Eternal Subconscious

Chapter 5

Sonja had yet to explain anything that had been going on for the past hour but had somehow managed to get the two of us excused for the rest of the school day, regardless of the fact that we hadn't even been there half the day. I followed her silently down the street, until we had arrived at a small park. She gestures toward an old wooden bench with a memorial engraving of the park creator's name on it.

I did as I assumed she wished, and took a seat, awaiting the silence to pass. I closed my eyes a moment and drew in a long deep breath.

"So...do you mind telling me what has happened?" I asked hesitantly, slightly intimidated by her confident gaze.

She copied my exhausted sigh and collected herself before explaining the situation. "I'm not quite sure how to explain it, no one for sure knows what causes it, but I do know that you are suffering for a case of grimlink."

"What?"

"Grimlink, it's a curse implemented on those like you and I through our blood stream," She stated, poking at a vein on her wrist, "although no one is sure where it comes from or how it happens exactly, but we know everyone affected by it suffers from gory hallucinations but also an overwhelming unique ability. Those who do experience such things are known as the Grimelkin."

"Grimalkin, like the archaic word for cat?"

"Close enough, but it's pronounced Grimelkin." She said as she rolled her eyes.

I sighed once again, attempting to take all the information in. "Exactly how many of those like us are there?" I questioned.

"You know those people your kind refers to as Freakshows?" She asked with her arms crossed. I nodded slowly, attempting to not provoke her.

"All of them are Grimelkin."

"R-really?" I asked with my eyes widening in shock.

"Yes, that's why we all banded together. However we have never had someone of your situation, so highly respected in the snobby sector or our high school that it wouldn't be an easy transition. Whatever, it is your choice anyway." She waved me off and checked the time, appearing in bright, bold white letters on her phone. "What am I saying, none of that matters right now. In this current state of time we need to get you to the to the Underworld." She stated nonchalantly.

"Underworld?! I'm going to hell!?"

"What? No you idiot, you aren't going to hell, it's just what we call our Headquarters, haven't you already had the dream?"

"Dream...? You mean the one with the big red castle and abyss rivers?"

"That's the one."

"Well no wonder you call it the Underworld."

"Yeah, I assume most have already sensed your presence similar to how I did so they most likely already have your spot set up there." Sonja spoke confidently, fiddling with her watch. As she did so, a holographic menu showed up directly above it, almost like something out of a cheap, futuristic spy movie.

"Um, what do you mean by spot?" I asked hesitantly.

"It's a general term, doesn't particularly mean anything specific, just a room for your stay over the summer and some training space." She said, scrolling through the hologram presented in front of her.

"They want us to stay over the summer?"

"Yes, although we aren't restricted from leaving, all of us stay the night in our separate rooms so in the morning we all experience a more efficient type of specialty training. They most likely already have your room prepped seeing as the end of the school year is next week. However, some, such as myself, stay all year long." Sonja shrugged, tapping one final holographic icon on her watch.

"I'll take you there now so we have time to get you adjusted to the place before everyone else shows up." She said, giving me a knowing smirked.

"Brace yourself."

Before I knew it, everything around me had faded to bright multicolored streaks for a split second before changing to the nightmarish place I had now known to call the Underworld.

"I'm still not so sure this isn't hell."