It happened on a Friday night in the month of October. Oddly enough, it was the week before Halloween. The weather had been cool and breezy, stirring and scattering the piles of leaves we'd managed to rake just the day before. My roommate Elentari..who also happened to be my best friend in the world..had only arrived home about an hour beforehand. I'd been home from work that day with a migraine and I sat in the living room staring blankly at some bland sitcom on TV. It wasn't as if I needed much reason to stay home from *that* job, I hated it with a passion and kept telling myself it was time to move on. So far though, I hadn't had time to begin my search for another job, and I was restless, trying to hold on day after day. Elentari had come in, looking as if she'd had a truly horrible day, and she plopped down on the couch beside me with a sigh. We'd ordered in Chinese since neither of us felt up to cooking anything, and settled in to watch TV and chat for awhile.
Both of us were attractive, in our mid 20s, and divorced. We had been fast friends since the day we met, and both of us vowed if something were to ever happen with our marriages, we would move in together. I had never regretted it. The two of us were so much alike it was scary, and we often joked about being twins in a previous life. Elentari was 26 years old and 5'6", with long dark brown hair and brown eyes. I was 24, with hip-length dark auburn hair and golden brown eyes. Both of us were soft, curvy and feminine with a love for Metal and Alternative music and reading.
The night had progressed uneventfully, with the two of us just enjoying each others' company when the strangest thing happened. The lights in the living room began to flicker, fading until they were almost out before springing back to life as if nothing had occured. We looked at each other with sort of shocked expressions and laughed nervously.
"Well, *that's* weird." I giggled. "I wonder if there's a storm coming?" Elentari rose from the couch and moved to the bay window in front of our home, peering outside. "The sky seems to be clear. How odd." She shrugged and returned to sit to the left of me on the couch.
We sat there awhile longer, talking as we watched TV. We discussed the upcoming WWF Pay-Per-View that we both wanted to watch. Both of us loved wrestling, and most especially the Undertaker and his brother Kane. We discussed the present angle and contemplated on where the storyline was headed when the lights began to flicker and fade again.
"Maybe I should check the circuit breaker." I said, hauling myself up off the couch to head to the laundry room. Just as I got to my feet, the lights flickered once more and went out altogether. "Shit!" I said as I hit my toe on the coffee table. "What the heck is wrong with this stupid power?" Before Elentari had time to answer, there appeared before us a strange, glowing purple mist that seemed to swirl about our feet lazily before rising to the center of the room. I felt around for the couch, eyes wide as I watched. I managed to get seated again and felt my heart start beating wildly in my chest.
"What the hell is that?!" Elentari screamed. I pulled my legs up under me as I stared at the strange mist that seemed to grow with each second that passed. "I don't know, but I'm not moving from this spot." My voice was shaky and frightened as we both watched. Soon the mist began to solidify until it formed the shape of a man. A very tall, very handsome man with long dark hair and vibrant green eyes that seemed to burn from within. It was strange that we were able to see him so well when everything around us was in pitch black, but at the time we were too scared to even notice. We watched in awe as the mist took on it's final form..a form we knew all too well.
"Oh, this can't be happening..It just can't be.." Elentari's voice was almost a wail, and I felt exactly the way she did. "It's...it's..." was all I could manage. I grabbed for her arm in the dark, as if holding onto her would help to save me from whatever was about to happen to us. The Man stared at us with arms crossed for a long moment, his body still outlined in that neon purple.
"Elentari...Storm...my dearest Chosen. It is time." His voice sounded far away, almost echo-like, yet there was no mistaking that deep, sexy drawl. We'd been hearing that voice every week for many, many years..yet here he was..sort of..in our living room. It just wasn't possible.
"You're not real. This has got to be a dream.." I said more to myself than to him, trying to convince my brain that I wasn't seeing what I thought I was seeing. "But you..you.." Elentari started. It seemed neither of us knew quite how to react to this unbelievable occurence, and no wonder. The Undertaker wasn't real! He was simply a character played by Mark Calaway from Houston, Texas. Or was he? I began to doubt my sanity seriously.
Taker chuckled before speaking, his mouth quirking into a wry smile as his eyes of green fire burned into us. "Oh, I am very, very real..dear one..as you shall soon find out. You both must come to me right away..My future depends on this. You are needed.."
"Needed? For what?" I asked, not believing that I was actually speaking to this obvious hallucination. I knew I was off my rocker then. Elentari looked at me a little shocked, but she turned to look at the handsome Man and waited for his response.
His face became serious then, a look of grim determination crossing his gorgeous features. "The circle, Storm. The Circle of the Chosen. You will learn more in time. Come to me tonight..before it's too late. You will know the way.."
Both of us sat dumbfounded as the purple light began to dim along with the image of the Lord of Darkness. When he had completely faded from view, the lights and power flicked back on as if nothing had happened, the friday-night sitcom still droning on the background...
Five minutes must have passed before either of us spoke again.. "What are we going to do?" Elentari asked suddenly, turning to face me. I tried to drag myself out of the deep pool of disbelief and shock as I answered her. "I...don't know...You actually saw that, right?" She nodded. "He was there, alright. Don't ask me how, but he was definitely there." I ran my hands through my hair, trying to make sense of it all. "Okay. Well, he said we would know the way.." I couldn't believe what was coming out of my mouth, but for some reason, I couldn't stop it. I would realize later that I was already under the spell of the Undertaker. This was his way of ensuring that we arrived as he requested.
Without another word, the two of us went upstairs to our rooms and packed up all our clothes and other personal items, not even stopping to consider if what we were doing was right as we walked to Elentari's car, bags in hand. We threw our things into the trunk and got into the car, heading out to where..we didn't yet know.. Once on the road, we remained silent, seemingly entranced. Elentari drove and drove, stopping only long enough to fill up the tank with gas. Still we drove on, until finally we turned down a small, two lane road dotted with fields and large stretches of woods on each side. Seven hours after we left our home, we were turning into a long, narrow, widing driveway that sloped upwards toward a huge white Mansion which sat far back off the road on a wide lawn. In the center of the yard was a fountain which bore a statue of the Man we'd seen in a pose with his arms stretched towards the sky, the way he did when he came to the ring on RAW and "turned up the lights".
Elentari pulled up to the front of the Mansion in the circular drive and parked the car, both of us just gawking at the ominous structure which stood before us. This was when we seemed to "snap out of" our trance. I shook my head confusedly and looked at Elentari. "How did we get here?" She looked at me with an expression which mirrored my own and said "I have no idea. I just drove. It was like I was on autopilot or something." We opened our doors and got out, still staring at the Mansion. Elentari unlocked the trunk and we took our bags out, dragging them with us up the walk to the huge front door. There was a large silver knocker in the center of the door with some kind of gothic cross etched into it, and I knocked, waiting..
About 30 seconds passed before the door creaked open and there before us was the Man we'd seen..Undertaker..He towered over us at 7 feet tall and 330 lbs. I found myself looking up and up until I met his green gaze. He regarded both of us with an appreciative stare and the beginnings of a smile before he opened the door wide. "Come in, my Ladies. I've been waiting for you.."
Part 2: Finally by Elentari.
Storm and I glanced at each other uncertainly before entering. I really wasn't sure if this was such a good idea. I mean, who was this guy? How did we get here? What was going on? The strikingly handsome man laughed a deep, rich laugh and said, "You certainly do have a lot of questions." I felt my mouth drop as my eyes widened. Surely he wasn't talking to *me*? I looked at Storm, and Storm looked at me. We both looked bewildered. Again, he laughed, but then he turned his head towards the stairs and shouted, "Kane! Our guests have arrived! Could you come down?" Storm and I had our eyes riveted to the staircase just wondering what would happen next. It was all so bizarre. We gasped simultaneously when we saw an extremely tall, really gorgeous man with shoulder-length wavy, brown hair and hazel eyes. He was very muscular, but something about him made him look slightly sad. Or that could've just been my imagination. Who knows? This was all so weird. After the man known as Kane joined us, the first man said, "The two of you have questions, and we want to answer those questions. Please. Let's all go into a more comfortable room." He led us into a large study. It was almost like a library it was so huge. It had shelves and shelves of books, a large desk in one corner, but he led us to a huge round oak table that had large black leather overstuffed rocking chairs that rolled. Storm and I sat right next to each other. The first man continued while Kane sat and seemed to listen almost as intently as we were. "I am, indeed, The Undertaker, The Dark Lord, or The Lord of Darkness, whichever title you prefer, and this" here he pointed at Kane, "is truly my brother Kane. He is my true brother. Although that is a complicated story which I'll explain in a moment, but, for now, just know that all the things you've heard or read about my character or my supposed real life are just not true. They're all a cover for my true self. I've *had* to make all those things up so people wouldn't become suspicious of me, but it's all a *lie*!" Here he stopped again and looked from Storm to me to see if we both understood and were listening. When he was satisfied that we were, he continued, "Now, as for my brother Kane. It's true that at first we thought we were only half brothers, but I came into evidence, through a lot of investigation on my part, I might add, that we are truly brothers. Paul Bearer faked the DNA evidence. He actually had another son by a woman, who was most definitely *not* *our* mother, and my mother knew of this child and being the kind-hearted person she was, she allowed Bearer to have the child at our house anytime he wished as long as we weren't there. That's why we never knew about the other child, but for some unfortunate reason Bearer had the child visit on the fateful day of the fire, and yes, there really was a fire, but Bearer's child was the child who died that day, not my brother Kane. Instead, Bearer kidnapped Kane, lied to him about being disfigured, made him wear that damned mask for 20 years, abused him physically and emotionally, and brainwashed him against *me*, his true brother, and only family, and lied about being his father all these years. Bearer probably blamed me for the death of his son, but it wasn't me who set the fire, it was him. He did it out of hatred for our family, and he still holds that hate against me, but luckily I was able to find this out, even though, it's only been very recently, and bring Kane back to me and get him away from that malignant evil." During the latter part of his discourse, he had become quite passionate, and I was wondering if he was insane. I glanced at Storm, and she glanced at me, and we knew each other well enough to know that we were both thinking the same thing. I also happened to look at Kane when 'The Dark Lord' was discussing him, and I saw that same sadness I had seen earlier, only now, it was much more evident. This made me uncertain. Maybe this was true. "Stranger things".. and all that. Who knows? Kane looked up then and spoke, "Everything my brother has said *is* true. You two are the first of The Chosen Ones. *Our* Chosen Ones. We both need you. Will you stay here with us? The Circle can't be formed without the two of you. What's your answer?" He was so sweet and so compelling. I'm not sure how any woman could refuse a man like him. Like either man. But need us? Need us for what? Then 'The Dark Lord' spoke again, "We need you to help us in our mission against Bearer, but there are so many other things, also. So many things will become clear to you as time passes. We *do* both need you. Will you join us?" Again he looked from Storm to me, back and forth. Looking into those green eyes was almost... mesmerizing, but then he said, "No! You have free will! It's your decision!" Storm and I looked at each other, and then the strangest thing happened, even though we always said we could read each other's minds, we never *really* could, but I 'heard' her say ~I'd like to stay. What do you think?~, and I thought that I'd like to stay, too. These two men were very interesting, and no matter what, I'd be with Storm, so we might as well see what the Circle was, who the Chosen were, who these men were, and what was going on. When I looked into her eyes, I could see that she had 'heard' what I had been thinking. Again, we looked baffled. The Undertaker laughed that deep, rich laugh, and said, "That's just one of the newfound things you'll soon discover while you're here." At that, Kane smiled, tilting his head a little, and said, "I'm happy you've decided to stay." The Undertaker then took us to our new bedrooms.
The Dark Lord along with Kane escorted the two of us up the long, winding staircase to the second floor of the huge Mansion. Elentari and I looked around us curiously as they led the way, drinking in the elegance and class of the decor. The home was done in mostly Victorian style, and there was an abundance of black, silver, deep purples and mauve. The staircase which we climbed was lined with wrought iron. Upon reaching the top of the steps, the Undertaker paused before turning to the left of the long, wide hallway. They led us to the end of the hall and stopped. There were two doors there, side by side. Taker opened first one door, then the other. "These will be your bedrooms. They are identical in every way. There is a bathroom in each, and each of you will have a private balcony, as do all the rooms in the Mansion. Kane's room is right next to the two of you, and my chambers are downstairs next to my study, if you ever need to find me." The Lord of Darkness stepped back and allowed us to move past. I entered the door on the right and carefully set my suitcases down as I looked around the elegant room. In the center of the room there was a huge canopied bed lined with purple satin. The sheets were also purple satin, and the curtains that covered the two large windows in the room were black. One of the windows had a window seat, something I'd always wanted to have. There was also a large black bureau with silver trim, and two black nightstands on either side of the bed, one of them held a nice purple-based lamp. My eyes wandered to the closet, and I noticed that it stood open but empty. The door was actually two, and it opened outward. I noticed that the closet was a walk-in and even had it's own light. There were two rows and a large compartmented shelf in the center.
Completing the visual inspection of my new home, I turned back to face the door and noticed that Kane was standing in the doorway studying me. My face flushed as my eyes met his. I hadn't really realized I was being watched. He stood with his arms above his head, hands resting on the top of the doorframe, and his head tilted slightly to the right. I was still a little taken aback by his appearance. I'd never seen him without the mask he wore on television, and it was quite startling to say the least. My eyes roamed over his massive chest and up to his densely muscled arms, which were clearly on view in the short sleeved black tshirt he was wearing. I managed a smile, but my heart skipped a beat or two. I could feel my shyness setting in and it suddenly occured to me that I would be *living* with these two gorgeous men. I had no idea how on earth I would be able to converse with them on a daily basis. It took me forever to open up to anyone, except Elentari. She was truly a special person, and I knew that from the moment I met her. I took some comfort in knowing that she would be here with me. Perhaps we could get through it together, as I knew that she was as shy as I.
I turned away from Kane, busying myself with unlocking my suitcase. Anything to keep me busy. I wondered where the Dark Lord and Elentari were, but then I heard the muffled strains of voices from the next room. I guess that answered that question. I swallowed hard, trying to keep my composure and quickly becoming anxious. My chest tightened and I found myself gasping for air. Oh great. Perfect time for a panic attack. I tried to keep it under control, so as not to alarm our host. I thought I would go mad if he didn't soon say something or at least move from that spot. Perhaps he was as shy as myself?
"Are you alright?" I whirled around to face Kane, relief settling over my features. "Umm, yes. I'm fine" I managed to squeak out. It occured to me that I sounded almost like I was being strangled, so that probably shot my credibility all to hell. Kane merely smiled at me warmly, as if he could see right through me, which he probably could. We'd only arrived here less than an hour ago and already El and I were able to communicate telepathically, so there was no telling what else would happen around this place.
~~Storm. Everything going okay in there?~~ It was Elentari's voice in my head, thank goodness. I relaxed at the sound of her voice. She always had that effect on me, and I was grateful for it. ~~Yes, fine. I'm just trying to figure out how to talk to Kane.~~ I heard the sound of her laughter in my mind.
~~Well, think fast. The Lord of Darkness is on his way over there next!~~ My heart started pounding harder in my chest. I wondered what on Earth I would say to *him*. He was so intimidating, his aura was one of intensity and power, and the sheer size of him was enough to make anyone cower in fear. ~~Gee thanks. As if I wasn't nervous enough.~~ I sent back. She laughed once more, and our communication was broken. It was as if someone had flipped an off switch. What a strange sensation. It would take me quite awhile to get used to all this. Kane was studying me even more intently now, and for the first time I noticed that he'd moved into the room was standing almost directly to my right. I jumped slightly at the realization, causing him to laugh. It was a deep, friendly laugh that made me giggle with it's infectiousness. "I'm sorry. You just startled me a little" "I didn't mean to. I was just noticing the necklace that you're wearing." I looked down at the silver chain with the black pentacle. I'd completely forgotten I was wearing it. "Oh, that. It's just something I wear for protection.." Kane nodded, reaching out to lift the necklace from my chest.
"How are things going in here? Are you getting settled okay?" It was the Undertaker's voice. The two of us turned to look at the striking man now standing in the doorway. Kane dropped the necklace and moved to his brother. "We were just talking a little" I gestured to Kane. Taker nodded his head thoughtfully. "Well, I'd like to speak with you also, if you wouldn't mind?" He was so polite. It totally caught me off guard. "Umm, sure. Okay." Kane turned to look at me one last time, then squeezed past his brother without a word. I could see that he was heading to Elentari's room. Taker moved into the room then, shutting the door behind him. I felt my pulse quicken as I watched him. He turned back to me and strode purposefully over to my new bed, sitting on the edge and motioning for me to do the same. "Now, I need to talk with you about a couple of things..."
