I make my way through the forest walking for what seems like hours; this time, change shit is annoying as I finally get near the pond. I hear bubbling and feel the warmth I haven't felt in a few days. No, that's not right. It was a scolding hot heat and smelled like rotten eggs. As I stepped out into the clearing, I stopped in place as I saw the pond boiling.
A man in a black and red suit turns his head, and his completely black eyes look at me as he smiles—a smile that sends shivers down my spine like a beast looking at something it wants to eat. He starts walking towards me, but part of me wants to run, and the other part wants to hear him out.
"If you're looking for the lady in the pond. Well, it seems like she had gotten into a little hot water if I do so, say myself. You humans would say she needs to stick to human knowledge and try not to look into things above her pay grade."
He starts walking around me, looking me up and down, and nods as if judging me and my worthiness.
"You have progressed faster than I thought, maybe the final act of me and my father's little game. Will start sooner than I had thought, but there is just one little problem."
He snapped his fingers, and a red horse with a firey mane came out of the forest with a man in a red cloak hiding his face. I look over and see the slit-throat woman tied up and lying across the rear end of the horse. As she looks up and sees me with pleading eyes, I begin to move when another horse and rider, this one, is black as night. It stopped me from moving forward as the red one sped away.
"Don't worry, I will not harm your plaything. I can't have you weakening your resolve now, can I, my son. Your mother was a different kind of human and a good lay. I have plans for you. But for now, I want you to keep doing what you want as long as you do what your heart tells you. I am pretty sure you won't let me down. It's in your blood, after all."
He looks over at the pond and sees a cloth body floating to the top as the wrapping chains have broken. The cloth unwrapped from the face of the hag, showing a bloated flesh that looked like it had been underwater for hundreds of years. Blisters on her bloated face as the man in his suit smiled joyfully before turning around and speaking to me again.
"What better way to start things off than to have my child rise from the grave? Just like my father's child did when he was crucified. I will give you a crown and bow, sending you to rule the world on a white horse. The beauty of it all is my child leading humans into my embrace. Your destiny is grand, and it's a fate you can't run from."
As he started to walk, the ground beneath him cracked open, sending the smell of rotten eggs to my nose. I recoiled back as I tried to get my bearings on all this information and the fact that they had her. I don't know if I can trust his words or if she is lost. But I have no choice in this matter as I don't know what's happening and how much I am in over my head.
I leaned against a tree, sliding down and grabbing my head. What kind of game is my life being made into? I don't understand this; I was just a high school loner. Why am I a part of some epic battle between beings I don't understand?
I sigh as I look up at the sky and wonder if she is ok or if I am even worthy to think about any positive ideas. I have already done things she probably would hate, and now I am the son of the guy who kidnapped her, and she isn't even dating. What kind of more significant fucked up family and I am a part of now.
I pick myself up off the ground and drag my ass back to the city as people talk about a man on a red horse running through the town and kidnapping a woman. This isn't something they have seen before, and it brings a new kind of life energy to the city as even the dead like to gossip, I guess.
I returned to the house, crashed on Jasmine's bed, which she isn't using anymore, and went to sleep. So much has happened, and I don't want to think about it right now as I close my eyes and drift off to sleep. I am once again standing in front of the horse; its body is strong, and its legs look like they can crush mountains. It is a fine horse to conquer a world on, I thought to myself.
I place my hand on its head and see flashes of images. I am standing on a long wall as the horse stomps on it. I know this wall is the Great Wall. I see the White House in ruins and the British palace on fire. I watch as the pyramids crumble away. Along with the images, I see monsters enslaving humans and eating humans, and I feel nothing as I don't see them as my people. The last picture I see is me on a throne of skulls and gold, but I don't see her.
I wake up after what feels like a year of sleep as I roll out of bed and try to see where my family is. As I keep walking around, I see their clothes missing and other things that I know they wouldn't just take randomly. They ran, fuck me.
I run out of the house as I search for them. I go to their friends' houses but can't find them. I went to the boyfriend's house, and they had packed their shit. I was not in a good mood anymore as I made my way to the city and started to grab the closest spirit. If I had to run around the land of the dead trying to find them, I might as well eat everyone along the way.
I can think of no place else they could have gone; the only place I can think of is New Orleans. My mother's grandparents left her an old plantation under their names. When I looked around the city, it had become a ghost town—no pun intended—as I sighed and started my walk.