Dominions

Chapter 25: Judah

Judah woke up in a dimly lit room. A steel platform ran underneath him, and as he stood up he felt his heart jump out of his chest. On either side of the platform was a long drop. Nothing but darkness consumed the bottom.

"Hello?" Judah called out as he cautiously took a step down the platform.

Judah felt a shudder run down his spine. This reminded him of a horror movie. His whole life recently has reminded him of a horror movie actually. One with monsters, and evil people trying to kill him. This new world that he was immersed into was fascinating, but terrifying at the same time.

The soft echo of his shoes on the metal was all Judah heard as he made his way down the dark platform. "This would be a really shitty time for something to jump out at me," he called to nothing in particular. "So if that's the plan right now...don't."

Eventually, Judah came to the end of the platform. It was a round space, with a giant supercomputer lined on the outside of the circle. A giant swivel chair and flashing buttons burst through the darkness. Judah walked over to the chair and carefully pulled it from under the giant computer. He sat down in the chair and the screen instantly lit up.

WELCOME JUDAH

The giant letters flashed across the screen. Judah waved at the screen, and then instantly put his hand down. He was glad that nobody was around him to see him look crazy. "This is ridiculous," Judah said out into the screen. "What am I supposed to get from here?"

"You already have everything if we're being honest. At least, you have more than the others."

Judah cussed under his breath as he shot back in the swivel chair. He felt the back leg drip over the side of the platform and gasped as he frantically tried to balance himself. He didn't even stop to notice the boy sitting on the edge of the computer who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Who the hell-" Judah stopped mid-sentence as he took the boy in. Same shaggy dirty blonde hair. Same chiseled, though less defined jawline, same striking blue eyes. "You're me."

"I go by Titus," the boy chuckled. "But yes, in theory, I am you. An old you."

The boy hopped off the computer and walked over to the giant chair. "For the past seventeen years, I've rewatched all of my old memories on a loop. I'm probably able to recite each one word for word at this point. There's not a lot to do in your mind. I could never see what you were seeing. I only experienced your thoughts." The boy turned to Judah and smirked. "I always hated my birthdays as well."

Judah walked over to the computer and watched as the boy feverishly typed into the keyboard. A giant folder opened up on the computer called "favorites". There, hundreds, if not thousands, of memories exploded onto the screen. Judah watched in awe as younger him scrolled through all of the pictures and that he selected as his favorite.

He saw pictures of a younger Selena looking at a sunset. He saw videos of Elle making flowers grow in a dead field. Jayden and Asher were up to shenanigans in some. It all seemed so normal. So innocent.

"How's Megara?" asked Titus as he attempted to sound casual. "Is she doing okay?"

Judah looked at him confused for a second before he realized he was speaking of Selena. "Yes, she's okay. We've all had it a bit rough on our side, but I'd argue she had it the easiest."

The boy smiled at that. "I have been worried sick about all of them from the moment I found myself locked into your mind. They were more than just my friends. They were my family," Titus said as tears welled up. "We weren't always functional, and maybe we had moments of arguing or teasing, but we always came back together when it mattered."