My Nightbane short

Image provided by Threads of our Fabric

Dr. Eric Houser stared at the man across the room. The lights were dim and the strongest of it came from the fireplace. A servant came with a drink for the doctor and his host. Not a word had transpired in over ten minutes while he was stewing on why he was here. Finally his host spoke.

“Doctor, do you know why you are here?”

Eric sipped the wine in the glass.  “I don’t believe I do. Is it about cyber space?”

His host took a sip of his own drink. “I wish that it was as simple as that twisted labyrinth. No doctor, we are not here to talk about the Beast or the twisted hunters or even the living avatars. I want to talk to you about the Mirror Wall.”

“I am not familiar with that”, said the doctor adjusting in his seat.

His host put down his drink on the coffee table before them and proceeded to light up a cigarette.

“I believe you do. As you know there has been disappearances and talk of monsters. Eric, I don’t need to coat it for you creatures are coming from somewhere.”

“And you believe it’s this ‘Mirror Wall’?

Eric you are the foremost expert on dimensional physics. I cannot claim to know everything but my men have discovered a place in the Mirror Wall, a fragment as to where Cyberspace resides. I believe I know where the ‘Night Men’…”

“Nightbane”, the doctor corrected.

“Yes, the Nightbane, as you call them, come from. The Mirror Wall holds so many secrets. I believe that I have found where all of these dimensions cross.

“The Mirror Wall?”

Yes. It is the source of our dimensional fabric. Through it I have seen the Hell, Dream River, Astral Plane, Heaven and Cyberspace.”

The doctor shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He gulped down his drink. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Oh doctor,” the host said with a smile, “I want your help to break it. Could you imagine the power the Mirror Wall has? Why, think of the power that would be unleashed. All those dimensions capable of being seen all at once, think of the possibilities.”

The doctor stood up. “This is complete bull. I thought that you were serious when you asked me to work for you Cornelius. The talk of Heaven and Hell and nonsense places, I thought you took my work serious?”

Doctor Houser stood up to leave. He placed his drink down and was about to thank his host for the invite.

“Sit down Eric!  What I am talking about is not as simple as the Matrix or Tron or any other sci-fi movie you have seen. This is not as simple as going down the rabbit hole, what we will discover could be the reason why the government is paying us so much to do this research.”

The doctor had almost put his glass down when he paused. “What would we gain by this?”

“Does it matter? We would be paid till our grandchildren were old on their death beds if we are correct.”

Eric paused and reflected on the possibility.

“No”, the doctor said finally, calmly. When we discovered hell, something attempted to get out. When we discovered cyberspace, again something attempted to get out. When we explored the astral plane…. You get the picture. I am not going to help you with this project. Not this time Cornelius”.

The doctor turned to leave; shock filled his face as he heard the shot and felt the sharp pain. The servant stood in front of him with a fire arm pointed and smoking.

“Tis a shame” Cornelius said casually.

The two watched as the doctor fell to his knees and then to his face.

“Gordon, would you be so kind to clean the doctor from my study and let the doctors family know that he was in a terrible accident?”

The servant lowered the gun. “Right away, sir”.