Bill awoke again, while attempting to open his eyes, he discovered that he was still in a gigantic warehouse. He sat up and gathered himself then slowly got on his feet. He looked around to see if he had missed something in this warehouse since the last time he was conscious. It looked the same as he remembered. He began walking around the perimeter of the warehouse searching for an exit, a window, a door, or even a weakness in a wall.
“You can’t get out of here.” came a voice from toward the center of the warehouse.
Bill turned around to see where the voice had come from. That’s when he saw a middle aged man standing in the center of the warehouse wearing some type of military uniform.
“Who are you? Where did you come from? What am I doing here?”
“Bill… relax, my name is General Saki and you have been chosen by the government to participate in a special research project.”
“How do you know my name? What do you want? Why me?”
“We know everything about you Bill. Come over here and let me explain it to you.”
Bill began to walk over to General Saki and noticed something strange about the man standing there. He had no pupils, his eyes were blank. Bill was frightened. “What is wrong with your eyes? Are you blind or something?”
The man began to laugh hysterically. “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not, but the truth is that it doesn’t matter.”
Just then, the general seemed to vanish right into thin air. Something reappeared in it’s place and Bill was horrified by what he was looking at. He had never seen anything like it. Standing where the general was, appeared to be some type of alien or perhaps a demon, something he knew could not exist, but here he was looking right at it.
“What are you…?” said Bill as he stumbled backwards away from the creature.
“Do not be afraid, for you have nothing to fear…yet,” said the demon in a low pitched raspy voice. “We will play a game, and if you win, I will let you live, but if you fail, you will die.”
Shaken by what he had just heard and terrified by the evil sound of this creature, Bill began to hyperventilate, and then…everything became familiarly dark, his vision dimmed, and he blacked out.
***************
“Hi Jim, thanks for meeting me here on such short notice.”
“Anything for Bill. So Sheriff tell me what you know so far.”
“Basically here is what I know at this point. Bill was out last night with you at Hotspot. When he left, he decided to leave his car and walk home. It appears that he may have tried to take a shortcut through Jefferson Pond or perhaps he got lost. He ended up on the pond which wasn’t completely frozen. He fell through and Farmer Vincent called 911. By the time the fire department rescued him from the water, he was unconscious and nearly frozen to death. They stabilized him at the hospital but he remains in a coma and unconscious. Okay, now it’s your turn Jim.”
The waitress arrived with their coffee. “Thank you ma’am.”
“Sure, is there anything else I can get you gentlemen?”
“No ma’am” answered Sheriff Ryan, “We are just fine, thank you.”
“If you need anything, let me know.”
Jim picked up the coffee cup, put it up to his nose, and inhaled deeply. “I love the smell of coffee in the morning.” Just as quickly as he picked up the coffee he set it back down and began talking.
“Okay Sheriff, here’s my version of what happened last night. I met Bill at the bar as we had planned. We sat and drank for several hours while Bill did his usual routine of complaining about relationship problems and the works. Since his divorce this has been pretty typical of Bill, he never seems to be satisfied with any of his relationships. As his friend, I sat there and listened, as I’ve sat through all the years listening, but the story is always the same, only the women change.”
Jim paused and took a sip of his coffee; satisfied he set the cup back down and continued.
“I told him exactly that last night Sheriff. I said Bill, I’ve been your friend through all of this and you need to figure this out yourself. It’s the same story over and over again. I told him I didn’t mind coming down to listen to him but that I missed the old Bill and that lately all he ever talked about was how terrible his relationships were. I left him shortly after 1AM and that was the last I saw of him. He was in the bar and that’s as far as I know about him or anything he was planning on doing. He didn’t mention walking. I know he always drives so I have no idea what was going on in his head that night.”
Sheriff Ryan put his hand to his chin and rubbed his beard, mulling over what Jim had said.
“That’s it?”
“Yes, that’s it Sheriff. Our entire conversation evolved around Valerie and he had not said anything about where he was going or what he was doing after the bar and I didn’t inquire. I figured he’d get in his car and just drive home.”
“Speaking of Valerie…she died in a car accident last night on her way to see Bill.”
Shocked and unsure of how to respond to what he had just heard Jim sat there for a minute before responding.
“Poor Bill, I can’t believe all of that could happen in such a short period of time to someone. I guess…I guess what they say is true, that life is short and live each day like it’s your last. It’s kind of sad how people forget about this bit of wisdom and take life for granted until something like this happens.”
“Makes you pause and reflect on your life hey Jim?”
“Yes it certainly does Sheriff…it certainly does.”
Jim began to stare out the window in a trance as if he were contemplating the meaning of his own life.
The Sheriff interrupted his thought process
“Well Jim, thanks for coming down to see me. This doesn’t really explain what Bill was doing walking but I appreciate all the information you provided. I don’t mean to be rude but I have to get down to Hotspot and see if I can learn anything there.”
“It’s okay Sheriff, I hope you figure something else out and I hope Bill comes out of this alright.”
With that, Sheriff Ryan bid Jim farewell and left Jolene’s Coffee Shop. Jim, however, stayed and finished the rest of his coffee.
“Excuse me ma’am?”
The waitress turned around to face Jim, “Yes sir?”
“May I have a cup of this coffee to go?”
“Sure sir, I’ll get that right away for you.”
The waitress returned with the coffee, Jim paid his tab, left the waitress a nice tip, and left.
***************
Bill opened his eyes and looked around. He was still in the warehouse. “Good” he thought, “I must have imagined that horrifying creature, for a minute I thought I had lost my mind. But what am I still doing here in this warehouse and where the hell am I?”
Just then the Imp appeared several feet away. It had its eyes closed and was completely silent in a meditation type state and pose. All of the fear he had felt earlier came rushing back in an instant. He realized he hadn’t imagined this at all. He must be having a nightmare he thought to himself. He began pinching his arm in hopes that he would wake up, nothing happened.
He started to calm down as the Imp sat there immobile and silent. He began to study the creature intensely from head to toe.
He noticed this creature had long floppy ears. Its eyes were huge and it had horns and fangs that protruded from its mouth. It was an unusual green color and it’s skin looked like a cross between a crocodile and a frog. It had a tail that was almost the same length as its body which ended in a hard point like some sort of bone was protruding from the end, perhaps it could be used as a weapon he thought. Where there should have been fingers and toes there were claws, they reminded him of a raptor. He jumped back startled as the creature opened its eyes and stared directly at Bill, unblinking and unmoving.
After what seemed like eternity, he couldn’t take it anymore, “What do you want with me?” he yelled at the imp.
“Bill…Bill…Bill” said the demon in its evil low pitched intolerable voice, “It’s not what I want with you, it’s what you want for yourself. Do you truly not understand why you are here?”
“I have absolutely no idea why I am here, and you, you’re not even real. I am just having a nightmare, you’ll see, eventually I will wake up.”
“You will never wake up or leave this place in any other fashion but death by your own hand. Unless you can survive The Island.”
“The Island? What is that?”
“Oh no Bill, you mine as well kill yourself now, you won’t make it on The Island. No one ever makes it through their wildest dreams alive.”
“Demon, tell me what must I do to get out of here. I do not wish to be here in your presence any longer. If this is a nightmare and I wake up at some point, then I have nothing to lose by going along with what you say for now.”
“Bill, they say curiosity killed the cat, but it’s not true. I killed the cat, I always take the lives of those who aren’t willing to do what it takes to survive. You are weak Bill, that’s why you are here. The Island is something you created in your mind. It is your ultimate fantasy but you do not have the will power to make it through The Island, no one and no thing ever does. If you had that will power you would not be here, you would be living your dream right now. I will tell you about The Island, but I must warn you, things are not always what they appear to be. It would be better if you killed yourself now to save me some time, but I will entertain you and tell you about your precious Island if you wish.”
Bill was getting used to staring at this creature and was no longer as afraid as he probably ought to be. He was more interested in hearing what this creature had to say so he could end this nightmare.
“Go on and tell me then.”
“As you wish.”
The creature stood up and moved closer to bill so that he was no more than a few feet from his face. Bill cowered back a little bit, unsure of what to do. Then the creature began to speak.
“The Island is a self-created concept that you yourself have been developing subconsciously without being aware of it. You have had many problems with relationships Bill. You have blamed your problems on everything and everyone but yourself. You have made excuses, blamed others, and more, but never yourself. On the Island you will be given a chance to prove that it is not you but everyone else. If you accept your fate, the next time you awake you will awake on an Island and you will be with the woman of your dreams, created in your own mind and image. If you are able to replicate what you call the perfect relationship or as fairy tales call it, “Happily Ever After” I will send you back to your world. If you cannot, you will likely drive yourself insane and end up taking your own life, as many others have before you.”
Bill laughed, “That doesn’t sound hard at all, what’s the catch?”
“There is no catch, however, should you not be man enough to take your own life, simply repeat the word Azreal, three times in succession, and I will come take your life for you and put you out of your misery.”
“Why the word Azrael?”
The demon let out a loud maniacal laugh. “It is my name, I am the Archangel of Death, and you will not beat me at my own game to save your life.”
The demon continued laughing maniacally and Bill was afraid again. Then suddenly the demon vanished.
“Wait,” Bill called out, “I want to go to The Island now, you can’t just leave me here!”
Bill noticed smoke began filling the warehouse. He started to choke and then he realized the entire building was on fire. “The demon was lying he thought to himself, he means to kill me right here and now.”
The building ignited very quickly, Bill began yelling for help while running the perimeter of the warehouse trying to find a way out. The smoke was too thick. Once again, he took his last breath, his vision dimmed, and he fell into a deep, deep, sleep not knowing or caring if he should ever awake again.
Leave a Reply