“You need to go,” Joe Hefty began. “You are three months behind on your rent. All you do is sit here in a box in my living room with that freaky chipmunk. Unless you can actually get up off of your lazy butt and get a job, then by God I-”

I raised a hand to silence him. “My boy, all you do is talk,” I stated smoothly and calmly. “Take a second to be silent and enjoy the little things in life, like the soothing sounds of the city.” As if on cue, a car alarm went off and a dog began barking and growling. “Not those sounds, the other ones.”

“I’m not buying into that crap,” Joe shouted with a defiant stomp of his foot. “You may be a self proclaimed philosopher, but that will get you nowhere in life. My God, it’s like you don’t even-“

I raised my hand once again. “You keep throwing that name around. I don’t believe in God, for He is merely an excuse for the good and bad things that happen in life. Besides,” I smiled devilishly and lowered my voice slightly, “if I believed in God, I would be the Antichrist.” I snickered and slowly rose up out of my little cardboard box.

“Yeah right,” Joe scoffed. “You have never done anything wrong in your miserable 42 years of life. You can’t hold down a job, you never even try to look for one anymore, and you keep rambling on about this Golgothol or whatever.”

I gripped the collar of his shirt and pulled him close to me. “His name is Gol-Goroth, and I will cut out your tongue if you insult him in such a way again.” I released him and cleared my throat in an attempt to compose myself. “If you want me to leave, then I shall leave. Just know that I will be back, and when we speak, it will not be nearly so pleasant. Come now Rin, we must be off.”

My furry little companion climbed out of the box and ran up the leg of my jeans to my shoulder. He gently nudged my cheek with his head. I scratched under his chin and grabbed the box off of the floor. With a final wave to Joe, I turned to the door and strode out of his house with a skip in my step. However, once I closed the door behind me, my shoulders and heart sank like a rock thrown into a lake.

“What are we to do now?” I asked Rin, not expecting a response. “Now we have no place to stay, no food, and no job. We barely have makeshift shelter with this box.” I began to walk forward but was stopped by a strange presence. It felt as though there were an immensely powerful being standing near me. The world slowly darkened as the sky became black as ink.

I turned around hoping to enter the house again, but it had vanished. Slowly the entire world around me disappeared into the emptiness of the sky. The streets became liquid and rushed up into the sky; the buildings and trees became a mist and blew away as though a great wind had pounded into them. This went on for only about thirty seconds, but it felt like ages passed. Eventually all that was left was me, Rin, and the porch where I stood. A sound began to ring all around me. I could not discern what it was at first, but as it grew louder, it became clearer. It was deep, maniacal laughter. It didn’t sound human in the slightest.

What appeared to be smoke came down from the sky and began to circle around me. I slowly reached out my hand toward it. Could this really be you? I thought ecstatically. Have you finally come to make me one of your Dark Priests?

Rin began chattering nervously. I had forgotten he was there. I reached up to my shoulder and scratched behind his ear reassuringly. The smoke stopped circling me and began to manifest into another form before my very eyes. It writhed and shuddered as it slowly became the form of a large black toad with deep, glistening red eyes.

“Gol-Goroth,” I said breathlessly. He had finally come to our world, finally come to me. This was what I had been waiting for for many years. “How may I serve you, Great Old One?”

The toad grinned evilly and looked directly into my eyes. “You can start by telling me your name,” it said in a deep and monotonous voice. “Never mind that, I know your name. You are Joseph Blowmere, or ‘Joe Blow,’ as your friends call you. You are a very strong willed individual, as well as considered very handsome in the eyes of mortal women. Is this true?”

I nodded in disbelief. How did he know so much about me? “You are correct my Lord. I shall do whatever I must to serve you.”

Gol-Goroth’s eyes opened wider and his grin faded. “Anything?” I nodded and kneeled. “First you will kill that little furry creature on your shoulder. I do not appreciate the way it is looking at me.”

I looked over to Rin with sadness in my heart. He looked back at me and curled up on my shoulder. “If I may speak, my Lord, Rin is the only friend that I have had in a long time. I found him when he was starving and broken on the side of the street. I nursed him back to health, and we have been inseparable ever since.” I looked up at Gol-Goroth. “Must I kill him?”

Gol-Goroth looked at me with disgust. “If you will not kill it, then I will.” He then shot his tongue out and grabbed hold of Rin. Rin shrieked in pain and horror as he was pulled into the toad’s mouth. I reached out in an attempt to keep him from this gruesome fate, but by the time I acted, it was already too late. Gol-Goroth slammed his mouth shut and chewed maliciously.

“You monster!” I shouted. “That was my only friend! Now I have nobody…” I rested my head in my hands.

“Now do you see what happens when you do not obey me?” Gol-Goroth snickered. “Now I shall banish you to Purgatory, a Hell of your own design. Have fun on the Isle of Fear, mortal!”

The world went completely silent and dark. I could not even see my hand directly in front of my face. Suddenly, a blinding light flashed. I raised my arms up to cover my eyes. The light died down after about five seconds, and I dropped my hands. What I saw was a sight I had hoped I would never have to see.

I was stranded on an island.

Most people are afraid of spiders, fire, even mice. I love spiders, grew up playing with fire, and had a pet mouse once. There was only one thing that I was ever scared of, and that was being stranded on an island. I looked up into the sky and screamed, knowing that I had no hope of ever returning home or seeing my dear friend Rin again.