Chapter 38: Echoes of the Past and Future
Chapter 38: Echoes of the Past and Future
Returning home, Alice and Braedon were both shocked to find the kitchen entirely overgrown, grass and roots breaking through the ground, and the entire room a mess. Rushing to the cupboard, Braedon ripped it open, only to find it empty.
"Well, that's not good, someone's taken all of John's ramen; he's really going to be pissed about this," he said, shaking his head as he walked over to the table, pulled out a chair, and took a seat.
"Wait, that's what you're worried about? Shouldn't this be more worrying? I mean, we were gone for like an hour, and yet this place is practically overgrown!" Alice said, waving her arms at him while practically yelling.
"And what the hell do you expect me to say or do? I am more than a little aware we were gone a short time, but it's like weeks or more have passed here! Let's go find Elena; she can tell us how long it's been and keep this guy for us," he told her, bringing attention back to the motionless form of the red being and trying to get up and head out, only for Alice to grab his shoulder and force him back down, her knife now to his throat.
"Oh no, you still have things to tell me and answers to give, mister! You told me you would explain who and what you were when we got back and what happened to John, along with who these others you mentioned are! I'm not going to let you worm your way out of this!" Alice said, her voice hard and firm, with an amused look from Braedon.
"Aren't there more important matters right now?" he said to her, getting a low growl from her.
"I'll take that as a no, sigh, alright, take the knife away, and I'll answer whatever you want to know to the best of my ability, as long as it isn't too personal to John," he told her. Staring at him for a moment, Alice gave a nod and lowered the knife as she got her own chair, sitting in front of him.
"Who and what are you really?" she began, getting right to the point with a stern tone.
"As I said before, I am John, or a part of him. John's always been a happy-go-lucky type of guy, doing all he can to help and be there when needed, a good boy through and through. He would always do as he was told, giving his all, even when he would make money, it would almost all go to his family, hardly ever asking for anything in return, never asking for things in general, really. That isn't normal in the least, and it's not healthy either. Add in the fact he can feel and see things most people don't and then dreams of various worlds and realities, some good, some not, beings beyond normal that would leave visible marks on him after waking up, sometimes light red marks, other times bruises, and various times there have been scratches or cuts. All that leaves you with the guy you met; his mind broke entirely. He's good at pretending to be normal and like everything is fine, even when he isn't, lack of friends added to it, meaning he needed to trust only himself. In his mind, he developed me and, over time, the others. We helped a bit to keep him from truly breaking, even well crossing over in his sleep to other places," he calmly told her, getting a somewhat confused look.
"So, he's got a split personality? He's all sunshine and good, and you're this dark side of him? How many of you are there? How did it even happen, though, since I figured there needs to be trauma, or was he born that way?" She couldn't help but ask, wanting to know more about her companion that she planned to spend far more time with.
Thinking for a moment, he frowned. "Hmm, I suppose a split personality is something like what we are. It was after his grandfather passing that we fully formed, and when his gran passed is when things got worse, and we had to work far harder. But no, I'm not his dark side; we keep that locked up tightly. Its influence bleeds out from time to time, part of why he has depression but also random stray thoughts of genocide and slaughter. If it was let loose, John would no doubt be a monster of absolute madness. Me and the others are random fragments of him, imagination and lastly from different spiritual places. As for being born with it, he does have it in his blood, but even so, that just added to his abilities. As for how many of us there are..." He began to explain, shivering when he mentioned the part of John's darkness, before pausing at the end in thought. "I honestly have no idea. Including me, there should be at least six, not counting his locked up darkness, all of us with our own personalities. I'm the calmest out of the lot, personally preferring to read and study. We all have our own forms as well. No offense, but John is a bit robust for us. It feels like I'm wearing an overly large coat stuffed with pillows and too many layers, not really agile or mobile," Braedon says, tapping his belly and causing a slight jiggle to make his point. Alice gave a small laugh at that.
"To be fair, I prefer it over some kind of stick man. It means he's soft and cuddly, and he makes such a nice bed," she tells him, puffing up slightly.
"What do you mean about the whole dreams' thing? How does that even happen, and what's actually happened there?" She asks, her face back to neutral.
"That's a difficult thing to really answer. We're not really sure ourselves. A normal person isn't supposed to be able to read in their dreams, and a person's mind isn't supposed to be able to make new faces, only those they have seen before. And yet, John's read books before in dreams, met strange people who he has never seen before. He's also been to weird places, including possibly hell, but that's hard to actually verify, though, for obvious reasons. As for the places and beings, sometimes John feels he won't be able to wake up, or he wakes up repeatedly. Sometimes he feels he needs to fulfill a condition or he needs to escape. Sometimes he doesn't want to leave and is forced out; other times he wants out but is instead trapped and has to find a way out. He's also learned mild skills at times that bled over into his real world," he explained calmly, not knowing the exact way to explain things. "Any other questions you want to ask?" He continued, after Alice remained silent for a few minutes, seemingly processing things.
"I'll think of something, but I think I need some time to sort what you told me out. I mean a lot is going on already, and now I'm finding out my friend is some kind of mental sociopath with split personality, and clearly things are wrong with him. But that means he's even more special and perfect! Oh, one last question, does he have anyone he's interested in? Should I make a move? What's his type!!!" Alice says, her tone steady before once more taking a higher tone, and madness seeping into it once more. Honestly, Braedon was rather surprised she was able to keep stable and sane for so long.
"That's more than one question, but if you must know, then no, there isn't anyone he's interested in. I don't think you should, as he still has a lot he needs to deal with. And lastly, I can't tell you his type; that's too personal for him. So, I'm sure you will figure it out," he tells her, somewhat amused, before thinking of something and taking the phone out. If time had really progressed for far longer than just a few hours, then surely Fae would have sent a message by now. Surprisingly, there was only a short one present, seemingly from a week ago, showing that the time that had passed was at least a week.
The message was from Fae, and it was short: "Hey John, I hope you're okay. I'm not sure when I will be able to talk again as a lot happened. It's why I couldn't talk till now. You were right about the magus guys; they convinced others to help them and tried something. I had Ray try to step in and help, but we seemed to be a bit slow. Something blew up, and there was a bright flash; something is now circling in the sky, and a dome is slowly forming. I'll try to talk more when I can, but please keep safe, my special friend. We will get through this, so don't you dare die or give up! If you do, I will drag your ass back to the living or to me and kick it!"
With a frown, Braedon put the phone away, an uneasy feeling in his gut. He hoped that Fae would be okay, and more so worried, as he knew that without her, the lock holding John's darkness back would weaken greatly. But given the changed world, he was unsure if that would be a good or bad thing. Looking over at Alice, all he could do was hope that she would be a good stand-in to help keep John calm and himself once he returned. Getting up, he began walking to the back door, hoping Elena could tell them how long they had been gone and what changes they possibly missed. Being in the future even slightly ahead could be both a blessing and a curse if he was being honest. It would mean they had lost time to prepare and grow, along with their chance to set up a decent foothold, but it would mean they could try to recruit those who have already changed and adapted. There could be systems in place already, and when John returns, he would have a better chance of using his class due to others having grown stronger, which led things back to the downside of others having grown stronger while they still had the same strength, putting them at a distinct disadvantage.