A body floated. The body was male, but his face was down, blocked from view. Water stretched out all around him. The body was alone, lost and truly important. Ian didn’t know why, but he knew this figure would play an important place in his future.
Ian’s eyes shot open. He stared up into the Rhode Island sky. He was cold, but he was alive. His head ached and his jaw felt like it was on fire. He slowly sat up and looked around.
Alli was gone. So was Smith. His dream left him disconcerted, but he knew something far more dangerous—something far more immediate—endangered him and perhaps the world.
Phoebe stirred on the ground next to him. Her hair was now even bluer. Her skin was darker and her gown seemed to have lost much of its glimmer. Ian climbed to his knees and crawled over to her.
“Phoebe, are you alright?”
“I—where am I?”
“You’re on Earth. In Rhode Island. Do you remember me?”
“Pollux?”
“No, my name is Ian. Do you remember?”
“I—gods, did you say Earth?”
“Yes, we came from—”
She shot up to her feet. “We have to move. We have to go now. If we don’t hurry, the entire universe will be in danger.”
She walked away from him. Her eyes shot across the fields around them, but Ian couldn’t begin to guess what she wanted to find. Outside of Providence, Rhode Island, he didn’t have a clue what was going on.
“Phoebe, I still don’t know what’s going on. You collapsed as soon as we got here. Smith turned on us as soon as he appeared. I don’t know where Peach is, but the portal closed behind him. She could still be trapped on that other world.”
“I cannot help your friend out of the Inbetween, Mister Ian. I can only stop what you and this Mister Smith have unleashed on the world.”
Ian grabbed her by the shoulder. She turned, threw up an arm to hold him. “You would be wise to watch yourself, mortal.”
“You don’t remember me at all, do you? We talked for half an hour before we came to Earth.”
“My memories are muddled. That often happens when you’re possessed.”
“Possessed? What are you talking about?”
“I mean you were tricked by the being the Inbetween was created to hold. He is a monster that ravished half the galaxy. He claimed it was his to rule. But thousands of years ago, his body was destroyed. Still his power kept him alive.”
“His soul-self needed to be contained. We could trap him Inbetween, but a bodiless spirit would have an easier escape route than one contained within a body. A guardian had to be chosen to suffer the banishment with him. The Galactic Council asked for someone to take him, hold him within them. I volunteered for the process.”
“You went to that hole on purpose? You said you were there thousands of years.”
“Even then, he told the truth. I was sent to The Inbetween to contain him. Somehow he convinced someone here to help him, to break him free. It appears that somehow he gained a means of communication back to Earth.”
“How?”
“That I do not know. But if Caelus has even one ally here, he may have many more. We must tread carefully?”
“Did you say Caelus? Like in mythology?”
“You know the name then. Interesting. Perhaps his godhead is deeper than I thought.”
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think he’s a particular well known figure, but for some reason I feel like I know it. Like I’ve studied it closely. I don’t know. I don’t have all my memories.”
“Intriguing. I sense great mystery about you, Mister Ian.”
“Please, just Ian.”
“Ian then.” Phoebe pointed towards the large manor on the estate. “I’m not sure what Caelus plans, but I suspect we can find at least a clue inside. Are you with me, Ian?”
“I am.”
Ian wondered if this was a mistake. He already walked a monster back to Earth and now that monster had Alli. He was wary to trust Phoebe, but if he was going to help his friends, he would have to take her. Even if she tried to betray him, he knew he could hurt her back, though the thought of using that power again made him sick to his stomach.
He walked up to the door at her side.
“Should we knock?”
Phoebe studied the door, then the entire patio. “This place isn’t as it seemed. It exists between planes. It connects to something else. Ah, I see. It’s a godhead, a realm of death.”
“A what?”
“It is a death realm. Most are barren wastelands, not unlike the Inbetween. Certain beings are known to latch on to the souls of the dead. They will capture those souls of their so-called followers, keep them from passing to their final reward. They place them in a sort of netherworld, store them for their power. It is an archaic art, but one backworlds are known to still practice. Earth has been shut off from the world for millennia. It would seem death gods still exist here.”
Ian rubbed his forehead. “Space and gods and death realms. This is a bit much for me.”
“The universe is a grand place, Ian. You must learn to accept it for what it is: a grand adventure often fraught with danger. Now come.” She reached out and tried the door.
The knob turned and opened with ease.
“Be careful,” Ian said. “I can’t imagine what awaits us if the doors are open. No one leaves their doors open these days.”
Phobe turned towards him. “These days, Ian? You are an immortal too. I remember.”
“I don’t know about that. I only remember the last week or so.”
“Perhaps I can help with that should we survive this day.”
“I would like that,” Ian said with a smile.
“Good, now be ready.”
She turned and entered the door. With a deep breath, Ian followed her.
The hero thing still wasn’t his thing. He really hated to even think about what kind of danger they faced inside. He wasn’t a fighter. He was more than happy to hide behind an illusion, let the world think he was gone.
No. I’m here for my friends. I have to help them. Or if need be, avenge them.
He walked through the door. The air turned instantly dry as he walked inside. It was warm inside, but with no moisture at all. It felt like a desert.
Guess this is a death-realm.
The room was the kind of opulent foyer one saw in any number of Southern Gothic films. But it didn’t feel like one. It felt like something unearthly. It wasn’t just the dry air, something seemed not quite real about everything around him.
“Is there anyone here?”
Phoebe scanned the room as Ian’s question lingered in the air.
“Not in this realm. This place is native to your world, but it is also a nexus that connects to the death-realm. The control over the connection seems to be gone. Something has happened to crack the link. The natives of the death realm have lost their connection to our reality.”
“Is that good?”
“The connection needs to be maintained. It won’t close without its owner in control. Rifts between realities are inherently dangerous. Left open they could wreak any kind of havoc on this world. It could turn your entire world into a barren wasteland. Or it could open your world to a flood of millions of men and women long dead.”
She turned her head and looked around again. Her eyes traveled downward towards the marble floor below them.
“Or it could be used to power a madman that wants to conquer the galaxy.”
“Stand back.”
Ian took a few steps back though he wasn’t quite sure why. Something in Phoebe’s tone perhaps. She bent down and studied the floor. Her hand reached out and ran across the black and ivory marble. Her hands seemed to caress it, as if it was a pet.
“Yes, this is it.”
A second later, the floor shifted beneath her feet. It sank down into the ground inch by inch. Her spot stopped after only a few seconds, but the rest of the floor in front of her continued to drop. One by one, steps formed out of the receding floor, a perfectly squared pathway down into something.
Ian tried to peer down at the base of the stairs, but the path disappeared into darkness. The lights of the foyer couldn’t penetrate all the way down into the seemingly never-ending path.
“What is it?”
“It is our way to your friends and allies. I do not know where they have went exactly, but I know it is down there. Will you continue this journey with me, Ian? I know I have given no reason to trust me, but I—”
“If there’s a chance my friends are there, I will follow you. Even if I’m literally walking into hell.”
Ian worried about the lack of light as they walked down the stairs, but he quickly learned there was no need. Phoebe raised her left arm after a few steps downward. A soft glow rose from her flesh, a beacon of light in the nagging dark. It illuminated her and Ian as they made their way down the narrow steps.
He hated not knowing where they were going. He hated being lost and scrambling for answers. This isn’t normal. I just want to find out who I am and live my life.
He didn’t know how long they walked downward, but it felt to Ian like they were entering some subterranean chamber far deepr than any subway. Phoebe stopped short at a door, a simple old piece of wood that looked centuries old.
Phoebe reached out and touched the door. Ian could feel the hint of electricity in the air. Power radiated from the door—or perhaps something beyond the door.
She looked back at him. He nodded, hoping he showed confidence that he did not feel.
She turned the handle and pulled the door open. Light flashed at the door’s edges as it opened. Red and ominous, it streaked out over them, consumed them. Ian didn’t even have time to scream before he was whisked away to somewhere else.
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