Page 25 of Hollow

“Ah, I see.”

Dimitri figured this must have had to do with the worldbuilding lore Jack mentioned. People liked their proper narrative structure, even if it was built on something fake. Dimitri continued watching the show, entertained by Jack’s continued performance as he moved into fighting fire with his shadows. When the music changed again, Jack began dancing provocatively. It seemed every song brought out a new show from Jack.

All in all, Dimitri enjoyed himself.

After the show, many people took photos with Jack, bought trinkets from Daxter, and asked for autographs. Dimitri stayed on the sidelines quietly, while Astaroth abandoned them to pursue something more fun.

During a lull, Jack rushed over to Dimitri and grabbed his hand. “All right, let’s get out of here before Dax drags me into an encore.”

Dimitri raced off with Jack, disappearing into a more secluded part of downtown where few others congregated. The noise of the festivities was still quite loud even a few blocks away, but Dimitri ignored it in favor of Jack’s rambles.

“It was a good show, but not my best,” Jack insisted. “We’ve got to find another way to amp up the show without turning into some Vegas magic stunt. I don’t want to be a tacky douche. I just want to raise the stakes, you know?”

Dimitri, in fact, did not know, but he nodded politely all the same.

“Your origin story was quite fascinating.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know it’s silly, but Daxter tells it with such flair.”

“I have wanted to ask for some time about your actual origins, your connection to or as the Nuckelavee⁠—”

“The reason I wear the pumpkin,” Jack interjected with a thin smile.

Dimitri nodded, admitting to his piqued curiosity.

“Well, it all started in 1818 when I was born a boring, basic mortal,” Jack said with the same theatrical flair he had during his performance earlier. “My mother’s a witch, quite the skilled one at that.”

“Yes, and I assume you did not kill her as in the staged origin story for the audience?”

“Nope, she’s alive and kicking the hell out of someone somewhere, I’m sure of it.” Jack laughed. “By the time I turned twenty, she’d given up on teaching me the craft. I had no talent for magic whatsoever. So, she turned to other methods.”

“The Nuckelavee.” Dimitri nodded, trying to convey he followed this true version of the story.

“Not quite. The Nuckelavee will show up later. First, she attempted to summon a demon to imbue me with powers, but that didn’t work out. The dude basically tried to possess me and devour my soul, so my mom just banished him.”

“Is that your demon dog, Astaroth? Did she banish him into the dog’s form?”

“Oh, no, I didn’t meet Astaroth until way later. No, that demon she sent packing. Then she decided I needed something less sentient.”

Dimitri followed Jack further down the streets, listening intently. For the first time in a long time, Dimitri lowered his guard, finding himself less fearful of what might jump out of the darkness. He was with Jack, the embodiment of the shadows.

“My mother heard legends of a Nuckelavee possessing a corpse in the town of Sleepy Hollow. She decided to release the spirit from the corpse and put it in a living semi-willing host.”

“Semi?”

Jack rolled his eyes. “No one really says ‘no’ to my mother, so I just accepted my fate. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize part of that acceptance would be the Nuckelavee wedging its way into my body and… Let’s just say things got messy.”

Dimitri stayed close to Jack as he recounted his story, captivated by every little detail of how he transformed.

“Nuckelavee are powerful spirits, but also more like primordial energy. They don’t really have desires or motivations; they just exist. Since it was possessing a corpse, it sort of struggled to function. No independent thoughts, all base instinct and fleeting memories from what was once connected to the body.”

“Why would it possess a corpse to begin with?”

“Don’t know. I suspect when it initially possessed the nobleman or whatever, the process just sort of killed the original host. Thus, creating the Headless Horseman.”

They continued walking through the neighborhood, but the rustling of leaves caught Dimitri’s attention. Trees whispering their hello. These were not just the trees around town, but the trees of the woods he spent much of his time in. They were closer to home than he realized.

“Fun fact about the Headless Horseman: there was no horse. That was just the Nuckelavee.”