The Monarch Journey - Chapter 1

A feverish nightmare awoke me from my slumber and left me trickling with sweat. I was being chased through the woods by these monstrous figures which were nothing like I had ever seen before. It seemed impossible that I could conjure these beasts from my subconscious mind. Yet at the same time it felt like I had seen them before. . A premonition perhaps? I rarely dream as a product of my snoring but it would be hard to forget this one.
         The figures were gray with rugged skin with cracks all along their bodies giving them a rock-like look to them. Standing around seven feet tall they walked with a hunch and had great big spikes that encompassed their head which converged together near the neck and ran down the center of their spine. It seemed they wore a chest plate and some sort of armored pants. Carrying alien-like weapons which I assumed to be guns and slings over their shoulder revealed a long black object that seemed to be another unearthly weapon. They moved pretty quickly. No not quick actually, I suppose more like fast as hell, faster than anything I had ever seen before. Even with their very apparent hunch they moved simultaneously as a pack of blurs. Their eyes, how could I forget those? They were in a parallelogram shape with the pupil giving off a crimson glow that felt like lasers beaming right through my skin and into the depths of my soul. Their ocular cavities seemed to radiate evil which seemed to conjure up nightmares simply by staring at them for too long. And even though it was a dream I smelled a foul scent that rushed to my nose so fast that I nearly gagged. It was a rancid stench that seemed to stab my olfactory senses with a blade composed of mold, rust, and most of all the metallic iron scent of fresh blood. They seemed to be so engulfed with this smell that it almost appeared that they bathed in it. Basked in it. And for all I know, they may have. Their mouths were also very distinct and like everything else appeared to be horrific. They had needle like teeth which when closed looked like they were sewn shut from how perfectly they interlocked.
         I tried running in a zigzag formation to throw them off my trail but they were too fast for that (which I wasn‘t too surprised because I‘m about as fast as a cactus.) They saw right through me with those eyes and seemed to know what I was going to do before I did it. Still as I continued, my head was turned backwards when I hit into a wall. Staggering backwards I realized it wasn’t a wall but one of those things. It picked me up by the throat and inspected me turning its head in different directions, sniffing, salivating. It let out a noise which I think was a laugh. For what it appeared to be its own amusement it threw me into a tree about 6 yards away. I was powerless. I was this creature’s rag doll and all I could do was play along. As quick as I could I rose to my feet and ran in a direction where none of them were. Sprinting through the wooded area I saw a small house and without knocking I barreled in through the door. Empty. I climbed the stairs and find a small room that seemed to be safe. I took a look out of one of the windows and I couldn't see anything. The air was so dense with fog I couldn't see more than twenty feet ahead of me. I heard the door burst open which meant that they found me. The house seemed old and very creaky. I was frozen in a block of fear as I heard the steps creak one after another until what I assumed to be the leader kicked down the door a few feet away from me. He let out that same little chuckle I heard when he used me for his toy  as I made a run towards the open window. Jumping out I stood at the end of the roof and dangled until I could lower myself to the ground. As I dropped to the floor I slipped a bit and fall down. For some reason unknown to me I couldn't catch my balance. The floor seemed to be made of an invisible oil slick making it impossible to stand up straight. Was this one of their tricks? What was going to happen to me?
          That’s when I felt the ground begin  shake from their heavy feet and when they decided to form a tight circle around me. At this point it felt like my entire body was paralyzed unwilling to follow any motor command I gave to it. Then they began to stare down at me with a cruel and painful look. I could sense that they’re not just going to kill me. That would be to painless and quick. In fact they seem to have a look of hunger across their faces. Of starvation. Opening their mouths some strands of saliva hits me on the side of the cheek. A sharp sting follows meaning that the spit is some sort of acidic liquid. It too, reeked of blood. I began to scream as they started to tear into me. Their teeth felt even sharper than they looked. Slowly I moved into a bird’s eye view above my own body and watched as they tore into my flesh repeatedly. I shouted as loud as a I could and I guess I was sleep talking because my roommate Lucas shook me awake.
         “Hey man you alright?” he asked me.
         “Yeah just a bad dream, that’s all.” I said to him while still shaking a bit.
         “Well what happened? Do you want to talk about it?” he asked me.
         I proceed to tell him what I saw in my dream and how it felt too familiar. How incredibly vivid it was and that I felt like it had happened before. That this incredibly lucid dream felt as real as the bed I was laying on. Luke continued to listen carefully as he also does. He’s a year older than me but we’ve been friends since around tenth grade. He sort of came out of nowhere to say the least. I always liked making new friends and when he moved into the school district we instantly became friends. Since we both always took the bus from lack of owning a car it felt like we had all the time in the world to talk. He has been the best friend anyone could ask for and even like an older brother that I never had, always protecting me and defending me from people when I’m too timid to do so myself. He is really a blessing for me.
         Yet, this time as I spoke I saw this little flicker in his eye. Some small ember that was glowing faintly but was apparent enough for me to notice. Fear. He was trying really hard to hide it from me but I saw right through him.
         “All I can say is try and go to back to sleep. It was only a dream anyways. Right?” he said to me with that same look in his eyes.
         Not wanting to worry my friend any longer I turned away from him onto my side. The images continued to run through my head in fragments like a slide show. Where was this all coming from? Regardless of what was happening then I knew I needed to get to sleep for tomorrow I had an exam in my Philosophy class. I was sure excited.
         I woke to my alarm going off as the numbers "9:45" blared in blue across the digital clock's face. I hammered on it making it shut up as I let out a tired groan. The sleepless night before really took a toll on me. I rolled over to see Luke already tying his shoes.
         "Dude, where you like in the army before I met you?" I asked. Luke always got up on time, everyday, at least an hour ahead of time.
         "Well kind of. I told you my dad was a military man. A Sergeant in the Corps." he said.
         "Well Luke considering I have never even met your parents is it really that hard to imagine?" I asked him in a sarcastic tone. It was always odd to me that even for knowing him for two years I still not once ever saw his parents.
         He shrugged and walked out of our dorm room , past the common area, and into the bathroom. I heard the faucet come to life and the buzzing of his electric toothbrush begin to spin.
         Our dorm was relatively nice. We attended SUNY Cortland and as luck would have it we got the biggest room in our building. Before going to Cortland, Luke was attending a local community college on Long Island. As soon as I said I made my decision to where I was going Luke said that he had gotten his grades up enough to transfer. We immediately saw the opportunity and decided we were going to room together for the upcoming Fall semester. We were both really excited to start the school year. I mean what's better than chasing girls, going out drinking, pulling all-nighters, all while your best friend is there looking out for you.
         It was the second week of classes and already I was feeling sleep deprived. The life was sucked right out of me during class and I could fall asleep anytime I wanted to except when I needed to. Ironic how it all works isn't it?
         Finally I got up from my bed and looked at my clock. 9:50. I had a half hour before my Philosophy exam. I went out into the common area and saw that Luke was already gone. He's always in such a hurry. I thought to myself. I proceeded to walk through my daily morning routine. I didn't sleep with a shirt on so I looked at myself in the mirror. I had a hell of a gut and I was very self-conscious of how I looked but tried not to show it around other people. Luckily I was around 6'1" which seemed to add a sort of "fat optical illusion." The taller I got the skinnier I looked even though I knew I wasn't actually getting skinnier at all. I guess I was okay with it. I had a full beard that was growing in nicely and didn't plan on shaving anytime soon. After inspecting myself I walked through the rest of my normal activities before class. By 10:00 I was ready to go. Placing my backpack over my left shoulder I walked out my door and down the hall. After walking down the gray stairwell and outside I felt deceived. It was one of those days where the sun was shining brighter than ever but it was painfully cold. Since it only took around ten minutes on average to walk from my dormitory to my class I took my time.
         Even though it was so cold to the point I was feeling numb, I enjoyed the weather. I always liked the cold. I just really wished it was snowing or that it was going to later on in the day. I don't know why but the silent sound of snow falling warms me up in such an indescribable manner. I know that's ironic and all but it's true. Or how when your feet meet the thin layer of a freshly fallen inch of snow. The crisp compacting feel you get when walking in it makes me feel, I don't know, at home. I can't place my finger on why I like it so much but the feeling has always been there. The icing on the cake though was the fresh mountain air to inhale when waking up. It really is something to be experience.
         Walking a few feet ahead of me was my friend Leigh Thauh. She was in my Philosophy class and I sat right behind her. She clearly didn't notice me because when I lightly put my hand on her shoulder she jumped for a second.
         "You always do that Cole! Stop scaring the shit out of me." she said with laugh.
         "If I didn't scare you, how else would you get a jump on the day? You see what I did there?" I said with a smirk.
         "Oh shut up Cole. Anyways, you ready to bomb this test?" she asked me.
         "As long as I do better than you on the test I'll be happy." I said jokingly.
         "Pft. As if. Cole I've seen fruit smarter than you." she said with a teasing grin on her face.
         I liked Leigh. I liked her a lot and probably to the point where I could use a different word then like but alas let's keep it simple. I was never good at talking to girls unless I was with a group of friends but she was different. We met on the first day of Philosophy and it was kind of on accident. When the professor was done explaining the outline of the course I mumbled to myself, "This guy is metaphorically kicking me in the nuts right now." She turned around and startled me for a second but it quickly turned to a smile when I saw she was laughing. How could I not have known this girl was in my class at the time? She was absolutely beautiful. Not "hot" or "sexy", no I wasn't looking at her that way. She had long brown hair and just the right amount of freckles to be incredibly appealing to the eye. Her eyes were a light brown and lit up whenever I was joking with her or when she got excited. She had one of those contagious laughs where if she started laughing everyone was laughing. All while being incredibly attractive she was intelligent and had the perfect sense of humor where I didn't have to censor myself or be afraid to let anything out around her. So yeah, I really liked her. We walked the rest of the way continuing to make jokes at who was smarter or was going to better on the test.
         When we got to the classroom I held the door open for her. "After you my highness." I said sarcastically.
         "What a gentleman." she said with a roll of her eyes. Man I loved this girl.
         Before closing the door though I caught a glimpse of something. Something that couldn't have actually been there because well, it couldn't have been possible. Standing there staring at me a few hundred feet away from me was one of the things from my dream. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes to see that it was only a janitor who walked by staring at me like I had a hundred heads. Well that was odd. I thought to myself.
         I shrugged my shoulders shaking the image from my head and took my seat behind Leigh. Her hair looked amazing and I felt it as it swept past my hand when she turned around. It was incredibly soft and just added to the projection of perfection that was her.
         "Good luck Coke-Cola you're going to need it." she said with a sly smile on her face.
         Normally I hated it when people gave me pet names. But as with every rule there are exceptions. Leigh was mine. I hate getting corny and all but she truly is my envision of an ideal girl. She was more appealing to me for the reason that she didn't try and flaunt it either. She didn't have to wear tons of artificial makeup in order to make up for her blemishes. She was so naturally beautiful that I would wonder to myself sometimes how it was possible. How it was possible that I got so lucky to be able to converse with such a magnificent person when I was, well me.
         Leigh and I finished at the same time. She turned to me and nodded at me with a look of disbelief on her face. The test was hard as shit and even though we were both so prideful we both could admit we failed it. Big time. We walked out the door together shaking our heads at each other.
         "We didn't even learn half the crap on that stupid test." I said.
         "Usually I'd argue and call you stupid Cole, but you're right about that. That professor, what is it you say? Metaphorically kicked me in the balls." she said laughing.
         "Yeah I know what you mean." I said with a pained look on my face.
         We laughed at each other and kept walking down the hill and to our dorms. But I was startled once more. I looked at a passing car and the driver appeared to be yet again one of those things. Where they freaking following me or something?
         "Hey you okay Cole? You have that weird look on your face again." Leigh asked me concerned.
         "Yeah I was just seeing things. Didn't get a lot of sleep last night." I said with a shrug.
         "It's okay I'm sure it was spent studying extra hard for that test you just took." she said.
         We burst into laughing again. She always washed away my worries without even knowing she was doing it. Even at that moment when I felt like I just saw the most disgusting beast I could ever imagine it could be negated by the most beautiful thing in my entire universe.
         Her dormitory was on the floor beneath mine so I walked her to it.
         "So I was thinking tonight I'm going to go out to a party. There's one on 78 Reynolds. You in?" she asked me.
         It completely took me by surprise. We only knew each other for a little while so I never thought she would want to hang out with me outside of class. I was excited but tried to remain myself which always came at ease when I was around Leigh.
         "Well I got to check my calendar of course. You know that you're like the thirtieth girl to ask me that right? Like today?" I said trying to keep my cool.
         "Oh I'm sorry I forgot how much of a stud you were Cole. You'll come to my room at nine?" she said disregarding my comment.
         "Yeah I mean I guess I don't have anything else to do." I said nonchalantly with a touch of sarcasm.
         We held eye contact for a couple of seconds and smiled. Saying our goodbyes shortly thereafter I walked upstairs to my room. Luke was waiting there with a worried look on his face. What was wrong?
         “Where were you Cole?” he asked me.
         “I was walking with Leigh why? Everything alright?” I asked.
         “Yeah it’s uh, nothing. Just worried that’s all.” he said.
         “You sure man? You seem a little freaked.” I said trying to encourage him to talk to me.
         “Yeah it’s no problem. Anyways, that was your only class today right? You got plans tonight?” he said with a smile on his face. He was always doing that. Changing his mood so quickly it was a bit creepy. But I didn’t care. He’s Luke and he’s just well Luke.
         “Yeah actually Leigh invited me to a party at 78 Reynolds. I think I’m going to go there with her.” I said plopping myself down on our couch.
         “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea Cole.” he said with a serious look on his face again.
         “Please dad?” I said sarcastically.
         “Not funny dude. I just don’t have a good feeling about it that’s all.” he said to me.
         “Lighten up man. It’s freaking college. This is what we do. Are you mad because some cute girl didn’t ask you?” I said teasing him.
         “No it’s not that... It’s just I don’t know Cole. Something feels off but if you want to go to the party I’m not stopping you. Just remember to call if anything happens alright? Promise?” he said to me with as serious as I’d ever seen him.
         This wasn’t like Luke. Ever since I met him we was the man with the plan. He was the one asking me to go with him places and suddenly it all changed. I don’t know what was going on through his head but I decided to let it go for the time being. I mean I was going out with Leigh Thauh tonight.
         “Yeah sure whatever. Chill out a little bit you’re freaking me out.” I said to him.
         “Sorry just a little worried that’s all.” he said with a lighthearted laugh.
         The next few hours consisted mainly of napping. I was gearing myself up for the night and couldn’t have been anymore excited. When 8 o’clock rolled around I took a shower and dressed up in the nicest things I owned which wasn’t saying much considering I had no sense of style. With one look in the mirror of course I didn’t like what I saw but it would have to do. At 8:45 I could barely wait anymore so I decided to show up a little early at Leigh’s room.
         With several knocks she opened the door. “Hey what’s u-” I was cut off by being completely taken back by what she was wearing.
         She was wearing a black dress showing off her legs and the curves of her body incredibly well to say the least. Her hair was curled beautifully and only added to her allure. Remember when I said she was naturally beautiful? That she didn't need to try? Yeah I don’t know how much I can underline or bold that statement. She smiled to herself and was blushing a little bit. She knew how much I was taken back by her appearance.
         “Cole? You alright there?” she said teasingly.
         “Y...Yea.” I managed to spew out.
         “Cole if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were checking me out.” she said smiling at me.
         “As if you weren’t checking me out either. I mean come on look at me.” I said while doing a 360 turn. I was back in the game.
         “I never said I wasn’t checking you out. Come on in I just have to finish doing my hair.” she said to me leading me through the door. I think she was flirting with me. Score.
         Her room was considerably smaller than mine but all the same she kept it a lot neater than Luke and I did. Or should I just say I because Luke was a neat freak. Her roommate had already gone out for the night so it was just going to be and her.
         “So you drinking tonight?” I yelled out over the sound over her blow-dryer.
         “Nah I don’t think so. How about you?” she asked.
         “Nope not tonight. I don’t want you carrying me home.” I said to her.
         “Why not? I can carry you. You see these muscles?” she said pointing to her bicep.
         “Leigh you couldn’t make it five steps with me on your back without toppling.” I yelled back at her.
         She seemed to laugh but I couldn’t hear her over the sound of the blow-dryer. I was really looking forward to the night. Not only was I going out to a party but I was getting to go with the most eloquent girl I knew. After she was all spruced up and ready to go we headed out the dormitory doors and down one of the roads to Main Street. We didn’t feel like walking so we took a cab to the party.
         When we got into the cab I looked at the cabbie through the rear-view mirror. Something wasn't right. I got that same feeling I had before when seeing that janitor. Unfortunately it wasn't just a feeling though. I was right and there I say the crimson eyes. Staring at me without moving a muscle. Trying to install fear into me and it was working. What the hell was going on?
         "You okay Cole?" Leigh asked me.
         "Yeah I ... I'm fine. 78 Reynolds please." I said to her and then the cab driver.
         "No problem." he said. I looked back at the mirror. He was just a regular cab driver.
         We arrived at the house and I paid for the cab. After giving the money to the cab driver I looked at him once more. Normal as could be. I really needed to get some more sleep. We walked up to the wooden stairs of the party and were greeted by two intoxicated frat boys.
         "You guys drinkin'?" the one on the right of the door asked me.
         "Nope." was my simple response.
         "Go right in and enjoy the party." he said. At least he wasn't an asshole.
         The party was absolutely mobbed. I usually despised parties for this very fact. It was incredibly uncomfortable that everyone was too drunk to be coherent and by the end of the night regardless if you drank or not, you smelled like beer from other people spilling on you. I felt like I was in a sardine can and if I didn't have Leigh leaning up against me I wouldn't have been one happy camper.
         "Why do we even do this to ourselves?" I yelled over the music.
         "Do what? Come to parties?" she asked back.
         "Yeah I can barely move." I said to her.
         With a shrug she looked down. She was clearly avoiding eye contact with someone. I tried to scan the room and made eye contact with Rich. Rich was Leigh's over-obsessive ex-boyfriend. He was grilling me. Hard. I wasn't scared though. Rich was one of those guys who was all talk and I knew how to keep my cool. He's a couple inches taller than I am and pretty built. He was wearing a graphic tee like the rest of the douche bags at the party. I still outweighed him so if I needed to protect Leigh I could. I had done football a great deal of my life so I could definitely use my weight to my advantage. Also, I‘m not too proud to say that I‘ve been in more than a couple fights in my life. I never started fights but usually ended them pretty quickly. When you get into more than a few fights you learn a thing or two. Yeah, let’s leave it at that. I knew a thing or two.
         Of course the inevitable happened. He got a smack on the back from one of his buddies and walked towards us. After he downed the rest of his beer he pushed through the crowd making a bunch of people spill their drinks. This guy was such a winner.
         "What's up baby?" he said to Leigh while keeping eye contact with me.
         "Get away from me Rich. We're done and I don't know why you won't leave me alone." she said trying not to look at him.
         "Come on Leigh I was stupid back then. Naive even." he said. I could smell the alcohol on his breath.
         He grabbed Leigh's wrist and was pulling hard so she ripped it from his grip.
         "Stop it Rich! You're hurting me." she said.
         "What? You think your new fatass boyfriend can help you?” he said laughing in my face. I wanted to put him on his ass right there but held my cool. For now.
         Leigh felt me tense up and squeezed my hand to try and signal me to calm down. I did but not because of Rich. Leigh was holding my hand.
         “Just leave okay Rich? Before you do something stupid and end up in jail. Again.” she said this time with a ferocity in her eyes.
         “You’re lucky the whore was here to save you this time bud.” he said pointing a finger at me. This time he went too far. I didn't care if he made fun of me but Leigh was a whole different story. I pulled my hand away from her.
         “That’s funny I thought I left your mom back at my room. She was real tired and didn’t want to come out tonight.” I spat back at him not missing a beat. I was always clever with my comebacks but Rich certainly didn’t like what I said.
         “Oh you mother fu-” he said while trying to punch me with his left hand. Of course like any other person who thinks they can win a fight with sheer force, he opened up with a huge haymaker that was off balance, slow, and easy to block. Bad move. For him.
         I blocked it with my right forearm and grabbed his wrist. I placed my left hand on his throat and spun him around to the shelf behind us. On it there was a few empty beer bottles that came down and hit the Neanderthal on his head. He was dazed but coherent enough to listen so I took the opportunity to warn him about a few things.
         “Firstly, don’t call me fat. That’s rude. More importantly though if you touch her, insult her, or even look at her wrong I will have you wishing I ended it here. Am I being clear enough for you Dick?” I whispered next to his ear making sure there was enough saliva to make sure he felt it as well as heard it.
         “Yeah man I was only kidding calm down.” he said to me. What a low life. This guy was going to hit me and he was “just kidding.”
         “I’m glad you understand.” I said to him angrily. As I turned around I hit the wall next to him making sure a couple more beer bottles fell on top of him. The rest of the people at the party stared at me in disbelief. I didn’t care though. All I was thinking about was that Leigh wasn’t there anymore. Where did she go? I really wish that I wasn't the one that upset her. I just defended her after all. That counts for something right? I was just trying to look out for my friend. My oh so beautiful wish-she-was-mine friend. Unfortunately she didn't see it as I did.
         "Hey, listen I didn't mean to freak you out back there." I said to her speaking softly as I caught up to her walking down the sidewalk. She turned to me. In tears. Great, my weakness.
         "I don't want people fighting over me Cole! It's stupid how territorial guys are, you know that?" she said deeply glaring into my eyes.
         "I know I was only trying to he-" I said but she cut me off this time with more anger.
         "Maybe I don't need your help! You ever think of that? Little old defenseless Leigh right?" she said with tears slowly rolling down the sides of her cheeks.
         I had never seen her this upset with me or anyone since I met her. Here being my naive self thought she was a flawless gem. How could there be anything wrong with someone this perfect? There was more to her than meets the eye though. I was caught up convincing myself she was absolute and that was just plain stupid. But this type of anger seemed like it was locked away for a while. Like Rich or worse, me, unlocked whatever she was feeling. But what? I was always good at consulting people if I was texting them or talking over the computer but in person I fell apart. Especially with girls.
         "Listen Leigh. I'm sorry. I don't regret what I did though. The guy's a tool and you shouldn't have to deal with that." I said as smoothly and sincerely as possible.
         "You know what? It's not about that Cole. Just ... Just leave me alone." she said walking away from me and down the road.
         I decided it was best to let her go. If she didn't want to talk then that was fine by me. What did I do wrong? Stop some a-hole from treating her like garbage. And the result? I'm the bad guy. I hated when being nice got me into deeper shit than if I let it subside and forgot about it. It would be so much easier if I didn't look out for people. If I was just one of those people who said to themselves, "well it's not my problem." But now this situation was my problem. I couldn't take this anymore. I needed to vent to someone who would understand. Someone like Luke.
         I rushed up the stairs of our dormitory building and stopped a bit before I got to my door. It was slightly open and the light coming from inside the room seemed off. Like the position of how the light in my room was shining through the doorway didn't seem how it always had. I slowly opened the door and immediately wished I hadn't. The common area was completely trashed. I'm not talking burglary I mean like someone had a crane with a wrecking ball and smashed apart the room. The TV was smashed, the couch in pieces, and our table nearly halfway through the window. I suddenly felt movement in my bedroom. As I turned to my right I was tackled from the side. Staring down at me with an evil grin across its face was one of my bogeymen.