My name is James Stronach. You don’t know me, and if They have anything to say about it, you never will. I write this in the hopes that one day people will learn the truth about our world. If you wish to learn, read on. But be warned: what you will read will not only put you in danger, but open your mind to things you never could have imagined exist.

The week before Thanksgiving break at Bastille High School was always a hectic one. This year was no different. Teachers were stressing the importance of mid-terms (without giving any real reasons why), and everywhere you looked all you could see was football. Jocks, airheads and mouth breathers everywhere you looked.

Truly paradise… until one day.

By the time fourth period rolled around I was in my usual heightened excitement for history, it being my favorite subject and all. The normal lecture full of humor only I laughed at was about halfway finished. 

“Today we will be discussing the Montauk Project. This event occurred right here in Montauk. The government was performing experiments on people. They were dabbling into time-travel, teleportation, time-travel, teleportation, mind control, etc. Some people say that they did some of these experiments in the old factory down by old man Hopper’s place.” My interest peaked. I had heard about this before. I had visited that old factory before. I had an idea. He would never go for it…or would he? Ding! There was that bell again, creating chaos school wide.

Intriguing. Stuff like that had always been my forte. I wandered down the halls to lunch contemplating this new idea. I sat down and opened my lunch. “Tuna again!” I exclaimed.

“Bro, I think your mom’s trying to feed me more than you.” And there he was, my best friend in the whole world: Alexander Ettore. His short and round build walked toward our table, slow and steady. His bright green eyes looked at the tuna with a look akin to the cheerleaders’ whenever Victoria’s Secret has a sale on lingerie.

He sat down and started tearing into that tuna sandwich my mom had packed me, his gay pride necklace swinging back and forth as he chewed. “I have an idea,” I said, trying to repress the excitement I felt bubbling within. He stopped chewing instantly; his necklace swung to a still. He swallowed, and without even looking at me he said, “No.”

“Come on, Alex! You don’t even know what I was going to say!” I said.

“Whatever it is, I don’t want to be a part of it. The last time you had an idea it nearly got me killed!”

“Your eyebrows grew back!” I said, slightly laughing at the memory. “At least hear me out.”

He put down the sandwich and looked me in the eyes. He stared for a while. I knew what he was doing, he always did it when I had an idea. “Fine” he said rather grudgingly.

“What if, and don’t interrupt me, we went and looked around inside that old factory by Hopper’s place?”

“I’d say no,” he began, “but it’d be no use. You’ve already got your mind made up.” He took a slow, deep breath. “When?” he asked, trying without success to keep the excitement and curiosity out of his voice.

“Tonight at 8:00,” I said, fully embracing my excitement.

“How am I supposed to get away?”

“Tell your grandma you’re coming over to my house. I’ll tell my mom I’m going over to your house.”

“All right, 8:00.”

When 8:00 rolled around, my excitement had reached a point I didn’t think possible. Waiting by the fence with flashlight in hand and backpack slung over shoulder was torture. When Alex finally showed up, he looked daunted. “How are we supposed to get over the fence?” he asked incredulously. Admittedly, the ten-foot-high fence with barbed wire on top was not part of my original plan. A quick survey of my surroundings wove a tale of fence hopping so great, it was almost destined to fail, but what’s the fun in trying if you don’t fail a few times? “See all those cement blocks over there?” He nodded his head. “We’re going to stack those up as a platform, then you’re going to lift me up and over the fence while I hold down the barbed wire with that two by four over there.” A plan so crazy it just might work? Well, I certainly thought so. We did as the plan required, and once we were both over we looked around.

The fall breeze blew bits of paper across the concrete. The shipping door was slightly raised, so we made our way to it. As the sun sank below the horizon, it cast eerie shadows inside the small chamber we found ourselves in. As we made our way to the door that gave us passage to the rest of the factory, we clicked on our flashlights. Alex approached the door and tried to open it. “It’s locked.”

“Let me look at it,” I said, pushing him aside. After many attempts, the door remained stationary. “Alex,” I said, pulling as hard as I could on the door, “you aren’t being very much help.”

“Sitting here, eating 3 Musketeers? Sounds pretty helpful to numero uno. Did you try picking the lock?”

I turned around irritably. “Of course, I tried picking the damn lock! Who do you think I am, some moronic-” I hadn’t tried picking the lock. I dug around in my bag and found a paperclip. I bent it to the correct shape, inserted it into the key hole and presto change-o, the door swung forward slowly with a loud, high pitched creak. The room was large, echo-y, and pitch black, the only light coming from our flashlights. As we walked around, our footsteps reverberated throughout the entire building. Our beams of light danced on the wall, the ceiling, and then when it flashed through the dead center of the room, we saw it.

It was tall and symmetrical.  The main structure was made of a crystal-like substance with metal bits in the corners. The crystal formed something that looked like the Washington monument. Coming from the point of it was something that looked like a satellite dish. We approached cautiously, as people often do with strange things they don’t fully understand. “What is that?” Alexander asked, hanging back. I pondered it, not entirely sure, so I responded so. As we approached, the pounding in my ears coming from my rapidly beating heart drowned out the deafening silence. As we reached arm’s length, I extended my hand to touch the main tower. It was smooth and cool. The edges were precise, but not sharp. I could see my own brown hair and sea-green eyes staring back at me. As I stepped closer still, I knew something was instantly weird. It was that kind of guttural feeling, you know? Kind of like spider-sense. One second my hand was pressed against the solid greenish hued crystal, and the next I was lying flat on my face inside it.

Alarms blared and red lights were flashing everywhere. The metal corners jumped to life and started closing in an X fashion. “James! James, get out of there! Get out! Hurry-” I pounded my fist against the crystal as hard as I could. I yelled for Alex to help me at the top of my lungs. He kept right on yelling like he couldn’t see or hear me. Steam had started pouring out of the sides as the metal continued to close over my only escape route. I tried in vain to break through once more. I yelled out to Alex one more time before the metal sealed itself shut.

Darkness. Silence. My own agonizing thoughts of the inescapable death that now faced me. These were the only things available to me in this newfound prison. There are no words to describe the agonizing loneliness and depression that faced me in that moment. Then a strange light began to glow in the top point of the crystal. It slowly got brighter and brighter, encompassing more and more of the greenish gem. The light was blinding now. Nothing but bright white, blazing light. At the risk of blindness, I snuck a quick glance up at the center-point of my cell. The moment I did it felt like someone had just turned on a shop-vac inside the crystal. My entire body felt as if it were being unceremoniously ripped from my previous standing position into a less graceful superman flying position. I shut my eyes against the now rushing wind.

The next thing I knew, I had stopped moving altogether. I cautiously opened my eyes and found nothing. When I say nothing, I mean it was literally just white as far as the eye could see. There was no floor, no ceiling, no walls, no anything. I floated there, suspended by…something. Then someone switched on the shop-vac once again. My eyes sealed themselves shut against the wind, and I braced for the worst. I stopped again and opened my eyes to find something beyond imagination. I was at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I could see Paris for miles. The air smelled of  baguettes. Then the scene changed again. I was at the Taj Mahal looking at the reflection in the pool. Then it changed once again. I was at once hit with a blast of cool, salty air as I looked out over the Sydney Opera House. Then I was at the crest of Niagara Falls, the cold splash of water on my face. Next, I was lying on my back staring at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Then I was in the Coliseum, the hot dust blowing against my ankles and calves. After that I was at the peak of Cinderella’s Castle in Disney World Orlando. There was babbling in all languages imaginable. There was a cool breeze blowing, and the Magic Kingdom was crowded. Mickey and friends were greeting guests as they entered, taking photos, waving at children, all manner of things. Then I was sucked back into the vacuum and presented with a dark, cold room with a single, ancient-looking wooden door at the end.

I approached the door slowly, confused by the difference in scenery. The air here was cold and dusty. It smelled ancient and sacred. As I got close, the door swung slowly open with a loud, high-pitched creak. Inside was a mossy stone floor. The walls were the same. There was no ceiling; it was just blackness like the hall outside. In the middle was a pedestal of the same mossy stone, with something perched in the center. As I approached, a small leather-bound book came into view. It was a very faded orangish color. On the front cover was written The Knowledge of the Mystic Arts. The letters glinted slightly as I read them. A small voice in the back of my head was telling me to take it. I reached out my hand and touched the cover. It was soft to the touch, but a bit apprehensive, if books can even be apprehensive. It was no bigger than a small print Bible. I opened it and found it full of strange words in the same writing as the cover. The heading of the first page was: Incantations.  “Incantations?” I muttered to myself. No sooner had the words left my mouth, than I was sucked through the shop-vac once again.

I was standing outside the crystal, the small book mysteriously transferred to my pocket. I looked up and was met with about fifteen lasers all pointing at my chest. I followed the laser trail up to the barrels of guns being held by some not-so-happy looking guys in full tactical body armor. I slowly panned up to see a man in a black suit wearing black sunglasses, even though the soft green light emanating from the crystal was dim. Now that I think about it, he looked like Agent Smith from The Matrix. When he opened his mouth, I half expected to hear “Mr. Anderson” come out. But alas it did not. “Hello,” he said in a slightly high-pitched voice that did not go well with the posse of armed soldiers he had with him.  “Where’s Alex?” I asked, trying to convey a defiance I most certainly didn’t have.

“Oh, your friend?  He’s right here,” he said, his voice unkind despite the words he was saying. He snapped his fingers and Alex appeared with a giant arm around his neck, tears running down his face. The guard who was as wide across as a school bus stepped forward and gave a deep gravely laugh that conveyed no sense of joy.

“James,” Alex sobbed, “help.” I looked from my best friend to the man on the catwalk once more. “What do you want?” I asked.

“Me? Oh, not much. I just simply want the key to limitless power you now possess.”

“I don’t have anything! Let us go!” I said, the urge to be free filling me with determination.

“You see, that’s where you’re wrong, James. Yes, we know your name, and little Alexander’s too. Speaking of little Alexander, he is your best friend, no?” I said nothing. “Well, I have a proposition for you.” He gestured to the guard holding Alex; the guard tightened his grip around my friend’s throat. “You can either give me the book, or I can kill your friend. The choice is yours.”

A million different options zoomed around inside my head. Do I give him the book? Do I run? Do I watch my best friend be murdered in front of me? “Please!” I pleaded with him. “I don’t have whatever it is you want! Just let us go!”

“I asked you politely once already. Give me what I want or I will kill your friend” he said in a fierceness he had not exhibited before.

“Please! Please!!!” I begged him, warm tears starting to stain my cheeks. With a look of pure hatred, he looked at the guard and said, “Do it.” Without any hesitation, the guard flexed and exerted unimaginable pressure on Alex’s throat. Alex choked and gasped for breath. His face started to turn a slight blue color. “Noooooooooooooo!!!” I yelled as loud as humanly possible. His once joy-filled face was now contorted in pain. I turned to the slender man on the cat-walk. “Please, please don’t do this! He hasn’t done anything! Please!!!” Tears were now streaming down my face like a river. Then, as quickly as it started, it was over. Alexander’s eyes were closed, his head limp. The guard removed his arm and Alex slumped lifelessly to the ground. I stared at his body for as long as I could bear.

“Now,” the man said “the book. If you don’t mind,” he said with a smirk.

“You, you killed him,” I muttered. He continued to look down upon me, the same look of amusement on his face.

“Yes, it appears I did. Oopsies,” he said with a slight chuckle. I proceeded to call him a name my teacher would definitely not approve of.

He laughed. A laugh full of cruel happiness.

“You monster,” I mumbled under my breath.

“I’m sorry,” he said, still laughing, “I didn’t catch that last one.”

“YOU MONSTER!!!” I screamed in a voice that wasn’t mine. The voice was deep and raspy. The walls shook, dust blew around in tornados. Some of the soldiers who were previously unmoving were looking around nervously. My eyes developed a red glow behind them. My head snapped around to look at the guard who murdered my friend. A quick snap of the fingers and his neck made a similar sound. He hit the ground with a thud. “Open fire!” Sunglasses yelled. Guns blazed to life all around me. Time slowed. I easily walked past bullets moving more slowly than a school bus when you’re late for work. With a clap that echoed even over the sound of machinegun fire, all the soldiers fell over just like the other. I turned to look at the man on the catwalk once more, a look of pure hatred emblazoned on my face. With a simple glance, the catwalk broke in two. He fell, and there was a loud snap as his leg bent at a ninety-degree angle. He crawled backwards as quickly as possible, a terrified look on his face. I left my pedestal and began to walk slowly towards him, like a predator stalking its prey.

“Wha- what are you?” he asked in a voice that was dwarfed next to his previous bravado.

“I’m your worst nightmare,” I said in that inhuman gravelly voice.  I extended a hand and began to mutter some unknown words that just felt right, you know? The air, once again turning the greenish hue of the crystal, flowed out from behind me with renewed vigor. The earth began to shake and the cement floor began to split apart, revealing a hole that contained the same greenish light. Inhuman, monster-like hands came out and grabbed the man by his ankles. He screamed and pleaded for help as they slowly dragged him closer to the hole. And with a smirk I turned and walked to my friend’s body as the hole behind me sealed shut once again. The red glow behind my eyes flared up once again before fading completely.

As I reached Alex’s body, the tears came once again. All rage washed away from my body as I knelt beside him. I put a hand on his shoulder, and felt a twitch. Excitement flooded my body as he slowly rolled over, his neck a nasty blue-green color. He looked around and said, “What happened?”

With pure happiness racing through me I said, “Nothing. Let’s get out of here.”

And so we went gentle into that good night.