Chains

That... did not go as well as I might have hoped. But I was lucky enough to meet a new friend, so I suppose it's not all bad. She's probably saved my life-I seem to make a habit of meeting people who do. But I should start at the beginning. Taking care of my new friend has me a bit distracted, but there's no sense in doing things out of order.

The past couple days I've been busy in preparation to go in after Sam. I procured a drug guaranteed to knock me out for at least twelve hours, and did a bit of furious last minute research after a certain comment showed me the need to widen my research.

Yesterday afternoon I found a safe bit of roof and dosed myself, careful to hide any evidence of the drug before passing out-I didn't want to get arrested for drugs while I was unconscious. Jill was poised to protect me in case someone tried something.

Falling into a drugged sleep is a lot less peaceful than I would've expected. Less gently drifting away and more falling like a rock into sleep. It got the job done, though. In what felt like no time at all but might've been hours, I 'woke up' to Sam, curled up with me as usual.

For a little while, we were both just happy about our reunion and the time we'd get to spend together. Even now, after everything that's happened, being able to just hold him and talk to him felt right somehow. Even though he was scared for me and crying, I knew that everything would be okay as long as we were together.

And then we noticed the chains. It was an old fashioned ball and chain, fastened to my ankles and wrists, long enough to allow me a full range of motion, but still there. Heavy, ominous, and a stark reminder of why I was there. It was then that I had to tell Sam what I'd done, why I was there. He was terrified that I was stuck,that there would be no escape for me now, or worse.

That was a distinct possibility, but we didn't have time to waste panicking, I didn't know how long we'd be able to talk before he would be taken away or the monster would show up and lash out at us. I started by asking him questions about what he'd seen where he was being kept. When I saw him, it was somewhere different than where he was the rest of the time. Where he was being kept was a cage. A huge cage in a black, empty void. Sam said he could walk for hours or days without hitting the bars, and that the bars were the only thing there that he could see. Literally the only thing, there's not even a visible floor. All there is to do is wander, and wait for the pain to come. He said it hurts, sometimes, like the place itself is clawing or biting him.

Where we always meet up looks like a normal apartment. A bit generic, bland floral prints on the walls and hotel style bland furniture, but we quickly discovered that there was nothing that suggested anything more horrifying than a cheap motel room. At least, until we opened the door. The door opened into a city that's like nothing we'd ever seen before. It was...twisted, somehow. In a way I don't understand and couldn't explain. The shadows were too heavy, the buildings too tall and... warped, somehow. Sam started shaking like mad and rambling about the city watching us somehow. For a split second, I thought I saw the city sprout thousands of eyes to stare at us with, then they were gone and I closed the door.

Sam and I collapsed in a heap of fear and relief, clinging to each other frantically because we knew that things would only get worse from here.

Oh, I think my new friend wants to show me something. I'll have to come back to this later.