Echoes

Prologue

A single decision can change your life, alter your path forever. Whether that's for the better or worse is for you to decide. Every choice I made ran through my mind, even down to what I had for breakfast. What choice did I make that led me here, to this cold dark place? I couldn't see anything or feel anything, it was just empty black. I sigh out loud, the sound echoing around me. Rolling my shoulders back I begin walking forward. How I got here was a blank and no matter how hard I thought about it I couldn't fill in my memory. So, I continued walking, putting one foot in front of the other. Eventually footsteps joined mine and I look over. Walking next to me was an older man, his salt and pepper hair was cut short, and he wore a black suit. I didn't feel concerned by his presence, if anything he felt like an old friend walking with me. I looked forward and we strode in silence. I wasn't sure we were going anywhere, the blackness stayed the same, but it felt good to walk, so we did.

"Where are we going, child?" His voice rang out, the sound cold and hallow.

"Forward." I answer him. "No matter what, keep moving forward."

"Even if its over?"

I look at him and shrug. "If you can walk, then its not over yet."

He laughs at that and nods. "But what if you happen upon something you didn't want to see?"

I shrug and keep walking; I didn't have an answer to that. Other than just dealing with whatever it is that comes at you. My philosophy in life has been to survive, regardless of what cards I draw I do what I need to. More than once I have been driven to stealing, lying, and manipulating to do so, but it kept me above the surface. My childhood flashes before my eyes like a photobook, images of me moving from house to house, walking in the rain, and one unreliable family after another. I chuckle and shake my head, the sound drawing the attention of my companion. He didn't say anything, but I saw him watching me from the corner of my eye. He had a look of curiosity on his face, and it looked like he was contemplating something.

"Do you know why you are here?" he asks me. I shake my head. "Do you want to know?"

I look over and stare at him for a second. "Sure, why not."

He nods and puts his hands behind his back. "Then let us continue."

My eyebrows go up, but I follow along, and soon I see a light glimmer in the distance. Relief surges through me at the change of scenery, I thought we would be walking forever. As we got closer the light started getting bigger and I realized it was more like a window. I approached the small circle and my companion stood back, watching me as I got closer. I glanced back at him and saw he had an expression of cruel interest, like some mad scientist waiting for a reaction. I scowl but look back at the window, peering through it at the image on the other side. At first, I couldn't make sense of what I was looking at, like my brain refused to see the details. I shook my head a few times and narrowed my eyes, forcing myself to focus on the image before me. A nauseating realization came over me as the image became clear, the details searing themselves into my mind with brutal clarity. Even when I understood what I was looking at I refused to accept it. The crumpled girl laying on the ground wasn't me, the red pool around her was only paint, it was a cruel joke, it wasn't real. The shock burst out of me in a snort, and I fell into a fit of hysterical laughter. Tears soaked my cheeks through it all as the memories came surging back to me. Walking home after work, a sudden hand in my hair, the rocks biting into my palms as I'm thrown to the ground, the flash of metal glinting in the night air, and searing hot pain turning into an aching cold. I collapse to the ground, laying on my back as reality sinks in, my laughter slowly fading into sobs as I realize what was stolen from me. All the time I had still, gone, every stupid goal, every stupid hope and desire pulled from my grasp in a single moment. The man approached me then, staring down at me, his gray eyes empty.

"Do you regret making the choice to continue forward? Now that you've happened upon a tragic scene?" he ponders, his voice matter of fact.

I glare at him. "You knew about this then?" He nods, and I snap. "Then tell me, why? What did I do to deserve this?"

He shrugs. "The reasoning is not my concern; I am merely here to collect the strays. Sometimes you just take the wrong path and end up in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The nonchalant statement ignites an anger in my chest and I surge to my feet. "That's it? The wrong place at the wrong time? Are you fucking kidding me?" I yell at him. I bark out a laugh. "No, that's wrong, after all I did, I am not giving it up with an excuse of wrong place wrong time." I turn on him and grab his jacket. "I need a better answer than that." I growl.

My outburst didn't seem to phase him as he stared down at me without emotion. He reached up and grabbed my hands with his, pulling them off his jacket effortlessly and pushing me away. He raises his lip in disgust as he straightens his clothing and dusts them off. "Again, that is not my problem." I open my mouth to say something, but he cuts me off with a sharp look. "I cannot give a reason for what happened, but maybe you can find it yourself."

The sudden question took me by surprise, and I stammered out a reply. "What?"

"Throughout your life you are given opportunities, the choice you make when these arise can change your life entirely. Thus, I present you with an opportunity, I can give you 72 hours to find out why this happened and who did it to you. The decisions you make during this time will change your future, perhaps for the better, perhaps for worse, that is for you to decide."

"Could I stop it from happening?" I blurt out.

He smirks. "The future is for you to find out, I can only give you lost time." He looks down at me and grins. "So, I ask, what is your choice? Will you take this opportunity or let it slip away forever?"

I clenched my fists and glare back at him. "I'll take it."

The last thing I heard before everything faded was his laughter, an ominous haunting sound echoing around me.

Chapter One - August 27th