The Last Faith
Rob McLaughlin
Chapter 1
Another Day
"Nesfari Nu Jasara… Come to me…" A low ominous voice echoed. All alone a young man stood in darkness, searching for an escape. Running continuously, he stopped briefly, turning and hoping to spot his predator from a distance. With no such luck he continued running, praying for a way out of this terror.
"Terana Saal Visca… Give in to fate…" The voice boomed from ahead of the young man, who had suddenly stopped, desperately searching for any sign of an attacker. In the darkness he spotted a pair of eyes, sizing up to be as big as himself each. The eyes, slightly glowing a pale green, seemed to pierce into the man's very soul, making him shiver with instant fear.
"Urlah iet lorra… Now is the time…" The voice echoed, this time proving the eyes were the original threat. The man tried to escape, he tried to turn and run away. His body had frozen in place, almost against his own will. The eyes had now closed in on their prey, staring at the man face to face.
"Awaken!"
The young man jumped forward, shouting out in terror. Realizing he was in his bed, he felt a cold sweat drip from his forehead down to his face. He quickly searched his room, not sure if he was really home, or if he was still trapped with his attacker. The room was dimly lit with the morning sun just beginning to rise at the start of a new day. The alarm clock sitting on the bedside table read 6:04am along with 6/12/2010 as the date.
"Another one… That's the third time this month…" The young man spoke out loud, as if he was hoping someone would hear him and explain just what was going on. As he stood up and let out a yawn followed by a morning stretch, he dressed himself and headed to his living room.
His home was a little quaint apartment he had lived in for quite sometime. A few of his belongings had been left out from days before, but he had no time to worry about those now. All he cared about was getting to his computer. As he logged on the computer began its login process.
"Good morning Ellar. Just another day am I correct?" The PC questioned, a rather sophisticated piece of technology for its time.
"Just fucking log on, I don't have time for greetings." Ellar mumbled as the screen loaded the desktop along with various programs. He opened a file labeled '???' and began typing. He had logged the other similar dreams from previous occurrences and feverishly studied each event, hoping to make sense of it all. Obsession had been passed long ago, this was something more… something unnatural.
This is how he had always spent most of his weekends. These dreams had pushed him further and further away from family and friends as he continued to study the events, using each recent event as a new key, but the locks of his twisted terrors remained sturdy.
A few hours passed before Ellar decided he would give up on his puzzle for now and move on to something else. He turned on his TV and flipped through the channels, some displaying cheesy ads and other previewing upcoming series and sitcoms for the masses to enjoy. Ellar stopped on a local news station hoping to hear something about the weather for his upcoming workweek. A flashy news anchor began speaking, as if they had known the viewers more than just target media.
"In recent news, an unknown man was attacked by a mysterious shaded figure last night sometime around 11:30pm eye-witnesses report. The figure was said to have run off with his victim in tow and seemed to disappear into the night. The local authorities have no current description of the suspect and are asking for anyone to report any suspicious behavior that may coincide with the incident to be reported immediately. This is Channel 7 reporting, we'll see YOU at 6pm tonight Philadelphia."
Ellar turned off the TV and changed into casual clothing. He decided it may be best to walk off his troubles for a while, and maybe see if something more interesting may be happening. It was about noon and the sky was it's typical sunny summer day. Traffic along the streets was at its peak for the moment, many people coming home and some leaving for their own personal duties. Ellar enjoyed his trips into public life, admiring the daily routines of others and the occasional shouting matches from feuding siblings and spouses.
As he approached a local park, children were franticly running around and screaming excitement and playfulness with others. Some climbing, some chasing girls, even the not so popular kids seemed to be enjoying themselves today, but it was just another day for Ellar. He found himself a bench and took in his surroundings, hoping to get his troubles off his mind.
"Excuse me…" A younger voice sounded from behind him. Ellar turned to see a little girl, dressed in a pink dress and carrying a stick, looking up at him.
"Uhh… Yea? What's up?" Ellar replied turning to face the girl.
"I… I lost my doggie and was wondering if you had seen him. His name is Ponty." The little girl explained, shyly looking at the ground and fidgeting with her stick.
"No, I'm sorry I haven't seen him… but hey, if I do, I'll make sure he's returned to you ok?" Ellar said letting out a half assed smile. The little girl quickly looked up and smiled thanking Ellar before running to the next person she could find.
"Good luck kid… I guess." Ellar whispered as he stood up, ready to retire back home. On his way back, the traffic had almost completely disappeared, leaving the streets quiet on the trip back. Even though the scenery was calm and relaxed, Ellar wasn't. His mind had already begun to think of new links between the dreams that he had been experiencing.
"What's going on with me?" Ellar thought to himself as he opened his front door, closing it behind him. He had noticed the world was still a normal place, people still argued and children still spent most of their days running around carefree, but not him. He could only think about a dream, a simple thing that could be nothing more than a rare occurrence rather than something more. Something that started so small and became one big obsession instead, but then again, to Ellar, it was just another day.