Chapter 10: Grelin

Trip’s face started to turn blue as he was unable to breathe under the pressure the man emitted. The man walked over and grabbed Alex and threw him to where Trip was. Alex seemed to be unable to endure the pressure as well as Trip as he was nearly unable to stay conscious. Seeing this the man released the pressure and sat down looking at the kids. There was a complicated expression on his face.

After Trip recovered he asked in a raspy voice “Who are you?”

The man looked at Trip and said “I’m the one who lured you in here, now, more importantly. Who are you?”

Trip looked at the man and realised that he could not lie to this man or try to withhold information so he truthfully answered the man’s question “My name is Trip.”

The man looked at Trip for a second and then grinned. His grin revealed a row of triangular teeth, it was like a shark. The man then handed Trip and Alex a leaf and said “Eat this.”

The leaf looked brown, old, and just generally disgusting. The boys didn’t know what this man would do if they didn’t follow his order so they regretfully agreed to eat the leaf. The moment Trip and Alex ate the leaf they felt reenergised and completely healthy again. The strange man then led them around, giving them a tour of the area. At this point Trip and Alex were very confused. They thought that while the man was strange and he gave them a rather rude greeting, he was acting rather politely and as if he was inviting someone into his house. Trip also didn’t understand why the man ‘lured’ him here.

Eventually the tour brought them to the dinner table where the man told them to sit down and he would get them some food. Trip and Alex looked at each other and it seemed neither of them had any clue what was going on. They personally experienced the man’s strength so they were completely afraid of even talking and discussing the situation in fear that the man might hear something. Trip decided that he would man up and ask the man what was going on during dinner.

The dinner the man served looked like a disgusting thick brownish green stew. Trip certainly wasn’t a picky eater, but this was too much. The aroma arising from the food was enough to cause a man to faint and Alex was almost about to puke.

Trip put aside his plate and asked the man “Excuse me sir, but what may we address you as?”

The man looked at Trip and gave a little smile. He then said “My name is Grelin. No need for any formalities.”

Trip was delighted with Grelin’s open attitude and asked the real thing he wanted to ask “Excuse me sir… Ahem Grelin. I was wondering why you lured us here.”

Grelin looked at Trip and said “Well I only wanted you to come, but it seemed your friend tagged along. Which is fine, but it will make it a bit more difficult.”

Trip looked confused as he asked “Make what a bit more difficult?”

Grelin grinned wildly and said mysteriously “You’ll know soon enough…”

Both Trip and Alex shuddered at that smile. Grelin’s eyes were shining and it was clear they were harbouring evil intent.

Grelin saw that Trip and Alex didn’t eat their food and his smile froze as he coldly said “Eat.”

Trip and Alex immediately obeyed as they apologised. The taste was actually not that bad, well at least compared to the aroma. It tasted like soggy cardboard, which is fairly cold wet and tasteless. After the dinner Grelin brought the pair to their rooms. They were right next to each other, but Trip felt really afraid when he was split from Alex.

Trip walked into his room and went to lie in bed. Even though he was terrified it seemed that he was still able to fall asleep properly. When Trip woke up it was silent. Too silent. He could hear his blood flowing and his heart beating. Trip got out of bed and walked out of his room to sneak into Alex’s room. Trip saw Alex sitting in his bed shivering.

Alex turned to Trip and said “Do you feel it. Please tell me you feel it as well.”

His eyes seemed to plead that Trip felt what he felt, but Trip felt no such thing. Trip looked at Alex and asked “What do you feel?”

Alex didn’t respond and just started to scream. His face turned pale and his eyes bloodshot. ‘Something is wrong. What is happening?’ He turned to Alex and tried to use water healing on him. The moment Trip touched Alex he turned to dust. That was it. Alex just disappeared into a million pieces. There was nothing left, but just dust.

Trip was hyperventilating. ‘What have we gotten ourselves into? Was Alex really dead? Will I die?’ these were all thoughts that went through Trips head. He closed his eyes and the world around him turned to black.

When Trip opened his eyes again he was back in his bed. He didn’t have the same feeling as before. ‘Was that just a dream? No. It was way too real; it might have been an illusion.’ Trip remembered that he read a book where it described that certain plants could allow the user to experience terrifying and realistic illusions. Trip decided that it was probably something Grelin gave him.

Time kept passing. Every day was the same. They would wake up and do something with Grelin. Then they would go back to bed and Trip would experience a weird illusion dream before waking again and restarting the process. Alex seemed to have gotten completely used to it, but Trip still felt something strange. There was something wrong with the world.

For some reason Grelin kept bringing Trip to the pond. Trip would stare into the water for ages. Every day he felt himself get weaker and weaker, almost as if he was losing his soul. One day he looked into the water and realised something. Why was there no reflection? There was enough light so why? Trip poked the water and suddenly realised something. This was the illusion. The life they were living, the manor, the garden, and especially the pond. It was all fake, but how could he break such an illusion.

Trip went up to Grelin after he visited the pond and asked “Are you a real person?”

Grelin smiled and tears welled up in his eyes “You realised that it was an illusion! Now all you have to do is execute the plan!”

Trip was surprised and confused. Why would Grelin need Trip to get out of here? If he was so powerful then couldn’t he just get out of here by himself?

Grelin then said “I was tricked into this world. And by the time I found out it was an illusion I had already lost too much of my soul to fight back. This world has a consciousness; therefore I couldn’t talk to you that much. It is actually draining my soul as I talk to you. I’m afraid my physical body is already gone. The reason you were the one I lured into here was because you were the only one who noticed. I'm just happy you didn’t follow your friend and that you kept your mind sane.”

“Now listen closely” Grelin said “You’re going to need to host my soul. I know it sounds confusing, but this is the only way for all of us to stay alive. You need to absorb my soul now, and then grab your friend. I can release enough power to break a tiny part of the illusion for a second, at that moment you have to rush out within a second.”

Trip was shocked. The amount of information entering his brain was almost too much to handle, but he had no time to think about it. The longer that Grelin disobeyed the world the weaker he would get. Trip rushed off and picked up Alex then ran back to Grelin.

Grelin nodded at Trip and asked “Are you ready?”

To which Trip replied “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Grelin then started the procedure. Trip felt strange as he felt Grelin’s soul go inside him. It wasn’t painful, but there was a strange tingling feeling. Suddenly Trip heard Grelin’s in his head ‘Can you hear me?’ Trip replied with a yes and the plan commenced.

Grelin used the last of his power to shoot a strange bolt at the water in the pool opening up a part of the illusion. Before it even opened Trip rushed forward. He barely made it through, and he could only see darkness for a while, before the world appeared before him. He looked around and saw the room Alex and him were in several days before, with the luminescent flowers.

Alex woke up groggily and said “W-What happened?”

Trip laughed and shouted “WE’RE ALIVE!”