Silas Gray is just your average 27 year old. Well, he used to be. When he moves to a new town, not everything is as it seems. He sees these strange masked people in his dream, more specifically an ancient deity 'Sleep', claiming that Silas belongs t...
That was when I jolted awake. Just like before, I was shaking uncontrollably and drenched in my own sweat. My head was pounding.
I hauled myself off the couch, leaning on the wall for support. Hell, I felt like I was about to keel over and die right there and then. With much effort, I stumbled into the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water. I sipped it tentatively, trying to forget whatever just happened. But nightmares don't fade that easily. Throughout the day, that figure and his words...they played on repeat through my mind, until
'You belong to Eden'
Was all I could think about.
To distract my mind, I decided to go for a walk. Hopefully the new surroundings would take my mind off things. I decided to take the woodland trail about a mile down the road. It was peaceful here. If I was lucky, I might even see a fox or a badger. The trail seemed untouched: it was beautiful. For a while, anyway.
I was considering turning around as the plants had become thick and overgrown, blocking the path. I began to head back, when I heard whispers. I glanced back.
Nothing was there.
My mind was probably playing tricks on me. I continued walking, but the whispers returned, turning into a deafening ringing in my ears, just like they did in my dream. I tried to keep going, to ignore it, I really did. It was just too unbearable.
Eventually, I succumbed, covering my ears, tears pricking my eyes. Why did this have to happen to me?
"Leave me alone!"
I yelled at the top of my lungs. I sprinted in the direction of the beginning of the trail, passing a confused looking old couple as I did so. I soon found my self running out of breath: after all, I wasn't the most athletic person. I stopped for a moment, glancing behind me to make sure I wasn't being followed. I was met with silence.
I let out a relieved sigh. I could probably sprint back to my house in about 5 minutes from here. I turned to keep running.
That was when I ran smack bang into someone.
I fell back, a soft groan escaping my throat as I held my head in pain. I looked up to see who I had ran into, and to my horror, it was him. The same black cloak and shadowy face.
"Don't hurt me..."
I whispered, fear clutching my heart. A tear slipped down my cheek, my throat tightening as I fought the urge to break down.
"Please..."
He didn't go, just standing there, observing me.
"You belong to Eden."
It was that same, haunting monotone voice that I had heard in my dream. I cautiously pulled myself up, ready to defend myself if I needed to. I held my shaking hands out infront of me, my eyes fixed on him.
"What do you mean? I don't understand! What is Eden? Who are you?"
"You belong to Eden."
The same response. This was useless. However, I tried one more time.
"Please, just tell me who you are."
I was desperate. I saw him hesitate for a moment, thinking about responding.
"...Sleep."
Sleep? What the hell? Sleep towered over me. Jeez, I never registered how tall, he was. But I was more focused on getting away from 'Sleep'. I sidestepped around him, eyeing him nervously.
"I'll be leaving now, Sleep."
I backed away, keeping a close eye on him. He didn't object, which was a good sign, I suppose. When I decided I was a safe distance away, I sprinted. I sprinted as fast as I could and ever had, my heart pumping with adrenaline.
I reached my house, bolting up the driveway and opening the door, slamming it shut behind me. I locked it, then fell to my knees on the floor, fighting back tears. Why was this happening to me? I did nothing wrong.
Later on in the day, I had begun unpacking my stuff. Currently, I was working on the stuff in the kitchen. I had sorted out all of the plates and bowls, and was currently working on the glasses. Since I was living alone, I didn't have too much stuff to pack away, so it wasn't that bad. I was just putting one of the final, glasses in the cupboard when I heard the doorbell ring.
That was strange. Maybe it was one of the neighbours coming to say hi?
"Just a minute!"
I yelled, putting the last glass away and grabbing my keys, heading to the front door. I unlocked it.
"Hey, what's u-"
There was no one there. How odd. Maybe it was just some random kid playing a knock-door-run with their friends. I glanced around outside. There was no one in sight.
Just as I was about to close the door, something caught my eye. It was a small-ish box placed on my doorstep. It was white, the only detail on it being 'Silas' scrawled on the lid. It looked like whoever had written it had been in a hurry. I picked the box up, inspecting it for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. It seemed normal.
I went back inside, not bothering to lock the door. It wasn't like anyone would want to get in anyway. I went back into the kitchen, placing the box down on the side. I opened it slowly, expecting something were to jump out at me. To my surprise, it was safe. I peered into the box. There was an envelope and a pendant.
First, I opened the letter. It read:
'Dear Silas,
I am deeply sorry for my previous appearances, and how I may have seemed intimidating. But you need to listen to me. You don't understand. You belong t-'
I crumpled up the letter. Nope. I wasn't going through all that again. Hell, if I came across the words 'you belong to Eden' one more time, I'd go insane. I turned my attention to the pendant, lifting it carefully. It had a silver chain, and a medium sized black gemstone. Carved into it was a strange symbol, the engraving painted with white. The symbol looked like this:
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(See where I'm going? 😉)
It was beautiful, but I was confused. I was presuming Sleep had given me this, but why? No. I had to focus on getting rid of that letter. I didn't even bother to read the rest. I just lit the fireplace in the living room and threw it in the fire. I strangely enjoyed watching it burn, the letter slowly disintegrating into ash.
Beat that, Sleep.
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Dear reader,
We're starting to bring Sleep Token into this story now.
A little back story relating to the previous chapter: Silas could identify the mirror was from the Victorian period as he used to enjoy antique collecting.
