Chapter One

Knowledge sown emerald gems in a gold stare.  On a measured pivot I transferred my observation.  The Waker composed trademarks common in courteous, finite beings, but would it be sufficient?  I was imminent.  This chiseled truism camouflaged night's configuration.  Only celestial eyes recognized the metamorphosis and such a pair focused as I paused.

Deep abyss whose occupants dwell in eternal agony, may your masters govern life and death.  Allow entry into the world of the dead, plunge chaos upon their living counterparts and forever propel generic beings into despair.

A tan mane cascaded after me as I glided frontward; every glossy ribbon a ceaseless stream illuminating shadows.  Navy waters rippled underneath it with each motion whilst my unblemished ivory skin emanated seraphic chevrons.  The vast ocean stretch offered no comfort yet I smiled; a ravishing marriage between flesh and expression.   Love reigned supreme and even I was no match against it.   With the slaves of fear in captive, seeds of sorrow are sown in corrupt hearts.  Now the brave fall like withered leaves.  Boundaries blurred together.  These realms bleed nightmares; nightmares generated by infernal rulers.

Looking out across the field my feet were cold and fixed in place. My view panned left and then right. My breath streamed out in a steady billow and lips pressed together as if to seal the slow leak. They too were frozen and failed to work when I tried to part them.

Echo, I told myself, if you do not get moving your a*s is history. A dull cough bore from the pit of my throat. My head bowed. Prayer was not an option. My face lifted toward the harsh bite of frosty air as it rushed in from the North. Where was the light in the darkness? I wondered but doubted I would ever find an answer. Answers did not just fall from out of nowhere.

Finally my lips broke free from the force holding them closed and I giggled. The snow melted beneath my observation. Now slippery waves of muscle pulsated and writhed under me as if a caged animal awaiting death. I tried to circle away but it was the ground, not a slab or a section. The fog of my breath fanned yellow and smelt foul.

Skidding to the left I then froze as a tree branch came to life. It swung loose from its trunk and curled around me like an actual working arm. I wasn't sure what it was about to do until it held me out and then I caught the glistening specks of eyes glowing at me from deep hollows. My feet kicked out, narrowly missing expanding jaws as they stretched wide.

Now bored I sighed and imagined myself in bed. I bolted upright. I looked around the dark contents of my room. I sighed, ran a shaky hand through my long hair and pressed my palm against my forehead. There was no stopping them. They would push into the heart of darkness. Still, I would try to make them listen to reason. After all, what was so important about digging in my head? It didn't matter. Those doctors had already made their minds up.

The tune filtered into my head. Its lyrical magic worked loose doubt and delusion. All that resided then was the words I knew, but was not certain how I knew. They felt old wiggling around in my conscious, almost as if they belonged to another time.

I swallowed hard. It was closer now. Was I supposed to meet it? I shook my head. Meet who? It made no sense. I then knew what the maniacal tree meant when it had spoken. I swore under my breath.

Hush minds. See what awaits you should I step in. You could again revisit normality if you so wish, but everything you would have done would die in vain. So visit a time where you could be someone...something other than yourself and see how time would turn in favor of darkness. Then you might understand why I can't interfere. Your battles are your own to fight.

Illusion stamped daunting shadows upon filth caked faces.  In their vacant eyes darkness bled as haunted June swept dry heat through their hollowed souls.  I lowered my head.  In the realm of phantasmagoria where nimbus angels spread white wings and midnight seeds burrow, I pressed my thoughts.  A distant figure stood in the horizon.  Obscurity cloaked him, but as he turned I realized it was him.  Beyond the stars, among glittering stone walls, my senses roamed.  Death hung in the air.

Projected before me on a padded stretch, the vision evaporated.  Its misty curtain lingers a few moments when my eyes darted to the door as it swung open.   I remembered him.  It was a settled fact that weighed down my psyche; raked over me like a cobblestone tongue on a raw wound.  Now I waited; waited at time's ancient gate.  Through the darkest valley, vast and wide ocean marked the moon with season.  It imprinted in fibers of my being.

Under a veil of mahogany exhalation skinless hands orchestrated a symphony of steel instruments.  I tilted my face.  Two worlds...same fate and still there was massive room for difference in corridors mapping time and space.  Pristine padded walls twined deafening silence about me as my focus sharpened.  Overhead the ceiling chipped away like an egg shell and twilight swam in.  Behind my eyes he descended, exercised ancient hallmarks I recognized.

Inward strode a heavy man clad in ivory.  His black eyes were dangerous marbles in deep hooded sockets.  His beefy hands closed around my bound arms and I was lifted onto my feet.  My knees weakened.  The cool tile made each inch forward a wintry trek down an unoccupied hallway.  Listening to his keys jingle I glanced at the silver hoop attached to his belt.  Each shiny metal piece had history though to explore it was a might my mind refused to entertain.

The key wielding escort guided me around a bend.  Their doors were closed, but in the heart of their being were subjects exercising ill-conceived realities.  Now I was next.

"In here," growled the key master.  He gestured to the right.

Sitting behind a desk was my dictator.  He motioned with a pen toward my straitjacket and asked, "She still needs that?"

The key master nodded.