Chapter One: The Gates

My eyes opened.

All I could see was blackness. I quickly felt all around me, reaching, grasping for anyone, anything that could tell me where I was. Snow. I felt snow. In fact, I was freezing. I could feel it still falling onto my skin. Even though I couldn’t see it, I could tell it was a beautiful, graceful snow shower.

“HELLO?” I shouted.

I tilted my head slightly to the left, furrowing my brow, as if squinting with my ears. I could hear something – it was distant. It sounded like trees rustling. It was getting louder. Closer. And it sounded violent.  

“HELLO!” I screamed and jumped to my feet.

I was answered with a stinging blow of icy wind that knocked me onto my back. The wind rushed over me, its vicious, frosty grip scraping across my body. I was too scared to move. Too scared to do anything. I pressed my eyes shut as hard as I could. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. I told myself this over and over again, the wind still howling.

Then it stopped.

The bleak sereneness that I had awoken to returned as quickly as it had vanished. I laid there a moment longer, collecting my thoughts. I couldn’t remember how I got here. I couldn’t remember anything. The snow fell softly onto my face. I could barely feel it now. My body was growing numb. I don’t have long. My lip began to quiver, tears welling up in my eyes. What the hell is this? How can I not be dreaming?

I ran my hands across my face, feeling for any abnormalities. Everything felt normal. I still had my eyes, so why couldn’t I see? Had I been blinded? I sat up and shook the snow off me the best I could. I breathed into my hands and ran them rapidly over my body, trying to warm myself from the friction.

RED! I remembered the color red.

It was the last thing I saw. Was it blood?

My thoughts were jolted by a loud, ominous roar that sounded like a fog horn. It was so loud I thought my head might explode. I held my hands tightly to my ears, screaming as the ground shook below me. There was a faint buzzing sound beneath the fog horn that sounded like an electrical wire. It was getting louder, perhaps even closer. I didn’t dare stand this time.

Suddenly a bright, white light flashed through my eyes and the sound stopped. I could see! My vision was murky. I rubbed my eyes for clarity and blinked rapidly, bringing the scene into focus. Although I could see, it was still eerily dark. Clouds covered the sky, blocking much wished for illumination from the moon and stars. The snow-covered ground provided some reflection of light. It was like an endless sea of whiteness, flowing into a distant forest ahead of me. Foot prints lead from the forest to where I was laying. They were deep, almost cavernous. That must be the way I came from.

As I slowly stood to my feet, the sound of ice crackling in the wrinkles of my clothes as they stretched, I noticed the definitive body-print from where I was laying. The hole appeared abnormally deep. It looked as if a lot of snow had melted under me. I didn’t recognize these clothes. The jacket was embroidered with a logo that looked like a phoenix with open wings. Words were imprinted beneath the logo. They read, “Department of Resurgence”.

“Resurgence?” I wondered aloud, “like resurrection?” I was struggling to remember anything. I still could not get the image of the color red out of my mind. Whatever its meaning, I knew it was significant.

I couldn’t have been out for too long - my footprints had yet to be covered up and I hadn’t froze to death. I must have been going somewhere… or running from something. I turned to face the direction my footprints lead. I could see something, faintly, in the distance. It looked like a giant wall. I didn’t recognize it, but I could feel something – a connection.

Home…

I set out for the wall, the snow crunching beneath my feet. The wind was beginning to pick up, and the snow began to fall denser and more violently. I shielded my face with my arm and leaned toward my destination. I could feel my hair freezing. My legs were growing stiff.

I’m not going to make it.

I have to make it.

It’s not far now.

I heard a howling behind me. A wolf? My walk developed into a stiff run, my legs reluctant to bend. More howling. It sounded like multiple wolves now. I glanced behind me – I could see nothing. I continued to run toward the wall. The snow was deep and difficult to traverse.

I was getting closer to the wall. It was enormous, rising at least 100 feet into the sky. “HELP!” I cried. “Please, help me! ”The howling grew more threatening. They were closer now. “Someone please!” I shouted.

I was at the wall now. There were two massive marble gates with the same phoenix as the one on my jacket etched in the stone. The gates felt warm. I laid my body against them. “Oh my God…” I whispered. The warmth felt so soothing. I took in a deep breath as I pressed my face and hands harder against the marble.

I was brought back to reality by a screeching snarl behind me. I jolted around and stood as still as a statue. Three wolves cornered me against the gates, only they didn’t look like normal wolves. Their eyes glowed a menacing, toxic green. The same color oozed and dripped from their mouths, fangs bared, ready to attack. They were completely black, except one who had a tuff of gray fur on his chin like an old man. He also appeared to be the meanest. Their paws were enormous in size. Their claws matched.

“Open the gates! Someone – please!” I shrieked.

I looked into the eyes of the eldest wolf, and all I could see was death. I braced for it, and without warning, he leapt forward, tore into my forearm, and returned to where he stood. I fell to the ground, writhing in pain, my back against the stone gates. My entire body throbbed. Whatever the green ooze was, it had to be poisonous.

I felt the world slipping away. Everything was getting blurry. Then, just as I felt the last once of life escaping me, the gates began to move and the wolves vanished.