Chapter Two

The Disturbing Morning

Shortly after everyone left, Fred received a phone call.

“Fred Moore?”

“Yes?”

“We regret to let you know; your parents were in a drunk driving accident involving an eighteen-wheeler.”

The line went dead, leading Fred to believe that it was some cruel prankster.

Fred waited up until late, but knew his parents likely wouldn’t return soon, as they worked very long hours more often than not. With a sinking feeling in his gut, he tried to sleep. Unsuccessfully.

The next morning, as he approached the regular meeting spot at school, he noticed Tanya and Kate looking visibly upset, Zach, John and Stan were all pale.

“Fred, did you get a call about your parents and a drunk driving accident?”

“I thought it was a cruel prank, with how quickly the caller hung up, and that it was a blocked caller ID.”

“So did we. But none of our parents showed back up. And that’s not all.”

“What do you…?”

“Hey, no loitering!”

The principal, Mr. Schwartz yelled at them from across the courtyard.

“I don’t know who you kids are, but only students who are enrolled here should be here. Get out!”

They all looked at each other, stunned.

Zach looked at Fred.

“That’s the third time he’s done this, this morning. No-one I’ve talked to, or even had classes with recognizes me, or any of us. Even our teachers claimed they’ve never seen us in their lives.”

Fred was visibly disturbed, contemplating what was going on when Tanya spoke up.

“My parent’s phones were deactivated, and all their accounts disappeared, I’ve checked with the companies. My accounts did too. There’s no records of me or my parents anywhere.”

“Same.”

Everyone but Stan and Fred echoed. He hadn’t checked anything like that. He felt a cold chill up his spine. Stan’s parents had disappeared when he was younger, he was told, and so he stayed with his grandmother.

“I think…we’re being forced into a decision.” Why are their reactions so muted? Especially Tanya, who normally snaps and rages at even the smallest things. Something is really wrong here.

Fred said hesitantly. Everyone looked at him as though he had grown a third eye.

“Hear me out. In mythology, someone would be given a ‘fair offer’ or a ‘choice’, then shortly after, circumstances would happen that would force them into making a choice. Often the one that the offeror wants them to.”

“I want to say your pulling this mythological nerd crap out of your ass Fred, but after checking everything, maybe you’re onto something.”

Tanya said haltingly, getting an odd look from Kate. Tanya, agreeing with Fred? Surely, the apocalypse was nigh if this was happening.

“Hey, I can be reasonable. Sometimes…”

Tanya looked away as John, Stan and Zach all shared a look and nodded.

“Should we go to Fred’s place and discuss it then?”

Fred tilted his head.

“Why my place? Didn’t Zach take the die and letter with him?”

Zach nodded.

“Yeah, but it seems you’re the only one that didn’t get tossed out of your own place by the realtors. They thought no one had been renting my place for the last twenty years”.

Fred shook his head. What is going on here? None of this makes any sense.

“I saw people in suits walking towards it after I left, but let’s see if I got tossed out or not.”

No-one was in Fred’s house as they walked in, nothing had been disturbed. However, on the table, was something disturbing. The letter and the die.

Zach was confused, patting his pockets, finding them empty. And they were in the exact same spot as last night.

“What in the hell is going on?”

Kate and Tanya said together, looking apprehensively at the items.

They all gathered around the letter and die, rereading what they had seen the night previous. All exactly the same.

“I…think we should do it. We don’t have much other choice, do we?”

No-one answered Zach directly, but they all knew in their guts, that he was right.

They all placed their hands near the letter and die, and feeling as though something else was speaking through them, they spoke as one;

“I wish to leave my mundane life behind for adventure, honor and glory. I knowingly risk my life, sanity, mind and very soul in exchange for this. I willingly enter this new world of Magick and Steel, Miracles and Horrors, and acknowledge I will be given a guide to this new world and it’s rules and laws, and that I shall enter the world in a safe town until I can comprehend what this new world is about. Safety is a luxury, not a guarantee.”

A laugh. A scream. Everything went white, then faded to black. They had been claimed by the world made by the Khazam, unable to return ever again. Or so they thought.