The floors keep passing. The elevator keeps going down. It already passed the ground level a few floors back. And it's still going down. i'm scared to stop it now, or to open the doors, i don't know where would i get out. i wait. The elevator keeps descending.
After a good 20-30 something floors, the elevator stops. i open the doors and get out. i'm on a big long corridor, or more like, tunnel. It seems to have no ends. The walls are made of rock, big pieces like we're inside a cave or a mine… The tunnel is pretty big to be just a mining tunnel and it's lit by some white LED's that give off heat, huge LED spotlights that are just hovering mid-air. Steam is coming out of these lights as it's pretty cold in here, but also the warmth is as if guided down on us who walk along the tunnel.
Five sturdy men pass by me, holding some kind of huge steel beam that seems too heavy just for them, but they don't look the least bothered by it. Somewhere far i can see other workers, some welding, some making holes and digging, some building and merging. It's a construction site full of workers, not one standing idly, everybody is working efficiently, constantly, and seemingly without stop. And they all look like they're wearing some last generation work outfits and use some top of the line tools.
"Hey, what are you doing here like this?!"
i turn to see a worker talking with me, he's holding some files in his right hand, there are two other workers behind him. He spoke strangely, as if it was in another language, but i understood perfectly what he told me.
"he just came down, you can see the shock and awe on his face. he doesn't understand what's happening with him now. you're with the journalists, right?"
"me? Yes… i came with…"
i look to where was the elevator i got out of. But, it's different, the whole area is different. There's now a huge hall made in the mountain, and instead of the elevator, there's a big platform that can hold 10-20 people on it, two of these platforms. They also have no exterior walls or ceiling, and they go up what seems to be hundreds of meters to where a small hole, that probably leads to the surface, is.
"…the elevator."
"you probably went ahead impatiently. The others will arrive soon, wait for them here. Francesco, give him a helmet."
Francesco takes of his helmet and gives it to me.
"you're not allowed here without protection. If i catch you like this again i'll send you off, you understand?"
"Yes…"
The three men that seemed to be some chiefs or high rank workers continue their walk, analysing everybody's work and taking notes on some kind of bright papers. Some tablets thin as paper. To the right of the platform that i looked at, comes down the second one, this one is filled with journalists. They don't have microphones or cameras, they all have instead notebooks and pens. And the press ID's that hang from their necks. The journalists start getting off the platform and i see the attendants coming straight towards me.
"Uhhh. The ID i lost it while i was on the platf…"
"you've signed the work safety papers?"
He speaks like the other man, but in a different language. And i understand it perfectly.
"Yes."
"Then why aren't you wearing a high-vis jacket and protection glasses?"
"i somehow got here a little earlier, i didn't got them."
"Take these, don't lose these too. Stay close to us, in yellow jackets, and don't wander off wherever you want."
"Ok, thanks."
He gives me his yellow, bright, that looks like it's made of some LED material, jacket. And his pair of protection glasses. i put them on and follow the group. i stay somewhere at the back of the group and keep close to the journalists to not attract any more suspicions. As the tour unfolds, the attendants are describing everything that comes our way and answer to the constant questions of the journalists.
"How do you think this construction will look like after it's done?"
"How did you get the authorization and funds for such an advanced project?"
"Who is the person behind this project?"
"Easy, easy. Let's take it one at a time. The final construction will be a tower. 10.000 floors up, 10.000 floors down."
Everybody takes notes in their notebooks and papers.
"That's in the first phase. Of course, over time, the tower will be built for an unlimited development in space."
"What does that mean?"
"The funds come from the partnership of over 150 countries and many companies and multinational corporations."
"What is the reason behind this partnership, what do you think?"
"And the person behind this project, I don't know exactly what you mean by that. The architect, or the project initiator?"
"Both, why not?"
"Well, the architect is…unknown so to speak. It's based on an ancient project, a series of documents that have been discovered a few years ago, dating back to more than 5.000 years BC. Uhmmm, and the person behind this project that wanted to develop it, it's somewhat a scientist, we don't know his, or her name, but from what we know, that person worked on lots of other technologies that gave a huge advance to the civilization. That person prefers to remain anonymous, and the technologies to be developed in this tower will be led by the same person."
"How big is this construction intended to be? By what you said, it seemed that this construction will be just a foundation for what is to come."
"Yes, of course it seems unreal, and I personally think it is, but the project is intended to be infinite. In height. I'm not sure what that means or if it was some communication error, we, still having just starting using this method of communication, have encountered some errors until now."
"I understood. But…"
"Can you comment on the similarities between this construction and the Tower of Babel?"
Everybody turns to me, as if bothered by what i asked or the fact that i even spoke.
"Yeah, it's undeniable. A tower to reach god, in which everybody speaks the same language, a combination of all, that united nations and led to huge technological leaps. It's more or less what we are doing here now. But it's not tied to it. I couldn't say, from what I know, that it has a direct link to that tower. Or if that is where the idea came from. But now, with our scientist, everything is possible, as you can see the technology around you, is made by him…or her."
And around us can really be seen, technology that exceeds even what we got used to in the wildest science-fiction films. All of it made to simplify and accelerate human labour and construction. Everything looks so futuristic that it looks more like magic.
The journalists were happy with how my question worked out and continue asking more questions.
"And you think this construction will be ever finalized? 10.000 floors…seems a little unreal, in fact, very unreal if you ask me."
"Yes, we did our simulations, our tests. The construction will be finalized in first phase as we told you, and will resist to any kind of natural disasters. The world's ending might come and the tower will still stand tall."
i want to ask another question but i don't want to get too much attention to myself.
"Can you tell us, briefly at least, what kind of technological revolutions should we expect coming out of this tower?"
"Yes, from what I know, we have different machines and all kinds of things, that will be able to control the nature, climatic events, cures and medicine and methods to improve the human from a medical and psychological point. I even heard talks about a way to control the planet itself, with everything. To guide it in space…"
Everybody is amazed. It's exactly the Tower of Babel that Darkness wants to build, i'm more than sure that she is behind this project. i have to ask…
"When will this construction be finished?"
"Very soon. You can't even imagine, but it's nearly over. Yes, no floor can be seen even being started at least, but that's because this tower has some kind of core, a base that will do all the actual building. Once finished, this core, and we're almost there, it will alone start the construction of the floors, above and below. It's like a building made to build itself continuously, of course, under our total control."
i don't think i have much time. From her, from what i've learned until now, i can expect everything. If she managed to do this thing more than 10.000 years ago, her people managed to do this, with what they had then, it's clear that now it will be much more easier.
"That's it. That was our tour. We'll have a press conference next day in which we'll announce exactly the end date. Which will not be long after that."
i have to hurry and stop this construction. i can't from here, i don't know what i'm dealing with, i don't know what to do. i have to speak with the old hag, or get in contact with Light somehow. i have to find more about the story, about me and what i am in this story. Everything is connected to my past, the cemetery, Brașov. That's where i have to start from.
We arrived at the platform, we all return our protection equipment and climb on the platform. The platform goes up with a fast increasing speed that doesn't jerk us and it brings us up to the surface in no time. As the platform gets to the surface and it slows down, i hear the roar again, more metallic, much more frightening. It scares me, to hear it here, in reality. It reminds me how grave the situation is and puts me in a state of unrest. The danger is close and imminent.
Once i'm up on the surface, i notice that we are on the peak of a mountain, the mountain from the dream, the mountain that has at its feet, the Brașov city. i see it in the valley, the city, the streetlights on, it's almost evening. So fast has the time passed, it makes me again to feel lost, broken, devoid of control. Could it be Him? No. He doesn't want it without me ceding it. Then who? my control…
i don't know… i have to get back home quickly…to Bucharest. It's evening and Sarah is definitely deadly worried. i look at the phone, 23 missed calls. Fuck. i send her a message to tell her i'm ok. i explain to her everything that happened, briefly, and without the details of how i got…how i woke up here, so i wouldn't worry her even worse.
To us comes a modern bus, compact and ready for the rough terrain that it's about to conquer driving down the mountain. We all get in, me and the journalists, and it takes us to the train station.
On the train platform, while i'm waiting for my train, a man passes by with a trolley that has warm pretzels and other pastries. They look so good, but i don't have the least bit of appetite, still…and it's not alright. i haven't ate something since yesterday, and even then it was through IV. Would it be because of that? It's still not ok, to be repulsed by any type of food, and by the sole idea of eating. i have a huge void in my stomach, but i get nauseated when i think about food or about eating. i can't eat and i so much want to eat, especially after Sarah asked me to… my grandma had a saying about this thing…if i could remember it though…
While on the train, all is quiet and peaceful, i see some people eating something and get worried some more about my lack of appetite. i try the whole ride to Bucharest to think about my grandma's saying, to remember it…no success.
i arrive in Bucharest, it's already dark. The clock indicates 10 PM. i head home and arrive at 10 and a half. i get in the apartment and head straight to my room. There, Sarah was waiting for me sitting on the bed. So angry… On her checks i see something of the kind of trenches eroded by water in the span of centuries, left there by her tears.
"Do you have any idea how much you worried me? And then you send me a message to say that everything is alright. Fuck you! And your message. If…if you do this one more time, just once, you can wave goodbye to our relationship, no matter how much you say you're trying to save it."
"i'm…so sorry. i…visited that tower, the one from the TV."
"What tower?! What do I care that you visited a fucking tower, do you think this…do you think I fucking care?! you can even visit Atlantis for what i care. If you do this to me one more time, the way you treated me today, you can send a good-bye message to me next time. you understood?!"
"Yes love. Forgive me. But i tell you honestly, our relationship is all i want from life right now. But, when i see it's in danger, i have to do something. i can't just sit down, and let all these events unfold by themselves and fuck up everything i worked for until now. We're in danger, all of us. Please understand me."
"Wha-wha-what danger?! No, no, we shouldn't have left the hospital that soon. No… Just…explain to me, what danger do you keep fucking seeing?"
"The tower from the TV."
"The tower from the TV! What fucking tower from the TV?! you're driving me crazy!"
"The one they want to build in Brașov."
"The…"
She goes quiet, sad, contemplating and hesitating.
"The tower that they showed on all the news posts. The tower that led to protests all around the country! What do you mean what tower?! i was in a coma and you don't know what is going on right now?! The earth is going to shit!"
"Stop fucking rising your tone at me! you're in no fucking position to yell at me fucker."
Sarah got up from the bed and almost slapped me with the determination that looked like she was going to put me back into a coma. She can barely abstain from hitting me. But her face goes back to sadness, concern.
"you, worry me. I don't know…what is going up with you. I don't know what to believe. you're scaring me. There is no…tower, no protests. I haven't seen anything of what you're saying, anywhere."
"i don't know how you haven't heard until now. Ask mum, ask dad. They should know. It should be everywhere on news, even right now."
"I'm going right now to ask, in fact, we're going together. C'mon."
Sarah grabs my hand holding it pretty hurtfully and pulls me to the kitchen.
"If your parents know nothing…what…what am I to do? Tell me. What should I believe then? I pray that you're right. Because I don't know what to do if you're not…"
"Come and see."
We both get out of the room and go to the kitchen. There, dad was at the table talking with mum. The TV was on, but not on news. my parents both look tired and effectively destroyed, as if i'm still dead, or they still mourn me. As soon as we walk in, they look at us and wipe down instantly their faces of worry.
"How are you doing? Are you good? You're hungry, you want something to eat?"
"No mum. Look, Sarah doesn't know, doesn't believe me…in regard to what is going on now in our country."
"What is happening now?"
Dad asks curious.
"The protests, the construction of the tower in Brașov. This whole big project of advancing our technology."
They both go instantly worried again, but not for a second even, as if they just whipped themselves back into their normal faces.
"What tower?"
"What are you talking about? They're building a tower in, Brașov?"
my parents don't know about this either. It can't be, dad is following the news daily and if not, he'd have anyway the occasion to hear about it from a work colleague. No, it can't be. It's impossible. This means that what happened wasn't real? What is happening to me right now, right in this moment, life doesn't seem real. i don't know what to believe anymore, for fucks sake. Why does nobody know about the tower?!
i look at Sarah, a little disappointed in how it went. In her gaze i see fear, worry. She thinks i'm crazy. i'm also not so sure of my mental health. But what is real? George, Matt? The accident? Wounds are there. What happened since the accident? i was in a dream, in a coma? How did i know to help my friends…? And all that happened afterwards…?
i go to the table and sit down. my parents look concerned. i give a long sigh and put my face into my hands, massaging my face. Sarah sits down close to me and starts caressing gently my back.
"What happened? With the accident."
Pause. C'mon, say something. Anything.
"We don't know exactly. The police report said that you were driving on DN1 towards Bucharest, and at a corner, you crashed into a hearse…"
So the accident did…
"What?! What did i hit?!"
my parents are shocked by my reaction.
"A van. It was stationed on the emergency lane, a news van. Close to it was the news team recording the traffic jam on the other side. you entered the corner probably with speed, and then you went straight into the van. Fortunately, no one from the news team was hurt. And fortunately, you're still with us now."
"Those scumbags! What is fortunate in that? That they parked illegally on the emergency lane? That they almost killed my child?"
my head is hurting. i don't remember about the accident. But there are some images that haunt my thoughts. i start to remember some minor details. my red face in the rear-view mirror, the hair that was hanging upwards, the world being upside down. The drops of blood that were dripping on my face and through my hair and then falling on the windscreen. i remember how scared i was, not by the accident, but by the fact that i could hear the blood drops hitting the windscreen, that would not stop at all.
"After that, the car went off the road and rolled away a few times in the field."
Mum puts her hands to her chest and presses lightly. She doesn't like what's she hearing. Sarah is holding my shoulder tight.
"The ambulance got there fast, but they had to get you out of the car and couldn't. So they waited for the firemen to come and open the car up. you lost a lot of blood in that span of time. you were already in a coma when you arrived at the hospital."
Mum wants to say something but just sighs.
"I thank god that you are healthy now."
Dad completes her.
"But, if you're not…completely healed… Maybe you need more rest. Try please, to not force yourself too much these challenging days that lay ahead of you."
Again, this silence that weights down on me, interrupted just by the sizzling sound of their gazes burning me.
"Do you want to discuss about the tower or what you say happened?"
Sarah gets up from her chair and grabs my hand.
"Let's let him go to sleep. I'll talk with him. Tomorrow we might also make a visit to the doctor, to be sure that everything is right. He said that it will take a while until he'd recover completely, and that he can show symptoms of dizziness and memory fogginess taking into consideration the small trauma caused by the accident."
"Tomorrow you also have to go to the police station, for the statement."
"We'll go."
"But…Sarah, if you'd please like to come back in a few minutes, we have something we want to discuss with you…"
Sarah looks concerned at them, then she looks at me with her usual smile, this time a little hidden, but still there, moving my heart greatly. She pulls me up from the chair and we go towards the door holding hands.
"Let's go."
Taken up, i follow her like a small child.
*
"We have to let daddy talk with the doctor."
A voice you usually use on small kids hits me hard and brings me into a state of gloom. i look at Sarah. It's not her anymore, it's mum. She's holding my hand, and she's looking young, like she was looking when i was a child. She pulls my hand. i look behind, at the table were sitting dad, young also, and a man. They both were looking over some papers. i'm back…when i was a child. It's a memory. i escape from my mother's grasp and head towards the table.
"C'mon, come up to mama's arms if you don't want to walk."
Mum grabs me, the child one, in her arms and heads towards the kitchen door. The kitchen is different, it's the one from the previous apartment, before the one from where we got thrown out. We're here in Bucharest, in this memory, not in Brașov anymore, but i look the same age as in the other memories.
The man sitting with dad at the table is very young, but he has a gaze and gesture of an old, calculated, calm man, as if he's not at his first life, as if it's the thousandth time he's going through the same experience, or as if he doesn't care at all. Dad and the man turn back to each other, the doctor avoids his gaze and looks down at some papers.
"Yes… Like my colleague from Brașov told you, this is a very difficult case. The event your boy went through, it's unique. i don't think someone went through this before, in the history of humanity. It's brutal, and the majority of these cases, or more exactly the cases similar to this one, don't end well. And the ones that survive their own darkness, stay with it for their entire lives…"
'And Darkness will prevail if our boy doesn't save the world and destroy the tower.'
'But doctor, he's just a small kid, he can't save the entire planet alone, and fight Darkness just by himself.'
'Yes he can, he has Moon and Light at this side, helping him.'
'But doctor, it's too dangerous and…'
"No. Stop biting your nails. Stop that…and let's mutilate ourselves, put the fingers into the socket better, just two of them, LET'S BE LIGHT!"
"Take the coin! Hold it tight! It's right there, focus on it! It's…magical…"
A flip of a coin and then, it is in my hand…i feel it…the dagger's handle…
"TOO FUCKING DEEP!"
Aaah! His voice stops all this void around me and gives back my colour, my images that were missing from me. What, where, who…? i'm back in the kitchen. The doctor looks at me and holds my hand, he's wearing a white scrub. He taps on my hand and i open it to see that there is a big coin in my hand. The coin is cold. The doctor winks at me and then both him and my dad instantly forget that i even exist and go back to their discussion. He even has the scrubs off again.
Dad is looking at the doctor with a strange face. He doesn't know what the doctor is talking about.
"People that go through these kind of events, go their whole lives living with post-traumatic disorders. We're talking about severe handicaps and problems to socialize. Mental illnesses. I still maintain contact with some families and try continuously to help them. And I'll do all that it is in my power to help you, but you also must work with me, and not get discouraged at every inconvenience. It's very important for the child that you act calmly and show him only positive thoughts and actions. A more brutal way to put this, not exactly…literally, but not far from, would be…ignore the elephant in the room. Make everything seem normal, and act normal again, completely, definitely, and constantly."
"We'll work together, we'll do all that you ask of us."
"We though are in luck. What I found at this child it's unique. It's a wonderful thing what is happening to him…"
"How can you say something like this?! he's dead, my boy is a vegetable."
"Hey! Watch your mouth!"
Mum intervenes and yells at dad that almost lost it at the words of the doctor.
"Take the boy to bed and let us speak quietly, please."
Mum finally leaves the kitchen, with me in her arms. Their voices volume gets lower, but the words can still be distinguished.
"This is…his defence mechanism. A survival instinct activated within himself in the moment of the event, and this is our hope, for this child to be the one that goes through this completely unchanged."
"To get over this event completely unchanged? You're fucking with me right now. I did all that you asked me, all that was possible and impossible for me, to bring him here in Bucharest, to bring him to you, and all that I see now is a man that takes a guess about what is going on and is in over his head with this case. You are completely lacking professionalism, and I don't think there is even a gram of reality in what you're saying."
my body starts shaking, more and more violently until all my muscles get stiff. These spasms are extremely painful and the lack of control of my body gives me this horrible sensation. As if i'm dead. i try to control myself and stop this intense shaking.
"…me out please. As you well see now, the child is in a state, of trance I could say, it's a state that can be induced through hypnosis, and I know what I'm talking about, I'm expert in this discipline. And this state…"
Mum comes in suddenly, she's terrified.
"Come quick, something is wrong with my child! Please help hi…"
Dad and the doctor get instantly up from the table and both run towards the door. Mum jumps out of the way of both, and dad who got first near the door quickly gets to the side so the doctor gets through first. i try to run too after them, but i can barely control my movements. i get to my room. It's almost the same as the one from just a few days ago, with so very small differences, but i notice the same furniture, carpet and blinds. Just the room itself is apparently smaller in size.
As i look throughout the room i see mum standing outside, hidden behind the doorway, as if ready to cover her gaze in case something graphic would happen. Dad was at the head of the bed, on his knees, holding me and trying to calm me down through words and gentle touches, however he could do better. The doctor was on his feet analysing me. i was laying in the bed, having violent spasms and screaming as hard and loud as i could:
"Light is coming, Light is coming!"
The spasms of the child are synchronized with the ones i'm having right now. If i feel so much pain and fear at this age, i can't imagine what this experience meant for me at that age. The whole image is shocking and hard to watch. Like looking at a horror film, at a scene of a brutal exorcism in which it looks like the demon is definitely winning.
In bed near me, was sitting down leaning on the wall, Him. He was as small as me, the same height as me the little one, from the memory. He had a claw stabbed in the head of the child, and as soon as i notice this, i also feel a throb in the same place on my head. As if that's the place where the spasms are coming from, i touch my head but there's nothing there.
He is looking at the doctor. And the doctor seemed to be looking straight at Him. The doctor sits down on the bed and puts his hand on my forehead, right where the claw is, and with a voice so calm and dominant that it seemed to be the voice of god, he speaks to me.
"Be calm, that's it, everything is alright, everything has passed. It's gone. Listen to my voice and be as it, calm and fearless."
i, the little one, start calming down, stop jerking so much and stop from yelling so loud, i just let out some small moans from time to time. And i, stop from these cruel spasms and start feeling my body again, i can control my muscles again.
"Everything is ok, your parents are here, when you are with your parents, Light can't come after you."
i'm not agitated anymore. i opened my eyes and look at the doctor, He is moving His whole body the same way as i, in this perfect synchrony. They both look at the doctor, then the doctor and the boy both look at Him. The kid seems completely empty, devoid of soul. Just a puppet that looks at and imitates whatever He's doing. But the kid gets away from His grasp, the claw comes off and the puppeteer strings are cut. The boy alone turns towards me, looks straight at me, into my eyes, with his lifeless eyes.