Two months passed by since Ben transformed himself into a fish. I still find it hard to believe and sometimes it’s easier to think that he just drowned himself in the cold water of the Kentucky River. As far as everyone else was concerned, he just simply skipped town. Suzanne asked me where he went. I lied and told her that the IRS was after him for tax evasion and that he went into hiding. I couldn’t imagine telling her the truth, hell, I had trouble believing the truth myself. People already thought I was crazy. Suzanne was released from the hospital just four days after her accident. It was truly a miracle from what they say. It was talked about on the news for days. The doctors were baffled and yes, her blood was tested, but apparently not until after the third day that I’d given her Ben’s blood. They did find something unusual in her blood, but it had lost its infective power. She’d truly made a full recovery. In Ben’s backpack he kept most of the money that he made selling that furniture. I used that money to pay the taxes on the property and with the rest I bought stuff for Suzanne and the kids. I gave Sam enough money to buy himself a used car. I thought Ben would approve. Hank still had problems in school, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before. He knew that he’d be teased over the trip to the hospital following the incident in the woods, so he took my advice and started weightlifting with me occasionally in the barn and I enjoyed the company. I discovered that Hank was a fairly gifted artist and showed me some of his drawings from a comic he was working on in his spare time.

One sunny afternoon in spring, I sat on the porch swing smoking pot with Buddy at my feet. The daffodils and redbuds were in full bloom and the fresh green grass had grown up over and replaced the brown.

Suzanne walked out the screen door and said, “Wow it looks like a really nice day out here.  I think I might eat my lunch out here with you. Would you like a sandwich Travis?”

I looked up and yawned, “Sure thanks. I miss our picnics on porch.”

She turned to go back inside, but noticed something at end of the porch, “What’s that little plant there in the pot Travis? I haven’t seen it before,” she said.  

“Oh yeah, that little tree was a gift from Ben. I miss him,” I said.

“I miss him too. Do you ever think we’ll ever see him again?” she said.

“I hope so. With Ben you can never tell.”

She sighed and went inside. I lied about the tree, it wasn’t a gift at all.  At the last moment, I rescued that little seedling from Ben’s trash. It grew among the pieces of scrap wood and sawdust from a drop of his blood. I planned to plant it in the front yard once it grew a bit more..

After Ben’s departure, I was left with a lot of unanswered questions. My best friend was suddenly gone and I missed him terribly. It felt like a piece had been yanked from my heart and I knew he was never coming back. I tried to cope, but I needed to know how and why all this happened to begin with. Deep down I knew everything stemmed from the missing two hours of my life that day in the woods.

On Tuesday afternoon March 12  I had an appointment at 4 pm with doctor Chen. His small office was located in a strip mall along New Circle road. Just inside the door, I saw a familiar older woman sitting behind a desk painting her nails. She sat up and put the stuff away.

Looking up at me she said, “You can sign in here. Take this clip board and fill it out and bring it back to me when you are finished.”

I sat down in one of the big comfy chairs and saw pictures of waterfalls on the walls. She went right back to painting her nails while some light music played in the background. I finished filling out the paperwork and handed it to her.

“Mr Chen is with a patient now, but he should be ready shortly.”

I picked up a fishing magazine and it made me think of Ben. I had not been fishing since the last time Ben had taken me back in October. I flipped through the pages when the door opened, and a tall well dressed woman appeared, and behind her was my doctor Chen, a small older Asian man with greying hair and thick dark glasses. They both went to the front desk.

“Thank you so much Dr Chen I feel like I am making progress,” she said.

“Good, good, let’s make an appointment for you in two weeks from today and see how you are doing. Rachael, what is my schedule looking like?”

“We have an opening on March 18th at 9am. Will that do?”

“Yes That sounds great,” said the tall woman opening her purse.

Dr Chen picked up the clipboard and looked at me, “Travis McAllister. It’s been a while since you’ve been here. How are you doing on that medication? Any more blackouts?”  

“No, the medicine seems to work fine, but I have other concerns.”  

“Would you like to follow me back to my office?” he said reaching out to shake my hand. His small hand felt childlike, yet strong in my hand.  I followed him to his office and he had me take a seat on his couch.

“So Travis, how can I help you today?”

“Well, doc, it’s been a year, and I’m troubled by the first blackout I had last year. Two hours are missing and I need to know what happened.”  

“I wouldn’t worry about it. Sometimes people just blackout from lack of oxygen to the brain, or from taking drugs.”

“Something happened to me there that changed my life. Look at this scar. It happened the night of the blackout and the dreams. Can you help me?”

“Have you ever been hypnotized before?”

“No, never have. In fact, I never really believed in hypnotherapy. I always thought it was just acting.”

“I’ve had lots of success helping people open up their mind, Mr McAllister. It’s not like those tricks you see on TV. Sometimes hypnotism can help restore hidden memories. Perhaps there are things from the army that have traumatized you as well. I’d like to use nitrous oxide to induce a hypnotic state. Would you be willing to try that?”

“If you think it would help, then yes.”

He set up the tank and had me breathe from a mask.

“You can start by closing your eyes. I want you to slowly breathe in deep…then let it out…breathe in deep…let it out. Keep doing this, and just listen to the sound of my voice. In and out..In and out. Let you mind wander, in and out,..in and out. I’m going to count backward from ten to zero, and each time I count off a number, I want you to become more and more relaxed. Keep breathing in and out,..in and out..Ten, you feel like you are falling. Nine, your limbs are getting so heavy. In and out…Eight, you feel as if you can hardly feel your body. Seven, you are becoming so relaxed that the pain is fading from your body. Six, a comforting humming is enveloping your body. In and out,…in and out. Five, you are falling deeper and deeper into a perfect restful place. All worries are leaving. Four, you are falling deeper towards that serene place.Three, let your body flow in and out. Two, almost there.  And one, you are at perfect peace. Float there for a moment Travis. You feel no pain. I want to take you back. Back to that day you decided to take that walk in the woods. Do you remember that day?”

“Yes.”

“Good, now imagine the way it felt, the way the weather felt. Remember the smells, the crunching of leaves? Can you see it?”

“Yes.”  

“Good, now describe to me all you feel. Tell me about that walk in the woods.”

“I remember that It was cool and crisp outside. The sun was shining and the ground was a bit damp from the rain we had earlier that morning. The trees were bare this time of year except for the flowering redbuds and dogwoods. I got this notion to go explore the woods. I stepped off the porch swing and, uh…”  I said feeling myself slipping away.

“Travis, go ahead. What happened next?” said Dr Chen. “Travis? Travis can you hear me?”

I experienced an odd moment of deja vu as I walked out past the old barn and headed for the tree line. The lure of the dark woods was overwhelming. After climbing up over the fence post, I followed a small trail through the underbrush. It led me down across a small stream and then rose again on the far side. My feet made crunching noises through the dead leaves that littered the trail. Three buzzards circled in the sky overhead. As I neared the top of the ridge, I caught a whiff of the rank smell of death. There was a clearing where the soil became rocky. To my left sat a pile of boulders surrounded by small shrubs. The smell of death was strong and I could hear the buzzing of flies. Caught between two big rocks lay the rotting corpse of a deer, and hovering just above the rocks, there appeared a shimmering  cloud of glowing mist that looked like a swarm of lightning bugs. As it descended upon the deer, I crouched low keeping my distance. The glowing mist surrounded the corpse and consumed it, without smoke or fire. It was being transformed into something else. A more earthy, musky aroma replaced the dead smell. In place of the deer, a nude figure of a man took shape. There was something familiar, ancient and wondrous about this man. I crept closer, lusting after the young, bulky, auburn haired god. He seemed unaware of me, leaning against a bolder as his brawny fist stroked his large erect penis. The plants that surrounded him burst forth in flowers, then fruit. The bees and insects swarmed about him, as well as the birds that mated in the trees. I was careful not to make a noise, but a branch cracked beneath my foot, and the man slowly turned his gaze towards me. He opened his mouth and roared like a lion, grunted like a wart hog, mooed like a cow, and whistled like a song bird before finding his true, deep, melodic, male voice. He spoke in a strange language that I somewhat understood.

“What creature dare approach me?”

My knees trembled. I looked down at the man’s feet and said, “I’m Travis.”

He smiled, raised a hand and said, “Remove your shoes and come closer. The ground upon which you stand is holy.”

As I came closer, the man’s skin sparkled with little beads of light, and the air surrounding him crackled with electricity. The man had a strong, musky, masculine scent that aroused me so much.

“Examining me,” he said, “You are the first human within a span of millennia to observe my original form.”

I got up the courage to speak and muttered, “ Who are you? I feel like I should know you.”

“All humans, all life, when they see me, remember. I have many names, and many forms in the span of time of Earth. A single thought, within the abyss, begat form. And form endowed the spark of life. I immortal, within the span of eons, witness the seed of our kind,” he said masturbating his large erect penis.

“Why are you here, and what do you want with me?”

“Anima ex machina, the future manipulating the past, the third act of creation, that is why I am here,” said the man.

I felt compelled to stare and couldn’t control my own growing erection. Suddenly every living thing in the vicinity began to copulate wildly, and I felt as if I were getting close to climaxing myself.

“Don’t be ashamed. The purpose of the human body is to experience the pleasures of life,” he said.  

I could see desire for me in his eyes as he masturbated.

“Travis, you are pleased at the sight of me?” I nodded yes. “Come closer and touch my flesh.”

As I reached out to touch the man on his upper arm, he suddenly snatched me by the nape of my neck with an iron grip and I hung dangling like a rag doll. He roared like a lion, then screeched like some sort of bird. It was terrifying, odd, and caused me to piss my pants. The man placed his index finger of his left hand against my lips.

“I have a gift for you Travis. Bite down hard and sever the first joint.” I hesitated. “If I am refused, I shall devour you myself.”  

I trembled and obeyed his command. I opened my mouth and tasted a salty index finger on my tongue.

“Bite it off!” he commanded.

I bit down hard, my teeth tearing through living flesh. I felt the tip of the finger loose on my tongue, the warm metallic tasting blood filled my mouth. I felt a bit queasy at the thought of my actions.  

“Swallow it whole and behold the marvels of all there is to be,” he roared.

I gulped the finger tip down my throat in the mixture of  blood and tissue, and no sooner had I done this, that I felt a powerful surge of energy pulsing through my body, and my thoughts raced at an incredible pace. I was bombarded with bizarre images and geometric patterns. Being so overwhelmed, I experienced an intense orgasm and my pants filled with semen.

“I immortal, share this holy communion between us. You who have eaten of my flesh, shall for a time become like us. Behold, the flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone, and of my blood, we are joined together in this communion. You, from this moment on, shall see visions, and go where few men tread. You, for a time, shall walk the path of an ethereal being.”

The man removed his hand from my mouth and released his grip from around my neck. He held me in a tight embrace and kissed me passionately. He released me and I fumbled to regain my balance. I fell to my knees before him, facing the man who was now smiling. He resumed masturbating and roared as streams of semen shot high into the air. The chirping of birds grew frantic. He extended his left hand and I beheld the regrowth of the missing digit. He raised his left hand further revealing a glowing hexagonal symbol in the palm, and at that same moment, I felt intense pain in my left hand. I watched as the same symbol burned into my palm. Waves of brilliant golden light pulsed from the source traveling out in all directions.  The man stood looking up, his arms raised to the skies and we were consumed in light.

“Behold the wonders of wonders! Travis, child of man, a door has been opened to another world, go forth from me,” said the man.

The trees were spent with branches hung heavy with fruit and yellowing leaves. Dead insects covered the rocks where he sat. I cowered on the ground. The man grew brighter and let out a loud roar. I lay upon the rocky ground convulsing with intense pain. Strange images flashed at a rapid rate and all became light.

It was at that moment that I realized I was the reason Ben came to Millersburg. He came to prevent me from spreading an abomination with my blood. It all made sense now.

I fought to open my eyes. It seemed rather difficult for some reason. Something was wrong. I felt foreign objects attached to me. Hard objects. Something was in my throat, somethings were in my arms. I tried to kick, but I was restrained.  I tried to scream, but started gagging on the object in my throat.

“Hurry, go get doctor Conway. He’s waking up!” I heard a female voice say.  She pulled the object from my mouth.

“What’s happening to me?” I said confused and scared. I was fighting to get up.

“Calm down sweetie. The doctor’s on his way.”

“Where’s Doctor Chen?”

“I don’t know any Doctor Chen sweetie. You were in an accident.”