Shadow

Chapter 5



The room was dark and the smell of death burned my nostrils.
I stood in the doorway for a moment, letting my eyes adjust to the blackness of the room. As they began to refocus I could make out the layout of the entry way, though the details of the room were lost to the shadows.
A rhyme from my childhood suddenly popped into my head, a rhyme I hadn’t thought about in years.

Darkness comes on the tail of light,
But I do not have fear or fright,
Because darkness is afraid of day,
The light can send it all away.

So fear not the darkness, son,
Calm your heart and do not run,
The darkness won’t hurt you tonight,
Now banish all your fear and fright.

Saying the rhyme to myself actually calmed my nerves and cleared my head, I’d have to remember that for the next time I have to meet a girl’s parents.
I slowly walked in the small stone floor entry way. Directly ahead of me a grand staircase rose to the second floor. To my left and right were large arched entries to other areas of the house. The left lead to what must have been the great room.
This place was reminiscent of a new age golgotha, where artifacts rather than lives are left as husks of their former selves. These husks now on display, a mockery of their past, of their stories.
I went to the stairs, the top of each step was covered in sleek white marble. The white of the stairs made me think of the teeth of a monster, come on Shadow, I don’t bite. Ha, yeah.
As I climbed I feared every step would give me away with that old house moan, but none did. I reached the first landing that held three options: left, right, or up. I chose up, against my own will.
The top of the second set of stairs offered no options, only a door. From underneath the door came a faint orange glow, the flicker of the candle I had seen from the street. The door was white, as was much of the rest of the house, but the doorknob was different than the others I had seen. It was a standard, gold knob but inlaid into the middle was a small mark. Something that would go unnoticed if the person standing at the door wasn’t searching around for a reason to flee instead of enter the room. It was a seven with all corners touching the inside of a circle. A mark I’d never seen before.
Instead of studying the seemingly meaningless sigil I put my hand on the knob. Slowly I turned it expecting at any second it would be pulled free of my hand and I would be facing a hideous beast. The knob finished its rotation, I began to slowly push the door open.
I opened the door only a small crack to try and see what I would soon be up against, I saw nothing. A little further, a bookshelf.
Darkness comes on the tail of light,
But I do not have fear or fright…
Deep breath, deep breath
I pushed the door open.

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The room was small and filled with shadow, a bookcase stood against the wall to my left, another to my right. directly in front of me there was a big desk facing the window. Sitting behind the desk was a hooded figure, oh great, another one. I entered so the figure’s back was to me, but I could see that his cloak was a deep brown, like a rich leather. It looked to be the cloak of a monk or those satanic leaders you see in movies, I was hoping for the first over the latter.
Without turning to me he said, “Welcome, I was waiting for you.” His voice was deep, though barely above a whisper, you could hear a soft melody in it. It held a deep understanding that could be heard, as well as felt, even with such few words.
Though I knew it was unimportant I had to ask the most obvious question, “Who are you?”
“I am all that once was, I am what could be and what will be. I am me and I am you.”
He stood, his robe gently swaying from a breeze I couldn’t feel, but did not turn at first.
My fear started to build once again, expecting the monster I had seen in my room only hours before. A grotesquely disfigured face or jaws of a shark. My mind raced with these images of hell and hate. A shiver ran along my spine.
He turned.
Before me was the face of a man, though empty, a face worn out by what it has seen. He stood no more than six feet tall, although his robe hid the contour of his body I could see that he was much thinner than he should have been. His hood hid most of his head but shaggy black hair snuck over his forehead. His nose and chin were remarkably sharp only broken by a thin strip of colorless lips. He was clean shaven, or maybe he couldn’t grow hair on his face at all. His eyes though, such a pale gray they had almost no color at all. Although his features were different I could see myself in his face, like a distorted funhouse mirror.
He looked at me, almost staring. His pale eyes drilling into me, reading mine. “You need not be afraid of me, Shadow, I am here to neither help you nor hurt you, only to inform you. To teach you what you must know to go on.”
“To go on? Go on to where, to what?” Confusion swam within me, this was already more than I was ready for.
“I do not know, I simply know you must go on. But first I must teach you what I know.”
He reached up and removed his hood, his hair was indeed a deep black, almost purple. It was longer than I had suspected it would be, down past his sharp shoulders. While he removed his hood his piercing gaze never wavered from mine, reading my eyes, my mind, perchance my soul.
“Come, sit. You have much to learn but time is against you.”
Seeing no other options, I sat.
He began very slowly, deliberating each word, “Long ago, before the world became the shining example of selfishness and greed that it is today, there was a man. This man, like many other men, lived to provide only for himself, he was a humble man who lived alone, he had no wife and no children for which to provide. A prophet came to this man in a dream and told him that he was meant for great things. That he must leave all that he knows and find his true self. And so he did, he left that very day. He traveled the world for forty years before he found himself, before he was enlightened by the truth of truth. That man went on to do many great things, to save worlds.
The majority of people in this world will die without ever knowing truth, even tasting it. But truth is out there, it is there for you to find. And with truth you can do many amazing things. Right now your life is so small, so meaningless among the billions. In this fraction of time, in this small corner of the universe, you are but a blink, but you could be more. Oh, you could be so much more. I believe you have felt a bit of that truth all your life, maybe without even realizing it.
Shadow, it is time for you to shed all that you are, forget all that you know and go out into the world and find your truth. I am asking you to do what the man in my story did. And, yes, he was a real man.
There are worlds to save again. Though time is not on your side.
I know that you have seen more truth than most people have, but what you’ve done is only a glimpse of what you could do, what you were meant to do. You need to find the truth within your soul, find your purpose.
Oh, I believe you can save worlds, but do you?”
And with that question lingering in the air, which was thick enough to swim in, he turned back around and lifted his hood.
“I have so many questions, so much more I need to know.”
Without turning he said, “Yes, you do, but you will answer all those questions in time. Go now, time is slipping.”

···

I woke up. I was in my bed, a cold sweat across my brow. A cool desert breeze gently rattled the blinds. I looked over to the clock, flashing-- 2:19.
Was it all a dream? Vertigo over took, darkening shades of gray covered my vision, confusion, mind, body, and soul. An image came into my mind, the circled seven that was on the doorknob, so minuscule, so easy to pass by and never see. It felt like a very important sigil now. And with that vision burned into my mind’s eye, I fainted.

···

I was falling again, but this time I was unafraid. Clouds rushed past me as I began to fall faster and faster. I was pretty sure I was dreaming, pretty sure. After the events I’d gone through… oh crap.
I could see trees now, from very high above, but they were getting closer and closer. Either I need to wake up or I need to start flapping my arms and hope that I evolve pretty damn quick.
There were mountains in the distance, where was I? Is that even a question that should enter my mind when I’m falling to my certain death? Ok, ok, not necessarily my certain death, start flapping!
The wind was distorting everything, drying my eyes. Though I could still see that the trees were fearfully close. Oh god, be a dream.
The ground, closer and closer, here I come.
Closer.
Closer.

···

I awoke with a jump as I hit my head hard on the floor. Stars came into my field of vision, like in the old cartoons when someone gets hit with an anvil.
It was warm and the sun was peaking through the window. I looked at the clock even though I knew it wouldn’t matter what it said, I didn’t have a clue what day it even was-- 6:21.
I laid my head back on the floor, just need a moment to get a better grasp of reality, if this is reality.
Everything that had happened up until the bone cracking fall started playing in my head.
Without knowing I was going to talk out loud I said, “What the hell is happening to me?” My voice sounded hollow in the empty room, it almost sounded like someone else’s voice.
Realizing I was still on the floor I got up and crossed to the bathroom, I don’t remember ever having to piss so bad in my life.
To get to the toilet I passed the small mirror over the porcelain sink. I stopped.
Very slowly, so much so that I almost grew impatient of myself, I stepped back in front of the mirror.
My hair was going gray. The hair at my temples had definite gray and the rest of my dark hair had light streaks as well. I didn’t even have a hint of gray the previous night, and my hair didn’t seem as long.
“How long have I been sleeping?” I said in a whisper I almost couldn’t hear.
I ran out of the bathroom, forgetting how badly I had had to go, and turned on the television. Flipping channels I finally came upon what I was looking for, the news. It was June 13th, only one night had gone by.