The Empty World | The Empty World Sequence [complete | rewriting]

Eighteen

It wasn't so much a house as an apartment in a large, Westlake home, long ago subdivided. Mother had been there on assignment from her father, distracting Daniel from realizing Joy was in Los Angeles. Instead, he'd somehow managed to meet Shade when he was out cruising for Human blood. Mother didn't know if that was ultimately worse.

She supposed, she said, that it might still be preferable to Joy encountering him, now she was a Vampyre. Joy learning that she had programmed memories would be a shock, and she wouldn't be able to naively deny the possibility of her past lifetimes, if she were faced her immortal twin with her growing Vampyre telepathy, or if she one night woke up remembering how many times Daniel had been her lover, only to be stolen by her brother.

Daniel's original programming was intact. He didn't forget on a schedule or require maintenance as Joy did - sometimes Morpheus wondered if Joy were the prototype of the three. Daniel simply kept going, with memories gradually slipping away. If he met Joy or Misery, or someone else he'd met in his past, he would recall having met them before, but it wouldn't register as shocking, after all he'd just vaguely recall the last time he met someone he'd known before after a long time, and that he was OK after that time, so it was probably going to be OK this time. And if not, he'd run.

Which was what he did when Lucifer seemed to recognize him in the church.

           

Morpheus walked the street outside his mother's house, waiting.  And then as Daniel approached he felt a body come over him. Joey, again. He saw that Daniel recognized Joey. When Daniel began following, Morpheus led him to their house.  He stopped at their stoop and as people passed between them Morpheus sent himself up into the loft.  Mother was playing music rather loudly, an old recording made when Joy had still been clear headed enough to play bass, and she was packing their things into boxes. Including some things Morpheus hadn't even realized she'd borrowed from his room!

Morpheus said nothing to her, just sat on the futon and complained quietly to River.  "She never tells me everything, I tell her everything."

Daniel found his way in.  He stood staring at Morpheus for a moment.  "You've got to be Daniel," Morpheus said bitterly.

"Usually," said Daniel.

"Hello, Daniel," said Mother.  And then Daniel began asking about the boxes and Mother explained that they were moving. 

"She knew about him before I did, Riv, he's been here before.  She never tells me everything."

Mother asked Morpheus to help her, but he only said he was taking a break and sat back to make faces at River who sat on his hand. 

When Daniel stared Morpheus told him the lizard was named River, and that shook Daniel.  Mother offered him some tea and so very politely Daniel accepted.  He looked at Morpheus again, "Hey, Murph," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Was he always a lizard?"

"Were you always Daniel?"

Daniel sat down on the mattress that lay on the floor.  Morpheus supposed on some earlier day Daniel had slept here.  Mother was always taking in misfit children.  He said that he had just been told a weird story.  Morpheus sat up, a little less disappointed.  He said he liked stories. 

Daniel seemed to think they would know it.  He said it started out with this pretty blue planet and it all ended badly.  The story of the Empty World, of course, the story of Earth.

"Oh that story!" Morpheus said, "that is the only story!"

Daniel was staring at him again.  Morpheus had the feeling that Shade had blabbed this important and true story to Daniel, a boy who believed he was just like other Humans, and had obviously told about parts that Morpheus was involved in.  "You were Joey," Daniel said and then he said something about being able to appear as the drowned man.