Through The Fractured Lens

Lucian

Dream—Past Life

I made it over to the dining table, taking my seat. Veyra seemed to have slumped into her chair, quite hungry herself.

Excited for dinner, I couldn't have expected what had happened next.

"Now that you've settled. It's time we discuss about your situation, Lucian. We need to figure out how you'll benefit us." The husband shouted quite abruptly, almost like he'd been insulted.

The lady had a mysterious and evil grin over her face. 

"Now, let's talk, shall we?"

Both Veyra and I instantly sunk further down into our chairs, not understanding any of this.

"Unfortunately we have quite the debt to pay back—and you'll help with that." The mother began to speak, which only just made us more fearful.

"Once a month, each of you will be claimed under a false expense. What this expense would be—therapy, special services, whatever… that is up to you."

"You will also work for us whenever we need the extra hand, no matter what."

These words hit like me like a train. I was confused… this was clearly not legal. How did they think they could get away with this?

"Silas has piled up with quite the debt, however you guys of course will be very generous."

Who is Silas? And why did they need us for this?

I saw Veyra tearing up in the corner of my eye. I got annoyed, however, at the current moment—there was nothing I could do.

Unlike my usual dream, this felt like torture. I couldn't alter it—I could only relive it.

And it would only show me the worst moments.

Once again, everything fades to black as I fall into the endless void of nothingness. I had been quite used to this, as it's become a near daily occurrence. 

Everything faded to black once more.

***

I felt the presence of another person as they grab my hand tightly.

Trying to open my eyes, I notice my mom crouching down beside me, gripping my arm—also tearing up.

"Why are you crying?" I asked.

"Sweetie—you are too…" she replied, motioning me to rub my face off.

I shot up, forcing her to pull her arm back. She sits on the bed aside me and wraps one of her hands around me. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." I shot back.

Ouch!

I looked over, noticing that my mother had pinched me.

"What was that for?"

"You're not gonna go out and die on me—are you? Just had to make sure." She mumbled.

I almost let out a laugh. "I promise I won't die, mom."

"Good! Anyways, the transport has been waiting for about 5 minutes now. Better hurry up, or else they'll break down my door."

"Mom! You could've started with that!" I shouted, rushing to throw on some clothes.

I didn't need to pack any clothes—they would have standard issue uniforms at whatever base they would bring me to. Even without that, there was nothing worth taking.

After throwing on some clothes and washing my face off, I ran out the door.

I gave one last goodbye to both my mother, father and uncle, and then I headed out to the transport, which was just a long bus, to be called that.

However, unlike my past world, it wasn't quite like an actual vehicle. It didn't have any sort of engine, or roof covering. Instead… could it be spirit powered?

Stepping onto the platform, I noticed quite a few other recruits, however not enough to fill up the massive 'bus' I found myself in. Would we be taking any other stops? I wondered.

My questions were soon dismissed as I noticed them turning back around—not continuing down the residential farms. Seems like I was the only drafted back in this area. It made sense, of course, as most of the people that live around here are like my Uncle Hayes. Not physically capable of fighting, and usually on the older side.

I watched as the farms stretched out for miles—kids running through the tall, uncut grass that surrounds it. Farmers were already pulling in new loads of crops, which was quite interesting as it was only noon.

Farmers tend to have their own stalls at the bigger markets downtown. They would usually have another family member running it, and would stop by to restock.

However, sometimes farmers seemed to sell it to other markets around, maybe if they overstocked—or simply just don't have a market of their own.

Either way, it was none of my concern. It would be a quite the trek to the base, so I decided to get some rest.

***

I heard the sound of faint mumbling.

"Hey rookie, get your ass up… punk." Someone spoke, before shaking me awake.

It was the general that was at our house just yesterday.

"General. My apologies."

"Save it, rookie. You've been assigned to Barracks 1A, go get situated and meet your fellow bunkmates. You'll be spending a lot of time together."

"Yes, of course." I replied, before walking away and off the bus platform.

It was still so strange. The bus had 'wheels' if you wanted to call them that, however they seemed smoothed all around.

None of my worries any more, as we had arrived.

The base seemed very fresh, obviously recently constructed in response to the new forces pushing in from Serathis.

I walked up to one of the other new recruits. "Hey, uh… any idea where we are stationed?"

He took a second to reply. "Outside of the Millbrook ruins, if I'm correct."

The answer honestly quite surprised me. I knew we were going in the direction of Millbrook as I drifted off, but I never suspected that would be around where we ended up.

Also… ruins? I suppose in that siege years ago it was destroyed. Either way, that sort of made me happy to see. The name Millbrook still was unsettling to this day, and honestly—hearing it in ruins threw a creepy grin across my face.

"Hey man, you uh, good?" He spoke, clearly noticing my weird reaction.

"Oh, yeah. Of course. Thank you for your time."

I began to walk away, passing by all the barracks. There were hundreds of soldiers at this base, and judging by the empty barracks—it seemed some divisions are actively deployed.

Finally, at the end of my walk, I stumble upon Barracks 1A, where I had been assigned.

There wasn't much people, oddly enough. I began walking inside.

Despite this, I felt something lurking in the shadows. I peered over to the corner. when suddenly—somebody jumps out and onto me, slamming me back.

"Haha! You totally fell for it!" The mysterious dude said.

Another voice—a female, this time spoke up. "Nico, stop bullying the rookies."

"Come on, it's fun…"

"Enough." she shouted.

Finally, after coming back to my senses, this female was now standing in front of me. She lifted out her arm to assist me.

"Sorry about that. My name's Claire, I'm the leader for this barracks."

I accepted her gesture and she had helped pull me up, slightly trembling beneath my legs, mostly from shock. "I'm Lucian."

"Not a talker, huh? I can appreciate that." She teased.

"Not much of anything, actually. Can you show me where I'll be sleeping?" I replied, getting slightly annoyed at this moment.

Claire nodded, her expression softening slightly. "Of course. Follow me."

She led me through the barracks, past rows of bunk beds and lockers. The area had an underlying musty scent that spoke of age despite how new the base actually was.

As we walked, I noticed a few other recruits eyeing me curiously, but nobody approached.

"Here you are," Claire said, stopping at an empty bunk near the back. "Bottom bunk is yours. Locker's right there." She pointed to a narrow metal cabinet besides the bed.

"Get settled in, then report to the mess hall for orientation. It starts in just a few minutes."

I nodded as Claire turned to leave, thankful to finally be away from all the noise.

Taking a moment to rest before heading back out, I slumped onto the bed. 'Today was gonna be a long day, isn't it…' I spoke to myself.

***

I entered the mess hell, where rows of unevenly placed chairs scattered across the room. There was at least a hundred or more recruits here, with others piling in by the second. I quickly found a seat and laid back, waiting for the presentation to start.

We would all have to go through a 30 day basic training regiment before being listed as active duty—which would give us the chance of being called out to the frontlines.

Best case scenario I would get sent to a patrol duty—waste my days away training before my minimum service period is up, which if I had to guess, would be around 6-12 months.

I guess we would find out, though, as I saw General Iron Hand step up onto the main stage.

It took a moment for everybody to quiet down, but once they did, he began speaking.

"Hello, new recruits. We are sorry that we couldn't provide you with more information before being sent here, however, time is of the essence." he began.

"Serathis forces have been making advances, and we need the troops to hold them off." He spoke with such seriousness, beyond his many years as a soldier.

"Each one of you will participate in a 30 day training regiment before being listed as active duty for 6 months…"

"After the 6 month period, you may return home. If you wish to keep fighting, you can fight."

There was a long pause.

"But together, with your help, we can send these Serathis scum back to their own shores, and reclaim what is ours!"

Another long pause, as the crowd began to erupt.

Despite being drafted, a lot of these people had a lot of love for their own country.

No matter, however, as they would fully understand the scope of what they are participating in once they are sent out to battle.

Blood will paint their clothes—until their blood paints the floor.