Juno had his arms raised in defence of his face, his gut clenched instinctively, bracing for impact. But there was no sound of crashing, and no force flung him out through the windshield. Time passed. Sensing nothing happening, he cautiously opened his eyes—only to shut them again as a bright glare assaulted his pupils. Slowly, they adjusted to the light.
When he could finally see, a frown of confusion crept onto his forehead.
"What the...?"
The image reflected in his eyes was of a forest not of debris after a accident. Trees surrounded his vision—tall, imposing, like he had never seen before. He should be with paramedics in an ambulance right now. Or maybe... dead, he reasoned for that was the most likely occurence after an accident.
Definitely not among trees.
A sudden thought crossed his mind—why was there sunlight? He leaned forward and looked up through the windshield. It wasn't the night sky anymore, but a bright blue sheet stretched endlessly across the sky.
He fell back into his seat, his face blank with disbelief.
Then, in one quick motion, he pinched himself.
"Ouch."
The pain confirmed it—this wasn't a dream.
While rubbing the now-reddened patch of skin, he looked around. A bright place. Lush greenery. This came after a car crash? If he wasn't dreaming... heaven?
No—how could that be? Even if he put his atheism aside, there was still no plausible reason for him to be in any kind of heaven. He didn't follow a religion. Neither did anyone in his family. And besides—how would a camper van end up in heaven?
Then where was he?
Juno took a deep breath, trying to recall the moments before the crash. Whatever this was—a coma-induced dream or some kind of afterlife—he would find out once he stepped outside.
He stood from the seat, walked to the door, and stepped out.
From a distance, hidden eyes watched the white box. They saw as it opened a maw on its side and a man stepped out. Black hair. Black eyes. His face was ordinary, to say the least.
"What's that?" Marin asked, glancing up at Asher for an answer.
Asher stared quietly, saying nothing. He had never seen anything like it. Not in the horrors of the Flesh Pit. Not in the stillness of the Silent Sea. Nothing matched the thing's description.
Should we run?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the cat leaped from his head, landing in direct view of the creature. Time itself seemed to halt. The cat alone moved freely, walking toward the stranger with a curious, probing pace.
Huh. A cat? Juno blinked, surprised, watching it approach from behind a tree. It didn't seem scared. Maybe it wanted a pat.
Adorable, he thought, bending down to touch it.
Then the tree rustled. A shadow shifted from the same spot the cat had come from. Juno's balance tipped, startled. He landed on his back as a hulking figure emerged—dark-skinned, with yellow eyes, clutching the cat protectively. His other hand stayed buried in his pocket.
"I... I'm sorry. I was just trying to pet... him?" Juno stammered. The man intimidated him. He could see beads of sweat forming on the stranger's temple, the slight tremble of his lips.
He's furious, thought Juno.
It... it can speak, Asher's mind screamed. He had prepared for a fight, but who knew what kind of abominable powers this foreign being might possess? He was terrified to his bones.
What should I do?
Should I run?
But what if that only made it angrier?
No. Let's go along with it for now.
"It's... okay," Asher said stiffly.
Juno breathed a sigh of relief. People were crazy about their pets these days, he figured.
He moved to stand, but the black man took a quick step back. Juno froze, he caught him backing up.
Oh shit. He saw me. Is he going to attack?
Asher slowly shifted into a defensive stance.
The stranger—Juno—raised his hand, slowly. It wasn't what you'd expect from someone powerful. And then... he simply stopped. Looking straight at him with hand extended.
Huh? Asher blinked. Is this a trick?
He wants me to touch his hand?
Why? A thought dawned on him—maybe he's going to transfer some curse onto me.
The cat slipped from Asher's arms and landed softly by Juno's feet, then rubbed its head affectionately against his calf.
"Can I pet him?" Juno asked politely.
Asher, still dumbfounded, nodded.
Juno bent down and gently stroked the cat's fur.
"What's his name?" he asked.
"Jinx," Asher replied.
Juno stood again and extended his hand.
"I'm Juno."
Asher met it. The hand wasn't rough, rotting, cursed, or strange. Just a hand. Human.
"What are you doing? Don't touch him!" someone shouted from behind Asher.
They both turned.
"It's alright. He's... normal."
That last word carried a trace of uncertainty.
Juno spotted a balding man in his forties walking toward him, the first trait making the second inevitable.
"I was preparing a spell, just so you know," the man muttered.
Asher just nodded.
"Sure. Whatever you say."
But Juno couldn't focus on anything except the word spell. The bald man had said it with such confidence, only someone delusional would say it that casually—like a patient in a mental hospital.
But why would they send someone in a motor accident to a mental hospital?