january 16, 2017

Rabbit rarely had an urgent need to do much of anything, but today he rather desperately wanted to get back to court. He hadn't kept Temperance waiting all that long—about a week and a half when he was feeling optimistic and closer to two when he was not—but he had answers now, and the time had come to begin her training.

The time had come.

The time...

had...

Rabbit sighed. Short of drinking himself stupid, breaking into his old apartment, and wandering in and out of the bathroom for a while, he had no reliable way to get to the otherworld. It was kind of shameful and thoroughly embarrassing, like being the only kid in your group of high school friends without a license. He had considered asking others how they did it, but he doubted that would help. First off, he didn't know how to begin, since he'd never talked magic to anyone ever really, and he had a feeling everybody did things differently anyway. He might have wanted the time to come, but he wasn't coming anywhere unless the otherworld said so.

In a moment that held a whiff of desperation, Rabbit ducked his head and wished, closing his eyes to emphasize how much he wanted it to come true.

"Shadow Ashdown... go!"

He held very still, hoping to feel mist on his face or hear the odd whuffling of some horrible creature nearby, but the world remained silent and uselessly peaceful. Rabbit sighed.

"Sorry, Temp. I tri—"

Something flared behind his lids as he gave up, and he opened his eyes cautiously, immediately drawn to a glowing shape in the air that jittered like a wild thing. He didn't move as he stared, though he wondered if he should be taking video on his phone or whatever, for when things got out of hand and the cops needed proof he had been murdered.

The light gathered itself tightly into a spinning marble of blinding energy soon after, and when he directed his request at it again

please take me to the other side please i need to go please

it expanded and flattened rather obligingly, splitting into four blobs that became two sets of meandering footprints. They wandered a short distance away while Rabbit watched, pausing as if to say you coming? and not moving again until he did.

They led him outside, down the block and over to the park, alternately skipping, dawdling, and jogging along the way. They reminded him of the sirens, curious one minute, bored the next, but always conscious of where he was and how they might help him. When they stopped completely, he was at a bit of a loss as to what to do next until the prints lined up in a row and jumped forward, disappearing into the triangular opening beneath a metal slide. Rabbit leaned closer, the air oddly heavy and electric, and when he reached his hand toward the space, it disappeared into the otherworld, cut off at the wrist.

He smiled at the stub before following his appendage through.