Akom

Chapter 2

This world was different. It didn't seem like a world at all. He felt like he was put into an old faded 50s painting. Everything around him was in dull colours of grey, brown and sage. Even the sun in the distance was bleak and clouded. He was sitting on a bench in the garden next to a house of such old architecture it looked medieval. This is not where I want to be, he thought.

The narrow path he took to the bridge seemed longer than life itself although it didn't take him more than five minutes to get to it. He looked down into the dull blue water underneath the bridge and held his breath. He would have to jump. It was the fastest way. So he jumped.

The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was the dust around the Ashanti text. The first realm he visited was a mistake, it was a wrong setting and he couldn't understand how he got there. He would have to try again and this time be more particular.

Raymond was standing in a room. Not just a room but a room filled with people, or creatures that looked like people, covered in something slick and dark. They were of all races and all forms and were doing all sorts of things. A couple not far from him was arguing about something in a language he couldn't understand whilst a group of five children were singing and dancing in a ring. If that was a game they were playing, it surprised Raymond because it looked ominous. Nonetheless no one paid him any attention and he just observed their peculiarities silently, too shocked and terrified to move. Finally a dark figure approached him. This creature looked different from the rest. It looked like a man but was wearing a long black cloak with a hood and had its whole body covered. It carried a large scythe and brought with it a strong lingering scent of death and misery.

"How did you get here?" it asked Raymond in a deep raspy voice.

Raymond told it about the Ashanti text and his journey across the realms.

The hooded figure shook its head, "that text is dangerous and unnecessary. What you are trying to run away from is inevitable, boy. You can't escape time... or death."

Raymond mustered all his courage and said, "I'm sure I can. I will stop at nothing and I know in my heart that it is possible. Who are you to know anyway?"

The figure stood very still without saying a word. Then it slowly glided towards Raymond.

"I. am. the. Grim."

Those were the last words Raymond heard before he saw the scythe aiming for his neck.