1 A Second Chance (1/2)
Have you ever been in an awkward situation where you felt out of place? Yeah, that feeling of dread when you suddenly realized that you didn't belong somewhere.
Like a prostitute hanging around a church, or a scoundrel who accidentally snuck into the local judge's home. You just knew that you weren't meant to be there, but there you were nonetheless.
I'm currently experiencing one of these moments right now and I'm having a hard time processing my feelings, ya know? Especially since the circumstances regarding my current situation are rather....special in nature. Spooky stuff, in fact, if I had to tell ya the truth.
Reed had not moved an inch since he had woken up because he feared of what lurked in the dark.
Darkness shrouded him as he laid on the old stone floor. He hummed a tune as he the passed time waiting for something to happen. Patience was a virtue, or so he had been told a long time ago.
Not that he was the patient type, he was just a coward. But he wasn't about to admit it anytime soon. When have ladies ever liked cowardly men? You gotta fake it 'till you make it.
When he woke up, he found himself unable to see and for the briefest of moments, assumed that he had woken up in hell or the afterlife. Reed pathetically sobbed in the fetal position for a while until he finally remembered what happened to him.
Something saved his life; the shadow that had offered him a deal he couldn't refuse. It promised to save him if he accepted the offer it had given him.
A scam of the highest order. Offer someone who's dying a way out and of-fucking-course they'll accept whatever you say. But there was no point in crying over spilled milk. He had accepted the offer out of necessity, not because of the shady-ass enticement.
Opportunity to have all my wishes fulfilled, my ass. He'd grown up in the slums where lying and getting stabbed in the back were recreational activities. He was surprised that the shadow kept his part of the deal, but that wasn't enough to win him over.
Just have to roll with the punches as per usual. In that regard, this was no different from any other damned day.
”In any case, I've got to make sure to not fuck up the second chance the shadow's given me. I don't know what I signed up for when I accepted the deal, so it's best to just assume I'm fucked.”
The last thing he remembered before he fainted was that the shadow had put a small blue light over his chest.
”Haven't the slightest idea what that blue light was, but whatever the shadow did worked like a charm,” muttered Reed as he checked himself out. He couldn't even feel scars where the bullet wounds should have been.
”Seems like magic is pretty goddamn convenient, huh. Not so much as a scratch on my ass.”
Those fanciful stories sounded too unrealistic, but a small part inside of him always hoped he would come across someone who lived in that world. A boy could at least dream, right?
Who'd have thought he'd be saved by a mage one day?
”It'd be nice if you'd give me a break, now and then, Lady of Fate. There's only so much my little heart can handle in a single day...”
As if in response to Reed's prayer, the sound of thunder boomed in his ears and he immediately curled up in fright. Suddenly, a small ball of light appeared in the darkness and began to hover over slowly.
It wasn't too bright, but it was still big enough that illuminated its immediate surroundings. Shaking in fear, Reed felt like the ball of light was a gift sent from heaven and quickly began scurrying towards it.
Unfortunately, the ball of light would move away from him once got too close to it. He caught on that if he stopped chasing the ball of light, it'd stop as well and not move until he moved towards it again.
He wasn't an idiot, he knew that the ball of light was taking him somewhere, but had no choice other than to follow it. Starving to death in this crypt wasn't an option.
”Going to have to play this by the ear.” Reed took a deep breath, and then carefully made sure not make too much noise as he followed the ball.
In any case, the place that the shadow dropped him off at was mind-boggling.
He'd been walking for what felt like ages; his legs were starting to get heavy, but he still had not reached the ball's final destination.
”Must have walked a dozen miles and the ball still hasn't stopped moving. This place is fucking massive; it was a good thing I stayed in place when I woke up or else I would have certainly screwed myself over.” He shuddered at the thought of getting lost in this gargantuan crypt.
Reed was pulled out of his thoughts when the ball suddenly stopped. It stopped in front of an impressive door that had an exquisite carving of angels and demons on it. The door ominously shimmered in the dark with a red glow that looked all too uninviting.
The longer he stared at the door, the stronger his sense of foreboding increased. He put his cold, sweaty hand on the golden doorknob and hesitated as he stood in front of the door.
His instincts were screaming at him to not enter. He felt ill just standing the front of the door. His body and mind had come together in agreement for once as they both reacted adversely to the idea of opening the door.
He didn't have a say in the matter, in any case. It was either this or walking back out into the void, and only God knew what lay waiting for him if he went back.
”Ahh, goddamnit. Just gotta stay calm and get in the zone,” Reed muttered to himself as he did his best to push down his emotions in preparation for the worst. He finally mustered up the remaining embers of courage he possessed and entered the door.
What he saw when he first entered caught his attention almost instantly as if it had a magnetic quality to it. The door itself connected to a massive stone hall that looked worn beyond belief. Bits and pieces of the titanic pillars that supported the hall laid strewn about the main passage. Complex symbols and hieroglyphics of some kind had been engraved upon the pillars. Although faded and almost destroyed, a couple of portions of some of the pillars still had pieces of their gorgeous murals intact.
But that wasn't what had drawn his attention when he had entered the hall, what had taken his breath away when he entered was a painting that hung at the front of the hall below an old stone altar.
The painting was so beautiful that even Reed knew that it was special when he had laid his eyes upon it, but that wasn't why had been left dumbfounded by it. It was the size of the painting.
”Fucking. Massive. Painting.” was the best description that Reed's limited vocabulary could come up with at the moment. He wagered that he was probably a hundredth the size of the painting's height and width. Compared to the ancient, decaying hall around him, the painting looked like it had not been aged a single day since it had been completed.
The painting depicted a grand staircase that pierced the heavenly firmament. A single man stood at the bottom of the staircase as he gazed at a woman who stood at the summit. She gently held a mote of light in her grasp as she stared at the starry sky, completely oblivious of the man down below...