“Hi Ashley. I am terribly sorry, but I just read what you wrote. I promise I didn’t mean to. I really didn’t have a choice.

“I know exactly how you feel. You have to put on a facade to hide what it is that you truly are, because you believe that it is shameful, or at the very least everyone else does. It’s a horrid existence. I knew it once, for all too long.

“I think that perhaps I can help you. I can tell you’re the type of girl who has a vision. Who wants to make an impact. If you follow my advice, you can do much more than you ever imagined was possible.” Then, after I read it, the text fades, leaving the page blank once again.

Well. How do you respond to that?

Let’s start with a recap. So, I write my deepest trouble into this dusty old journal that was inexplicably sitting around in my closet. My writing disappears, and now disembodied text is telling me that it wants to… what? Give me therapy? Get me to do its bidding?

I do not have too much unusual supernatural experience. I’m a Christian, so obviously I believe in the supernatural, but… not THIS kind of supernatural.

My first inclination is not to trust this. This is some type of spirit trying to fuck with me, or worse. If it needs a vessel like this to talk to me, there’s no way that the nature of this thing is benevolent. On that note, I have already told this thing way too much. I should not give it any more personal information.

Further, I wonder if I shouldn’t just destroy this book right now. Then again, with no basilisk fangs lying at my ready, who knows if an object such as this even could be destroyed.

Ultimately, I decide to try and question it.

“Who or what are you?” I write.

The words fade and, on the page appears this:

“If we’re going to do this, you need to trust me. Check your phone.”

And what is there to do but check my phone?

And that’s when I see it. A new app has appeared, a jarring black and red icon that resembles an eye.

And that’s the moment that I decide I’ve had enough.

I shut the book and, to be on the safe side, throw it across the room. I then go to delete the red icon…

But when my finger touches it, I get a dizzy feeling and the world itself seems to shimmer. And when it focuses again, I find myself somewhere I’ve never seen before in my life.

Well, actually that’s not completely true. The place I end up in looks exactly like my room; same dimensions, same furniture, etcetera. Except for the tiny detail that everything, the walls and every piece of furniture, is dark and untextured, and the only light comes from glowing red and purple veins that run across everything.

I jolt to my feet, my brain charging to try and make sense of everything that has happened, emotions crashing into me like tidal waves. Confusion, anger, and worry setting in.

And though I hate to admit it, there is one emotion I feel more strongly that all of the others: Fear.

Where am I now? Am I in the same place, but my vision is distorted? Am I in a parallel world? Is this all an illusion? Am I just developing schizophrenia? (Probably not the last one.)

I look to the other side of the room, where… the book is gone. Well, that’s just peachy.

I get my phone back out, but I’m not able to unlock it. That damn thing must not want me to leave just yet.

I take off from my room and down the hall. Passing the bathroom, I notice that the toilet looks just as weird as everything else. If I have to pee while I’m in here, I’m not sure what I’m going to do.

I head to my parents’ bedroom. As I pass through the living room, I feel a strong presence coming from their room. I can’t describe why I feel this way, it’s like… my body is anticipating something. Or someone.

However, when I walk into their room, there is nobody there. Interestingly, there is a red aura lighting the room, as if there’s some giant lamp I can’t see hanging overhead.

I wonder what my parents would think if they could see me now. Would they be angry? Concerned? Either way, they probably would not give me a free pass to mess around with this supernatural stuff to my heart’s content (if that’s even what this is.) I decide that I probably should not tell them about this unless I have to. Another secret to add to the list.

My next stop is the front yard. If the inside of the house looks this fucking bizarre, I can only imagine what it looks like outside.

The outside does not disappoint. Everything else looks just like the inside of my house. The sky is pitch black, with not so much as a star or the moon to light it. In the distance, dark fog obscures the horizon. No sign of any other life anywhere. Just me.

And then… my cell phone rings. I pick it up. Unknown caller, no number. Well, not answering that.

The unknown number immediately calls back. I hang up again. This happens about three or four times in a row, and then I start to get seriously unnerved by it.

So, I can’t use my phone in this weird place, but I can still receive calls? I think this may be the same being that was talking to me through that journal. Well, maybe I should answer, then. I’ll give the bitch a piece of my mind for violating my privacy.

“Hello there, Ashley!” Says a woman’s voice on the other end.

“I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong number,” I say. “I don’t know who you are. Please don’t call this number again. Bye.”

I hang up. I don’t even have time to think for a second about what I’m going to do next before it rings yet again. Guess that didn’t work.

“Hello there, Ashley!” The woman says again, as if the last call hadn’t happened.

“Who are you?” I ask sternly.

“My name is Lucy,” she says.

“Are you the bitch who read my journal?” I ask her aggressively. “Because I think I made myself perfectly clear that was supposed to be PRIVATE. If you tell a single soul what you read in there, I will find out where you live and tear out your lungs with my bare hands.”

“Wow… don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

“You better fucking not. And you should really ask people before you… uh… do whatever it is that you did.”

“So assertive. I think that we’re going to get along very well, Ashley. I’m taking a liking to you already. You’ll be perfect for what I have in mind.”

“And just what is that?”

“Well… we’ll discuss it as we go. First things first, I want you to head to whatever church you attend. If you’re not a churchgoer, just go to whichever one is closest to you.”

“Why?”

“I’ll explain when you get there.” She hangs up.

Wow, what the fuck. That literally didn’t explain anything. Is there any way I can call her back? Huh. Looks like I actually can, surprisingly.

“Ashley? What’s up?” She asks.

“Yeah, can I have a moment of your time? I have a quick question,” I say in a fake polite voice.

“Sure.”

“What the hell is this??? Where the hell am I??? Am I even still alive? Why does everything look weird? Where are my parents? Who the hell are you? What…” That’s it. Just “What.” That pretty much says it all.

“Okay, I’ll give you the rundown. Sorry about that,” She says. “You’re in a world that’s parallel to your world. For the time being, it should be mostly empty. You won’t see anyone else in your town walking around. Actually, if you did, that would be a huge problem… Any more questions?”

“Uh, yeah, just one more teensy thing. Why should I trust a single thing you say or do a single thing you tell me to?”

I hear her giggle from the other end, which annoys me. “Well… do you want to have the power to change the world or not?”

This makes me pause for a moment, admittedly. I’ve generally given up on trying to “change the world” and instead have been focusing on survival. But… if given the chance, there are definitely some changes I’d like to make.

“Lucy, are you a demon?” I ask.

“No. I’m a human, just like you.”

“Okay, that’s almost worse, honestly,” I tell her.

“Why? Are you misanthropic?”

“Kinda.”

“Well, that’s a common belief among people that the rest of the world has forgotten about. It is rather discouraging, just watching other people destroy each other for no good reason. But… Ashley, do you still believe? That good will triumph in the end?”

“Define ‘good,’” I answer.

“Hmm. Smart girl. Okay, I’ll tell you what. Head to your church like I asked you, and we’ll talk more when you get there.” She hangs up.

Well… that at least explains a couple of things. It doesn’t change the fact that this whole thing is utterly insane. A parallel world? Of all the theories I rapidly came up with, that was the one I considered the most unlikely. And the fact that I don’t even know the nature of this world is worrying. Lucy seems to want me to help “change the world” so that “good will triumph,” but that language is so vague that it borders on emotional manipulation.

Still, I can’t go back to my world for now, and I don’t have any other leads on what to do. I guess I'll go back to church for today to hear her out. Then, I’ll be able to judge for myself whether this is really something I should be involved with, or just a siren song for the foolish.

It’s a pretty decent walk to get there, about 20 minutes. But I guess I’m in good enough shape thanks to marching band that I’m able to go the whole way without getting tired… in fact, the walk doesn’t make me feel any sort of fatigue at all.

The church is in the middle of a residential area, surrounded by small houses. It’s not quite a mega-church, but it’s still pretty big, probably the largest one in town other than the Catholic church.

I walk up to the sign in front of the building. Normally, the words “First Baptist Church” are printed there, but now it’s blank, only covered by one particularly large vein that goes straight over the top. Very helpful.

I enter through one of the side doors. Inside the building, the veins become thicker and more plentiful, sprawling around in every direction across it. And there’s a very faint crimson-colored tint to the place. Like the black fog outside, it becomes more noticeable the further I look into the distance. I go through the wooden doors to the right to get to the sanctuary.

The sanctuary’s pretty decently sized, a stage in the front to my left, rows upon rows of pews, including a balcony in the back. Right behind the stage is an enormous stained-glass window. There is no design on it; however, it seems to have a strange quality; it’s black like oil, but also strangely shiny.

Now that I’m here, I call Lucy back. “I’m here. You better start explaining yourself,” I say.

“Good. Are you in the sanctuary?”

“Yep.”

“Do you see anything unusual there?”

“This whole place is unusual. That said… there is something weird about the stained-glass window in the front.”

“There’s a reason for that. That’s what I call a ‘seal.’ If you break it open, you will gain the potential to have tremendous power.”

“And what would I do with that power, hmm?” I ask, reminding her of her promise from earlier.

“Right. Let’s discuss that. The world you’re in is known as ‘The Metaverse’. Specific actions taken in here can affect the normal world, and I think that you may be strong enough to change the trajectory of society as a whole.

“Wait, change the trajectory of society as a whole?” I question her. “Wow, when you said ‘change the world,’ you really meant it literally?”

“Yes, I certainly did. You see, Ashley, our nation is sick, and people like you and I are like white blood cells.”

“But what exactly is your moral compass?” I question her. “What exactly would we change?”

“Well, for one, since we are among the very few in the world who are able to access such powers, it’s our responsibility to deal with people who act out of malicious self-interest.”

“I see,” I say “Can you give an example of what you count as ‘malicious self-interest’?”

“Quite the skeptic, are you? Well, that’s good, honestly. Examples would include: teachers who abuse their students, people who engage in other types of child exploitation, crime bosses, CEOs of major companies who treat their workers like dirt, legal system workers who try to subvert the judicial process, and national leaders with autocratic tendencies who engage in shady business to gain or hold on to power. That should give you a general idea of what kind of people we’re talking about here.”

“Hmm. Okay, that seems to check out,” I say. “I agree that each of those hypothetical people are bad. However, there are a fair number of unscrupulous people like that in the world, so we’d have to take down a lot of them to really change the overall course of society.”

“Well, that brings me to my next point. I have reason to believe that there is a demonic entity that has taken root in your region of the country,” Lucy explains. “The goal of this entity is unclear, as are its motives; this kind of stuff is a rather fuzzy science. However, there’s one thing I know for sure: this entity can and will create more of these people by directly distorting their desires.”

“Hmm. That’s concerning,” I say. “So you want me to go kill it for you?”

“It won’t be that simple, I’m afraid. The only way to find this being is to take down a large number of people whom it has had direct influence over.”

“Okay… killing evil demon things is one thing. Leaving a bloody trail of people I don’t like, on the other hand, sounds like something I’d rather avoid. I’m not that misanthropic.”

“You don’t have to murder them. The Metaverse allows you to force them to have a change of heart.”

“Hmm. Now that’s very interesting.”

“Intrigued? Well, the first step to all of that is to break open the seal.”

I look back at the stained glass. I have to mull it all over for a little bit. On one hand, she makes a pretty good case. The more I listen to her talk, it seems as if she is definitely out to have a genuine positive impact on the world. That said, this situation calls for some level of caution. Literally just an hour ago, I had no idea any of this existed. I still don’t understand it very well. It’d be hasty to commit myself to anything without more details.

“I’ll think about it,” I say. “For the time being, what exactly is going to happen if I touch that seal?”

“It’ll give you an opportunity to awaken your Persona,” she says. “Your Persona is your true self, the side of you that you keep hidden from the rest of the world.”

“Really? How exactly is that going to help me?”

“Well, awakening it will grant you a great amount of power while you’re in the Metaverse.”

“But not in the real world?”

“Correct. There are certainly links between the two- I mean, it is the ‘Meta’ verse, after all- but your powers will only be active while you’re here.”

“And what exactly are these powers?”

“Your Persona will stand with you while you fight, allowing you to perform magic attacks. Personas can be strengthened through battling, so think of it as being like in a video game, where you have to get experience points to learn new skills. In addition to the Persona itself, you will be granted a spangly new outfit and some sort of physical weapon. Some enemies go down more quickly the old-fashioned way.”

I get a brief mental image of myself with war stripes on my face, brandishing an AR-15 while a wispy version of myself stands behind me.

“Hmm. Okay, then. I guess it doesn’t hurt to try it,” I say.

“Excellent. Let me know if you are able to awaken it,” she says. She hangs up.

I look at the stained glass once again. She didn’t really explain how I’m supposed to “break it,” but I’ve had enough talking for now. I’ll figure it out myself. I walk straight up to it and reach out with my hand.

Before I can even really touch anything, I am rewarded by being blinded by a bright light, as well as the ear-splittingly loud sound of breaking glass. It takes me some time to come to. And when I do, I turn around and survey the sanctuary to find six creatures circling around the stage like a pack.

They resemble coyotes, but they have blood red fur, and their legs and paws are made up of a strange, angular pattern.

They look pretty hungry… I start feeling my body up and down, but I don’t feel any different, nor do I have any weapons. Damn it, was this all a ruse to get me killed? It was stupid of me to trust someone I just met.

I look to my left or right, and I don’t see any easy way of escaping. I guess this is the end, then. I always pictured my death happening under more… ordinary circumstances. And, you know, later. But at least the last few minutes of my life were interesting, I guess. It’s probably better this way, if I’m being truly honest with myself.

Then, I get a strange feeling… I hear a voice in my head. Not my own, but a man’s voice…

So this is it? You’ve hid from the world in fear for years now, and now you’re just going to accept your fate? What of the next person who has a story like yours? What will happen to them, because of what you left undone in your cowardice?

I’m not a coward! I think back indignantly. I’m not afraid of anything.

Then prove it. Prove to me that you have the resolve to do this. It’s time for our final stand.

I nod to myself. These odds may not be good. But if this is the end, I may as well go down swinging. I move to the front of the stage past the choir pews. I make a wide stance and draw my fists, as they’re basically all I have right now. And it's at this moment that I feel something change.

I’m in some sort of vertigo. I’m floating freely in space, surrounded by different shades of purple, pink and red, forming strange patterns like an old Windows screensaver.

Then, I see a man in front of me with flowing, shoulder length curly hair, two enormous wings, and a warrior’s garb.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“I am Saint Michael,” he says.

I blink in surprise. “Saint Michael… why have you come to me?”

“I am here to awaken the spirit of rebellion that resides within you,” He tells me sharply. “It is time for you to stop hiding from the world. Vow to me, and I will give you the power to do what you know you must.”

“Really? You want me for this?” I ask, taken aback by this. “That doesn’t seem right. But if that’s Your will, so be it.”

“Very well then. I will give you my power. With the help of the one I sent, you will be able to crush your enemies beneath your feet!”

My body convulses. I feel uncomfortably forced forward. It makes my arms tremble and knocks the breath out of my lungs. Without thinking, I reach up to my face, where a white mask has formed, which I promptly tear off. It hurts like hell, causing blood to pour out of the open wound, but I bear with a wince… Then, my whole body is engulfed in blue flames. When they burn out, I'm wearing a golden set of armor and brandishing a silver longsword. In the middle of my chest plate is a small indentation. And behind me, I could see the ghostly figure of St. Michael.