Harley Carter
There was a night, when I was eight, that changed me forever. I was just a kid with normal nightmares and fears. I was afraid to cross the street alone. I was convinced that there was a monster in my closet, and one under the bed. They were in cahoots, or at least, that’s what I believed.
The truth? The truth was a lot scarier. I lived the first eight years of my life in blissful ignorance. That night, I caught a brief glimpse of what laid beyond our immediate reality. Not just a glimpse either, what came through into our world that night was intent on killing me.
People have often asked me to describe what I saw. I don’t have words to describe it, I honestly don’t think any language does. It was a shadow given form, a creature of pure despair, hatred, and darkness. It had no face, and yet it had eyes to see. It had no definite shape, and yet I saw its body twist and turn into horrific forms.
My fingers paused and I stared at my laptop’s screen. My eyes scanned the page. This was the first time I had told this story to anyone but a shrink. It was a memory that I hated digging up. It was bloated and rotten, never meant to see the light of day again.
My blog, “The Truth is Out There,” is one of the top 100 blogs of its kind, and it has a lot of fans. I grew up seeing doctors and therapists after that night. My parents thought I had gone insane, and they did everything they could to suppress that night’s memory. No one believed my story, not until I went to my first meeting of the Truth Seekers. They were a group of like-minded individuals who invited anyone with knowledge of the worlds beyond our own to come and share their stories.
They believed me, every word. They inspired me to quit my job at twenty-three and start my blog. Soon the website was making enough money that I could devote all of my time to it. As it took off and rose the ranks of the internet, more and more people begged me to tell my story. I always declined, even my About Me page said that I wouldn’t discuss what brought me into this life.
Today I was breaking that promise to myself. I had a draft of that night written down. I kept looking over my shoulder as I sat hunched over my computer. I expected that thing to come back again. This time, it would finish the job.
When the story was finished, I hovered my mouse over the “Publish” button. Once I clicked that, everything would change. My truth, my moment when I knew this wasn’t all there was, would be revealed to the world. Was I ready?
“No, not yet,” I whispered.
I closed the laptop and switched on the lamp beside me. Tomorrow was the first ever Truth Seekers Con. It was being organized at the border of Area 51 in the Nevada desert. Crossing that line would get you in hot water with the government, but it made for a great tagline: Located One Step From the Truth!
It’s no secret that the Truth Seekers inspired me to become a crusader like them. They asked me to be their main speaker at the event, and I accepted graciously. I was going to publish the new post tonight as a surprise before the event, but I couldn’t push myself to do it. Maybe I would tell them tomorrow. Public speaking wasn’t my forte, but if this story was going to get told, it was now or never.
I climbed beneath the sheets of my hotel room bed just after I turned the A/C down to a ludicrous temperature. I liked it cold, and if I wasn’t paying the power bill, I took advantage of the situation. With the temperature low and the sheets warming me up, a drifted into a peaceful sleep.
I didn’t dream that night, which was for the best. I was still on edge the next morning when I woke up. I felt ridiculous as a grown woman staring down the closet in her hotel room, but that kind of fear doesn’t leave you when you realize that there was a monster in your closet, and probably under your bed as well.
I took my shower, packed up, and checked out of the hotel. The sun was beating down on the stretch of highway that I drove through the Nevada desert. My old clunker of a car sputtered and bounced down the sandy road. I saw a parked group of RVs and cars with faded paint from sitting out in the sun.
There were canopies set up around the area and a stage with a podium built on the far side of the convention. I parked near the group and climbed out of my car. With my laptop in hand, and a backpack slung over my shoulder, I approached the people gathering within the circle of parked vehicles.
Even with sunglasses on, and a wide brimmed hat, people recognized me immediately.
“Harley’s here!” they shouted.
I had a swarm of fans surrounding me within seconds. They sat waiting for me to say something, anything.
“Hey everyone,” was all I could muster.
I looked down at the laptop in my hand.
“I’ve decided that today, during my presentation, I’ll tell my story,” I said.
This was met with a hushed silence. Several people had their jaws agape in shock. A few people surrounding me gasped audibly.
“So, look forward to that,” I said.
I stepped toward the edge of the circle as all the fans started talking at once. I couldn’t make out any of their questions through the noise.
“Alright, let Harley breathe people!” a voice shouted.
I immediately recognized it. It was Greg, the leader of the Truth Seekers. He was a portly fellow, probably twice my age. He came running over in khaki shorts and a t-shirt with the Truth Seekers logo on it. He took the baseball cap off his balding head and used it to shoo the crowd of fans.
He grinned from ear-to-ear as he saw me standing there. Greg was more of a father to me than my own. When my blog took off, my parents didn’t want anything to do with me. Greg though, Greg was proud of me. He was one of the few people who never pressured me to tell my story.
Maybe you’re ready to tell your story, maybe not. The real question is: are we ready? I had never heard a story like my own. Greg was right to think it would change everyone’s perceptions, perhaps not for the better. He ushered me away from the group of people and led me toward the stage in the distance.
“Sorry about that Harley, wish I should have hired a security detail for you,” Greg said.
“Its fine, they’re just excited. I haven’t done public appearances before, you should be honored,” I said.
Greg chuckled as he wiped the glistening sweat from his brow.
“Yeah, well I am. Your presence gave this convention the press it needed. Speaking of press, are you sure you want to tell them? Are you ready?”
I shook my head. “No, but they are. I can feel it. It’s time.”
“Alright then, that’s all I need to hear,” Greg said.
He turned and walked over to the podium. I followed behind with my computer clutched in my sweaty and shaking hands. Greg tapped the microphone as we stood underneath the blazing sun. The impacts echoed from speakers set up on either side of the stage. The people in the crowd hurriedly came over and flocked around the stage.
“Harley Carter will be presenting shortly. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out our merchandise booths!” Greg said.
The crowd didn’t seem too keen on buying his t-shirts which had the conventions makeshift logo paired with the message: I was mere steps from the truth! I liked the shirts, but people in this line of work weren’t usually keen on flaunting their beliefs as they also feared the wrath of world governments.
I opened my laptop and stood on the podium. My original plan was to simply read the post I had written the night before and left unpublished. Standing there, though, that somehow didn’t seem right. I closed the computer and looked out onto the crowd. The heat from the mid-afternoon sun was causing shimmering mirages all around the border of the convention.
The patrons looked up at me with faces that glistened from the sunscreen they applied.
“So,” I said, “how many of your read my blog?”
All of their hands went up and I felt my heart stop. I expected a good chunk of them would be followers, but not all of them.
“Wow, so I suppose we’re all on the same page. Alright, well, I had the entire story written up last night on my computer, but I’ve decided to publish the post after this presentation, so you’ll all get to hear it first.”
The crowd applauded enthusiastically.
“How many of you have had some kind of encounter with something beyond our understanding?” I asked.
A few hands went up.
“Now, keep your hands up if that experience drove you to seek the truth,” I said.
Not a single hand went down.
“That’s what I thought. My experience may be different than yours, but it doesn’t change the truth: that there are forces, beings, and perhaps even worlds beyond our own. Our governments are holding back crucial information. I know you’re all here to listen to my story, but remember why Greg started the Truth Seekers: to seek out this hidden truth.”
More applause, this time less enthusiastic.
“My story began when I was eight-years-old. I was the kind of kid that always thought there was a monster under the bed, and one in the closet. Turns out I was right. One fateful night, a creature made entirely of Darkness stepped through into my room. When I say Darkness, I don’t mean shadow, nor do I mean simply an evil force. The Darkness I refer to you is the very absence of light and righteousness. It is evil incarnate.”
The crowd looked on with bated breath. I took a deep breath as the silhouette of the creature appeared in my mind. I recalled the way the edges of its form lapped at the air of our world like the edges of a black fire.
I remember the way it whispered to me, how it used words that were not words. How it turned my blood ice cold.
“It didn’t walk, it seemed to push away the air around it. The night light that I kept beside my bed flickered and went out as it approached. Even then, as a child, I knew it was here to kill me. We didn’t speak the same language but I felt its intentions crushing me down like a lead blanket,” I said.
The crowd waited for the next part of the story in complete silence. Even Greg stood off to the side with his jaw agape.
“It touched me with something that you could consider a hand. In that moment, I glimpsed at a place beyond our universe. A place where light is not welcome, nor can it be found. I saw creatures more grotesque and horrifying than we as petty humans could imagine. They weren’t possible, their anatomy was beyond wrong, it was insulting to nature itself.”
The night light beside my bed lit up again. The tiny bulb within it exploded as a powerful and blinding light rushed out of it. The creature was thrown backward as something else stepped through.
“It looked like a man, but he was made entirely of a white-hot fire. He came through into our world. The creature lunged at him and he battled with it before my very eyes. They fell through the portal in my closet and everything returned to normal. It took years before I stopped seeing those things in my nightmares.”
There was a short pause before everyone’s hands went up.
“I’ll answer all of your questions momentarily. First, it’s time this story was told to the world,” I said.
I opened my laptop and hovered the mouse over the publish button on my blog. A few people in the crowd below gasped and I looked down to them. They were all looking at something in the sky, so my eyes naturally followed their gaze.
I saw an object streaking through the sky. It was massive and glowing red hot as he approached the ground. I couldn’t make out the shape before it sailed over our heads and crashed into the desert just beyond our improvisational convention.
I closed the laptop and carried it with me as I followed the crowd of people out into the open desert. As we approached, the object seemed to be breathing. It heaved up and down, releasing thick exhalations. Everyone else kept their distance, but I had to see what it was. The outer layer of the object unfurled and two thick wings shot out in either direction. They had a stony texture to them, with thin webbing running through in the interiors. The main body of the creature stirred and I saw a reptilian head emerge slowly. It had a long snout and piercing emerald eyes that clashed perfectly with the creatures glowing red scales.
There was no mistaking it, this was a dragon. The same kind of dragon popularized by fantasy novels and bloated television shows cashing in on the lore. I paused as the dragon’s head fell flat on the dusty soil. There was a brilliant flash of light that came with a blast of heat. I was swept off my feet and landed hard on my back.
I climbed to my feet and tried to stare through the swirling dust around me. The dragon was gone. In its place was a man. He had flawlessly white skin that seemed to glow with a soft light. His body looked completely human. I caught myself staring at his perfect form. My eyes wandered down his chiseled frame and across his muscular thighs. This wasn’t what I imagined an alien would look like, but then again I didn’t expect to see a dragon crash land on Earth today either.
I turned around and broke my trance.
“Someone grab blankets or something to cover him with!” I shouted.
“What are we going to do with him?”
“It’s not what we’re going to do, it’s what the government will if they get a hold of him.”
A few people fled the scene to go look for supplies. I turned and looked at my old clunker of a car sitting in the scorching desert sun.
When they came back with blankets, the man was climbing to his feet. He stood well over seven feet tall. He practically towered over my short and round figure.
“What is this place?” he asked.
“This is Earth, where are you from?” I asked.
He looked around, ignoring my question.
“What species are you?” he asked.
“Uh, human? Homo sapiens?”
He cocked his head and turned his face toward the sky. I watched his long blonde hair tumble down his shoulders as he seemed to soak up the sun.
“Your star is powerful, this is good,” he said.
“Listen, I don’t mean to rush you, but there are others coming. They won’t be as nice as us. We have to get out of here,” I said.
The man nodded.
“It is fortunate that you found me first then. What is your name?”
“Oh me? I’m uh, I’m Harley.”
He nodded. “Harley.”
One of the other approached and gingerly handed him a blanket. He took it and swept it around him like a robe.
“Strange clothing,” he remarked.
“That’s a blanket,” I said.
“What is a blanket?”
I shook my head.
“Never mind, we need to get going. Come with me. Oh, and what’s your name by the way?”
I walked towards my car as the mysterious man-dragon followed behind me.
“I am Dorian Khalthrak, last of my clan. I have come here to issue a warning,” he said.
“Oh yeah, and what warning is that?” I asked.
“The Old Ones have made their move. Their World Eaters descend upon countless worlds as we speak. My home and my clan were lost to them, but I believe the ocean of stars has guided me here to ensure that this world does not fall as well.”
I opened the passenger door and point to it. Dorian awkwardly climbed inside and I closed the door. As I walked around to the driver’s door, my mind was spinning. I had always dreamed about meeting another being from beyond our world, but this was not quite how I imagined it.
Greg was running over waving his hands above his head.
“Harley, what are you doing?” he asked.
“I won’t let them take him. I’m getting him out of here,” I said.
“Where will you take him? You’re not thinking this through!”
“Call it a hunch Greg, I’ve been doing this a long time. Try to stall them for me, I know they’ll be here soon.”
I climbed into the car, threw my computer into the backseat, and started the engine. I slammed the gas and we shot off towards the main road. I could hear the sirens coming for us already. As my car bounced onto the main road, I glanced into the rear view mirror and saw the other cars and RVs lining up across the road. Greg had come through they had formed a roadblock to buy us time.
“This machine doesn’t fly?” Dorian asked.
“No, it barely goes fifty,” I said.
“We fly then. Stop the machine.”
I looked over at him.
“Fly?”
“Yes, you have saved me from a threat, now it is customary for me to return the favor. I will take us to safety.”
I looked in the rear view mirror and heard the sirens cease. No doubt they were searching every square inch of that roadblock. They would move on soon. I had no other choice but to trust Dorian. I pressed down on the brakes and brought the car to a stop. Dorian climbed out and I slid my computer into my backpack and took both from the backseat.
He walked out into the road.
“Close your eyes,” he said.
I stood against my car and shut my eyes as the flash of light and rush of heat swept past me. When I opened my eyes, Dorian had been replaced by a majestic dragon that span the length of several cars and stood just as tall. He knelt before me and I climbed onto his shoulders. I ran my hands over the coarse scales. I almost had a hard time believing that any of this real.
I found a pair of grooves within the undulations of his shoulders and gripped him hard as his wings slammed down and we shot up into the air. With each movement of his massive wings, we soared higher into the sky. The ground disappeared and soon there was nothing but clouds beneath us.
His skin seemed to absorb the light from the sun above us. I could feel the warmth radiating from him. I cracked a smile as the wind swept past my face. It had been so long since I felt a rush like this. It felt right, like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
Dorian dove down beneath the clouds and in the distance I saw a city. Which one I couldn’t say, but it would do. We just needed a place to hide and lay low for the night until I could figure something out.
“Here, land here,” I said.
Dorian turned toward the ground and soon I was back on solid Earth. My head was still spinning as I tried to get my bearings. Dorian was nude once again as he changed back to human form. I tried not to look at him for fear that he would notice me staring.
“Maybe you should stay behind until I can get you some clothes,” I said.
“What is wrong with my current attire?” he asked.
I looked over and I was shocked to see him in clothing. He was dressed in a flowing robe with gold embroideries and strange symbols etched into it.
“How did you do that?” I asked.
“I have learned much from the dragon within me as I drifted through the stars. Light, for example, is merely an illusion. All that you see are reflections. So, I simply manipulated the light reflecting off of my body to show clothing of my choosing,” he said.
“And you’ve done this before?” I asked.
“No, this was my first attempt.”
“Right, well it will do. Just follow me and I’ll find us a place to stay for the night.”
Dorian nodded. “Where you go, I will follow.”