Episode 1

Chapter 1: Into Another World

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Andrew O'Kelley

andrewokelley.com

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Release Days M-W-F

In courage and bravery, I grant to thee,

The heart of the Monster King,

Still beating with his wrath.

There were three of us in days of old.

Held deep within the father’s Hold.

We three who plotted treason.

Three sisters whom the fates lament

Who rent the feathers from his flesh

And yet only I remained.

The poisoned feast on which arrogance fed.

The Elder Sisters Three.

I breathed a sigh of relief as soon as I got off the bus as the laughs and jeers of “Loser” were left behind me as the rest of my classmates drove away. It wasn't the first time I'd run into issues with all of them. Rather it was just another rough day at school in a series of rough days at school. They'd been happening frequently enough that I'd started ditching class when I could. Unfortunately, today wasn't one of those days. It wasn’t all bad, and I didn’t mind the school work, it was just the other kids. They had it out for me for a while now. It sucked being the new kid, it sucked worse being new when your poor, even worse when everyone else knows about it.

It was hard to not advertise your differences when you don't quite belong, and I stood out like a sore thumb wearing a thrift store clothes advertising bands nobody had heard of for decades. My mom did all the shopping, and she did her best. It was just all we could afford was the second-hand stuff, and sometimes those screen tees were so old they'd already lost their lettering. Its tough world when puberty hits and nothing fits like it used to.

Anyways, so I got off the bus in front of the apartment building where I lived with my mom. We'd been living there for the better part of the last 4 months, ever since she split from Ron, my step-dad. My real dad lived out on the west coast, but I don’t see him often, and I kind of get the impression he preferred it that way, as did mom.

As soon as I got to the top of the steps, I pushed the building door open and stepped in. The building always had this kind of musty mildew smell to it like air caught without anyplace to go. It’s about all we could afford right now until mom was able to get more hours at the diner. So for now, it was home. I crinkled my nose and walked down the interior hall and headed straight for the stairs. Experience had taught me to avoid the elevator, I’d been trapped in it once already when it broke down. It was basically a death trap.

If I didn’t have my book bag on me, I would have just ran up the flight of stairs to get to the 4th floor where I lived. But since I'd been skipping more school, I had a lot of homework to get caught up on, and all that homework weighed me down. If I could have, it all would have been left in my locker at school, but as mom likes to say "Actions have consequences." One of those was having to carry my book bag carefully so it didn't burst open if I moved around too much.

Step by step I went up the stairs as the sound of my own footsteps echoed in the stairwell. Usually, it didn't bother me, but something was off about it today. As soon as I got to the 4th floor and walked out on the hall, I felt this immediate sense of something being off. Like a gut feeling that I just couldn’t ignore it. I wasn’t stupid, I knew I lived in kind of a rough neighborhood on the wrong side of town. The last thing I wanted was to draw attention to myself from whoever was watching me and that's exactly what it felt like, being watched.

It wasn't anything I wasn't used to. I knew what to do. Just keep walking and pretend you don't notice anything. That is until I heard the sound of clothing rustling behind me as fear broke my concentration for a moment and I turned around, fully expecting to see somebody walking right behind me. But when I turned around to try and scare off whoever was following, no one was there. Only the rustling of the blinds in the hallway. Otherwise, it was just an empty hall sprayed with graffiti that reeked of rot in the walls. There was no place for somebody to hide, and I hadn’t heard a door close. The feeling of eyes watching me though didn’t disappear.

I had to shift my backpack to free up a hand as the feeling of being watched started to grate on me. My gut was starting to really dig in, it was screaming at me, Get out here now, you need to get home. That’s something my mom and life had taught me, never ignore your gut, and I had no intention of ignoring it now. I started to pick up my pace, really striding out each step as far as I could manage without making it look like I was starting to run. I wanted to feel like I was in control, even as my heart started pounding out of control. I tried to calm myself down by repeating, Whatever you do, just don’t panic, act normal, so long as you don’t run, you’ll be ok.

As soon as I walking again, the sound started right back up, but this time I could hear footsteps behind me. A shiver ran down my spine at the sound. I knew something was behind me, there was no way I was imaging that. My gut kicked in again, Don’t look, whatever you do don’t look, just keep walking. The last thing I wanted to do was come face to face with whomever or whatever was following me, and I hoped that if I just pretended I didn’t know, maybe I’d be fine.

Even though I'd tried to talk about remaining calm, as soon as I saw the door to my apartment, I started running that last little bit down the hall in a dead sprint, pulling my keys out of my shirt and held the lanyard in my hand. Within seconds I was pulling the key back out of the door lock and stumbled into my apartment, slamming the door behind me.

I breathed a little easier as soon as I heard the audible click of the automatic deadbolt engaging as it echoed throughout the empty apartment. God, I hate it here, I thought to myself, even as the feeling of fear passed. I turned and looked at the door I’d locked behind me, and cautiously approached it. Holding my breath in some kind of superstition that if I even allowed myself to breathe, whoever I’d tried to get away from would jump out at me. But when I looked through the peephole, the hall remained empty. Immediately the tension in my body eased, but the fear didn't just evaporate. I was sure I was being followed, that’s not normal.

I sank to the floor and leaned back against the wall, resting my back on it as I waited for my body to stop shaking. That freaked me out a lot more than I thought it did, and of course, just by judging the quest, mom isn’t home yet. Again. Disappointed and irritated that nobody was home, I threw my backpack and watched as the bottom of it tore out, causing all the papers, books, and half-finished homework to spill out.

I ran a hand through my face and lightly slapping myself in the cheeks for good measure before I stood up. “OK, man, nobody likes a pity-party. It’s time to man up and get moving.” It wasn’t my best pep talk, but it was all I had in me as I walked past the living room straight into the kitchen to fix myself up some food, leaving the mess and my backpack behind.

The first thing I saw there was a handwritten note was on the two-person table in the kitchen. I knew before even picking it up that the letter was from my mother. Just like I knew, like most letters left by my mother, that it was bad news.

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Hey Chris,

So I got called into the dinner to pull another double shift. I won’t be home until late, so don't wait for me to get home. I left some Fish Sticks in the oven, and a bowl of Mac & Cheese in the microwave. Don’t burn the place down, and don’t stay up too late playing those videos. I’ll call to check on you during my dinner break, make sure you pick up.

If you need anything, ask Mrs. Ferguson down the hall.

Love,

Mom

P.S. they just got some new shows on the app

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It made me furious, just looking at the note. “Just once, just once, I’d like to not be alone when I come home.” I shook my head, hating every part of the situation my family was in. I appreciated how hard my mom was working, but once in a while, I’d like to have dinner together as a family, and maybe have somebody to talk to about my day and what had happened. My mom probably wouldn’t have known what to do, but having that option to vent but being able to tell somebody about it would have made me feel a whole lot better.

As my stomach rumbled, I crumpled the note in the palm of my hand and threw it into the garbage on my way to open up the oven to pull out the cold Fish Sticks my mom had left behind. After I pulled them all out, I slapped the fish onto the bowl of Mac & Cheese and heated it up.

It was a quiet meal, and I ate it as fast as I could, it wasn’t delicious by any means. I had a deal going on with my mom, so long as I got my homework finished, she'd have no issue with, or try to put limits on me playing video games. But between that and now, I had a mountain of schoolwork my teachers had assigned to me. It was tedious, demanding, and super boring made worse by having to pick it up off the floor where I’d left it after breaking my backpack. I hated every minute of it, but hours later, when I finished, I was ready to relax, right after putting a load in the wash. When I was done, I made my way to my room fully intending to watch some television and grind some ELO.

I wanted, no needed something else to take my mind off the continued weird feelings and the off vibes I had picked up in the hall. Those gut feelings were something I couldn't help but reflect on now that my homework was all finished and mom still wasn’t home. I need cartoons, something happy, something stupid. Nothing too scary, I just need a few laughs in the background.

“It’s hot in here,” I told myself as I tried to work through the anxiety I was feeling. Needing some to cool off and knowing the AC was still out, I walked over to the window and pulled it up, letting in some of the city air as I looked out at the night sky illuminated by a full moon as a glowing red star shot across the sky.

I wasn’t a kid, but just that once I wished on a star. I wished this wasn’t my life, I wished I could be anywhere but here, someplace where people could see what I was capable of, and what I could do if given a chance, instead of judging me just because I was from the wrong side of town. I shook the thought away and grabbed the remote to the television and turned it on to an old episode of “Adventure Quest,” and saved the recommendation of what to watch my mother had left in the note for later.

With the sounds of cartoon violence playing in the background, I grabbed my laptop and flung myself on the bed, not bothering to change out of my clothes first, I didn’t even bother to kick off my shoes. Man, why do I feel so groggy? I had fully intended to watch a few episodes and unwind but instead fell asleep within seconds of my body hitting the mattress. Completely just passed out.

The room was bright from the glare put off by the television as old cartoons and forgotten shows competed with made for television commercials and the light from a computer screen. Not that I noticed any of it. I passed out, completely unmoving, snoring loudly on the bed, as I hugged a waifu pillow in my sleep. From the corner of the room, an old screen saver of a ball moved through a digital maze on the Desktop I used for homework after I’d left running. Once again, I’d failed to turn it off before mom got home.

Though I was passed out in a dead sleep, it was hardly restful. All through the night, I tossed and turned as if some lingering nightmares had taken ahold of my mind. A dream rooted deep in the subconscious that prevented me from getting any sort of quality to my rest. A nightmare born of a surreal sense of being watched. The sensation that put me unconsciously on guard, even as my conscious mind drifted in the realms of Morpheus.

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The wolf’s breath was heavy behind me as I ran as fast as I could. The smell of the grave heavy coming from the undead that followed. My legs were already burning, I could tell the wolf was catching up with me and it would soon be upon me. It had only taken one look at the monster’s over sized fangs to know I was in danger, to know that a single moment of hesitation would be death. The monster had been stalking him for hours already, why it had chosen to act now, I couldn’t figure out. I just hoped I could reach the gate in time, screaming, “Open up, its right behind me.” But the gate remained locked as I collapsed in front of the gate in resignation as my body finally gave out, knowing that death was just around the corner, knowing I could run no more. Turning around, I looked straight into the wolf’s eyes, and behind it, I could see the rest of the host of the Night Creatures from beyond the grave.

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I woke up just before the dawn and sat up on my bed. “Hey, Mom!? Are you home.” But there was no reply, even as the sun started to break on the horizon through the window of my room. You've got to be kidding me, its morning and she's still gone? Breathing hard in a surge of anger, I realized I was absolutely drenched in sweat, but more I realized that once again, as had become the new normal since mom had got the “new job” I was alone to fend for myself.

Worse still once the anger passed, the lingering fear of the nightmare remained and my heart wouldn’t settle down. The fear of death had been only too real. I really need to stop eating before going to sleep and turn off the television. I was so preoccupied, lost in my thoughts that I didn’t notice as a dark presence entered the room. I’d made a mistake and ignored my gut. It was easy enough to do, the dark presence didn’t enter the room through a door or a window, but through a portal from someplace else altogether. It soundlessly materializing at the foot of my bed, unnoticed as it towered over him.

The shadowy figure raised a bony pointed finger from an aged leathery hand and began to speak in a low voice in a language that I didn’t recognize, It was the noise of the otherworldly voice that startled me into finally noticing the monster’s presence, and even though I didn’t recognize the language, I knew what it was saying, “Your wish is granted.” Though I tried to scream, though I tried to move, I just couldn’t. I was completely enthralled and utterly transfixed. Helpless I watched shadows seep out from the figure, enveloping all of my bedroom in a shroud of darkness.

Without warning, the figure grabbed at the foot of my bed and tossed the mattress sideways with a surge of otherworldly, impossible strength of effortless violence. I tried to yell for help, and this time my voice cut through the air as the monster at the foot of my bed stared at me with eyes of unblinking eternal midnight. It was then I knew I’d made a mistake making a wish on a star, wherever it had come from, was not someplace I wanted to go. Even as I yelled in panic, I tried to brace myself in the few microseconds I had before hitting the floor to try and not get hurt. I planned to get up and try to fight off the figure as soon as I hit the ground. But the ground never came. Instead, I fell through a crimson portal and kept falling. Falling through a tunnel to another world, a tunnel opened by the shadows that had seeped out from the figure. Falling into a dark abyss that seemed to be without end.

After some time, be it minutes or hours, I had no way to tell, I saw floating words rapidly fly through the air towards me, and once they reached me, they lingered nearby, glowing in gold lettering. Though I continued to fall, not once did the words seem to move away from me. The letters kept a perfect distance away from me. Reading the words, I wondered in dazed confusion what they meant, but the answer never came to me. I started to pass out as everything started to fade to black, my last thoughts before slipping into a deep sleep were of those words.

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Welcome To Netherworld

Christopher Settlemire

You Are The Last Player To Arrive

A Sol Will Be Bonded To You Shortly

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