Chapter 25

There in the corner was a huddled mass. In the darkness I couldn't make out more than that. I opened my senses and the cell exploded in psychodelic colors. The huddled mass was human. I took a chance.

"Hello?"

"Who are you?" A deep voice rasped.

"My name is John. Who are you?"

The huddled mass shifted and reformed becoming a man sitting with his back against the wall. "Ray, Ray Collier. What year is it?"

"When I left Earth it was 2013."

"2013? You mean, I have sat and rotted in this hole for 59 years?" He said.

"I dunno. They seem to be able to manipulate time to some degree." I said.

He moved and I saw the signet ring of our order on his hand. It's aura was weird. I knew that he was of us but he had no place in the pecking order. He was neither above or below me. He was inconsequential. I didn't know what to say, I had never met another human member. That our meeting was occuring in a jail cell was not lost on me.

Ray was older than me. He was scrawny and not good looking at all. As Dad would say, 'He looked like the ugly truck scratched off on his face'.

"What's it like here?"

"Lonely, very very lonely. You're the first human I've seen since I got here. If I see anyone, it's one of the guards and as you've noticed they're not much company." Ray barked a laugh.

His story didn't add up. How can you experience 59 years and not age? Why would they put us together? How come his ring doesn't place him on the pecking order? I moved into the opposite corner and sat facing him. We sat and stewed for a few hours. My mind was sharp, focusing on my dilemma while, on a deeper level my emotions were all over the place. What was happening to my parents? That's what scared me the most. Bill of rights? If the guards were any indication, I didn't have any rights.

I pushed the thoughts of my parents out of my mind. I had to deal with this first.

"You don't say much."

I just looked at Ray. He shook his head and sank back into himself, mumbling. I decided then and there that the man on the old T.V. show was right. Trust no one. As far as I could see, I was well and truly fucked. Unlike humans, these fuckers are organized. Everything they do has a purpose. What do you do when you don't have a clue? Damn, if I know.

What do I know? I am in a different dimension. I am surrounded by fuckers to whom I am nothing but a bug. I am in a cell with someone I don't trust. Oh yeah, I've been charged with dereliction of duty. So is it 'innocent until proven guilty' or 'guilty until proven innocent'? Does it even matter? If Ray here was telling the truth, this room could be all I have to look forward too. Wait a minute, that doesn't add up. Trefual had shown no hesitation in hurting me when he decided that I needed punishment and his behaviour seemed consistent with what I knew of demons. I'm not screaming therefore I am not being punished. This is a holding cell. Ok, if this is a holding cell then what does that make Ray?

Hmm, He's human or is he? EVERY single person I've ever met with a ring, demon or otherwise, had a position on the pecking order. Ray doesn't, therefore he's not a member. If he's not a member why does he have a ring or does he? I glanced at his hand. His 'ring' was the same as before. The ring has to be a fake, therefore Ray isn't human. They would never let a non affiliated human in here, would they? What if he was some type of thrall? A human slave that never left? Nope. Doesn't add up. It really doesn't matter if he's human. It only matters what his agenda is. Shit, this was going to be a long stay.

I noticed a unusual underlayer to Ray's aura. Tiny translucent sparks erupted on it's surface. There were more sparks on the side facing me. My ass was sore so I shifted myself. The sparks lit up like little dim fire works. It stopped the moment I did. I moved my hand watching the sparks when it hit me. I jumped to my feet.