《Solemn Faith》


 Prologue 1: Sudden Change

    Ryan McAlester was living a life of a normal 8-year-old kid. His father Roy McAlester was a loving father, who worked hard for the sustenance of his family. He worked at a software company called Boris International Software''s, as a database manager. Annual income he earned was 5,040 dollars by working as a full-time worker for at least 10 hours a day. The pay was relatively low because the company was new in the market and had low funds.


    Ryan was mostly looked after by his mother Gwen McAlester. A very loving mother but she was very overprotective of him. He got into a lot of trouble at school, which either involved fights with bullies of his class or accidents such as falling down the stairs at the school for running too fast on them.


    It seemed as if bad luck followed him wherever he went, triggering some accidents which would always end up in him getting injured as the norm. His mother would always be tensed whenever he so as so went out of the house. It was due to carelessness of Ryan for most of the time which caused such accidents.


    He always kept his mother on edge like a little duckling looked after by his mama duck but even the ducklings were not as careless as Ryan.


    The family lived in McAlester''s family house which consisted of two floors, a ground floor and the first floor. There was a lawn (approximately 759 sq. meters) in the front of the house surrounded by wooden fencing. The house had no garage, so Roy had to park his Volkswagen Transporter in a paid parking facility nearby.


    The layout of the house was very spacious. Living room was connected to the kitchen and the guest room. First floor was connected by stairs located beside the kitchen entrance. Roy and Gwen occupied the Master bedroom on the first floor while Ryan enjoyed his own room. The unoccupied guestroom was located adjacent to the stairs connecting the floors. Sometimes Gwen''s brother Wilber would come to stay with them, so he occupies the guest room during his stay.


    Roy always took Ryan to park in his free time to play with him and spend some time together. They loved to baseball or catch together. Once, Roy was playing catch with him and suddenly a dog came out of nowhere and jumped towards Ryan, making him fall backwards and crash on the tree behind him. Luckily Ryan only got few bruises here and there.


    These kinds of sudden accidents always haunted him but most of them were due to his careless nature, unlike this one.


    The Dog''s owner came searching for his dog. He shouted at Ryan for being careless and hurting his dog instead of apologizing. His actions made Roy so mad, that he dashed towards the man and made the man look towards him forcibly by using his left hand to drag his right shoulder behind. As soon as they made eye contact Roy punched the man, targeting the area right between his eyebrows and the nose using his free hand. The hard punch made dog''s owner fall on the ground and leaving his dog gawking at Roy as he gave him a fierce look.


    Roy turned towards the man, who was looking at him with a horrified expression as he held his now bleeding nose. "Try and control your damn dog before abusing my son or else I will make you wish you were never born". The angry father''s bark made the man shiver and his dog quiet like a scared pussy.


    Roy had a muscular build which made him look like a street gangster whenever he wore a T-shirt. In such rage his angry face turned red with veins bulging out of his neck, which made him look more intimidating. Roy wore a shirt most of the time which did great job of hiding his muscles very well. Ryan giggled at the shivering man, who was about to piss his pants and was very proud that he had a dad such as him.


    The cowardly dog owner ran away with his dog following behind him. He lived in the same neighborhood as Ryan. As Ryan was famous in the area for his carelessness causing such accidents, made the man push the blame on him as he also disliked the kid. After the dog owner left, Roy walked towards Ryan and started to wipe the dirt from his trousers. Then he picked the ball beside the tree and gave it to him.


    "Let''s start again, the score was 2 and 2"


    "But dad you failed to catch one ball"


    "Puussh! No, I did not¡­ nope¡­"


    "Daddd¡­"


    When Ryan was just 8 and a half years old, Gwen became pregnant. Ryan was very enthusiastic to become a big brother. He always had a fantasy of pranking his little brother or sister by making them get into trouble but not any normal trouble, something major which would result in them getting grounded for a month or so.


    ¡­


    One of the most joyous moments of the McAlester family dawned on them after 9 months. Ryan became a 9-year-old, 3 months ago during which he did not even get into trouble once, that alone was honestly surprising as well as shocking for both Roy and Gwen.


    Ryan became a big brother of a little cute sister, who was given a name chosen by him himself ''Ruby''. He chose the name because of her bright pinkish fair skin. Roy and Gwen also loved the name, so they approved.


    Everyone in the family went through some major changes 2 years after arrival of Ruby. Roy got promoted to the post of branch manager, Gwen started to work as a consultant for the society committee and Ryan had biggest change of them all. He started to study much harder and became an A grade student in the school which showered him with many scholarships. He came much more active in extra curriculum activities. He even became the captain of the football team. Surprisingly he also started to learn martial arts, so that he could show off those moves to his sister.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Ruby was a charming little girl at the age of 3. She even had the attention of the pesky neighbors, who before resented Ryan for his carelessness. They loved the company of Ruby so much that the neighborhood fought to take care of the girl when Ryan or his parents informed that they will not be at home to take care of her.


    Ryan always laughed his ass off at that sight, but he felt sad the most as he loved to spend time with his little sister. He wished that he had the ability to make clones so that his real self could spend all his time with his cute little sister. Ruby sometimes had the care of uncle Wilber as he volunteered for the babysitting. As the guestroom was no longer free and living room had no space, uncle Wilber had to spend his night with Ryan. He slept over the sleeping mattress arranged on the floor as he was afraid of getting his nuts busted by relatively docile Ryan sleeping on the bed. Ryan had done this before and made Uncle Wilber visit the good old humble Doctor Steve. Uncle Wilber was pretty sure that Ryan did this purposely.


    ¡­


    Ruby loved to play with Lego''s. Ryan and Ruby always spent their time together by either playing or building Lego architectures. Once Ryan accidently stepped on a four by four Lego cube which was lying on the ground. He busted into screams of pain and fell on the ground holding the leg which was hurt. This shocked Ruby so much that she jumped over the tower she was making while hitting her ankle on the top of the tower, which made her fall on the ground face first. She immediately got up and ran towards her brother not caring for the bleeding wound on the side of her forehead.


    "Brother, brother what happened¡­ Ruby is here"


    She said in such cute voice which would melt the heart of any cruel man, while holding Ryan''s leg which he was rubbing as he screamed.


    Ryan saw his sister''s face and noticed her bleeding forehead. He was stunned and immediately forgot the pain he felt. He picked Ruby up in a princess carry pose and ran towards the kitchen where first aid kit was kept in a cabinet.


    "Ouch¡­. ouch"


    He bandaged Ruby after applying antiseptic while asking her what happened. While Ryan was keeping the bandages in the box Ruby took the bottle of antiseptic which he had kept on the kitchen floor near her and opened the loose cap to pour the liquid on Ryan''s feet which was the target of the evil Lego cube lord.


    "Ruby don''t do that¡­."


    Ryan quickly grabbed the bottle from Ruby which was half empty from being full and lectured her for spilling it on the ground while he dropped the bandages he was keeping. Ruby looked down, fidgeting with her index fingers and said.


    "Bu... But you... your leg"


    Ryan kept the bottle on the kitchen counter and hugged his little sister while shedding a happy tear, as he was touched by her care for him. The gesture made Ruby confused as he was just angry a moment ago, but she hugged him back regardless.


    Gwen came back from the market with bags of groceries and went towards the kitchen to keep them just to see Ryan hugging Ruby while there was a mess of bandages and cotton lying everywhere on the floor, not to mention the wasted antiseptic. After some inspection and a brief lecture of one hour both Ryan and Ruby were sent to their rooms. Gwen was afraid that Ruby might pick up Ryan''s now nonexistent bad luck.


    ¡­


    Ryan was around 16 years old and for the first time his parents did not have any more space in the house to store his trophies. They even had to plan for Ruby''s seventh birthday which was coming ever so closer. Ryan was the most excited for it. He had brought her birthday gift well in advance and couldn''t wait to see her reaction.


    On the night before Ruby''s birthday began, Ryan and Gwen were waiting for Roy in the living room to come home from work to plan for the auspicious day. Ruby was put to sleep by Ryan who enjoyed reciting stories for his sister. Whenever his mother asked him to put her to sleep, he would make a happy face which felt very creepy to the one looking at him. He made a dimpled smile while his brown eyebrows became flat and his pupils dilated. It was so creepy that sometimes his mother would decide to change her mind and put Ruby to sleep herself. Which then resulted in him throwing tantrums at her.


    At late night around midnight, Roy entered the house and hurriedly went towards kitchen without even removing the shoes and keeping the suitcase. Gwen was startled for a moment but then called out to him while following him towards the kitchen "Honey¡­ Honey what happened¡­.".


    Gwen was worried because Roy recently had a kerfuffle at work. He was convicted falsely under the offense of leaking company''s secret project. Government had contacted Boris International regarding the project and had given some incites about it. Gwen only knew this information and nothing else as Roy said it was confidential information. The matter was solved by the government. They found that the one who leaked the project was insider working with them and not Roy. The accusation was removed and Roy started working again. He did not quit the job because the company supported him wholeheartedly and played a major part in clearing his name. The information leaked was quickly obliterated from the internet as soon as it was leaked. No information was present about it, except for the name "Crusader 1190". Even Roy never knew what the project was about. It was never disclosed what it actually was. So logically Roy was never at fault.


    Gwen had helped Roy emotionally a lot during this month. Roy was completely stressed out when he was accused. He was never at fault. He went to work normally during this period as he was backed by his supervisors but was haunted by the gossips of his colleagues. They even dared to blame him for their own faults. Those who worked under Roy were even worse. The only strings holding him from lashing out was Gwen and Ryan.


    Ryan was also startled as his dad never behaved like that. There were sometimes when he would come home agitated but today felt somewhat weird to him. Ryan left the matter to mom as he saw her following after Roy. He knew all about matter regarding "Crusader 1190". Ryan had heard his mom and dad talk about it. He helped Roy to cope up with the tension as best as he could.


    "Honey¡­ WHAT ARE YOU¡­AAHHHHHH"


    Gwen''s scream echoed through the house. Ryan was petrified for a moment, but snapped from the spell as he heard a loud thud. He ran towards the kitchen at a lightning speed. As soon as he reached the entrance, he was rooted to the spot with his eyes wide open. Roy was holding a knife firmly in his right hand, stained with red blood. Gwen was on the floor, lifeless with her face facing the entrance with an expression of horror, her neck oozing loads of blood everywhere with a deep gash from one end to the other. She was holding her neck when she saw Ryan.


    "Run...Run"


    She was trying to speak but no voice was heard as blood choked her throat.

 Unknown and Known

    When Ryan saw this horrifying scene, his mind went blank. He was rendered unable to think. He fell down on his knees as his legs no longer had any strength. When he saw his mother trying to speak, he dragged himself closer to his mother. This must be a dream¡­no this has to be a dream, this was the only thought in his mind as he repeated this again and again while inching closer to his mother. He held her hand as she looked at him. He held her hand tightly and closed his eyes as he muttered ¡°Please be a dream¡­please¡±.


    Roy was standing beside them, banging the knife against the kitchen counter. When he heard Ryan muttering those words, he started laughing hysterically as if he enjoyed every moment of it.


    Ryan¡¯s heart was like a whirlpool of raging emotions, sorrow, anger, hopelessness¡­


    The only thought in his mind was ¡°why¡­just why¡± as he turned to look at his father. He was stupefied at what he saw. No that was not his father¡­this thing cannot be his father. Sclerae in Roy¡¯s eyes were blood red. Both of his iris were black as pitch. His pupils were as white as pearls. When Ryan looked at eyes of the figure impersonating Roy, fear shrouded his heart. When the impersonator¡¯s eyes meet with Ryan¡¯s, he smiled back and faded into black mist. The knife in his hands fell on the floor as he disappeared into nothingness.


    Ryan snapped from the trance when the impersonator vanished. He turned to look towards at his mom as she slowly closed her eyes. The fear in his heart was replaced by unbearable sadness. ¡°Mom...mom no please¡± Tears rolled down his cheeks when Gwen closed her eyes. His heart became heavy as his stomach started churning. He couldn¡¯t stop crying, what should he do now? He looked at his mother with his tearful eyes. He was scared, she is not dead, no it cannot be.


    What should he do? What should he do? His mind went into overdrive. Ambulance, yes, he should call an ambulance and take his mother to a hospital. They might help me. While holding her hand he said, ¡°Please mom hold on¡­ please¡±. He consolidated himself as he gently kept her hand down. Time was running fast, he must not delay. He rushed into the living room to call an ambulance. After dialing the number he heard the ring, as the ringing prolonged his heart beat rose. When they picked up the call, he told them the situation and ran back towards kitchen. He quickly removed the first aid kit from the cabinet, but there was nothing in it he could use. Ryan panicked as he saw Gwen losing blood. He took out the cotton bandages and with their help he tried to stop the bleeding by holding her neck straight. His body was shivering rapidly but he did not move. His trousers were drenched in Gwen¡¯s blood. Mom is not breathing, no¡­ no¡­ no I cannot lose her. His heart ached heavily. There was just silence, silence all around him. He held Gwen¡¯s hand tightly, he was afraid of letting his mother go. He felt a light pulse on her wrist as he said, ¡°Yes, mom please hold on¡±. He couldn¡¯t control his feelings as tears rained down again.


    Ambulance quickly arrived within 4 minutes and they carefully placed Gwen on the stretcher. While in the ambulance, Ryan held Gwen¡¯s head straight, so that the wound does not open and bleed out. The cut was wide but not as deep. Still, the blood was flowing out of the wound like a stream. After reaching the hospital Gwen was still alive. He felt her pulse when he held her wrist while doctors and nurses took her to the emergency room after transferring her from the stretcher to a gurney. They quickly began operating on Gwen. Ryan waited outside while continuously looking through the glass window on the door. He could not see anything as the curtains were closed but still kept looking because of dread. After roughly about 3 and a half hours the doctors came out to inform Ryan. The operation was successful and Gwen¡¯s life was saved. As soon as Ryan heard the doctors, he sparkled with joy but then tensed up when he heard that she was in coma due to the loss of blood. Doctors assured him that she will be fine and will recover.


    Gwen¡¯s throat was cut in half but she survived. She was kept on an artificial breather to pump oxygen into her blood. The Ryles tube were fixed into Gwen¡¯s mouth after complete reconstruction of the trachea. Her neck was covered with bandages to prevent infection. She survived because her cervical vertebrae were intact and the cut was above the thyroid cartilage. The blade went in deep enough to cut into the esophagus for 0.2 centimeters.


    ¡­


    Ryan¡¯s mind was a mess. He was confused as he kept on thinking what had happened, he recalled the scenes as his heart beat rose. How can his father disappear into thin air by turning into a mist? Most of all why did he do this? Was that really his father? His brain was in turmoil. He suddenly remembered, Ruby was home alone. She did not wake up from the commotion at all. Ryan had to check on her, but he cannot leave his mother alone, so he decided to call uncle Wilber. His mobile was at home, how should he contact him? He went to the reception and told them his problem, they allowed him to use their telephone. But the question was, how should he explain this to him? What should he say? Will uncle believe what had actually happened. Ryan racked his brain and decided to frame everything as an accident. It was late at night and Ryan only knew his telephone number. After dialing for about 11 times uncle Wilber finally picked up the phone.


    ¡°Who the fuck is this. Do you know what time it is? Why in the hell are you calling me at 4 in the morning? If this is some advertisement, I am gonna beat your ass. Fuck you¡­ Fuck you¡­ I hope you eat maggots for breakfast¡­bitch¡± after this trashing Ryan heard some sort of banging sound for 2 times and then the call was cut. Ryan was furious, he clenched his right fist and almost punched the reception counter. He swallowed his anger and dialed his number again. He hoped that the banging sound was not the telephone breaking apart. His worries vanished when he heard the phone ringing. Uncle Wilber picked up the phone quickly. Before he had the chance to mega beam the telephone¡¯s hard-wired ass, Ryan spoke.


    ¡°Uncle it¡¯s me Ryan¡­ wait up you fu¡­ listen please¡± after which he explained Uncle Wilber his framed version of the story.


    ¡°What¡­wait tell the name of the hospital. Let me come over. How is her conditi¡­ fuck I am coming over. Tell me the name¡±


    ¡°Holy Trinity Hospital¡­ before you come¡±¡­beep¡­ beep¡­beep¡­¡±Check up on Ruby¡±. Ryan started cursing his retarded uncle in his head as he kept the phone back and turned to thank the receptionist.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Hahaha kiddo you surely are a piece¡± said the receptionist while laughing. After which he pointed towards the police officers and said, ¡°Those gentlemen want to know what happened kiddo, don¡¯t be scared just say everything you know¡±.


    Ryan went towards the police officers standing near the main door of the hospital. As soon he reached and looked towards them one of the three officers spoke, ¡°So, are you Ryan McAlester. We have heard from the doctors about your mother. Your mother is lucky to survive, many die from such incidents. I am officer Denver. Can you tell us what transpired this injury?¡± Mr. Denver was well-built middle-aged man. The most notable feature of his was a scar above his right eyebrow. He had black hair with a wrinkled elongated face. His body outline seemed a little odd, compared to his face.


    Ryan told them the same framed story which he fabricated for uncle Wilber. After hearing Ryan, he asked him some more questions and then left after telling Ryan to take care.


    ¡­


    Uncle Wilber came to the hospital, 30 minutes after the call. He found out about Ryan via the reception and went to the ward where he was. He saw Ryan across the hallway sitting on the chair with his head held by his hands as he looked at the floor. After walking near to him uncle Wilber sat on the chair beside Ryan. He gently tapped his shoulder as Ryan turned to look towards him.


    ¡°I was going to tell you to check up on Ruby before you came here¡±


    ¡°Did you not lock the house Ryan¡± uncle Wilber replied in a lamenting voice.


    ¡°Yes, of course I did. Ahh! You don¡¯t have the key. Can you wait here? I will go home and check up on her¡± Ryan said hurriedly.


    ¡°Yes, but before you go tell me¡­ How is my sister now? What did the doctors say?¡± uncle Wilber replied in a worrisome tone. Ryan left for the house after telling uncle Wilber that everything is fine now. He took some money from him. Uncle Wilber accompanied Ryan to the exit and went towards doctor¡¯s chamber as Ryan left towards home.


    Ryan booked a cab and reached the house within 7 minutes. Holy Trinity hospital was very near to Ryan¡¯s house. He looked around the house before entering because of trepidation. He reached for the door knob while holding the key. After opening the door, he entered the house. Ryan instinctively went towards the kitchen. He unconsciously still doubted about the reality. Realizing he stopped himself midway and turned to walk towards Ruby¡¯s room. He was feeling dizzy because of high blood pressure and lack of sleep. Stumbling upon the couch on the way snapped him back on earth. After entering into Ruby¡¯s room, he saw Ruby fast asleep on the bed.


    He sighed and turned back to go towards the living room. He felt as if some kind of load was removed from his shoulders, after looking at Ruby. Pondering for a bit on the living room couch, he decided to head back to the hospital in a while. As he pondered on the couch, Ryan remembered about the incident again. His feet went cold as he told himself not to think too much. He thought about calling his father, but then decided against it. Was that really his father? If not then, where is he? Ryan excused the thought by consoling himself that he might be at work. This was also not for the first time Roy hadn¡¯t come home for the night. He wrote a note telling Roy about the framed made-up incident he told uncle Wilber. After keeping the note on the table in front of the couch, Ryan relaxed into the couch and unexpectedly fell asleep.


    ***


    Earlier that evening, Roy was sitting inside his cabin as he browsed through the statistical report on his monitor. He heard a knock on his cabin door.


    ¡°Come in Please¡±


    Lester a colleague of Roy walked in the cabin. He worked under Roy as a consultant for the branch. Lester had a triangle shaped face with some thick eyebrows. The color of his eyes was dark green which contrasted well with his dark blue shirt and black formal trousers. He had light, well-groomed facial hair with no mustache. His skin color was like tanned yellow but a bit lighter. He had good relationship with Roy and was a good friend to him. Not the best but still someone who cared for his well-being regardless.


    Lester came in and sat on the chair in front of Roy¡¯s desk.


    ¡°Roy, boss is trying to reach your mobile, why aren¡¯t you picking up.¡± Lester leans forward and keeps both of his hands in a folded position on the desk. ¡°He is worried about you and also he said me to give you this¡± As Lester said this, he suddenly realized that he has forgotten the documents that he was supposed to give to Roy.


    When Roy saw the look on Lester¡¯s face, he laughed and said, ¡°You forgot them didn¡¯t ya¡±, Lester gives an awkward smile and replied, ¡°I will be back¡±, in a heavy tone. He went out of the cabin and came back in a minute. Lester got inside the cabin without knocking the door unlike before. Roy gave him a smile as he saw his frustrated friend. Lester sat in the position and kept a file on Roy¡¯s work desk. Roy took the document and asked Lester about them.


    ¡°Boss mailed me those, he said they are algorithms for the new software to be developed. He wants you to check and review them¡±


    ¡°I guess another all-nighter for me. Thanks, dear constipation patient¡±


    As Lester listens to Roy his ears turn pink and he replies in a flustered tone, ¡°Hey it just happened once before. Stop calling me a patient for that¡±


    Roy chuckles and says, ¡°Alright, constipation¡±


    ¡°Come on grow up will you. Stop teasing me for that¡±, Lester¡¯s blush spreads to his neck. At the sight, Roy makes a mischievous smile and replies, ¡°Alright I will not if you stop reacting to it¡±. Lester frowned, but then he decided to change the topic, they talked about the marketing strategies and some other things for a while.


    After talking for a while Lester decides to get back to work, he got up and walked towards the door. As he reached the door, he turned to look at Roy and said, ¡°Man, you surely need some rest with all that commotion in the office before. Take a leave Roy and enjoy some timeout with your family¡±, Lester leaves right after giving him a piece of his mind. Roy lets out a sigh as he watches the door close.


    After the door closes, Roy suddenly remembers Ruby¡¯s birthday and tries to call Gwen. He takes his phone out of his pocket and notices that there is no network. He goes out of his cabin but still there is no network. Roy then decides to go outside. There is no network even after coming out of the office entirely. He then decides complete his work for the day and leave the review for tomorrow, that way he can leave the office on time and be at home for the planning.


    Roy finishes his work and starts to pack things up. After leaving the office he removes his mobile from the pocket. He starts to scroll through the phone, then he notices the no network sign again. ¡°Damn this network¡±, Roy curses in his breath.


    It was late at night and the parking lot was very dark with almost no light. Roy pockets his phone and walks to where his car is parked. He removes the car keys from the hind pocket. As Roy¡¯s car was in sight, he noticed a silhouette of a person beside it. He loudly asks, ¡°Who¡¯s there¡± but he hears no reply. He resumes moving towards his car and removes his phone. He switches on the flash light and points towards his car. As the area illuminates, he notices there is nothing here. Roy releases a sigh and switches of the flash light. He opens the car door, sits down and starts the engine. After closing the door, he begins driving towards home.


    It was a nice smooth ride because of almost no traffic and just one traffic signal. He quickly reaches the booked parking space within 34 mins of driving. He had renewed his rent for a year in the parking lot because the family house had no garage. As he reached the parking space, he saw a figure blocking his way towards it. He honked at the person but he did not move. Roy honked twice in a row but there was no movement from the man. He tried switching his head lights on and off, but there was still no response. Irritated, Roy got out of the car and raising his voice he said, ¡°Hey, what is your problem huh!¡±. He closed the car door and walked towards the man.


    When Roy was about 6 meters away from the man, the person turned around. Roy was shocked after he saw his face. The character had no eyes, in place of his eyes there was nothing. But most importantly, what shocked Roy was that he knew the person. ¡°You, you are not supposed to be here. How did you get here?¡± when the creature heard Roy, it began laughing. He suddenly appeared in front of Roy in a split second he stabbed him in the heart using his bare fists. There was an expression of disbelief on Roy¡¯s face. The creature inserted its hand deeper into his chest as Roy coughed up blood on its face. The hand went right through the Roy¡¯s chest with his heart firmly clenched in the creature¡¯s palm.

 Mundane World 1

    Roy became pale. The creature pulled its hand back, ripping Roy¡¯s heart. His breathing stopped as his body fell to the ground. The creature kicked Roy, sending his body crashing back. It waved its hand in the air and suddenly a star shaped trigram appeared in the air. A box appeared in the creature¡¯s hand. It kept the ripped heart into the box, while its body emitted a gray miasma. When the miasma covered its body, the creature vanished, while the miasma faded into the air. Suddenly the ring on Roy¡¯s finger emitted a fiery glow, which enveloped his body. The glow brightened, as an image of Roy began to form inside the gemstone, embedded into the ring.


    ¡­


    The morning sun greeted the horizon with his gentle rays, while Ryan woke up from his slumber. He opened his eyes feeling weary. After rubbing them for a bit, he smacked his head. Ryan did that to punish himself for his carelessness. He quickly checked on Ruby and saw her sleeping soundly. Ryan decided not to wake her up and went to his room. He grabbed his mobile phone and dialed the hospital, after getting their number from the net.


    ¡°Hello, Holy Trinity Hospital reception¡± a sweet female voice was heard through the speaker.


    ¡°Yes, can you please call my uncle. I am the son of Mrs. McAlester who was brought to your hospital for emergency last night¡±


    ¡°Please wait sir, let me check¡± after checking the information, the receptionist told him to wait while they call his uncle.


    ¡°Ryan, where are you? I was waiting for you to come. Did you check on my pumpkin? Hurry up and come here with her.¡± Ryan frowned when he heard his uncle referring his sister as pumpkin.


    ¡°I will be there, wait for me. Ruby is sleeping right now. Uncle, please wait near mom¡±


    ¡°Alright, come fast and where is your father? Did you not tell him? I don¡¯t think you did or he would have been here. I am also trying to reach him but he is not picking up¡± Ryan did not reply and disconnected the call. His mind was still in turmoil regarding his father. He wanted to think that that¡­ monster wasn¡¯t his father. Ryan¡¯s head began to ache. He held his head tightly for a moment, until the pain stopped.


    Ryan then went to the washroom and freshened himself up. He decided to wake his sister up. He went down the stairs, towards the living room as an ominous feeling lingered in his heart. Ryan entered Ruby¡¯s room. He went near her bed.


    Suddenly, a robed figure appeared beside him. He punched Ryan in his face and he crashed into the wall, while cracking it slightly. He became light headed as one side of his face was swollen violet and the other was bleeding. The loud noise woke Ruby up. She looked around and saw Ryan and the robed figure. When she saw her brother, she felt immense worry. ¡°Brother¡± she loudly shouted. The robed figure grabbed Ruby, while Ryan was trying to stand up. Just when she was about to shout again, he held her mouth. Ryan stood up with the support of the wall.


    His vision was spinning rapidly. Ryan heard Ruby¡¯s muffled screams, furiously he said, ¡°Wai¡­ wait. Don¡¯t you dare...¡± before Ryan could complete his sentence, the figure dashed forward and kicked him in the chest. The impact broke his ribs. Ryan spat out blood and dropped to the ground. Ruby was struggling to free herself to help her brother. She tried to kick and bite. But she couldn¡¯t as the figure did not flinch. Whenever she tried shouting, his hands would grab her mouth. After giving the bloodied Ryan another look, the figure flashed and disappeared with Ruby.


    ¡­


    Ryan opened his eyes slowly, waking up from the sudden collapse. He was laying on his back, uninjured. Surprised, Ryan quickly got up, to look for his sister. His blood ran cold as he inspected the surroundings. There was nothing, nothing at all, not even a ray of light. He was surrounded by darkness, just darkness. Ryan carefully stepped forward into the void. He was worried about his sister. He ran in a random direction as fast he could, while muttering, ¡°Where the hell am I? Have I finally lost it? Is this what madness feels like?¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Ryan frantically ran in all directions, while calling out Ruby. He was scared at the thought of her losing her. He loved his sister a lot. His heart became heavy and tears flowed from his eyes. But Ryan did not stop running.


    He was suddenly pulled by an unknown force from behind. Ryan instinctively resisted it, using all of his strength. As he pushed against the pull, he suddenly felt the area around him becoming hotter and hotter. The force became stronger,while the heat intensified. But he persisted, while sweating profusely. Ryan felt his legs and arms snapping. A muffled scream echoed throughout the void, his limbs became numb and he lost control. Unable to resist any longer, Ryan was pulled back into nothingness. He felt his skin burning from the heat. The pain consumed his mind, making him unable to think. He screamed loudly, the pain became intolerable. But against the thought of losing his sister, this was nothing. Even when he could no longer bare the agony, he didn¡¯t give in, he tightly closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. The moment his eyes closed, the torment ended.


    When Ryan opened his eyes again. He was laying on the bed of black soot and ashes. He realized that he was no longer in Ruby¡¯s room. The room he was in had rich furnishing, except for the area around him. Ryan noticed a person standing in the corner, staring at him in astonishment.


    The person had brown hair with a very handsome and gentle looking face. He had a well-shaped body and he did not seem like a year pass 20. He wore a black jacket with a metal zip, jeans and black gloves.


    Whew!


    ¡°Man, the bed cost me 560 dollars. Don¡¯t do this again, please¡± his voice had a subtle southern accent.


    Ryan was startled. Was he the one who attacked him? Ryan got furious at the thought and he angrily asked, ¡°Who are you and Where is Ruby? Why did you take her?¡±


    ¡°Ohh! Calm down, calm down will ya.¡± the person raised his hands in front of him. ¡°I am Fred and I did not take your sister, the Fallen¡¯s did.¡± he added.


    Ryan was confused, Fallens who are they? Where was Ruby? ¡°I am asking you again, tell me where my sister is?¡± Ryan starred at Fred menacingly, while he closed his fists. Fred moved towards a table beside him, he swiftly picked up a jar and a glass, while Ryan¡¯s cold stare followed him. He poured some water in the glass and spoke, ¡°I told ya, didn¡¯t I? Your sister, I did not take her. But I know where she is. It will take a while to explain it to ya. Here drink some water mate.¡±


    Fred¡¯s voice somehow made Ryan calm. He obediently took the glass of water and began drinking it. ¡°There, there.¡± Fred uttered. Ryan realized that something was amiss. He threw the glass away, breaking it. ¡°What did you do?¡± Ryan spoke bitterly. Fred¡¯s heart ached, when he saw the glass break.


    ¡°That glass cost me 50 dollars. You should not throw people¡¯s property around.¡± Fred became furious. ¡°I told you didn¡¯t I?¡± he waved his hands and a chair flew over. By flicking his fingers, he made Ryan sit on it firmly. Fred waved his hands again and wrapped a cloth around Ryan¡¯s mouth. Ryan wanted to move, but he couldn¡¯t, not even after using all his strength. ¡°You wanna listen right then stay silent. Ya know that I could kill ya, if I wanted to. It would be very easy.¡± he removed the cloth by waving his hands again.


    ¡°Listen, I am here to help you. Your father has done a lot for me. It¡¯s my turn to repay him. Here take this. Ya won¡¯t believe the trouble I went through to get you this.¡± Fred made a zipper bag fly over to Ryan. He flicked his fingers and enabled Ryan to move his hands.


    The bag contained a mobile phone, 2 rings and an id card. On the bag the words Roy McAlester were written in capital by hand. Ryan understood what they were. Was his father dead? He felt heartbroken. ¡°Is, is he¡­ really¡± Ryan was interrupted mid-sentence as Fred spoke, ¡°Ohh! No, no, no, he is not dead. Why are ya always so negative. The police just found his body¡± He raised his finger and one of Roy¡¯s rings flew towards him, while holding it he said, ¡°Do ya know what this ring is?¡± he said, while pointing the ring¡¯s gemstone towards Ryan, ¡°See your father¡¯s face is here, inside this gemstone¡±


    ¡°Yes I do see it.¡± Ryan was confused about what Fred was talking about. They found my father''s body. What is he trying to say? Fred smiled and gave him back the ring. He explained him about the ring.


    ¡°The ring is called Soul¡¯s Lament. It preserves the wearer¡¯s soul inside it. Your father¡¯s soul is inside this ring.¡± Ryan did not know what to say and think. He just stared at Fred blankly. Fred gave Ryan a serious look and said in a grave tone, ¡°Your mother is also taken by them.¡±


    ¡°Why did they¡­¡± Ryan was interrupted by Fred, as he spoke, ¡°I don¡¯t know what their goal is but I am certain that your mother and sister are still alive.¡± He let Ryan think for a bit then added, ¡°A lot has happened for the 2 days you were asleep. Ya uncle surely pulled the short straw. He is in custody. For murdering Roy, abducting you, your mother and sister. They suspect that he has killed ya guys.¡± Fred laughs, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will make sure he is safe. And that he is not convicted.¡±


    Ryan was in deep thought, he looked at his father¡¯s ring. Was his father really in this ring?. What happened to him? Did the Fallen do something to his father? What are the Fallens? Why did they take Ruby and Mom? He became exasperated as his heart raged.


    The rage for the Fallens boiled Ryan¡¯s blood and suddenly the area around him became hotter. ¡°Hey, hey stop Ryan. You will burn my chair.¡± Fred, with a wave of his hands made Ryan stand up and located the chair elsewhere. Confused, Ryan asks, ¡°What is happening with me?¡± Fred quickly replies, ¡°I don¡¯t know but it is what healed ya injuries so quickly. Otherwise 4 broken ribs take some time to heal, even for me. I know it¡¯s a lot to take in. I will try to explain you everything from the start.¡± He took a deep breath and said in a heavy voice, ¡°First let me tell ya the place where Fallens took your family. It is called Eden.¡±