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In his dreams, Niko was trapped in the biggest townhouse he’d ever seen. The whole layout of the place seemed to shift every time he passed through a doorway, like the very building was sentient, folding back on itself an infinite number of times, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t find a way out. He could pass through one doorway, expecting to see a hallway leading to more rooms, only to find himself in the very room he’d just left, or the kitchens. Then he’d run to the dumbwaiter to escape him, only to find himself going down instead of up. The next door he burst through would lead to a cell, and he’d climb through the window, expecting to find himself on the street and finally free, only to realise he was now on the balcony outside the parasite’s bedchambers, and he had to scale a drainpipe to an open window. Hands grabbed him the second he managed to get his head and shoulders through, blinking at the sudden dark, and wrestled to the floor, and then the witch was there, lightning crackling between his parted hands. He was older now, his pale eyes haunted and bitter, and Niko could only lie there in terror, winded on the floor.
“Who would you rather face, hunter?” the witch spat. “Me or the vampire?”
Then Niko could breathe again. He rolled to avoid the witch's electric vengeance and scrambled to his feet, running to the door whilst the witch stalked after him.
“An eye for an eye, hunter!” the witch snarled. “Let’s see how well you’ll cope!”
Then Niko was at the door, tugging at the handle in blind panic before he finally got it open. He stumbled through and slammed it behind him, running down the hallway and around the corner, looking for another door. He was too exposed here, and he could hear Aleksander not too far away.
The hallway offered no doors, though. It was like a maze, twisting and turning on itself, and Niko skidded round one corner to slam into the wall, bouncing off it before running again. Please, just give me a door, he thought, desperate and running out of time, and then the next hallway did offer him a door.
He sighed in relief, about to take a step towards it, but then it opened, and the witch stepped out, lightning zapping between his hands. Niko lurched backwards, back down the way he’d come, but after one hallway he was in the cells again, and the stairway to the ground level was too long, disappearing into darkness. Niko almost sobbed at that, but began running, desperate to get away. He ran up through the dark, hearing Aleksander’s prisoners and entertainments jeering at him as he passed them, hooting and rattling the bars of their cells. Fingers brushed him, their owners wanting a piece of him, and he tore free, tears running hot and fast down his cheeks. He tripped in the dark, landing hard on the ground, and behind him he could hear the ambling footsteps of the witch, could hear the witch whistling to himself as he hunter Niko. Niko sucked in breath and scrambled up again, propelling himself ever onwards into that darkness.
Then he slammed into a door, shoving it open, and found himself blinking at bright daylight, standing in Aleksander’s dizzying ballroom. The walls glittered, mirrored and reflecting dazzling sunlight from the vast windows, and Niko ran again, for the end doors.
They crashed open before he could get there, though, and-
Niko sucked in a great breath, eyes blinking open. He sat up like a marionette with its strings pulled suddenly, panting and looking around in panic. Why was the room so dark? Where was he? There was no crackling fire, nor-
Nor what? He panted, trying to think.
Next to him, something shifted, and he froze. If I can’t see it then it can’t see me. His heart hammered in his chest, and he barely dared to breathe.
“Niko?” A voice mumbled. It came from next to him, and Niko jumped hard before recognition set in. It was Joel. It was Joel, and they were in the Helsinki townhouse.
And Niko was blind.
God, he hadn’t had a dream where he could see properly in a long time. It must have been months ago, back before he’d helped the blood witches.
“I’m here,” he said, voice ragged and throat dry. “I- It was just a strange dream.” He lay back down, shuffling closer to Joel, breathing slowly. Joel wrapped an arm around him, little soothing noises filtering from his lips. Niko felt a purr rumble in his chest, nosing into Joel.
“You seemed pretty disoriented just now,” he murmured. Niko nodded, burrowing his face into Joel’s neck for comfort.
“It was strange,” he repeated, unwilling to say much more. He didn’t want to think about who he’d dreamt of.
Joel hummed, but didn’t press any further. Presently his breathing evened out and he started softly snoring.
Niko had almost drifted back to sleep, soothed by his sir’s snores. when activity from within the house caught his attention. He blinked his eyes open, listening, but made no move to get up as voices from the house’s entrance hall sounded. The bed was too cosy, Joel perfectly warm, and all the months of trying to keep hidden from others had taken effect upon him.
“What’s going on?” Footsteps passed by the bedroom door, and Niko identified them and the voice as Ana’s.
“Where is he?” an unfamiliar voice called, getting close like he was walking up stairs. Niko froze, still a little unnerved from his dream, and wondered if he needed to slip under the bed. The newcomer didn’t sound happy, his voice sharp and harried. “We came as soon as we heard, but it’s been a long journey. Where is he? What’s the plan?”
Through the door, Ana mumbled something about faith in him that had Niko smirk into his pillow despite his nerves. “He’s here, Jimi,” Ana continued. “We found him, and we rescued him. We had help with that bit, but he’s safe.”
Niko closed his eyes again, burrowing into Joel further. He didn’t need to hear more. Ana and this mysterious Jimi were talking about Hannes, who was probably in the townhouse’s kitchen in the basement, talking with the Endarkened. It wasn’t about him, Jimi wasn’t after him, whoever he was, so Niko could relax.
Then something nagged in the back of his head, that he recognised Jimi’s name from somewhere, but Niko was tired. He needed to rest, so he let it go and waited for sleep to take him.
It was only when he woke up at dusk that he remembered who Jimi was, and why his name was familiar. He shivered, darkly anticipating how the evening would go if Jimi and whoever we had been was still here.