. “This is disgusting,” he says.            She grabs her deodorant and makeup from the sink top then throws it in her bag. She is trying to get out as quickly as possible but when they walk back into the main room they run into Danny, accompanied by a skanky redhead with eyeliner and foundation thick as cake frosting. Albert looks her up and down. “Who the hell is this?” he says.            Danny, who is six foot two, advances towards Albert as he backs off. Danny then looks at Midori and yells, “Yeah that’s right! Where the hell were you last night?”            Midori looks at him then at the girl and says, “You know what? He’s lousy in bed but I’m sure you already know that.” She can tell that this girl is a total slut just by looking at her. She is just the type of girl he deserves.            “And where were you?” Danny asks.            “Out.”            “Out,” he repeats. “You know? I bring you out here. I find you a place to stay.”            Midori looks around the enormous, dilapidated, room. “You know what? You’re a stupid ass!” She barges past him, and he runs in front of her to block her. “Will you move please?” she asks.            “Or what?” He gets right in her face.            “OK fine.” Midori slams her bag on the ground and grabs him by the back of the shirt and jeans then carries him to the front door. “Albert! Open the door!”            Albert’s jaw drops as he opens the front door, and she tosses Danny out headfirst. Danny makes a loud crash when he hits the garbage cans in front of the building that haven't been picked up in forever. She dusts her hands as he picks himself up.            “Holy shit girl how did you do that?” Albert exclaims.            Midori laughs coyishly. “I just don’t know my own strength.” The redheaded girl, who is wearing enormous platform heels, runs outside, to the best of her ability, with her hands in the air. She looks rather silly and tends to Danny. Midori slams the door hard behind her.            “No really, that was incredible!” Albert shouts. His eyes bug out as he stares at her with a dumfounded look.            She comes across another old dresser, with candle wax stuck to the top, grabs the pack of cigarettes, and shakes it. “Bastard coulda left me some smokes.”            On the car ride back, Albert continues to question her. “Midori? Why are you so strong?”            “I don’t know Albert I’ve always been like that. Don’t make it a big deal about it OK?” She is not in the mood to tell her life story.            “So, wow. Your boyfriend was fucking some bimbo. That sucks?”            “He’s not my boyfriend Albert; actually, he’s boring as fuck. I just wanted to move to New Orleans.”            “Where did you move from?”            “Some place really depressing.”                     When they arrive back at Althea's apartment, before Midori could walk in, Albert runs to Althea and explains how Midori tossed a man, twice her size, out onto the front curb. “No, she l-i-t-e-r-a-lly tossed him out.”             Althea looks at Midori. Her eyes glaze over like she has a hidden agenda. “I’d like to read your cards.”            Midori exhales. “I dunno if I really believe in that stuff. I mean how can you predict the future?”            “Well, you can’t completely because your future is always changing. But I can tell you what’s in your line of path.”            Midori is reluctant at first because she thinks this is not true. She finally caves in out of curiosity. She sits at the table while Althea makes them tea. Midori has always hated tea but decides to try it again. Althea pours her a glass in a frilly cup covered in painted roses.  The tea still tastes like dry leaves with hot water. She adds three heaping teaspoons of honey. Althea sips it like it is hot chocolate, with handmade whipped cream, then lets out an “Mmm.”            The tarot cards are the first-round deck Midori had ever seen. She's been in occult bookstores enough to know there is a deck for any theme. Althea also explains that the cards can have several meanings. In the usual rectangle cards, the card means something different if turned upside-down. In the round deck, the meaning in the card depends on the degree it is turned. The artwork looks tribal.            In Midori's line of path is travel. That’s a no brainer. She agreed to go to Chicago with Althea. There is also a man in her path. “I just dumped an asshole. Does that count?” she says.            “Well, this is someone you don’t really know, but he’s looking for you.”            She thinks about her father whom she's never met. “Is it a family member?”            “No.” Althea stalls for a moment then places both hands on the table and smiles from ear to ear. “This is more of a sexual thing. Like he's really going to rock your socks off.” Albert laughs in the background.            Midori sort of smiles and turns her head to hide it. She looks back at Althea with a serious face although she does not believe in any of this. “So... What does he look like?”            “I can’t really see his face, he’s all in black or hard to see.” She points to a dark horse in the cards. "He’s…dangerous-like. Wanted by the law with killer instincts, kind of dangerous. I would not get involved with this person. Not even for a night of passion. He's just... really bad news, and he's always surrounded in darkness.” The last week in October...                       Inside a gift shop, jewelry hangs over a large counter and register like a canapé. Sunlight blazes in the front window creating a glow in the otherwise dimly lit room. After a week of rest, she is already thinking of her next step after Chicago. First, she will save some money and move from there. It does not matter where she ends up if it's not Chicago.            Albert flips through one of the numerous books about Marie Laveau. “I heard she had many lovers. He sighs loudly. “OK I’m bored with this.”            They walk outside. Gutter punks and tourist crowd the broken sidewalks. Midori struts across the cobble stone street like a man. Albert scurries behind her while wiping his big nose. They shuffle into a small convenience store. The metal grated shelves are overstuffed with junk food and alcohol. The floor is made of dirty black and white tiles. She kicks one across the floor by accident.            “So do you believe all those things Althea said are true?” Albert asks.Midori digs through her wallet from her back pocket and asks the man behind the counter for cigarettes. “All what is true?”            “You know? That there is some alternate world in the sky? Where Heaven and hell meet? A paradise overrun by demons? What she asked you the first night we met? She asked me when I first met her too. She asks everyone.”            Midori puts something down, can't even remember what. She thinks it's strange that Althea would ask everyone this. She would have to know that the people she asks this to might think she's a lunatic. “Who can say? But I do believe that she believes it. And it's an insane question to ask.”            “I think she’s whacked. But they always say, there is a fine line between brilliance and whacked.”            The man, behind the counter gives them both a strange look. Midori ignores him and lights a cigarette as she walks out onto the sunken streets. One big rubber heel of her combat boot hits the ground with a thump.            “But you said you’ve been to another world too? And it wasn’t real. Right?”                      “Yes, that’s correct.”            They head down Decatur Street and Midori wishes she has money to shop here. She's never seen so many Gothic clothing stores in one condensed area. Junk shops and restaurants everywhere is nothing new. The thought of buying some tight, latex, black pants, crosses her mind, but her ass would look gigantic. All she has are a few cool outfits. The stout, Victorian, shops, are painted in a multitude of colors, making it happy to look at.            The next hour is spent in a graveyard getting high. Midori lies on her back, on top of a tomb, while smoking a cigarette, and blowing smoke rings. None of the graves in New Orleans are underground due to the soft earth. Mausoleums are hurtled together, like a mini cement, city. Albert sits on a small amount of grass next to her. “I wish I had some blow.”            She wonders if this is all he thinks about. Hours pass and it gets dark. They walk through the graves and greet other gutter punks who offer them beer and weed. Some hold candle-lit rituals. “What time is it?” Midori asks Albert.Albert looks at his beeper “8:30 why?”“We were supposed to meet Althea at 7:00.”  She walks out of the cemetery, Albert follows closely behind her, and she looks down the street. Money for a cab ride would be nice. Instead, she tries to hitch a ride.                       “Are you sure we should be doing this Midori? What if some lunatic picks us up?”            “That's what I'm hoping for.”                    Just then a rusted white van pulls up. The driver, in his early twenties, with a shiny bald head and neatly trimmed goatee, leans out the window. “Lookin for a ride?” He rests his tattooed arm on the door.             “Why yes that would be lovely,” Midori answers and opens the door, waiting for Albert to get in first. He gives her a dirty look as he crawls into the back. He sits down on a pile of crushed boxes. She sits on the corner of an unstable passenger seat. She pulls down the visor mirror and applies a fresh coat of black eye liner. She then draws veins on the bald parts of her head that reach down like bangs. The infestation of tourists, intersected by an occasional group of gutter punks is so massive that it is impossible to see across the street.            “Is it always this crowded?” she asks.            “Sometimes it's worse. Ever see it during Mardi Gras? You can't even fucking walk.” He speeds up then slams on the breaks. He does this quite often. Albert's head hits the back seat. “Those who are smart get out of town. I hate fucking Marti Gras. It’s all tourists. And--Get the fuck out of the road! URRRRRAH! URRRAH! Ur URRRAH!” he screams out the window. Midori finds it amusing.            They arrive in front of the Crystal Lounge with a jolt. The bald man asks for Midori's number, and she laughs. “I honestly don't have a phone.”            He leans his head to the side and cringes his eyes in disbelief, “Well,” he says. “If you are ever by a phone, give me a call.” He hands her his business card, and she stuffs it in her back pocket. She can throw it out later.            Albert staggers out from the back seat. “I think I have motion sickness.” The driver speeds off, squealing his wheels, then slams on the breaks again for tourist. “Were lucky to be alive after hitching a ride from that lunatic.”            “You need to relax.”            “Want to go to The Coven later?” Albert asks.            “Did that yesterday.”                        “GOD! There's nothing to do in this town! I hope we can at least score some coke here.”            “Great so I can be bored and super alert at the same time.” They arrive at the end of the line. Midori tries to make eye contact with the bouncer. The night club building looks sunken into the earth, with moss and ivy growing all over it. It's swallowed by buildings on either side.                 “So, you do think she's whacked, don't you?” Albert persists. “We are talking about a woman who claims to have real magical powers and talks to tree fairies.”            Midori stops him. “This woman took your sorry ass in.”                     “Oh, I know. Althea and I go way back.”                      “Like a few months?”                   “Whatever!” he spouts and stands in front of her. His hair reaches her eyes. “I've known her longer than you. But I'm just saying.”              Midori rolls her eyes then shakes her head. “I do believe that she believes it. But one thing has always sounded kind of strange to me, even for Althea. She said she found a doorway to this ethereal world in the sky while falling off a building. Now how could Althea just fall off a building? And then goes missing for two weeks? A woman who prides herself on intelligence?” Just then the bouncer waves her over. She knew they would be escorted to the front of the line and let in for free. Clubs always do this because of their appearances. It must be good for business.            The Crystal Lounge is located on the second floor of a large, worn, wooden, building. A balcony, that is the length of the long room, overlooks a shady narrow street. A woman with two, large, circular pieces of wood through each ear lobe, and a large ring, through the septum of her nose, accompanies a heavy-set man with black dreads at the bar. They pound shots. Midori looks at her bright pink Mohawk. She would never have the patience for that type of upkeep. She spots Althea sitting at the end of the bar and calls her attention.               “Midori... Hi,” Althea answers. She places the same enthusiasm on both words. While one hand holds a cocktail the other rests on the bar. Midori investigates her wild, dark blue eyes and gets sucked into a gateway to the abyss. She notices the back of Althea's thinning hair, in the intricate, large, dark, antique mirror behind the thick wooden bar.            Albert looks around quickly like a bird. “I need a line,” he says.            “Why don't you try some vitamin B instead of snorting chunks of aspirin and god only knows what else,” Althea tells him.            He then leans into Midori. “All I need is just one line. Do you have any?”            Midori had come across some a few days ago and shared it with him. This does not mean she is an automatic coke dispenser. “No. Are you going to bother me with this all night?” She sits with her legs spread wide open and feet rested on the barstool.             The bondage show is set up in the middle of the wooden dance floor. A woman lies on her stomach wearing only a thong. A man stands over her with a red hot, pen sized torch, and brands Egyptian markings into her back. Yellow puss fills the crevices. She clutches a nearby friend's hand due to the pain from being branded. Midori knows this is just a fad to makes tattoos seem less audacious, and it looks more painful. The bar now smells of burning skin and sweat from the humidity. “He's doing it wrong,” Althea says. “Poor thing that looks painful.” Midori rolls her eyes and wonders how much she really knows about branding. She acts like she knows everything.            “I think I see someone. I gotta go!” Albert scurries through the crowd and into the men's room.                        “I bet he's got coke,” Althea explains.                                                An older, balding, pudgy, short man in a suit approaches Midori. He looks like he is from out of town on a business meeting and had gotten lost. “You look like you're into this bondage thing,” he says while nodding his head.                        “Do you have a light?”                        “Sure,” he smoothly tells her. He lights her cigarette and looks at her chest. “So, what kind of bondage do you get into?”                        “I enjoy bashing peoples sculls in with a metal pipe.” She blows smoke in his face. He walks away stunned. “Pain in the ass,” she mutters.                      “They really haven’t changed over the years,” Althea sighs.                       “I don’t know how they rule the world,” Midori says. “We are definitely the smarter sex.” In fact, she has yet to meet a man smarter than herself.                        “Well?” Althea tilts her head. “One day man was stronger than woman, hit woman over the head with big stick, drug her off by the hair, and we haven’t been able to regain control ever since.”            Albert scurries back while looking behind repeatedly. “We gotta go.”                        “What now?” Althea says.            He looks at Althea. “I'm going.” He then laughs and leans into Midori to whisper loudly through the roaring music, “I went into the bathroom with this guy to do a line right? So, he sets this down and totally forgot about it.” He shows her a small envelope made from a magazine cover. It's stuffed with the light, cream colored powder, and probably about a gram. She looks at it knowing someone is going to want it back.                        Just then a 6'4", stocky man walks out of the bathroom and towards them shouting, “I'm gonna kick your fucking ass!”                        Midori laughs and looks at Albert whose eyes bug out. “You stole coke from him?” The amount is large enough to fight over and she lives for confrontations. She gets up and stands between the two of them. “Is there a problem?”                       “Bitch. I’m not even talking to you.” He barely finishes these words when she punches him in the face and throws him off balance. He holds his bleeding nose then looks at his blood-soaked fingers. “You're dead bitch! I don’t care if you are a girl!” She bounces up and down like a boxer while smiling then kicks him straight across the room, landing him on the floor, and next to the wall.                    “Bethca didn't know my friend has immortal strength asshole!” Albert shouts.Althea stares at the man like it is taking her time to realize Midori's strength. Then all three turn back towards the bar like nothing happened. Everyone stares at them. Midori takes a sip her favorite cocktail, vodka, soda water, and fresh squeezed lime, extra lime. She smacks her lips and smiles. “Ahh, refreshing.”                        “You kicked him clean across the room!” Althea yells. “And I don't mean like you know Tae Kwon Do, but like you had the strength of an elephant? How is that possible?”           Midori shrugs her shoulders, “dunno.”                        Two bouncers walk up from behind them. “Excuse me miss but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Sorry but you know lawsuits n that.”            Midori downs her drink first then gets up. “This place is boring anyway.”                     “It would have been nice to finish my eight-dollar martini!” Althea tells them as they walk outside. She looks at all the people staring at them.                       “Did you see that? She totally clocked his ass!” one guy tells another.                        Once they cross over to next block Althea yells at them. “Could you two have attacked any more attention? The whole frikkin nightclub was staring at us instead of the Bondage show!” Midori laughs.    
            At Kaldis, a twenty-four-hour coffee house Gutter Punks join another group of Gutter Punks. Midori recalls spending hours here when the heat was unbearable. A few times she even stayed the night for the cost of one cup of coffee and free refills. Sure, she woke up with a neck ache due to laying her head on the wooden table, but it was worth it for a break from the humidity. On the way back from the register, Althea almost trips over one of the huge bags of coffee beans that lay around the dirty wooden floor. Albert takes his mocha, sits down, and stirs it like he's irritated. Every trace of whipped cream on top dissolves. Althea sits down and sighs.                “What a magical evening.”                        Midori looks outside. A midnight parade started, and everyone is dressed in costume. She watches a hearse roll by that is decorated with a glittery snow design and long horns on the top. The car is followed by people in costume. One woman wears a black Victorian dress with a black lace umbrella. This entire scene reminds her of the other world. She smiles to herself.                        “I can't believe it's Halloween. It doesn't even feel like Halloween. It's too hot here!” Albert whines.                        “I think this place captures the very essence of Halloween.” Althea folds her hands and smiles.                        Midori puts her foot on Albert's stool, between his balls, threatening to kick him off. “I know you are going to give me some of that coke I just saved your ass over.” He slips her the bag while looking vigorously from side to side to see if anyone is looking at him.            He then turns to Althea and says, “There was the cutest guy behind the bar did you see him?”                        Althea gives him a half smile. “Hmmm. Perhaps if you two had not gotten us thrown out you could be talking to him right now. I should have guessed. The moon is in Capricorn.”                        Midori walks to the washroom. Once she is inside a stall, she takes a key, dips it in the envelope of coke, sticks it in her nose and snorts. It bothers her sinuses like a slight cold but it's worth it. It gives her immediate energy.
            The next day is spent loading a U-Haul pod, attached to Althea's car. Because of her strength Midori ends up moving all the heavy antique furniture, just as she suspected. Everything is made of solid wood. Albert takes his time, folding clothes, wrapping dishes in newspapers and labeling boxes. He smokes the rest of the weed and complains about it. “Is this all we have?” Althea smiles at Midori as if she’s got something on her mind. She offers to buy breakfast for all of them even though it's one PM.                       The place is quite a walk. Other restaurants are closer, and she wonders just what is so special about this café. She looks around for the last time, trying to remember how the city looks. The buildings are shorter versions of the buildings in Paris. She's seen pictures. Short fat palm trees, that resemble giant pineapples, guard the entrance.                        Althea picks a table outside. Midori can't wait till the waitress brings coffee. Flowers in baskets overhead create some shade. The heat starts to rise. She looks at what's left of the coke, an ample amount she wants to save in case she has to drive tired. Albert pays close attention to her. “Do you think I could have just one bump?”                       She looks at him. “We should save it. It's going to be a long ride to Chicago.”            “How about just a small one. I can’t barely hold my head up.” She ignores him and lights a cigarette. He turns his head to look at a guy walk by.            “So, Midori,” Althea says. “Albert said you met a man yesterday?” She smiles.            “What man are you talking about?”            “Some bald man, sort of a rough fellow?”            “More like a lunatic!” Albert adds.           “OK? So, what about this lunatic? Are you going to call him?”            “Nah." Midori leans back in her chair, hitting the sharp edges of the squat, palm tree's bark behind her. It's planted in a large, black, cracked bucket. “He was pretty boring actually.” She rubs the back of her head.                        Althea laughs as she dips the corner of her cloth napkin in her water and wipes her spoon with it. She then inspects the rest of her silverware. “Well, what are you looking for exactly? A super freak? If he has to be weirder or stronger than you, I’d hate to see what that entails.”                        “You know I really don’t care one way or the other about having a brainless sperm donor.” She looks around like she is bored.                       “Oh Midori, that's what you say now but I bet the first man to rock your socks off is going to own you.”                        “HA!” Albert joins in “That’s right! You just need some guy to give it to you like POW POW POW!” He slams his fist into his hand. “I've met plenty of women who were fucked stupid!” The waitress pours their coffee and stares at him. Albert pays her no mind. “And the most independent woman will do whatever some dude tells her, if he's givin it to her good!”                      “You two need to shut the fuck up and stop worrying about my business!” Midori spouts back.                    Albert and Althea burst into laughter.                        “Whatever.” She puts her cigarette out on the side of the table. She sees no validity in what they are saying.                        “Or you can just give a guy a blowjob in the bathroom BITCH!” Albert yells out while Midori kicks him off the black metal chair, and he goes flying.                      “Where do you two get this energy in the morning?” Althea says.            “That's gross,” Midori tell Albert.            He fixes his shirt and sits back down. “Oh, listen to you! You’re such a pre-Madonna. Like you never sucked on a guy’s wang.”            “I haven't.”            “Girl! What are you like numb below the waist?”                       The waitress comes back with their food. Midori isn't even that hungry but figures she should eat something before the long ride.            “I agree with Midori,” Althea interjects. “And in a bathroom yet! Can you imagine the floor?! Why do all women have to completely subjugate themselves as a sexual slave for man? You know? I was flipping through a young woman's magazine? There were nine articles on blowjobs.” She jabs her egg yolk with the corner of her toast like she's angry at it. Midori picks at her bagel with cream cheese.                        Albert does not eat anything. “Or maybe she just needs to try a woman and be done with it.” He laughs. “SO, Midori? When are you going to try a woman?”                       “When you do Albert.”            “EW! Besides I’m allergic to fish”                      “You know I hate that,” Althea says sternly. “We don’t smell or taste like fish. Which reminds me I do need to get laid.” She chuckles at her own joke and takes a sip of coffee. “Besides,” Althea indulges her. “Most women lose their shit over some man. That’s why they continue to rule the world. Midori is stronger than that.”            The humidity starts to rise, and Midori can feel the sweat on the back of her neck. She's had enough of New Orleans' hot and sticky weather. After Althea receives the check, she does not seem ready to leave. Midori wonders just what is so special about this place. Althea looks around smiling. Midori rests her arms over the back of her head, exhales, then looks at Althea.             “What are we waiting for? We should get going!”            “I still have one thing left to take care of,” Althea says.            Midori tilts her head and says in a strong voice, “And what would that be?”            “Restitution.”            “Restitution,” Midori repeats sarcastically. “Restitution for what?” Althea’s eyes rest on the office building across the street. “Be more specific. Are we waiting for a person?”            “Well little miss I don’t believe in anything?” Althea smiles. “You’ll see.”            Midori laughs. “OK then.” If Althea does not want to tell her that's fine but she is sure as hell not lifting anything else or beating anyone up.            Albert exhales loudly. “So, what are we waiting for Althea? We’ve been waiting here all day. Can I have a line from that bag I stole for us Midori? It’s not fair for you to keep it since I was the one who got it.”           “Correction? I was the one who got it! You were the one who was about to get your ass beat.”            “Althea?” he asks her as if she is going to step in.            “Alright guys this is it.” Althea states while getting up, dusting herself, off and ignoring Albert.            Midori notices Althea's target, a businessman. They follow him through the thick of people, gutter punks, and tourists, for several blocks. Albert smacks his shoulder into someone.             “Asshole!” he yells.            Althea turns around and scolds him, “Please keep your voice down. We are trying to follow someone.”            “Oh Ok.”            They walk down several seedy blocks, within the French Quarters. Midori peers inside an open doorway at people, smoking and drinking. When they reach Royal Street the neighborhood changes to better kept. They pass several, old, Victorian houses when they finally arrive at a yellow one. They walk around the back. Midori lights a cigarette. Althea cuts a small hole in the screen door then opens it. Albert nudges Midori. “Just a small bump I swear. I won't bug you again.” Midori’s rolls her eyes and slams the small envelope in his hands. She is more worried about Althea's plan and what she wants her to do.                       “What are we doing? Breaking into someone's house?” Midori asks. Althea ignores her. They follow Althea inside. Midori looks around the kitchen. The décor is modern, dull, and unfitting considering the antique structure of the building. She can't imagine this person being one of Althea's friends. She follows Althea into the living room.            A man jumps from the sofa with his tie undone and a remote in his hand. “What the fuck? Who do you bitches think you are? Just come walking into my house like this?”Althea smiles at him. Midori stands with her arms crossed. “Nice place you got here,” she comments sarcastically.            Albert picks up a picture of the man from the couch and a woman. The man yells, “Put that down! Who the fuck are you people?”           “You don’t remember me, Jeffrey?” Althea smiles at him.He studies her. His eyebrows cringe.            “From college?”            A look of surprise washes over his face. “I know who you are. You’re that dirty hippie chick. Look we were just playing around. And I wasn't even the one that did anything. Just a couple of Polaroid's that only a few people saw.”            “That's why you are going to be the last to die.” Althea says softly, like she is putting her child to bed.
            “You broke into my home... I am calling the police!” He advances toward the phone. “This is ridiculous!" He picks it up and holds it threatening Althea. “Now get out!” He looks at the phone, probably thinking of what to say.            Althea pulls out an object, from her pocket that looks like a large compass but with newer gadgets made of gold, silver, and black metal. The wall behind him starts to fade, becoming transparent. The city that Midori recognizes from the other world is visible behind him. “No fucking way,” she mumbles under her breath. Her eyes open wider.            A beast steps out but not one of the demons Midori or Althea had described. It is mutated and perverted into something more horrifying. The head is upside down with teeth like a Viper Fish. It is made of moist, white, dripping bone and its spine extends back through the portal. The man screams as it grabs him and pulls both back into the other world.            Albert clings to a piece of furniture behind him. “He’s gone!” he yells. “How could he be gone?”            Althea does not answer. She smiles proudly at the space in front of her, another dimension that Althea or Albert don’t notice.            “What the hell was that thing?” Albert yells.            Midori stares at the city in the other world. She's a bit catatonic from what just transpired but becomes mesmerized by the doorway to another world. It looks like Chicago's south side only more condensed. The buildings themselves are smaller and made completely of wood, except for the corrugated, plastic, shingled roof. Bridges extend over the street, connecting the taller buildings.            Albert stands still with his mouth open. Midori looks at Althea adoring her gadget and polishes it with a Chamois.            Albert then looks around and goes through a tall black, CD stand, tossing most of them to the floor after looking at them. “His taste in music sucks.” He then finds an expensive headphone set on a bookshelf then kneels to go through a bottom cabinet, pulling out socks, porn- then finally another wallet with five dollars. “Um Althea?” He shakes but acts like nothing is wrong. “If this guy’s not coming back, can we like take some stuff?”            “I don’t care Albert do what you want,” Althea answers.            “What the fuck is wrong with you two? We are going to rob him now? Don't you see this?” She points to the city.            “He's gone. The beast is gone.” Althea acts like she's reassuring her.            “I am not talking about the beast!” You, stupid troll faced bitch. Midori turns her head and stares at the gateway to the other world. She wonders what would happen if she were to run through it. If she hits the wall, she will just get a nasty headache. She must know if this is real. Without thinking about anything else, she runs through the porthole, just as Althea holds out the gadget and closed the door. 
Chapter 3 The Girl from the Parallel World                        Midori's vision whites out completely. She forgets where she is and feels a strong high, like doing poppers or sucking the aerosol out of a can of whipped cream. She gets a ringing in her ear that is a cross between a cicada and a mass of BB gun pellets rolling. It fades when she regains her eyesight. She remembers being at some man's house in New Orleans. Now a completely different neighborhood becomes visible. Rows of warehouses, that look like mini airplane hangars, built of corrugated metal shingles, have their doors open to the public. The insides glow yellow from flickering fire. The ground is made of gravel and dead grass. It's dark outside. She can see taller and more familiar wooden buildings in the nighttime background. She remembers jumping through the porthole and realizes she is in another world.            She hears a horrific cry in the distance then sees the mutated beast that Althea had summoned. It drags Jeffrey, across the ground, screaming, into a warehouse. Midori is regretting her snap decision. She shakes her head and notes how clear headed she is. “This is not a dream.” She didn’t have any weed or alcohol this morning. Midori turns around expecting to see the doorway in midair. It's gone. Instead, she sees another warehouse. She slaps herself again.Midori turns around slowly and walks in the other direction. While sneaking quietly inside another warehouse she gets startled by living meat, made of human body parts, hanging on the wall and wiggling. It almost makes her wretch and smells like BO. She stares at the skin of a breathing female torso and head. The bottom is dripping with skin, veins, and continues to bleed fresh blood. The mouth moves like its salivating and the eyes roll up then back down. She does not appear to be aware of anything. A wooden shelf contains jars of glowing, fluorescent, green goop sits over a bulky fireplace, made from large stones. It glows behind her.            She backs into a deformed being standing close to seven feet tall. Fear paralyzes her entire body as it grabs her, by the top of the head, with one massive hand. The muscles are uneven and fused with the outside of its skin. The bones, some of them protruding, are also uneven. It has a hole in its forehead, the size of a silver dollar that looks like it has always been there. She realizes she has no strength over this creature. Her heart beats fast and she wonders if she is going to die.            From the distance a man yells and walks closer. Having his head completely wrapped in black gauze, with heavy protective goggles, and dressed all in black, he is hard to see. “You know better than that? Any women... that are alive and fully intact... you give to me!” he tells the large beast, and it backs off. The man walks closer to her. He grabs one of her arms then stops to smell her. He smells her again.             He stands in front of her and smells her neck then looks at her. He is stronger than she is. It is almost like she has no strength in this world at all. He holds her by the forearms with his hands and rejoices repeatedly. “It’s you! It’s you! It's you!” He stops to look at her then strokes her hair and says, “Your hair.” He pauses. “What did you do to your hair? It is different kewpie doll, but I know it's you I could smell you!” He then turns her head. “A woman should always decorate herself,” he tells her and points with his index finger to her piercings, “But you don’t need these things in your face.” He touches her face again. His hands are even covered in black gauze. No part of his skin is visible. “I’m Shaw.” He tries to hold her hand, but she crosses her arms.            Shaw then grabs her forearm and drags her half walking to an overhead bridge, encased in green shingles and glass. He unlocks the door, to the entrance, and tries to lead her up a narrow, rickety, wooden, staircase. She sits on the ground, but he drags her. Her rear slides on rocks and gravel. “It would be easier if you got up!” he yells. “Look! You’re safe with me, safer than you are out here!” He is right about that, so she gets up behind him. He grabs a hold of her arm again and leads her up the stairs to a long, skinny room on top of a bridge. It extends across the street. The entrance starts in the section of town with the warehouses, goes over a building, and ends at the familiar part of the city she has seen before. Along one wall, windows extend from floor to ceiling. The whole city is visible through a shield of dirt. He finally releases her then looks around quickly, probably seeing what he left lying around.                     “Why are you dressed like that? Are you one of them?” She motions outside with her eyes.             He laughs. “No.”                        “Then why are you all bandaged up? Have you been in an accident?”                     “No more fucking questions about the way I look understand?”                        Midori exhales. She does not want to get into it with him. She just wants out. “Where are we? What is this... town called?”            He exhales loudly with irritation. “You don't know where you are? How did you get here?”             “Dunno.”            “This little town is called Matez,” he says in a 'Once upon a time,' tone of voice.            “What is this place?” She looks around and notices a pantry to the side. A curtain halfway open, reveals a room full of jars with the same glowing jell in the warehouses. They are labeled, "Sugar."                He massages his chin and hesitates. “My office.”            She wonders if he is selling these. He seems so shady. “What kind of business do you do?”He touches her cheek with his glove then cups her chin. “Nothing you should concern those pretty eyes with... What are you doing in the Ghetto of Deformity? It’s not safe here.”           “Sort of just landed here. Look it’s been a slice, but I really should be on my way.”            “You know? I liked the blonde better. I came from a woman with blond hair.” He leans beside her and folds his arms. “I have been searching for you, for almost ten years.”                       “Really... you fucking freak,” she mutters. She walks away and he grabs her by the arm again. His head is tilted down, and he gawks at her.                        “Excuse me but let the fuck go of my arm already!”                        “It’s very important that you come with me.”                       “Sure,” she says sarcastically. “I’ll come with you. Because you like the way I smell. And… because I once had blonde hair like your mother.” She waits for him to loosen his grip and he does.                       “You know the fate of all three worlds depends on us being together.”            Now there is a pickup line she's never heard before. She looks around for something to use as a weapon but only finds jars, lids, and a large, stained, utility sink. “You know normally guys ask for a date first.” She laughs nervously then takes the palm of her hand, bashes him in the nose, runs down the stairs and back into the warehouse section.                        He runs after her. Midori runs to the end of the small block, up another stairway, onto an unstable rooftop, of a small building, turns around and kicks him, throwing her off balance because he is solid like rock. She turns around and trips, falling face forward, hitting her head hard against the cold metal roof. He then turns her over and straddles her pinning her arms down. He leans into her. “I’ve had it with this shit.” He places both hands beneath her breasts them moves them upwards and whispers in her ear, “I can’t wait to get you back to my place.”                   “Get the fuck off me you nasty deformed FUCK!” She beats him with her fists as he tries to grab her arms.                        “Excuse me but what are you doing?” yells a tall thin man in the, dark, shadowy, background. He’s followed by a group of men with weapons. Shaw gets up, walks through them, and seems to just fade into the background. The men pick her up.                        “Man!” A shorter man says. “What the hell’s a white girl like you doing here? And without a Ghetto Gate?”                        “What the hell is a ghetto gate?” Midori asks while rubbing her head.                        “You don’t know what a ghetto gate is? And you in the Ghetto of Deformity?” She looks up then exhales.                       “Well come on then. I guess we could walk you home,” says the tall man. Midori decided to take her chances. She feels safer with these men then she does outside with Shaw and the freaks. They take her inside another mammoth sized warehouse, at the other end of the block. It is heavily guarded, and they go through three sets of doors. The main room looks like a village, or mall. Thousands of tiny lights, in every color, softly display wooden rafters. People are shopping.                        Booths trail in the distance. The one by the entrance sells political t-shirts, purses, hair accessories, oils, jewelry, and other things. From another table, the short man picks up what looks like a black metal gate, in its compressed state, and the size of a portable umbrella, but thinner. He hands it to her. “This is a Ghetto Gate.”                       “So, what exactly is the Ghetto of Deformity?” she asks him.            “Well, you just saw what it was.” She attaches this devise to her belt. “I thought I was in Matez?”            “You in Matez,” says the tall man. “But in the ghetto part, for Matez that is. Whole city sort of a ghetto, but at least they don't let those things out into the rest of the city.” He motions outside with his eyes towards the Ghetto of Deformity. “So where are you from? I know you ain’t from the Island of Gault? Are you?”                         “Not exactly.”            He laughs. “That’s if you like water, and I know you ain’t from Baam.” Another man passed him, and he taps him with his clenched fist. “You know where Rafael is?”                        “I dunno. I think he’s playin cards.”                       She follows the short man to the end of the warehouse, through rows of booths and a group of people dancing to rap on a large radio. He opens a thick, wooden, medieval sized door. The congested streets of Matez are reveled. She recognizes it. It hasn't changed since the last time she was here, seven years ago. He explains how Rafael has been to many places and would be the best person to talk to. Midori is now interested in going back home. She doesn't like this world now that she knows she has no control over her surroundings. Groups of people hang outside of bars, at card tables, near the street. They drink, smoke weed, or do other things. There seems to be no rules about drugs, prostitution, or public drinking. She looks at some scantily dressed women across the street soliciting men that pass by. They arrive by four men sitting down, playing cards, and drinking at a rickety table made of metal legs and large piece of plywood.                        “Hey Rafael? We gotta take this chick home but I dunno where she lives and neither do she,” the short man says.                       A tall bald, man in his early thirties, medium completion, and very handsome, turns around. He stares at her through long black lashes and big round, brown eyes. He seems to get a spark of recognition as he rubs the top of his head. “What are you doing here?” he asks abruptly.            “Excuse me?”                    “I told you never to contact me again.”                      “Excuse me but I don’t even fucking know you!”           He pauses and studies her again. Midori raises an eyebrow and looks at him through the sides of her eyes. “Well as long as they didn’t follow you here.” He rubs his well-kept mustache.                        “Who?”                      “The Magicians.”                        “Magicians?” Midori lights a cigarette. “Like people that can pull a rabbit out of a hat?”            “You know what they are! All powerful beings? They control all three worlds. Well, the ones that we know about.”                      She looks at him cockeyed. She knows Althea was right about three worlds and she remembers the man in the top hat talking about Magicians. “Now why would Magicians be following me?”                       He stares at her. “You don’t remember anything do you? The last time I talked to you?”             “I just told you. I never met you.”                       “Yeah! Yeah! It was you. But your hair was different.” He leans back in his chair and looks at her.                        She looks around. She doesn’t know what to think. “Let me guess blonde?”            “No No. It was dark like it is now. But shorter, kinda fifties style.” A fight breaks out. Rafael, along with everyone else, ignores it.                 “I seriously think you have me mixed up with someone else. And I would NEVER do my hair fifties style.”                        “Isn’t your name like Miranda or something like that?”                        “No. Not Miranda.” She watches the fight. One man bends over and uses his head to ram the other man into a table. Cards, drinks and a full astray hurtle through the air.            “Wow, you must have traveled through time, earlier in life.” While massaging his chin, he thinks out loud, “Now how did you do that?”            Midori rolls her eyes.                        “Oh, I know! You was named after a drink! Midori? Right?”                        “Yes, that's correct.” She opens her eyes wide with surprise and realizes with all the strange things going on perhaps she did meet him before, or later. She wonders how possible it is that she traveled through time. “So, what did we talk about?”                        “You was just asking me a bunch of questions and stuff about Magician history. Look I don’t feel comfortable talkin about them.” He orders a drink from a waitress outside who passes them. “You want something?”                       “Yeah. I’d really like to know what is going on... Like...What are those things outside your warehouse? Some sort of monsters?” She twists her face in disbelieve to what she is saying.He orders two drinks then tells the waitress, “We'll be taking those inside.”           “Why?” Midori says.                       “He looks around, “You don't want to be talkin about this shit out here?”            The inside of the place is full of black, vinyl, round booths, and wooden tables. It's muggy and full of smoke. They sit at the only available table in the middle of the room, complete with a candle, in a large stained-glass vase, and a plastic astray. Midori lights a cigarette. He lowers his voice, “The politically correct term for them, what you saw today, is Unique Citizens. I dunno. I call em freaks. You know? They’re cannibals! They try and pass them along as people with some kinda syndrome. I think they’re some type of experiments. I think the Magicians was combining us people from the twin world with Hollow DNA. That's my suspicion.”            “What world are you from?”                        He looks at her strange. “I’m from your world. You know that. Look. You just gotta be careful. Just remember that’s only in our world, you got superhuman strength. Your power is probably about a match here so remember that. And you got that strength because you’re bi-dimensional. Either your mother or your father, was from here.”                        The waitress comes back and sets down a drink for both. She takes a sip and coughs. It’s whisky. “No that’s impossible,” she tells him. Who could consider something like this? But deep down she thinks it could be her father. She never met him, and her mother calls him a sperm donor.                        “Well then somebody ain’t telling you everything.” Rafael shakes his drink on the rocks and takes another sip.            She looks from side to side and asks quietly. “And how did I get here? To this world?”He laughs and looks at her. “What you don't know? You saw a doorway, right?”            “Yeah.”            “Only us bi-dimensional breeds can see where the doorways are. But don't go searching. You don't want to attract attention to a Magician. If I was you, I would just live my life and quit searching for doorways. Remember! Magicians don’t like trouble; they don’t like us going back and forth between the worlds and they especially don’t like us bi-worlds people. It would be really easy for one of them to make you come up missing. I heard they got special resorts or homes for people like us. And in them special homes they experiment! Remember their magicians.” He keeps looking to see who is around. “They can do anything with just a thought.”            She looks up and sees Shaw in the distance and ducks. “Fuck.”He sits down with two prostitutes, one on either side of him. They are inches away from nakedness. He paws on both as they laugh cheaply. Midori tries to listen to their conversation. “So have you made a choice yet Shaw?” the voluptuous woman says. She has hair so bleached it's fried and stiff. She rests her hand on his thigh and kisses his cheek wrapped in black gauze.            “Actually, I’m paying for the both of you.”            “The usual?” the skinny lady asks. He ignores her and turns to the other woman who holds his face.                        Midori shakes her head while watching him. She thinks how purely vile he must look to hide himself and that these women must touch him. Shaw whispers in the one lady’s ear and they both leave. She continues to watch him with her head down.                       “You know that guy?” Raphael asks.                        She sees him walk down a puce colored hall. The dim lighting displays, gold, cheap decorations on the walls. They enter one of three rooms, and he closes the door. She raises her head. “No. Why? Who is he?”                        “They all call him the faceless warrior.” He takes another drink. “Cuz nobody ever seen his face.” He then explains some of the history for the world she is currently in. There are two types of people in this dimension... magicians who control everything and everyone else... considered warriors because of their physical strength. “Like I said. These people are stronger than the people of our world. The Faceless Warrior was supposedly kicked out of another bar after the two prostitutes he was with went missing. Thing is nobody knows how he got them out. I think he only goes to bars now where he's friends with the owners. Some say he might be a Unique Citizen or a burn victim. I mean what is a Faceless Warrior anyway? Is that kinda like the headless horsemen? He goes around... snatchin people’s faces?”  He laughs at his own joke and pretends to grab Midori's face.                        She knows that Raphael is from her world because of his reference to this common fairytale. “So rent around here must be pretty cheap?”                        “You talking about the warehouse we was at today? It’s a ghetto.” Rafael laughs “Yeah I like how we pretty much fucked in both worlds.” He shakes his drink again. “And every once in a while, one of them things goes wandering into the city,” he refers to the Unique Citizens. “Then somebody’s gotta call somebody.” He lets out a loud exhale. “I hate to be rude but... After I take you to a doorway... Don’t try to contact me again. Just in case they know about you. I know it sounds selfish, but I got a wife and a little girl. The last time I saw you, you was on the run from Magicians.”                        “What the fuck ever,” she mumbles. She leans back in her chair and looks around.            He shakes his ice cubes one last time to sucks down the last of the alcohol. “And speaking of magicians.” He looks behind her then back at her. “You’re being followed, and about to be deported.” His face fades. He leans over and takes her drink as the background, becomes lighter and lighter.                        Beige lines form and flow. She feels the same lightheadedness that she did when she first arrived in this world. She is also blind for a second and her ears ring. A vast, sunlit, wheat field becomes visible and the outside bar scene, Raphael, and Matez, are completely gone. It is daytime. “Where in the fuck am I?” she says out loud. She runs her hands across the wheat plants to verify it is real.            She turns around and is surprised to see a tall, thin, pale man, in his mid-thirties, with shoulder length straight, black hair. He stands ten feet away. His, serious eyes wander. “Your friends are in the restaurant just ahead.” He points with one long, bony, finger. “Warn her of the dangerous object she harbors, not something either of you should be dabbling in.” He fades becoming more and more transparent until he is completely gone.                        Midori stands still in the field, for a few seconds. She walks to the dirt road, a ten-minute hike, through the tall wheat. The sun starts to set. She then walks further to a gas station connected to a restaurant in a four-corner intersection. She is feeling parched. When she strolls into the greasy spoon restaurant, the hostess eyes her up and down. “Bitch I’m not in the mood,” Midori mumbles. Her head is pounding, and she is now starving. Hideous scenery paintings hang on fake wooden walls. To her surprise she sees Albert and Althea in a booth and walks up to them.                        Althea turns around and looks stunned. “What the hell?”            “Midori!” Albert shouts with excitement. “Holy shit how did you get here!”                     Midori sits down at the booth. “I guess I must have hitchhiked here?”                        “Midori?! You went through a WALL!” Albers shouts. “We saw you! You walked right through it! And you didn’t come out the other end either!” He looks around at the people around them. “And then there was this creature!” He looks at an old southern woman staring at him from the next table. “Whatever lady!”                        Everyone begins to look at them. Althea's squinty eyes open wide, and she smiles at her.                 “Care to talk about this nonexistent world?” She sips her ice water through a straw.                        “There has got to be a logical explanation,” Midori responds even though she can't wrap her head around what just happened.                        “You've been gone for almost six hours!”            “Maybe that's why I'm starving!” She grabs a handful of fries from Althea's plate and shoves them in her mouth. She then downs a glass of the toilet water they serve.                        “Did you see the other world?” Albert questions.            “I don’t know what I saw.” She looks at the Ghetto Gate attached to her belt. She forgot to ask how it works. This is solid proof of the other world, but she hates admitting when she is wrong. She also needs time to process it herself. Midori shakes her head. “Well back to reality. And I’m too tired to talk about this right now.” She gets up.                        “Where are you going now?” Albert questions her.” His eyes bug out.                      “I gotta take a piss... Alright?”                        “Always a lady,” Althea jokes. “You know you can’t be in denial forever!” she shouts.          	Midori goes to the back hallway, also plastered in ugly, fake, wood paneling and dirty carpet. When she walks out of the washroom she is grabbed by the arm and pushed up against the wall. “Thought you would just walk out of there unnoticed didn’t you,” Shaw hisses.                        “GET THE FUCK OFF ME!” She pushes him away, but he does not budge. Instead, he steps back. "Holy fuck you followed me here? Where the fuck did you come from? What the fuck do you want?” She stands with her arms crossed. He did startle her, but she stands strong and sturdy. She feels safer her world.                        He leans against the wall next to her. “I’ve been searching for you all these years kewpie doll.”                  “STOP!” she pauses, “Fucking calling me that!” she shouts. She places her hands on her hips. “What do you want? What! So, what are you supposed to be anyway? The villain? Wrapped in Band-Aids?” She laughs. “State your business with me.”            “Villain? Hardly so. I’m a freedom fighter.”                        “OK? So, what do you want with me?”            He moves in a little closer as she backs up. "I need to borrow something from you.”           “Borrow something? Borrow what!”          “Your insides." He grins behind the mesh and leans in to stroke her hair. “I need your soft,” pauses, “wet hole.”                       “FUCKING PIG!” She shoves him with both hands. He is solid like a wall and does not budge. “YOU ARE VILE! Now go back to the women you paid for! The only thing you can get!”                  “Little firecracker.” He laughs. “So, is this the tough girl look?”            She barges past him, rubbing against his solid shoulder, and walks back into the restaurant, while shaking her head. “IDIOT!” she shouts.                     “Alright then we’ll continue this conversation later?” she hears him say in the background.              She walks up to Althea. “We gotta go now!”            “What kind of trouble are you in this time?” she says sarcastically. Her eyebrows cringe. Midori grabs the keys off the table and heads out to the car in the rustic lot. Another car pulling out almost hits her and stirs up a cloud of dust. Albert and Althea look at each other then follow her outside. Midori starts the car as they climb in. “WHAT is going on!” Althea exclaims.                       “Something is following us.” She rubs her head. It still hurt from when it hit the rooftop.            “Like what?” Albert asks.            “Like I don’t fucking know, OK? Ask Althea. She’s the one who can raise demons!”            A half hour later Midori is speeding through corn fields. “You should slow down,” Albert tells her from the back seat. Midori ignores him.            Althea turns her head and looks at the stack of brochures next to Albert. “See if you can find us a motel.” She turns back to Midori. “Don’t fucking take this out on me little miss high and mighty!” she says. “Up until two days ago you thought I was a lunatic and now you realized what I’ve always known.”                        Midori rolls her eyes. “Albert. You still got that bag?”                        “Gone.”                       “Your fucking kidding me!”  Chapter 4 Chicago            Althea's choice to move to Chicago is due to a job opportunity. She is a spiritual healer and a massage therapist. This place will allow her more creative leeway. Althea wants to try new incense and music. Her job is an art, and she even decorates her office with some things from home.          She tells Midori not to worry about income right away. Midori does not want to feel inadequate so she will seek employment as possible. After moving furniture in place, she takes a lightning speed shower, in lukewarm water, making her colder than she already is.  She will need a hot coffee before walking door to door to fill out applications. She is thinking a bar back, given her strength, might work, if it were some place cool.           It's beyond cold making her cigarette smoke, and steam from the coffee more visible. She walks past blocks and blocks of gray stone, two flat apartment buildings, convenience stores and small bars. At the beginning of every block, she stops to slurp her coffee. She looks down for a moment then slams into Shaw. It feels like a wall made of brick. She backs up and shouts, “Fuck!” Her hot drink is spilt all over her hand. “Fucking dick!”            “Oh...sorry,” He puts his hands out. “I just arrived; I mean I didn't think you would be right there.” His face is still covered in black gauze, and the hood from his coat is pulled as far as it will go, giving him more shade. His goggles are so dark she can't see a hint of his eyes.            “You just arrived? From WHERE!”  It's like he just appeared from nothing. She has not seen him in over a week. Where had he been staying? Not here. He has the capability to come and go from one world to the next with ease. His abilities are taking her by surprise. “You speak English mother fucker from where?”            His speech is precise, like he is careful not to show his accent. “Yes, but it's not my first language.”          “Then what is?” He looks to the side, not to answer. “Why would you not answer a question like that?” She cringes her eyebrows together. “Or say that you are from Matez? I just didn't think a Unique Citizen could find its way to another city, let alone, another world, they just seem rather... retarded.” She looks down at her hand and shakes it. Her glove changes from hot to cold quickly and will freeze. She then looks to see who is around in case he tries something. There are no cop cars and the cold keeps many inside. A staggering drunk walks across the street.            “I'm not from Matez.” He looks a bit angry through his disguise. “And I told you before I'm not one of them.”            “Told you before,” she mutters under her breath, “What a dick.” She then says louder, “How did you find your way to Chicago? And what are you if not a Unique citizen?” She sets the cup down, takes one glove off, shoves it inside her pocket making it cold and wet, then blows hot air on her hand.            He stalls for a moment then says with great pride. “I am the only one like myself in existence.” She can see him smiling behind the mesh on his mouth. “And I've been to just about every major city, in every country of your,” he stalls, “little world, at least once.”            “Yeah... But.” she is speechless for a moment and shakes her head. “So how do you travel? How did you get here?”            Shaw turns around, takes a glove off, puts that hand in his pocket, turns around and hands her the glove with the covered hand. It's black and looks like old world craftsmanship. Patches are stitched together and not all the same material.           “I don't want that.” She puts her hand back in her pocket.            He looks irritated for a moment then walks closer to her, takes her hand from her pocket, and sticks it in his coat by his warm chest with his uncovered hand. It feels like a normal hand, no scales, or open wounds. She wishes she saw what his skin looked like, but he did it so fast. He looks around then back at her, “There are doorways everywhere, even if most are ignorant to their existences.” He massages her hand with his thumb, “Let's go someplace.”            She rips her hand from his coat and takes a few steps back. She knows she has no idea what she is dealing with. “No.”            He turns around to put his glove back on. He then turns back “I know some upscale places that aren't far from here.”            She wonders what his definition of upscale is. “Listen... You need to leave me alone, you're a, well I don't even know what you are, and you probably got some disease.” She looks at a few people across the street. If she saw a cop car, she might flag it down. “What are you? A magician?”            He leans forward, “No. I am not a fucking magician!”            “I told you before, you need to leave me the fuck alone! Can't tell me where the fuck you came from, how you got here, I mean what are you? You're an idiot!”            It almost looks like his face is saddened amongst all the garb he is wearing but this is her last effort to stand her ground. He walks past her, almost brushing up against her, and she feels a warm breeze from behind. When she turns around, he is gone without making a sound. She walks back down that block looking behind buildings, but she knows she won't find him.That evening she tries to act as normal as possible. She will say nothing of her encounter with Shaw.            Althea decorates the cold, first floor apartment. She hangs Indian tapestries on the walls, then empties out her mini deities from tissue paper including, a Ganesha statue, a strange cross between a flesh-colored elephant and a man’s body. Althea had spent most of the day unpacking. The place already smells of old paper mixed with years of incense. The alter, a small wooden end table, with a silk scarf on top, sits in front of an old, capped off, gas fireplace. The floors are hardwood, a typical Chicago apartment.            The temperature with the windshield factor drops thirty below zero. This is not new to Midori. It is typical weather for a Chicago winter. Albert barges through the back door in the kitchen and says, “I went outside for like seconds and the water on my eyes froze! And my nose hairs are sticking together.” He breathes louder, “Like mini-icicles.”Midori looks at his big nose and laughs.            He takes off his frozen leather coat and throws it on a chair. “I think we need some music.” He then goes into the living room to hook up the stereo and shouts across the apartment, “Hey Althea we could have some really kick ass parties here!”                        “Just concentrate on finding a job for now,” Althea sighs then laughs.            Midori plays with the tassels on a shawl turned into a tablecloth. The kitchen tiles are a dirty, frosted urine color. The ceiling is high and made of vintage tin tiles. The wooden cabinets, painted white, give it some charm. She admires the ghetto gate that she attached to her bag like a keychain. The knowledge of other worlds makes her feel powerful. This is information that so few have. She thinks about Shaw for a moment. Doorways are everywhere and he knows how to find them. Perhaps his disguise allows him to behave inappropriately. She also wonders if he will finally leave her alone but wishes she had his knowledge about portholes.            She wakes up the following day around noon. After a quick shower and a new face of makeup, she takes a stroll in search of breakfast. She passes a small record store on Milwaukee Ave. A stout man, hanging things in the window, spots her. “Are you looking for a job by any chance?” he asks eagerly.            She looks at him strangely. “Yes?”            He tells her that he's the owner and that her look will bring in customers. She lights up when he mentions that he is not going to be around that often. He ends up being right about both. He is gone most of the time, and her look does bring people in, gawkers mostly. She starts the next day and paints veins on her forehead, then puts in her bridge and chin piercings.            Two men snicker behind shelves of magazines. Both look up at her then burry their heads in a gamer magazine. “I wonder if she's a vampire?” says the man with glasses and a bad completion.            “Or better yet, a lesbian,” says his even wimpier looking friend. They both laugh.            “Excuse me but I'm going to have to ask you to leave,” she tells them.            The man with the bad completion walks up to her and throws a pack of twenty-five cent, spearmint gum on the counter. “You can't ask me to leave if I am a paying customer.” When he takes out his wallet Midori grabs it, walks over to the door, opens it, and throws his wallet across the street. Both men run after it. While standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, she looks at them, scrambling to pick up credit cards, business cards, or whatever he had in there. A smile crosses her face.          She looks up and the man who deported her to the wheat field is across the street looking at her. His stringy black hair blows in front of his skinny eyes. A van passes and he's gone.Later that evening Albert wants to check out a nearby Goth club. Althea tells him that she’d rather be at home organizing spices, herbs, and other things. “I’m just a kitchen witch at heart,” she laughs.            “That sounds really boring.” Midori tells her. She decides to join Albert. They wait at the bus stop, at the end of the block, frozen. Midori can see her breath. She lights up a cigarette and fills her lungs with icy air. It hurts.            The club is in a factory zone on Weed St. and Sheffield Ave. The only people around are club goers and hookers. Midori looks around to make sure no one is following them. They walk up a long a wooden ramp. Regardless of the cold, people still hang out by the door and smoke. The bouncer lets them in for free.            Inside, all the walls and floors are painted black. A large, black, bar runs along the front wall. The dance floor, located behind a metal grated stairway, has a white pentagram painted in the middle. They lean with their backs against the bar and look at the crowd.                        “This reminds me of that one place we visited in New Orleans,” Albert says. “Do you remember the place I’m talking about? But of course, that place had a lot more style. Don't you agree?” He leans against Midori. “Let's count Siouxie Sioux look a likes... one... two... three... four... no wait... no four...” She looks around and tries to hide a smile. “I wish I had like a bag of Velcro L's for looser. That way when someone walks by you could just toss it at them like Whichoo!” He does a throwing motion with his hand. This gets a full smile from Midori. He huffs. “Um do you have any money I could borrow?”                       “Why the fuck can’t you get a job?” she yells, shakes her head, exhales loudly then looks through the crowd. The same man from the wheat field stands across the room and stares at her. He spots her looking at him and leaves. “Excuse me dumb ass,” she tells Albert.                      She quickly gets her coat, leaves then heads down the alley, surrounded by desolate brick factory buildings, and garbage cans packed in snow. Midori wants to see if he will follow her, and he does. Not to mention she leaves footprints in the snow. She turns the corner, hides behind an old building, and waits for him. As soon as she hears him walk close enough, she turns around and pounds him in the nose with the palm of her hand. “OW! FUCK!” he shouts in a nasally and pompous accent. “Why did you do that?” He turns around, covers his face then turns back with a little bit of blood on his hands.                      She studies him. His build is tall and thin with almost no muscles at all. His face matches his body, long and thin. “Who are you and why are you following me?”                        He stumbles. She keeps her hand ready, and head tilted, threaten him again. “All right. All right... My name is Thayer. I'm a magician. I've been sent to watch you.”                       “A magician,” she says sarcastically.                       “Where did you acquire a short cut to Matez?” he asks.            “Althea,” Midori mutters. She realizes he is referring to the antique looking gadget that Althea uses to open doorways. She turns her head sideways to look at him. “If you're a magician… then show me a magic trick!” The bricks on the old buildings surrounding them turn into towering, dark, wooden shelves. Her vision whites out for a moment. She feels the same lightheadedness and a warm wind passes her. Windows stretch from floor to ceiling and make up the front part of a round room. She looks around. The alley has melted into a majestic library. A sitting area goes down a few feet in the middle, making the room look like a coliseum. The heat is pleasant.                 “I'm sure you know by now that there are other worlds.” He wipes his nose with a handkerchief from the inside of his breast pocket.                        “Where am I!”            “My office, for the time being. You are in the Prime World. Your world is parallel to ours, although we are a bit head of your world time wise. We are your twin world to be exact.” He sighs. “We can't have your type, traveling around and about.”                        “Our type?”                        “If the twin worlds were to find out about each other it would be chaos. Your world is weaker. You are actually under the care of our world.” They walk down a few stairs to the center of the room. He sits on a large, white, round, sofa. “Please have a seat. So... how did your friend acquire this object that opens doorways?”                        “No fucking clue. So… how does one become a magician?” She looks around. Marble floors, marble walls. This dude is well off. She unzips her jacket and opens it.                        “One has to be born into it. Please have a seat.” She looks at the couch and sits down.             “We are the ones who watch over and take care of both worlds. So, if you are ever in need of any help, just call one of us and we will be there. You can say my name out loud. Usually I, but sometimes Magician Clarence, will watch over your universe. You can trust either of us.” He talks slow and sounds well educated. Thayer looks at Midori with a lighthearted expression. “So, besides the last time I saw you, when were you last in this world?” He then gazes at her. It seems like he is fascinated by her.            “Look, I don't have to answer any more questions from you magician or not.” She stands back up.                        “Well, I must warn you of the dangers of people from different worlds intermingling. The outcome could be death.” He gets up and walks over to a shelf embedded in the wall.  He grabs one of maybe a hundred copies of a brown leather-bound book, the size of a journal, and hands it to her. “You must understand.” He pauses. “To reiterate, we cannot have anyone from your world mingling in our world as you wouldn’t want the Hollow mingling in yours.”                       “The Hollow?”                        “Demons! Monsters from an abstract and evil world! They can cross over through our universe into yours.”                        She looks at the book. On the bottom in decorative, gold letters it reads, “A Diary of Tyranny.” The shelves around her melt away. The walls become shorter and close in on her then stop. The air around her gets colder and she feels a substance wash over her, like plunging smoothly into freezing water. She is lightheaded and her vision whites out then clears. She forgets where she is then looks around and recognizes her apartment living room. The place smells of Althea's incense. While standing still she says to herself, “I've been deported again.” She laughs. Didn't even need to take the bus. She then realizes that this magician knows exactly where she lives, it's creepy.            Althea walks in with a cup of tea. “Midori... Hi... I didn't hear you come in.” She sits down. “Your home early?”            Midori does not say anything back. She's a bit annoyed with Althea and her eyes say it. It is because of Althea that a Magician is questioning them. Midori looks at the clock. She had been gone less than two hours. She watches Althea, waiting for her to go to bed, which is usually by ten PM. She is up late tonight. When Althea finally says her famous, “I'm going to hit the hay,” Midori pull out the book the magician gave her.                        It is snowing large flakes outside. The sky is a soothing, light, pinkish gray, like strawberry milk. Midori does love the color of the sky before it snows. She tears off the stem to a piece of incense. She pokes it through the muddy hole of the small wooden pipe and pulls it out along with a coating of black, mud.            After a fresh smoke of weed she reads. The chart on the cover consists of circles in groups of three, all connecting through a series of lines. In each group one of the circles is drawn in dots to appear transparent. It looks like a genetic makeup chart, or the tree of life in one of Althea's books about the Hermetic Qabalah but endless. Each group of three circles has a Prime Word, a Parallel World and the Subterranean World is in dotted lines. Midori is thankful for spending time looking at Althea's books. She believes it will better equip her for understanding this. 
The first entry starts by...My partner and I had been studying the theory of other worlds when he had stumbled upon one. He told me that the backgrounds faded into each other like a dream. When I arrived at this new world, I was horrified by what I saw. Dismembered arms and legs were scattered ubiquitously. Bodies were stacked in large piles in the street to be burnt. The air carries the horrific sent of death. The smell of burning flesh is not something the mind will let you forget.I met a survivor. He was outside his cabin, leaning against the wall, missing an eye and a bloody mess. He told me that their world was infiltrated by another world, a demon like subterranean world.
             It gets colder in the living room. Midori goes into the kitchen to turn on the oven and open the door for heat. She puts on her pair of cardboard, colored, knit gloves, with the tips cut off. With a cigarette hanging from her lips, she continues to read. The book goes on to say how the demons from the subterranean world used the human women for breeding purposes. 
A fate more terrifying than the women of their world who were led in chains. True savages these beasts were. After raping our women, they generated, yet an even more horrifying race, half man half demon.             “Half man half demon?” Midori says to herself. Shaw flashes in her mind for a second. It dawns on her when she first saw him in the twin world. He said he saw her with blonde hair. This is the only time her hair was blonde. He was the man, in the horned mask, who led the raids on Matez. His eyes glow. This must be why he wears the goggles; how else can he see at night? It all makes sense to her now. At first, she thought he was a deformed experiment, paying for prostitutes. Then she didn't know what to think.  Half man half Hollow? What does he want? All this for a lay? It is impossible. She stares out the window and hears a train go by. He seems more interesting to her now. Plus, he knows doorways. He followed her from the wheat field to Chicago. He could follow her anywhere... And why was he so intent on her?            She then thinks of the experiments created by the magicians, the Unique Citizens. She wonders why The Magicians would want to try and combine the DNA of people from all three worlds if they fear it so much. The pictures shown in the book do not look as scary as the Unique Citizens. It is impossible for Shaw to look like this. His face is in the shape of a man. The pictures in the book of the half Hollow have pointy, protruding bones, in their faces and look unnatural. “My God what does he look like?” she says out loud and does her best to picture him. She does not even know what color his skin is. If Shaw is part Hollow, it could be anything. She recalls the multiple-colored faces of the massive beings. He said that he was the only one like himself in existence.            The journal continues in detail about the discoveries by these two scientists. They escape into other clusters of worlds that are always in groups of three, during different times, before invasions, after invasions, countless details of similar situations. In every event, demons from a subterranean world invade one, or both twin worlds, destroying everything, and creating half demons.
The last three sentences read, in every situation, the people are never a match for the demon’s strength and mass in numbers. There is no hope. All is lost. 
            The next morning Midori walks into the kitchen to watch it snow again with a cup of coffee in her hands. Albert finally comes home, goes into his room to go to sleep, and slams the door. In her sweater pocket is the book the magician gave her. She waits for Althea to finish her Yoga in the living room. She wants to confront her about this gadget she carries. As soon as Althea is done, she walks into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. “Do you know we are being followed by a Magician?” Midori tells her.            Althea turns around quickly with a look of shock. “A magician? Which one?”            “Which one?” she yells. “You knew about this?”            Althea sits down and looks nervous. “Please... Just tell me which one.”            “Thayer.”            “Thayer Hmmm.” She seems relieved. “Never met him.”            “Who’s the one you met?”            “Clarence.” She opens her crazy eyes wider. “He’s mad. Be thankful he’s not the one you had to deal with.”            “I’d sooner not have to deal with any of them. It’s because of that thing you are carrying... It’s a TRACKING DEVICE! Get rid of it!”  Chapter 5 The Island of Gault             The days are shorter and colder and at four PM dusk approaches. Midori puts on a fishnet top with a black jacket over it, black jeans, and a studded belt. She then stands in the dilapidated kitchen and smokes. The yellow tiles and Althea's decorations might make the place look cheery if it weren't so cold. She keeps her eyes out the window and watches snow wash over the old, dirty, factory buildings in the distance. She holds a large cup of coffee close to her chest to soak up the warmth.            She thinks about Shaw and gets butterflies in her stomach. She then tries to convince herself that she has no interest in this crazy man. She tries her best to picture him. He is shorter than the Hollow, but she can't remember if he is shorter than her. She imagines him being a little pipsqueak and laughs. Suddenly, the trash bins, with a mountain of snow on top, start to fade along with the buildings behind them. They become transparent, showing another city behind it.            Albert bounces in. “Coffee? A bump would work better!”            “Albert come here!”            He stands next to her. “What? Do you got any?”            “Do you see that?” She points to the blending buildings in the background.            “What?”            “The factory buildings down the road.”            “Yeah so?”            “Do you see the city behind it?”           “What like the Sears Tower? Not on a day like today?”            “No. The buildings don’t look blurry to you?”            “Well, it is snowing outside Midori?”            She gets irritated with Albert's lack of detection to the other world. She looks out the window again. The background city starts to fade while the familiar Chicago scene becomes more and more solid. She must get there before the other city dissipates completely. Quickly, she takes Althea's car keys off the table, grabs her black bag, and heads out.            Albert follows her and laughs. “Can I go for a car ride too?”            Midori drives over the speed limit, to where she had seen the cities merging. The car slides on the road then spins a bit. When she has it under control she speeds again, spinning the tires on the ice coated streets. By the time they get there, the other dimension has completely disappeared. She gets out of the car and touches the rippled, cold, rough bricks, to verify their solidity. She then crouches down and does the same, pressing her palms and fingers flat, on the building, as hard as she can. She then looks at the brick ridged imprints on her hands. The wall is solid, and the doorway is gone.            Albert looks at her then looks around then back at her. “Midori, can we go home now? It’s cold out here.” She stands up and lights a cigarette. “Midori what are we looking for? It’s snowing.”            “I don’t control the weather, Albert.” She gets in the car and Albert follows.           “Where we going now?”            Midori ignores him then pulls into a gas station to get cigarettes. The bright lights from the roof, illuminates the snow. It passes them in long diagonal streaks. She sees Thayer standing in the distance, just staring at her, with that long sappy face, while getting snowed on. It's like he knew she was going to be there. His oversized coat drowns him, and his hands are submerged in his pockets. “HOLD ON!” she yells at Albert while getting out of the car. She walks towards Thayer. “What do you want?” she yells.           “I just,” Thayer smiles. His stringy, long, wet bangs, fall in front of his face. “I wanted to know if you need anything?”            “Like what?”            Thayer hesitates. “I can show you... Around?”           “Around where?”           “The Prime World?”            “I thought it was forbidden for me to be in the Prime World?” She wonders what he is trying to pull with her. She stares at him. Her curiosity is killing her to see where a Magician might take them in the other world. She thinks about how she can ditch him if she needs to. “What made you change your mind?”            He looks away and his bangs blow in his mouth. “Let's just say that I spoke to a college and this person thought it was OK.”            “Who is this person? Like a magician?”            He looks at her quickly and blows his bangs out of his mouth. He avoids the question and says, “If you’re with me then you and your friend will be safe.” He then tries hard to crack a half smile on his stone face.            “Well, I’ve already been to Matez.”             “Matez? Oh God no! Hideous city Matez. I was thinking more like the Island of Gault.”The Island of Gault does sound interesting to Midori. She walks back to the car, opens the door then sticks her head part way in. “Albert?”            “WHAT!”            “Do you want to go to another world?”            Albert laughs and shrugs his shoulders. “Sure.”            “Alright then get in the back seat.”            He does so while Thayer approaches the car. “Why do I have to go in the back and who the fuck is this now?”            She sits in the driver's seat and Thayer gets in the passenger side. Midori turns around to introduce them. “This is Thayer. He’s a magician. Thayer? This is Albert.”            “A magician? What like David Copperfield? So? He must not be any good because he would at least be able to afford his own car!” Midori looks at Albert through the rear-view mirror. He crosses his arms, looks out the window, and pouts like a child.            Thayer looks at Midori and his eyebrows twist into a quizzical knot. “Not that type of magician,” she tells Albert. “Just wait. You'll see.”                The snow blinds out any road more than ten feet away. “Back out of here first.” Thayer points with his index finger in the direction of the expressway. “This way,” he says.            “We’re going to drive there? So let me guess. The way to the other dimension is on 94?” she says. He does not respond. Once she gets on the ramp, she speeds to test him. He shows little emotion.            She looks at him then back at the road. The snow streaks dissipate then disappears and the road changes from iced over to clear. The buildings fade away. She gets lightheaded as dark green needles moves upwards like paint. They stretch into enormous pine trees, over thirty stories high. She gasps. Blinded by bright sunlight, she slams on the breaks, and the car goes spinning. When it stops, she takes a deep breath and slams her hands on the steering wheel. “STOP FUCKING DOING THAT!”            Thayer smiles flirtatiously.            “If you’re going to change worlds on me, could you at least let me know beforehand?” She gets out of the car to look around and takes off her coat. It is much warmer here. The air is crisp with a strong sent of pine.            Albert gets out of the car slowly. His eyes bug out and his jaw is open. He follows with hesitation. “Where am I? What is going on? Midori? Am I in the other world?”            “Yes.”            “Are you shitting me? You were serious when you said that?” He looks around.            “We can probably walk from here.” Thayer tells them.            “What time are we getting back? The car isn't mine?” she tells him.            “I'll park it back by the house.”            Midori looks back at the road and the car is gone.            Albert walks into lush, dark, green grassy field, surrounded by pine trees. Midori exhales and takes a deep whiff of pine. The size of these trees is unbelievable. Albert runs further in the distance and spins around in circles with his arms out. He walks back smiling while looking from side to side. “This is crazy!” He continues to stare at Midori. “So, this is old stuff to you? I mean?” He turns around again.            “I've never been here before.” Midori herself looks around in amazement.They hike for a while, on a grassy path, through the great pine forest. “It's impossible,” she says. “I didn't know pine trees got that big!” It had to be as big as mountains.Thayer looks up with little expression. “They do around here.”            “So, it doesn't get that cold here?” The trees provide enormous shade, and the first sets of branches are well above their heads.            “It does. Our seasons are ahead of yours.”            The grass looks like carpeting and is well kept for a forest. She does not see any small animals or birds then looks closely at a tree trunk. It seems like the bark is moving but a more in-depth look reveals a large bug. The slimy, glittery, brown, silver fish wraps around the bark and rolls upwards.            Spiral peeks of a skyscraping castle, the color and texture of pearls, become more visible the closer they get. The soaring towers are capped with domes making it look like a Persian palace. Large flowers drape on the grass and shiny, stones that looks like giant beads, make up water fountains on either side of the front entrance. She is even more impressed when they walk in.            “This place is a club for Magicians and our acquaintances,” Thayer tells them. They walk through a foyer made of mauve, white, and blue marble. Midori and Albert strain their necks to look up at the columns almost ten feet in thickness and extending four stories high. The place is colossal. Other great rooms in the distance are separated by large archways. The furniture looks like 18th century if she had to guess and the rugs expensive Oriental, or this world's version of it.Thayer sees someone then taps Midori on the shoulder. “I'll be just a moment.” He walks through an archway to another room to talk to a goony looking man in an antique, brown, suit. She stands behind the arch and listens but can barely hear their voices.           “Have you talked to Magician Clarence?” the man asks.            “Briefly this morning. His science keeps him busy.” Thayer stops talking, like he knows she's there. Midori walks away and Albert follows. Clarence must be the colleague Thayer is referring to.           Albert and Midori peruse the paintings, along the walls, in thick gaudy gold frames, and set up like the "Stations of the Cross.” It matches the interior that looks like an old European church. They read the captions on the wall below the paintings.           The first painting shows the first Magician Linden, standing proud with his foot, on a large rock, overlooking a cliff. His bright aura blurs out his face, like a light. She tries hard to make out his facial features but the only thing she gathers is that he has blond curly hair and possibly squinty eyes. The next picture shows four other magicians. The two standing in back, Galvin and Delmar, have their faces blurred. She recognizes a younger Thayer in the foreground then studies Clarence. He looks stiffer and older than Thayer with lighter attributes.                        Other paintings show the glowing headed magicians at war with the Hollow, throwing blazing lights at demons as grueling as depicted in, “The Diary of Tyranny.” Midori remembers the skin of the Hollow being a multitude of colors, but these beings are flesh tones and almost look like burn victims. She knows they are clearly lying in these pictures. She raises an eyebrow. The Hollow have blood running from their mouths and stand on mangled, human bodies.Midori walks onto the balcony that overlooks an immense garden, surrounded by the same colossal pine trees. A waiting pool, tiled in gold, blue, white, and silver, with fountains in the middle, extends for a mile. Everything glitters and sparkles. More pine trees fill the horizon. She thinks about how the magicians live a life of luxury.            Albert walks by a buffet then stops. He peruses the table covered in linen and finger foods then piles two pieces of meat on a napkin that sticks to it. “This place is GREAT! I had no idea the other world was so great! I mean, I can’t BELIEVE I’M HERE!” He follows Midori with a drink in his other hand.            “Sh!” she whispers. “I don’t know if everyone knows we’re from another world.” A maid circles the balcony and hands her a cocktail.            “Oh yeah right. Althea’s gonna be pissed that she missed this!” He sips his cocktail. “Oh well. You should try one these. They are good!”            Two people look at them and turn their noses up. Albert gives them a dirty look. Midori looks at him eating. “No thanks,” she says and lights a cigarette instead.            “I could get use to this.” Albert throws his napkin on the ground then leans against the three-foot thick marble balcony. He shakes his drink to get the rest of the alcohol. “I need another one of these.”            Thayer walks outside then stands too close to Midori. She gives him a look then moves over about a foot. “What do you think?” he asks. His eyes wander off the balcony and around the garden. He then looks at her.            “It’s very pretty,” she says deadpan.           “I grew up in a place like this. No parents, just help. They granted my every wish,” he says like he is exhausted but it's just how dull he is.            “Sounds cold. So... This devise... that Althea has... Why would it lead to such a dangerous section of Matez? Overrun by Unique Citizens.”          “Well?” He seems a bit put off by her questions. He then studies her face and smiles. “It’s a shortcut and... that area was not always like that.”          “If you’re a magician, how much control do you have over the way things are?”           “We do our best to keep everyone safe.”           Any information might be helpful, but he is tight-lipped, and she has many questions for him. She asks what the other four magicians are like but is instead met with a long-winded answer about how great their work ethics are.           Albert leans into her. “These people are really boring,” he whispers loud.Midori agrees. She might as well get drunk and takes a big gulp. The round iridescent goblet is thick, green glass, and looks like an apple but the flavor is closer to kiwi and fruit punch. She looks at the sky in the background and can see a massive storm forming. Black and gray clouds swirl together like a milkshake.           Thayer investigates the distance as if someone is talking to him. Midori looks around but sees no one. He then sighs loud. “But my cousin is expecting us.” She stares at him, wondering if he’s schizophrenic. He then answers the space in front of him. “Very well then.”           “How is it that you have a cousin?” Midori asks.           “Distant cousin. I’ve just discovered.” He smiles. “I don’t have much biological family, so she became a close friend. I'd like you to meet her.”           A square of marble beneath the three of them changes to metal. The metal moves upwards creating four walls then a ceiling, encasing them. Albert steps closer to Midori and touches her arm. She gets lightheaded again and sees silver sparks like glitter. Buttons appear in rows on one of the walls along with other details. They are now in a silver-colored elevator. Albert extends his hands to the walls to touch it. “What the hell just happened?” he yells.           “God dam nit!” She looks at Thayer sternly. “Where are we!”          “Oh Sorry. I forgot to tell you. I am just so use to doing that on my own. We are in the Island of Gault’s subway station.”            “But we were just at a party at that nice place! How could we just appear here?” Albert touches his chest and clothes. “At first I felt like I was just really high, but I didn't get high today.”            Midori pulls him by the sleeve closer to her and whispers, “He teleported us.”            “Oh. That was some crazy shit!”           The elevator moves downwards. Thayer tells them, “I do have to step away for a bit. But when I get back my cousin and I will take you two for a tour of the city,” He hands Midori a piece of paper with his cousin’s address. “Take the small private subway to the Skylight Gault Towers. It is difficult to get lost this way. Rest up. I'll be back as soon as I can.” When the elevator door opens Midori and Albert walk out.           They see the small, silver, bullet shaped train that Thayer is referring to. People walk in rubber astronaut-looking protective rainwear with clear, stiff, plastic helmets. The place looks like the usual city subway, a long, dirty, gray, cement tube that smells like urine and must. Midori and Albert turn around, but the magician is gone.           “OK this is really fucking weird. Where did that dude just go?” Albert asks.           “He does that sometimes. Disappears.”           “And this whole time I thought that being in other dimension was... just really insane!”           “Yeah.” Midori says like it’s no big deal, but it is.           “So, does everyone travel around like that? You know? Just disappear and reappear someplace else?”              “Just Magicians I think.” She also thinks of Shaw but does not mention it.            Albert shuffles up to a large map encased in thick glass. It seems a little low tech given the circumstances. “Midori look at this? This lady’s place is right above us? Like not even a block away. We could just walk? How stupid does this Magician think we are? How often do I, or anyone for that matter, get to go to another dimension? Let's just take a peek around.”            Midori scratches her chin and looks at the map. It is one hell of a massive subway station, and the diagram is a bit confusing. They are on layer 7.1 and all the way above them and just a block over is the Skylight Gault Towers. “Well, I haven’t seen Gault yet.”            There are no stairways just the same elevator. They take it seven floors above the ground level, and it lands in a steel cage, high above, looking over the flooded city. The doors open and Midori and Albert get splashed by freezing, green, murky water. It rains harsh. People get off the elevator and attach themselves into harnesses, attached to a cable, which leads down a narrow, grated, staircase. It is much too windy to do it alone. They do the same.            “Midori this is nuts!”            She is soaked. “Shut up this was your idea!” They try and move back to the elevator, but people keep pushing them forward. Her heavy eye makeup runs down her face. She could kill him.            “Well, who woulda though it would be like this!”            Midori grabs onto the railing as hard as she can, or as hard as she thinks she can since she can't feel her frozen fingers. They make their way down the metal grated staircase, on their knees which hurts. They are afraid to fully stand up while getting splashed. She looks at the ocean underneath her and far below. The water is dark green and probably dreadfully deep.To get across the bridge they each take the latches off their harnesses and put another one on. This attaches to a cable attached to another cable high above them and the length of the bridge. They fight their way across while continuing to get hit by giant title waves. They are knocked down a few times. If it weren’t for the cables, they would be in the ocean. Everyone else does it like routine and form a line. The line on the other side of the bridge goes the other way. Giant wave after wave crash onto the bridge. The trains are held by heavy cables. The buildings are braced in modern looking flying buttresses. She is beyond cold.            “Man, this fucking sucks! Why did he send us here Midori?”            The streets are layered and made of grates. Midori looks through at the rushing waters beneath her. It looks easy to slip and drown. Her heart sinks in her stomach yet she shows no fear. In the distance she can see what is causing the storm. A giant whirling vortex, coming down from the sky to the ocean, and maybe forty stories wide at the top, spins continuously in the horizon. Dark green, black, and gray, swirl together.           They walk through cold, filthy water that is knee high at certain points, to get to a modern white building. It's hard to see and Midori must walk up to the door just to observe an address. They pass through three heavy sets of glass doors before they enter the foyer. Every article of clothing Midori wears is cold, wet, and heavy. Her boots make a loud squishing and squeaking noise. The inside is pearly white and glittery. While trailing two streams of water behind them, they walk up to the front desk. The floors are made of large, thick, clear glass tiles with scattered silver specks floating inside. On clear glass tables, long rectangular vases hold plants that look like every stem and leaf is made of real silver. Midori would appreciate the beauty of this place if she weren’t so angry with Albert.            “Man, what a storm!” Albert exclaims. One person gives him a dirty look as she walks out.             “Whatever bitch!”            Midori's dreads drips water onto the counter as she gives the man the paper with the address. “We’re here to meet FoFauna? She lives in the penthouse.”            “Oh! FOO FOO!” he exclaims. “Well come right up. I see you forgot your rain gear.” He laughs. Midori wipes smears of black from around her eyes. The man leads them to the elevator that is made of mirrors inside. She is in no mood to see the way she looks today.            They arrive at the top floor lobby that is tiny, made of girders and thick glass. A bubbly blond lady opens her door. She extends her hand to Midori. “Hi I’m FoFauna.” She laughs stupidly. “But everyone calls me Foo Foo. Come on in!” They follow her. “My cousin said you were coming. But he said you would be taking the train in. Did you get lost? The Skylight Gault tower train runs directly into my building then goes around the city. It even goes up a lift. You didn’t even have to go outside poor things.”            Midori gives Albert a dirty look.            Mixtures of yellow and orange transparent fiber glass made up kitchen shelving. They walk into the living room full of round, plush, light, and hot pink, furry furniture. “Oh my God! It’s like a giant Barbie dream house!” Albert gasps.            Midori twists the side of her lips and squints her eyes like she just ate something sour. Just by the living room decor she thinks that Foo Foo is a total flake. A white shaggy throw rug, long enough to braid, sits on black cherry, wooden floors. The outside walls are built of thick glass, held in place by massive metal frames. The living room and kitchen have high spacious glass windows for walls with nothing above but a glass ceiling. It's like being in a gigantic fish tank.           Foo Foo offers them a fresh change of clothes. She guides Midori to a small spiral staircase in the kitchen that leads to a loft upstairs. Another bedroom and bathroom are built directly over the ones on the lower level. “I converted the extra bedroom into a closet,” she laughs, “This is a bachelorette pad after all.” She lets out a long-winded sigh.             A bedroom, converted into a closet looks like a mini department store. The inside walls are painted periwinkle and the floor tiles are white. Midori searches through six, long, clothing racks, filled with pastel colors, polka dots, flowers, and ridiculous prints. She is convinced this woman is deranged. The trousers are all light colors, and the skirts are too short. Some have layers of ruffles which are inexcusable. This woman isn't normally someone she would associate with. She changes in the upstairs bathroom that is much smaller, than the one downstairs, but it does have an extremely shiny washer and dryer. She puts her soaking wet clothes in. Half of the room is tiled in black and silver.            She finally walks downstairs in a furry, light blue sweater, and the only pair of black pants she can find, made of knit material. Both are too small. Albert rolls on the floor laughing. “Can it asshole!”            He doesn't do much better with a pair of purple sweatpants that are too long and read, “tight end,” on the rear. “You know it!” he laughs.            Night approaches and the sky is a thick, dark, mud color. Foo Foo entertains herself in the kitchen. Midori looks down the hall a few times to see her grabbing boxes out of the freezer and assorting frosted, little, dough balls, on a tray. Midori then follows Albert. They walk around the living area touching and inspecting things. A huge glass shelf displays highly polished crystals, gems, and stones. She picks up a large, crystal pyramid, tinted light, to dark Kelly green at the top fading into dark blue at the bottom. She then becomes mesmerized by a giant purple diamond bigger than her fist. She's never seen anything glitter like this. The sparkles are in every hue, and shade, of violet.            “OOOH! Shiny! Pretty!” Albert says from behind her.          “Shut up.”          He looks at it. “You think that thing is real?”          “Who knows?” Midori says. “She is a magician's cousin.”          “Can you imagine how expensive that would be? You should take it!”            “I'm not going to take it you dumb ass!”            A waist high entertainment center divides the dining from the living area. It is full of pictures of Foo Foo and her stupid looking friends. Midori picks up one that contains Thayer, towering behind them, with his usual, long sappy look.            Foo Foo walks out, with a pink apron wrapped around her waist, carrying a tray in both hands. “There’s sweet BBQ meat, poultry cream, crusted sharp cheese with spicy jelly, and some others.” She laughs. “Oh, I can’t remember them all.” All the different flavors of goo are wrapped up in tiny pastry puffs.            “Mmmmm,” says Albert as he peers around her side. “Feels like I haven’t eaten for days.” He stuffs his cheeks like a squirrel then grabs a plate and piles it high.            “You haven’t,” Midori says. “Not until today.” She tries the poultry one. It is the size of a doughnut hole and tastes like cheap Chinese food with too much MSG. The sharp cheese with Jelly is not bad but spicy. Albert takes a few more of the poultry. “I’ve never seen you eat like this, and those things are disgusting.”            Albert pops another one in his mouth. “Oh well. That’s your opinion.”She then turns to Foo Foo and asks “Why do you call it poultry? What type of bird is it?”Foo Foo laughs. “Who knows? They grow them in labs anyway.” She shrugs her shoulders. “It’s a mystery.”            “Grown in labs?” Midori repeats with horror and anger in her voice.            “Yeah,” Foo Foo laughs. “No legs. They just sit there getting fat.”            “What happened to their legs?” Midori almost yells.            “I don’t know. Maybe they’re born like that?”            “Chickens have legs!” Foo Foo looks at her unsympathetically as if she can’t understand her concern. “I think I’m going vegetarian while I’m here,”            Foo Foo ignores her. She walks up to the entertainment center, bends over, and turns up the radio. She stands back up. “A storm is coming!” She claps her hands. “Have you ever seen a storm from this high up? I’m being silly. Have you ever seen a storm?” She looks at Albert.            “I thought there was a storm this morning?” Midori says. She wonders if this woman is also crazy.            “Oh silly. That’s not a storm. That was just a tiny drizzle. I bought this place to watch the rooftop storms. Guess I should make some bad weather cocktails,” she jokes then returns to the kitchen.            Albert watches her leave then leans into Midori. “So, what about this Magician? He seems to be into you. Tall and skinny. I bet he’s got a big dick.”            Midori laughs. “Is that all you worry about?”            “Hey, maybe if you got laid you wouldn’t be so uptight and besides... you know he wants some of that.” He looks at her booty. “Get some stuff outa him first. Maybe some nice dinners, or he can buy you something really expensive.”            “What am I? A prostitute?”            “Hey girl you gotta get what you can!”            Midori rolls her eyes then looks outside. Twirling metal peeks of a few towers that look like the tips of enormous screws appear to be slowly turning downwards. She stares at them then feels it as their building slowly turns and the exterior view changes. Shields, on the outsides of skyscrapers, move outwards then cover the windows. The lower levels are now completely incased in metal. She stands up and shouts, “We’re moving!”             “What?” Albert asks.            “We are moving. All of the buildings are moving look!” She points outside but then it starts to rain harder, making it difficult to see.            Foo Foo brings out a tray of dark blue crushed ice drinks. “We are locking down for the storm,” she says. She hands Midori a tall skinny glass that looks like a beaker. She inspects it. The liquid has swirl designs in it made of grayish blue.            The water rises in the ocean background then slowly makes its way through the city covering the streets and lower buildings. A colossal title wave, as tall as the building they are in, approaches. Midori normally represses feelings well but this time anyone looking at her would see the fear in her eyes. She reaches and grabs Albert's hand and squeezes it tight. He looks at her then quickly turns his head as the first title wave hits the glass. The living room windows shake and resemble giant windshields in a car wash. It sounds like the whooshing of an overhead train, without the clatter, but louder.            The building shakes. After each crash of waves Foo Foo jumps up and down and claps her hands. “Whoo Hoo I just love to watch a good storm!” Midori wants to punch her.Albert continues to stare at the windows with his mouth and eyes wide open.            Midori listens to the radio and tries to calm her fast-beating heart. She can feel it. The radio personnel talks about the people who live on the ground level or below. They hastily patch up cracks, brace walls and doorways and will not have any sort of outside light for days. Their thick windows will be blocked by shields of murky water. Flood leakage is the leading killer during these storms. Midori can't believe Foo Foo rejoices over this. The last wave hits slowly then dissipate into the rising water.            “Well, it looks like you're stuck here till the flooding goes down.”            “Where is Thayer!” Midori spouts.            “Oh, he'll probably be back in the morning. But you are more than welcome to stay here,” she says with a bit of a tone. Midori gets irritated. She did not intend on spending the night with this nauseating woman. “You kids up for some movies? I just love romantic comedies.”            “Yeah, romantic comedies my favorite,” Midori mutters factiously under her breath. She would sooner stab herself in the eye. She prefers movies with fake blood and satanic rituals.            “Do you have any more of those salty poultry puffs?” Albert asks.            After another round of cocktails Foo Foo ask if the massive couches are enough room to sleep on. The doorbell rings. She runs to get it and throws her arms around a grimy man. He looks warn and dirty, like he just walked out of a gas stations garage. They don't look like they could be a couple. Foo Foo kisses him. His oily hair falls over his forehead.            “So, what have we been doing?” her greasy man asks them.             “Just watching movies, making some snacky treats,” Foo Foo answers.            He walks up behind her and grabs her rear. “I’ve got your snacky treat,” he whispers loudly.Midori twists her face and raises one eyebrow. This is more information than she cares to know.“You’ll have to excuse my boyfriend we haven’t seen each other for over a week! Make yourselves at home,” Foo Foo yells as he yanks her down the hall and into the bedroom.            After a shower in the lower-level bathroom, that is larger than some studio apartments, Midori changes back into her clothes. The same see though glass tiles, as in the lobby downstairs, containing layers of glitter, cover the cyan blue walls. The mats on the floor are baby blue foam as thick as pillows in the middle. Midori makes a footprint and watches it disappear gradually.             She walks out to see Albert rummaging through the dark wooden drawers, of the egg-shaped hutch, in the dining room. “For God’s sakes don’t steal from a magician’s cousin!” she yells at him.            “Fine!” he yells. He walks into the kitchen, and she hears him rummaging through the fridge.            Finally, the rain stops. Midori opens the secure pressured doors to the patio outside. Clamps and braces let loose, and she walks onto the balcony.            “Where are you going?” Albert asks.            “I need some air.”            The balcony is wet. Large drainage grates that line the patio suck water.  She slowly looks over the ledge at people in boats, braced in heavy cables like rock climbers. They hastily patch up holes in the walls, where the water meets the buildings. She hears a thump behind her like someone just landed. She smiles. Midori knows who is behind her and can sense him now. She washes away her smile, presents a stern face, and turns around.            Shaw stands alongside the thick railing. “I was just in the neighborhood.”             “What do you want? You followed me here? This is private property!” she says with a hint of laughter. When she walks towards him, she can see that it takes him by surprise.             “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re right above my backyard. What are you doing in Gault?” He is wearing the black gauze around his face, with gloves, and a long sleeved black, button up shirt. Of course, he wears a black turtleneck underneath because someone might see his neck.          “I’m visiting someone.” She stands beside him and studies his body. Not scrawny at all but muscular, broad shouldered with a skinny waist and he is taller than her, by a few inches, even with her boots on.          “Visiting who?”            “Some lady named Foo Foo. A cousin of a magician. Did you come from the Subterranean Dimension?”            “You mean to tell me there is a fucking magician in there?” He takes a step back from her looks inside the living room. Albert is sprawled out and sleeping on one of the bulky pink couches.            “Relax he’s not here now. Let me see your eyes. They glow, don’t they?” She lunges for his goggles.               He knocks her hand away. “Don’t touch my face when we're in public. What makes you think my eyes glow?” He grabs her hand and pulls her into him and whispers, “Listen we can’t talk here. Your magician might hear us. Let’s go somewhere safe. You want to see my eyes? I’ll show you any part you want.”            “Just your eyes.” She pulls her hand out of his and rests her palm against the ledge behind her. “The rest you can pay someone else to look at.”            He crosses his arms and leans next to her. “So. Which Magician is it?”            “Why does it matter?”            “It doesn’t really. They’re all murderers. The biggest waste of energy in this world or any other. Did you know? They destroyed an ethereal world. Slaughtered children like animals.” He exhales and says, “So what was his name again?”            Midori sighs and pretends to be annoyed, “Who?”            “You’re fucking magician.”            “Thayer, and he’s not my fucking magician.”            “Thayer. The youngest and stupidest of the five. So, what is your business with him?”            “No business of yours?” She smiles.            He turns his head from her. “Does he know you’re Bi-Dimensional? He could kill you for that.” He looks at her again.            “Does he know about you? Half Hollow, aren’t you? I read the ‘Diary of Tyranny.”            “THAT BOOK IS SHIT! IT’S PROPOGANDA!” he shouts. He walks away and starts to pace while rubbing the top of his head with his glove covered hand. No part of his skin is exposed, ever. “Why don’t they say what really happened?” He takes a breath. “They stopped distributing it to people from your world because they were afraid someone from this world would get a hold of it and question the existence of your... little piss world.”            “Excuse me?”            “Sorry.” Shaw crosses his arms, takes his space back on the ledge next to her and hesitates for a moment. “Have you seen the storms yet? I hear they're quite fetching this time of year. You can thank your fucking magicians for that. They destroyed the original Island of Gault with their wars. Were they satisfied? Not till they blew a whole, straight through two fucking worlds!” he states then motions to the vortex constantly whirling in the background. “And how do they fix it? An island rebuilt to withstand constant hurricanes. Braced in steel, from the ocean floor up.” He touches his chin and looks at her face then down her neck.            “What do you mean they destroyed an Ethereal World?”            “The world they now call the Subterranean World.” He leans his head towards her. “I’ve got something you really want to see.”            Midori fold her arms and looks at him sarcastically. “Really. And just what would that be?”            “The doorway... to the Subterranean World. I can show you both worlds. Wherever you want to go. That is what you’re interested in isn’t?” And how it is. She wanted to see that world since Althea mentioned it. She looks at his arms, thin but muscular and fit. All wrapped in black.             “Why don’t you come with me?”            “Over the ledge?” It makes sense. Althea found the doorway while going over the ledge.                 “Sounds peachy but I’m not diving off the ledge of any skyscraper. She looks past him and at the buildings in the background. Her heart sinks in her stomach at the thought of jumping off a thirty-story building.            “I’ll hold you if you like? Come with me?”            She laughs and looks at him. “I can’t go with you.”            “Why?”            “Well first of all I don’t even know you!”            “What do you want to know?”            “And second, the magicians might kill me if they knew I was with the guy who led raids on Matez and... you’re a prostitute lover.”            “So, you’ll side with a fucking magician? I’ve got less blood on my hands than your fucking magicians! And what man doesn’t like prostitutes?” He inspects her attire. “Why is he around anyway?”            “He’s following me. And I’m sorry I just think it’s revolting that you pay for sex. Why can’t you get it like normal men?” She takes a cigarette out of her back pocket that went through the washer and dryer. It’s shredded. Pieces of tobacco fall from her hand.            “So.” He crosses his arms and articulates with one of his hands. “How do you suggest I walk around like a normal man? In a world crawling with fucking magicians? Besides, those women never see my face... I’ll let you see my face if you come with me.” He pulls her towards him again. “Come with me. I can give you anything you want.”            She has no idea what his motives will be after the obvious. She knows he's dangerous and the person Althea is referring to in her card reading. That is if that stuff is even true. “Look... I’m sure you’re a nice guy... Well, you’re not even a nice guy but... I gotta go.” She walks about seven feet away from the ledge then turns around to look at him which she shouldn't have done.            He walks towards her and gently grabs her elbows. “I can have you back by morning, long before your fucking Magician returns.”            Midori works her way out of his soft grip then smiles. She could care less about that nerd, but Shaw's jealousy amuses her. “My fucking magician.”           He walks away then climbs up and stands on the ledge. “Suit yourself. But I’ll be waiting for you just in case you change your mind. This door is open.” With that he does a back bend and dives off the balcony. When she walks back and looks below, he is gone. 

Music to listen to, "All Souls Night," by Loreena McKennitt, "Sons of Temperance," The Fall, "Happy House," Siouxie and the Banshees, anything from the 90s on by Gary Numan

Thank you!

Error

The spiral journeys (or) Origins of a magician

I wanted to show the art. It does not have to be in the book. Chapters 1-5 are up after the art. The book is done. There are 23 chapters. I won't post it here.

Shaw kicks butt

First Meeting

The Hollow

Magician Clarence

Althea

The first time Althea meets Magician Clarence

Althea

Albert

Magician Thayer

Althea

Midori kicks butt

Midori and Albert

Midori

Shaw and prostitutes

Shaw

Diary of Tyranny

Midori in The Island of Gault

Midori and Shaw

On their way to Baam

Foo Foo

This was part of an oil painting. Destroyed by parents like others. I am disabled now and can't draw or paint. Painting to me is just coloring. The pencil drawing, that's hard.

The Ethereal World

Unique Citizen

Shaw and Midori

The Spiral Journeys (or) Origins of a Magician