Part 23 (1/2)

And at the very back of this ruined pub, I saw Laurent and Amrith, eating with a hobo from a plate of pizza that bordered on medical malpractice.

Josh and Lena led me over to the table. Laurent and Amrith stood up as we approached.

”Made it safely?” Laurent asked.

”Had a close call.” Lena said. She pulled out the chair opposite Amrith and sat down. ”Also I totally got the handstand right this time.” Amrith nodded in approval.

”This is the guy,” Laurent said to the homeless guy. He c.o.c.ked his head at me.

The hobo sat between Laurent and Amrith, and probably had some kind of crazy. He wore his hair long, flat-ironed, and held back in a ponytail. He had a beard. It shot from his chin at a thirty-degree angle, and was flecked with pizza grease and dots of fried batter. He sported a camouflage jacket, with pockets arranged like a Mao suit.

The homeless guy slowly masticated the last bits of a pizza slice. He moved his mouth in a slow rotation, like a horse going over gra.s.s. He swallowed, picked something out his teeth with a crusty white fingernail, and grunted at me. ”Name's Haze.”

This was Haze?

I don't know what I'd expected of the man who'd discovered Level Zero, the man who was purported to have the wisdom I needed to save myself from the Stalker Man, and my blue eyes, that still haunted my reflection. But for the discoverer of a new plane of existence.

More than derelict. Haze had the short, choppy movements of a paranoid, or a former addict. The wide, rolling eyes of a madman. If he'd asked me for a dollar on the street, I'd give him one out of pity.

Josh took the seat in front of Laurent, and I reluctantly sat down in the middle, right opposite Haze.

”Hear you've got a problem with a Stalker Man,” Haze muttered. ”Heard Josh didn't seal a gate.”

Josh observed the floor.

”Always seal your gates,” Haze said. He held a fist over his mouth and belted out a hacking, smoker's cough.

A s.h.i.+ning pizza sat in the centre of the table on a sheet of grease-soaked cardboard. From all appearances, it had started life as a normal c.r.a.ppy pizza. But then some enterprising soul had poured nacho cheese, chilli, and tortillas on top of it. In addition, a few wilted california rolls lined the edges of the soggy crust. The beads of rice inside were stained saffron orange.

Haze wiped his beard with the back of his hand, and gestured for me to eat. I shook my head. He shrugged, and grabbed another slice. A california roll rolled off and bounced onto the table. He s.n.a.t.c.hed the roll and popped it in his mouth.

He ate for a bit. The others ate as well. I smelled beer, and wondered if I could get some-but no waiters came out.

Out of nowhere, Haze slammed his fist on the table. The cutlery rattled.

”Stalker Men are no joke!” Haze shouted. ”They're dangerous.”

The outburst didn't effect the others. They went on eating.

”You're in s.h.i.+t now,” Haze lowered his voice. He leaned in close so I could see the follicles of his beard and the big, black-head dimples on his nose. He smelled of nacho cheese. ”But we're going to teach you how to survive. Do you know what you have to do?”

I shook my head.

Haze slammed a second palm on the table. The cheese wobbled on the pizza. ”You've gotta go down! You've gotta go down there like Captain Ahab. You've gotta find your soul-item.”

Haze backed off. He leaned back in his chair and looked up to the ceiling where a single light flickered above us. I saw dust floating in the light, like flowers in Level Zero.

”A Stalker Man,” Haze began quietly, ”takes a bit of you out to put a bit of it in. You just gotta find that bit he hid away, then you'll be whole again.”

Laurent, Amrith and Lena looked at Haze like he was a G.o.d. Josh fumed into his food.

”Gary Weiss,” Haze announced. He looked at all of us. ”The first human to discover the Shadow Place, what he called the Jung Field and what you call Level Zero.”

Josh coughed. He took out a blue Bic pen from his hoodie, pulled back the sleeve of his left arm. He started writing on his wrist.

Haze was staring at me. I looked away from Josh.

”A soul item,” Haze continued, ”will take many forms. Gary Weiss told me this; he is the only one to fight a stalker man and win. No easy answers here-just go down, find your Soul Item, and make yourself whole. Then run the f.u.c.k away. It's simple.”

It sounded simple.

”Just find your soul-item and everything will be okay.” Haze said. ”This is something my master taught me.”

Josh kicked my foot. I held back from punching the guy and looked over at him.

He held out his arm under the table. He'd written a message in blue ink on his arm, in big, capital letters.

HAZE IS AN a.s.s-IF YOU WANT TO LIVE LISTEN TO ME Haze curled his lip, oblivious to the secret message. ”Name it after some video game. In the eighties I was a student, and a local geophysics company-”

I nodded, too shocked to do anything else. My limit for random, crazy s.h.i.+t was near the breaking point already. I wanted to go home. I had a nice weekend lined up.

And on top of that, I was getting worried about something. It was probably nothing, but I'd checked my watch when we left Level Zero. Something wasn't right.

We'd entered Level Zero at roughly three o'clock.

We'd come out at five thirty.

The way I remembered it, we'd been inside for ten minutes tops.

There was no way to tell what Level Zero did with time. I'd decided to not notice. No point in worrying. But still, it bugged me.

And what had Josh said earlier about a Stalker Man?

I reached out and took a slice of pizza. It tasted like it looked-bad. The cheese burned my sinuses with a smell like burning plastic.

”Good man,” Haze muttered.

”Need a beer too,” I said.

”You're driving us back.” Josh said.