I had no idea where I wasit looked like a cross between New York in the 1930s and London in the 1890s, mixed with some early German filmmakers notions of a dystopian future. And it was all the same monochromatic chiaroscuro. A sort of grayish brown, like an old movie. I held my arm out in front of the cityscape. Still normal, a shock of color against the dark, shadowy lines of the strange place. I let the curtain drop, turning away, and then let out a little shriek. Azazel stood there, watching me.
At least he was in color, or as much color as he had in him. He was dressed in black as always, black jeans and a black shirt, and his long, ink-black hair framed a pale face, his dark blue eyes and high cheekbones uncomfortably familiar. But even his pale skin held a healthier color than the room, and his mouth had color. I stared at it, not sure I wanted to examine my own thoughts, and that mouth twisted into an unpleasant smile.
So what kind of hell have you brought me to? I managed to sound no more than casually interested. Is this purgatory?
Purgatory is a mythical construction. This is the Dark City.
You could have fooled me. I looked around me. So why are we here?
He didnt answer, his unsettling eyes moving over me with what I knew was cool contempt. I still couldnt figure out what Id done to merit this, why he was so certain I was some kind of demon, but I wasnt going to ask him. I already knew that he wouldnt tell me anything.
Are you hungry? he said instead, which surprised me. So far he hadnt shown any particular interest in my well-being.
And I realized I was starving. Yes.
He nodded, turning toward the door, and I stared at him speculatively. He was tall, maybe six two, and lean, with wiry strength that was oddly elegant. He wasnt quite as gaunt as he had been the last time Id seen himclearly hed gotten a meal or two in the interim, though he still could have used a few more pounds. I couldnt rid myself of the peculiar sense that there was something missing when he turned his back on me. It was a strong back, broad shoulders, and muscled arms. But there should have been something else there.
He glanced back. What are you looking at? He sounded wary, irritated. The irritation was nothing new, the wariness a small triumph for me when I was feeling weaponless.
Nothing, I said. We going someplace?
You said you were hungry, and Im certainly not about to cook for you. I know a restaurant.
Were eating in a restaurant like normal people? I scoffed. Dont tell mewere on our first date.
We are not people, demon. Neither of us. You know that, whether you wish to face it or not.
Youre not people, I shot back. If anyones a demon, its you. You swoop down and carry me off to impossible places, places that make no sense. So far Ive seen nothing to prove Im anything more than a normal human being whos attracted a supernatural stalker.
Not even when you look in the mirror?
Id forgotten about that. The red hair, the warm brown eyes, the secretive set of my mouth, my determined jaw. It still felt strange, even after well over a year, yet oddly familiar. But I wasnt about to give up without a fight. I figure thats you clouding my mind.
Clouding your mind? he echoed. If only it were that simple. Are you coming? He was holding the door open, and I could see a hallway beyond it.
Maybe hed be more forthcoming when we were eating. Id been mocking him about the date, but in fact people tended to relax when they were eating. With luck, hed start answering at least a few harmless questions.
Though he hadnt done so in that diner in the bush, I remembered suddenly. Hed simply made sure I couldnt talk and proceeded to eat, giving me no choice but to follow suit.
We were on the second floor. I followed him into the formal hallway of what looked like a movie set, down the stairs, through the heavy front door, into the street. Gray cars and trucks drove by; gray-faced people filled the streets, with their gray clothes and their gray souls. Azazel seemed like an absolute rainbow as he walked among them in his stark black, but none of the inhabitants seemed to notice that both of us were different.
I could think of a dozen different movies of people living in black and white in a Technicolor universe, and I tried to remember what theyd done to break the spell. Dorothy had traveled in a house and landed on a witch in Oz. I could only wish a house would fall and splatter bits of Technicolor Azazel over the landscape.
Pleasantville? Hadnt people fallen in love and broken the black-and-white curse? Unfortunately there was no one for me to fall in love with, only my mortal enemy. Besides, I was pretty certain Id never been in love in my entire life, even during those vast blank periods that made up most of it. I certainly hadnt loved Rolf. Hed filled a need, imperfectly, and Id already let go. I wouldnt miss him.
I rushed to keep up with Azazel. He was barely paying any attention to me. He must have known escape was pretty much out of the question.