Dare To Know

On a cold rainy night as thunder roared and lightning flashed, I was awakened from my slumber not because of the storm outside.

My internal chaos in the form of a reoccurring nightmare forced a bold and strong 23-year-old man like me to wake up in an all-sweaty frenzy feeling very disoriented. I rose from my bed and went to my balcony to drench myself in the unforgiving rain hoping it would cool down the heat of my inner turmoil.

The name is Daniel Forge, and you wouldn't believe how messed up my life was. From a distance, it looked like I was successful and had it all. I was the youngest and most successful detective in my city. I solved cases with almost zero clues like a real-life Sherlock Holmes with a supernatural upgrade.

Being the best was supposed to make me feel better, right? How could the best live knowing full well that there was still one unsolved mystery? That mystery was my greatest tragedy. It was the first crime I witnessed, the reason I became a detective in the first place.

Let me tell you about this mysterious case causing my recurring nightmares and why I personally had such a special interest in it. On a cold stormy night like this, my ten-year-old self and my mom, who was called Magdalene Forge, were at our old cozy home somewhere in the suburbs.

I was having a severe fever which seemingly made my skin so hot that wet blankets used to cool me down had steam rushing out of them. I still try to believe that it was probably an illusion I was seeing due to the fever. I was also babbling on about something I don't quite remember.

I was in a daze, and my obviously worried mom made a phone call. After that phone call, her facial expression suddenly turned grave. She did her best to hide her panic as she began to dress me up while saying that we had to immediately get as far from our house as possible.

I was carried into her car, and the drive began. We were moving at top speeds, which caused me to even question what we were running from in the middle of a serious weather storm. We finally got to the highway when the car came to a screeching halt. I looked to see a shadowy figure outside standing right in front of the road and blocking our path.

My mom tried to start the car so that we could turn around, but the car failed to start. The vague figure looking like a man wearing an all-black coat and a hat. My mom grabbed me, and we got out of the car. She told me to muster all the strength I could as we tried to flee from the being approaching us. I tried my best, but in my weak and sickly state, running in the rain was harder than usual.

The man who was supposed to be behind us suddenly appeared before us. My mom covered my eyes with her hands as she screamed, "Dan, close your eyes! No matter what, don't look." I did as she said without a second thought, and I felt her hands leave my face as she put me behind her, making herself the only barrier between me and the creepy man. All I could do now was hear my mom exchanging words with the mysterious entity.

I only heard a bunch of mumbo jumbo, but the little I understood left me baffled to this day. The strange man wanted my mom to hand me over to him. He called me a potential abomination that he had to contain. I heard my mom trying to convince him to change his mind; she begged him to leave me alone, but then I heard the sound of a gunshot from behind me.

I opened my eyes to see that my mom was okay, but the strange being seemed to have been hit. The shooter was my former babysitter, called Deli, and it seemed that she came to save me and my mom.

Everything after that happened in a flash. The man let out a scream, but not out of pain. No, this scream seemed to pull me towards him. Deli held onto me as my mom yelled, "Get him out of here."

I refused to be separated from my mom as I struggled to break free of Deli's gentle but firm iron grip. The mysterious being's face seemed to start fading as his mouth enlarged as he opened it wider. It felt like my very soul was about to be yanked out of my body as I strangely could not look away from the being's terrifying transformation.

Just when I began to feel numb with my mind slowly shutting down, my mom lunged at the freaky figure, blocking our eye contact. The being retaliated by letting out a larger scream.

The being's ear-piercing scream triggered a sonic boom that sent me and Deli flying across the highway. But before we could crash, a new figure emerged, grasping us with incredible strength and setting us back on solid ground.

He barked orders at Deli, "Take the child; I'll handle this." Deli obeyed without hesitation, clearly intimidated by his commanding voice and authoritative aura.

As I watched, the new mystery man charged towards the being who held my unconscious mom.

Deli whisked me away to my mom's car before I could see what happened next, .

I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Take me back to Mommy! Take me back!!" But Deli's resolve was unshakeable; she wouldn't yield to my pleas.

We only left the car when we spotted the man who saved us, cradling my mom in his arms. I rushed towards him, but Deli caught up and grabbed me just short of reaching him. The man with an icy gaze said, "Deli, take the boy far away from here. Make sure he doesn't follow me." I shouted, "Where are you taking my mom?" but he vanished into thin air, leaving me with only questions.

Deli released me, and I collapsed to my knees, unsure if I was trapped in a lucid dream. I asked the only question that mattered, "Where is he taking my mom?" Deli reassured me, "He's taking her to the hospital. Don't worry; they'll be back before you know it."

Looking back, I couldn't believe I fell for her words. A strange man disappeared with my mom, and I naively expected him to return with her.

Thirteen years later, I was still searching for that man, consumed by a single question: "What the hell did he do to my mom!!?"