I stood there as the last of my mother's life left her eyes. I couldn't do anything but watch. I was too weak, too small, as the Company killed my entire family. I stood frozen as the group of people moved to my sister, her voice growing hoarse after screaming for help—but nothing came. It was as if we were in a separate realm. Their screams still echo in my ears.
I shot up, covered in sweat, and looked around my house. It was the final day of my senior year of high school. I got up and began getting ready for the day. As I left my house to head to the graduation ceremony, I heard people screaming and laughing, but I paid no mind. Today was a big day for many. Not for me. It was just another day I had to get through until, eventually, I'd see my family again.
I finally arrived at the stage where we were supposed to graduate, and just like that, the ceremony started—and finished.
As I was walking back, I noticed a man following me. I sped up a little and took a couple of detours through the campus, but he still followed. So I turned around and confronted him.
"What are you following me for?"
The man smiled and walked closer, stopping about twelve feet away. Then he stepped forward until he was only an arm's length from me. I took a step back, but he didn't seem to care. He extended his hand. Inside it was a small black ring box.
"What's this?" I asked.
"It's from your family," the man replied.
My face went pale. Something from my family? As far as I knew, my family had died twelve years ago.
"What do you mean, my family? My family is dead. So who is it really from?"
The man's smile didn't falter as he looked at me. "Believe me or not, it is."
He handed me the ring box and immediately walked away, disappearing into the crowd.
I decided to open the ring box. Inside, red velvet cradled a ring. The ring was shaped like a silver lion with a red gem set inside its open mouth.
The only thing that came to mind was that it looked exactly like my grandfather's ring.
Where did that man get this?
My grandfather had died when I was pretty young, but the one thing I clearly remember is that ring.
As my hand touched the ring, I swore there was a flash of light. The world around me began to melt, and before I knew it, I was standing on a rock surrounded by lava. In front of me stood a giant dog.
It had a mane of flames and a snarling face with dark red fur. As it stood there, towering over me, my mind went wild. What is that? Where am I? How did I get here?
I stood there, panicking, when the giant dog slowly opened its mouth. Flames spilled out, and before I could react, everything went white.
The next second, I was back at my house.
I stood there, frozen. "What the hell was that? That wasn't anything normal." I sat down on my bed.
Then there was a knock at my door.
When I opened it, there were two men—a tall, skinny man and a short, muscular guy who, for some reason, reminded me of an elf and a dwarf.
The tall, skinny man looked me up and down before turning to his partner and asking in a deeper-than-expected voice, "Is this the guy?"
The shorter man replied in a strangely high-pitched voice, "It's gotta be. Luke said he only left one alive—"
"What do you mean I'm the only one left alive?"
The muscular man turned to face me, and a cruel smile spread across his face.
"I mean we killed the rest of your family. What are you going to do about it?"
My expression darkened as my hands curled into fists and my vision slightly blurred. "YOU DID WHAT?!" I shouted.
The taller man grimaced. "Quit shouting, man."
The shorter man shrugged. "Well, we can silence him. The boss just said we have to keep him alive."
The moment I heard that, I knew I had to run. I shoved the skinnier man and bolted past him.
As I ran, I heard the deeper voice shout, "Manifest: Golem!"
The ground began to crack behind me.
That's when I truly felt the danger, and I pushed myself even harder. Soon my feet began to heat up. It felt like they were on fire, but it didn't hurt. It actually felt kind of nice. Still, I started running faster than ever before.
Then it hit me—I had people chasing me, but no one around us seemed to notice.
So I decided to turn around. Maybe it was because no one else seemed to notice anything strange—but I turned anyway.
When I did, I saw a giant rock golem barreling toward me.
"What is that?" I muttered.
I quickly spun back around and sprinted again. I ran for what felt like hours before finally daring to look behind me. This time, I didn't see anyone chasing me.
I slowed down, then came to a stop and looked around. I had no idea where I was—I'd been too focused on running to pay attention.
I reached into my pocket for my phone, but it wasn't there.
"Crap. I must've dropped it while I was running."
I glanced around again and realized I was standing in the middle of what looked like a residential neighborhood.
I quickly decided my best course of action was to knock on a door and try to figure out where I was.
So I walked to the nearest house. It looked nice and well-kept. I stepped up to the door and knocked.
A couple of seconds later, I heard someone running to the door. It swung open, and a girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes stood there.
"What can I do for you, stranger?" she asked in a strong Southern accent.
"You're not going to believe me, but two people just threatened to silence me, and they had this giant rock golem thing, and—"
Before I could finish, the girl interrupted me and said,