The Curious Case of the Two Dirk Gentlys

28: Into the Black

How much rope could one family own? It looked like there was miles and miles of it snaking around the living room. It spun around Todd's waist, reels and reels to keep hin tethered to reality. Svald tied it tight. There was no way his makeshift harness was coming off in a hurry.

"Now, repeat the safety procedure back to me." Said Svald.

"One tug for down and safe. Two for 'bring me up'. Three sharp tugs for danger." Todd recited.

"Good man." Svald patted him on the shoulder and tied the rope around a chair leg. He sat down, putting all his weight on the seat. He would watch the rope. He would stop him from falling.

Todd peered into the darkness. Down, down, down it went. He took a deep breathe and closed his eyes. He'd survived much worse. He'd just have to take a leap of faith. He turned around. He'd be alright. He just needed a second.

"Alright. One, two." And then into the void. To his relief his feet hit an invisible wall. He absailed down. The air was as cold as ice. It cut his face and stole his breathe. Suddenly, his feet slipped. The floor was gone and he was tumbling into the black. After a short fall he hit the ground. By some miracle he landed on his feet. He sent up single tug and explored the black.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" Todd called. His voice echoed in the void, bouncing off walls of nothing. No reply came. The place was completely empty. More concerningly it was way bigger than any sofa should be. It stretched on and on forever in all directions. The clear walls he had come down were gone without a trace. Now nothing stood between Todd and the uncharted openness. He looked back up to where he came. That too had grown. There was no visible ceiling, just a tiny pin prick of light. Todd gulped. No way was he only 30 feet down.

"Hello?" He asked again. He tried to ignore the sound of his racing heart and opted to head straight forward. He drifted aimlessly with his little snake of rope following quietly behind him. His footsteps boomed in the silence as the only steady noise in what felt like the entire world. He caught the sky in his line of vision. It was no longer occupied by a single spot of light. Now it was littered with stars connected by veins of silver. Suddenly, the penny dropped. He had been here before, the backstage of the universe.

"Who's there?" A shakey voice replied.

"It's...it's Todd." He shouted.

"Todd? Where are you?" The voice asked.

"I don't know. Where are you?" Asked Todd.

"I'm...on some sort of trash pile." The voice called back. They didn't seem very sure. Todd didn't blame them. Nobody seemed to be sure of anything anymore.

"Just stay where you are. I'll come find you." Todd told them.

"Yeah, good luck with that." The voice grumbled. Todd continued to advance forward. For a place lit only by little gems everything was surprisingly bright and easy to see. Yet after nearly five minutes of walking he saw nothing.

"Can you talk to me or something. I might be able to follow your voice to where you are." Said Todd.

"Do you want me to sing?" Asked the voice.

"If mean if you really want to." Todd shurged.

"Maybe I should come to you." Said the voice.

"No. Don't." Todd shouted. Clearly, the voice didn't listen. There was a brief sound of footsteps on wood followed by a loud crack. The voice yelped. Then came a crash. It sounded as if a fully grown man had just hit the floor with full force, followed by two or three more objects raining down to the ground.

"Ow." The voice yelled. In an act of pure instinct Todd broke into a sprint. With this new found speed Todd found the voice in no time at all. Robert sat by a mountain composed of the house's stolen furniture. He clutched his bleeding knee. The short slip had gone barely any damage but the shock had left him silent.

"Robert? Are you okay?" Asked Todd.

"What...oh yeah I'm fine. I think I'm fine." Nodded Robert.

"It's okay. We'll get you out of here somehow." Todd reassured him.

"Somehow? Thanks, that's very comforting to hear." Robert mumbled. "How did I get here anyway? One second I'm spoon feeding pasta shapes to my son and the next I'm laying on top of this thing." Robert recounted, gesturing to the pile.

"Oh yeah, Albert has superpowers." Todd told him nonchalantly.

"Of course he does." Robert sighed.

"We need to go. You must feel terrible with no food or water for 24 hours." Said Todd.

"Actually I feel great. I don't know if it's the adrenaline or something in the air but I'm feeling pretty good. Great in fact. Plus I've had the soldier guy to keep me company." Said Robert.

"Soldier guy? What soldier guy?" Asked Todd.

"Oh yeah, that would be me." A voice replied as a man in an all to familiar Blackwing uniform emerged from the darkness.