Blink {Featured}

Chapter Thirty Nine

Colours, swirls, planets and constellations zipped by John as he jumped from place to place, reality to reality. Past to present, then nothing. Silence. Blackness. Then footsteps.

'Get up John, the shunting assaults your mind but yours is strong, as is mine. Get up, we have things to talk about.'

John heaved himself up onto all fours. He trialled opening his eyes, half expecting to throw up, but it didn't happen. John still looked down at the black floor. 'Is this my soul again? Who are you?' He coughed, pushed himself up.

'Yes,' came the reply, 'And I'm you of course, or you are me or we are us. To be honest I'm not too sure, but what I do know is that you do not want to align with the Dark One. That would be a mistake.'

John rested against the black wall. 'Oh is that right,' he said, 'and siding with you is the right choice is it?' John pulled his t-shirt up and wiped his face with it. 'Tell me how this is happening. How are there so many of Semila and I?'

'The others call me Jitter John because I jump from reality to reality.' He took a deep breath and paced around. 'When I ran from the demon, I hid. We both did, Sem and I hid and ran, the demons were closing in, burning the photos.'

John interrupted. 'Yes, I know that. I had a letter from another version of me. He died. Why haven't you all?'

Jitter John laughed. 'Because John, we all chose different paths. Each photo you take gives different paths, different outcomes. Like I said the demons were closing in, so I got an operation. Others must have chosen different paths.'

John cocked his head. 'What type of operation?'

'The worst kind,' Jitter John answered. 'The kind you get in times of sheer desperation. I got a memory chip implanted to work alongside my optic nerves. This chip has every photo in the world of my time. It also allowed me to store pictures through sight alone, but it went wrong John. This is the only place I can stay still, otherwise I Blink from place to place in Nanoseconds. Sem was lost, she couldn't keep up. And so I've been on my own for the last twelve years. In that time I have been to countless places, countless worlds, but they are getting less John. They are getting less because of you.'

John shook his head yet again. 'Right, let me get this straight. You Blink, shunt, whatever you call it just through thinking? But you can't control it right?'

Jitter John nodded. 'Yes, that's correct.'

'And now worlds are getting less and less because of me?' John asked.

Jitter John shook his head. 'Not worlds John, just realities. When you decided not to run things changed, some realities ceased to exist. It seems you made the right choice. I was able to concentrate enough, due to the shrinking realities, to find you and bring you here. I had to get you from the Dark John, he is more dangerous than the demon you now face.'

John snorted. 'Serious? More dangerous than a demon as big as a house, a demon that cannot die?'

Jitter John nodded. 'Yes, he is more dangerous. He wants to challenge the Heavenly Prince. He has been tracking the other Johns throughout their realities, and when he finds them, he kills them and soaks up their power. Did you know Belial used the souls that Blake killed to empower him?'

John shook his head.

'Well,' said Jitter John as he put his back to the wall and slid down to sit on the floor. 'Every day's a school day. He used them John, somewhere deep within Belial, there is a piece of Charlie screaming to be released. But you are the strongest this time, you didn't run, and that means so much. Dark John is the same, he's soaking up the knowledge and power. Each one of us chooses a different path, and hence different knowledge is gained. Dark John is using this to beat Belial but at what cost? No!' Jitter John phased out a little. 'The Dark One cannot win; he must not win!' Jitter John took a deep breath, then started again.