Chapter 1-The Message

The noises had faded into the distance as Tom walked forward into the darkness. There was a great light ahead of him, but he was pulled into the void that acted like a black hole in this terrible nightmare. He could not fight against the abyss for fret that he would be sucked inside like it was a vacuum. Instead, he walked towards the giant escape in hopes that the nightmare would soon end. He ran from the light like he had every night, woeful of the gruesome events 12 years ago. Tom was only 10 when the nightmares began, and they were much worse than they are today. Instead of a dark and quiet forest, he is simply set inside what looks to be a great blackness. As if God’s world and creation did not matter in this dimension.
The first time he had this nightmare, 12 years ago, the light spoke to him. It acted as one being, there to distract him of the reality outside of his sleeping physical form. It talked to him about his life and it knew things that only he knew. The conversation was the only one he could have, for running only brought about his loneliness. The light served to be his only form of entertainment and comfort when he first had the dream. However, he awoke from that dream and found himself in the middle of a slaughter. There were men rummaging throughout the house. They tossed objects around and killed anyone who got in their way. Tom had awoken with his father lying face down on his legs with a gunshot in the back of his head. When the men left, he found his mother and baby sister upstairs; both had been strangled.
The police came and cleaned up the mess, but they were suspicious as to Tom’s story. The men left no fingerprints anywhere, and there could be no fibers identified. It was as if Tom had made it all up in his head, only for it to happen anyways. But it was not until the detective asked Tom a crucial question until he realized the lights true purpose. Why hadn’t he awoken when his father was shot, or when the men broke in? The question haunted him as he lay awake that same night. He was unable to sleep, remembering the horrific events that unfolded around his bedside. Why hadn’t he died with his family?
It was a terrible forthcoming for a young boy to endure, but it was one that would make Tom a strong and resilient individual. For many years he bore through the nightmares, running into the void that he had willed into existence. The light deceived him, thus he did not trust its being. His life was one of troubled existence. The unfortunate events left a scar on his mind, a scar that the resilience and strength could not mend. Tom was 16 when he realized what the act of murder was first hand. He strangled his girlfriend and stabbed the young man when he found the two of them passionately kissing behind his back. They tried to hide their love from Tom, but he knew what was going on. His mind did not allow him to stop their child’s play until it was to late. The young man was once Tom’s best friend for 9 years, yet he could not understand the horrible rage that pulsed through his body. The blood coursed through his veins and left his actions out of his control. All he remembers of the killing was finding them, and then waking up with a bloody knife in his hands, soaked in the blood of the boy it was stuck inside.
In his defense, his lawyer argued that the terrible murder of his family 6 years before had set him into a dormant state of insanity. It made sense, but his mind refused to let him understand what exactly happened. The jury bought it, and he walked on a double-homicide with probation. There was no place for Tom. The jury may have found him not guilty, but society did not allow him to assimilate again. People avoided him on the streets. He became the story that the town would tell on Halloween around the bonfire. His high school buddies became terrified of his visage, and he soon grew lonely. There was no light for him on the outside, and he avoided the light inside of his dreams. So it came down to this. He figured if he shot himself, he would be doing the world more good than bad. Little did he take into account the world that watched him that no one realized was there. Like air, you can feel it, but you cannot see it.

As he ran closer to the void, he soon began to realize that it was pointless. He just shot himself in the head, how could this world be his dream unless God wished to punish him this way for his sin. He turned around and watched as the light grew closer to his body enveloping him in fantastic sheen. He could see the massive being grow only larger as it got closer to him. Tom looked back into the void and pondered whether or not he was truly dead. But by the time he thought his first thought, the void suddenly closed and the light grew dimmer. The blackness that surrounded him became silent as he stared into the light.

“Am I dead?” he hesitantly asked. He did not know whether or not he expected an answer, but the following events came to his astonishment.

“We cannot know for sure,” the voice responded. He could hear several voices in one, as if many voices spoke the words. “We are only here to send a message to someone of great importance.”

“A message?” he asked. His face became emotionless and he grew still as he waited for the light to speak again.

“You heard correctly, Tom. We are the Order of Passage. We are here to escort the dead to a gate, a gate that we hold no key for. We have been calling upon you as a means of communication between the world between life and death, to the world of life.” The light shrank into a small figure. The figure was that of a man, but it was transparent to Tom.

“I don’t get what you mean.” The being confused Tom; he did not understand what it wanted.

“Be weary, Tom, we are here behind the backs of the other Orders. Beyond us are beings that are of greater or lesser power that know far more valuable things of death. We have lost contact with someone that is of importance to us in your world. We have called upon you to take a simple message to him. It is a message that will ease all conscience on the subject.” That was simple enough to understand, even for Tom.

“You mean you’ve been trying to contact me ever since…” he paused. “Ever since my family was murdered?” he looked to the ground and closed his eyes.

“It is foolish to feel sorrow. Sorrow is something that slows humanity, which is why we are unable to understand your pain. We spoke to you 12 years ago not to distract you, but to protect you. You are our only means of communication into the living world ever since our contact vanished. We ask of you, most humbly, to complete a task that only you can carry out.” The figure grew back into a light.

“Fine, tell me so I can…” he paused again. “I’m sorry, but I’m dead. I grew weak and shot myself.” He realized he was blunt, but he also realized he was dead.

“If you’re here, then you’re not dead nor are you to die. This is the world before ours, created by the very concept of death itself. A world that only we can enter and only we can leave. You’re neither dead nor are you going to die.” Tom interrupted.

“I shot myself in the head…I must be dead!”

“You’re not dead, you’re alive. We do not have much time, Tom, do you agree to the task?”

“Not much time?” he paused for a few minutes, growing anxious of the light. “Fine.” He finally said.

“Ahead of you, Tom, is no easy task. There are forces on the living world that know of the forces in the world that we enforce order in. They will stop at nothing to apprehend you, and the message that you will receive from us. We will give all the help that we can, but we are limited to the world between life and death. It’s crucial that you understand this, Tom.”

“I understand!” he was growing impatient. He was angry that he was not dead, for in the living world he was still lonely.

“Then sleep, Tom. When you awake, you will know what you must do. Remember to heed our warning. If the contact is not reconnected to our world, then the Order of Passage will fade away. The dead souls will be left without an escort to the gate into the next world. Do not let this happen!”

A sharp pain suddenly filled Tom’s head and he fell to the ground. The blackness around him grew darker as the light vanished, and he felt as if his entire body was asleep except for his mind. He could hear voices in his head, someone was calling out for him. It sounded as if machines were making noises all around him.










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