CHAPTER 3: JAKE’S PAST

Jason found us a place to stay in the village, a small cottage on the edge of town. I was grateful for his help, but as soon as I closed my eyes, my nightmare began.

I was back in that same room, the one where it all started. The room where I was taken and experimented on, where they tried to extract every last ounce of my power. I was strapped down to the bed, my body convulsing as I tried to resist their probes. Suddenly, I hear a voice in my ear, a voice I never thought I'd hear again. It was the voice of my old teacher, the one who once taught me about cosmology, the spells, and the realities.

"Jake," he said. "You have to fight this, you have to resist them. Remember what you are, remember what you can do."

I closed my eyes, trying to remember. I tried to remember the spell that would release me from these bonds, but it was all so hazy, like a dream that's slipping away. And then, suddenly, I woke up, my body soaked in sweat. I looked around, realizing that I was in a cottage, with Jason sleeping next to me. I rubbed my eyes, trying to shake off the nightmare, but it was still there, still fresh in my mind.

Jake's mind was consumed by the memories of his past. He was a young boy then, full of wonder and eager to explore the world. But then, he was taken. He was taken to a place he never wanted to go, a place where he was to be experimented on, again and again.

The experiments were endless, as if they would never stop. "Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and overand over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over," Jake thought as he relived each and every moment.

Jason lay asleep beside him, unaware of the torment Jake was experiencing. But in his dream, Jake was not just reliving his past, he was reliving the pain and the fear that he had felt. He was back in that lab, back in that place where he had been experimented on for what felt like an eternity.