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Jason's first thought was that this hangover had excelled the ten-point scale, with his headache extending down to the tips of his toenails. As he lay on his back, he decided it would be easier to simply allow himself to slip back under the dark wave, wake up in a few hours and try life again. If it hadn't been that his nose tickled ceaselessly, he probably would have done just that, but when he finally gave in and tried to scratch the itch, he found he couldn't reach it. Something restrained his hand movement, and in the process, he heard a metallic clanking he couldn't identify.
Curiosity finally took over, and despite the effort and searing pain, he opened his eyes to see what restricted his arm motion. At first, he couldn't find any explanation until he opened his eyes a little further and noticed the glittering sheen of the chains.
Chains? Around his wrist? What kind of kinky broad had he gone home with last night? No. Something else. He'd been at Casey's last night gambling, in which case he would have had only a couple drinks at the end of the evening and almost certainly would have gone home alone.
Then what's with the excruciating headache and where had the chains come from?
Still lying on his back, he slowly focused his eyes beyond the sight of his partially outstretched hand and took in the many colors that seemed to ebb and flow around him but still was unable to make out any real details. He closed his eyes to rest them for a couple minutes; minutes that may have extended to hours.
When he reopened his eyes, the colors still flowed around him, but he could now see clearly enough to tell that the colors were pieces of sheer cloth suspended from a high ceiling. Mixed in with the material were a half dozen mobiles, also dancing on the light breeze which Jason could feel against his cheek.
His headache only coursed down to his knees now, and he was able to move his head to one side with only a momentary urge to throw up. After a couple of minutes, he sat up on one elbow and looked around to find himself in a large cavern lit by a half dozen dome lights suspended from the ceiling. Each dome was protected by a thick grill that reduced the intensity of the light leaving the cavern to a twilight cast.
The ceiling of the cavern flowed smoothly into its sides, all of it composed of a combination of rock, mortar, and pipes of various shapes and sizes. The surroundings called for an environment of dullness and despair except for the bright colors of the mobiles and fabrics that chased away the dark mood.
After a couple more minutes, Jason tried to stand up but found his arms manacled to the cement floor. The best he could do was to push himself to a sitting position from which he could look around.
It appeared at first that he was alone in the large cavern, but upon further inspection, he noticed several small lumps lying on the floor around him. It wasn't until one of them moved that he realized they were people sleeping—little people, kids.
His memory flashed back to the kid he'd met on the street the night before. Had it been just last night? He had no way of telling how much time had passed. What had been the boy's name? Tin...no, Tink, Tinker, that's it. Could one of these lumps on the floor be him? Then he remembered the last vision he'd had just before passing out and in the next instant the entire fight flashed back. No doubt, the pixies hadn't been a product of his imagination, or if they were, he was still living in that fantasy world.
Once more he tried to stand, but the chains were too short. His motion was limited to lying down, sitting up, or with a great deal of effort, kneeling on all fours. He moved to this last position now and noticed as he did so that someone watched him from several yards away. He froze, suddenly embarrassed by his antics. The lone form did not stir but continued to stare at him.
"Where am I?" Jason finally asked, his voice coming out hoarse and gravelly.
The dark shape made some vague motion with one hand that Jason couldn't decipher. "Home."
"Tinker? Is that you?" Jason asked.
"Shhh. Everyone's sleeping. Awakening will be soon. Best you rest till then."
"How about you?" Jason whispered.
"Watching you...guarding against escape," Tinker replied in his laconic manner.
Jason smiled. Escape? He could hardly move, couldn't stand up, was probably too weak to walk more than a few steps. How the hell was he going to escape? Yeah, that's a good question, he thought. How? But trying to sort that out only made his head hurt more. Resting was a good idea. There'd be plenty of time to think about escaping later. He laid back down on the hard floor and closed his eyes. He probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep but at least he could...
––––––––
SOMEONE SHOOK HIM ROUGHLY by the shoulder. Go away. Leave me alone. The hand shook him again more vigorously. Jason pulled his shoulder away and heard the familiar clanking of the chains. He groaned as the memory of his situation flooded his awareness. He opened his eyes to the bright lights of a dozen torches and half a dozen lanterns. He looked around, expecting to see Tinker. Instead, a young woman bent over him, her hand stretched out to him while the rest of her seemed poised to jump away at the first sudden movement. Jason lay still, taking the opportunity to study his largest captive to date. Attractive, he thought but not in the customary ways. She wore no makeup, yet her face was clear with a pale, almost ivory complexion, full, ruby red lips, and high cheekbones.
At first, he thought she had short black hair, but when she turned slightly, he noticed it was pulled back in a single thick strand that fell the full length of her back, stopping just below her waist. He couldn't remember ever seeing hair so long.
As the woman stood up and stepped back away from him, he noticed she was slender despite the large coat that reminded him of the one that Tinker wore, but this one fitted much better and extended down covering most of her body except the legs of her black pants. The most noticeable item was the government issued stunwand she wore on a belt around her waist. Probably stolen, no doubt.
Jason rolled over to one side and sat up as far as the chain would allow. All the amorphous shapes he'd seen during the night were now moving around the cavern. There must be close to thirty of them; all children, none of them looked more than fourteen or fifteen.
From the crowd of kids, Jason spied Tinker walking towards him with a tin cup in his hand. The woman saw the boy a moment later and started towards him, but she was too late to stop him before he stood in front of Jason.
"Thirsty?" Tinker asked, holding the cup out to him.
"Yes, thanks," Jason replied as he took the cup and downed the fresh water in a couple of quick gulps.
"Tinker, come here, now." The note of urgency in the woman's voice was unmistakable.
Tinker and Jason stared at each other for several seconds, fear suddenly showing on the boy's face. "You better go to her," Jason murmured. "She's afraid I'll grab you and eat you before she can stop me."
Tinker smiled. "You wouldn't like how I taste." Then he turned and walked over to where the woman was standing.
"Didn't I tell you to keep out of his reach?" The woman's words were harsh, yet spoken with a gentle edge of concern.
"And didn't I tell you that he's not dangerous? I met him on the street. He gave me money, freely. His name is Jason something-or-other. He has a pet..."
"Never mind all that now," the woman interrupted. "As mother, I'm asking you to keep a safe distance from him. Will you do it?"
Tinker paused to consider her question before finally nodding. The woman bent down and hugged him. "Good. Now, get ready for our outing. We'll be leaving in about twenty minutes."
Tinker ran off as the woman turned her attention back to Jason.
"Is he correct in calling you Jason?"
"Yes, that's correct," Jason replied, surprised and a little hurt that she didn't recognize him. Over the past years, he'd acquired quite a reputation and following of fans through the vids that chronicled his many wins.
"What were you going to do to him after you seduced him with your money. Beat him up or worse?"
"My, what a filthy mind you have. Actually, it's like I said. I planned to eat him. That's my thing—eating young kids. I prefer little girls, but boys will do in a pinch. It looks like I've fallen into a regular cornucopia. I must have counted at least thirty kids here. Where did they all come from?"
"None of your business. I'm taking most of them on an outing as I promised. I'm leaving a couple of the older ones to keep an eye on you. They have instructions to use my stunwand if you try anything funny. I'll figure out what to do with you when I return."
"As long as I'm going to be your captive, what's your name?" Jason asked.
The woman turned back around, pausing to consider the question before finally answering, "Seattle."
"Seattle what?"
"Again, none of your business. Seattle will do for now."
"Doesn't anyone have a last name around here?" Jason asked, but Seattle had already turned her back on him and ignored the question.
Jason lay on his back and watched the crimson piece of cloth directly over his head flutter in the breeze, and wondered where such a breeze came from. Must be some kind of ventilation system down here, he thought. He hoped he wouldn't be stuck down here long enough to find out. He would be more careful the next time he started getting down on himself for feeling bored. At the moment, boredom sounded pretty good to him.