Reflection Of A Hero The draft came in from the slowly opening door to Eddie’s bedroom. The cold night air crept like a silent assassin and silently clawed it’s way into his bed sheets. Then, swiftly, the draft found it’s way up Eddie’s entire body. It slithered like a venomous serpent and wrapped itself around him and began to constrict him. Eddie shivered slightly, and clutched the cover closer to him for warmth. His warmth was what meant more to him right now than wondering who was standing in the darkened doorframe. Whoever was standing there breathed heavily, as if they had just finished running twenty marathons and then jogged a city mile. THUD. That’s all that could be heard in Eddie’s silent apartment. The dull thud of a body collapsing in exhaustion on the carpeted floor that echoed into the kitchen waking the cat. The echoed noise awoke Eddie and he began to stir. It looked as if he was swimming and blow-up kiddie pool, flailing slowly. He raised his head a few inches off of his pillow and squinted in the direction of his door. He flicked on the lamp that was on his nightstand and grimaced at the light. Glancing over at the alarm clock across the room, he read the green digital numbers perfectly, 2:43. He could only see the back of whoever was now laying on his floor. He took a step out of his room and looked to the front door, wondering how the hell this unidentified being has gotten themselves in. All the locks were still like they were two and a half hours ago, when he went off to la-la land. He kept looking for an entrance. The windows were safe-tight, and the even if they had gotten in the door, the security wouldn’t have let them in without Eddie’s approval. He sauntered back to the body. He didn’t notice much about the lifeless form that was sprawled in front of him. He scratched his head and then bent down to roll the body over. The body was harder to move without some assistance. He stared into a face that sent him back in fear, gasping in horror. Lacerations layering all over the face could still not hide its identity. No mirrors could be found outside the bathroom, but Eddie stared into his reflection. He could not believe what he was seeing, himself scarred and lifeless on his own floor. Slightly freaked out he began to pat his mirror image down, searching for a sign of something that could give him more information. He looked at the reflection’s hands and clenched in one was a tape player. Eddie wiggled it out of the hand and examined it quickly. He pressed the play button. Nothing. He rewound the tape back to its original position. It’s hurried whirring stopped quickly. He pressed play again. A voice came on; it was one he recognized well, his own. “If you’re listening to this, I couldn’t save you. You can save yourself, they are coming for you and they won’t stop until you’re dead. Do as I tell you,” The voice sounded as if it was running, and was out of breath. He didn’t understand any of this. He continued to listen. “And do the instructions exactly as I tell you. Go get yourself a piece of paper, I know you’ll forget this if you don’t take it down” Instantaneously he was confused, and then remembered why this man would know this. He walked into the kitchenette and grabbed a pad of paper that said “To Do” on the top. He went through a few pens before finding a red one that actually worked. “Head west towards the setting sun, and follow it until you find a house with a blue swing set. You will go inside and speak with Marta. She’ll guide you after that.” Eddie scrawled as quickly as he could, getting every detail so he wouldn’t forget. West. Blue swing set. Marta. The name, after he wrote it, sounded too familiar. “I’m sorry I could not tell you this face to face, but I tried to reach you before this, goodbye, brother.” The player clicked and began whirring absolute silence. “Brother?” whispered Eddie to himself, trying to gather exactly what was happening. He looked at his hands to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. Then he began to consider everything. “How could I not trust myself?” he thought “Why would someone dressed up in a costume of me lie?” He searched the body again for some form of I.D. He felt around in his “brother’s” jacket and found a small card. It was a business card. A blank business card. Confused more, he continued to rummage through every pocket of his “brother”. The only one thing he found in any pocket was an earpiece that obviously was some sort of communicator. He looked back at the clock. The green digital numbers now told Eddie 3:02, almost 20 minutes had passed. He clambered into some clothes and picked up his keys to head out and follow his instructions. Still a little wary about the situation, he turned off all the lights and put the “To Do” list in his jacket pocket, usual habit. From the right front pocket of his carpenter jeans, a dim, white, heavenly light shone. Eddie stared down at his pocket for a minute. “What the hell?” He pulled out the blank business card. Now inscribed on it was some sort of riddle, or word puzzle. “To see the true light within one’s self, you must look in one’s self.” Eddie read softly “Now what in the hell does THAT mean?!” Eddie shoved the card back into his pocket. He walked out to where he normally parked his Acura. Standing across the street, under the overhang of another high-rise, stood a man completely dressed in black. Seeing this as awkward, and he’d some of the most awkward of things, he climbed into his car and hurried to leave. The “Johnny Cash” wannabe stared piercingly at Eddie. Eddie glanced his way and then immediately looked elsewhere, slightly creeped out. As he drove off, Eddie watched in his rear-view mirror and the man still continued to watch. Eddie looked to the sky for some reasoning for the man. “No full moon, why the hell are the creepy, and possibly crazy, people walking around?” Eddie questioned to himself Eddie drove towards the highway and still did not know who or what was after him. Perhaps it was the man in black that was stalking him. Whoever or whatever it was truly did a number on his “brother”. He got onto the west highway, and took it nice and easy. The highway was completely blank and presented no challenge or need to hurry along. Suddenly it hit him. “What am I supposed to do now?” he said He pulled out the “To Do” list and placed it in the visor above his head. He clearly read “House. Blue swing set.” His search began. He kept his eyes peeled for the house with a blue swing set. The drive felt longer as he could not find the house he was looking for. He peered right and left, hoping for a sign of it. His jacket began to vibrate gently. Shocked, he pulled out the earpiece and fumbled with it. He jammed it in his ear like an earplug and pressed a button in the centre of it. “I assume you’re on your way?” came a feminine voice “Who the hell is this?” demanded Eddie “Take the next exit I’m on the right” “Who…” Click. Caught off-guard by the abrupt hanging-up, Eddie tore the earpiece from his head and jammed it back in his pocket once again. He drifted right, to take the next exit off. The swung around the off ramp, and hung a right. There it was a lone house, with a blue swing set sitting serenely out front. As perfect and quiet as it looked, it caused utter chaos and commotion deep in Eddie’s gut. There was no vehicle in the driveway and there was absolutely no sign of inhabitancy at all. He grabbed the instructions from the visor, and got out of the car to walk up to the door. He looked down at the last on the list, Marta. The name rang like a fire alarm through Eddie’s mind, it seemed like he should know the name, but from where? He knocked on the door gently, unsure if he’d wake up an entire family. It only took a matter of seconds before the door opened gently and there she stood. How could he have forgotten her? “Marta!” he said with grin as his first love answered the door “Hello Eddie, your brother knew you wouldn’t remember.” Marta gracefully stated, “We knew that if you saw me, then your memory would click on again.” She smiled her perfectly aligned white Chiclets, and welcomed him in. The house was cozy and emanated a feeling of comfort on his spirit. The comfort overcame him and he instantly was now calmer than when he was driving. She sat in an armchair and watched him. “Take a seat Eddie, we have some things to talk about.” She offered him, gesturing towards the couch that was in front of her. He easily sat on the couch and eagerly waited for Marta to tell him what was happening. It seemed to take hours for her to get started, and then she finally breathed deeply and began her explanation. “Eddie you were never an only child, and you were also adopted,” Marta paced herself “you have a twin brother, who, obviously, has died seeing as he’s not sitting beside you helping explain this.” Tears began to well up in Marta’s eyelids. “His name was Calvin, he was a fighter, a hero, to his people. He took on so many enormous adventures; it’s a wonder he wasn’t covered in battle scars from head to foot! The Orphus Guild was the enemy. They ravaged Tartanio, his city, and the small towns surrounding it. He would have none of it, and fought hard.” Marta took a breath to gather herself and to allow all of the information to sink into Eddie’s forgetful cranium. “He continually fended them off every time, he and his valiant group of men and women who fought beside him. They called themselves the Dreadlings, for their sole purpose was to rid the city of the evil that had reigned over them. Then, one day, a spy infiltrated the group, a spy from the Orphus Guild. Gordon was the traitor, the Benedict Arnold. He allowed the Guild to know the exact whereabouts and homes of every Dreadling. Slowly, but surely, the last to stand was Calvin, with no one left and bodies piling up around him. He escaped Tartanio to find you, so that you could help him.” Eddie shook his head in bewilderment and blurted “Wh-what? Me? How would I be able to help?! I’m not a fighter, I got beat up by Cindy Cromwall in 7th grade, you know that!” “He was looking for his other half. He thought you would complete him. The yin to his yang. If you two would have combined forces, you could have completely obliterated the Guild! For good!” Astonished, and in disbelief, Eddie stood and began pacing nervously. “So this, Orphus Guild?” Eddie asked “They’re coming after Calvin?” “Yes.” “But Calvin’s dead.” “Yes.” Then, the inevitable hit him “They’re coming after me aren’t they?” he questioned with fear Marta sighed “Sadly, yes. You must fight the Guild.” Eddie groaned in frustration. “The only thing I was even remotely worried about was what kind of cappuccino I was going to have this morning before I started working on my script!” He continued to pace, blurting out swear words like “fuck” and “shit”, obviously frustrated. He kept running his fingers through his coal-black hair, wondering what the next step was. His brain was wracking itself into twists and turns pondering just how they were going to find him and when they would strike. “I’m supposed to tell you what to do next,” Marta said as she gazed at the rug on her floor “But you must be very careful!” “Just tell me what the fuck I have to do!” shouted Eddie The room fell silent. The look on Marta’s face was fearful. “I’m sorry Marta,” Eddie quietly apologized “But please, tell me what I need to do next.” She gently smiled and said “You must find yourself at Teira Peak, the mountain just 20 minutes from here.” “Find myself,” Eddie exclaimed in confusion “Now, what the fuck does that mean?!” “Eddie please…” “No Marta, this is so fucked up, you have no clue what the fuck I’ve been through today! I woke up this fucking morning with a body on my floor and no knowledge of how he got in. Then I look at him and it’s myself with cuts and slits all across his face. Now what exactly do you think I want to fucking do?” “Well I-I…” “You don’t fucking know do you” She fell silent again. “I want to go back to fucking bed and wake up to find out this is all a god damn dream!” She was still and silent like a metronome to a cordless piano. Her face now a pale grey, her heart sinking and falling faster than she had ever wanted. “You need to go.” She told him abruptly “Yeah I do,” Eddie said beginning to calm down “I better – I better go” He stormed to the front door and opened it forcefully, swinging it so it stood ajar. He walked with an ultimate purpose towards his car. To find himself. Whatever the hell that meant. “Eddie wait!” Marta called from the door He stopped at the driver side door, and looked at her. She ran, with tears streaming down her cheeks as if the Hoover dam cracked. She threw her arms around him and pressed her lips against his, forcing her fit of passion on him. She drew back and stared into his glowing green eyes. “I love you Eddie,” Marta sniffed “I’ll be here, waiting for you” She kissed him again. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. He smiled and didn’t want to leave. “Don’t worry,” he reassured “I’ll be back” Letting go of the sweetest embrace he’d ever had, Eddie got into his car reluctantly. He knew he had to leave, it was written in his fate. Again, he found himself staring into the rear-view to watch Marta stand at the edge of her driveway and cry as she waved him off. He couldn’t understand it all. “Love springing up like a shot in the dark. A brother that’s as new to me as a mother is to a newborn child.” He thought, “How the hell am going to ‘find myself’?” The drive wasn’t an easy one. He found himself wondering about Marta’s well being, if the Guild had gotten to her already and maimed her like they did Calvin. He kept picturing it, and it stung like a hot scalpel. “Just keep driving,” he told himself “She’ll be fine!” And that’s exactly what he did. Drive. Drive for 20 minutes and then there it stood, Teira Peak, at least that’s what the sign said. Staring up at the grand mountainous range, Eddie wondered how he was going to “find himself” here. Again his front jean pocket glowed its bright white light. He slipped it out once again and the message was clearer than before “To see the true light within one’s self, you must look in one’s self”. The message sunk a little deeper than it did when Eddie first gazed at it. He shoved the card back into it’s home, and rushed out of the car. He walked towards the base of the mountain, and there was something waiting there. A ski lift. He jogged towards the lift and got in. He looked for something that said “start” or “go”, he found a green button near the door. He slammed on it as hard as he possibly could, as if physically willing it to go fast. The skit lift jerked, throwing Eddie into a seat, whizzing past trees and brush faster than any regular lift. Scaring flocks of birds off the branches where they were once perched quietly and harmoniously. He stared out of the Plexiglas and saw white dots whip by as the lift continued to fly up the mountain. Then suddenly the lift came to an abrupt halt. The acceleration threw Eddie to the other side of the lift. Eddie slid open the door and stepped out onto the fresh snow. “Took you long enough” a voice came from behind him Eddie whipped around and again was staring into that similar face, completely covered, from head to foot, in snow white, blending in with each little snowflake. For the second time he was staring into that non-existent mirror. “This isn’t happening.” He said as he closed his eyes “Oh, but it is!” Eddie’s other reflection stated, “Just when you thought there was only two of yourself.” “Who are you?” “Why,” said the reflection as it grinned malevolently “I’m you Eddie” “That’s impossible.” “No, it’s not actually because here I am, and here you are. Therefore it’s not impossible” “Don’t fuck with me!” “Whoa, Eddie,” he coaxed “You might not want to do that.” “Why you son-of-a…” The reflection whipped out a small, jagged knife and slipped it under Eddie’s throat. Eddie took a few quick breaths and gulped down the air in fear of his reflections next move. “What’d I tell you?” “Who the fuck are you?” Eddie choked on his words as the knife pressed gently onto his larynx “Well,” said the reflection, lowering his knife “I am you, in a figurative sense. So believe that!” Eddie rubbed his neck gently and watched the reflection, hating his entire being. “I am what you would call a section of your soul. Just a singular piece of you.” He extended his hand “They call me Omi” Eddie looked blankly at the hand in front of him, then looked up and scoffed Omi. Omi wiped his hand on his pant leg “Well, if that’s how it’s going to be, I’ll break it to you the quick way. I’m the leader for the Orphus Guild.” Instantly Eddie snarled at Omi and jumped at him, trying to take him to the ground. Omi moved like light and Eddie found himself with a face full of white wetness. “Now how did I know you’d do that?” Omi snickered “I’m what you would call one of your many personalities. In a way, the yang.” Eddie pushed himself up out of the snow and brushed himself off. “That loser, Calvin, was the yin,” Omi explained “Passive, and too god damn girly for his own good. I’m glad that I destroyed him.” “He was my twin you fucker!” Eddie shouted “HA!” Omi laughed heartily, “Twin?! No, no he and I are merely just divided halves of you. Split up and constantly combating. I, of course, am the superior as you can tell, for I am the one standing tall.” “You’re such a god damn war monger!” Eddie insulted “Oooh! Oh wow Eddie, is that all you got?” Omi jabbed “Calvin has really influenced you, hasn’t he? And what a shame, you two never got to meet. How tragic!” Eddie clenched his fists wanting to strike, but he knew Omi would move if he saw Eddie even slightly quiver. “So, now, I will gain my dominance, and obliterate you as I did Calvin,” Omi said matter-of-factly “Quicker than your eyeballs can possibly fathom!” Omi leapt into the air and disappeared for a millisecond, and then returned suddenly, suspended in mid-air. His face just inches from Eddie’s and his dagger was lifted just above Eddie’s head. The snow beneath him slowly became a light shade of crimson. Omi looked down, there stuck into his side was a handle of a knife, much like the one he held. “You’ll never be able to kill me,” said a scarred Calvin “You, yourself, cannot exist without me.” “B-but you weren’t breathing.” Said Eddie utterly confused at the figure standing before him Calvin twisted the blade in Omi’s side and Omi released a blood churtling scream. “Oh shut up you big baby!” Calvin quipped, “An ancient Yoga technique I learned from a monk I met” “You’re such a bitch!” Omi squealed “And you take it like one!” Calvin shouted back as he removed his knife from Omi’s side. Blood began rushing out of the wound, creating a pool of red ice. “Listen, Eddie,” Calvin tried to explain quickly “I have to send you back.” “Back? Back where?” “Back home, bye Eddie!” Calvin thrusted both hands into Eddie’s chest, and pushed him off of the mountain. “WAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIITTTT….” Eddie could only let out that one word as he fell slowly. Eddie jerked himself awake, ice-cold sweat covered him from head to toe. He breathed heavily, sitting up. “What a fucking nightmare!” he whispered to himself A body stirred beside him and put her arm around him. “Are you okay baby?” Marta asked groggily “Yeah,” Eddie said gathering himself “Just a bad dream.” She slid over, kissing him, putting her head on his chest to calm him more. Her shoulder-length, golden locks tickled his skin. “I’m here.” she reassured him “I love you too,” he said “Marta” She smiled and cuddled up to his body. He closed his eyes, and that repetitive quote etched itself into the darkness of his eyelids. To see the true light within one’s self, you must look in one’s self. He could now see his light, and he held it close to his chest as he fell back into a deep sleep.
Copyright © 2007 Reginald F Byron |