Interlude B - What Else Cody Forgot
He was dying. Worse, he was dying alone. He knew it had been a bad idea to go off on his own. But Zack - Zack had been taking all the glory that should have been his. When their mom had signed them up for this camping trip, Cody had been really looking forward to it. He had read a dozen books on wilderness and survival, and he felt he was sure to shine. He would impress the troop leader with his knowledge of surviving in the wild and his strict adherence to the rules, get noticed, and get promoted up high up the ranks.
That was how this trip worked - all the kids were split into 'troops', assigned a basic starting rank, and were 'promoted' based off of variables like teamwork, knowledge of survival skills, and proving oneself. There were awards to be given at the end of the trip based on each kid's final rank, and Cody had thought himself a shoe-in for the biggest prize.
Except not. Reading books and having knowledge of something apparently didn't denote skill in it.
He wasn't a bad trooper, and he had gained the first promotion which had made him feel really good, but Zack, who had never willingly read anything in his life, seemed to have a natural skill at just about everything. Five hours and he was already several levels above Cody.
At some point during the trip, the kid responsible for securing the food up in the trees so wild animals couldn't get to it forgot to do it, and the whole troop found themselves without anything to eat. Zack disappeared off on his own and then showed up thirty minutes later with a whole bunch of fish. He even entered swinging on a fricking vine, with that self-assured, smug look on his face.
Cody was incensed. He decided that he should be every bit as good as Zack, after all, he had read more, and thought that if Zack could come back with six big fish in hand, then he himself ought to be able to come back with twelve.
Except he got himself lost. And he couldn't find his way to the river. Nor back at the campsite. He finally got scared enough to swallow his pride and begin yelling out for help. It had started getting dark, and nobody was coming for him, and he could see less and less of where he was going...
...and he walked right off the edge of a cliff.
Tumbling down... down... until his back slammed straight into a rock that was jutting up, and felt himself not just slam INTO it but it was PIERCING through him, and through the shock he could look down and see it coming up through his body and out his chest.
So here he was, in all his stupidity, lost, alone, at night, dying alone in a pool of his own blood.
He tried to call out, but it was a very weak cry, and he was unable to muster up anything more.
This was it. 14 years old and it was already all over. He was going to die. He knew it.
Would they find his body? Or would it just be left here to rot until it was devoured by some wild animal or something? Maybe a wild animal would show up right now and finish him off while he lied here.
This was so unfair. He was in the prime of his life. It wasn't fair that it had to be all over with already. He had plans for his life; big plans!
He was too intelligent and had so much potential! He still wanted to get into the best college he could and someday make his mark upon the world! He still wanted to show the world that he had value, that he wasn't just Zack's younger brother, but something MORE and something BETTER.
But now he was going to die and all of this would disappear along with his last breath.
He was barely aware of the tears that stained his eyes or the blood pooling out of his mouth.
He weakly turned his head all about him, taking in what would be his last glance in this lifetime.
He had fallen into a ravine, and he could see cliffs surrounding him on each side.
The thought he had was instantly strange, but he was going into delirium by this point, and it was normal and acceptable to begin thinking strange things.
I'm in a hole.
Hole... hole... where had he heard that word before? Somewhere. He was not sure where. But he was sure of it.
"There is a hole here..." he said to himself, barely aware that the words were coming out of his mouth.
To 25 year old Cody Martin, who was actually dreaming this at the moment and witnessing it through the body of his 14 year old self, heard it clearly.
"Even though..."
*coughing up blood*
"I walk... through the valley of the shadow of death... of the HOLE that I have fallen in... I know you are with me... help me..."
Over and over again he began repeating it, softly, and then softer and softer as his body began to get weaker, and his consciousness began to get dimmer and dimmer.
"Help me... help me... help me... help me... help me... help me... help me... help me..."
His hand reached over and grasped a small stone that was next to it. Unconsciously, he took it and began scratching the shape of a cross into the dirt. Over and over again he ran over the pattern, making it deeper and deeper, and started chanting:
"Even though I have fallen into the hole in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are always with me..."
"Even though I have fallen into the hole in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are always with me..."
"Even though I have fallen into the hole in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are always with me..."
The cross began to glow. White light sprang up from it and began to illuminate the area.
Cody looked over at it, in fascination and awe, noticing slightly that he suddenly felt no more pain, though still aware that he was still bleeding to death. Then he turned his head and realized someone was standing over him.
It was a being. Glowing, radiant light, adorned with a robe that shimmered as if crystal, the hair that moved like fire, the eyes that were empty but intense, as if you were gazing into a furnace.
Cody felt terrified and relieved at the same time. He also realized that he was surrounded, and there were many of them, all over the place.
When the one above him spoke, it sounded very far off, almost as if he were half awake and hearing it in a dream. But he was dying, so that was probably normal.
"It's time to go." The one above him said.
!TIME TO GO!
Fear welled up in his belly.
"N... nuh... no..."
He tried to say.
No, no, it could not be time to crossover! Not yet! He wanted to tell the being of light, or angel, or whatever the heck it was that he wasn't ready yet, that he still had so much to live for, that he had still yet to prove himself to his brother, that he still had a mother and father that would miss him very much...
"P...puh... puh... please... I don't want to... I don't... I... don..."
The being of light looked upon him. It was impossible to tell if it was looking upon him with pity, compassion, or indifference.
The being didn't move. Didn't try to take him anywhere. Not yet, anyways. It just stood there, unchanging expression on its face, staring down at him.
"Puh... please... I want to live... I want... give me... second chance..."
"You can go to heaven now. You will be granted entry. Later on in life, there is no guarantee."
"I promise... I'll always be good... I want to... please give me... one more chance..."
There was another one that had come over and was now looking down upon him.
The first one turned to the second and asked; "What do you think?"
The second one looked down and studied him carefully.
"Some things are worse than hell."
Said the first: "Probably."
Cody wasn't sure what they meant by that.
"Please... ...please... I want to live...!"
The first reached down to grab him.
Cody stiffened at the sight of the hand.
This is it! This is the end of everything! Any second now I'm about to be on the other side, and...
But it didn't happen. A bright light seemed to shoot out of the being's hand, and he felt a FORCE slamming into his body, and suddenly his mind was completely recovered, and he felt FULL and WELL and WHOLE.
For a second he thought that his spirit had been ripped out of his body, but when the being pulled its hand back, he saw now that that wasn't the case.
He realized the rock that had impaled him was no longer there. It was completely gone. He was lying only on the flat surface of the ground.
"This is the last time." It said.
Cody suddenly wanted to jump for joy, to thank all of them for their generosity, overwhelmed with a sudden zest and love for life and everything!
But he didn't. As he rose to stand, he saw all of them still standing around, watching him intently, the same expressionless looks on their faces. He should have been ecstatic, but the way they were looking at him kinda spooked him.
He had basically come back to life, and yet he could have sworn it felt like he was attending his own funeral.
The first being pointed towards the top of the cliff Cody had fallen down.
"Go up. We have given you the strength. Follow the light. Be careful."
He nodded in understanding, and was about to start, but then stopped.
"Be careful of what?"
They stood still, silent.
"Be careful of what?" he repeated.
"Not just now, but all your life. It's always there. Waiting for you. We tried to save you from it. Today would have been the perfect opportunity. We wish you the best of luck."
A chill went up his spine.
What was it? Save him from what?
He looked around at them all, confused and a little worried. The second chimed in, a little nonchalantly, as if he couldn't sense or didn't care about Cody's fear and was just restating this as an afterthought: "Some things are worse than death."
"What is 'It'?" Cody asked them. "What am I supposed to be scared of?"
"You don't have to be scared of anything if you don't want to. But you should watch out. It wants you bad. It will always be looking for you. For a hole. Stay away from holes."
"What are the holes? Where do they come from, and what do they lead to?"
"Darkness." Said the second one.
Chimed in the first, now: "Some things are worse than death."
"What's worse than death? Just tell me and I'll make sure I stay away from it! Where are these holes and how can I avoid them? What am I supposed to watch out for?"
Silence, then the first one responded again, with yet another cryptic answer:
"Dark Fall."
Suddenly, they vanished, just like that, all of them at once.
Cody let the name rest on the tip of his tongue for a second,
Dark Fall
and then, in a split second, it was suddenly completely forgotten.
14 year old Cody did not remember it anymore, and would not remember it for about eleven years later, when he, as a 25 year old, was suddenly re-experiencing this in his 14 year old body and not believing what he was seeing, and would think upon waking that it was just another weird dream, a hallucination, brought on by stress, even though there HAD been a time when he was 14 and had gotten lost in these woods, and he was sure he had stumbled over a cliff at some point, but he had only gotten lightly bruised. He had climbed right back out, and eventually lucked out in finding his way back to the campsite shortly after, but that was it and nothing more. The version that happened in his dream was nothing more than the imaginings of his own mind.
But back at the present point in the dream, young Cody gazed up the cliff. It was high and steep, and would have been impossible to climb by a 14 year old boy without any ropes, pulleys or any equipment whatsoever. Yet, he found that the moment he grabbed on, he was able to climb up with ease. It was not like he was climbing, but crawling vertically. He even noted to himself that this must be what Spider-Man feels like.
After he climbed up to the top, he could see a light on the path in front of him. He was not sure where the light was coming from, but as he walked, the light would illuminate the area in front of him and the direction he was supposed to go.
He walked on, not thinking much of the light but just pressing on. It almost felt like he was having a surreal out of body experience, even though he was here and whole and present. It felt like his mind was on another plane of existence, just a little removed from this one.
He had been walking for quite a ways when the light suddenly disappeared.
No, that was not entirely accurate: snuffed out.
Like a flashlight that had just lost its battery charge.
He was now in pitch blackness again, surrounded by endless woods on both sides, with no sign of the camp in sight.
He gazed around confused, but as he suddenly glanced up the path ahead, he could see it, and he knew why the light had gone away.
It was standing there, all black, in that same weird, crooked pose.
!DARK MAN!
He froze. It just stood there, not moving. Cody didn't move either. He felt that if he took his eyes off it, or moved even just an inch, he would be attacked.
The angels' gift would have been in vain.
He opened his mouth, and was shocked at the words that suddenly came out of it:
"I defy you!"
Suddenly, just like that, the Dark Man vanished.
And then...
"COOOOODDDDY!"
A voice. A yell. His name. And then...
"COOOOOOODDDDDYYYY."
He could see them. Yes, beyond the trees, towards the left... flashlights. They were here. They were looking for him. His heart welled up with joy.
"OVER HEEEEEEERRRRE!" he yelled.
He could see the lights headed in his direction, and then was able to make out the face of the troop leader -
"HEY GUYS, OVER HERE, WE FOUND HIM!"
Soon he was surrounded, and everybody was asking him a thousand questions. Was he hurt? Was he okay?
Zack had actually hugged him, and asked him not to scare him like that again. Later, he had to deal with his mom on the phone, she had been hysterical with worry the whole time.
He assured her that he was okay, he had been fine the whole time, and he thought he really had been.
He had completely forgotten that he had been on the verge of death, that the only reason he had lived was out of a rare supernatural gift of mercy, that he had gained super strength and climbed out of the HOLE like Spider-Man, and he had seen the Dark Man on his way back and he was supposed to watch out for something called Dark Fall for the rest of his life, and Dark Fall was something that was like death but you didn't go to heaven and it was worse than hell...
14 year old Cody Martin forgot all of that and life went on as if nothing significant had happened.
But 25 year old Cody forgot none of it at all.