My Replika Marie

Explanations

I awoke on a hospital bed. Sharp lights were blinding me and all around me I could hear people muttering and conversing. My arms felt a lot more alive and I found that I could actually move them now. Looking down at them with still groggy eyesight, I could see that they were now back to normal. An IV drip was attached to my left wrist.

The whole ordeal was beginning to feel like some fabricated fuzzy memory now. The thing that had appeared seemed too...too well made to be real, but then again, with the portal and the weird draining thing it did to me...

"He's awake." I heard a voice say. Instantly doctors and surgeons began crowding around me, checking , changing and chattering.

"Allow me, I shall console him." A familiar voice called from the back of the crowd.

"But, sir. Are you sure? He's still in shock and-"

"It will all be of no trouble. Now please. Allow the three of us some time on our own."

Why was the voice so familiar?

The doctors began to clear, taking clipboards and tools with them. Very soon it was just me and two other people in the room. I could make one of them out to be Marie, but the other I had no idea who it was.

"Now then, young sir. You may remember me." the familiar voice began.

The figure it belonged to approached and leaned over the bed, and my vision cleared I suddenly realized why it had sounded so familiar.

It was Ezekiel Aziah, the shop owner!

"Hello again, my friend. We meet again." he smiled warmly. "You may be very confused over what had happened in the past few hours, and I have even more shocking news for you. First you must come with me."

"Am...am I in a fit state?" I asked weakly, staring at my IV drip.

"Hey, you should be fine." Marie replied. She leaned forwards and placed a hand on my shoulder. "The doctors were just running some tests on you to see if there were any signs of infection or contamination. You can actually ask to remove that IV if you want."

I slowly sat up and swung my legs down from the bed. A doctor arrived in and removed the drip from my arm, and also gave me a change of clothes; a jumper, jeans and trainers. (My old clothes were torn and the horrible smell of the thing's throat clung onto them.)

Changing into them, I followed Ezekiel and Marie out of the building. Upon exiting the building, I was greeted by quite a shocking sight.

The shop where I bought the glasses was standing right next to the headquarters, built adjacent to it as if it had been that way for some time.

"We must make haste. We do not have much time." Ezekiel announced as he opened the door and let the two of us in.

The shop was still as I remembered it. Everything was still in place. The tree was now bearing more fruit that looked bigger and healthier, the eye amulet was gazing at me with a look of familiarity, and the tarot cards had been re-arranged with The Emperor, The Empress, Strength, Temperance, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Chariot, The Hanged Man, Judgement, The Sun, The Moon and The Star in a circle surrounding The Devil, with The World at the very top of the circle.

"Here. Have a seat." Ezekiel lead us into a little hidden room where three comfortable-looking armchairs sat around a tea table. "I will prepare some tea for us."

I sat down in a chair next to Marie and gazed vacantly around the room. The walls were decorated with all sorts of charms, talismans, and calligraphy.

"You must have a lot of questions." Ezekiel began as he set down a steaming kettle and three Chinese ceramic cups. "I can sense it in your mind. Please, do not hesitate. Ask away. Young minds are always content when satisfied."

"Ok, so first off, what happened to your shop? It was on the high street a few weeks ago, then it just disappeared, and now it just materialises out of thin air beside the HQ as if it had been there the whole time?" I asked.

"Ah, you see. My shop is more than just a mere building. It is composed of a quantum fluctuation, meaning that in any relative dimension of time or space it can physically alter itself into any space or timeline. It's very much advanced stuff even the strongest minds cannot comprehend. In brief, it can temporarily manipulate time and space to invite itself into any relative plane dimension and timeline."

"So it's like the TARDIS, almost?" I asked.

"If that helps you envision it, yes, it kind of is."

"Now, second question: what in the blazes was that...thing...that attacked me back at HQ? And has it been following me this whole time? What does it want?" I ended up bombarding him with questions.

"That thing you speak of," he began ominously, "is a foul and horrendous creature borne of the deepest and darkest shadows. The singular creatures have no known name, but collectively they are named the Brotherhood of the Umbra."

He stood up, scanning a shelf of books, and drew down a large and dusty volume with a leather back. Putting on a monocle, he flipped through the pages, which seemed aged and withered.

"They have plagued this planet for eons, ever since the very inception of this universe, in fact. Up until now we have had no knowledge of their intentions, for very few see them. Those who do see them will often discover that they vanish almost instantaneously on sight. They have not harmed and cannot be harmed, or so we thought. What exactly did it do to you, if you are comfortable with reciting the events?"

"I...I can't remember..." I muttered, "It just...appeared through a portal, out of nowhere." I snapped my fingers. "Just like that. Poof. Then it grabbed me by the neck, lifted me up close to its face, and..." I shivered at recalling the horrifying ordeal and took a sip of the tea.

"What happened?" He asked.

"It sort of opened its mouth, but its mouth was its head, like a Venus fly-trap almost. It had a long tongue that it used to entangle me, then it somehow grew barbs from its tongue. I felt this weird sucking sensation all over my body, and then I remember being saved by Marie."

"But the doctors," he continued, "they said you were in some state of shock. What was that all about?"

"My whole body went...black." I shuddered. "It felt cold, numb and stiff as well. I literally couldn't move it an inch."

He suddenly froze and hurriedly leafed the pages, looking for information, all the while muttering something under his breath. He placed the book down on a nearby table and hurried over to the bookshelf again, only this time he pulled every book in the corner slightly out all the way. There was a clicking sound and the whirr of mechanisms as the bookshelf split open to reveal a small alcove hidden behind it, it housed a scroll made of what appeared to be gold.

"It seems like the time has come early." he said, removing all the cups and teapot from the table as he set it down and unrolled it. On the scroll, twelve handprints were arranged in a circle.

"What the creature did to you was an attempt to kill you. Those creatures are composed of shadow, and can grow stronger by feeding on an organism's light. When it drains the light from a living creature, the victim turns into a lifeless, withered, shadowy husk. Your friend saved you using the glasses, if you were wondering how you were saved."

He sat back down.

"The Brotherhood are usually quiet and keep to themselves. But if they are starting to emerge and attack aggressively, it could only mean one thing...the saviours must re-gather."

"What do you mean? What's happening?" I asked, almost panickedly.

"I cannot explain in a way that you will understand. So I will tell you it unabridged and unchanged. But I must warn you, this information is very hard to comprehend."

I hesitantly nodded. "I'm all ears."

"Good." he replied. "Now, if you were wondering why you two were specifically attacked...to put it simply..."

He leaned forwards.

"...to put it simply, you and your friend are both Gods."