Alice
For as long as I can remember, I've always been fascinated by other worlds. At the beginning it was more about books, I used to read genre fiction, but lost interest in it the more time that went by. My fascination probably finds its inception in the earliest days of my youth when dad used to take me and mom around the world because of work obligations. I always enjoyed the life and excitement of foreign lands, and by extension I wanted to learn everything about them, from the culture of the people that lived there to the tales of their own historic giants. By now there are very few corners of the world I've not yet visited, and the ones I have been to have burned into my memory in more ways than one. More recently I've had a fascination with worlds beyond our own, places outside the visible planes of reality. I know it must sound silly, but, there comes a time when even the world itself starts to feel a little stale. It all began when I started seeing super-people in the news. They interested me at first, as they did everyone else, but soon I had other reasons for wanting to learn more about them. I heard of people from other planets, beings from other dimensions, the likes of which I found endlessly interesting. My newest obsession was with a fabled land of light manipulating people calling themselves the Lightwalkers, apparently they come from a place known as the Land of Light, or Lightworld. A few years ago the very idea of investigating something like this would never have crossed my mind. Though now, as I grow weary of travelling through tropic jungles and Arabian deserts, I find myself desiring a new kind of adventure. I'd read somewhere about a village on the outskirts of Dagestan was home to a people said to hold some kind of connection to the people of Lightworld and I took it upon myself to investigate.
I set off for the village relatively soon and before I knew it I was in Eastern Europe. In all honesty this wasn't a corner of the world I particularly relished. Though it was interesting to catch the sights of historical powerhouses, an air of misery washed over me as I set foot into the bleak plain of the cluster of houses. Even from the get go I could tell something wasn't right, though in my past experience it was well known the more remote a civilization the less welcoming they tended to be to outsiders. Unwelcoming didn't seem the right word to describe this place. There was something in the air, something in the movements of the people, the looks on their faces and even the architecture of the houses that hinted at an otherworldly influence. I didn't let it deter me, though perhaps I should have. My first encounter was with a passer by, I attempted to ask him where I might find a local historian, he merely glanced in my direction before carrying on working. I then tried the same with an older woman and got similar results. I began to wonder if perhaps my Russian was a little rusty. I could speak it fluently along with about 7 other languages but it had been an age since I last had to use it. I wandered around the village for some time before finally making some progress. A man, some sort of village elder was staring at me from the window of his house. I ignored him at first, then decided to pursue him on the off chance he might know something. As I approached the man he simply stared at me, unmoving and unblinking, I wasn't sure he even breathed. Once upon his house I waved and gestured for him to open the window. It took him a moment but he eventually opened it with movements that were much more energetic and less frail than I imagined they might be. I asked him if he knew of anyone in the village who might be able to tell me of the land of light. He tried to hide his surprise, but I caught the faintest glimpse of a worry beneath his eyes. He thought things over for a moment before directing me to a house just a short distance away to meet a woman named Karrina. I nodded uncertainly at his words and once he was done I made my way down the path he'd recommended. It didn't take long to find the place he indicated, within minutes I could see a house in the distance, at the top of a hill overlooking the rest of the village. In a way it looked ominous, just a good thing I wasn't prone to superstitions. Making my way to the end of the path, I felt my heart sink with each and every step, something about this really didn't seem right to me, but now I had no choice but to continue. In moments I found myself at the end of the house coloured black, I was almost afraid to knock. After composing myself and taking a breath, I knocked calmly on the door. There was no reply. I looked around the house for any signs of life and saw nothing. There didn't seem to be any windows, nor were there any other doors. It was unsettling to say the least. I knocked again and same as before got no immediate response. I began to wonder if perhaps this was all a ruse, a wild goose chase of a girl messing with things beyond her depth. I knocked one final time and it was then I finally heard something. Footsteps seemed to be moving from the other side of the door. They were incredibly slow, I stood for an unprecedented amount of time before the door finally swung open partially and I caught the frame of a petite old woman, with white hair and eyes of blue so light they were almost white, she looked as though she may be blind. I introduced myself immediately, though got no response from her, I then made it clear why I was there, still no immediate response.
"I was wondering if there was anything you could tell me about the Land of Light? I understand a resident of this village at one point had an encounter with it." The woman simply stared at me for some time. I stared back, curious but worried, at one point I got the urge to turn on my heel and head running back for the airport. Until she finally responded.
"Come inside dear." she said, turning on her heel and heading inwards, she didn't open the door any further. Pushing the ancient door back myself I made my way inside. The first thing I noticed was the absence of smell, it was as though nothing in the world had ever been inside this room, and yet before me I saw an assortment of objects. A table in the centre of the room, a bookcase to one side, a shelf with various dolls and confectioneries, some of which looked to be from another millennium. As I walked around inside the lady moved at a sluggishly slow pace ahead of me.
"Wait here." She said, before going into another room. I sat at the centre table, taking in the sights around me. Minutes passed and I found myself feeling drowsy, just as I began to drift away the door opened and the lady came back with a small box. Scuttling to the table she placed it on top and took a seat beside me.
"What is it you know exactly about the land of Light?" she asked, I explained what little information I'd been able to gather over the years.
"Where I'm from it seems to be an urban legend of sorts, most people don't even believe it exists but I've always suspected something more."
"What made you suspect?"
"Simply put, in my country things have gotten a little... crazy the last few years. Silly as it sounds it feels like just about anything is possible now so I thought, why not really."
"So you flew half-way across the world on a whim did you?" she said, at which I smiled politely and replied.
"It seems I did yes." the old lady laughed
"Well, being reckless is what it is to be young I suppose. Now, this land you speak of. I don't know too much about it. What I do know is my father had some encounter with it in the late 1800's. "
"Yes, this is what I wanted to ask you about, what exactly happened? Because most of the reports I can find are conflicting and contradictory."
"What happened darling..." the old lady said, opening the box and pulling from it an assortment of foreign looking objects. "Is to do with this object here." she said, laying them out. I looked at the items with confusion, not sure what I was seeing but feeling curious still.
"What are these?"
"These are what the denizens of Lightland left behind. It all goes together you see, see if you can assemble it." she finished. I looked at the objects with curiosity before making a move. They seemed complex upon first glance but fit together fairly neatly. Once they were together it seemed to be some sort of stick.
"Some sort of rod or... oh it seems to be a sceptre"
"Yes, it does, there's something else too." the lady said, hopping from her seat. "Follow me" she said, going into the back room. I went with her, still uncertain but dying to know more. Once inside the room I was taken aback at how bleak it was. There were candles burning but they seemed to be creating little to no light. There were creepy looking dolls hanging from the walls and in the middle of it all was a cauldron with a still liquid sitting inside. I was hesitant at first, but the lady reassured me there was nothing hazardous about it.
"What's this?" I asked.
"You'll see, come a little closer." she said, now I began to feel a little nervous, shaking away my worries I moved onward and stared into the cauldron. The liquid was either black or colourless, difficult to tell with the dim lighting of the room.
"What am I meant to be seeing?"
"Use the sceptre."
"Use it for what?"
"Just put it in the liquid and stir." she said, in a slightly aggressive tone, I was starting to get legitimately worried now, I considered backing away, leaving the whole thing when the lady looked at me with a fury.
"I don't know about -" before I could finish she grabbed my arm and shoved it into the cauldron. I felt a burn the likes of which I didn't know existed. I was in agony, all the while a bright white light began to emanate from the sceptre and the old lady. That was the last thing I could recollect for quite some time.
By the time my consciousness came back to me I was on a plane home. I had no recollection of getting here, or of exactly what happened a moment ago, I simply remember making my way to a village and deciding to turn back at the last minute. Whatever had taken place, at least I'd be home soon. Ever since that trip I've found myself having occasional blackouts. Sometimes they last for minutes, other times I find myself losing entire days. I've no idea what's causing it, but it all began with my trip across the world. What exactly is happening to me I dare not think, but I get the feeling sooner or late this is going to get dire.