Book 2 of the Eternal series

Chapter 6

Ray:

The Book of Earth

Just like Ashta, Roman, and Riah, Ray found himself waking up in the hospital, and his parents and his sister, Keshmire, were there. They had told him that he had been out in the woods, rock-climbing, about a year ago and had fallen due to faulty climbing gear. Seemingly, Ray felt the strangeness of the world around him, and he also felt like a part of him was missing, but he didn’t know what it was.

Ray also noticed the dead look in his sister’s and his parent’s eyes, and he wondered what that was. There was absolutely no life to them. Again, just like the others had gone through, the doctor released him from his care, and he was taken home.

It had only taken Ray a few days to figure out that his parents and sister were on some continuous loop. Every day was the same. Seemingly, the bacon and eggs, the same clothing to dress in, the same boring conversations, and the same static channel that everyone but him watched. The one thing that Ray couldn’t figure out was why no one paid any attention to the things he did.

Angrily, he had destroyed the kitchen when he found nothing in the cupboards but bags and bags of powdered eggs, and the refrigerator was filled with nothing but packages and packages of bacon. No one said a word about his outburst.

After he had destroyed the kitchen, he ran outside and threw himself on his knees. That was when he discovered if he touched the dirt, he could grow his own food. He felt a powerful surge of energy rush through his body when that happened. Oddly, he started to feel like he wasn’t missing a big part of himself anymore, and then he got a vision.

A girl’s face popped into his mind. She was beautiful with her long brown hair, hazel eyes, and a tattoo on her neck. She smiled at him with care as she moved close to him, and then her eyes lit up.

“I am waiting for you to come back to me,” she whispered, and then the vision faded away.

Ray shook his head and opened his eyes. He felt like he needed to find this girl, and at that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flame. Quickly, he turned his head, and he saw that one of the bushes in front of the house was on fire. Swiftly, he grabbed the bucket of water next to him, and the water splashed onto his arm.

Suddenly, he felt light-headed as another rush of energy surged through his body. He shook it off and ran toward the fire. It was a small fire, but the flame came out and licked his arm as soon as he reached it. Alarmed, he jumped back away from the flaming bush and felt another surge of energy.

Quickly, he put the fire out, and he stared at the smoldering bush.

What just happened? He wondered as he looked around.

Surprisingly, no one had come out to see what was going on. Ray’s parents and sister were still in the house watching the countertops. That was their daily routine, and it was starting to annoy him. Aggravated, he ran into the house, and then he looked at his zombified family.

“What is wrong with all of you?” he exclaimed, and Keshmire looked at him.

“Is something wrong, brother?” she asked, and he stared at her with disbelief.

“Yeah. For starters, why do you stare at a countertops channel with nothing but static on the screen?” he asked, and she smiled an eerie smile at him.

The dead-eye look she gave him caused goosebumps to raise down his arms. At that moment, his mother’s and father’s heads snapped towards him, and they, too, smiled eerie smiles at him.

“This is how we hear him,” they all said in unison, and Ray swallowed hard as he stared at them with wide eyes.

“One day, when you are older, you will be able to hear him too,” said his mother, and she, Keshmire, and his father all turned their heads back to the countertops, and he looked at them oddly.

What did they mean when he got older?

He was a year older than Keshmire. Ray shook his head and looked at them for a bit longer. Heavily, he sighed as he turned to the door and walked back outside. He looked up at the sky and noticed something. Oddly, the sky looked as though it was shimmering, and he felt the breeze pick up as he closed his eyes.

“You must find them,” tiny voices in the breeze whispered, and Ray’s eyes flew open.

“Find who?” he asked, but there was no response.

He wished he knew who those voices were, who were them he had to find, and why did he have to find them. Suddenly, his father was right behind him, and he put a hand on Ray’s shoulder. Startled, Ray jumped, and then he turned around.

“Beautiful day, isn’t it, son?” asked his father, and Ray nodded.

“Tomorrow is a very special day. I hope the weather is this nice,” he said, and Ray looked at him oddly.

“What’s tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow is visit day. It’s when we go to the park and visit with my brother,” his father explained, and Ray only nodded.

His father looked at him oddly with his dead eyes, and he took his hand off his son’s shoulder.

“I thought you would be happy to go visit with your uncle Rocco.”

Rocco. That name sounded familiar, but why? A flood of memories appeared in Ray’s mind of a tall, muscular man with a bald head in a castle with a woman with long brown hair and pale skin. Ray looked at his father with a questioning look.

“Does he live in a castle?”

Ray’s father laughed.

“No, son. You sure have got an active imagination. Your uncle Rocco lives in a house a couple of streets over.”

“Oh, alright. So, what happens on visit day?” asked Ray.

“We go to the park by the pond, and you kids play on the playground,” he said, and Ray chuckled.

“I think I am a little old to be playing on a playground, dad,” he said, and his father looked at his son knowingly.

“Quit pulling my leg. You love going to the park and playing with the other kids. Why the sudden change?”

Ray didn’t understand why his father spoke about him as if he were a small child. He wondered why nothing made sense to him. He decided to go along with his father’s craziness for the time being until he could figure out what was going on. His father turned and walked back into the house without a word, and Ray heavily sighed.

The wind began to pick up at that moment, and dark clouds started to fill the sky. Ray watched as raindrops began to fall from the clouds, and he put his hand out. The rain felt refreshing and cool on his skin, and a sense of peace washed over him. He stepped out into the falling rain and smiled as he looked up at the sky.

Deeply, he sucked in a breath as he closed his eyes, and a vision popped into his mind. He saw a muscular man with long black hair. Surprisingly, when the man looked at him with glowing gray eyes, Ray realized that the man was his cousin, Roman.

“We have to find each other,” he said.

“But how?” Ray asked, and Roman gave him a knowing look.

“We are all connected, and we must never forget that,” said Roman, and the vision faded away.

“No, wait!” said Ray.

“Find me,” whispered Roman, and the vision was gone.

Ray opened his eyes slowly, and he blinked a couple of times. That was his older cousin, but where was he? Ray tried to remember where his cousin could be, but he couldn’t remember anything about his cousin. Aggravated, he walked onto the porch and shook like a dog would shake the water from its fur.

Surprised by his own actions, Ray looked around to ensure that no one else had seen him act the way he did. Relieved, Ray sighed as he realized that he was alone, and then he walked back into the house.

“Oh, honey. Did you get caught out in the rain?” asked his mother with no emotion, and Ray shivered uncomfortably.

“Yeah, you could say that,” he mumbled, and she only nodded.

“Well, go get some dry clothes on. Dinner is almost ready,” she said, and he grimaced.

“Eggs and bacon, great,” he said sarcastically, and she only smiled at him.

“Your favorite,” she chirped.

Annoyed, Ray walked upstairs to his room and shut the door. Quickly, he changed his clothes, and he felt a slight tingling sensation on the back of his neck. He looked into the mirror, and he pulled his t-shirt off. Ray twisted his body, and he saw strange symbols on his shoulders. Surprisingly, two of the symbols were glowing with a dim blue light, and then the light faded away.

Oddly, he looked at the symbols and wondered where they had come from. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and he quickly put his t-shirt back on.

“Yeah?” he called, and Keshmire opened the door and walked into the room.

Silently, she looked at him for a moment, and then, strangely, her eyes lit up with life.

“You have to do everything in your power to save us,” she said seriously, and Ray looked at her oddly.

“What?”

“Listen. I don’t have much time. You have to find the others. Find Roman, and remember none of this is real. You have to believe in yourself. I…”

Strangely, she stopped in mid-sentence, and Ray saw the life drain from her eyes.

“Kesh?” he asked, and she looked at him with her dead-eye stare.

“Dinners ready,” she said, and then she left the room.

Ray stared after her in disbelief, and then he shook his head.

“None of this is real.”

Keshmire’s voice echoed inside his head, and now, he didn’t know what to believe.