4th File: T3R0R - 29J38

The world shifted and I found myself pressed against the wall of a cafe. Screams surrounded me as people were thrown every which way. Sickening thuds and broken glass echoed through my panicked headscape. And just like that, it was over.

I dropped to the ground and scuffed my knees a little. I gasped, now that the G’s weren’t impacting my lungs. I struggled there, for a second, for a minute, then I turned to the left and wretched out the lunch I just had. A groan rose out of me as I eased myself against the wall. Putting my arms around me, I stayed there attempting to calm my frayed nerves.

Time passed, how much, I wasn’t sure, but enough had passed for me to realize the world was silent. I anxiously looked over my arms and saw devastation. All around me, everything that wasn’t bolted down was thrown everywhere. Even the things that weren’t, they had some sort of aggressive bend. Bodies also littered the streets, the majority of them had been smacked against the walls of buildings though, creating a grisly spectacle. I felt the urge to retch again but I tampered it down.

I pulled myself up with shaky legs and took an experimental step. Ah, that’s not good. I grimaced and shuffled over to the nearest chair. I flipped it over, sat down, and with bated breath, heaved my leg upwards onto another chair. I bit back a scream and took several heavy breaths. Time as a boy scout had taught me basic first aid and I put that knowledge to good use. Ignoring the corpse of a waiter, I plucked a croissant off of the ground and put it in my mouth. Then, after a silent countdown, I pulled my pants down.

My vision returned after a while and I saw that the croissant was on the ground. I spat the remains out of my mouth and steeled my nerves yet again. I looked at my wound and almost flinched. A large spider web of bruises painted the entirety of my leg. And from the pain earlier, I was almost certain that whatever hit me, also hit bone. I forced myself to breathe in and out as I inspected every inch of my injury.

Good news, nothing punctured the skin. It was a blunt object. Bad news, everything was internal. I was going to need some sort of cast as well as crutches. I chuckled weakly, easier said than done.

I sat there for a considerable amount of time. Ignoring the carnage, recovering after the initial adrenaline had worn off, and tried to come up with a plan. It all came to a screeching halt when I heard a harsh purring noise next to me. My heart seized as I slowly tilted my head to look at the intruder.

A grotesque black head looked right back at me.

I immediately froze, breathing included. Some animalistic part of my brain was all but begging me to flee, but what could I do? My leg was busted and I also read somewhere once that if one were to flee in the face of a predator, it gave it all the more reason to chase after you.

Whatever the creature was, it didn’t attack. It’s…exoskeleton, I supposed, was onyx black. There were hints of metallic elements around the joints that made me a little curious, but I didn’t dare inspect it any more. The body was animalistic, a quadruped, with a long winding tail. It was very sleek and quite tall, easily double the size of a dachshund. The massive canines it sported did not help matters either.

I relaxed somewhat in my seat. If this was to be my end, better not have a heart attack before I get mauled. Then to my utmost surprise, the dark creature rested its head on my uninjured leg. It was surprisingly warm and lightweight, but that didn’t take priority as my body immediately went back into lockdown mode. Maybe a heart attack wouldn’t be so bad right now. It would definitely spare me this terrifying experience.

It snorted through nostrils I hadn’t noticed, and heavy smoke burst out. I instinctively jerked back which backfired tremendously. I groaned deeply as I gripped my injured leg and all but collapsed to the side. At that point, I was basically begging for the creature to kill me.

It snorted again and I let out a whimper. However, this time, the smoke seemed to wrap itself around my injury. I watched on in morbid fascination, already resigned to my death. Then, a miraculous thing happened. The pain dulled considerably, but it still thrummed, reminding me that it was still there. I glanced at the creature in awe. It looked at me as if it wasn’t impressed.

“Uhh…thank you?”

It snorted. I chuckled, weakly. Sweat formed on my forehead. What the heck was I supposed to do now? It lifted its head off of my leg and circled around me. Great, it wanted to do the honors itself.

The creature went behind me and out of sight. I didn’t bother looking for it, might as well have the end a surprise. Then, with a loud crack, my chair splintered. Before I could hit the floor however, I was launched into the air. A sudden shriek tore through my throat, making my voice hoarse. Before I could rationalize anything, I had already landed on the creature’s back and it started running off into the distance.

I blacked out.

***

I blearily opened my eyes and groaned. My back ached terribly. Despite that, I really didn’t want to get up. So I didn’t. I contemplated my situation first now that the terror and pain had faded. Scratch that, faded somewhat. It was still there, but it was more subdued.

I twisted my head slightly to make sure I could scout out my location without drawing too much attention. All the while, I ran simulations in my head. It appeared I was in a family house, evident by the photos depicting a smiling family of four. Something welled up in the back of my throat that I immediately stomped down. I must focus on my own situation before I could even blink about others.

The bed I was in was surprisingly soft, I even had a blanket around me. That made me frown. Either another person had saved me or that creature was way smarter than I had given it credit for. Either way, it didn’t taste good in my mouth. The former idea was definitely better than the second, but it would still mean I was in debt. I hate being in debt.

A second glance told me that no one or no creature was in the room with me. It also told me that there was a suspicious looking knife on a vanity table in the corner. It looked sharp and was curved in ways a normal knife wouldn’t look like. I didn’t like it one bit.

I stopped scanning with my eyes and decided to rely on my hearing. I closed my eyes and held my breath. I reached as far as I could with my ears and heard the only occasional creak and bird.

I decided to give it a chance. I slowly and carefully got out of the bed, ignored the knife, and grabbed the hockey stick that was in the open closet instead. A mental countdown later, I was crouched down out in the hallway. Pausing, I took stock yet again.

In high school, I always thought that that was one of my strengths, much to the detriment and frustration of my gaming buddies who always charged in willy nilly. They always got killed or a couple of kills if they were lucky. My strategies, most of the time, seemed to work out and even got me a couple play of the games. And they say video games teach people nothing.

The hallway was actually an indoor balcony that hung over the living room. Down to my right were a couple of more doors, the left sported a hanging staircase. I crept to the edge of the balcony and peered down. Panic seized my heart yet again. I shuffled backwards quickly but quietly. I really started to hate that feeling.

Alright, now that there were two of those creatures, stock still like a statue, that scratched off going down the normal way. It also told me that these creatures were not to be trifled with. Tears of frustration and horror pricked my eyes, but I kept moving, scared of what might happen should I shut down now.

I went back into the bedroom and didn’t bother closing the door, scared if the clicking noise would draw attention. I hurried over to the sole double window and looked down. While it was a two floor drop, it looked doable. Especially with a big hedge like that one. I took a few deep breaths and opened the window.

The brush of fresh cold air made me freeze. That split moment seemed to last for minutes. Too many thoughts ran through my head, dreams I had, friendships I made, plans I decided upon. Tears started forming and I couldn’t stop them, just like I couldn’t stop now. I shook my head and sat on the window ledge. Another deep breath. I ran a simulation in my head. It seemed simple enough. I would drop and then roll. I decided against the bush as that would be loud and painful and if I needed to run, it would be a hassle to get out.

Before I gave myself a chance to change my mind, I went for it. The ground came up way too fast for my taste, but as I landed, pain immediately flared up into my legs, especially my injured one, and the inevitable grunt of pain came. Momentum and mental drills forced me into a judo roll that I completed somewhat haphazardly, but it did the trick. The shock that went into my legs was then transferred into the ground, letting my legs feel less pain. I Iaid on my back, panting. Adrenaline coursed through my veins yet I couldn’t get myself to get up.

Then, a familiar black face peered down at me. I involuntarily cursed and attempted to scramble away, but a heavy and clawed paw pressed down on my chest. I wheezed out another curse and fell limp. How cruel this world was. A sliver of hope, just ripped away just like that. I chuckled mirthlessly, I supposed it was just like life in the city.

“Ah, you’re awake!” A voice called out. The fear that I felt in that moment was nothing like I’ve ever felt before. Some described sudden fear as their heart dropping? I felt like the entire world had disappeared. I was floundering in the dark and the only light was a lantern that fed on souls. Alright, that wasn’t my best analogy. I used to play a lot of games, alright? Sue me.

I stayed very still. Maybe they were like dinosaurs. Can only see movement. I almost snorted at that. Yep, dinosaurs with a freakishly smart brain, capable of tucking a man like myself in bed as well as human speech. A totally sane laugh started to bubble up.

“Oh, that doesn’t sound too good. Your Grace, if you could?” There was a pause then the creature atop of me breathed out that weird smoke. This time it settled around my head. That was the final straw, screw staying calm, screw death.

“HEEEEEEELP! DAMMIT, HELP! PLEASE, HELP ME!” I took a deep breath and was prepared to shout again when a very unnatural calm forced my terror down. In the back of my brain I was screaming at the sheer horror of the situation but my body wouldn’t react to anything besides the most basic of movements.

“There we go, that’s better isn’t it?” A figure shuffled up next to me, on the other side of the creature. My eyes widened slightly when I recognized the figure as a human. I mentally screamed obscenities at him, hoping that at least one would get through. None did. “Pleased to meet you, lost one. My name is Preacher John of the Chosen Ones. What is your name?”

“Brian Rhyse.” Oh, and what the hell was that! My mouth moved on its own! The traitor. This is like some next level bull.

“Welcome, Brian, to the ranks of the Chosen Ones.”

***

Time passed. How much? I had no idea. Enough I suppose to not have recognized myself when I stood in front of a mirror.

I had a beard, long, scruffy, but distinguished. Some of my hair looked a little gray that made me frown. My hands were calloused and I even saw soil under my fingernails. As for my wardrobe, it was definitely a far cry from what I would usually wear as it was a long gray cloak. There was an emblem stitched in the middle that looked like an eye that was scratched out by what looked like a tiger claw. Or…a scratch from that creature.

I blinked. My thoughts became slightly less muddled. How long has it really been? Did I have amnesia or something? The last thing I remembered was that weird talk with Preacher John… I sat down on a barrel and scratched my beard. It was at that moment that I realized I was entirely alone and in a completely different location.

I scrambled away and pressed my back against a corner. When in unknown and potentially hostile territory, always keep your back away from the enemy. In this case, everything was the enemy.

While it seemed that his health seemed to be degrading, he was still grateful that his mind seemed to work just fine. He took stock of his situation. It seemed to be a storeroom. One that would be stereotypically at a barn. Barrels and stacks of hay sat in one corner. A small nook complete with a coffee table sat in the other. And the tall mirror that I was looking at previously sat in a third. The fourth, the one I was huddled in, appeared to have a trapdoor.

I paused and strained my ears. Nothing. I then carefully lifted up the trapdoor, curious. There was a ladder that led down to a relatively lit room. I slowly poked my head down and rotated every which way. No movement. With care, I shuffled down the ladder.

When I got down, I grunted as I popped my back. I was definitely older. By my definition, I was maybe in my early 50’s judging by my aches and my looks in the mirror. That would place me twenty years after that whole incident. The sudden realization didn’t affect me as much as I thought it would. Perhaps I was terrified out of feeling horror anymore. I mean, it still felt terrifying, but I didn’t have a physical aversion to it. I stopped and leaned against a poll and pondered on it. It ultimately led to nothing, so I shrugged and proceeded to find a way out of whatever I was in.

It proved to be quite easy as the exit door was right next to me. I pushed it open with less care than I thought I was capable of and scanned my location. I appeared to be next to a barn, called it, in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, however, the fields seemed to be unusable as the ground sported no crops but an incredible amount of weeds and bushes. Made sense, I concluded, twenty years was certainly quite the amount of time.

I moseyed around the vicinity. As a famous general probably once said, ‘knowing the land means knowing oneself’. I frowned, that doesn’t really make much sense. I chuckled at that. Completely undisturbed by the fact that I was laughing at my terrible jokes.

The farm consisted of two large fields, a large house and a small outhouse/storage. I also found a garage that had a very fancy looking sports car. It made me wonder where in the world these farmers got the money. Unless…

I patted my pockets and was disappointed when I didn’t find any keys. I supposed it was quite unreasonable to assume the car was mine.

There was a surprisingly clean dirt path that led away from the farm. With nothing else to do, I followed. Perhaps it could lead me to a town. At the very least, it could tell me where in the world I was.

It didn’t.

I sighed and plopped myself down on the street that I found myself upon. It wasn’t anything to look at, not even a road sign. Just a country road in the middle of nowhere. Great.

I flopped onto my back and stared up at the sky. The sun was going down, casting pretty colors against an already stunning backdrop of towering mountains and swaths of forests. It was peaceful. A small smile tugged at my lips. Maybe, I could leave it all behind. I didn’t really have that many emotional attachments, and the ones I did have, chances are, things have happened these past twenty years.

I stood up, resolution deep in my soul. Today will be the day I will start anew. Call it a midlife crisis. I smirked and nodded. Yeah, this might not be so bad. I turned on a dime and went back the way I came from and promptly fell asleep on the couch.

The next day, I awoke feeling quite refreshed. It gave me plenty of time to create a plan. First things first, I needed to take stock of what the area and house had to offer. I scoured the nearby landscape for any landmarks besides the farm itself and came up relatively empty. The most notable were the road of course, and this peculiar looking rock.

Then, I checked the house itself. I rummaged through every drawer, every closet, every cupboard. I was pleasantly surprised to see enough non-perishables that could last for a couple months if I rationed, as well as relatively well preserved seeds for crops. Of course, there were plenty of unmentionables amongst these treasures that I promptly buried in the backyard.

I also got myself a new pair of clothes that I snagged from this very nice handmade wardrobe. The clothes fit me pretty well too, the pants are slightly too long though. Easy enough to remedy though.

After that, I set about figuring out my immediate necessities. I checked the structural integrity of the building, access to fresh water which was supplied by a nearby stream, and the previous owners had quite a significant amount of blankets. I spent the rest of the day rearranging the living room to suit my wants. It was quite cozy by day’s end. I also found a considerable stash of books that I had managed to transfer downstairs. That night, I read contently until I fell asleep.

The next day, yesterday’s activities caught up with me and everything ached painfully. I chuckled at that. Being old certainly is a difficulty. Despite that, I made haste to plant the seeds I found. The seasons were kind enough to be the right time period for potatoes to grow well enough.

I set about weeding and digging. I did that for a week. It was on the seventh day that I took a break. I placed my shovel to the side and set up a beach chair I found in the storage shed and relaxed. I had all the time in the world.

Out in the distance, a shadow moved across the horizon. I sat up and squinted in the general area, hoping to catch the movement. There! The figure looked human which eased my heart a little, but then a thought struck me. What if that person came from that weird cult Preacher John was leading? I stayed quiet and closed my eyes, hoping the person would move on.

No luck.

“Hello?” I cracked an eye open and saw that the person was in fact, a middle aged woman. A woman with stunningly beautiful red hair. What caught my interest the most though was the arsenal on the woman’s back as she sported a sword and quite a large gun. Judging from the scope and the curious length, I would assume a modified FarShot.

“Hello. May I help you?” I decided to remain passive and helpful. Perhaps she isn’t with the Chosen Ones.

“Yes, I thought that this place was empty. I was hoping to stay the night here and move on.” The woman chuckled slightly as she scratched the back of her head. “I see now that a person was here after all, so, it would be the polite thing to do to ask for permission.”

I pondered on that. While I thought, I took the opportunity to check out the woman more. The hardness of her eyes and smile seemed to let me know that she knew about the harsh world outside. The casual but alert stance she took told me that she was no stranger to fighting. The blood splatters on her leather jacket would also help me reach that conclusion. The way her hand twitched every so often had me on my guard, but nothing more than that.

“Sure, under one condition though.”

“What?” A simple word, yet a hardness to it that spoke volumes.

“Could you help me plant these potato seeds? It appears I’ve gotten old and I can’t do the things I used to.” I fretted, both curious of her answer and whether or not I still had my acting skills. From the way her eyes and posture softened, I would say I still had it.

“Of course. I couldn't imagine staying without helping with at least something.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m just a temporary resident, like yourself. Believe it or not, I actually woke up in that house not two weeks ago without a memory of the past twenty years.” I chuckled good heartedly. I expected a note of sympathy or maybe discomfort. What I didn’t expect was full blown sorrow and understanding.

“I believe you.”

An uncomfortable silence fell. I shuffled awkwardly before extending an arm to my new house, “want to…come in?”

“Sure.”

We headed inside. I gestured to a chair at the dining table while I scampered off into the kitchen to maybe find something to offer. I came out of the pantry with a can of corned beef and a questioning look in my eyes. The woman shrugged so I popped it open and dealt out two halves. I handed out a plate which she nodded in return.

“So, twenty years, huh?”

“Yeah. I’m not entirely sure how that happened. I’m not entirely fussed about it though. At least I woke up in this nice area, I definitely could spend a few years here if I’m given the chance to sustain myself.” I nodded and thought of the possibilities. All the while, taking small bites out of the corned beef. I discovered that while smaller bites were frustrating, it definitely kept me occupied for longer and made me appreciate food much more.

“I’ll be cheering for you.” The woman smiled faintly.

“Say, we don’t know each other, do we? My name is Brian Rhyse.” I stuck out a hand and hopefully a friendly enough smile.

“Sunset.”

“A pretty name, fitting too.” I gestured somewhat to her sunburnt hair.

“So I’ve been told.” She sighed and put her corned beef down. “Say, Brian. Have you ever wanted something so much, you were willing to do things you would normally never do?”

I reflected on it. I felt that I needed to give her a proper answer. In the end, all I could do was shake my head. “Why do you ask?”

“There’s this…” Sunset paused and her gaze casually drifted outside. “Nah, nevermind.”

“No, really. I want to know.” I chuckled slightly at my earnestness. “Maybe it’s because I lost twenty years of my life to who knows what, but you make me feel safe. I just want to talk to you and maybe even help you.” A small pause. “Not in a romantic way or anything, just as a friend.”

That got her to smile, albeit a pained one. “A friend. I used to have friends once, you know? Six of the best friends a gal like me could ask for. And to think, all it took was a simple snap to turn the whole world upside down.”

“...”

“One moment it was peaceful, then it was chaos. People running for their cars or homes. We were having a sleepover, it was a thing, when it happened. I can still hear the…the…” She stopped and I saw her lower lip tremble slightly. I maneuvered myself so I could lay a comfortable arm around her.

“I think I get it now. No need to push yourself. Is there anything I could do to help? Not that I think I would be helpful. You know, reflecting back, I used to be much more of an unpleasant dude. Well, more moody and indifferent, I suppose.” I scratched my head. “I genuinely have no idea what happened in those twenty years.”

Sunset giggled a little, even if it sounded forced. “Ah, Brian, I’m sure it’s nothing big. You’ve got a good heart, you know that?”

“Really? Huh. Thanks.” I chuckled a little. “And…well, I meant it when I offered help.”

“It’s all good. Letting me crash here for the night is help enough. Really.”

“If you say so.”

The following few hours might’ve been the most fun I’ve had in a while, excluding those missing twenty years. We laughed, talked, and even played a few rounds of hold 'em. I never seemed to get any good cards, but I wasn’t too worried about my balance in the red.

The sun had dipped underneath the horizon and awashed us in darkness. Sunset claimed she needed rest for the trip tomorrow and we parted our ways to our respective beds, not that they were far off. It was a peaceful night.

The next day, Sunset said she needed to leave early in order to make it to the next town before nightfall. I said I understood completely and wished her the best of luck. She accepted gratefully and walked off into the distance.

I was going to miss her company, but I had quite the future ahead of me. A life of peace and farming. I grinned, excited to get to work. However, before I could begin to roll up my sleeves, a presence touched my mind palace. I instinctively froze.

“Ah, that’s where you’ve been, High Preacher Brian. How many days has it been for you? How long have you been released of the divine enthralment? Fret not, brother, for you are a Chosen One. Come, let us welcome you again, back into our ranks.”