Static Reflections: Book 1 of The M... - Chapter 57: Chapter 57

After diving into the dark water of the lake, Adam's head began feeling uneasy. He felt his mind float away into a deep blackness until he was standing within a large expansive void. The otter looked around, blinking. "What the--Tyler? Neil? Hello! Where the hell am I?"
A white light flashed behind him, and Adam turned around, covering his face due to the sheer brightness. "Agh! Hey! Turn that shit off!"
"Behind you," a voice said, and Adam turned, seeing his shadow cast on a wall that the light created. "Hello, Adam."
Adam furrowed his brows, seeing that the shadow's mouth moved on its own. "Wh-who are you?"
"I'm someone you've been wanting to meet for a long time. My name is Absalom," the dark figure revealed.
Adam scratched his head. "Absalom? I know that name . . ."
"Do you remember anything? Who you were? Who I am?"
"No," Adam frowned. "I don't . . ."
"It doesn't matter," Absalom stated. "I'm going to cut right to the chase. You're in the body of my puppet, Boris, which means you also belong to me."
Adam crossed his arms. "Bogus. I don't belong to anyone!"
The shadow laughed. "Then, I suppose it's time to offer you a choice. What was your goat's name? Neil?"
Adam's ears perked. "Wh-what do you know about Neil?" Without an answer, the light changed, expanding into a large rectangle on the wall. An image flickered and painted itself across the entire space of the shape, showing a goat being taken in by a few police officers, Adam nowhere to be found. The otter swallowed. "No . . . Neil . . . ."
"They found out what you two did," Absalom stated. "And where were you?"
The image changed to the view of a stone altar that held a book on top of it. Adam walked up to it, slowly, seemingly nervous about something. He slowly turned the page as his eyes darted back and forth between the words. "You were here, trying to summon me because you knew I could give you the power to change things. To absolve you of your crimes and to create a better life for you and your lover." The vision of Adam held up a blade, continuing to utter words as he looked down at the tome. There was a clear fear in his eyes. "You found this group that made you believe summoning me was the right course of action. Guilt and love blinded you."
Adam stepped back. "What is this?"
The image of him in the light brought the shining blade up to his neck, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Slowly, he dragged the knife across the flesh, crimson liquid pouring from the open wound down his chest, soaking into his dark shirt. The vision began sputtering, shaking, and dropping the weapon. He looked around wildly and, a few moments later, collapsed over the altar, blood dripping off of the edges, running down his arm, and dripping off of his claws onto the floor. The image lingered on the dead body for far too long, and Absalom spoke again.
"The ritual was a failure. You didn't complete it properly and fell right where you stood. If it had worked properly, I would have been able to heal your throat. Instead, you died."
Adam's eyes widened, and he shook his head. "No . . . no . . . ."
"Because it was a spell that had to do with your Soul leaving your body for a short while, it had nowhere to go once you ended your life and you lost most of your memories of your previous life. But the contract was signed. The vessel that you occupied would be mine."
"You were lost for a long time, until one day, your Soul found its way into a baby otter that was just born. Because your Soul had lived longer, it was stronger and ended up replacing that of the child. Yet, you still had no memories, and thus, your soul was shaped into a new animal."
Adam swallowed, squeezing his eyes shut. "Boris . . . ."
"That's right. You grew up within a wealthy family, and your Soul was convinced it was Boris Downing. Because you have lived a lifetime before, you still had those memories deep within your Soul. I was able to begin unlocking them as soon as the dog played you the song. The first thing you remembered was your lover due to the strong bond your Souls had, but that bond has since broken."
The otter stared at the unmoving image of his dead body, and it suddenly changed into one of Neil sitting in jail, staring at the floor. Adam assumed he must have been thinking about how much Adam had betrayed him, knowing summoning Absalom was far too risky and wanting to create a new life without the use of dark magic. He was remembering it all now.
The image changed again to a car driving down a road. Where the view was, Adam could see between the driver's seat and passenger seat, out of the windshield. Loud music began blaring from somewhere, and the otter recognized it as The Killing Moon. The vision of himself laughed and joked around with the goat in the passenger seat, the current Adam barely unable to see any of him, but knowing he was there. Not even a moment later, a male deer appeared in front of the car, and, lost in their fun, the vehicle slammed right into him, lurching and bumping as it rolled over the man.
Switching to a vision of past Adam dragging the body into the woods while Neil watched, current Adam gasped as he saw what he was doing. He and Neil had killed the man, and instead of going to the police, they hid the body due to it being on a road in the middle of the forest. They had no clue why the man was out there, but they didn't want to get involved with the authorities.
It shifted to show the goat being escorted out of prison, met by multiple animals at the gate dressed in strange outfits with brown jackets and armbands. They talked to Neil for a moment, and he nodded, seemingly agreeing to go along with them.
Adam saw multiple instances of the goat learning and training, fighting some strange creature with numerous arms while wearing identical suits, a green band slipped onto his left arm. The image changed, then, to show the herbivore staring at nothing. There were more scenes of him fighting followed by lying around. As it happened, Neil seemed to grow older. It swapped between these two things right in front of Adam. In his heart, the otter knew that Neil was missing him. He could just feel it.
Finally, the image changed to Neil sitting in a chair, now donning a bright orange armband. He had an earnest discussion with someone across the desk from him. The other animal, an older female lion, seemed to be asking him questions, moving her head slightly as he spoke. Neil nodded to all of them, and then they both stood up, shaking each other's hands.
In the following vision, Adam saw Neil sitting in a different chair alone in a strange room. Three animals came in, all wearing pink armbands. Adam almost didn't notice it, but he could see that Neil was very much sobbing as he sat in the chair. One of the animals, a chinchilla, kneeled next to him, putting a hand on his knee. Neil spoke words, but Adam couldn't hear them. Finally, the tallest animal, a deer with medium-sized antlers, stood before Neil, asking him a question. Neil simply nodded, and the buck took a deep breath, holding his hand up to the goat and speaking silent words. A flash of green light completely covered the vision, then a bright blue one that Adam had to turn his head away from.
When it dimmed, Adam turned his head back, continuing to watch with wide eyes, his mouth slightly open. Neil was now the animal standing with his arm held out, the deer in the chair. They had switched places. Neil asked the stag a question, and the deer shook his head, looking down at his hands. The goat walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Adam could faintly hear a name in the back of his head.
"Iwai."
The vision changed yet again, now following the deer who kept the orange armband. There were many more flashes of his training and fighting. There was none of him lying down, staring at nothing. Adam felt tears spill out of his eyes as he began to understand what was going on. The images continued, showing Iwai reading a magazine on a plane, and ended with the stag, now much older, sitting behind the same desk the lion had been in, wearing a green floral pattern shirt and talking to a hyena and a raccoon, laughing after he said something. Then, the rectangle on the wall turned back into a white light, shrinking back into a circle.
Adam shook his head. "Why? Why would he do that? Why would he become this other animal . . . ?"
The shadow of the otter returned, walking along the surface of the wall. "He wanted to forget. After you killed that man and hid his body, he was heartbroken after you abandoned him and failed your ritual. Then, he was caught and thrown in prison for many years. The Mortal Guard found him and gave him another chance to live again. They erased his memories and turned him into an entirely new, happy animal."
Adam couldn't hold back his sobbing. "No, no, no . . . He doesn't remember me now . . ." The animal walked over to the wall and placed his hand on it, crying out loudly. "I wish I had never come back! I never wanted to know all of this! Oh, god . . . I can't. I can't do this . . . ."
"You could leave it like this," Absalom said, the shadow now right next to where he was standing. "But I have an alternative if you're willing to listen."
"Wh-what is it?" the otter asked.
"I can still give you the life you seek. I can send you back to before you killed the man and give you a different ending. An ending where Neil doesn't become Iwai and where you never kill the man. Would you like that?"
"You can really do that?" Adam asked, wiping his large nose.
"I can. I can give you the happy ending that you've desired from the start. However, there is a price."
Adam looked up at the dark figure. "What is it?"
"To reverse the death of an animal, you'll need to kill another. The German shepherd is an animal that should already be dead, but I was using him to lead Boris along. Since Boris is no longer here, I don't need the dog anymore. If you want your true happy ending with Neil, you must kill Tyler to live a happy life with him free of judgment and guilt. And after, I'll erase your memories of the 21st Century and send you back to where you belong."
Adam sniffed. "There's so much about the future I haven't seen yet . . . I wanted to see it all, but . . . I barely got any time. Not even a night."
"This is the choice you have to make," Absalom told him. "Either you stay here where the Mortal Guard is after you, and you must deal with the repercussions of killing multiple animals, or you kill one and go back to a fulfilling life with Neil."
Adam looked down, weighing his options. Absalom did have a point. Boris was a murderer thanks to the demon, and unfortunately, Absalom was a part of him now. The Mortal Guard would always be on his big tail, and Neil would be a much older animal working with them. If he went back, he could have the life he and Neil always talked about, moving in together and taking on the world, writing books about their misadventures. "You'll stop possessing me after I do it?"
"Certainly," Absalom nodded. "It will be exactly the way you want it. Are you willing to kill Tyler to live again with the animal you love?"
Adam shut his eyes. He barely knew Tyler, but he knew that the German shepherd didn't deserve to die. If he went back, what would he do? He would know the answer to why he had awoken in 2021, but he would be in a huge mess created by Boris. On the other hand, imagining Neil's warm arms around him, his soft lips, and deep voice . . . To hear that again, to feel that again. It was worth it. "Alright, then. You have yourself a deal."
"Are you certain? There's no going back once I let you go from here."
Adam gulped, nodding. "I'll do it. I'll . . . kill Tyler so I can be with Neil again. That's all I really want . . . I barely even know the guy anyway . . . ."
"Then you shall have it," Absalom said, snapping his fingers. The second he did, Adam vanished from the realm.