God, I hope that Jonas is cool. We've never really met before/WeHaveWeHaveWeHave/, so I'm kinda taking a risk by bringing him out to the island/TheIslandTheIslandTheIsland/ with Ren. It's childish, admittedly, but I still want to impress Ren. Maybe that's just something that'll never change/NeverChangeNeverNothingEverChanges/. So hopefully Jonas is cool.
"Hey, Alex, you hearing any of this," Ren asks, amused.
"Yeah, I heard you," I say. /FineFineImNotFine/ "Something, something, cookies, something."
"Spot on," he laughs.
"Can we go in the ferry," I ask. /YesTheFerryNeverLeaveTheFerryFerryIsSafe/ "I think I'm getting a headache from the sun, or something." /NoNotTheSunNotTheSunPleaseListen/
"You okay, Alex," Jonas asks. "Honestly, you sound pretty bad. You sure you want to do this?"
"Oh, come on, Alex," Ren pleads, "Don't leave me on my own. Please." /LeaveHimLeaveHimLeaveHimPlease/
"I'll be fine," I say. "Besides, it'll be night soon. I'll live." /LivingIsntEverythingPleaseListen/ "Think I'm going a little schizo, though. Swear I can just barely hear this voice," /YesHearMeHearMeHEARMEHEARME/ "just barely out of range."
"You're probably just going insane," Ren teases. "Doesn't surprise me too much. Besides, I've got some aspirin here, if you want one." /NoDontTakeItDONTTAKEITNO/
"Gimme a few," I say. Popping the pills, I say, "Oh yeah, already better."
"Good," Ren says, "hate to have you and your brother bail on us. There probably won't be many of us this year, anyway, with all the parties this week."
"Remind me again why we're going out here," Jonas mutters. "Beaches aren't usually my thing, really."
"The annual Beach Bash, or whatever," Ren responds. "We're just going to go lay on a beach and get blackout drunk. It's a tradition. And if Alex here remembered the radio…" He trails off, watching me with anticipation. I start to take out the radio but am filled with an urge to throw the thing into the ocean while doing so.
"Hold on," I say through clenched teeth. "I have it, don't worry. Not going to take it out here, though."
"Aww, Alex," Ren whines, "they're playing one of my band's songs on 88.3, though. After what I had to pull with the host to get that on the air, she'll kill me if I don't tune in."
"Yeah, Alex," Jonas said. "I want to hear the kid's band."
"If I take this out, it's going overboard," I growl. The urge isn't abating, either, and beads of sweat dot my forehead from the sheer willpower I'm exerting not to immediately do it.
"Whoa, Alex," Ren says, concern in his words. "You okay? You look like… God, I don't even know what to compare you to, but it's not good."
"Yeah," Jonas says, "you really look bad. Let's get you some water. Think there's a fountain on the upper deck."
"That'd be nice," I says. "How much longer until we dock?"
"Five minutes, max," Ren says. "It might be best if you didn't do this. I mean, I don't want you stranded on an island if something's actually medically wrong with you." The idea of turning around makes me feel immensely better, but we can't. Michael did this. I have to.
"No," I say, almost a growl. "Give me another aspirin. I'm doing this. I have to." With the aspirin the pressure in my head abates a bit. I'd love to take more, but I'm already on four and these things have limits. Forcing happiness into my voice, I say, "See? Good as new."
"Aspirin's not supposed to work that quickly, Alex," Ren warns.
"Shhhhhh! Don't ruin the placebo," I shout. "I'm fine. No more urges." I take the radio out and wave it around. "See? I work now. What was the channel you wanted?"
"88.3." I turn the dial to the left. The radio begins to pick up strange beeping noises, looping, over and over/loopinglooping/.
"Huh, anyone know morse," Jonas asks.
"Nope," I say. "But there's a lot of it. Like, a lot. From 101 to about 93 is just morse code. And it all seems the same. Who's broadcasting on, like, forty different frequencies?"
"Don't know, don't care," Ren says. "Just get it to 88.3 so I can avoid getting killed, please."
"Your wish is my command," I shoot. His song is evidently already on, as his head begins to bob. I give it about thirty seconds, but eventually say, "Wow, Ren, I didn't expect much from you, but this is like 'early Bieber' levels of bad. Could you have made a worse song if you tried?"
"No need to be a dick about it," he mutters.
"Relax, I kid," I laugh. "Was this really all you had me take a handheld radio out for, though? I mean, it's a pretty strange request for a single, two minute, song."
Ren gasps. "You don't know what I had you bring the radio out for? How could you forget? It's, like, the coolest thing on the island! You know, the caves?"
"Oh yeah, the caves," I say. "Right. How could I forget about those?"
"You're leaving me in the dark here," Jonas says. "What caves? Why do you need a radio for caves? Isn't there, like, only static you can pick up in caves?"
"Sorry," Ren says. "Keep forgetting that you're new to all this. I won't spoil it just yet, but I swear it'll blow your mind."
"As long as it's not literally, I'm good," Jonas jokes.
"Coming up on shore," the captain says over the intercom.
"Guess that's our cue to go," Ren says, literally jumping off the boat. Jonas and I lag a little behind. "Come on, boys and girls. Boy and girl. Behold the beauty of this little tourist trap we call Edwards Island. Well, Jonas, anyway. Alex, you're pretty used to this, so, behold the… sunset, I guess." Jonas steps off the boat and I go to follow, but something nags in the back of my mind. I'm making a mistake, it says, this is the last time I'll see a sunset, it says. I shiver and put a foot on the island. Lightheadedness hits me and a blue fuzz encroaches on the edge of my vision. Jonas grabs the sides of my arms to hold me steady.
"You alright, Alex," he asks. "You don't have to do this, you know. We won't hold it against you."
I massage my temples. "No, I'm fine. Really, I mean it. I'm just… I've just got a crazy bad feeling about this, I guess. Keep calm and carry on, or whatever."
"You go on ahead, Ren," Jonas says. "Give me like two minutes with Alex."
"You sure? I mean, we just got here. Seems weird to split us all up already," Ren says.
"Alex, you good with this?"
"Yeah," I mutter. "Go on ahead. We'll catch up." When Ren was sufficiently out of earshot, I say, "You know, you can let me go. What did you have to say?"
Jonas awkwardly releases me. "Oh, sorry. Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"
"Is that it? For God's sake, Jonas, yes, I'm fine! It's frustrating that you can't just believe me!"
"Right, sorry. I guess what I wanted to say is that… I've never really moved around much, so getting a new family at the same time was kind of crazy. Just, you've been… really cool about the whole thing, I guess. I just wanted to say thanks for that. Fixing up the attic for me, and everything. I appreciate it, you know? Made this whole thing a lot easier."
"That's good to hear. You haven't been half-bad, yourself. I was worried you'd be like, a psycho, or something. Nice to know that I'm not going to be sharing the house with a pyro for the next year or two."
"Cool. Good talk, I guess." He laughs in the awkward way people only do when they're not sure what else to say. "You still seem kinda on-edge. Want a smoke?"
"Sure," I reply. "I would like to clarify that under 99.8 percent of circumstances, I do not condone smoking. But you're right. I'm still a little uneasy. Can I be completely honest with you? I mean, this is probably going to come off as some clinically insane shit."
"Sure. I guess if I'm your step-brother now, we're going to have to deal with the whole 'you being mental' thing sooner or later."
"Alright. Don't talk or say anything. Just listen. Ever since we got on that boat, I haven't felt quite right. Like, just a little off the whole time, but when we got close, I started to hear these little whispers. Like something you see in your peripheral vision. As soon as I start to pay attention to them, it's like they're gone. But I feel like they're trying to warn me of something. Like coming to this island is a mistake and they're trying to tell me."
"You know, you're right. That does come off as some clinically insane shit. Unfortunately, or fortunately for you, I guess, I have forgotten all my 'crazy person' straightjackets at the house. I'll be sure to remember next time." I punch his shoulder. "What's up with these caves, anyway? Why bring a radio just for some caves?"
"You know, Ren could explain this a lot better than I could. I've never really seen it, just heard some stuff about it. Think he's done it, at least once, anyway."
"Alright, then we should catch up with your boyfriend."
"Jonas! He's not… we're not, like, together or anything. Just good friends. Have been for as long as I can remember. An embarrassingly long time, really. Like, we both should have found better people to talk to by now."
"Huh. I guess I read that totally wrong, huh?" He chuckled, more than a little uncomfortably.
"Yep," I said. "All forgiven. But don't mention that to Ren. He'd never let me live it down. Anyway, let's catch up." We walk through the tiny town, admiring the scenery. "It's kinda kitschy," I say. "Right? Kitschy, or something. Not a bad place. I could get used to it."
"I guess," Jonas says. We walk the rest of the admittedly short trip in a comfortable silence. The beauty of the sun setting over the open ocean/oceanissafe/is plenty for me. I still feel a bit uneasy, but the feeling's been sort of masked since I got farther inland. Like rain through thick windows, not loud, but you can tell it's still there, nagging you about how you shouldn't have washed your car literally yesterday. I try not to think about it. The island really is beautiful, and I'd hate not to be able to enjoy it.
Eventually we catch up to Ren. Jonas says to him, "Okay, Alex said that you knew what was up with these caves. I'm interested."
"Are you sure you don't just want to see it for yourself," Ren asks. "I swear it's better if you're going in blind. Still amazing either way, don't get me wrong, but it's like going into The Sixth Sense already knowing that-"
"Stop! Stop, stop, stop," I shout. "I haven't gotten around to watching that yet."
"You haven't seen the Sixth Sense yet?" Ren is indignant. "I give you my personal top ten movies and you don't even watch them! Shame on you, Alex, shame on you."
"Sorry," I say. "It's just that after the first three Saw movies, I kinda ran out of trust in your movie list."
"The first three Saw movies are masterpieces of modern media," Ren says. "And I'm sorry that you failed to see their brilliance. But anyway, Jonas, it's like going into the Sixth Sense knowing the ending. You're still kinda blown away, but it's nothing like if you've got no idea whatsoever. You feel me?"
"Yeah, I get what you're trying to say," Jonas says. "But if this cave doesn't have a Bruce Willis that's actually been-"
"God, will you two shut up about the Sixth Sense," I shout again. "Some of us haven't seen it yet and want to! Jeez."
"Well, if I want to piss off Alex tonight, at least I know what buttons to push," Ren laughs. "Movie spoilers. How about The Usual Suspects? You seen that yet, Jonas?"
"Why, yes, I believe I have," Jonas teases. "God, that was so good. And when Kint was actually-"
"I hate you all," I scream. The two burst out laughing. "I'd like it if you didn't try to ruin movies for me at every possible turn. Please and thank you."
"Mission accomplished," Ren says between giggles. "Alex has officially lost her cool." He and Jonas high-five.
"Glad to see you two are hitting it off," I grumble. "I can't wait to have a budding bromance on my hands all night." We reach the top of the hill we'd been making our way up. "Where do we go from here, tour guide Ren?"
"Ooh, that stings," Ren teases. "But probably not as much as knowing the ending of Fight Club." I glare at him.
"Wow, Alex," Jonas says, "you haven't seen anything, have you? I mean, if you'd just missed a movie or two, that's acceptable, but it's like you haven't had any exposure to these things at all. Have you lived under a rock your whole life?"
"No… I'm just bigger on, like, books and music, and that sort of stuff. Movies are always over in an hour or two, but books? If you savor a book it's weeks at a time. Music is the same way."
"Ooh, Alex is a nerrrrd," Ren says. "Reading, and stuff. Wow. I'm going to have to cut you loose, Alex. Got a reputation to maintain, after all. Can't have nerds ruining that."
"I'm wounded," I deadpan. "Really. Tore my heart out, ya did."
"Yeah, whatever," Jonas says. "You read books, whatever. What I want to do is lay on the beach and get drunk. Maybe look at some caves or something along the way."
"Very well," Ren says. "But before any of those very good suggestions can be acted upon, we've got to get around this fence somehow. I can't quite remember how."
"How about that dumpster over there," I suggest. "If we can get it to move, it should be enough to get us over the fence. If it'll budge." I put my back to the dumpster and shove. It didn't move.
"I'll give you a hand," Jonas says. The two of us manage to get it to the fence. Hands on his knees, Jonas says, "Yeah, thanks for the help, Ren. Couldn't have done it without you."
"No problem," Ren replies, completely unfazed. "Let's head down to the beach. Climbing over the fence, he sees something that makes him freeze up.
"You alright," I ask. "You just kinda stopped."
"Yeah, I'm good," he breathes. "It's just that… Nona's down there and Nona… I've just got, like, this huge thing for her, so don't be, like, weird about it, or anything, okay?"
"Me? Weird? When has that ever happened," I ask in jest.
"On the boat," Jonas says. "Getting off the boat. With the radio. I've only really met you today, but you seem to freak out quite a bit."
"That's… not a regular occurrence," I say. "I'm not really sure what happened on the ferry. It just felt really wrong. I swear that I'm not normally like that. Right, Ren? Tell him, you've known me forever. I haven't ever acted like that, have I?" I have to admit, that sounded a little desperate.
"You're freaking out right now, just talking about it," Ren mutters. "I'd almost forgotten about that, really. And no, Jonas, she's usually not like that. Maybe we should just try to forget about it." We hear an incredibly annoying voice.
"Oh, God, please don't tell me that's Clarissa," I moan. "Like, if I freak out with Clarissa around…" The thought makes me shudder.
"Who's Clarissa," Jonas asks.
"She and Alex," Ren explains, "have this weird thing. Like they can't stand each other, but Clarissa can't keep that sort of thing under wraps. It's like she doesn't feel whole if she's not pissed at someone."
"Oh." We walk down to the two, Nona and Clarissa. As soon as I make eye contact, something in me wants to shrivel up and die. /donttrust/
"Oh, great. You brought Alex," Clarissa says.
"What's your problem with me? Like, really, I want to know what I've done to you in a previous life that you hate me so much," I say.
"Whatever. Is this it? Isn't there supposed to be, like, twenty people here, usually? It's just Nona, Ren, Alex and I? And that guy? Who are you?"
"This is my stepbrother, Jonas. He's cool, so try and show him a good time," I say. /goodtimesnonogoodtimes/ "Hey, Ren, you think I could get another aspirin?"
"Nah, I've only got like ten left and I'm saving those for the morning. Hangovers," Ren replies.
"What do you need aspirin for, anyway," Clarissa asks.
"Nevermind," I say. She drops the subject/dropsdropsClarissadrops/. I'm starting to hear the faintest of whispers again. Oh well, getting drunk will fix it. Or trigger whatever's wrong with me and make me go out of my mind completely. Either way, I don't have to deal with it. We get to the beach, where there's already a fire and drink cooler. I'm the first to grab a beer. I try not to seem too desperate to get drunk, but I chug the entire cup.
"Whoa, Alex, that must be a new personal record," Ren teases.
"Shut up," I say, my voice a little hoarse, as the drink burnt a little more than I'd expected going down. "What is this, anyway? Doesn't taste like any beer I've ever had."
"And you are, of course, known for your adventurousness, if that's the word, in terms of drinks." The joke doesn't land. "It's an anonymous gift from a bartender who was in the first class to do this. Their own brew, I'd guess. Has a bit more kick than most light beers, but not on the level of fireball whiskey or anything."
"Cool. How long until I can't remember what I do in the morning?" I grab another.
"I'm not letting you get that far," Ren says. "You can barely hold the cheap stuff."
"Don't worry about me, Ren," I assure. "I just want to get blackout drunk on a beach with a few friends."
"Well, let's at least play truth or slap before you do," Clarissa says.
"Oh yeah, great idea," Ren says. Jonas looks a little confused, so he explains, "It's like truth or dare, but no stupid dares that net you an STD. Somebody asks a question and you have to tell the truth. If anyone can prove that you're lying, they get to hit you. Simple enough, right?"
"I guess so," Jonas says. "But how can you prove if I'm lying?"
"Hearsay, rumors, etcetera," Ren explains. "I suppose you won't really be at any risk, but whatever. Everybody down for that?"
A chorus of "Sure." sounds around the campfire.
"Okay, me first," Clarissa says. "Ren, do you like Nona? I know you want to sample the goods, now just say so."
I chuckle. I'm not a fan of Clarissa, but she's good at hitting Ren into awkward corners. From the corner of my eye, I see an expression of shock flash across Nona's face. Filed away for later. "Uhh," Ren begins.
"Intelligent," I muse.
"Shut up. I mean… I like her. I do, but, like, as, uh… a friend. Okay? I like her as a friend, nothing more." I burst out laughing. "What? What's the issue here?"
"I just never noticed how clumsy you were under pressure," I tease. "Filed away for a later date." Another microexpression crosses Nona's face, but I don't quite catch it. I turn so only Ren can see me and rub my hands together. His face pleads for me to keep quiet, and I cackle in response.
"My turn," Ren says. "So, Alex, which nerve do I want to pinch?"
"Shoot. I can take it."
"Alright. Fuck, marry, kill: me, Nona, and Clarissa."
"What? Okay, I'll admit, didn't expect that. I guess… I'd marry Nona, I like the quiet types. Do the dirty with Clarissa, I guess."
"You're just going to let that slide," Ren asks.
"I believe her," Clarissa says. "I mean, look at me. I've got a lot going on here."
"Wait… you'd kill me?! I'm your best friend!"
"That's what you get for asking the question," I laugh.
"And I'm the only guy involved in this! Misogyny, I say," Ren says. I laugh yet again.
"So I get to ask now, huh?" I take a moment to think. Deciding to get back at Ren, I say, "Nona. Do you like Ren?"
"Oh, God, can we stop with the whole 'me and Nona' thing?"
"Nope," I say.
"Nona doesn't like anybody. She's like an amoeba," Clarissa says. Nona stands silent, shocked.
"I'd like to hear it from the woman herself, please," I say. "So, Nona, what'll it be?"
"I…" Nona is clearly not used to being in the center of attention. "I guess… I like him as a friend, and all, but… that's it, I guess."
"Very well," I say. The questions make their way back to Clarissa.
After finishing her answer, she says, "So, Alex. Getting a new brother now. Pretty exciting, right?"
I ask cautiously, "Is there a question somewhere in that"
"I'm just saying, statistics show that if you get divorced once, you're probably going to again."
I put a bit of venom in my voice, "I really don't see any question being asked here."
"Why did your parents get a divorce?"
"You know why, Clarissa. We all do."
"I just want to hear it first hand."
"Fine. Mike died, and my parents couldn't handle it, and it all fell apart. That better for you?" /michaeldiedcantbringhimbackdontbringhimback/ I grit my teeth, the whispers are back. I start to drink from my second cup. /nodontdrinkdontdrinkIwanttohelpyouINEEDTOHELPYOU/
"Heard it here first, Jonas. Don't die and everything'll turn out fine." /dontdiecantlethimdie/ The voice isn't stopping. I can hear it a little more clearly now, though. I picked up 'don't die'. Thanks, very insightful.
"I don't know about you guys, but I am absolutely ready to go to those caves," Ren says. "Nona, want to come along?"
"Sure, I guess I'll go," Nona says.
"No, Nona's staying here with me. I'm very needy," Clarissa says.
"What's your problem," I ask. She shoots me a glare. /dangerousshesdangerousShesDangerous/ I hear the whisper again. I'm going to drink this away if it kills me./NoDontDrinkINeedToTalkToYouDontDrinkDontDrinkDONTDRINK/ As I bring the cup to my lips, a pressure builds in my arm to stop me. I power through, but before I can take a drink, my arm goes berserk and throws the cup onto the sand. I look at my own arm, shocked.
"Really, Alex? Throwing a temper tantrum already," Clarissa goads.
I take no notice of her tone of voice, instead whispering in awe, "That wasn't me. I didn't do that." I say the same thing, louder and louder, until I'm practically shouting it. /Don'tDrink./ "What do you want from me," I whisper to myself again. /ListenListenListenHearMeHearMeListenToMEHEARMELISTENTOMEHEARME/ I drop onto the ground and curl up into a ball, covering my ears.
Jonas shouts, but I don't hear him. All I hear is /HEARMELISTENTOMEHEARME/ After a moment, I take my hands off my ears and put them around my knees. I sit up slightly and rock back and forth. My sight is overwhelmed by a deep blue, my hearing the former whispers, now turned shouts. The blue clears from my vision and I'm alone, sitting in an immense blackness. It's cold, very cold. Suddenly, the shouts stop and I'm completely alone in this. A moment passes before I notice a figure shifting in the black. "Who's there? What are you? Why am I here?" A cloud of blue fog comes into view. It shifts, turning into something that looks like me. "What are you?" The figure lays a gentle hand on my cheek. I want to squirm and get away, but something holds me there. The figure doesn't talk, but still I hear it. /I can speak more clearly here. You must listen, Alex. You must listen. If you don't listen you'll join me here forever. Remember this./ The darkness begins to fade away around the figure and the shouting recommences. /REMEMBERTHISREMEMBERTHISREMEMBER/
Jonas shakes me out of whatever trance I was in. All four of them are standing around me. "Hey," I say. I try to stand up, but my legs feel like jelly. "Did… did any of you see that?"
"See what? You dropped your drink and then you started shouting about something. Like 'that wasn't me', I think," Ren says. "And then you fell down and just kinda started having a seizure. Are you alright?"
"I… think so. I was somewhere else… there was something there…" my voice trails off and I begin to question what I just saw. I'm probably just going crazy, but what if I'm not? What if that was all real? What if the darkness exists? How could I end up there? All these questions and more flash through my mind. For once, I'm wishing that the voices would start up again. They seem to know what's going on. "Oh god, what's wrong with me," I mutter as I realize that I'm beginning to trust the voices. Jonas gives me a hand, which I take. He pulls me to my feet. "Alright, I'm fine, back to your regularly scheduled programming, everyone! No more drink for me."
"Seriously, Alex, what the hell was that," Jonas whispers to me as the rest walk away.
"No idea, really. I guess I hallucinated. Was anything weird out here?"
"Your eyes were fluttering and every now and again when they'd open they'd be blue."
"Blue? Shit…" This was not a good sign. If my eyes were somehow changing color to blue, that meant I wasn't crazy, right? "I think… I have reason to believe, but no real proof, but I think that I'm not crazy."
"Why? What do you think is happening?"
"When I passed out, I was hearing these voices, screaming in my ears to listen to them. It's… stereotypically crazy-person symptoms, I know, but I saw something. Like, the whole world around me turned to blackness, just cold, cold blackness, and I saw something in there I swear, I did!"
"I believe you. Calm down. Calm down. What did you see?"
"I saw a shift in the blackness and I told it to come out and a blue mist came out and it looked like me and it told me that the blackness was my future if I didn't listen and I have to remember and I remember and I don't know what it wants from me and-" Jonas shakes me.
"Get it together. We're stuck here for the night. In the morning we can take you to a doctor or something. For now, though, I'm going to go with Ren to check out the caves. Mind if I take the radio?"/radio/
"No, it's fine, I'll go with you. Before you ask, yes, I'm sure. I'm fine now. I came here to have fun with my new stepbrother and my friends, I had my little freakout, I'm okay now."
"Alright, I'll give you a boost, then." I step on his hands and he helps me over the fence. A moment later, he climbs over on his own.
"Oh, didn't think I could climb a little fence on my own? Chauvinist pig," I tease.
"Yeah, God, Jonas, let the woman climb by herself," Ren jokes. "Anyway, I've got a few magic brownies, Want one?"
"Are you serious," Jonas asks. "After what just happened with Alex, you're going to offer drugs? What the hell is wrong with you, man?"
"Hey, you don't have to have any," he says, popping one. "Mmm. Those are good. Okay, so walk over to one of these piles of rocks, this one over here." He walks over to a rock pile.
"Prepare to have your mind blown," I say.
"Here. Alright, Alex, screw around with the dial for a minute or two here," Ren says. I do so, and a haunting signal catches through. "See, in these spots you can pick up weird signals. They sound like nothing you'll ever find in the rest of your life. We don't have any clue what they are or why they're here." Jonas seems impressed. I feel a headache coming on, as well as an immense sense of foreboding. "Come to this one over here, too. They all come in on these really random frequencies and none sound the same. Like I said, we don't know why. My personal theory's always been some sort of signal from space, but, hey, maybe that's just the magic talking."
"You know, it doesn't seem too unlikely," Jonas said. "I mean, there's no way we can be all alone in the universe, can we? And if they're out there, it makes sense that we'd at least get a little signal every now and then. I just wish we could make out what it's saying. Win a Nobel Prize, for sure."
"Or get completely obliterated by a vastly superior species," Ren said. "Could go either way."
"I don't think it's alien. I've got this uncomfortable feeling that it's coming from way too close to be alien," I say. "The source isn't farther away than somewhere on this island. I can feel it. That sounds crazy, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, a little," Ren says. We tune into a few more. "They sound…"
"Kind of pained," I say.
"Yeah."
Jonas seems to see something. "Hey," he says. "There's something down here. Some sort of, like, pool, or something."
"Cool, a pool," I say. "Wait. Didn't mean for that to rhyme." /dontgodownthere/
"Ha. Cool pool." Ren seems spacey. "I thiiink I may have mismeasured the magic."
"Damn it, Ren," I say. "Well, want to check it out?"
"Sure," Jonas says, "if it's cool, we get the others. If not, we just leave. No biggie either way." The two of us head into the cavern. "Wow. Look at this. How does this stuff even happen?"
"It's beautiful," I say. I'm not exaggerating. The cavern is truly breathtaking. "What's that? Find a man with a dog? What does that mean?"
"No idea. Guess we're not the first ones down here, though. Oh, look, there's some more up there!" We crawl through the caves. "Found the man, not the dog. What?"
"Don't know. Gives me a creepy vibe, though. And what's this? Some sort of armoire? This might be the weirdest thing down here. How did it get here? There's no way it took the same sort of path we did. It isn't even in bad shape! A little waterlogged, sure, but if you could take this out of here, clean it up a bit, it'd be nice. Probably sell for a bit, too."
"I'm more concerned with the triangle thing/triangle/."
"What 'triangle thing'/triangle/? I don't see any."
"On the ceiling, the spinning thing. It almost looks like it's made out of light. You think it has anything to do with what we did up there with the radio?"
"Don't know, don't want to find out. It's probably a portal to hell, or something."
"We'll be fine,"Jonas assures. "Try it. Tune it with the radio or whatever."
"No, really, Jonas, I've got a bad feeling about this." Since we'd entered the cavern I'd felt normal. Well, not quite normal. Like how I did when I first stepped foot on the island. The voices and stuff were still there, but they were being blocked by something, like they were an external force and being overridden by another, stronger one. The voices had already shown to have some level of control over my body, anything stronger terrified me. "Like, I really think this is the worst idea we could possibly have in this scenario."
"I'll do it if you won't," he offers/nodontgiveittohim/. The voices were trying to get back in. They sat at the edge of my hearing. Suddenly, one came through clearly/It must be you to open the gate./. Open the gate?
"No," I reply. "I'll do it." I begin to tune the radio and a beam emits from the triangle. Another triangle forms. A noise like a foghorn blares upon the completion of the second triangle. I hesitate for a moment.
"Well, don't stop," Jonas says, laughing. "This is awesome!" I don't, and the triangles begin to each emit another beam of light until another full triangle is formed. Red waves fly from the triangle, knocking Jonas over, but from my skin come blue waves, seeming to counteract the red ones. The red waves pick up in intensity, and I dig my feet into the ground and grit my teeth, fighting against the pressure pushing me backwards. Jonas watches on in awe. A red tendril, similar in appearance to vines curled around themselves pushes out from the triangle. I put my hands up in front of my face, as if to block the thing, and a blue tendril comes from my palms. The blue and red meet in midair, lashing about the whole time. The blue curls around the red and detaches itself from my hands. It quickly encompasses the red entirely, before the red retreats through the triangular portal of the ceiling. The waves had stopped at the appearance of the tendril, but began once again in full force.
It felt as if I was resisting the movement of a freight train, but blue waves pulsated off my skin and I took a step forward, into the red. With a heave, I shoved back all the pressure the red waves were exerting, and the entire cavern shook once again. Panting, I fell back onto the ground. I looked at my hands, somewhat expecting the blue waves to start again. Jonas called from behind me, "Alex? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?"
"What did you just do? That was incredible, like, the coolest… thing… I've ever… seeeennnn."
"What's wrong?"
"Okay, don't freak out, but your hair is glowing. Like, brightly. And your eyes have little flecks of blue in them now. Are you some kind of mutant? Like, X-Men, or whatever? Wait, now the blue is fading from your eyes, and the hair is dulling back down. What is this? What just… what did we do here?"
"Demons from Hell," I joke. "No idea, really. But I think that what I did had something to do with the voices. Or the vision earlier, at least, when my eyes turned blue. Was my hair glowing then, too?"
"No. No, I don't think so. I mean, the fire would have made it a little harder to see, but even if it was, there's no way it was glowing like that. Can we please talk about what you just did? Like, it seemed like you just fought back against those things and won! Did you do something special? Did you know what you were doing? I want the whole rundown."/./
Considering the voice, I responded, "I… I honestly don't know. We'll just have to see if it happens again, I guess. Maybe I could always do that and it just was never useful until now? I personally think we'll never know."/./
"Is. Leave. Possible."
"Who said that," Jonas calls. He was knocked to the floor once again. I scrambled to my feet and held up my hands in the same way I had to channel the blue waves before.
"Silly bob hair girl. Is leave possible?"
"I don't know what you want," I shout. "What do you need from me?"
"Is leave possible?"
"Do you want to leave? I'll help you leave," I shout, unsure.
"Silly bob hair girl. Leave is possible. Thank you." Red mist flowed out of the triangle in the ceiling. It rushed toward Jonas and I, blocking my view of him. Blue lightning shot out from my hands, pushing back the mist. A serpentine hiss sounded from the mist, and it retreated through the triangular opening in the ceiling. Jonas stood up, coughing.
"What was that," he wheezes.
"Blue hair girl. Blue eye girl. Leave is possible."
"What does that mean," I ask.
"Blue bob hair girl is special. Leave is possible. Tell Blue. Blue must know. Leave is possible. Leave will be possible. Leave must be possible." Suddenly, Jonas and I are underwater. The voices sound once again in my head, unintelligible, painful. Like a shot through the head. I cradle my head, trying to push back the pain caused by the voices. I pass out.
Cold, dark, blackness. Silence. Absence of any movement, absence of any life, nothingness surrounding me completely. /This could be your future./ "Where are you? What are you? Answer me!" /We are everywhere. Here, we are everything. We are Blue. You must listen to us./ "I don't understand you! Show yourself!" Once again, blue mist pours from all around me, forming a silhouette of me, made entirely of the blue matter. /You asked for us to show ourselves. So we show me. I am the First. You are to be the Last./ "What does that mean? What are you, why do you look like me?" /Once I was human. Then came the Void. You have opened the Void. The Other will come for your friends now. Protect them. Save them. Protect yourself. Listen to me./ "I am listening, or I'm trying to, but you aren't making any sense!" /I am the First. There have been countless others. You are to be the Last. I will reside with you. The representative of the Blue. You must listen to me. You must break the cycle. You must be the Last./ The world shook and the area of the mist that would have been the eyes flashed red. /That is Jonas. He wakes you. Listen to me./ "I don't understand you! What do you want from me?!" /You will understand me. When the time comes, you will understand. I will talk to you when I can. Farewell, Godspeed./ Once again, the blackness begins to recede. The replica of me turns into mist and forces itself down my throat.
I wake up.