The Mirror In The Casket

Prologue

Orion was never good with heights and the choice of helicopter as his transport wasn't his decision, so as he slid open the helicopter and looked down to survey the now Antarctic sea, his stomach was somersaulting. He tried to recompose himself - it was a really big opportunity after all, and he needed to make a good impression. After taking a deep breath, he said,  "OK crew, be alert, and keep in mind the reward the government is offering us! Keep it as your motivation."

The air was filled with the sound of turning chopper blades and the bustling of the crew  for what seemed like hours on end-whilst they searched, until a single shout pierced the white noise. "Look there! Over there  -  it's an iceberg!" Immediately the whole crew raced to a viewpoint. "Good job Hamilton" Orion praised, giving her a slap on the back. 

The crew carefully descended down onto the ice in awe. This was the first iceberg to have been seen in hundreds of years. Orion let his crew explore for a couple of minutes before demanding. " All right team, enough dawdling, let's get to work." He himself bent down and started to survey the formation of the ice. 

For an iceberg, it's structure is unusually flat, he noted, his archaeological brain working at full speed. Then a crew member startled him by tapping him on the shoulder as he was deep in thought. When Orion rose up and turned around- quite frustrated at being disrupted, all the team's faces were focused something. Orion turned to face the crew member who had beckoned him. " What- what's wrong?" he asked, the man pointed behind him.  Orion spun slowly expecting to find something random like one of those extinct Polar Bear animals, that had maybe managed to survive for hundreds of years. But the sight he met was quite different.

The crew gathered round the rectangular box, analyzing it with their intelligent minds. The colour, a dark brown almost like chocolate. When one looked more closely, they would be able to see intricate carvings of symbols unknown to these archeological experts. " What could it possibly be?" a crew member asked.

"Beats me." Orion replied. Taking a leap of faith he stepped forward and opened the casket. It creaked slightly. He felt the rest of the crew lean close. But to everyone's disappointment the casket was empty. "Alright everyone let's get back to work!" Orion ordered. The crew dispersed and it was back to work for them. However as each moment passed Orion couldn't help looking back at the empty casket. Once or twice he thought he saw a flash of light from within but every time it resulted to nothing. 

After a hard day's work Orion allowed the crew to finish up. Setting up camp took longer than expected as the flat iceberg bumped with the waves and as Orion was composing his flip up tent  the iceberg gave a strong jerk and a crew member tripped. His foot catching the casket it fell down but it did not make a sound. It didn't crack the ice, it didn't even release a dust particle. Getting up, the crew members expression turned to shock. "Mr.Orion sir. Look at this!" he beckoned. Orion walked over and to his astonishment where there was nothing before lay a mirror. A mirror in the casket. He bent down and brushed the dusty surface of the mirror. But as his fingers collided with the top it's glass rippled instead. Almost like water. Eventually the ripples subsided and what met their gaze astounded them. Beyond the mirror was a reflected world of destruction. And the beings that roamed were deformed and ugly. Their complexion was grey-ish but their necks and eyes burned a bright yellow. "There's a crack." Whispered Hamilton. On noticing this they all drew back. All of a sudden a crowd had gathered beyond the mirror. The two groups stood facing each other. Human to inhuman. All of a sudden one of the inhumans stuck their hand out and grabbed Hamilton. At once all the crew members rushed too pull her out. As she fell back into the ice a small toddler inhuman crawled out, for the crack was now big enough for the, to crawl out. Without a moments hesitation it charged at the crew. Chaos broke out. Orion raced back to the helicopter as more of its fellow inhuman crept out. He could hear the screams and cries of his fellow crew but he didn't dare turn back he hopped into the resting helicopter and screamed at the pilot to take off. Orion felt the weight of the helicopter shift. Sticking his head out he saw  inhumans climbing up the helicopter and as the blades gathered speed, severed hands and heads flew down into the sea. However the helicopter couldn't take off. One of the inhumans decapitated heads had jammed the blades preventing it from turning. Orion knew what he had to do. He gingerly stuck a foot out of the helicopter, immediately an inhuman took hold, kicking at it, it eventually retreated. Orion took the moment and launched up the side of the helicopter. Reaching out he was careful not to cut himself on the blades. A blood curdling scream erupted from inside the helicopter as the pilot was attacked. Looks like I'm doing this by myself . Orion thought as he wrenched the head from the blades grip. Looking down he realized it was Hamilton's head of whom he was holding. Grief and disgust circled him as he threw the head into the sea. Turning back around he found himself face to face with the pilot. It gave a screech and it's eyes glowed yellow blinding him. Holding Orion down against the helicopter's exterior, it bore down. 

Orion was dead. As the inhumans continued to stream out in their masses, the world was not ready for what was held within the mirror in the casket.

I really do hope you guys enjoyed reading this prologue and that you'll be encouraged to read more. There's gonna be a cast list hopefully. But for now I just want to say thank you for  reading.

SkiHigh 

XXX