Dark Silence

25 days (1)

Darnell didn’t manage to fall asleep that night. The expectation of the following day and an inevitable visit to the Portal made him nervous, but at the same time, he was anticipating it with excitement. The last time Darnell was here, he could hardly leave that dark place. It dragged him inside like a swamp, released him from all his restrictions, let off the leash of its darkest side of the soul, and persuaded him to stay forever. And his another half of soul wished that dearly.

When the alarm rang on the bedside table, Darnell already didn’t want to go anywhere. His eyes were burning from the lack of sleep, the head was aching habitually. The man felt endless fatigue as he was rolling from side to side all night long. He hardly sat on the bed and turned off the alarm in irritation. It proclaimed that it was 8 am. already. The man took a pack of cigarettes from a drawer and smoked. Some actions in his life reminded him of rituals. To smoke a cigarette right in the bed. To swallow a couple of painkilling pills. To put on the first things that fall out of the wardrobe. To try to come to senses and make himself not to think about the meaninglessness of his life. To force himself to start a new day.

Darnell put the cigarette out and went to the wardrobe. He pulled its door with force on purpose, but this time nothing fell out of it. He sighed and started checking on his clothes, dropping on the floor those that didn’t fit the occasion. He will have time to put them back later. Maybe. To his common clothes, Darnell chose a black jacket with a big hood. On the other side of the Portal, it would help Darnell stay less noticeable. Too many demons knew him by sight and could remember even after a few years of absence. Now he could wake Madeleine up, call Agnes and leave. But first, he needed some coffee, the stronger the better.

When he went to the living room, he screwed up his face achingly. The autumn sun was pouring its bright beams all over the room, and this only increased his headache and caused a sharp pain in his eyes. The man covered them with his palm and went to the kitchen. He called Madeleine on the go.

“Wake up, Agnes will be here soon. Cole, shout here while I’m making coffee.”

The spirit seemed to bask in the sun lying in his glass dome. He stayed in the distant sector where the beam could reach. But as soon as he heard Darnell’s words, he started beating up and down his habitation shouting out the girl’s name. Darnell frowned because of more noise and hid in the quietness of the kitchen, closing the door behind him. He clicked an electric kettle and found a jar of instant coffee and a clean cup. Darnell poured a teaspoon of coffee, but then thought twice and added another one. After pouring boiling water, he sipped the black liquid and coughed. Its high temperature and excessive bitterness seemed to wake even better than the coffee itself. Darnell hardly drank it till the end, burning his tongue, and placed the cup to the army of dirty dishes scattered here and there around the kitchen. He listened to the living room: Cole was discussing something vividly with Madeleine. This meant that the girl woke up, and Darnell could leave.

He went to the living room. Sleepy and tumbled Madeleine was sitting in her grey pajamas at the computer that was already turned on.

“Was she watching cartoons till morning again?” asked Darnell, referring to Cole, while walking to the bathroom.

“Yeah, why?” the spirit said.

“Nothing,” the man shrugged his shoulders. “It’s anarchy in my home. But the results of it belong only to the one who started it,” he looked strictly at Madeleine, and she nodded at him, looking grumpy. Darnell knew from his own experience that until one makes the same mistakes and faces consequences several times, they will not learn anything. Madeleine will get tired of always feeling sleepy soon, and will start going to bed in time by herself. Besides, Darnell wasn’t going to be her babysitter.

“And may I participate in this anarchy?” Cole started to lash around the dome in excitement.

“No, you may not, you are too destructive,” Darnell cut the topic short.

The man closed the door of the bathroom, letting Madeleine wake up. Darnell opened the mirror cabinet, stuffed with medicine, and started looking for those that might help him press down his inner imbalance and not let his demonic part wake up while being behind the Portal. He dropped several packs into the sink. He found one pack and sighed. This one made him really tranquil and calm, so he pressed out a pill and washed it down with tap water. He had two hours before the medicine hit him. During this time he needed to get to the Portal by car, otherwise, he couldn’t concentrate on driving.

Darnell quickly left the bathroom and went to the entrance door. When he started tying his black boots, he noticed that Madeleine was napping near the computer with her head hung. She wasn’t even paying attention to Cole’s endless speeches. Darnell got angry with her laziness, and as soon as he finished dressing up, he snapped:

“Wake up now!”

Madeleine startled on the chair and grabbed the table in surprise. She shook her head and looked at Darnell with the offense in her eyes.

“I told you to dress up,” he said while putting on his jacket and the hood. “I’ll go call for Agnes, not nag her too much. I’ll be back in the evening, I think.” He opened the door and added, standing in the frame, “Don’t trash this place from happiness for being together. Cole - pretend that you are a decoration and keep silent.”

“Which decoration?” he flared up.

“I don’t know,” Darnell waved his hand, “imagine that you are a weather station.”

“But I…” the spirit tried to explain.

“I said - shut up!” Darnell snarled and slammed the door behind him.

He went out into the hall and stared at the opposite door that belonged to his neighbor. Darnell hesitated for a second but finally knocked. He waited for a couple of minutes, not receiving any answer, and knocked again louder. No one answered. Darnell swore for not taking Agnes’s phone number to call her. After the third knocking, he heard angry cat noises and scratching behind the door. It seemed that some monster tried to pick away a doorstep or to bend the metal barrier to get to Darnell and to tear him into pieces as soon as possible. Apart from growling and howling, the man heard a quiet fuss and mumbling addressing the cat. The door opened a little and stopped abruptly because of the door chain.

“Who’s there?” Agnes bubbled sleepily, squinting her eyes.

Darnell saw that she was dressed in a grey onesie with a hood with small ears pulled on her forehead. She looked like a big grey mouse with red curls. Knowing Agnes’s character, the man wasn’t even surprised that she was sleeping in such an onesie.

“Darnell,” he answered.

Agnes immediately woke up. She slammed the door in front of him and in a blink of an eye opened it wide. She was nervously pushing Mister Muffin away with her foot trying to rub her eyes and fix her hair at the same time.

“Oh, is it time already? I overslept, you didn’t say when…” Agnes started to emotionally make excuses.

“I didn’t,” Darnell nodded. “Well, the door’s opened, lock it from the inside. Don’t go anywhere and don’t let or invite anyone in. If you want, order some food, let Madeleine know, she’ll deal with this. I've got to go.”

He waved his hand and went down the hall leaving Agnes to gather her wits. He didn’t have time to do song and dance in front of her executing all rituals of politeness.

Darnell almost ran to his car. He drove to the distant district where the Portal appeared almost 400 years ago. At that time portals started to appear all over the world letting the hordes of demons into the human world, destroying their lives and destinies. Luckily, humanity didn’t give up and found lots of ways to bring the demons back to their world. Besides, people turned to outnumber demons, and after the war that lasted for a hundred years, demons offered to conclude a truce. They even agreed to stick to the rules of behaving in the human world, but basically, they were just words. But when the major violations happened, people called the ADA Agency where Darnell worked. And still many couldn’t help referring to demons for help. And those took the “payment” from people - something that was important to them. This might be a voice, like in the case of Madeleine, or an organ, or some material stuff, even life - anything the demons wanted. No one knew where that payment got later, but Cyril once told a secret that in the world of demons the collection of payments was something like a hobby. Besides, the Agency could make a demon return the payment if it was possible to return the favor a demon made, or if a demon received it by cheating. Or this could be done by destroying a demon, but this practice was banned during the last century and this made Darnell sincerely upset. He thought that most demons deserved being sent home and even to be liquidated completely instead of polite treatment like with equals.

Darnell drove into the empty district that surrounded the Portal. The ancient building was seen at a distance, high above the 5-story buildings that were built in case demons decided to live in the human world. But actually, none of them wished to stay there, preferring to live among people, staying in human disguise what wasn’t prohibited. 

Darnell parked his car at the curb. He left it and turned the alarm on despite the fact that it was unlikely that any demon would be interested in it in the middle of the empty district. People never visited it, and demons didn’t have a thing for human valuables. Darnell leaned to the door and closed his eyes. He rubbed his nose bridge feeling how the medicine started to take its effect. There was ringing in his ears and the head was slightly spinning. On the other hand, he felt absolutely calm and even peaceful. Darnell made himself move from the car and went to the Portal, trying to concentrate on his goal and not to sway.