Big Bend (g/t)

Revelations

Dave
Cw: violence, death (non graphic on both)

I heard Angie inhale sharply, but I kept my gaze fixed on the ground in front of me. I had never spoken about what had happened before - hell, I'd spent the better part of the last decade trying to forget about it. It was too late to go back now, though. I could practically feel Angie's eyes boring into me as she waited for me to continue.

"I - my grandpa used to live in this cabin, in the middle of nowhere," I started, trying to force myself to keep my voice steady. "When I was a kid, I'd go there in the summers sometimes. He'd take me hiking, and fishing, and camping, just the two of us. It was what made me want to become a ranger, actually. At least until what happened when I was 12. My grandpa had started letting me explore the woods around his property more and more as I'd gotten older, and on this particular day I wandered further than I'd been before, real deep into the mountains in this section of woods that had been ravaged by wildfires a few years prior.

I spent the first part of the morning looking around the burnt remains of the woods, enthralled by the almost otherworldly appearance they had. I didn't find anything too interesting at first. Some trash, plenty of charred wood. At one point, I saw a campsite off in the distance. I purposefully went in the opposite direction from it, not wanting to run into anyone else. It was around lunch time that it seemed like my exploration was finally paying off. I found this cave near a cliff face, and curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to see how deep it went. Stupid, I know, but that decision ended up saving my life."

11 years ago

My flashlight only lit up a thin strip of rock in front of me, darkness otherwise consuming the narrow passageway. I glanced back over my shoulder. I shouldn't go too far - I had no idea how long this cave went on for, or what types of animals might have decided to call it home. Still, standing at the entrance, on my own, I felt like one of those explorers from various adventure movies I'd seen. It wouldn't hurt to go a little further in, I decided. After all , I was almost 13, which was practically an adult - at least im my mind - and practically an adult meant I was old enough to do so, and old enough to handle whatever trouble I might find in there. My sense of bravado didn't last long, though, for moments later, everything around me shook.

My first thought was that it was an earthquake. Those weren't common at my grandpa's cabin, but my parents lived in California, so I had some experience with them. The shaking outside wasn't like the earthquakes I'd experienced before, though. My first thought was that I should get out of the cave. In case it collapsed. Before I could do so, though, a figure appeared from behind the hills across from the cave. It looked almost human in shape, but there was one major problem with that. The figure towered over the burnt remains of the trees, easily reaching over a hundred feet high. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I'd heard about giants existing on Earth, but I'd been told the 'smaller' ones were the only ones I'd likely ever meet.

The figure in front of me was not one of the smaller ones.

Which means they're an aphirial.

I felt my blood run cold at that realization. The figure drew closer, now fully visible from behind the hill. It was a man, a strikingly human looming man with pale skin and equally pale hair. He hadn't seen me yet, namely because his attention seemed focused on something else.

Someone else, I realized moments later. There was a smaller figure across the burnt expanse as well. I almost didn't notice them in comparison to the giant. The giant, however, had definitely noticed them. They had obviously noticed the giant as well. They were attempting to run away, an attempt that was quickly cut short as the giant caught up with them in ease, blocking their path with one foot. They were yelling something. I couldn't make out what it was from my distance. I could, however, make out the giant's voice. It boomed clearly across the expanse between us.

"Now what do we have here?"

I found myself frozen in place. My heart was beating so loudly I half expected both the human and the giant to notice me. Fortunately - or unfortunately for the human - the giant's attention was focused solely on them. I watched in horror as the giant crouched down, picking the human up by one arm. The human struggled futiely against their grip. The giant raised them up so they were level with his comparatively huge face. They were still yelling, though I suspected it was more panicked screams than actual words at this point.

"So, I take it you're the one that little campsite belongs to?"

If the human replied, I couldn't make it out.

"You know, I've never seen a human up close before. You're smaller than I imagined," the giant said, looking unconcerned at the human's panic. I felt like my own almost matched theirs. I desperately wanted to turn and run, but I found myself rooted to the stone floor of the cave as I watched the scene unfold.

I didn't think it was possible for my level of horror to increase anymore. That assumption was proven wrong as I watched the human continue, jerking upwards in the giant's grip. The sudden movement apparently caught the giant off guard. Things seemed to happen in slow motion after that. The human's arm slipped from between the giants fingers. I watched as their small form plummeted to the ground. The giant crouched down, still looking unpertubed. When he picked the human up again, they were limp.

"Shame," I heard him murmur. I wasn't sure why that was what broke me from my trance, but I found myself able to move again. I scrambled towards the back of the cave, not stopping until I felt cold rock against my back. Then I started to sob. I wasn't sure how long I stayed there, but when I finally found the courage to make my way to the front of the cave again, it was dark out. I hurried home after that, half expecting the giant to appear from the shadows and scoop me up at any minute.

That didn't happen, though. Instead, I arrived home to find my grandfather organizing a search for me, having grown worried when I didn't return by nightfall. He asked where I'd been. I found myself unable to tell him, unable to recount what I'd seen. I wasn't sure anyone would believe me anyways - aphirials weren't supposed to be on this planet, after all. So I just said I'd gotten turned around, and it had taken me a while to find my way back home. The story that I'd gotten lost accounted well enough for the fright still shimmering in my eyes, and my grandfather accepted the explanation.

I was banned from exploring the woods for the rest of the summer, something I hardly minded at that point. I waited for weeks after that to hear something about a disappearance, the guilt of my silence growing. Fear of what moght happen if I did say something kept me quiet, though. Fear of being disbelieved, fear of being called crazy. Or, even worse, Fear of having to face that what I saw really happened. I never did hear anything. Eventually the summer came to an end, and I went back to California. Still, I couldn't forget what I'd seen. No matter how much I tried to.

Present day

I finished my story, realizing that tears were freely running down my cheeks.

"Fuck," Angie said. "That's-"

"Yeah. I-I've never told anyone that before," I said quietly.

"Thank you for trusting me with that," she said softly. "I can't imagine what that must have been like. Seeing that, keeping that to yourself for this long."

"I wish I hadn't sometimes," I said quietly.

We were both quiet. After several moments, Angie broke the silence.

"You don't have to answer this, but...why on earth did you agree to work with Easton after that?"

I'd asked myself that same question thousands of times, and I had yet to find an actual answer. "I don't know," I said. "Face your fears, I guess?"