The Perdition Score (Sandman Slim 8)

A centipede runs by.

Time to move, only I can’t. My head is funny and my leg is numb.

Someone reaches down and helps me up. I limp as I walk.

“Why did you send her to us?” I ask Samael.

“You needed help. I thought she’d be a good ally. Was she?”

“The best. Did you know she was going to die?”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t waste a good warrior like that.”

“No kidding?”

“No kidding.”

We walk for a while.

“You’re not here, are you? You’re a hallucination.”

“Probably. But I’m not sure how to tell.”

“Can you see all those bugs in the corn?”

“No.”

“Then you’re a hallucination.”

“How do you know they’re not the hallucination?”

“Don’t fuck with me.”

“I’d never do that.”

“I know. How’s the war in Heaven?”

I look over and he’s gone. I turn.

There’s my father with a hunting rifle.

I duck.

A shot goes over my head.

Now I’m definitely hallucinating. Good for me. Confirmation. Wait. Hallucinating is bad.

Goddammit. I fuck everything up.

Turn right. Again. And again.

I think maybe I should have been turning left. Is it too late to start over?

Was Samael just here? He’s the angel of death these days. He can be a lot of places at once. Does that mean I’m dead? Maybe I should stick myself with the knife again to see if I feel it.

I reach down for the knife. My leg is covered in blood.

Let’s forget the knife and just assume I’m alive.