Chapter #8
Seralicore was walking farther down the hallway. Darkness covered everything, throwing everyone is such a black cloud, that a candle couldn't shine through. "You're going to need some training my dear, but soon, you will understand all you need to understand about how to claim a life. Without the use of your... grotesque image." She smiled. Jack was walking right behind her, the Wolf now gone out of sight. Images raced through his mind, each one worse than the last. Soon, it transformed into a premonition...
The sky was clouded, and the moon was nowhere in sight. All Jack could see was one bright light in front of him. The green lava at the bottom of the ship swirled, and bubbled, the heat driving him over a cliff... Suddenly, a series of screams occurred, each one made by a different person. The first two were just ordinary people, but the third happened to be Sally... In the midst of the screaming, he saw himself, standing at the bow of the half sunken ship, and a long, elegant sword held high over his head. An evil laughter escaped his mouth, and he threw back his head in defiance against the world. A platform stood before the bow of the ship, and a metal fence with barbed wire on top of it, held a group of fear-filled people in place. Among them, Sally was on her knees, holding out her hand to Jack, and crying...
The premonition ended... Jack awoke standing flat against the wall, a cold sweat covering his bones, and running down his cheekbones. Seralicore stood before him, a smile on her lips, as she saw the vision herself through the confines of his mind. "Yes Jack. That is you. And the sooner we reach our destination, the sooner you learn how to be that way. How to have someone's life in the palm of your hand. How to make sure you own them." Her voice got a quiet quality to it, and she leaned in closer to him. "And to top it all off, you'll have a girl on your arm to make you look good." Jack shook his head.
"No. I can't do this! You can't make me! This is wrong! I don't belong here!" Seralicore laughed a hysterical laugh, and shoved him against the wall, one hand pressed to his chest. She came very close to his face, and kissed him. Jack tried to fight, but couldn't. She held him fast. When she broke the kiss, Jack was close to losing control. "Don't ever do that again..." He growled. "You mean nothing to me."
"I may not mean anything to you my friend, but you certainly mean something to me. Now let's go. Your future awaits you, whether you will it or not." She grabbed his bony arm, and pulled him down the corridor.
Forced to submit, Jack spat on the floor to punctuate what he'd told her. Seralicore merely grinned in amusement, which didn't help Jack's mood. All he wanted, was to escape, and go home. Not to mention save Sally the pain of what was to come. His tall shadow cast over several small bats nestled in the wall. They each opened their eyes as his shadow touched them. One flew off, and caused the others to follow in a huge cloud of flapping wings. A small one came up to Jack's tie, and pulled at one of its wings as if to make it fly away with them, then it flew off itself. Jack fixed his tie, and watched the magnificent sight. Seralicore chuckled. She smiled and evil smile and continued walking. "When does this end?" Jack asked.
Seralicore turned to him, and pointed down. He watched, as she put a hand to one of the walls. An emerald light glowed under her palm, and the wall evaporated, revealing a study filled with dark lighting.
On the top of a desk, coiled a cobra with fangs down over its lips. Candle's lit the snake's body, making it shimmer and sparkle. Books rested near the cobra's tail on one side of the desk, and the cobra's head was buried in another. Jack and Seralicore moved in slowly.
"King, I have our visitor." The snake lifted up its head in a quick snap. Its mouth dropped open, and it gave a loud hiss.
"You have the king?" It asked in a low, grinding voice.
"Yes."
"Well... Let'sss have a look at him, ssshall we?" It slithered off the desk, and came over to Jack. It winded around his legs, and climbed up his arms. Finally, it rested across his shoulders, and peered at Jack close up. "He ssseems to be healthy. Have you fed him?" Seralicore nodded.
"He ate dinner a short while ago." The snake nodded.
"Good... Then he'sss ready. I'll take him from here, Your Majesssty. You can go now." Seralicore bowed, and cast a quick reassuring glance at Jack. She walked out of the room, blowing a kiss at him as she went. Jack wanted to gag. "What'sss wrong sssir? Hasss ssshe hurt you sssomehow?" The snake asked mockingly. "Well. You're not going to get any peaccce here. I'll be worssse than ssshe ever will be, asss long asss you're learning from me." He bit Jack on the arm, making him wince, but the pain didn't hurt too badly. The snake's fangs were surprisingly dull. Jack looked questioningly at it. The snake sighed. "Ahh... I fear I'll never have the bite I usssed to... Now then, ssshall we begin?"
That night, Jack went into bed sore, and tired. The snake had put him through a lot of hard, and annoying tests. Most of which involved stupid impossible things such as filling a cup full of holes with water. Jack had been unable to perform the tasks, and in turn, the cobra punished him by wrapping his body around Jack's, and squeezing since his bite was useless against him. Some of his ribs were cracked, and his arm still had little tiny dents where the snake tried to bore his dull teeth into his bone.
"I'm going to kill that woman!" He roared into the night air. "Throwing me into a place like this! Why can't I be home where I belong?" He moaned. "If only there was a way out of here, I'd leave and never look back." He huddled into a ball, his pinstripes glowing in the dark, and let out a howl. Somewhere in the hallway, a howl answered.
Jack sat up from his ball, and turned toward his door, where the doorknob was moving. As the door cracked open, Jack saw his little ghost dog, Zero, appear and float inside. "Zero! How did you get here?!" Jack jumped up, overjoyed, and hugged Zero in his arms, even though he kind of went right through him. Another shadow appeared in the doorway. Sally.
