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Pitch Black is the second arc of The Underground series

Chapter 6 of 22

The Messenger

It's always a jarring feeling when you wake up and don't remember where you are. It can happen at any point, and even in a bed you've slept in for years. It's those first few seconds of complete and utter confusion when one's brain tries to make sense of the world around them, and simply can't comprehend what has happened to it. Foreign objects invade eyesight, touches don't make sense, and even smells and sounds don't seem right.

Until memories explode back into your head without warning or mercy.

Mick rocketed straight up and gasped for air letting out a cry of anguish and fear. His senses became overloaded with new sights and objects and his mind cried out for answers. His brown eyes dashed around the room he was in, looking for anything familiar; some landmark that would let him know where he was. Then like broken flood gates of repressed bile, memories seeped back into his head.

Only these couldn't be deemed memories, as they were more like shards of memories. He remembered running, fighting, biting, scratching, clawing, shooting, freezing, bleeding, screaming. He remembered a place called Delirium that a friend of his, Alias, had once talked about.

Oh, God... Alias!

Like links in a chain, one memory spawned another. He remembered being interrogated; questions, so many questions. They wanted to know something. Something had them concerned. Mick hadn't wanted to tell them, even if he had known. They had wanted to know about something; someone. They wanted to know about Alias!

He had to get out of here!

Mick knew he had to find Alias. He had thought the black fox had died in Palamont months ago. Now with the news he was alive, Mick wanted to do what he could to make sure he stayed that way. If nothing else, just to spite the bastards who had kept him locked up for months on end. Kept him locked up and his body in a perpetual state of anguish.

Looking around the room he was in, it became clear that he had escaped his captors, and he almost didn't even remember how. However, he couldn't trust whoever had taken him in. They would want to call the cops and Mick knew that was no good, especially for an arms dealer. As he kicked off the covers, he felt the pain and stiffness circulate throughout his body. A livid pain rocketed through his paw as he tried to lean on it.

Mick bit his lip and examined where the pain was coming from. His eyes were met with a paw that had been recently taped up. White bandages covered from his mid-forearm and over his paw. Then he remembered dislocating his thumb in order to escape the handcuffs. His caregivers had both set the bone and put a splint on him. Mick still could not stay here. Making a mental note to send whoever lived here a fruit basket, the mink swung his legs to the edge of the bed quietly.

There came a loud thump as the mink slammed against the wooden floor. As soon as he tried to stand, his knees had buckled under his own weight. Knowing his covert escape had been blown, Mick made a desperate attempt to crawl away. Maybe if he made it to a window, he could reach a fire escape.

His hopes sunk as he heard the door to the room open. His weakened body simply could not do as his mind commanded. Arms trembling under the strain, Mick finally collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. However, even though his body was surging with pain, just laying caused relief to wash over him. The cool floor felt good against his sweaty brow. He was just so tired...

Mick submitted to whoever he was in the company of. He just didn't have the energy to move or fight. Every joint in his body was like rusty door hinges that resisted any movement.

Fine... Mick's mind relinquished, do whatever...

Paws grasped his shoulder and he felt his body being turned over, so he was laying on his back. He wasn't ready for the sight that greeted his eyes. Mick was sure he was hallucinating. It had to be something they had shot him up with, some kind of mind-altering drug that was poisoning his brain. There was no way that the female cat who looked down upon him was real. Things that beautiful didn't exist in the world Mick had been trapped in. Nothing in those stone brick halls held anything that anyone would consider beautiful. There was no way this calico could be real.

"Mick?"

Her voice sounded far away, as if she was talking to him through a tunnel. He felt a hand move through his hair, gently stroking him. This couldn't be real...

He swallowed, his dry throat burning. "Am I..." He asked in a hoarse whisper. "Am I... dead yet?" He asked looking up at this girl, this angel of hope.

She looked down at him for a moment, and her expression softened, and a small smile broke over her muzzle.

"No," she called to him from what seemed like miles away, "not yet."

"Aw shit..." Mick muttered under his breath. That mean's he had to go back to the hell of a reality he had been stuck in. That meant that he still had to find Alias and stop whoever was after him. That meant that there was no time for him to-

"Oh God, he's awake?"

Mick's mind stopped. He knew that voice. It was so familiar. He knew that sharp tone from somewhere, and he knew it had something to do with him and Alias. Who was it?

His question was soon answered for him as another face came into focus as he looked up at the ceiling. He remembered her well because she had been hard to forget. He studied her face, her dark blue fur that transitioned into a much lighter blue, much like the color of her hair, on her inner body. He knew this vixen; Mick knew her name!

"Jenna?" He managed to spit out, almost in audibly. "That you?"

As she pushed her hair from her face, giving off a warm smile.

"Hey you..." She replied softly. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"What you doin' here?" Mick rambled. "Aren't you dead?"

"I would have been, if it hadn't been for you." Jenna replied. "Mick, do you know where you are?"

The mink shook his head; he didn't.

"You're in Arcadia." The blue vixen explained.

Arcadia?

This only confused Mick even more. Last thing he remembered really well was being in Palamont, then that prison place they had kept him. After that... there wasn't much else. How the hell had he gotten to Arcadia?

"You made it to Delirium." The calico picked up. "You scared the shit out of me when I found you in our dressing room."

"We didn't know if you were going to make it there for awhile. Alias got you-"

Alias!

Mick tried desperately to sit up and get the vixen's attention. However, between her paws and the calico's, Mick was forced to remain in a reclined position on the feline's lap.

"Easy, easy, Mick." Jenna soothed. "Just relax, you're safe now."

But the mink knew better. He shook his head. "No, Jenna. You don't understand!" He had to find Alias! "Where's he at? He's not safe! None of you are!"

"Who's not safe?" Jenna asked confused, the calico looking concerned. "Alias? He's not safe from someone? Hets?"

The cackling laugher from the Shadow Player echoed in his mind.

Xen who? He remembered the menacing voice asking as if he were a moron. You truly have no idea, do you?

The mink shook his head gravely. "Not Hets." He replied desperately. "I... I don't know who... but they took me..." He tried to explain, but his memories were so scattered and disorganized. It was like someone had dumped a box of photographs out on to the floor and kicked them about. "They took me and wanted to know where he was... it's not Hets... it's someone else..." Fear suddenly washed over the mink. "Jenna! They could be looking for me! They could have been following me! They might know where you are! You've got to run! You can't stay here! You need-"

"Hey, hey, Mick," the vixen tried to soothe him, "you're fine right now, ok? We'll deal with all that later. Right now you need rest."

Mick stopped struggling at this. "But... but what about Alias?"

"I think we both know he can handle himself" She reassured. "Just sleep now, okay? Alias will be back soon."

Mick knew he hadn't the strength to go anywhere. He knew that if Alias weren't here, then there wasn't much that could be done anyway. Even if he could run, he'd be running away from who he was looking for. He felt his eyes start to droop as if they had iron weights attached to them. In the lap of the calico, Mick began to fall back into oblivion, his body submitting to the fatigue that plagued him.

"Can you stay with him?" He heard Jenna's soft voice ask, although his eyes were now shut.

"Yeah, sure." He heard the feline reply. "You going to call Alias?"

"Yeah. He'll want to know. Maybe we can get some answers. I'll be right back."

Mick heard the sound of Jenna's footsteps become fainter as she left the room. With his head propped up in her lap, Mick moved his paw to her forearm grasping it gently. He didn't want to be left alone. He didn't want them to find him again and take him back.

"Please don't leave me here..." He begged her as his voice began to fail him.

"Don't worry." He heard her angelic voice calm him. "I'm not going anywhere."