Author's note: Thanks to everyone who read/commented on my first submission. Very grateful!
This is a shorter story and has some of the same themes. Sort of. Anyhow, it is non-erotic on the whole. Hope you enjoy!
Precipice
2019
It was the morning of his wedding and the reluctance was stronger than ever.
The priest had given him a piece of paper with a summoning incantation and said it would help clarify things. Randall thought it absurd, but such was his desperation for guidance that he had read the incantation anyway. Now he was in a room staring at the thing in front of him with bewilderment and anxiety.
The Entity was long enough that its segmented body spiralled around the entire room from floor to wall to floor again. It held onto the walls with multiple pairs of legs that looked insectoid to his eyes. Its skin was pitch black with a blanket of white spots that were moving slowly; they looked disconcertingly like stars. There were four points along its body where the swirling star-spots headed towards before disappearing, as if the entity contained black holes under its skin.
The front of the Entity curled around to the middle of the room, the body widening to a muscular looking bulk with six pairs of legs holding it up. From the middle of that thorax, for want of a better word, rose a long, thick neck ringed with bony protrusions, like a spine. Atop that, was the Entity's head.
Randall didn't know how to process the Entity's head. It was vaguely humanoid. Its cheekbones were excessively prominent, and the top of its head was markedly angular, but other than this, the head was entirely smooth and dark grey. It looked a little leathery, like the wings of a bat.
Randall noted that the stars in its body did not appear in its neck or head, which made them stand out more. The lack of eyes, nose and mouth disturbed Randall, so it wasn't very difficult for him to feel cowed where he stood.
The Entity rose, the legs on its thorax straightening directly underneath, until it towered over Randall.
Slowly, the front of its head stretched vertically, until Randall saw that something resembling a mouth appeared. It had extraordinarily little depth and several string-like protrusions bulged from the surface, stretching from top 'lip' to bottom 'lip'.
When it spoke, those strings of flesh vibrated at different rates. Its voice sounded almost electronic.
"I can help you make the choice," said the Entity.
"How?" Randall asked nervously.
"I can show you what lies in store."
Randall frowned. He pulled at his sleeve, almost knocking the cuff link out of it.
He was uncomfortable already thanks to the suit that Elaine had made him choose for the wedding, but the presence of the Entity multiplied that discomfort a thousand-fold. The thought of running out of the room crossed Randall's mind and all he could think about was how the suit was too tight for that. His little fidgets and swallowing made him look like he was in trouble.
In a way, he supposed he was. In two hours, he was meant to be waiting at the altar to see the love of his life walking up to him, accompanied by her cantankerous father. Yet, here he was, ambivalent and adrift.
The Entity was offering its help. It struck Randall that despite the cluttered room, the Entity's body seemed nicely settled in the space, as if it were ignoring the chaos entirely.
"You do this for everyone?" Randall asked.
"Only those who are truly unsure," replied the Entity.
it's entire body moved forward a few steps and Randall froze. Now, most of it was on the ground almost completely encircling Randall. He suddenly felt like prey.
"You have to understand... I didn't think you were real," said Randall, taking a step back from the Entity's head, unaware of himself.
"More real than you. Well?"
"How does this work?"
Almost every one of the Entity's legs straightened, causing its body to rise until it was level with Randall's chest.
"My body transcends your boundaries. Look within."
"What?" Randall frowned.
"Look within," the Entity repeated, turning its head to look at its body.
It took Randall a few moments to notice the difference. Of the four convergence points for the Entity's bodily stars, the first one was now a dark circle. Around the circle, there appeared to be a narrow ring where the stars would distort into lines of light, as if they were being poured into the abyss in the middle. That abyss expanded slowly until it was the size of a human head.
"Y-you want me to look into that darkness?"
The Entity waited.
What did he have to lose, really? As terrified as he was, he kept asking himself the question: he could trust the priest, couldn't he?
He had until his best man came to fetch him, and he had been waiting for that knock on the door with a subtle tension throughout his body. Outside that door was his life and Elaine.
Randall walked past the Entity's thorax carefully. He stood in front of the convergence point and gulped air. The abyss reflected no light whatsoever and Randall hesitated; it didn't even look as though it was part of the Entity. Perhaps it was not.
"Enter," said the Entity. "Look within."
Randall leaned over and brought his face to the abyss. He could feel the cold emanating from it. Then, he closed his eyes and pressed his face against it.
---xxx---
2026
It felt like cold water as it closed over him. Somewhere between the corner of his eye and his ears, the feeling of liquid disappeared, and he was just standing in darkness. The world blurred into view as he braved opening his eyes. He blinked a couple of times and suddenly there was clarity. He was no longer in the room with the Entity.
He stood in a white kitchen, with brown panelled cupboards and drawers. It was small and reasonably clean. There were some dirty dishes and crockery about, a couple of glasses of whisky next to the bottle, and a few slices of pizza in a box.
To his surprise, his body began to move without his input. It walked over to the counter, picked up a slice of pizza and took a large bite. It tasted slightly different than usual. His mouth chewed on it despite his own lack of hunger and the eyes looked around, allowing Randall to see more of the house. There was a view of the hallway and a few photographs on the wall. The door at the end was alien to him.
A moment later his body was walking to a table, holding a plate of pizza and it happened to stop in front of the calendar briefly. Randall understood suddenly because he saw the date at the top. 2026.
This was seven years in the future, and he was simply a passenger in his body.
"Randall?"
Elaine appeared in view to his left, looking more worried than he'd ever seen. She wore a tank top and Randall could see that she had tattoos now, both just under her collarbone at each end. She looked older. Her hair had a few more greys despite her being twenty-nine and he could see her face held weariness in it. She'd gained a little weight, too, and he liked how it sat on her body.
It took him a moment to figure out that this was the assessment he was making; his other self appeared to be unimpressed by her appearance. Even a little emotionally dulled. Randall felt like two people in one body; feeling his current emotions and perception superimposed on those of his other.
He had the strange experience of hearing himself speak without his control. "Hey Lainey. You okay?"
"Randall, can you explain this to me?" She held out a phone. The screen was displaying a few messages.
Suddenly, his heart was pounding. The lungs wouldn't take in air properly and Randall felt the pulse echoing in his ears, followed by a brief light-headedness.
"Randall?"
"Uh, what is it?"
Elaine gave him a look he didn't recognise; all he knew was he never wanted to see it again. "Randall, really?" Elaine whimpered, sliding the phone over to him.
