"Jack, Jack, jack"
He could faintly hear his name being called by two distant voices.
One he could recognise.
While the other..... the other he couldn't but it sounded awfully familiar.
His thoughts had began to distant themselves from him.
He couldn't remember where he was or what he was doing but right now he felt calm like a leaf on a stream, slowly drifting away.
But to where?.
He did not know.
Maybe that's was a good thing, maybe he would find himself exactly where he should be.
The familiar distant voice spoke to him once again. This time it was nothing more than a whisper.
But enough to rouse him.
"Jack look back"
Due to curiosity, he took a pique at the unknown....
Gulp.
And immediately his mind was stirred awake.
....
With a soundless scream Jack awakened to a world of white.
A world were the tenacious fog gnawed away at everything leaving behind only white and smoke.
And he quickly realised, he had already been devoured by the white death.
A mocking laugh erupted in the fog, of course there was no sound but he still laughed with all his heart as tears slowly welled up in his eyes.
He had struggled to survive in the perilous wasteland for so long.
To think this is how he would meet his end.
'Oh well'
He had gotten a chance to see her again, even if it was just an illusion as a result of an ill-fated encounter. Even if her voice and words were fake.
He shouldn't be too greedy, there were far worst fates in the wasteland.
This was enough for him.
His only regret was that he didn't get to share his findings with the others.
Sigh
'Did death always take this long'
'Well I guess I wouldn't know since I've never died before'
'Hope it won't be too painful'
"No it'll definitely be painful"
"You really are always in a hurry to die"
Suddenly a voice spoke to him....no not a voice, a thought.
Jack eyes widened
It sounded like William Harris
"How are you still alive"
'Dammit'
He tried to speak to Harris but once again there was no sound, his lips simply moved.
"Speak with your head idiot"
Jack frowned 'with my head'
"Yes exactly"
Jack grimaced.
"Where are you, how the hell are we still alive, what's going on"
"Slow down, slow down, one question at a time, jeez"
'Damn? What the hell is with this guy, it's like his whole personality did a full 180'
'When did he become so lighthearted'
Harris frowned.
"Well am sorry am not the usual dark and grumpy old man but his not coming back any time soon so I guess you'll just have to settle for me then"
Jack flinched in surprise.
'Right....he can hear my thoughts'
"I'm sorry"
"All is forgiven"
"And to answer your questions"
"Your dear old friend seemed to have protected us somehow and now we can safely exist in this world"
"It would seem he wants something from us"
"And what is this world" Jack asked
"Well if I were to make a guess, it's a world were the laws don't apply, a world of pure thought, in here anything can happen"
"Wait so we're safe"
Harris laughed.
"No, don't get me wrong, we're are only alive due your friend if not, our minds would've been ripped apart by this place and our souls would be dragged to God knows where"
Gulp
"So what happens now"
"Now we wait but while we wait I need you to do something for me"
Jack hesitated a little "What...what"
"Oh it's nothing much but can you show me what you saw when you looked back"
His voice dripped with curiosity.
"When I looked back"
A shadow of a memory flashed in his mind sending chills down his spine as his gut twisted itself into knots.
"Am not sure you want to see that"
"Oh I do, so please do me this favour"
"Wait a min--"
"Thank you"
Jack suddenly felt a blinding pain as his mind cracked open.
His thoughts became louder echoing through the endless fog.
And a fathomless gaze settled above it, staring deep into his mind.
An unfamiliar voice rang out in joy.
"Found it"
What happened next was something Jack could only explain as a hand reaching into the depths of his mind.
Flipping through it like pages in a book.
And then relief.
As a part of memories was ripped out from its roots.
A single page embedded with golden words, each describing an emotion that jack himself couldn't comprehend.
A scene he refused to remember.
The hand quickly sealed his mind and the gaze dissappeared into the fog.
Jack's mind screamed at Harris in anger but he was too lost in his thoughts to care.
Harris stared at the page in dissatisfaction.
"What rubbish"
"And look it's even beginning to fade away"
"Let's fix this"
The golden words rearranged themselves on command becoming something comprehensible and spilled out into fog.
"Jack close your eyes"
Instantly, a scene carved itself into the fog.
An indescribable horror of regretful souls mashed together in sorrow.
A scene of seas, of blood bled. A scene of fire and metal being used to carve and carve and carve.
A scene of resentful souls screaming in pain while tearing each other apart with blades and boiling hot rods.
A scene were all these souls were chained to one another in a single, personal hell.
Screaming one word.
"Mother"
The fog swirled in agony.
Jack, with his eyes closed could still hear their voices, could still feel their weight and wrath pressing down on his mind.
But Harris was different.
He was elated.
"Blood for pain"
"Fire for anger"
"Metal for punishment"
"And screams for regret"
Harris laughed, his lips curling to a sinister smile.
"What a wonderful place"
"You can move now,the heart has began to beat again"
"The path has been opened"
There was no response.
Harris frowned and yelled.
"Are you hearing me"
A sorrowful voice leaked into Harris and jacks mind.
"So....so much pain"
"Anger"
"My brothers....my sisters it will soon be over"
recognising the voice jack opened his eyes "it's you"
Suddenly, something bled into the fog, spectrum of colors that stained the endless white.
Hues of gold, crimson, and deep green swirled together, twisting and weaving as if alive, forming a living painting of the past.
Jack and Harris stood suspended in the midst of it, eyes wide, hearts hammering. Slowly, the colors coalesced into a scene: a sprawling field of white and yellow flowers stretched toward towering green mountains, bathed in an ethereal light.
At the center of this vibrant landscape, a figure emerged—a monster, holding a child aloft in its arms.
Jack's mouth moved before he could think.
"The first image… a skeletal figure, crowned with twisted horns… shrouded in fog…"
But the scene before him defied his words. She was no skeleton. Her body glistened with pitch-black scales, her lower half twisting like a serpent. A crown of delicate flowers rested atop her head.
In her arms, a child with translucent, partially scaled skin writhed gently, its form both fragile and otherworldly.
A faint pause echoed through the painting making it tremble slightly.
Indeed the heart had began to beat.