Child of Pazuzu
Blood and gore lay all around him. Bodies strewn across an ancient grassy field that looked parched of water like a man dying of thirst in a desert. The rage had come upon him once again, but not without good reason after all they were nothing but low life thugs with no right to live anyway. There was no covering this up, his DNA would be all over the place. Blood ,sweat, and years and then you threw in the possibility of saliva getting around. They were all dead killed by his bare hands. Bits of his dead victims would be embedded under his finger nails.
Quickly he jerked his head suddenly like a fully inflated rubber ball that had been held under water for too long. Headlights he thought to himself. He ran from the withered grass field into the trees. It would prove rather troublesome to track him down in there. Then there was that part of Spring Glen that people just outright stayed away from. The isolated part of Spring Glen nestled in the hills had managed to trap the fog, so a permanent fog remained. Fog as thick as a concrete wall, even in the small area where it was confined people managed to get lost. Not only lost as in you cannot find your way but lost as in never returned.
As if getting lost was not bad enough, people would fit report strange noises coming from the fog. At times little small children would report seeing strange creatures emerging from the concrete thick wall of fog. Something all the neighbors knew but never talked about. Things like this were hush hush, none of the neighbors really wanted the press or crowds milling around the neighborhood.
The people after him had no clue he even lived there. Running up to the edge of the thick mass of fog. 'could drown in this thick sea of fog ' he said to himself. Although it was his only option left, he hesitated. One entered this sea of fog with caution and trepidation.
" over there " someone yelled "I see him" quickly he turned his mop of foppish red hair towards the foggy bank of trees. There was only one choice and that was to run in. Inside the fog he could barely see two feet in front of him. Yet all around shadows could be seen, dark shapes dancing around. Like dark long thin shadows they moved around. What caused the shadows be he thought to himself. He had been in the fog once before, with a friend.
The voices of his pursuers were getting louder, in the fog they were almost as blind as bats. His friends words came back to him. " duck low dude" his fat over weight friend had to him. They had survived that night and he would follow that advice tonight and live. Finding a tree he knelt down close the ground, neither pursuer not shadow would find him.
One by one his pursuers fell victim to the wraithlike shadows. The shrieks of of horror the grown men wept like babies or women in the throes of a desperate panic. A hairy arm emerged from the thick soup like fog and wrapped it around some pimple faced thug with dirty curly blond hair. The sounds of screams and struggle echoed sending chills up and down his spine. Another thug was jumped from behind, the lower fangs of an ape like beast piercing the man through his back protruding through his chest. Screams were muffled by the red blood gurgling out of his throat like a slow molasses movement of lava.from a volcanic eruption. What ever these beasts of monsters were they were definitely not shadows. No human would Get through this alive. Quickly he moved his head from right to left back and forth seeking a way out of this deathtrap. Determining exactly where the most began and where it ended was impossible. The suddenly it appeared. A hole in the fog. At first it appeared to resemble an eye, only it was made of mist. Slowly it opened into a tunnel. "This my only chance but not much" he whispered silently to himself. Little bit by little bit he inched his way over to the vortex. As he dashed into the tunnel he heard a monster screech behind. He looked around and found not one of them pursuing him. What happened after that, No one knows. Things began to spin around and consciousness was lost.
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Chapter2: the Jinn Guardian of the Gate
He awoke to the sensation of a light push against his shoulder. Some older gentleman was nudging him gently .
" say there young man you ok down there? " the old man asked stroking his white goatee which contrasted with his dark complexion.
" where am I ? " he asked rubbing his head " and how did I get here? ". The old man just laughed.
" young man I do not think you are ready for an honest answer" the man chuckled again and continued rubbing his goatee. " but I know a good place to start. "
Looking around at the woods and the old shack that day in the midst of these woods. This was not spring Glen. This was not the hills just outside his old neighborhood. " Definitely not Spring Glen" he said aloud. " is this the deep south? "
" No young man this is not the deep south and I ain't never heard of Spring Glen" the man straightened up ,adjusted his hat and began adopting a more serious tone " and you surly aunt no gate hopper"
Getting up he began to brush his dirty hands against his worn out jeans. The faded denim with fray at the edges had miraculously no blood on them.
" Young man are you aware that your hands are covered with blood and you may want to clean them off with some soap and water" the old man suggested wrily.
" do I have blood on my face? " he asked.
" A bit " answered the man looking the young teen ager over. " Listen Son " He Continued " You Are Obviously Not from These Parts and It looks to me like you have Had quite The Adventure"
The young teenager shrugged as if giving up. " listen " he said " I live in Los Angeles and some guys were chasing me and I ran into this grove that has a permanent fog bank. " The dark man laughed to himself, massaged his goatee and then interrupted the young strangers story.
" so you ran into the fog in order to get away from the people who were after you, and wait don't tell me they came after and you saw the fog open up into a tunnel and then you walked into it. Did I get it right? " he asked. The to be began lightening up. The young traveler let out a sigh and shook his head.
" well sort but only worse" a brief pause ,the older man winced his eyes up. " well there were these creatures or monsters that looked like talk skinny apes or chimpanzees but they were vicious. "
" I think I know what these monsters are but tell me a bit more " the old said. He gestured with his hand for the young traveler to follow along.
" talk with ugly fangs going up from their lower jaw. The people who were coming after me were killed by them. "
"Trajans" the older man interrupted.
" What ? " asked the traveler in a tone that betrayed his confusion.
" Trajans " the man continued " in the employ of Oid ,a wicked dwarf king from another world" the old man opened the door and beckoned the young guest to be seated. The young teenager beat down and slumped n exhaustion. " you come from Earth, Oid is dwarf king on a planet populated by mostly elves and dwarves plus fairies. Mankind has not arrived there yet. "
"Other world?? Questioned the young red headed teenager with foppish hair. The old man poured some water in a kettle. He p!aced above a woodstove. The wood burst into flames as he touched his finger to the freshly cut logs. " wait a minute, how did you light up that wood, you had no match or lighter. "
" Dont need a lighter or match" the old man shot back " I am Jinn"
"What is jinn?" Asked the young man his scowl displaying his disbelief.
" you never heard of jinn? " asked the Nunn " you really have never travelled a vortex or gateway before . "
" I do not know what any of those are. " the teenager responded humbly revealing his ignorance of what the jinn was saying.
The old jinn just shook his head. "Well son" he said using a fatherly tone " you have a lot to learn . But first let us start with introducing ourselves"
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Chapter 3: The Jinn Teaches
" Darren from Los Angeles,1989, " the old jinn repeated. He shrugged and then scoffed "well if I might say that you have found yourself in an alternate universe and right now you are in a different version of planet Earth"
" What ? " Darren belted out his face scrunched up like he ate a sour lemon.
" I can see you have a lot to learn" sighed the Nunn looking skyward as if imploring some higher being. " you do not even know what a jinn is " Darren shook his head confirming what the Jinnhad said. " Ever hear of venues or Aladdins Lamo.? "
" yes ,yes, of course you rub the magic bottle and put they come to grant three wishes" Darren responded excitedly as if proud that he knew at least one thing the old jinn was talking about.
"Burdick tea, care for some?" Asked the Jinn smiling as he placed a clean copper mug of steaming hot tea before his guest. Slowly he picked up the tea smelled and then cautiously took a sip. " for you humans this stuff is good for your liver, go on drunk up" urged the jinn. Darren complied with his hosts request. " Now listen son and listen well cause you have a lot to learn and I mean a lot" the jinn paused to let his words sink in. "I am going to teach quite a bit in a short time, you read me son?" Darren bobbed his head up and down indicating his comprehension !
So began the Jinn's lecture. Darren was told not to interrupt and to save all his questions for later. " let me start with explaining who we Jinn are. We have been around far longer than mankind. The world you live in used to belong to us and then, according to legend Allah or God decided to give it to mankind. The jinn were driven to another dimension. There were three major creation, us, you and angels. The jinn are made of fire, you humans are made of clay, while the angels are made of light. The Arabian legends say that Allah created Adam and everyone bowed down to him, except our leader, iblis. Our leader would only now down to Allah. For that the Jinn were compelled to another realm. Well that is what our legends say, I myself have never seen Allah and nor do I know of any Jinn who has seen or met allah. I have seen angels only rarely. Now at least you know who we are now. The genie is based on the Jinn. Do you know where the bottle came from? " Darren paused and just shrugged his shoulders indicating that he did not know. The Jinn then asked him another question. " What religion do you follow? " Darren paused and then have a one word answer.
"Jewish" he said.
" might make things easier, do you know much about king Solomon? " asked the jinn. Darren just shook his head left and right which meant no. He never believed in religion much and he had the feeling that the jinn felt the same way. In Arabian legend he is called Suleymam. The king needed help building a temple so he obtained a ring that gave him power to command the Jinn. After the jinn built his temple who proceeded to trap them in brass containers and then dump them out at sea. "
" excuse me " Darren interupted. " is all that stuff real? " he asked the Jinn doubtfully. The Jinn paused and took a few moments to stroke the stubble of his chin.
" the truth be told" the jinn laughed " I have never seen the big man upstairs and I have never met any Jinn who has met the big man upstairs. Neither have any angels met him or seen him. I guess we are like you humans in that respect. "
" How Do You Pronounce your Name Again?" Darren asked changing subject.
"Murad, you can pronounce Moorad" the old Jinn told him " I never told you about my origins and how I got here"
"Before we get to that, I would like to say that when it comes to religion you and I think pretty much think alike" Darren paused in order to gauge the jinn reaction to what he was saying. " in other words religion is nothing but lies"
" will Darren my response is i do not know " Murad responded" some of us Jinn do not believe in anything, others are Christians, Jews and pagans. I have a feeling we will never truly ever know"
" What about the old monotheistic religion that honored such gods as Zeus or Odin? Any truth to that? " Darren ventured to ask.
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
