Nathan Mercer was supposed to live an ordinary life.

Instead, the impossible begins following him.

The harder he fights to hold on to the man he once was, the deeper he’s pulled into a hidden world of temptation, ancient powers, and secrets that refuse to stay buried.

Now, every choice draws him closer to a destiny he never wanted… and every urge he resists only makes it stronger.

Some doors should never be opened.

Some souls were never meant to awaken.

Word Count: 14,200

One

My name is Nathan Mercer, and I feel like I’m losing my sanity a piece at a time.

Five years ago, the world changed. It was slight, barely noticeable, but it was there, just under the skin. A change where hope dimmed and the shadows grew longer. I could never explain it, but I felt it, across my soul, if such a thing exists.

Five years ago, my mother’s car crashed into a tree, with her in it, but I am getting ahead of myself.

I work in IT, and it pays well enough. On the outside I’m a tech guy, fixing, installing, maintaining the digital structure for Black Serpent Corp. The company is one of the oldest banks in Meridian City. They are only in one building, and never expanded out like many other banks. They never had to, from the rumors we overhear as we tended to one of their stations, money flows to them. They have one of the largest buildings in the city. Yeah, it’s where I work most days. I’m always on call, but I only have to work a few days a week because I have someone at home I must to attend to.

I mentioned my mother was in a car accident around the same time I felt the world changed. The two incidents didn’t happen at the same time. My mother’s car crashed the day the world darkened in my eyes. It was a head on collision with an old tree, only a few blocks from where we lived. The area had poor lightning. The streetlamps wouldn’t always turn on when night fell. From what the investigators concluded, the part of the street was too dark to drive safely. A raccoon ran across the road just as my mother was coming around the corner. She tried to not run it over and slammed into the tree hard enough to destroy the engine, and nearly killed her. The airbag deployed, but it wasn’t enough in such a collision. She was bleeding out, and the rescue teams got her out as medics tended to her. I learned about this a few hours later at work. Someone called me on her phone and I raced to the hospital.

When I got there, she was wrapped up, but in good spirits. I thought she was happy to be alive, but something was different.

The city didn’t want this leaked to the papers and online. They cut her check of a few million dollars for us to remain silent on the matter. A day after the incident, the city crews went to work on those streetlights.

I was happy my mother was alive, and now she didn’t have to earn a living. Or so I thought.

Right now, I’m sitting in my car in our driveway. The light was on in the living room. Light flickered back and forth. She was watching a movie, I think. It’s hard to tell, since she came back different.

The house is the one our family grew up in. I have two older sisters. I’m the youngest, currently at the age of twenty-two. My mother is only forty-two, which is no secret our mother had us young. My dad died when I was five. I remember him from time to time, but his visage is blurry sometimes.

As for my mother, despite being a young mother, she was a super mom. She took care of us. Taught us manners in social situations, history, science and a whole lot more. She was single for most of that time, often telling us she didn’t need anyone. She had us. Most of the time though, she was uptight, and followed the rules. The only rule she ever broke was having us early in life.

My hands squeezed the steering wheel. I felt a cold sweat, a little worried going into the house. Since the accident, she needed someone to stay with her. I had a flexible schedule, so I volunteered. Little did I know things were going in places I never thought they ever would go.

In the hospital after the accident, she was scanned from head to toe. They found a few cracked bones, but they found something a little more damning. She suffered some damage in her frontal lobes. She showed signs when she would speak her mind, calling one nurse a bitch, and another nurse an angel. The doctors said she was suffering from Disinhibition. A loss of social restraint and impulse control. They gave me a prescription for meds that would help, but the damage looked permanent. She would never be herself again, and needed medication to stay normal.

When she was home, and taking her medication, she was almost normal, but sometimes she didn’t take her medication. It felt like tonight was one of those nights.

Sometimes, I think our family is descended from monsters. The way mom speaks sometimes, it’s like she is peeling away the skin to the truth underneath everything. She has friends that say she is a prophet, and other kinds of nonsense. I can’t put into words what is happening, but there is a part of me that craves it, and I don’t know why.

I tell myself I should just drive away and let my sisters care for her, but then I remember how my sisters would exploit her for money, and take whatever they could to party and other things I don’t care to mention. We are not a stable family, by any means, but I try to keep things as normal as I can. Even so, I don’t feel normal. Not at all.

When the change happened, I dreamt of dark armies. I see a strange monster smiling at me with sharp teeth. I…I see hordes of people chanting my name, over and over again. I think I’m going crazy, and there is a part of me that is dying every day.

I gripped the wheel again, gathering my courage. I only wanted a peaceful life, but the world seems to be denying me any drop of rest.

Something within me growled. Strength and confidence slipped through my blood, filling my muscles. I calmed down, my gaze steady. I let go of the steering wheel and opened the car door.

I marched toward my home, my spirit ready for what may come.

I climbed the stairs to the front door. I pulled out my key, and noticed the sounds of moans coming from the living room. I turned the key and walked in, preparing my mind for the trails ahead.

I stepped in as the door closed behind me, sealing my fate.