The Traveler

The circumstances by which he came into possession of the bag were strange indeed. A sense of excitement and fear brought new life to the hairs on the back of his neck. Why had he been chosen? One thing stayed with him. “Whatever you do, do not open the notebook,” the man had told him.

He was still catching his breath from having sprinted up four flights of stairs to his box of an apartment. Just out of precaution, he placed his bed against the door and locked the window. It was too small for anyone to fit through, but one could never be too careful. He threw the bag on the bed wondering if he had made a mistake keeping it. At least he wouldn’t be putting anyone in danger bringing it home, having been a recluse most of his life. Why had he been entrusted with this? Or was he simply a random anybody the man saw on the street? Before his thoughts began to spin out of control, he felt something brush up against his legs. Melos! Poor, sweet Melos. The commotion had made him forget entirely about getting food for his feline companion, the one thing he had set out to do that evening. “Let’s see if we still have a can or two in our secret stash, sweetheart.”

After feeding his cat he went to splash water on his face. He looked at his pale face in the mirror and looked at the familiar bags under his eyes. “What is happening?” he wondered. He walked over to the window as he dried his face. All seemed normal. The street lamps made the ground glow as a light drizzle coated the dark cobblestones. Only a person or two roamed the otherwise soulless streets, and none were walking in such a hurry as to raise any alarms. He turned to where the bag lay, begging to be opened. “What do you think, Melos? Should we take a peek inside?” The cat turned her head toward her human and turned it away again with indifference. “Right, what do you care,” he told himself. “The man only said not to open the notebook, so I imagine the rest is fair game. Am I right?” He opened the drawer on his desk and pulled out a pair of gloves that he used to handle his photography slides. He knew better than to leave finger prints on the contents of the bag. He took one last look outside the window. On the other side of his apartment door all other residents seemed to be dead asleep, aside from Mrs. Bellows, whose monstrous snoring could be heard from the room below his. As he paced back and forth, trying to gather up the courage to open the bag, he replayed the moment he came into its possession. Nothing stood out, well, nothing aside from the strangeness of it all. The man ran to him, almost as if he knew him. He was sure he had never seen the man before, yet the man looked more familiar than he cared to ignore. Perhaps it was that they shared the same curly red hair. Why was the man in such a rush? Who was he running from? And why not just take the bag with him?

He sat down on his bed and put the bag on his lap. He slowly began to unbuckle the leather straps that held it closed, keeping all movements to a minimum. He lifted the flap and widened the opening to get a better look. From the looks of it there were several blocks of paper neatly stacked together. He picked a stack up and flipped through it. All of the other papers in the stack were the same green color and had the same number. 20. “Twenty dollars,” it read. And who was that person painted on the front? Currency perhaps? Roughly adding the numbers together it looked as though there were 20,000 of whatever they were. Inside was also a compass and a map of his town. As he opened the map, he noticed a location circled in red. It didn’t click immediately, but he soon felt the cold grasp on his neck once again. The circle on the map was his apartment. Coming into possession of the bag was not a mistake.

He noticed another marking on the map, about an hour’s walk from where he was. Was this where the man had gone in such a hurry. “I’ll return for this,” the man had told him before running off into the night. But if the man knew where he lived, whoever was after him might know too. He quickly turned off the light and cautiously looked out the window once more. Normal.

He had to find the notebook. He needed to know what was inside. He reached inside frantically feeling for it. The light of the moon wasn’t enough to see, and he dared not turn on the light. He stopped for a moment. He felt something at the bottom of the pack, but there seemed to be no way to get to it. He pulled his gloves off and began to trace the seams until he found an opening. He poked his finger through a break in the stitching, making it big enough to fit his finger through. Desperately, he pulled the fabric apart enough to get his hand into this secret compartment. And there it was. It fit neatly into the palm of his hand, almost as though it was meant to be there. He pulled the notebook out slowly. Such a seemingly insignificant object, yet the fear of it made sweat run down his face.

He looked outside the window. When would the man return? He lifted the notebook to the moonlight. It was black with two letters indented on the center of the cover. RS. There were so many questions swirling through his mind as he looked at his wristwatch and sighed. He’d need to be waking up in a couple of hours. He had a big day coming up. Fighting the exhaustion he turned to the notebook. The covers were held closed by an elastic band. Simple enough to open — easier said than done. “Whatever you do, do not open the notebook.” The words echoed in his head. He inspected it further, hoping to find more clues. But aside from the letters on the cover, the notebook looked like it had never been opened.

He grabbed a drink of water and headed toward the window. Nothing. He picked the notebook up off the floor and sat on his bed. Melos climbed on his legs sensing his need for company. “Thanks for the solidarity, Mel. Ready to do this?” The man’s words no longer impeding him, he slipped the elastic off the cover. He looked at the window, but this time he couldn’t be bothered to go up to it to look outside. He stayed put, with Melos purring at his side.

It was time. His thumb reached around the edge of the cover to lift it. The contents puzzled him even more. Inside were no words that he could see. Only a cutout that housed a small metallic box, neatly polished. But in the darkness of his room he could see a light wanting to break through from within. He reached to look inside, with curiosity overriding fear the closer his hand got to it. His finger reached over to open the lid when a loud knock shook him back to his senses.

“It’s me. Quick! Open the door!” The man had found him. He tried to think but he couldn’t focus with the pounding at the door. Mrs. Bellows’s snoring stopped. The whole building rattled with every knock. He came close to the door.

“Who are you? What do you want?” He tried tried to catch his breath. It felt as though his heart was going to beat through his chest. “Why did you give me this bag?”

“They’re here. Let me in and I promise to tell you everything when we’re safe.” There was a tremble in the man’s voice, but it didn’t make his tone any less urgent. “Look out your window. You’ll see what I mean.”

He looked outside. Where there had been nothing all night long, now stood the silhouettes of seven people looking up at his window. The darkened faces revealed no discernible features, but what he saw shook him to the core. In place of eyes, a tiny flicker of blue light emanated from within the sockets. All fourteen tiny blue stars converged on his gaze. He quickly stepped away from the window and pressed his back against the wall. He turned to Melos for comfort. The cat looked back, unfazed.

“W-who are they?” He asked, fear gripping his vocal cords.

“We call them Shadows. They know you’re here. We must go!” The urgency was clear now. He dragged his bed away from the door and unlocked it. “Where is the bag?” the man interrogated, quickly realizing the contents were dispersed all over. The two of them rushed to put everything back in the bag.

The man paused and gave him a cold hard look. “The notebook, where is it?”

“N-not until you t-tell me what’s happening,” he powered through his stutter. The man reached for his shoulders and shook him.

“Don’t you get it? There’s no time!” He had no choice. He reached into his pocket and handed him the notebook. The man took out the small box from within and lifted the lid. A bright blue glow lit the room. Startled, Melos jumped back and ran out the front door.

“Melos! Come back!” He tried chasing after her but was stopped by the man.

“The cat can’t come where we’re going.” The man looked at the small box in his hand. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the light, he saw something he had never seen before, something he would not soon forget. Inside were two capsules that held a whirlpool of minuscule blue lights, blue like the color of the Shadows’ eyes. The lights within violently clashed inside the encasings. It was as though the man was holding in the palm of his hand two universes on the verge of collision.

“Take this,” the man demanded, handing him one of the capsules.

“What is it?” He questioned the man knowing he wouldn’t get any answers out of him.

“I promise I’ll explain everything. The Shadows are coming. We have to go now!”

“What about Melos?” He continued, trying to delay the inevitable.

“The cat’s better off. Trust me! Now take this!”

The man swallowed the capsule. He did the same not knowing what would happen. There was no going back now.

“Take my hands,” the man said as he reached out to him. Something felt different. He looked at the man. His chest was starting to glow. He was afraid to look down at his own. He looked at the opening of his front door instead. Melos had returned but she didn’t dare enter the room. He tried reaching out to her but the man gripped his hands tightly. They were changing. The glow was getting brighter. A current of wind quickly surrounded them, more violently with each passing second.

“What’s happening?” He yelled at the man through the deafening sound of the whirlwind around them. But the man only closed his eyes.

Was this the end?

Melos watched the two men as the wind blew the door wide open. The blue glow from within the two men grew brighter, fusing into one blinding light. She could hear her owner’s screams through the wind that tore mercilessly through the room. And without warning, the light imploded, leaving no trace of the two men. They were gone.