2288 A.D. - ALTERNATE DIMENSIONS: To the End of Infinity

by R. Brown

  Ash fought back a scream, not wanting to give them the satisfaction. The mutant circled around her, going to the other side. His fingers ran down the length of her arm, down her shoulder, and over top of her breast. He continued moving lower, down the center of her belly until the point of his nail was moving through the light patch of hair below her bellybutton.

  With a wide grin, he took a single finger and ran it down her inner thigh and down her leg as he moved to the end of the altar.

  Walking up the steps of the altar, he stood tall between her spread legs. Staring down at her, he thrust a ceremonial knife high into the air for all to see. The response from the mutants below was thunderous, boisterously encouraging him to violate her.

  A ray of bright sunlight reflecting off the serpentine blade, caught Ashlyn in the eye, making her wince. Ash struggled, wriggling to escape her bonds. The mutant snarled in warning.

  Kneeling, he looked down at the thousands of mutants gathered around the base of the pyramid. They’d gone silent with anticipation. He raised the knife high, letting it hover above Ashlyn’s belly.

  A horn blew. The moment of their revenge had arrived. Seeing his intent to violate her, and that it was only to happen after she was dead—Ashlyn screamed, calling upon the anger she felt to give her access to the full powers within. The call came too late.

  The mutant brought the knife down, plunging it deep into her belly. Ash screamed at the top of her lungs, the pain forcing tears from her eyes. The mutant put his hands inside her belly and tore out her child—holding up the fetus of her unborn son for all to see.

  Ashlyn’s rage consumed her. She wanted to kill them all, burning them torturously. Letting out a guttural scream of anger, she called upon the fire within.

  The anger, fear and scream awakened her from the depths of the nightmare.

  Her hands were on fire, the vines in front of her in flames. The tears in the dream were real, her heart aching desperately. Though it had only been a nightmare—her subconscious mind had reacted to her thoughts as though they were real.

  Howls sounded. The mutants were coming for her. Though she knew not which, whether it be the scream, the fire, or both—she had given away her location. Ashlyn had no idea how long she’d slept, but she took comfort in seeing that it was still dark.

  Letting the fire burn as a distraction, Ash used the vines at her back to scale the wall. As she climbed the ancient battlement and onto one of the wall’s crenels, she saw that the wide walkway at the top was unused and heavily overgrown. Ash started running hard to the east, distancing herself from her hiding place.

  As the minutes passed, she occasionally stopped to peer over the wall and gather information. She saw roving patrols searching every corner; groups of sentries at the entrance to every structure. Every mutant in the city was looking for her.

  Twenty minutes later, starting to feel secure in the distance she had covered, Ash slowed.

  When she stopped to take a quick glance over the wall, she was stabbed in the shin by a metal rod protruding out of an overturned stone block. Kneeling, she discovered that the block was buried beneath a covering of ivy leaves and vines. The surprise came when she ran her fingers over the steel rod and found it had fluted edges, Rebar? Concrete? The stone is made from concrete? Ash shook her head in disbelief. It doesn’t make sense.

  When her fingers found the squared corner of a thick metal plate, she ripped the foliage away, uncovering it. Though too dark to read, she could feel raised lettering. Lighting a small flame in her hand, no bigger than that of a single match, Ash held it next to the bronze plate. It read, “The Pyramid of Khafre. Stop #4 on your Greatest Wonders of the World Tour as seen from the Great Wall. Proudly brought to you by Disney Theme Parks.”

  It’s a damned amusement park. It’s all fake. She now had her reason for the diversity of structures. Disney had brought all of the world’s greatest wonders together in one place, replicating them as a tourist spot for the masses to enjoy.

  Ashlyn laughed at herself as she thought back to the mountain. She’d known it looked familiar. It was the Matterhorn, the flagship centerpiece to the Disney name. Had it been a different time, a different world, Ashlyn too would have enjoyed visiting the park.

  “Disney? Dis?” Ashlyn remembered the holo that Siri had shown her about the mutant war. She’d explained that the war had come to a sudden and unexpected end, as the mutants disappeared without a known reason from the city of Dis.

  Ashlyn now had her reason for why she was still in this time-period. The nexus had one more job for her.

  Closing her palm, Ash killed the fire that burned. Rising, she took a peek over the wall. A security patrol was standing below her, looking up. They’d found her.

  The next thing she knew, she was tumbling over the wall. One of the tracking pets had spotted her and pounced on her from behind. As she lay on the ground, lapsing into unconsciousness, she saw the evil, grimacing faces of the mutants standing over her.

  Groggily, Ash awakened to the sound of mutants howling. Her eyes fluttered open to see the sun beating down on her. Unable to endure the stark brightness, she turned aside. The world around her spun, her head pounding in pain from having hit the ground. In her semiconscious state the visuals around her held little meaning. It was like pieces of an abstract puzzle that her mind couldn’t put together.

  She could feel the radiant heat of the sun-heated stone beneath her back. She felt the sting of a claw cutting her leg. Though she was unfocussed, Ashlyn recalled the nightmare she’d had, where she’d been taken captive and held prisoner atop a pyramid. When she realized that she was lying spread-eagle, her wrists and feet bound by ropes to the corners of the stone slab, the memories came into focus. This was the dream she’d had, only it hadn’t been a dream. It had been one of her visions, a warning of that which was to come.

  Like before, one of the male mutants was walking around her, his clawed hand scraping along her skin, a seductive smirk dancing on his lips.

  When she remembered the knife plunging into her belly, Ash struggled to free herself, a scream accompanying her effort. The mutant gave his bloodthirsty smile, following it with a long howl to those watching below. In a display of his dominance over her, he grabbed Ashlyn’s breast harshly and shook it, making it wobble for the other mutants below to see. The sharp points of his claws cut into her, drawing blood. Tens of thousands of mutants howled and clicked in response, encouraging him.

  Every detail was the same as the vision had shown her.

  The mutant continued his walk around her, until he was standing between her spread feet. Climbing the steps of the altar, he knelt and positioned himself between her legs. On his knees, he looked down at the throng of mutants that had crowded around the pyramid, filling the city proper. No one dared miss the event. They all wanted to see her die a torturous, degrading death. A death befitting an enemy who had taken so many lives.

  As was customary treatment for those being sacrificed, the mutants would watch their priest violate her. The only question seemed to be, would he do so while she was alive or after she was dead? The decision was theirs to make. A horn blew, calling them to attention.

  Seeing the readiness of their priest to take Ashlyn, they howled.

  Raising the knife high into the air, letting it hover over Ashlyn’s belly—he waited for their answer.

  The mutants put their fists high in the air, an emulation of their priest holding the knife. The horn blew again, calling for their vote. As one, they brought their hands down, emulating his thrust of the knife into her. It was unanimous; she would die before he violated her.

  Their decision brought an evil grin to the priest’s face. It was the answer he had wanted.

  Ashlyn’s mind was hazy, unfocussed. The concussion she’d sustained was blocking access to her powers.

  Speaking in his native tongue, the priest gave a series of clicks and growls. The words were ceremonial, a required preface to his actions. The mutant’s muscles
tensed as he arched his back and lifted the knife higher, preparing to plunge it into her belly.

  Picturing the horrifying, unforgettable memory of what the mutant had done to her unborn child in the vision—Ashlyn surrendered herself to the malevolent minds of her enemy. Only the darkness had the power to save her child.

  Seizing control, Ashlyn’s eyes turned black as the darkness consumed her. With crushing forcefulness, it threw her into an abyss, a place without color, shape or substance. A place where cognitive thought had no cohesion or grasp upon reality. She was alone, powerless, voiceless—floating in a void of nothingness. A place where insanity was ones only ally.

  Her body now belonged to the darkness. She was theirs to use, her godlike powers theirs to command.

  Ashlyn’s black eyes locked upon the hovering knife. She gave a smirking, wicked grin—following it with an eerie, haunting laugh that was like none the priest had ever heard before.

  The priest was taken aback by her lack of fear and unrestrained composure. It was not the humiliating, degrading death that he’d wanted her to have, and it enraged him. Determined to make her death be a painful one—with all his strength, he brought the knife down, thrusting it into her.

  Ashlyn laughed again, for the point of the blade had come to a stop a half-inch from her belly. The darkness had channeled the gravitational waves, forming them into an impenetrable protective barrier around her.

  Ashlyn watched, amused—as with a strained growl, the mutant put his weight atop the knife, trying to force it down. Distracted, the priest didn’t notice that an icy wind had begun swirling around the altar.

  “By your own hand, you will die,” said a thousand haunting, echoing voices speaking through Ashlyn. Though her words held no meaning to him, the sounds of so many voices talking at once, scared him. He pulled back, wanting to flee, but his legs wouldn’t move. His hands shook as he fought against an invisible force that was turning the knife in his hands, pointing the blade inward.

  He called out, shouting guttural, clicking noises to those watching below—asking for help. His plea went unanswered. The mutants, watching the ceremony, were unsure of what to do. By law they were forbidden to step foot on the structure, only their priest was allowed to do so. Not one of them wanted to offend the god to whom the sacrificial offering was being made.

  His call for help was his last cognitive thought as the darkness captured his mind. Like Ashlyn, his eyes turned black.

  Calmly rising, the priest stepped down from the altar, his unblinking eyes frozen in a dead stare. Walking to the edge of the stairs for all the gathered crowds to see, he came to a stop, holding the blade of the knife pointing toward himself. Motionless, he waited for the next command.

  The ropes around Ashlyn’s hand and feet erupted into flames, instantly burning away. Ash sat up and swung her legs around, letting them dangle off the side of the altar. Tipping her head down, her black eyes turned upon the priest, and with nothing more than a thought, she commanded the mutant to plunge the blade of the knife into himself, just above the pubic bone.

  The crowd of mutants below howled. Growling, resonant shrieks filled the mutant city.

  With his hands wrapped around the handle of the knife, the darkness commanded the mutant to pull the knife upwards, slicing his abdomen open. The blade didn’t stop until it reached his sternum. The priest never called out, never made a sound.

  The darkness then released his mind so that he could behold his own handiwork. His shock at seeing how he’d gutted himself was short-lived, as his heart slowed to a stop and he fell forward, dead. His body tumbled down the steep stairs, his followers grunting in horror.

  Ashlyn stood and walked to the edge of the stairs. Spreading her arms wide, the sky instantly darkened as ominous, churning clouds formed. Deep rumbles within the clouds shook the ground as lightning flashed within.

  The mutants knelt, humbled by the power of the god who stood atop their temple, the Teotihuacan, Pyramid of the Sun.

  Ashlyn then spoke to the gathered mutants in a powerful, ethereal, godlike voice that was not her own. It boomed throughout the city, resonating into the hearts of all who listened. “We damn all your impure, human souls! You are an abomination, unworthy of the Anunnaki blood within you!”

  The air crackled as Ash erected a solid ring of lightning, seven miles in diameter. It encompassed all the structures within the park, trapping near a hundred thousand mutants.

  Ashlyn slowly moved her hands together, collapsing the massive ring.

  When the mutants saw what was happening, they scattered—seeking shelter within the monolithic structures. Little did they know, that the interconnected web of lightning existed on a plane which they could not comprehend, allowing it to pass through the walls of cement, steel, and stone. The power it held was beyond that of any natural, earthly lightning storm. It reached into every corner, every tunnel—killing everything it touched.

  In the wake of the wave, the world beyond was set ablaze. The jungle of brush and vines reclaiming the great structures ignited, casting a fiery orange glow upon the closing wall.

  The mutants backed up, retreating from the crackling ring of electricity as it approached. They congregated in the large square, around the base of the pyramid, huddling tighter and tighter as the circle grew smaller. When it reached the crowd, it branched out, linking them together as one. Their shrieks of terror were quickly silenced as the sustained effects of the lightning destroyed their brainstem, killing them. Their bodies sizzled as the moisture in their blood boiled and expanded, exploding their hands and feet—as did the super-heated air trapped in their lungs, explode their chests. The ground was red with blood, chunks of flesh, and splintered bone.

  Reveling in the sight of so many dead littering the ground, the voices spoke, “We have the power of a god. We will become the bringer of death, the destroyer of worlds. Heaven will burn, Anu will die. We will live forever, conquering all who oppose us.”

  The crackle of lightning stirring the air came to a stop as Ashlyn recalled it. Picking up the sheathed sword, lying by the altar, she slipped it over her head and started down the stairs. Possessed by the darkness, her black eyes gleamed with purpose. She had but one desire. To kill.

  At the base of the stairs, the darkness reached out searching for the unclean humans. It found them to the southwest, deep below ground. She could smell the Anunnaki in them, their blood tainted by the impurity of their human genetics. Despising their adulteration, she looked forward to seeing them die.

  Ashlyn hadn’t taken but a single step when a warm wind stirred around her. Riding upon the wind was a familiar voice. It was Anu.

  “Ashlyn? I know that you can hear me. I know that you are confused and lost—but you must understand that the place you are in is not a true physical place. It is a void, a place that exists only in your mind. The darkness has forced you into it.”

  Ashlyn tottered, her legs weak. Feeling faint, her head lowered and she put her hand to her forehead, steadying herself. She regained her composure. “You are too late,” said the multitude of haunting voices speaking through Ashlyn. “She belongs to us now. She gave herself freely—so that we might save the life of her unborn son. You have no hold on her. The woman she was no longer exists.”

  “That’s not true,” said Anu. “You must listen to my words, Ashlyn. I know that you can hear me. You can escape.”

  Controlled by the darkness within, an evil grin crossed Ashlyn’s face. “You are a fool, Anu—and we shall laugh when Enlil burns Heaven beneath your feet. We are the destroyer of worlds and we are legion.”

  “Ashlyn, it’s important that you do not try to fight the darkness. That will only empower it. The void is making you forget who you are. To escape, you must focus upon your memories. Try to recall the most important moments in your life. You have the strength. I know it.”

  Dismissively snubbing the voice of Anu, Ashlyn turned and stepped around the bodies at her feet, heading southwest, toward the h
umans.

  The image of Anu coalesced in front of her, blocking her path. Though his appearance and style of clothing was the same, it was not the fifty-foot tall Anu she had seen on Olympus. Anu was now of normal, Anunnaki size.

  “Go back to Heaven,” said Ashlyn as she stepped atop the body of a dead mutant and walked through the projected image of Anu. “Prepare your world to die.”

  “Ashlyn, stop!” shouted Anu commandingly.

  Ashlyn came to a stop and turned around to face him. “You waste our time, Anu. We now possess the one who has passed the trials. In doing so, we have claimed the right to summon whom we wish to the arena. We have her powers, and we will summon Enki—killing your beloved son for all the worlds to see. All who are loyal to you will die this day. When their bodies die, they will join us, making us even stronger. It will be your own sons who come to kill you. We will be Legion. It is our destiny.”

  “Ashlyn, listen to my words, hear my voice. Over the course of millions of years, I have loved you. And in that time, I have been many people. You see me now as, Anu—but long ago, before them all, I was Steven—and I love you desperately.” Anu changed form, becoming Steven as she had seen him last, aboard Destiny. He was dressed in khaki’s and his black polo shirt.

  When Ashlyn saw Steven, for a few seconds her black eyes changed back to normal and she was Ashlyn again. “Steven?” Her voice and eyes were soft and plaintive, begging for help.

  A moment later, her eyes turned black again. Her face twisted, her teeth clenched. Inside Ashlyn, a battle raged as the darkness fought to retain control. The battle was not one of swords, but of the mind. The darkness had thrown her into a pit, a void that was cold, desolate and without dimension. It was an asphyxia of her mind, blocking her from accessing memories, or experiencing feelings of self-worth. Her identity was fading; slipping from her grasp with each passing second—time, the definitive enemy. The more pieces she lost of herself, the stronger the walls became, until there would eventually be nothing left of her but an empty shell.