The stench of blood and fear hung thick in the air, echoing the haunting cries of anguish. I know this place, I've been here more than once. It's most likely a dream, yet the intensity of the fear and pain felt incredibly real, I felt the chill seeping into my very bone.
The visions began last summer, shortly after I turned eighteen, revealing a battlefield strewn with thousands of creatures—some gravely injured, many dead, and most teetering on the brink of death. The most disturbing aspect, however, was not the horrifying imagery or the pervasive scent of fear and regret, but the realization that all the soldiers around me, except for myself, were all clad in the same golden armor. This indicated they were on the same side, which compelled me to confront a chilling conclusion: I had caused their demise.
Over a thousand soldiers had perished yet I remained largely unscathed, feeling an unsettling sense of strength. For reasons I couldn't comprehend, however, I was also overwhelmed with regret. As I tried to understand the source of this regret, a distant ringing cut through the chaos of battle, pulling me back to reality.
"Jason, turn off the damn alarm; it's been ringing for ages!" Linda shouted through the door.
"Alright, I was about to," Jason groaned in response. As he rolled over to silence the insistent alarm, he noticed it was 11:52 AM.
"Wow, I really overslept." He added, "Hey, Mom said to get your ass out here and grab your lunch. Uncle Grey will be here in an hour."
"Alright," Linda retorted. She had a sharp tongue and a colorful vocabulary, I still cherished our dynamic—it's how we grew up. Uncle Grey was a grumpy old man, but a lovable one, and I fondly remembered spending summers at his cabin out in the middle of nowhere when I was five, Linda was three then. He would share captivating "true stories" as he called them about magical creatures, making him an entertaining presence in our lives.
I stepped into the bathroom, splashed some water on my face, and began brushing my teeth when I noticed something weird in the mirror: my eyes had a subtle glowing, molten gold hue. Rubbing my eyes, I looked again, and the glow had vanished. Odd. Finishing my morning routine, or rather my afternoon one, I made my way to the living room.
Dad was in his usual spot, comfortably seated in his favorite recliner with a newspaper and a cup of coffee. "Good morning, Dad," I greeted him.
"Morning indeed, son. I was starting to wonder if you'd ever wake up. By the way, it's the afternoon," he remarked.
"Yeah, I know. I must have really needed the sleep. Maybe I'll take the rest of the week off..."
"..sure, lazy bones," Linda cut in. "You were going to skip work anyway."
I glanced at Dad, bracing for a reprimand, but surprisingly, he just shrugged and returned to his newspaper. Although I consider myself entirely straight, I know a handsome man when I see one, and my dad was definitely one, a slim blonde man ; he was incredibly fit for his age—just recently turned thirty-two—and still in better shape than me. Genetics as it seems, wasn't so kind to me. I was a average guy by all rights,height, looks and all. Although it sure did favour my sister, cause she got all the best traits.
"Hey, Mom."
"Hey, handsome! Good morning—or should I say afternoon?. Your food is in the warmer, so eat up and get ready; your uncle will be here soon." Mom smiled warmly.
"Thanks, Mom," I replied, feeling slightly embarrassed by her compliment.
Just as I was finishing my meal, the doorbell chimed.
"Linda, could you get that?" Dad requested, adjusting his glasses with a finger.
The figure who stepped through the door was certainly not the Uncle Grey I remembered from thirteen years ago. Uncle Grey was a short man, he always had his curly white hair down, reaching just past his shoulder and always had a tired look to him and an ever present smell of tobacco clinging to him. The uncle Grey standing at the door didn't look weak in any way, he now looked fit and strong, his posture straight, sporting a trench coat, with his white shoulder-length hair tied back in a ponytail, though his trademark tobacco still dangled from the corner of his mouth.
"Hello, everyone! How do you do?" he said, spreading his arms and grinning mischievously.
"Wow, Uncle, you look... damn good." Linda remarked.
"Language, Linda," Mom admonished, before adding, "Welcome, Grey; it's quite a change. What's your secret?"
"See mom, even you agree!" Linda quipped.
Uncle Grey stood confidently, hands on his hips, grinning from ear to ear.
"I expected a reaction, but this truly makes the effort worthwhile," he replied, addressing everyone.
"Hello, John," he continued, turning to my father.
"I was wondering when I would be acknowledged."
"Hello to you too, Grey. It has been quite some time," John replied with a smirk.
"It has hasn't it"?.
"Good day uncle Grey" I said.
"Hello to you too , my boy," Grey said, walking around the couch towards me. "I apologize for missing your eighteenth birthday."
"Oh really, old man? As if you made it to any of my birthdays," I retorted with a scoff.
"You wound me!!, I was there in spirit, along with the lydes! And I assure you, I am not old," he replied with mock indignation.
"Uncle, I'm not a kid anymore. Please stop the lydes stuff—it's embarrassing. And you're what, seventy? You're an old man; give it up," I said, smiling as I pulled him into a warm hug. "I've missed you, Uncle."I said.
"I've missed you too, my boy."
An hour later, Linda, Uncle Grey, and I climbed into his Volkswagen Atlas, which, despite its age, looked neat. We set off along the Beartooth Highway towards the lake trails.
The ride was mostly silent until Linda inevitably broke the silence.
"Uncle Grey?" she asked.
"Yes, Fairy?" he replied, glancing in the rearview mirror.
"Don't call me that," she retorted sharply.
"Why not?" he asked, amused.
"It's childish," she replied, blushing.
"I presumed 'Cupcake' was childish, would you prefer that?" he continued playfully.
"Don't call me that either. Anyway, you said you missed us, right?"
"Indeed, I truly have! Why do you ask?"
"If you missed us, why haven't you visited all these years?"
"I wanted to, Linds," he explained with a sigh. "However, I couldn't leave the cabin unattended; the area was infested with creatures, and it would've been overrun in no time."
"Oh, but now that you're here, won't it still be overrun?" she countered.
"Not this time. I've made friends over the years who can help look after the place," he assured her with an apologetic smile.
"Okay, I'll accept that for now."she replied
After several hours and a few stops, we turned off the road and ventured into the dense, forested mountains. The scenery was serene and relaxing, maybe too relaxing as I soon found myself nodding off. I jolted awake when the car came to an abrupt halt.
The cabin appeared just as I remembered it—though "cabin" seemed an understatement; it was an expansive 1,500 square-foot structure with an attic, raised on sturdy wooden beams with a variety of flowers surrounding it and a clear space stretching about twenty ft in all directions,a barbed wire fence surrounded the expanse.
A solitary grill stood in a secluded area under a thatched shade, accompanied by a couple of wooden benches.
"Yes, I know it's breathtaking; I built it, you know," Grey remarked as he snapped me out of my reverie. "But we can't stand here forever; we need to bring your things inside."
"Right, of course. Sorry," I replied. Picking up Linda's not surprisingly heavy suitcase, I approached the cabin but was interrupted when I heard her gasp sharply. She dropped her belongings and stood at the doorway, holding her head with both hands.
"Linda, are you alright?" I asked, rushing toward her. By the time I reached her, she was already upright but wore a confused expression rather than a pained one.
"Yeah, I think so. It's probably just stress from the journey—I didn't get any sleep," she explained.
"Huh, okay; just be careful, you alright though right?"
"Yeah, iwill be, I think," she muttered.
As I turned back to get the luggage, I noticed Uncle Grey standing frozen, looking confused. What's all this confused look? He caught my gaze and simply shrugged.
I retrieved the purple suitcase and approached the cabin,i noticed some scratches on the entire door frame,runes perhaps??. Shaking my head with a smile, I thought about Grey and his magical fantasies—he definitely hadn't changed.
As I stepped inside, I was abruptly halted by a stinging sensation in my eyes, I froze misstep. I glimpsed flashes of a man—me? He was bound in massive golden chains, and he was glowing with an ethereal light.
The pressure I felt was overwhelming, akin to standing before a deity, when suddenly, one of the chains shattered. I heard a distant scream and someone calling my name before I was abruptly pulled back to reality.
I found myself staring into Linda's frightened face, her shock evident as she yelled something I couldn't comprehend.
Dizziness washed over me, and I glanced down at my hands and I coul see that I was.... glowing—just a faint golden glow, but it was there. Before I could process it further, darkness enveloped me as I fell backward, feeling utterly drained and exhausted.
"Jason!" was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.