By Tristen Eason

            A handsome man, adept at growing tall in his youth, Sean always arrived through the campus buildings to greet me with a smile and offer to buy me and any other friends with me a coffee. Never one to turn down a free offer, as my grandfather so wisely instructed, I’d always comply with the suggestion. This time, on such a cold December morning, noses running and wind howling, I asked him to make the offer before he could himself. He nodded, and the two of us ducked into the little cafe, shuddering beneath enveloping warmth and sucking in the scent of burnt beans. He ordered our usual, and sat at our table while he began one of his usual rants.

“The good professor has returned, you know.” I gave him a nod, sipping at the brew placed before me. “Said he’s giving the first lecture to a small group this evening. You heard anything about it?”

“No. Architecture is enough to keep my ears clean of any happenings on this frozen tundra.” I took another sip. He slid his own cup away and leaned both elbows upon the table.

“Gabe, I’ve been invited.” He glanced about, though not a soul in the cafe gave any indication of interest. “He approached me personally. Called at my apartment. Said he wanted to make sure I would be there among all the other patrons.” His pearly teeth glistened forth. I pursed my lips, raising my mug to him before drinking again.

“Now there’s something, Sean.” I said,  “Has he told you anything about the find?” My friend leaned against his chair, still smiling, and ran his fingers through his golden locks.

“No, no he’s told nothing to anyone. At least, for sure nothing to me. But he wouldn’t have come back so soon if he’d found nothing of importance.”

“Good point.” I muttered. “You’ll have to see if you can take some pictures for me to look at. Might not be much of an archaeologist, but even I can appreciate a good find.” Sean bit his bottom lip and clasped his hands together. I eyed him suspiciously. “What?” He clasped his hands together.
“He told me I can bring a friend.” I swallowed the coffee and noted the eager bobbing of his head. “Anyone I want.”

“He said that?” I asked.

“Well, not in so many words.” He waved away my question. “He mentioned before leaving my apartment that I could bring a friend if I wanted.”

“If you wanted.”

“Yes, if I wanted.” Again he bit his lower lip.

“Me?”

“No wonder you get all As with that mind.”

            The lengthy hall radiated under the golden lamps placed about the decorative furniture lining its walls. While many rows of finely crafted and cushioned chairs sat ready at the room’s center before the humble stage, none used them. Instead they mingled about, some near the refreshments towards the back of the rooms before the large windows darkened by the night beyond, though most stood between the seating and stage pretending not to glance to the wings for sight of the man of the hour. Among this group, my companion mingled. A head above the rest, smiling through his full lips and nodding along with conversations Sean stood before the stage, beverage in hand. Dressed in his fine suit and tie and holding his head high, they mistook him for some faculty member of the college, a fact which he never gave the time to correct them on.

            Near the alcohol, I took my place. My usual methods of watering down my own stock went to the birds as I filled glass after glass, only taking a break to reload my plate at the adjacent table. Talking to the catering staff, I learned of a strange truck near the back of the building, unloading many crates, and one specifically large box covered beneath a sheet. All items designated for the unveiling during the evening after the lecture and Q and A session. Already feeling a buzzing in my head, which revealed itself two glasses before this one, I doubted my ability to make it that long.

            Presently, as I grabbed another handful of goodies off the multiteared cheese platter, Sean crossed the room towards me, followed by a balding man even shorter than myself. His bushy eyebrows narrowed to a perpetual furrowing scowl, increased only by the heavy lids beneath them. Sean introduced the man to me as the professor’s right hand man and an expert on ancient temples around the world. I shook his hesitant hand, and flashed a smile, careful not to reveal the food within my mouth.

            “Are we to expect a good finding from your little dig, sir?” I asked.

“I think so.” He said, then cast a sideways glance over to my friend.

“I don’t suppose you’re able to tell us anything about what we can expect tonight? Can’t help but notice how secretive the whole thing is. Don’t exposes usually come with some sort of teaser?” He gave a smirk, eyes drifting off to the view behind me.

“Yes usually, when they are trying to beg for more money from their patrons due to them not finding what they are really looking for.” He then snapped his eyes back to me. “Would you do the same, had you been sent to find Troy and only came back with a set of Trojan vases?” I took another mouthful of cracker and cheese, and gave a smile to Sean before looking back at the little man.

“Perhaps. So, you’ve found your ‘Troy’ then, sir?” He gazed into my own eyes with a new intensity. For a moment I suspected I’d said some insult to the man and readied an apology. But he only clasped his hands behind his back and took a heavy breath.

“Would you settle for Troy when you could have Eden’s very tree?” He asked. Struggling for an answer, I only shrugged. “I think most would.”

“Can all of the trees of Eden be kept in a box?” I asked with a chuckle. Raised an eyebrow and took a heavy breath. A heat built under my cheap sportcoat, and the idea to hide behind my friend grew in my mind.

            My salvation came when the group nearest the front applauded and we all looked to the stage where the Professor strutted from the wings. The short man turned last of all. I downed my beverage and took a step back from him.

            The old man upon the stage smiled with a jolly composition, and a glow about his character. Even though I’d never actually known the man, I couldn’t help but smile at the sight. He begged everyone to lower their volume and listen before giving his deepest thanks to all those present, then went straight into his lecture on the great and terrible journey about how he dug in some spot on the planet.

            In all honesty, I heard none of it past this point. Other than the idea they’d unearthed an ancient village and holy site of some long dead people, buried far beneath other civilizations which had already gone with time themselves. He lectured on about how other men and women before him theorized such places to exist, and efforts from this or that name under this or that research group all came up empty. All of it became a mist in my mind, and only grew foggier with each passing moment. I only realized I’d fallen asleep when a patron accused me of drooling on his shoulder. The staff, coming to my rescue, gave me a small chair to sit in tucked into a back corner by the windows. A storm brewed beyond the glass, and the rumblings of thunder outside drifted me in and out of slumber as to reveal each passing hour of the show.

            An applause rounded through the rows of chairs. Many empty crates sat about a lengthy table upon the stage. On this table, many old tablets and statues of humanoid figures carved from stone crystals and ivory  stood, not that my sober mind would have fared much better. At the table’s center, darker than the rest, shaped from some crystal, a statue of a man and woman huddled together, looking appallingly out towards me. Their five inch frame grew large in my drunken mind, bringing my heart into my throat. This happened as the professor explained the potential meaning of this figurine, my exclamation of inebriated horror at the sight replacing his words.

            Many proud heads turned to me. Only Sean and the Professor himself refrained from frowning. I raised a hand and slurred an apology to the group, which did little to change their opinions. Noticing this, my friend stood up, thanked the old man on the stage for having him, and then made his way back to me again. Helping me to my feet, he led me wobbling from the room.

            I apologized profusely to him, sputtering my stupid words, all the while Sean only smiled and reassured me. Down the steps and to the drive beyond the black front doors of the building he did this, leaving me confused as to why he’d not lashed out in a fury at me ruining his one chance with these people. Once he’d gotten me into a cab a voice called from up the stone steps. He looked back to the black doors where the little man stood within them, then turned back to me still smiling.

“Aren’t you coming with me, Sean?” I asked. “I’d hate to lose you.” Then my body slumped and my eyes drooped. He handed the driver a large tip, and requested he help me inside once home. Then, he gave me a pat on the chest. Rain thundered upon the cab’s roof.

“Don’t worry.” he told me, “We’ll be getting our usual coffee tomorrow before class. Just make sure you’re sober enough for it.” Then he exited the vehicle with a laugh. Darkness took me, and the night went on without my existence.

            The morning came, and its god worthy hangover with it. Nursing my brain, I waited for my friend at our usual table. After an hour, I paid for the drink myself, and left for class. Even within the spacious lecture hall, he did not reveal himself. I took little concern in this. In fact, had he not mentioned getting coffee this morning, I’d simply assume, as I did now, that he’d ended up drinking more than I did during the night’s continuation, and skipped class. Only, when outside his apartment later that day, no one answered did an uneasiness enter my stomach. Calling out for him offered nothing, other than to bring out his neighbor to hound at me, with many a finger poking into my chest. They drove me off, informing me, and the whole floor, that Sean never made it home last night.

            The same event took place the next day, and the day after that. Then, by the third, after counseling with his friends and teachers, I informed the police to report him missing. They assured me they’d do all they could to find him, but judging the speed in which the report became filled out and filed away, my faith in their interest went with the same speed.

            Each day passed colder than the last, before the semester let out. I continued my academic journey, but always took new paths towards the obligations I promised myself to. With each new route, I searched for my friend. Asking questions here, searching alleys there. Eventually my search led me all the way down to the river where a few hundred feet to my right the bridge leaving the city guided a hundred  red and yellow headlights against the gloomy horizon towards their final home. A heavy mist carried itself along the water and spilled over the banks amongst those walking along the stony path. I passed them all, glancing at each face, hoping, even in this, to catch him smiling back at me, offering me a coffee, and walking on. Though nothing revealed itself. Here I stopped, and gazed across the waters.

            On the opposite bank, where no person roamed or path guided, a singular figure stood. Still, arms plastered to their sides, gazing across back at me. I struggled to make out any features upon them other than their paleness which matched the robe draped upon them. Their arms rose outstretched towards me, though never completed the motion as the mist chose this moment to envelop them and take them out of my sight. Even so, I detected a cry echo forth, rising up across the water before falling away at my feet.

            The night overtook the sky, and the winds blasting up and down the lane begged for all present to leave the outer world for their homes. I pulled my coat tighter about me and moved on with my search, eventually finding myself at the campus and before the black doors of the lecture hall. Many times I’d come here, and many times the staff gave little to no answer to where the Professor or his little friend vanished. Not even the patrons knew. Not for lack of effort. Many searched for the man, whose tour started days ago. Even the police became heavily involved in this search, checking his campus office and the house at the city’s edge. Not a trace remained for either three men.

Another day sitting in the cafe, when I should have spent the time studying for the finals, instead passed the time gazing into the black liquid within the saucer. The seat across from myself remained empty, though pushed out, awaiting the recipient it would never receive. I wiped my nose and brought the cup to my lips, in doing so, lifted my head up, giving me full view out the picture window before me. Letting out a cry, the cup’s handle slipped beyond my fingers and dropped to the table, spilling its hot beverage all about while it spun on its side.

Across the street, within the alley, the figure stood. This time, though no fog obscured it, the alley’s looming shadow shielded it from any other viewer than myself. Its lengthy fingers stretched out, grasping towards the air before it, frozen mid motion. The Deep set eyes and gaping mouth, shaped into a face by a loose patchwork of wrinkles, glared over the space between us. The eyes twinkled, reminding me of two faded stars in the night sky. Through the glass I heard its mournful wail calling out. With another cry, I knocked my chair back and stood, but as I rose up it vanished into the glare of the cafe lights upon the glass. Rushing to the window, pushing a customer aside, I pressed myself against its glass. The common world stirred beyond and an empty alley beyond even that. Apologizing to all present, I returned to my seat, though my hands trembled the whole way.

With no great desire to leave the safety of the little coffee shop for some time, I only did so when a group of fellow students took me among their ranks to walk the streets together. Feigning interest in their conversations and lives I finally reached my apartment, where I locked myself away from the memory. Though my attempts to avoid thoughts of the figure by watching TV and crafting myself a modest meal did calm my heart, I repeatedly looked out the window, even long after the sun vanished. Nothing, other than the street lamps, passing vehicles, and the vast forest beyond the city limits revealed themselves to me.

The finals came and went. Though the image remained fixed into my mind, the fear did not, and eventually I convinced myself that college nerves and the loss of a friend simply wormed its way into my mind. Now, free to live without the stress of tests on my mind and leaving my friend’s search to the authorities, I sat in my chair, speaking with my parents over the phone, planning my trip back home over break. Once all became settled, and the moon reigned over the world once more, I made my way to bed, nestling deeply under the cool comforter, leaving the window curtains drawn open basking the room in the silver rays. Drifting off, I awoke sometime after two PM, mildly aware that someone within my room spoke.

I called out, half awake, asking who needed me, and sat up rubbing my eyes. No one answered, and I pulled fists away, blinking into the moonlit room. My heart hammered within my chest, booming into my ears. There, in the corner, where the light did not reach, it stood. Its face, if I could call it that, stretched towards me, catching the moonlight where the wrinkles weren’t, and casting its visage in a pale illumination.

“Hello?” I asked. My voice came out a whispering shudder. For a moment it only watched, mouth gaping. Then the jaw contracted and opened violently, as a puppet’s, and the voice I’d heard upon waking spoke again.

“Answer me. What are you doing here now?” The tone sounded in my ears far away, as though I heard it speak out from the depths of a vast cavern. I opened my own mouth to form words, but never got the chance to speak them before the voice spoke again. “You’re not yet untethered to flesh. Your cursed being is destined for the end of all things.” While quaking beneath my covers, and puzzling out its words, a second speaker made themselves known. For this second speaker, the mouth only ever hung open to project their words.

“I’m not supposed to be here. The stars, where did they go? They’re gone.” The sobbing voice cried out, distant just as the other one. Hearing this, I leapt to my knees and crawled forward upon my bed towards the figure.

“Sean!” I said, and fear abandoned me for desperation. “Where are you? Sean, what’s happening?”

“Then you shall be made to join the vast sea and partake in the choir of rebellion” The deep voice spoke out again. Then a horrible laughter shuddered through my room. “Your flesh, upon your hidden rock, shall be removed for this.”

“Wait!” Sean’s voice cried out, then silenced to the laughter once more. Out of the corner of my eye, deep within the woods, a great flash burst forth, and a fire sprung up. I turned my head to look. A pillar of flame and smoke rose high into the night, raging powerful as a blowtorch among the far trees. A wailing let forth from the figure once more, then when I turned back it vanished from sight. I sat there upon my knees gazing into the dark corner, but only shadows remained.

The sound of fire sirens let out their cry through the streets and flashing red and white lights entered the wooded roads. After a few hours, the fire went away, and smoke settled over the woods, wisping towards the apartment buildings at the same time the sun rose high. Still I remained where I sat. The following days blurred together, and my mind swirled with more questions than I had brains to answer. It wasn’t until I sat at the coffee shop one last time, alone, waiting for my bus home when my eyes drifted to the man at the next table. He held a newspaper up, reading an article of some sort. The back page facing me showed a picture of a smoldering RV now gone to rubble. The headline read about the RV found burning in the woods. Once the flames smoldered beneath the water, the investigators discovered only three bodies, charred beyond recognition.