The Beyonders; I am the Devils incarnate

"Welcome to the stronghold of the Parallax Dimension,"

the woman said, her voice grill and pitched but very glen.

Daxen's eyes widened in disbelieve.

"Welcome to what…?"

The woman's lips curled into an uneven smile, not just uneven it looked sinister and ignoring Daxen's question, she turned on her heels after she had said, with a crisp finality.

"Follow me quickly."

The smile on her face made Daxen's stomach throb. This strange woman with an unsettling smile shows up and expects him to follow her to God knows where.

He though he admired her look and her confidence, but that didn't mean he trusted whatever this place was. Come to think of it, the sterile room around him, cold and oppressive, still gave him the creeps.

He didn't want to remain inside that room any longer, so it was better to stretch his legs and follow the woman, but keeping his distance. Should anything happen, he would make a run for it. At that, he leapt down from the bed onto the cold floor.

For a while there, his legs waggled as though they had been replaced with baby legs and could no longer carry his weight.

"What did they do to me, seriously?"

He calmly supported himself with his hand on the bed he lay on. feeling the tremble in his limbs. He was feeble now, he was weak, very weak, but he did not need that right now, for he was always seen as weak.

Now he had to man up; he had to show himself something that would make him believe in himself again. Gently, he lifted his hand off the bed With slow, determined movement, he straightened himself, his spine erect.

He could feel it, energy. It seeped into him like a surge, like a flowing ocean. His weight hardened, and it was as if he could take on the world, though not precisely. It was strange. Was this part of what this place did to people too? The fact that all this remained a mystery and had no answers was so unrelaxing for him.

Turning at once, he followed the lady in the suit. He stepped out of the door and into a long hallway with doors aligned in rows on each wall. Maybe he was not the only one in here, maybe many others were here as well.

Thoughts also rampaged his head, what if he was dead an was in oblivion or even heaven who knows.

"Is this the land of the dead?"

He had never pictured the afterlife as a clinical hallway. The hallway, though, was empty, unnervingly and mysteriously quiet, as if no one had been there, or as if those who had been there had evacuated.

The only things in the hallway were benches that stood beside each door aligned through the hallway.

They both walked in silence. It was going to be a long walk, of course, he could judge that from the fact that the hallway seemed to be endless.

As they walked, he couldn't help but think about their house, his mom, and, somehow, he was surprised he even cared about his annoying sister. Those thoughts threw him into deep consternation, and now he wallowed through probabilities and "what ifs," which made him more uncomfortable.

What happened was quite atrocious and implausible, but yet, he still thought he was starting to believe whatever was happening. He felt insane to even think of it, but he knew what he saw.

These were things that, if you told someone, no one would believe you. And if you pushed it too hard, you'd wind up in a psychiatric center, and then you'd only have yourself in deep impugnment.

"We are here," The woman said.

Daxon was astounded when he heard those words, perhaps the thoughts that eddied around his head had made time seem to fly. It was a quick journey, he thought to himself, but all those things in his head went away.

Looking around the place they had arrived at, he stood appalled. Apart from the fact that the room was very wide and that it shone so bright it seemed as though even the walls and floors were emitting light 'which they were' what Daxon saw was what looked like people's corpses lined in rows.

These bodies were immersed in a liquid contained long, tube-like coffins that looked more like sarcophagi.

And then, what looked like a metal helmet clung to their heads, which was the only visible part of their body through the tube. Since the tube was all metal, only the place where the head lay was made with glass.

***

The tube was a tall cylindrical tube, its frame forged from translucent alloy that has a copper colour light. Inside, the liquid contained in it was, glowing faintly with ethereal threads.

Once sealed within, the subject's body remained still, but their mind, disconnected from flesh, was transported into a simulated dimensional realm, shaped by their soul's nature, and will.

***

The tubes were all conglomerated in rows, lined up horizontally. On the floor, the first line ran across the wall, leaving a small aisle between it and the second row, and then subsequently until the opposite side of the other wall.

Daxon was now finding it hard to breathe. His breath was faster, and his heart seemed to be running out of his chest. He had never seen dead people before, and now that he had, he wished he had remained in the small wing he was in earlier.

"What is this… a-a-are—are they dead?"

He found himself saying, tears hanging around his eyes.

The lady chuckled as she threw a devastating look at Daxon, a look that was solicitous. Clearly, it meant she knew something that he didn't. With a calm voice as always, the woman said bluntly,

"No… they're not. They are in the Harnes."

"Harnes?" Daxon stared at her.

He felt like she had made that up. Shouldn't he be calling the police or something? But then, on second thought, he flung off the notion. It showed weakness, and he had sworn never to feel weak or afraid.

"What does that mean?"

The woman looked at him. She walked closer as she said,

"Come then, and see for yourself."

Daxon followed her into the room, and now, reaching the very end, was an empty tube that contained no water and no one inside as well.

"This is called an ascension pod" she started. "Now, I'm not meant to explain anything to you at this point, but all I'm bound to say is that the only way forward from here now is through the ascension pod "

Now Daxon believed beyond all doubt that something far beyond his understanding was at stake here. Though curious to find out, he didn't want to do anything stupid. remembered the runes and the voice he heard in his head. He needed the full retort.

He wanted more understanding. Why the woman wouldn't just explain it to him was what he didn't understand, but nevertheless, since there was no other way, he was willing to risk it.

At least to know if what had happened to their house was real, and to know if his family were okay. He looked up at the woman as he breathed out, no more lurking in the shadows, no more being pathetic and the bully material he always was.

"Let's take some risk," he said to himself, then spoke out loud.

"I'm ready. Let's do it."

The woman's expression was unchanged, but she was surprised. Since from what she had noticed, he was a weak-willed, his confidence was starting to make her think he might actually have a shot at this, which Daxon had no clue of.

She pulled out a transparent, glassy-looking something, and with a single tap on it, the tube hissed. A thick, cold vapour oozed out of it as the curved concealment of the tube slid open.

The woman looked at Daxon as she said, with a smile that should be mustering courage,

"Get in then."

Daxon took a while. He was having two minds now. But he took a deep breath. The only reason this place should be empty right now was because everyone was in this ascension pod.

So if people were there, why shouldn't he? At this thought, he didn't hesitate anymore. He gently climbed into the tube and lay down.

Immediately his head touched the interior of the tube, two sharp cuffs sprang up and held his hands and feet in place. He panicked and looked up, but the woman was there.

"It's alright,"

she said as she pressed the glass remote she held, and the tube closed. Daxon could hear his breath. It sounded muffled, but the amazing fact was that, he didn't feel claustrophobic, though the tube was congested, he was comfortable and didn't seem to be suffocating.

"Am I being stupid?"

He asked himself. He felt like he had made a mistake. What if he reasoned all this wrong?

How the hell is this thing going to give him the answers he wants? He's just going to die in here, probably.

He knew he always said to be brave, but that didn't mean die. As he started thinking again, a dome-shaped metal helmet, with a mechanical sound, clung to his head. This cap had looked rough from the outside and filled with potent electricity, but from the inside, it gave Daxon a whole new inkling.

He felt funny, and the urge to sleep now lingered in his eyes. He yawned drowsily, and before he could think of anything again, he slept off. Just then, a hissing stuffed the tube, and liquid, similar to those in others, poured into the tube.

Within minutes, Daxon was doused in it, totally unconscious.

But his voice had echoed…

"Where am I?"