Of Blood, Of Bone, Of Brain

Chapter 2: Charon

Thomas came to with Teo's name on his lips.

He couldn't remember falling asleep, nor could he remember waking up. He simply became aware, aware in a way that he could hardly remember being before. There was the chilling darkness closing in on him. There was the mist pooling on his skin. There were the hairs raised on the back of his neck. There was the sense of being surrounded, suffocated.

And beyond that, there was a nothingness that Thomas had never before known.

He knew that he should be afraid, or angry, or upset, but he couldn't bring himself to feel anything. There was something itching at the back of his mind, a kind of brokenness. Something isn't right here. Something beyond the cold, the crowd, the shivers constantly traveling down Thomas's spine.

The world wasn't dark, he realized. His eyes were closed. It took herculean effort to open them.

At first, it seemed as though nothing had changed. It was still dark, Thomas's surroundings still pitch-black. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, strange shapes appearing out of the mist as the minutes passed. There was a column looming in the shadows, a crumpling statue hovering to Thomas's left. Ruins, he thought. Things forgotten in time.

And then there were the people. No. Not people. They didn't seem real, their shapes only vaguely humanoid. They formed and re-formed every second that passed, seeming to blend in with the mist. Almost unconsciously, Thomas reached down, grabbing onto his wrist. He was still there, still solid. Whole. Alive.

Except he wasn't. There was no steady beat beneath his fingers. There was no blood flowing through his veins.

Oh. There they were - the feelings that had seemed to desert him the moment he had woken up, all rushing back through him, seeming to fill him from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. Confusion. Anger. Fear, fear, fear. The not-really-people were surrounding him, pressing in on him, just like the crowd had been on the bus. He was there again - the heat, the screaming, Teo shivering in his arms.

He hardly thought about it before he was moving, shoving through the crowd. The figures hissed at him, but he barely heard them over the sound of his own thoughts. They seemed barely solid. Thomas could have sworn that he moved through them instead of around them. He fought back a shudder.

Finally - not a light, but something. The first thing that Thomas recognized was the sound of rushing water, coming along with the realization that there had been no sound at all before the river. Because it was a river, its waters flowing black as ink with the waves' crests as white as bone. In front of it stood a man, not a creature like the ones surrounding Thomas, but a true man, dressed all in black with a hood coming up to cover his face. Even when he lifted his head, his features were still cast in shadow. He gestured towards Thomas, beckoning him forwards. He said something, one word, but Thomas couldn't hear him over the sound of the waves. Thomas came closer. "What?"

The man's sigh seemed to rattle in his chest. "Your payment."

Thomas frowned. "What?" he said again.

"Your payment, son," said the man. He held out his hand, and Thomas stared at it, dumbfounded. "No payment," he said, "no crossing."

"Crossing?" Thomas repeated.

"Do you know nothing?" the man demanded. "I need -" He stopped suddenly, stepping ever-so-slightly closer to Thomas. "Ah," he said softly. "I see now. Thomas Argo, is it?"

"Thomas - yes. Yeah, that's me," he said. His head spun, his thoughts a tangled mess in his brain. "How...how do you know me?"

Thomas could hear the smile in his voice the next time he spoke. "It means nothing, Master Argo," he said. "There are special plans for you, you see. Please do try not to get lost."

Thomas opened his mouth, wanting to say something, anything, but all of a sudden, the man was gone. Everything was gone. All feeling, all sight, all sound.