The broken gear

Deathly Dream

-Inside-

Thomas looked out the window. He thought about what Valeria saw but couldn't see anything. He sighed. He started thinking about his future. He sat on his bed and thought about what he would do. He could likely still be important. Probably.

He soon fell asleep and woke up in a dark void.

He saw a tall thin figure with antlers at a wooden table. It had a metal bowl in front of it and a few smaller others around it. It seemed to grab something out of one of the smaller bowls and put it into the larger one.

Thomas slowly walked towards the figure.

"Hello Thomas," it said looking over their shoulder. They had a deer-like skull with pitch black eye sockets that had a small white light that acted as a pupil. The antlers were somewhere between 1-2 feet tall. Its skin was grey and it faded into bones as it went from his arm to his fingers. Some areas of flesh looked torn. It also had grey mixture of flesh and fur in its legs. It looked similar to mange.

It wore a dull dark green robe which could be confused with a shade of grey that had some bright golden lines around the edges.

"Mind passing me that knife by your side?" it said in a semi-hollow voice. Its jaw didn't move.

Suddenly a table appeared near Thomas. There a knife in a silver plater. It had a silver and gold handle that was just slightly smaller that the blade. Small bumps covered the handle. The blade curved three times. The knife looked like it would be used for ceremonial purposes. Like those involving sacrifices.

"Sure," said Thomas, not wanting to anger the figure. He walked to the table and picked up the knife. It was cold and heavy. Thomas felt physically ill holding it.

Regardless, he continued to walk towards the figure eventually dropping the knife next to the bowls. He was then greeted by the stench of the materials on the table. He gagged and stepped back. He took slow deep breaths once he was a few feet away.

"Not for everyone," it said as it split open a heart. "Don't worry, animal."

"What are you doing?"

It turned around revealing a cavity in its chest and part of its abdomen. Its spine and neck bones could be seen. Its ribs lacked a sternum and cartilage. All of its insides were a grey or a variation of grey with red and blue tones. Except for its heart. Its heart glowed bright gold.

Thomas could see it pumping.

"I'm not sure, but I wanted to talk to you."

"Who are you?"

"Let's just say you encountered me once. You were sad. Very sad. But nonetheless, I'm curious," it said as it took a few steps forward. "You're going to evade me in the future, slip through my fingers and land on another's."

"What do you mean?"

It turned to look at the table before looking at Thomas again, "There's this place where I'm not welcome, you'll discover it with your friends and I want you to gift me to the people there."

It then grabbed the knife and walked over to Thomas, grabbing his palm. Its hand was cold. It opened his hand and placed the knife within it. The figure closed Thomas' palm, "I will expect this back, and if you don't, I will make sure that my next encounter with your family is much closer than before."

Its voice sounded more hollow and menacing, with it gripping Thomas' hand vigorously.

"It will be your grandfather's son who falls next, so I will expect you to give this potential superweapon back."

"I-I understand," said Thomas paralyzed in fear.

"Good," It said with it's voice returning to normal.

"Wait, are you?"

"Yep."

"Sorry about your grandfather, but, it had to be done."

"Why, why did you do it?" Thomas said, with a small tear in his eye.

"It was his time, after all, if I didn't do what I do, existence would be a fate worse than death."