Rex sighed as a familiar view breached his awareness. “Not this again,” he said aloud, looking down the long dark stone hallway, sighing as he slid his hand down over his face. He had a good sense of where he was, he had constantly been having this same dream as of late. He would make his way down the hallway, a loud deep rumbling sound of breathing following, an occasional whisper of his name on the breath of the wind, slowly getting louder the further he travelled down the solo path illuminated by incandescent blue fires burning inside of golden braziers hanging from a short bronze coloured arm extending from the wall every eight to ten feet. Looking up as he walked down the path he had been taking two times a week now inside of his dreams, he spotted the now familiar singular golden flower sprouting between each hanging brazier, growing between black vines that grew to cover most of the roof to the stone hallway. Rex only recognised this flower due to his visits to the river that c
Riding through the familiar suburbs, Rex arrived at the entrance gate to the river just over an hour later, as predicted. Unmounting, he knew it would be easier to push his bike through the usual throng of weekend river attendants, having had way too many close calls to collisions on previous attempts. Following the path he had taken many times over the years, Rex pushed his bike onwards, passing a group of people sitting at a table and chairs setup. He thought one person looked familiar, even though their back was turned, he was about to have a second glance when a familiar voice made his blood run cold. “Well look who it is!” Inhaling deeply in through his nose and then loudly out through his mouth, he stopped and turned to face the owner of the voice, replying in a cold flat tone, “What do you want Dean?” Dean Symonds was the bully who plagued every day of Rex’s schooling, from the first year he came to this school all the way through to his final year, Dean was unrelenting in h
Rex decided his next best course of action would be to make for home after the events that unfolded at the river with Dean. He had planned on taking the same track he came in because it was the quickest route, but after the altercation earlier, he changed his mind, he was not wanting to risk running into the group again on the way out. 'An extra 20 minutes to go around him and his friends won't kill me,' he thought as he picked up his bike and started off up the hill, going along the road headed in the opposite direction he used to come in.The only problem was the other track he knew about that would lead him back towards home was a very steep and looked and even rougher trail than the one he had taken to reach his secluded beach, the trail went over the eastern hills behind the town that cut through a dense forest area that many people avoided, there were many stories from the locals about strange things that happened in that forest. As he rode, his mind went back to the events at
"I'm serious Iris! That is what happened!!" Rex exclaimed when Iris did not believe him. "Ok dear, you're here and you're fine, that's all that matters," She said in a soft tone, "Go upstairs, clean yourself up, and try to relax a little, it sounds like you've been through alot." "Well, no…I…fine…" Rex grumbled, admitting defeat, he was not impressed she thought he was lying about the events that had just unfolded, so after she smiled at him once more, he stood up quickly and stomped up the stairs, shutting the door loudly, getting himself undressed and ready to clean himself up, after having a warm shower, Rex threw on some clean clothes and sat in his chair and stared at the wall for a while. 'What an odd day I've had' he thought, he tried to focus on slowing his breathing because he felt like his headache was going to return if he didn't stop trying to make sense of everything, he took one look at his computer and thought, 'well Iris said my brain is already rotting, no more harm
"Wow, and here I thought you couldn’t pull that off, thanks gran," Rex replied, totally lost at her latest statement. "Let me start at the beginning to make it a little easier on you," she said with a smile, sitting down with her coffee, "This may take a while, and please save the questions for the end." Rex sat hurriedly, totally enthralled that he was finally going to find out things he had merely dreamt about, he was secretly hoping for a mention of why his parents dropped him off and had not come back for him. Taking in a deep breath, Iris began her explanation, "This existence isn't the only one that connects to this world, there are a few more, that both you and I and many more belong to. In some these places things not thought possible there exist in harmony with everyone. Things like magic, for example, as I hear you have already had a small taste yourself. In our world what you would think impossible is quite common, like your feat of strength and the slowing of time, whic
"So have you lived here long?" Vanessa queried. "I came to Oak when I was a baby, yourself?" Rex replied. "I'm from a small town called Valen," she said. "I've never heard of a place called Valen," Rex said racking his brain for a place with that name, "Where is that?" "It's a small place, to the east, not far from the ocean," she smiled, "My mother moved here for an important job, and she dragged me with her," She frowned, Rex could tell she was not happy about it. "Well with it being so close to the end of school exams, I'm not surprised you're not happy about the move, new school, new teachers, that's a lot of pressure on you," Rex sympathized. "My mother certainly puts a lot of pressure on me, that's for sure," she muttered, still frowning. To lighten her mood Rex asked about her likes, they spoke about movies, and books, and Rex spoke about the river. *RIIIIIINNNNGGG* Damn! Just when Rex thought he was truly getting somewhere with her, lunch was already over, he waited f
Rex could barely hold his attention in his class, the only thing he could think about was dinner plans, what meals he wanted to try, dining setup, he was putting a lot of thought into trying to make the night memorable. The sound of the end-of-class bell brought him back to reality, quickly packed up and he made his way to his bike. Nothing had made him this happy in a long time, he was not going to ruin it! Rex peddled quickly as he made his journey home, wanting to give himself as much time as possible to be prepared. Galloping into the house after dropping his bike off he was that preoccupied he nearly ran into Iris. "What has you in such a hurry!!??" She cried out just being able to jump to the side in time. "I'm going to need your help gran, I have a visitor coming for dinner tonight!!" He chirped. Must be an important person Iris thought, "Who is this visitor?" Blushing a little, he said sheepishly, "It's a girl from school." "My mym is that so?" Iris grinned, "What do yo
"You took the only person I ever cared about!!" Vanessa and Rex both roared, surprisingly at the exact same time. “Only you were supposed to die tonight!” Cried Vanessa, “All of this is because of you!” She started moving towards Rex, only one thing in her mind, revenge! “Why were you trying to kill me? I have done nothing to either of you! I didn’t even know you until recently!” Rex yelled seeing Vanessa moving on him with her dagger at the ready. “Your family ruined us!” She said, she was only a few feet away now, still grim determination for the kill written all over her face. “If you want a fight, here I am!” Rex said. He just realised in the heat of the moment, he had no weapon to help him. So he did the only thing he could of, raise both hands up, fists clenched at Vanessa. “Are you that cocky you think you can take me without a weapon!!?” Vanessa sneered, “Very well!” Adjusting her grip for a stab, Vanessa thrust the dagger towards Rex’s stomach. She was trying to inflic