AuthorLeftright

Chapter 17: The Void

The loneliness roused Dan to consciousness. He flailed around, finding lack of direction and gravity. He was floating among a silent sea of black, one that befell his life and replaced it with nothing. There was nothing, he was nothing.

Ther...

Chapter 16: Parallel

“Ah! Damn it!” Dan jumped from his warm sheets, rushing into the bathroom all  while trying not to drip blood on his carpet while ignoring his phone.

It took a few minutes and a plenty of toilet paper, but his nose eventually stoppe...

Chapter 15: Prophet

Two months after Dan and Sully discussed killing the head priest, the opportunity arose.

A commotion in the centralized camp roused every slave except those too far gone. The cultists were out in droves, sporting full unified apparel and eac...

Chapter 14: Aisha

The stone walls slowly transformed, morphing into that of flesh and blood. They undulated gently, like the chest of a sleeping toddler after a night of excessive crying. Slightly green mucus licked off the walls’ many glands, falling in heaps an...

Chapter 13: More

Rich threads of magical harmony orbited around Dan’s core. Slowly he pulled them together, brandishing his internal being with the power that created the two aspects of his life.

The first was pain and suffering, the madness’s residual r...

Chapter 12: Dome

Walking back to his cell, Dan was accosted. He missed what they called him, but the smirks and posture from the group caused his hackles to raise. The group of five was an odd bunch, consisting of two guards and three camp-slaves. Normally communi...

Chapter 11: Golden Path

“Dan’s magic limited amount. Magic grow. Better magic,” Sully said gesturing and over enunciating each word.

Squinting, Dan tried to follow the old man’s diagram he drew in the dirt. A small depiction of a ...

Chapter 10: Sullethan

Dan and Sullethan walked through the camp uninhibited. Frankly, with the previous day of torture, Dan thought the cultists would be keeping a better eye on him. Being told that he was going to be used as a sacrifice made him think he was important...

Chapter 9: Trial

The dorm party was one of Dan’s best memories from college. It was hosted by Alpha Gamma Rho and was the weekend directly after the first week of class. It was the perfect time, before class got difficult but far enough after move-in week. Stude...

Chapter 8: Brilliance

A drop of mucus rising from the floor and hitting Dan in the chin was the first sign something was wrong. He watched as mucus from all over the cavern started being pulled up. It was as beautiful as it was horrible. The drops were almost slow to m...

Chapter 7: The Red Doors

Dan’s eyes had to adjust to the sudden overhead light. He was front and center on a stage, a wave of giggles beyond his view. The laughter pounded at his head, resounding and reminding him he was somewhere dangerous. If the door was a last barri...

Chapter 6: The Mine

Wooden support pillars lined the cave’s interior, appearing at rough intervals as the floor slowly angled down. A few minutes of walking brought Dan to a steep drop. Darkness filled a desolate hole, bringing a rush of vertigo to the electrician....

Chapter 5: Pieces

Dan felt the slow bumps before his mind caught up. He was dreaming of a pogo stick, bouncing down the street and past his house. Only, something was wrong. Each jump pulsed pain through his skull and chest, each second brought him to the brink of ...

Chapter 4: Blood Rains

Creeping to the forest’s edge allowed the men to grasp what little they could of the situation. The dark clouds above the thick trees created a darkness Dan had never experienced before. He had grown up in Louisiana’s suburbs and was never mor...

Chapter 3: Lifeboat

Dan wasn’t one for stargazing, at least, not before being stranded on the open ocean. Truthfully, watching the stars was the only pass time he marveled in as of late. There was something so wrong with the sky, something that pulled his ...

Chapter 2: The Rig

Two years earlier

The buzz of Dan’s phone woke him. Internally he cursed, knowing that a phone call at this hour could only mean one thing. Work. With the speed and urgency of a snail, he reached over to his night...

Chapter 1: Agonizing

The flames of the funeral pyre graced Dan’s cheeks in a forgotten way. Fires weren’t common in the mines nor the outside camp. Ignoring the fact that the fumes would clog the small passages, poisoning the stale breathable air, the heat and lig...