Come Through the Rabbit Hole With Me...

It's been some time, but I've pulled us all together... Justin, Gabriel, Myself, & the boy...Tony. My rag-tag band of misfits...

I want to cross over, back into the Ciudad de Monstruos. Justin says it's suicide. That they'll smell me coming a thousand miles away. That the Behemoths will be waiting for me.

I gave him a crooked grin; "I can take 'em." I told him.

Justin remains unconvinced, but I'll do what I want to. I always have before.

Everyone is looking to me for answers--isn't it about time I get some?

Isn't it all about doing the unexpected?

Either way--I haven't had much luck here in "The Real World". Time for something new...

.....

Justin may have his doubts about me, & I about him for that matter...we have our own history. That itself, is a tale for another time. Gabriel would follow me into the flames of Hell itself...& he just might be. But the boy, Tony...he's something else entirely.

He looks at me with stars in his eyes...hope. As though he's just been pulled into "The Never Ending Story", & I'm going to make all his dreams come true. I wish he'd stop....Lets just hope that I don't get him killed....

Tony & I have become fast friends however. He has this way of laughing in the face of danger that I just can't shrug off or discount. & there's something very special about him, that I just cannot pin down.

His mind is open--like a beacon. In this bout of down time--I've been trying to teach him a few things. How to shield his mind from unwelcome visitors & invading nightmares. How to communicate wordlessly with me. We've formed a link between us; there is now almost an endless string of telepathic banter at any given time. Tony has proved to be an adept student; he learns lightning fast...

& he can open doorways--though he's unsure as to how he does it.

I've a sneaking suspicion that I do. But there's no proof of that, so I'll bite my tongue.

.....

It is dusk...well, in November, full dark falls early.

The four of us venture out into the night, & end up at a forest preserve where all is quiet. No humans wandering about to stumble upon something they should not see on a night so cold...

Only the trees surround us, reaching bare branches up to the night sky. The autumn leaves crunch beneath our feet. but they won't tell a soul...

-"Try to open it--try to see the doorway." I say to Tony.

-"Torrent--you should not be encouraging this." Justin is scowling at all of us. But he's still here, which speaks volumes about his character.

-"I think I can..." Tony sort of mumbles to himself, squinting his eyes in concentration.

-"That's not the point." Justin says, but then he falls silent.

-"Try."

Tony reaches his hands before him, & seems to be pulling the world apart. "Entre aqui y no te estas perdido..." he whispers. & the space before him begins to shiver.

-"Why does he do that?" Justin asks me. I just smirk at him.

There's no need for "magick words" to enter the Ciudad, or to open a doorway for that matter--but words can be a focus for power. This seems to be how Tony concentrates.

The door opens. I take Tony's hand in mine, & we walk through it....