It was like a nightmare.
But worse.
A memory.
We were window shopping. At night. It was the day after Abby’s 13th birthday and the day before my 16th. She only wanted one thing for her birthday. Money.  And who had to be the responsible ”adult” to take her out at 8 in the evening to look for a pair of shoes she just “had” to have? If you guess me, you'd be right. She was good at getting her way with our parents. We passed stores after stores after stores. Which were all open this late. They had to, according to new state laws. They couldn't close until 11, so you’d see people half awake running the cash register, people roaming the sidewalks, and cars occasionally going by. This was a nicer time. Peaceful. We got to the end of the sidewalk and lo and behold, she finally found it. Ugly bright orange sneakers, bright enough to make you go blind at night, and ugly enough for people to question your sanity.

	The shoes were a “one size fits all” sorta deal. New technology that was finally being released to the public. She immediately spent all her money on them. Just enough. We've been walking for the past hour, it was around 9, or perhaps even 10. She didn't care though, I really didn't either. “So why’d you make our parents force me to take you shoe shopping this late at night?” I asked while we were walking back home. “And why the heck did we go out this far anyways? It’s going to be midnight before we even get halfway home.” No reply. Typical. She flicks her obnoxiously long black hair at me. She knows I hate that. She only keeps her hair that long because it annoys our dad and since she’s shorter than me, she can easily flick it at me. A common household pre-teen rebel.

	We were almost home, I could see it from the top of the street. Lights are off. Good. The streets were empty, eerily empty. No cars, no people, nothing. I check the time. Midnight. Everything is closed.
We don’t know what we witnessed.
The shaking and the waves.
We saw waves coming up the street.
Flood?
Then the shaking.
Earthquake?
Doesn't matter.
I grab my sister. And jump through the nearest store window. Glass shards everywhere, I landed wrong, but I broke her fall. I get up, grab her, and go to the back of the store.
Under a doorway.
Like they taught us.
She's grabbing onto me tightly.
I can only watch what's happening outside.
The waves are pushing cars up the street. Some of them with people in them.
That’s when the shaking intensifies.
Water is pouring in from the window we broke.
That's when I notice the cracks in the ceiling.
Right above us.
I push her out of the doorway and into the front of the store.
Big mistake.
The ceiling collapses on top of Abby.
And above me.
It falls on me.
I instantly blackout.

	I open my eyes to the aftermath. Nothing. No light. Most likely still night. I push off the ceiling that was on me. I feel the top of my head. No blood. I’m fine. I get up slowly. My head is pounding with pain. I look around. Then I remember, the empty streets, the cars, the waves, the shaking, and… Abby. My attention immediately focuses on the rubble of ceiling that's next to me.
I move. Bad call. I wince. My foot is broken. I limp over to the rubble and lean over the counter to get up right. I slide down it and begin to move ceiling after ceiling. I remove piece after piece until I discovered something.
Orange shoes.
Instinctively I pull them.
The legs weren't attached to anything.
I instantly let go and hold back vomit. I hold back tears and take off the shoes. The only thing I can grab. The sun is coming up and I see the light through the broken window. I check my pocket. My phone is still there and in one piece. I check the time. 6 in the morning. Then I black out.

	It’s cold and i’m awake. But my eyes aren't open. It’s more like i'm conscious. I have a blanket over me. I feel it. I’m on a cold metal table. I feel it. I have no clothes on. I can feel it. Wake up! A voice says in my head. I jerk open my eyes. I blink and i’m instantly teary eyed. It’s been awhile since i’ve blinked. I hear movement. Two people, both males, and how did I know this? I think. They come up to me and start.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” one says
“Uhh, 16 year old Sylic, Male, victim of the recent shooting.” the other replies. Shooting? Victim? One is a professional, the other is bored, young, and stupid. How did I know this? I think to myself.
“Damn shame, he doesn't look like one of the protestors. He may be just another victim.” Victim, they love that word.
“How uhh, long has he been here?”
“About 2 days, according to reports.”
“What about, uhh, autopsy and stuff? What did they say?”
“Twenty one bullet holes” Bullet holes?
“Jeez, kinda overkill don't you think?”
“They’re clones, guards, police, soldiers, and they can’t think. They only do as their told.”
“And they were told to shoot down a group of protestors? With kids and other people?”
“The report says they got violent, started to push and punch the guards.” Lies
“Wow, so much for peaceful protestors.” All lies.
“Write down the rest of his information. Who was he claimed by?”
“Uhh… no one sir.”
“No parents? Grandparents? Or Guardian?”
“Yeah no one.”
“Fine, we’ll find out later, but right now let's get the rest of this information back to the boss.”
“Right behind you”
They leave behind two big swinging doors. How do I know these things? I’m thinking to myself. I try to move my arm. Nothing. Legs? Nothing. My body is instantly jerked upwards. I can move again. I take off the blanket and get up. I notice my hands, my arms, and my legs. I’m covered in wounds. Bullet holes, I remember. I get off the table and instantly almost fall over. I grab the table in front of me, luckily empty. I get myself up right. I look around. I’m one of the only ones here. I limp towards the door. I check through the window on the door. No one. I can barely push it open. The smell hits me first. Smells like something rotten is burning. I check my surroundings. A long hallway with fluorescent lights hanging above me. I walk towards the end of the hallway. A sign. Left of here is Cafeteria, Office, and Staff Room. Right of here is Bathrooms and Crematorium. Crematorium, explains the smell. I go right. I pass door after door of what seem to be observatory rooms, surgical rooms, and finally I get to the bathroom.
 I push open the door and lock it behind me. I go to the mirror. I’ve lost a lot of weight, more than the healthy amount it seems. I’m on the verge of being a skeleton with skin on it. I feel all around me, my legs, chest, back, and head. Feeling bullet holes. Like a human pin cushion. They have not scabbed over. They’re open, yet i’m not bleeding. I feel my neck. An exit and entrance wound. This is what killed me, well, this is what I was killed by. I was dead. I dropped. I bled. My heart stopped. Yet here I am. In the flesh. Something felt off though. I looked at myself in the mirror, studied myself, and took a good long look. I put my hand on my chest. Waiting for something. Nothing. No pulse. No breath. Zombie. That's what was instantly in my mind. I’m a zombie. But zombies are dead bodies that are moving, but rotting. I’m a dead body, and i’m moving, but not i’m rotting. I can think. I have no taste for human flesh. What am I?
A good question.
One that’ll be answered later.
I leave and headed towards the Staff Room. The hallways are empty. Must be quitting time. I stumble through the hallway. Passing doctor offices and meeting rooms. I get to the end of the hallway. “STAFF ROOM” is labeled on a white, windowed door. I can’t look in, the glass is cloudy. I take a chance, the door was unlocked. I open and head towards the lockers. Hoping one was unlocked. I look to my left and I see the idiot examiner's assistant taking off his shoes. He looks up at me. Shit. Jig is up.
We freeze.
I don’t speak.
He tries to run to the door
I extend my arm.
As if to stop him.
Something came out.
Something unnatural.
Something supernatural.
He flies back.
He crashes into the lockers on the other side of the room.
Silence.
He’s dead. I sense no breathing. How do I know this!? I wait. I don’t know how long. Seeing if he gets up, or even wakes up. You killed him. Deep down. I know I did. He’s gone. I go over and check his pockets. Looting the dearly departed. I have no emotion. Just shock. He has keys on him. One is to a locker, most likely his, another one is a car key, and the last one a house key. I find the locker assigned to the key. I open it. A white jacket, simple gray t-shirt, and black jeans. I like his style. I look back at him. Seems like my size. I take off the clothes. Perfect fit. I’ll somewhat fit in now. I head over to the assistant, pick him up, and shove him in his locker and take his shoes. I look to where I threw him earlier. Massive dent right in the middle of a locker. I don’t dwell on it and leave the staff room. His car keys. There’s my escape. I run down the hallway, straight past the bathroom, the observatory rooms, and everything else. I reach the crematorium. Which was completely clean. No bodies, yet the smell was still strong. I didn’t want to linger in there. I found the exit near the furnace and went outside.

The cold mountain air hit me as soon as I walked out. There was fresh snow on the ground and flurries falling softly. The air was thin, so I was up pretty high.  The jacket didn’t really help, nor did being ungodly skinny. I hit the unlock key and the red car a few feet away from me beeped. I headed over to the car while crunching the icy snow under my feet. I opened the driver side door and got in. I started up the car, which took a few times to get it to work. The car finally purred to life. I drove out of the small parking lot and left.  It has been a few hours going up and down these mountain roads. I had no idea where I was going, but I knew one thing. I wanted out. I wanted to go back home. I wanted to see my parents. I don’t care where this road took me.
Then it jumped out.
From the side.
It was waiting for me
It hops onto the hood.
We look dead at one another.
Right in the eyes.
It’s face was covered by a mask.
It’s the one we saw at the store.
It’s been following me.
I swerve to shake it off.
It falls off to the left, yet it holds on.
I look back onto the road.
A tree was replaced where the road once was.
I cover my face with my hands.
And crash.

I’m in a cave. Or at least somewhere with rock covering the walls. I’m lying flat on my back. The cold, hard rock feel like little spikes on my back. I look up. A small lightbulb is floating above me on a string. I get up, my jacket was used as a pillow. Someone or something brought me down here. It’s warmer down here, but still somewhat cold. For being a cave, it’s extremely dry. I look around. 4 walls with each one having a door...that leads to darkness. I sit there for a while, thinking. The lightbulb. I look up. Electricity means power and power means people. Follow the wire. I get up, put on my jacket, and look where the wire goes. Down the tunnel behind me. I put one hand on the right wall of the tunnel and head down it.

After a few stumbles, turns, and minutes of hiking. I get to another room with a light bulb. Exactly the same as the one I woke up in. I check my hand. Covered in black soot, or something. This must’ve been a coal mine. I look at the light bulb again. Same as before. I follow the wire down another tunnel. This one, however, had rusted rails on the ground. I was right. This tunnel has had to be a mile long or more. I was walking for what it seemed like hours. Walking in the dark, cold, and dry mine tunnel. I come across another 4 tunneled, 4 walled room. This room however, was lit by candles, 5 of them in fact. Each one a different color. Red, Green, Black, Orange, and Pink. They’ve been down here for a while, the room was a lot warmer than the rest of the mine. No lightbulb, no wire. I look down, and see that I was still on the rusty rails. I followed them with my eyes and see they only went down one tunnel. Just like the lightbulb wire. I grab the candle that was closest to me, the Red one, and followed the tunnel down.

The smell of coal was more and more prominent the further I walked down the tunnel. The candle did help very little. I stepped over some collapsed rocks and pointy rails that were sticking up. At the end of the rails came another room with one exit, like the rest of the tunnels, it was dark. I came to a chest in the middle of the room, covered by dust and bits of coal. I kneel down, put the candle beside me, and open it the chest. Inside was a mask. A fox mask they once called it. Super rare to find one in stores if you find one, it sells for thousands. This one looked authentic too. I pick it up. No string on it to keep it on someone's face and it looked relatively clean, but looked worn, like it was somebody’s before. Put it on. He puts it on his face… nothing. What was I expecting? I get up. The first thing I noticed is that it’s staying on all by itself.

The second is that the room changed. It wasn't the small enclosed 4 walled room he remembered, but a large open cavern. With stalagmites and stalactites scattered here and there. I take off the mask and the room was still the same. Big cavern and all. I put it on and get up. I reach for my candle but it was practically gone. Wax was melted right off. I look around. Pockets of large crystals were sticking out of the ground, emitting a small, yet bright light. The whole cave was lit up light the day. There was so many. Then I noticed an old man standing on a rock high above the crystals, he was on the edge of the cliff. He opened his arms wide and said. “HELLO YOUNG GODCHILD...erm” He opened his eyes and looked down to study me. He waited and said “You are one right? I have a list of names and when to expect them... “ He grabs a clipboard made of rocks and starts to mumble words “Jerry May 5th...Carrie May 11th ...Lilly May 18th...Seth June 14th...Thomas June 19th...Craine June 28th.... Hmm… I don't have a name for today… tell me what is your name?” I try to say something, but nothing comes out. “OH of course! I forgot! You must be parched!” he runs behind the rock, grabs something and runs back to me. “Here!” he hands me a bucket of clear water. “Here drink up! Don’t worry it’s spring water” I drink the whole thing in less than 2 seconds. “Wow.” the old man replies. “So your name is…?” He’s holding a paintbrush and his clipboard. I make a barely audible yet, clear word. “Sylic” is all I can say. I clear my throat while the old man stands there looking at his clipboard. “Erm… S-say that again” the old man says worriedly with a half smile. “Sylic” I say in a more audible voice. The man just stands there looking deep into the clipboard.

“Could it be?” the old man finally says after a short time, presumably in deep thought. He runs back to the rock and goes behind it. I follow him and see that the rock has become his home in a sense. A lantern for light and a wolf pelt for a bed. 3 other rocks form a sort of desk and upon that is a candle and a worn leather journal. The old man starts to read something from the old leather journal. “By gods… it’s is….” the old man looks back at me. “My gods… Sylic!” he runs up to me and hugs me. “OH JOYUS DAY, OH JOYUS DAY!” the old man repeats while shaking me. For being, what 60? 70? He had some strength to him. “I’ve long for this day to come! I can finally leave!” the old man says while letting me go. “Uhhh… who are you?” I say, rubbing my arms from the unexpected bear hug. “You…? Don’t remember?... OH course you wouldn't! It's been so long! It’s me… Jim! Uncle Jim!” he says smiling hoping I remember. Which I do, barely, but I remember. “ What… How… Why… How long have you been down here? What happened to you? Why are you here?” I ask in reply. “Yeah, I guess I have some explaining to do. Sit. Please.” Jim says pointing to a rock with flat top. He grabs a rock and sits down on it right in front of me.

“Where to begin… hmm… Oh I know! It was the week or month that I got out of prison. I was a messed up man. My life had been virtually ruined. My books...gone, my wife...gone, my life...gone. I knew the risks, so did our father and your father. But I was stupid. I got too big, too distracted, I got taken away in my sleep. Sent to a real life hell, and mentally, I never left it. I was let out on “Good behavior” and “Mentally stable” I wasn't. I was brainwashed. So I left the city, said goodbye to everyone and vanished. I was here, in the rockies, going nowhere, but east. That's when I fell in this hole.” he pointed up and I saw a small, yet wide hole. Big enough for a man. “When I awoke, someone, something, was talking to me. Telling me that i’m needed. I was a sage, or something along those lines. I was chosen to train godchilds, like you. Days after weeks after months after years, I trained teens possessed by gods to fight. Funny thing is, I didn't know how to fight, It sorta came to me when I had that dream. I was told a list of names and dates on when to expect them. They told me of an unexpected arrival. One that will change the war. They said the arrival will not need training, but a point in the right direction. They said, when that arrival came, they’ll be a reckoning. You Sylic, you are that arrival!...” He pauses, looks at me, at my face.

“The mask isn't working is it?” he says, reaching for it “Yeah it isn't… so what's the deal with this mask anyways? What do you mean by “it isn't working” ?” I ask, taking it off and handing it to him. “You see nephew, there are regions of this country that people live in. Japanese and Chinese to the west, Europeans to the east, middle-easterners to the southwest of here, in the desert, and Swedes and Scandinavians to the north of this country and into Canada. Godchilds of this region can move and use powers freely in this region, but if one were to move out of the region and use powers, you’ll need a mask. These keep your powers in them so you can move freely in and out of the region. If one were to go to a region without one. They’ll slowly become a forbidden, never to return to their region ever again. And be driven to madness and become less and less human like. But there is something you need to know… there is a way to obtain the power of your enemy! Either you kill them or rip off their masks and break them. But I must warn. You cannot kill your fellow gods of the same pantheon. You are allies, work together. The forbidden however, cannot gain power, that's why most are cannibalistic. They aren't strong, but they aren't weak either… I’m sorry, but is this too much to take in at the time?” he says. “No, I understand it pretty well, but the thing is, what god do I have?” I ask. “The thing is, the mask was supposed to, so to say, unlock the god within. Like an activator. Yet this one seems to be ran it’s course.” He throws it behind him “It’s been here for thousands of years! Before me!” he exclaims. “Now, since you’re here, I can leave now, but there is one problem. Hermes. He became a forbidden long ago, and has been watching my exit since i've been here. I need you to defeat him.” he says. “What?!... How?! I’ve never fought in my life!” I ask in a demanding tone. Jim just laughs. “You think I don’t know that you have magical powers? I read your mind like an open book, and I know you can do the same to other people. I’ve seen your memory of killing that assistant at the crematorium a few miles from here! You’ll do fine, plus I have been saving something for you.” He gets up from his rock stool and heads over to a box, picks it up and puts it on the desk. He opens it and takes out 2 gauntlets. “These… these have been forged by the gods themselves, just for you.” Be kneels down and holds them up to me. I take them and put them on. He gets up and says “Those babies, are part blade, part gun. A 30 centimeter long magical blade is in each one. It then can become a 8 round revolver. No reload required! All magical bullets!” He sounded like a TV spokesperson. Trying to sell me something. And I was buying it. “Not only that, but you, yes you! Can magically enhance them! With your powers! Now… I must go, please deal with Hermes.” he says pointing to a large opening that wasn't there before. “And nephew, make sure you read your enemy’s mind! It’s your largest advantage!” he says practically shoving me out the door. I walk down the opening. It's like the tunnels that were in the mine. “And Sylic!” Jim yells out to me “Tell you parents I said Hi!” I wave to him goodbye and exit the opening. It’s midday, and the snow on the ground was super soft. He’s near. I move out some more and move slowly forward. Watching for him. That's when I sensed him. He’s behind you!