Chapter 2: The Surrealistic Domicile and The ‘Pipe Dream’

Well, while Jessica and I looked around the town, which wasn’t very big, I noticed something…there were no cars and the road was made with flat stones instead of harsh concrete. She introduced me to some of her friends. Shane Miller, Dan Curtis and Sarah Lexy. Shane was the oldest at 17 and probably 6 feet tall. Sarah is the second oldest at the age of 16 standing at 5, 6”. Dan was the youngest, he was 15 and only a few months younger that Jessica. Dan was just as tall as Shane though.

Shane has blonde short hair that barely covered his eyes which were covered by sunglasses. He is polite and smart guy from what I have seen of him. He greeted me with a kind face and a few questions about where I was from. I answered his questions but he couldn’t help me with my problem. But Dan on the other hand was rude and seemed a little spiteful.

“I can’t stand outsiders…Why are we even bothering to talk to this guy” Dan said as he turn his head and his brown devil lock haircut followed.

Shane slapped him in the back of the head. Shane then looked at Dan with a look of disapproval.

Sarah was quite different from the other two, she was quite energetic. She also spoke fast and seemed jumpy and happy most of the time. Her hair was black and set in a ponytail fashion.

“Any friend of Jessica’s is a friend my mine.” Sarah said with a smile, fully knowing how cliché of a line it was.

After meeting them, we just walked around the town and I learned a lot about it. Like when you turn fifteen, you can own your own house. Also, the drinking age is 18. But Shane says that he won’t drink the “poison”. He says his father was a horrible alcoholic and he doesn’t want to be the same way when he has children. They explained to me that the ages use to be higher but then Sylotac took a survey and discovered that even by fifteen that the teenager is able to move out of his or her parent’s house and move to their own and still be successful. They said it was because Sylotac has the best school in all the land. They all say they hated it and say it was the best in education but the worst when trying to keep students sane.

It eventually got late so Jessica took me to her house since I didn’t have a place to stay the night. She had a guest room I could stay in.

Probably an hour or two has past since I had laid down. I can’t seem to fall asleep. The night air is as cold as a demon’s slowly creeping breath. The darkness and eeriness of the night feels like hell had opened up and had swallowed your heart and blood. The silence was disturbing, usually back at Minnesota I would hear someone’s music blaring or some loud car passing by…but here, it is nothing but silence. I just looked up at the ceiling or what I could see of it through the dark. With all this peace and quiet, I still can’t get to sleep. I eventually fell asleep. But something was weird…My dream was about Sylotac, but I didn’t know what building I was in. All of a sudden I heard…

“We cannot keep him here!” whispered a man in a black business styled suit.

“But what are we suppose to tell them?” whispered another man in the same attire.

“I don’t know. But if we keep him here, it will be the end of Sylotac.” Responded the first man.

After they were done arguing, they walked into a room that held a woman that looked happy but just looked like she just over came one of the toughest battles of her life. I couldn’t hear anything they said in there but I knew it wasn’t good because the woman in the room started to cry. Then all of a sudden, I hear a voice behind me.

“Do you know who that woman is?” I turned around and saw a man with slicked back black hair and an outfit that looks like it is something Scar Face would wear.

“Do you know who that woman is?” he repeats. I can’t bring myself to words. I just simply shake my head. “That woman right there is your mother.” He said as he approached me slowly. I was speechless, I couldn’t move.

“They just told her that you died sometime after birth…which is obviously a lie.” he stated. I finally brought myself to say something.

“Who are you?” I shouted.

“Who am I?” the man said in semi-puzzlement. “Who am I? For years I have been trying to discover myself. Well, I guess a simple answer would be…your father.” Again I was stunned. “What ‘they did’ with you was send you through…well not exactly a portal to a different world but a world of your own. They saw a mark on you.” he continued as he poked at my side. I checked it and a scar of a mosaic temple style symbol of a dragon biting his tail and three more doing the same thing farther within the circle.

I said, “That wasn’t there before…”

“Of course it wasn’t” he interrupted. “It is only visible when you are in Sylotac.”

“What does it mean?” I asked trying not to be interruptive.

“It is the mark of four dragons. Kind of metaphorical type things…like destruction, mayhem, yadda yadda or so they say. They believed that you were Sylotac’s demise. It was said long ago that a great evil would destroy the land and this evil would carry a mark of four dragons. But I figure one who listens to the elders too much is bound to go crazy. Plus I don‘t see things as good and evil, I believe it is all perspective. ”

“But if you are here…then where is mom?” I shouted.

“Your quite a question asker, aren’t you?” he said with a chuckle. “Well unfortunately. I am dead from lung cancer, don’t smoke, so I decided to visit your dream and explain a few things. Your mother is still alive and in her protective 40’s. She never believed you died in the first place.” He sighed looking somewhere yonder. “But now she just sits in a rocking chair and is not doing much anymore. “

“So, what does the symbol mean if it doesn‘t mean destruction?” I asked calmly as I see him staring into space.

“Well, I think it means you are to help Sylotac. That mark is a mark of Ouroboros. A popular symbol.” My father stated.

“A symbol frequently used in alchemic illustrations” I quickly added “Used in many beliefs…”

“Correct.” He interrupted. “Those beliefs you know of from the world you lived in is actually taken from beliefs that actually existed one point in this world. But there was a group of people called the Extraho Fides or A.K.A the Dragon Belief…we weren’t sure on their full belief, but one day the ‘elder ones’ or as I like to call them. Old men who are too full of their own shit and wanted to seem useful to the town. Anyways, they said that the Extraho Fides is going to bring evil to the town. So the council of Sylotac had banned them from Sylotac streets. The elders also said to get rid of anyone that holds the symbol that represents the Extraho Fides. So it begins. The people believed that the dragon that was marked on people’s skin represented Jörmungandr …The dragon from the Norse Mythology. They thought it represented evil. The creature that would release his poison into the sky and during the final battle would be slain by Thor.”

“But then he would walk nine steps then die from the poison” I completed.

“Good, you know your Mythology.” He commented with a grin. “But the Dragon Belief doesn’t even believe in Thor, so it wouldn’t be Jörmungandr. But something was weird the night they tried to get rid of you. The temperature dropped unusually, the sky was filled with clouds and the sky was also red…the next day the same people that ‘got rid’ of you were babbling on about a dragon telling them about something with the end of the world. I also found out after dying that the dragon took you out of this world, for you to return someday…”

“Maybe that has to do with the sign I saw” I whispered to myself…must have said it loud enough for my father to hear. Because the next thing I know, he is grabbing me by both shoulders.

“What sign?” He said with alertness in his voice. “What sign!?!”

His grip became tighter. But I closed my eyes and pushed him away…when I opened my eyes…he was gone. I heard a thick low laughter then I looked to the side of me. A dark cloud approached me. The presence of the cloud drove me colder than ever. My mind went blank, I wanted to move, but I couldn’t move, my legs felt like they were gripped by the concrete. The cloud moved closer to me. I saw a large grey boney hand reached out of the cloud. It was getting closer with every second that passed. But for some reason I did not fear it. It’s laughter eventually went away when the hand was merely a couple feet in front of me. Suddenly a loud roar came from the cloud as the hand begins to close on me. But I did not panic. I stood my ground. The darkness started to cover my eyes as the hand closed. The cold air started to swirl around me. But in the darkness, I saw light, I saw a bright figure from the spaces of the of the fingers. Soon I could see it more clearly as it literally swallowed the cloud. It was a HUGE white serpent like dragon. My eyes widen as it headed for me. I could move again, but instead of running, I was moving towards the dragon. The dragon started to circle me closely. He stopped right in front of me, lifting his head. His eyes were gold and bright. While he looked at me, I found out who he was. The dragon that represents me, the dragon that started it all for me, the Ouroboros.

“Ouroboros…” is all I could say.

With a loud exhale that almost pushed me of my feet, the Ouroboros nods his head. A beautiful creature right in front of me. A creature only dreamt about in the imagination of those who still wish. A creature that puts the most beautiful paintings to shame. Eyes that are more valuable than the most perfect Diamond. More vicious teeth than all of the world’s weapons. Hair so smooth and gentle, it looks like it is made of silk and velvet. The scales; tougher than steel and twice as much of a shine. A creature that words do no justice.

But my vision of beauty is quickly interrupted as the dragon flies away as fast as it had appeared. The dream starts to disappear before my eyes. As soon as I know it, I am back in the bed I feel asleep in. I heard struggling from the other room.

“Let go of me!!!” I heard Jessica shout.

“Shut up and this won’t hurt.” I heard from an unfamiliar voice.

I got up and slowly crept to the other room and what I saw was two men and Jessica. One of the men was holding Jessica down to her bed while the other was preparing a needle full of some kind of liquid. I rushed in with a yell and punched the man with the needle. His friend got up and headed towards me. I could barely see him in the moon light. I threw a punch, hoping I would hit him. And with a enough luck, the punch connected. The first guy stood up and lifted up his partner as they ran for the door. I didn’t bother chasing them, I went to Jessica to make sure she was alright.

“What happened? Who were they? What were they doing?”

But before she could answer my question, I saw a bruise on her neck.

“Stay here, I’m going to get some ice.” I headed towards the freezer. I grabbed a pack of ice and small towel. I rapped the towel around the ice pack and placed it on her neck. I told her to hold it there.

“Now, what exactly happened?” I asked as I sat next to her on the bed.

“I don’t know.” She replied in a light whispering tone.

“Well, are you okay?” I asked knowing we weren’t going to find out anything while we both were still tired.

“I think so.” She responded as a tear went down her cheek.

“Please don’t cry. We can settle this in the morning. I swear we will get them back.” I said, hoping that she would cheer up. But she continued to cry and tried to make an effort to smile to show my support was appreciated. I could still tell she was still scared. I wanted to tell her everything I just found out, but what if she thinks if I was lying? What if it was just all a dream? What if telling her, puts her endanger? Well she has dealt with enough, so I just kept it to myself. The sun began to rise. We decided to get the sleep we could. The feeling of the cold seemed to go away. The harsh hollowness of night has fled. Sleep became more peaceful