**7 Years Later**

Hearing the sound of steps and light bickering approach from behind him, Reed looked up from the emails he had been going through on his phone.

“Watch it. WATCH IT! Hot dish comin’ through!” A middle-aged woman with a thin frame and shoulder-length brown hair yelled frantically as she reached over the table beside Reed, placing down a massive dish that she had been carrying with equally massive oven mitts.

“Would you quit freaking out, you weren’t even close to him.” Came a retort from the older man with salt and pepper scruff and a moderate beer belly who followed her, carrying two smaller bowls of his own.

Reed had no interest in getting involved in one of his parents’ scuffles and acted as if he hadn’t heard the two of them.

“Reed, help me pass out the plates would you?” His mother asked him as she handed the entire stack to him before rushing back out the door to take care of something else. Standing up and taking the stack of ceramic with two hands, he gave two plates to his father who sat beside him filling up glasses of wine for himself and his wife. Reed then made his way around the table, giving one to each of the five teenagers that were engaged in lively chatter before returning to his seat just as his mother did, sitting down in the chair pulled out by her husband.

“Dinner looks great Mrs. Vayne!” Exclaimed one of the two girls within the teenage group.

“Yeah it does, thanks mom.” Chimed in the boy with wavy brown hair sitting next to her, preceding a chorus of thank yous from the remaining teenagers.

The dinner celebration was being held in honor of Eddy, Reed’s younger brother of 10 years, and his teammates ranking high within the local military academy for training Manipulators. It was one of the few of such academies throughout the world and quite the accomplishment, therefore Reed had decided to make the trip to Detroit to see his family for the first time in a couple of months.

Everyone at the table served themselves and the room was soon filled with lively conversation.

“I just wish Reed didn’t have to leave so soon, you only got here two days ago.”

Reed looked up from his meal somewhat surprised at hearing his name. He had been happily enjoying the free food and jovial atmosphere when his mother pulled him into the conversation.

“I told you mom, I’ve got work in the morning. Plus it takes a decent amount of time and money to come down here.” He replied.

“I know, but still I don’t see why it would take three months just for you to come down and visit us for the weekend.”

“I just told you why,” Reed said somewhat exasperated. Before his mother could come back with further persuasion and spark up an argument he interjected with a compromise, “But I got a raise at work last month and I've been thinking of buying a car, which would make visiting easier.”

“Oh, well that’s good. Make sure to run things by your father before buying anything though, I don’t want you getting swindled.”

“I will mom,” Reed said, getting a look of knowing amusement from his father.

And just like that, the topic of conversation shifted, away from him. Able to sit and engage in the occasional conversation when he felt like doing so, Reed enjoyed the rest of the evening which mostly consisted of Eddy and his teammates regaling stories of their first year at the academy with the occasional question or remark from the adults.

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After nearly two hours of sitting at the dinner table, Reed checked his watch which read a few minutes past eight o’clock. He stood up and brought his long empty dishes to the kitchen before returning and telling his parents he had to leave. They insisted on seeing him out, so Reed bade farewell to his brother and accompanying friends before walking to the door, where he gave both of his parents a hug and was given another talking to about visiting sooner along with some money to cover the ride home.

Escaping out of the house and onto the cold streets of Michigan, Reed walked a good distance from his family's house before taking out his phone and ordering a ride back to his home in West Virginia. Standing on the sidewalk waiting for his ride to arrive, Reed couldn’t prevent a sense of guilt from creeping into his thoughts. Despite the promises he’d made to his mother, there was no way he’d be coming back to Detroit anytime soon. It wasn’t the fault of his family or the city itself. It was for the same reason a Manipulator academy had been established here, the unnatural inky blackness that permeated the sky of the horizon in the direction he was gazing. A Bridge.

They were the bizarre passageways between Earth and other worlds that had been formed over two decades ago. A Bridge had brought the Sahvorem and their otherworldly powers of Manipulation, and there was no doubt in Reed’s mind that a Bridge was connected with the yellow-eyed man in the train from all those years ago.

He had never told a soul what had happened to him. When he first woke up in that library Reed was inclined to believe that it had all been a bad dream, but after being confronted with the news of hundreds of people on and surrounding a train dying horribly and without reason, it became hard to dismiss it all as a mere nightmare. His fear towards things alien in nature had grown to such a point that he uprooted his entire life to move to West Virginia, far away from the workings and impacts of such things.

Even spending so little as a weekend in this close of proximity to a Bridge, Reed could feel the terror starting to claw its way to the forefront of his mind. He needed to get away from here.

“Are you Mr. Vayne?” A voice came from the road beside him causing Reed to startle. He had been so absorbed in his thoughts he hadn’t noticed the brown sedan pulling up on the side of the road next to him.

“That would be me.” He said, climbing into the backseat of the car and confirming his destination with the driver.

As the vehicle set off on its five-hour trip Reed put his earphones in and stared out the window, taking in the passing scenery of the city at night. As the sights of the metropolis began to grow sparse, gradually being replaced with the monotony of the highway, Reed felt himself drifting as the boredom swelled until at last he drifted off to sleep.

He awoke to the sound of a horrifyingly grotesque screech, reminiscent of the howl of a dying man, yet choked and twisted in a manner he had never heard. Looking around Reed found himself on a stone path, ahead of him sat a massive gate with bars made of a dull white material and equally large stone walls extending from either side. Turning around he was met with a sight that caused his eyes to widen and feet to take several frantic steps back. Before him lay a sprawling city of stone, illuminated by an orangish-red glow that enveloped the sky and had haunted his dreams for the past seven years.

Towering archways, enormous buildings, and spiraling towers littered his view. In a way it was beautiful, yet at a mere glance one could tell that such a place was unnatural. It set Reed on edge like nothing ever had. He turned back around and rushed for the gate, grabbing a hold of the bars stretching across it vertically. At a touch Reed was able to tell without a doubt, the material was some sort of bone. Wrenching with all his might Reed tried to pull the gate open and when that didn’t work he pushed, all to no avail. He turned around to search for other methods of escape and locked eyes with… something.

It looked as if it might have once been something that resembled a man, but had its features bent and twisted in the creation of some form of abhorrent monstrosity. Its skin was gray and with tufts of matted wiry hair scattered all over. Its legs were abnormally long and the arms even more so, although the latter bent around either side of its back melding into one long appendage that trailed behind it as the thing stalked forward.

Seeing that Reed had noticed it the creature began to pick up its pace, to which he frantically spun around and began anew his efforts at opening the gate like a man possessed. He didn’t have long to struggle in vain, however, as he felt pain blossom from his back and a strange amalgamation of hands emerged from the front of his torso. For several moments Reed experienced the sensation of what it felt like to be torn apart before the sweet mercy of death came.

Reed woke with a yell and frantic scrambling only to find himself again in the backseat of the brown sedan, driving along the highway.