MirrorWorld

The Dread are older than the human race, but not much older. They evolved in the mirror world, but as their senses took shape, they became aware of the world between, where they found evidence of the human race in the form of large inanimate structures—Stonehenge, the pyramids, the Great Wall of China—and eventually the world beyond. I see glimpses of now-extinct animals that predated humanity’s rise. And then there are flashing images of Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens. Humanity was evolving, but so were the Dread. Most of the various species I’m familiar with hadn’t fully developed yet. The Dread world was a chaotic place, sometimes spilling into the other worlds as wars and battles were fought between Dread.

In some ways, the mirror was an accurate reflection. While humanity fought for wealth and territory, the Dread did the same. Sometimes battles were fought in the same location, at the same time, amping the fear of men and more deeply instilling the hatred they had for each other. Mankind became more tuned in to the Dread, driven by increasing levels of fear, burying their dead in the earth around colonies, and sometimes offering sacrifices to the Dread, animal and human. The connection between frequencies became a strange, unknown codependency. Some cultures worshiped the Dread. Others demonized them. But as both sides slowly evolved, mankind began to sense the Dread more and more. What had been vague fear or a mere brush with the supernatural became actual sightings and rare physical encounters, especially when Dread, acting as disconnected angry individuals or bored youth, harassed humanity. The sensory ability to detect and later experience other frequencies that the Dread were born with began to emerge in the human race—it’s how we feel their presence at all—and in a few thousand more years the Dread will have to share their world with humanity.

This realization led to a largely unified Dread world. While there were still small bands of Dread clinging to the old ways, pushing fear onto the human race, most Dread pulled back and formed a civilized society built around the matriarchs. Information was passed freely between all unified Dread. While the mirror world found peace in unity, the human race, long steeped in fear, continued to war. And they never truly forgot that there was another world just beyond their reach.

I see images of World War II. A word enters my thoughts: “Ahnenerbe,” the title given to the group responsible for Nazi Germany’s research into the occult. I see a laboratory. And a bell-shaped device. Two of them. The first … flew. The second opened a door. Exposed and frightened, the Dread made their first attempt at global manipulation, propelling powerful nations to unite against Germany. The technology was destroyed and forgotten.

Until recently. Technology, it seemed, would uncover the mirror dimension long before the human race’s senses developed the natural ability. Enter Lyons and Neuro. Driven by his supernatural childhood torment and an impressive intellect, Lyons not only used technology to discover the mirror world but came to the partially correct conclusion that the Dread had, and were, influencing humanity. But without understanding why, he saw only evil, built up defenses, and set out to destroy the otherworldly enemy that terrified him. The following years were full of confusion for the Dread, not knowing how to communicate with Lyons without terrifying him and deepening his convictions.

Then came the first attack. The colony’s burning was felt by all the matriarchs and broadcast to all connected Dread. Plans were set in motion, in both dimensions, resulting in the deaths of my loved ones. And then, I’m gone. No longer part of the story. Lyons became hidden, barricaded inside Neuro and a second location, which the Dread were able to infiltrate once—two weeks ago. One of the bats, which was attached to a Dread Squad soldier, made it inside the second location and overheard a conversation. A plan. Dread-day. It also saw a collection of devices every Dread could recognize after its image was broadcast by the matriarch Colby slew—microwave bombs. Hundreds of them. They would cook both worlds, but without radioactive fallout, the damage done to humanity’s frequencies could be repaired.

The result of that intel is the current state of the world on the brink of destruction. Like humanity, the Dread have evolved, both physically and socially. A barbaric past has been replaced by a more logical present, and yet, like us, they are still capable of violence. Like most people, they would prefer alternatives and to be left alone in peace. But they’re willing to burn the world if that’s not possible. And they need my help, not because they’re incapable of defending themselves, but because the actions I now take as the person who understands the truth will determine the fate of both worlds.

I open my eyes.

The tendrils pull back.

“What do you want me to do?” I ask.

“Choose,” whispers the voice in my head.

I’m about to ask for clarification when an explosion rocks the archway entrance. Fifty heavily armed men, moving with the lethal efficiency of special ops soldiers, enter the chamber. They’re followed by the last person I expected to see here. Lyons. My father-in-law. The man who would destroy the mirror world and, as a result, his own. But it only takes a quick look to see that he’s no longer simply a man.