Beetlesmith's Ch. 11

This time, however, my emotions ran hotter. I was about to turn away and leave the vials behind, when a glint of the overhead lights sparked purple off their glass containers. It was as if they were winking at me. One last, seductive reminder of the pleasures I was about to forego. I hesitated again, and standing outside myself, I watched as I put the two vials of elixir into my pants pocket.

I walked quickly to the door without further comment. Beetlesmith said something to me as I neared the door, but I wasn't listening anymore. My only thought was to leave the shop as fast as I could. I made it out the door without incident, but when I stepped into the street, everything went dark around me. It was as if I had stepped through a portal into another strange and terrible land. The vision lasted only a moment, but what I saw remained etched in my mind, just like my recent dreams.

I saw a red sun against a darkened sky—darkened soot black, as if a great fire belched smoke from a hidden place, obscuring everything in its path. Below that sky and red sun, I saw a vast, featureless plain stretching out to the horizon—featureless except for a few craggy hills dotting the landscape like broken teeth jutted out from rotting gums. A narrow, fetid river lay stagnant near my feet, with boggy reeds lining either bank. Within the reeds, I saw numerous pinpoints of light, as if small eyes peered back at me from dense cover. I heard nothing except for a hot wind blowing passed my ears. Flies, and the acidic, sickening sweet stench of decay filled the air...

A car horn blared, and I was washed in bright daylight once more. Fear gripped my heart. I thought for sure I just had some drug-induced, psychotic hallucination. I turned to go back into Beetlesmith's, to tell him about it, but the door was locked, and a sign reading, 'Sorry, We're Closed,' hung in the door.

I don't remember much of the drive home. Hell, I don't even remember stumbling back to my car after seeing Beetlesmith's shop was closed. My only conscious recollection was wondering how I ended up with two vials of elixir in my pocket when just this morning I had vowed never to use it again.