by G Sasaki
Those eyes wore a look of terror that Jeremy hadn’t seen, even in the last few weeks. The white of the boy’s eyes practically swallowed his irises. Nonetheless, the boy stared at Jeremy, daring him to make his wishes known.
Jeremy shouted the only question that needed to be asked. “Where is everyone?”
The boy opened his mouth and took a deep breath. His small shoulders rose with his inhale and dove down during exhale. Expecting a response, Jeremy was surprised to instead see the boy slowly turn his head left and right, as if to say, “No.”
But the boy didn’t just say, “No.” His wide eyes and painstakingly slow head-turn manically screamed, “Don’t even ask that question.”
Before Jeremy had a chance to decipher the odd behavior of this boy, the voice of a man pierced through the silence. It spoke in perfect English… but something about it shook Jeremy’s heart. The sound wasn't natural, like it came from the bowels of a machine instead of a man. A coarse, sticky sound underlined every vowel. “You certainly look a bit like her, don’t you?”
As the boy heard the voice, he stuck up straight like a meerkat. His head desperately whipped around, his eyes soaking up every inch of the village in a vain attempt to find the source of this otherworldly sound. When that proved useless, he dove forward and again ran on all fours. In the flash of a second, he leapt into the air, soared feet over Jeremy’s head, and dashed into the belly of the forest.
Jeremy turned to follow suit. But before he could take a single step, the voice again rocked through the air. “I mean your sister… You look a bit like Nicole.”
Hearing her name sent shockwaves through Jeremy’s body. “What?”
Jeremy instantly forgot about the boy. Instead, he walked into Opai Village. Each step inside crystallized the details of his surroundings. The huts, masterfully built, sat as strong as concrete buildings, with each strand on the roofs holding steady. The lake’s gently rippling water, with the sun’s rays dancing in every direction, invited him to sit and relax. This was Jeremy’s first adventure, after all. He wanted to soak up as many details as he could. But that unexpected voice was all he could focus on.
Jeremy’s bat voice, shrilling with shrieks, asked, “Who’s there?”
“You’ve been underestimated by everyone. Even yourself.” The voice echoed through the air. Jeremy couldn’t quite place where it came from. It was almost like it came from everywhere all at once, like a PA system with speakers all around. But of course, that couldn’t be it. Jeremy wandered toward the heart of Opai Village as the voice’s static, raspy tone continued on. “The fact that you were able to find this island and come here says everything about you, doesn’t it?”
Frustration pumped through Jeremy’s veins as he unconsciously clenched his hands into fists. “Who are you? Answer me! I’m looking for…”
The voice interrupted. “The Heart of Man?”
Jeremy froze. His eyes scanned the village. The grass danced in place and the trees continued to taunt him with their dull swaying. Nothing else showed life, not even an insect. Whoever taunted him was nowhere in sight. In this situation, there was nothing Jeremy could do except continue a conversation with a nameless, faceless voice.
Jeremy shouted loud enough for the entire village to hear. “Yes! I’m here to see The Heart of Man! I want to understand what happened to my sister!”
A loud rumbling sound erupted over his voice. Jeremy instinctually cupped his hands on top of his ears, and as he hunched over to try to shield himself from the deafening noise, he fell to his knees. The ground violently shook like the Earth itself would split in half! A strong gust of wind blasted at him and threatened to blow him completely away. Jeremy unleashed a primal yell as he dug his hands into the dirt to grip himself from the violent rocking that trembled the village.
Then…silence.
Jeremy gasped for a few desperately needed breaths. His fingers throbbed with the heartbeat he could hear pounding in his head. His grip loosened from the dirt as he tried to release the tension in his body. He lifted his head to catch sight of what had happened.
The village sat normally, with each hut still obediently standing. And those trees still swayed gently. But in the middle of it all, only yards in front of him, stood something he hadn’t seen before. A slender figure, about 9 feet tall, towered over him. There were no discernable features to make out… not because the sun had silhouetted this figure… but because there were no features… there. Instead, this appeared to be a pitch-black mass in the shape of a tall person. Where skin should be, where muscles should be noticeable, were instead the darkest shade of black. It was as if this being existed only as a shadow.
Jeremy didn’t notice the strangest thing about this figure until he stared at its long, skinny fingers that dipped far lower than a normal hand’s would. On the edges of this creature, skinny black lines danced around. These lines shot off of its body and simultaneously reconnected. It looked like this creature was constantly breaking apart and being put back together… almost like something made out of the static of a TV.
What Jeremy felt at this moment wasn’t fear. It felt more like an existential shock that paralyzed his core. Laying on his stomach, Jeremy realized he couldn’t move. The instructions his mind commanded to his hands and feet were simply ignored.
And that’s when the creature took a step toward him. Its movement was like a glide, its static-like foot practically floating above the surface. And then its voice once again reverberated its way into Jeremy’s ear. “You want to understand? Then stand up.”
Jeremy felt a wave flash across his body. His muscles loosened and it almost felt like he’d ‘unlocked’ and he could once again take control of his movements. Just what power did this creature have? So Jeremy did what the figure asked and stood straight. The figure’s head rose above and Jeremy had to crane his neck to get a look at its face.
As Jeremy lifted his eyes, the figure said, “It seems as if you and I have a lot to talk about… Jeremy.”
Jeremy’s eyes absorbed the image of this creature’s face. The black lines spouted on and off, just like the rest of its body. A sliver of a mouth, slightly lighter in color than the rest of the black of its body, pulled back, revealing a creepy smile that spread wide across the width of its face. That smirk seemed to indicate it was genuinely amused with itself. When Jeremy shifted his focus to the creature’s eyes, Jeremy stepped back in surprise.
Jeremy stuttered. “You… you’re…”
“That’s right...”
The creature’s dominating eyes seemed to cover its entire face. A deep indentation rested for each eye. The most overwhelming attribute of these eyes was the distinct color: one eye was white and the other eye was black.
The creature finished its thought. “…you’re here to see me.”
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"...maybe it was supposed to be you... Kai..."
