Inside the domain white solitude that belonged to William, sitting on clouds made of the purest air, Archard and William are relaxing. They’re watching Jack Samr on a giant projection made out of a thick glass plane. The young man’s still unconscious on the grassfield he’s laying on. William sips a cup of coffee, Archard does the same, and together, the two set their coffee mugs down on a small table between them. The two smacked their gums to enjoy the after taste and in unison, said “Ah!”

Archard stretched and yawned. “Finally! Sir William, you’ve finally begun the trail.”

William yawned too and smacked his gums again. “Indeed I have, sorry for making you and our audience wait.”

His partner abruptly turned to his master. “Uh… it’s just me. Who are you—?”

“Enough talk, my friend. Because this shall be a rather amusing show to witness, wouldn't you say so?”

Archard raises a brow but brings his attention back to the projection. “O-Okay, one thing though, Sir.”

William looked to his partner as he lay back, putting his arms behind his head. “Yes, what is it?”

“Why Norway of all places, and the date seems off.” Archard hunched forward, getting a better view of what he’s talking about. “The bottom of the screen says ‘June 5, 1992’. Is that correct, Sir.”

William grinned. “Yes, that’s correct my friend.” William clapped once, amused. “Because I’ve sent the poor sapling back in time, right before the first arson of a historic church building!”

Archard’s jaw drops and he blows up in excitement. “You-You actually—my goodness… that’s amazing Sir! But why, there, of all places?”

William chuckled, laying back on his chair and sighing. “Thus was a very hard year for our Norwegian friends if you can remember the dreadful events that took place throughout that year.” He grabbed his mug again and sipped. “Ahh, but I’ll let you answer that or watch what’s about to unfold since you seem to have forgotten my friend.”

Archard crossed his arms and laid back on his chair too. “Let me think let me think…” He grabbed his jaw, rubbing it, nodded, and then snapped his fingers. “I think I remember, the Infamous Norweign church burnings by stupid delquints because of their musical beliefs, correct?”

William clapped. “Very good, correct you are. As you wondered, why did I! send him back to that time and why! I made it his First! Trial.”

“Yes yes, as you said, the very first church that was burned down. And it happens tomorrow, the 6th of June.”

William nods. “It does, but before that happens, I need to test or perhaps, show the young man a nice lesson.”

“Hmm, a test you say? Well, whatever it is, I can’t wait to see how he screws this up. The boy’s not mentally right so, who knows what he has to overcome.”

William titled his head and wondered the same inside his own mind. The two friends stayed quiet for a moment, watching as Jack finally came to his senses, twitching his fingers and his eyelids trembling. William grinned and sipped more of his coffee, feeling amused on what might happen to him and how he’ll deal with the trial he created. Archard thought otherwise, he wondered what the trial’s going to test him on, so he looked to his master and tapped the table to get his attention.

“Yes, Archard?” William said as he sipped again.

“Sir, what type of testing is he going to endure throughout all these trials you’ve spoken about, more specifically, what would happen if he fails?”

“I got you my friend.” William set his coffee mug down and stood up. “I’m testing him on Destiny!” he said as he spread his arms out while grinning.

Archard raised a brow again. “What do you mean by Destiny?”

William sat back down and groaned in a relaxed tone. “Well, you’re about to find out my friend, but to put it in simpler terms, I’m seeing if he’ll accept the actions of the individuals and shall witness; if he’ll try to combat their actions. If he happens to interfere, well then it’s up to Father Time's rebuttals, meaning fate, to see if the world accepts Jack’s actions or retaliates against his precautions in a more uh, well horrid response, hopefully not.”

Archard grinned and applauded his master. “I see, that does seem like the perfect test to your trails sir.”

William wiggled his finger. “Now now, let's not get too ahead of ourselves my friend. This test is much more as I said, but the real trials shall commence when That happens.”

Archard tilts. “That?”

William nods in response. “Yes, That! As in that event that dreadful doctor hinted about and I’ll take upon myself as a man to own up to and say that science was correct in this manner but rather… don’t interfere with God’s natural doings with history.”

The two gentlemen snapped their fingers, grinned, pointed at each other and lay back on their chairs, turning their attention back to the glass screen. Sipping on their mugs of coffee, relaxing, the two patiently waited for Jack to come to his full senses. Sitting there for another two minutes, the young man finally awakens from his slumber and William can’t help but express a wide smile. His partner Arhcard too shared the same feeling, this was a life story worth watching and in William’s case, a story worth re-writing so Jack can learn his selfish mistakes.

“This is the start of your great cleansing… Jacqueline.” William said as his smile turned bigger.

Laying in the grass field, the cold clear air whistling over his body, a misty fog floating above him, opening an eye and groaning from the pain felt minutes ago, Jack rose up, laying his hand on his head. The layer of fog sweeping on his lap, opening both his eyelids, Jack coughed and took in a breath of air. When he did, he noticed the air felt much clearer, cleaner than the air felt being close to city life or crime drenched towns.

Strange, it feels like I just swallowed purity… Jack thought.

The young man’s staring at the light grey sky, clouds of darkened white flowing across. “Whe-Where am, I?” he muttered.

Jack felt the grass bristle against his body, and immediately questioned more of his location. In response, the young man jolts up and is shocked by what he’s seeing. It made his eyes pop, made his breathing frantic, he couldn’t believe his eyes. What he saw was endless mountains, valleys that had leftover snow from miles on end, but more notably, a glistening stream that flowed down the valley to a foggy lake.

“Where am I?!” Jack said, slowly standing to his feet. “What the hell is all this? Why’s this happening!” The young man clutched his head and again, scanned his surroundings.

What his eyes scanned first was a dirt trail with a wooden fence that led to a small remote town just down the valley. Looking back, he saw an old church made of wood at the top of the valley's peak. It gave him goosebumps just looking at the ancient building that overlooked the town, especially the thick fog that covered the bell tower. Jack started to shiver and felt his body temperature lower, and he saw his hot frantic breath constantly. It made the young man want to scream in madness when he was just with Sarah, almost beaten to death, but to suddenly be here out of nowhere; It made him feel enraged, but sick to his stomach. In fact the young man felt so sick he threw up and coughed violently.

“I’m so sick of these sup-supernatural occurrences, I swear!”

The young man threw up again and slammed his fist against his head. After emptying his feelings of anger, he wiped his mouth and glanced around again, trying to figure out his situation.

Feeling dumbfounded, and wasting time, Jack started to walk forward but towards the direction of the church. “Sick of this shit… I swear to fucking God!”

His sudden outbursts made local birds fly away. The young man hugged himself because his coat wasn’t thick enough to combat the freezing temperature around him.

“I need shelter, quickly… or else I’ll freeze to death.”

Walking on the dirt trail, the young man wondered if there was anyone in the church building. It made him stop for a second to think about the outcomes.

This is insane, I hope I’m just in another dream… wait, dream?! Jack thought.

The young man started jogging up the trail. With the thought of this being a lucid or vivid dream, the thought of Mallory’s involvement gave him a boost of adrenaline to see if she’s the one who’s behind this bizarreness. While running up, a local townsfolk, a tall white man with heavy clothing saw him who was walking down the same trail and wondered why he was in a hurry to the church. The townsfolk shrugged it off and chose to ignore the young man as he ran past him. For a moment, Jack didn’t pay attention that someone just walked by him, but he quickly caught on.

The young man stopped and turned around. “Hey! You, excuse me!”

The townsfolk stopped when he heard the young man, but couldn’t understand a word he just said. Jack ran up to the man, which made him take a step back and put his hands out. Jack was catching his breath before he could speak. Once he did, the man spoke but his language was so forgein to Jack that it made the young man freeze.

The man waved his hand in front of Jack's frozen face.

Jack shook his head and spoke again. “No, no no no. I-I can’t understand what he’s saying.” he muttered. “Uh, sir, wh-where am I?” Jack asked but also used his arms as another method of communication.

The man gripped his chin and recreated what Jack did to get a better idea of what he was saying. After recreating his arm movements, the man understood what he was saying. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a map, opening it to Jack’s face. Jack’s seeing the map but he can’t understand where he’s at. The man pointed his finger to the town he’s in and what region he’s in as well. Jack still couldn’t understand, and it was starting to bother him.

“Sir, I-I can’t follow what you’re implying. I’m-lost, sir, help me!”

The man groaned and spoke in his language. But amongst his spoken frustration, he said a word that Jack understood, that being ‘American.’

Jack nods and says, “Yes, I’m American!”

The townsfolk chuckled at his panicking and shook his head and proceeded to walk. Jack sighed but as soon as the young man was going to take a step away, the man whistled at Jack. The young man looks back and the man waves to Jack to follow him. Jack quickly does and the two proceed forward into the direction of the town. It took them twenty minutes to get into the town, but the two arrive and Jack’s met by a captivating sight.

“This place is eerily beautiful.” He said, glancing around.

The buildings were antic, the roads made of flat stone, not a glimpse of sunlight beaming into the town; Opened stores, buildings made of simple wood, colored in white, orange, and brown. There were people around but not enough to consider a busy day. Everyone wore heavy or normal clothing meant for weather like that of Michigan’s fall season. The man that guided Jack taps his shoulder to get his attention and Jack turns to him. He indicates Jack, showing him sign language to walk to a building just a block down.

Jack understands and waves bye to the man. “Thank you, sir.”

The man briefly bows his head and walks off.

Jack walks to the building the man pointed. He’s still shivering and can’t believe the people who are walking around him who also wore regular hoodings aren’t freezing. Two teens who were dressed like goths walked past him in leather jackets laughed at him and mimicked his shivering. Jack smacked his lips and chose to ignore them to not get sidetracked. As he walked closer to his destination, he was growing hungry and thought if he should stop to get a bite to eat.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “I wonder if they’ll take my money, damn I’m hungry all of a sudden.”

There was a local eatery shop, appearing to be a diner but half opened to the outside. There were wooden stool chairs, three people sitting in front and waiting to be served.

“That looks nice and familiar.” Jack said.

He can hear the loud kitchen utensils create their stomach fillers from where he’s standing. If they were working that hard for just three people, it made Jack feel more confident about the food.

Before he decided to walk across the street to the diner, another town folks got his attention by tugging on his coat. The young man turned to them and it happened to be a young man just like him but with short black hair with hazel eyes. He immediately speaks that weird language and leaves Jack speechless.

“Sorry, I-I can’t understand you…” Jack replies, which made the young man tilt his head.

He gripped his chin and threw up devil horns, bobbing his head and pointing to the church. Jack glanced at it, then brought his eyes back to the young man. Jack shrugged and the young man turned to the church, flipping it off and again, threw up devil horns.

“Why do that? You hate church or something?” Jack asked.

The young man bobs his head and walks away, shouting something in his language. Jack felt humorous about the encounter, enough for him to let out a muffled chuckle. While the encounter was short lived, Jack felt like he was wasting time, and walked to the eatery. Upon arriving, the three people whom he saw earlier, glanced at him, and two of them gave him a dirty stare. It was a stare in which someone detested outsiders. The two quickly said something to each other and one of them flailed his hand, seeming revolted by Jack’s presence. The last man, sitting a stool gap between the two was too busy enjoying his hot coffee to even bother, and Jack felt the urge to say something to the two. Jack clenched a fist but didn’t want any trouble for now. He sat down and waited to be served by the two cooks who were busy cooking the other two’s meals.

Jack shivered and hugged himself. “Damn it's cold. Uh, excuse me.”

One cook stopped and put a pan off to the side, wiping his hands with a cloth before answering Jack. He throws the cloth and walks up to the counter and nudges his head to Jack.

Jack freezes momentarily, but nods. “Yeah, uh, what do you guys offer here?”

The cook grins and raises his hands. “Uh, sorry, no english.”

Jack smacks himself. “Well, at least he can say that. Um…” The young man once again speaks with his arms as he spoke. “What’s-on-the-menu?”

The cook understood and chuckled. “Eat? American, to-tourist?”

The single gentleman who was down the counter looked at Jack then to the cook and started speaking their language. The cook laughs and nods in amusement to Jack. The young man’s confused on what they’re talking about. The cook thumbs up Jack and shows him that he’s going to cook him something. Jack scratches his head and shrugs in response to the cook.

The gentleman gets up from his seat, walks past the other two townsfolk and decides to sit next to Jack. “So, you another lost tourist?” he said, his accent being harsh and tough sounding. He asked for another coffee in their language and to Jack, his accent sounded mean and tiring.

Jack’s relieved that someone can speak english. “Finally! No, well, I-I don’t know. I can’t answer that because I just woke up—”

The gentleman was a pale man with a heavy cloth trench coat, wore a fluffy hat and had hazel eyes, put his finger up to Jack. “Slow down, relax friend. Don’t rush yourself, for now enjoy the lovely food that I ordered for you.”

“I-I guess… thanks, sir.”

“It’s my pleasure. Now, you’re most likely American, right? I could be wrong because you British bastards can sometimes surprise me.”

Jack coughs. “Haha, Ha-half, damn it's freezing.”

The gentleman chuckles. “Oh, interesting my friend.” A server shows up around the corner and gives the gentleman his coffee.

He thanks him and sips. Jack also received a coffee and he couldn’t resist but indulge a huge sip which burnt his tongue. The gentleman laughs and pats Jack on the shoulder. The young man stuck his tongue out but loved the coffee’s flavours so much he took another sip but mildly.

Jack wipes his forehead and grins. “It’s delicious, the best coffee I’ve ever had. And I rarely drink it, but damn this is good.”

The gentleman receives his food first but his eyes are on Jack, he’s growing amused by the young man's reactions. “‘Damn good’ is correct my American friend. Us Norwegians know how to make a good hot coffee taste natural, haha!”

Jack’s eyes grew wide and he set his coffee mug down and looked at the gentleman with distraught. “Nor-Nor-Nor—wegian? As-As in… Norway?!”

The gentleman furrowed his brows to Jack. “Yeah, we’re in Norway. How could you forget which country you visited in, you’re a tourist, right?”

Jack slowly clutches his head and quietly panics. “No… no way, ho-how can this be… I-I can’t…” The young man dug his fingers into his scalp. “This-this can’t be happening…” he muttered.

The server serves his food, a big platter of eggs, a small beef stew soup with a loaf of bread to the side. Jack can smell the amazing aroma of the delicacy driving into his nose, making the young man stop his sudden panic and come into a state of relaxation. The gentleman grew suspicious of Jack’s reaction and sipped his coffee, waiting to see what he’ll do next. Jack stared at his food and swallowed, in the meantime, the youngman has chosen to ask about his whereabouts later; for now he wants to eat to his heart's content.

Jack grabbed a fork and the first thing he tasted was the eggs, which made him feel like home. “It-it tastes like my mom's eggs… it’s lovely.”

The gentleman reaches for a cigarette from one of his pockets on his coat and ignites it. “Does it now? Glad you’re enjoying yourself, because you’re stuck with me all day now.”

Jack grabs a spoon and tastes the soup as well. “It’s great… I never had anything this good. Almost makes me wanna forget how I ended up here.”

The young man continued to eat his food until the man's statement finally struck him.

Jack drank more coffee before answering the gentleman. “Wait, stuck with you all day? But I have to get…” The young man turns his body to the building in which the first townsfolk pointed out for him to go. “...to that building,” he said, briefly pointing at it.

The gentleman continued smoking as he looked at the building Jack was staring at and then sipped his coffee. “Which one?”

“The white building, the one I’m pointing at.” Jack responded.

The gentleman smugs his lips and nods. “Interesting when that’s my place, my American friend.”

Jack looked back at him. “Re-Really?”

He nods. “Yup, that’s my place but also my headquarters for forgein tourists to go when I guide them.” He tosses his cigarette in a proper dispenser for his stick of cancer. “My name’s Oskar, the local tour guide of Bergen.”

He gets up and stretches. Jack feels relieved about meeting him, but thankful for the townsfolk who led him to a potential answer to his mystery. Oskar took money out and handed it to the server, paying for Jack’s meal as well when he jolted his thumb at him, laughing with the server. The young man can tell they’re making fun of him by Oskar intimidating a loopy one's mind, swirling his finger. Jack could care less, for now he wants to finish his meal and see where Oskar will guide him.

After finishing his meal and thanking the people that owned the place, the two were off and back onto the street. They were going to Oskar’s place as he mentioned. Jack was silent, mainly due to the fact he had nothing to say. Oskar’s smiling, waving to people around, across the street, almost everyone that he was setting his sights on, it was almost as if he were the celebrity of the town. In Jack’s mind, it made sense because if one were to be a tour guide, they would have to know everyone and every building to make their income and make visitors feel comfortable.

As the two were walking and Oskar pointed out artefacts that stood out in his town, a woman in a red coat came up to Oskar, giving him a big hug and talking in Norwegian. Jack backed off and allowed them to talk, he didn’t want to intervene in their conversation. In the meantime, Jack wanted to glance around the area, so he can indulge in this beautiful town without freaking out like a madman. Meanwhile, as the other two continued conversing, midway through their conversation, the woman finally took notice of Jack and looked over Oskar’s shoulder, asking who’s the tall handsome man with the strange scar on his face.

Oskar stepped aside and introduced the young man to the woman. She smiled and put her hand out, introducing herself, but Jack was lost, too busy staring at something. The woman pouted her face and felt that he was being rude, so she walked up, waved her hand in front of his face, and it worked, breaking his trance.

“Huh? Who are you?” Jack asked, shivering again.

The woman raises her brows and gets close to Jack’s face, making him step back. “Oh, he’s really American!”

Oskar chuckles. “Yeah, I told you, Linnea.”

Linnea was an average heighted woman, long bright blonde hair, pale skin, but gorgeous blue eyes. From her coat to her fluffy boots, she screamed academics to Jack.

She grips her chin and analyses Jack’s infrastructure that is his body. “Yes, and mixed, handsome, scary! Hoo! What’s your name?”

Jack liked her accent, which made him grin. It was high pitched, then loosened but sounded beautiful compared to Oskar’s harsh accent. The young man puts his hand out and she immediately shakes his hand, smiling at him.

“My name’s… Jack, Jack-Samr.”

Upon hearing his last name, the two exploded in awe. Especially Linnea, who got closer to Jack’s face, trying to figure out his other half. Oskar was baffled by his last name, and Jack wondered why the two were eyeing him like a freak experiment.

Linnea backs off and nods. “You do know that your last name is Norwegian, right?”

Jack’s jaw drops. “Wait, re-really?! What-what does it mean then?”

Oskar butts in and raises his finger. “It’s norse, meaning darkish.”

Linnea cuts in between. “Let's finish this conversation back at the headquarters. I know you're freezing Jack. Besides, you’re a very intriguing person if I must say, friend!”

Jack liked Linnea’s attitude and personality; it reminded him of Anna, who he still has yet to see in the new timeline. Oskar agrees and marches first, leading the adventure first. All three walked and at the same time, the two friends were showing Jack the buildings, pointing to them, explaining their history. Jack felt intrigued and listened deeply to their explanations. As they were getting closer, while Linnea was explaining the history of their town, two teens with band hoodies, one with long blonde hair and the other with long black hair were walking past them. Jack was lost in the history lesson being given to him when one of them bumped into his arm.

Jack stopped and turned to the teens, who chose to ignore him. “Hey, excuse you.”

They heard his deep voice and turned round to Jack. The other two were so caught in their history telling, they didn't notice Jack had stopped. One of the teens, the one with blonde hair, two inches taller than Jack got into the young man's face. He had cold blue eyes, and his stare was as cold as the weather in the town. Jack didn’t like the look he had, but quickly realised that the teen was trying to act tough.

The other one with black hair also stepped forward, getting into Jack’s face. “You, American?” he asked, then chuckled.

Jack’s eyes stayed on the blonde kids. “Yeah, I am, so what?”

The black haired teen chuckles and pulls his friend away. “Cool cool, our bad. Your hair, cool man, long like us. You like metal?”

Jack narrows his eyes. “Metal?”

He raised his hands and created devil horns. “Metal! Blagh!” He stuck his tongue out and bobbed his head.

His friend laughed and the two walked away. Jack stayed still, watching the two pander off. He felt like he’s heard that phrase from somewhere, more particularly, he remembers someone wearing graphic design clothing like their hoodies.

“I’m guessing he’s talking about music. Huh, Angela listens to that if I’m correct.”

The other two came back to Jack and wondered why the young man was standing there, watching two folks walk.

Oskar tapped the young man's shoulder to make him turn around. “Hey, Jack. Why’d you stop? For a minute we thought we lost you.”

Linnea shook her head. “Don’t scare us like that. We don’t want another lost tourist now, don’t we Os-kar?”

Oskar whistles and starts walking again. “That would be bad… wouldn’t it, ahaha!”

Linnea shook her head, looking back to Jack, winking. “Ready now?”

“Y-Yeah, I guess.” The young man replied.

He walked with her, following Oskar until they reached their headquarters. When they did, Jack got a better view of the place. Despite all the buildings looking relatively alike, their building was the only one that was blue. Oskar opened the door and walked inside, Linnea went in afterwards. Jack scanned the town one last time, deeply sighing before walking in. Once inside, the first thing Jack thought of was the feeling of cosiness. The cloth couches, small coffee tables, the bright natural lighting, but most of all, the fireplace crackling.

“It’s… it’s nice in here.” Jack says.

Oskar hung up his coat on a rack and immediately sat down on one of the couches. “Why thank you, I like to make my guests feel comfortable before giving them a tour of our home.”

Linnea approached the stairs and paused. “Yes, otherwise foreigners will think lowly of our beautiful town. That reminds me…”

She started speaking Norwegian to Oskar, but had a hint of annoyance in her voice. Oskar groaned and shooed her away, then raised his finger tips, shouting at her. She crossed her arms and did the same, and walked upstairs. Oskar chuckled and sighed, laying back on the chair.

“Woman, am I right Jack?” Oskar said.

“Hm, I guess so. Where did she go?” He asked.

Oskar felt relaxed and let out a loud, “Ahhh!” before answering Jack. “She went to her room to cool off.”

Jack decided to sit down on one of the couches. “Room? Wait, what is she to you? And is this also a house?”

“Boy, you’ve got a lot of questions, don't you?” Oskar kicked his legs up on the coffee table placed in front of him. “She’s my sister and this is my home as well. We make a living as I said as tour guides.”

“Oh, sorry. And that’s cool that you two are so close to working together. What’s she mad about anyways?”

“Mm, that’s none of your business, but—ah screw it. She's been out of town for two weeks and I guess she got here today, coincidentally as you’re with me. Anyways, to make a long story short, I’ve been in some controversy surrounding a lost tourist and you happen to be the subject.”

Jack lays back on the couch. “So, she thinks I’m the lost tourist?”

“No, the problem’s already been dealt with. I’m already the laughing stock of the town currently, so she’s being family and thinks I should hold off on tourists after the incident.”

“Is this a first? You losing a tourist?” Jack asked.

Oskar replied with a whistle at first. His eyes tick tock and he scratched his cheek. “N…o, actually it’s like my fifth time aha!”

Linnea was coming back downstairs when she heard him. “Idiot, that’s what he gets for being so caught by the American girls, making others wander off.”

She walked over to a single chair close to the kitchen. Oskar whistles again and laughs it off while his sister makes herself comfortable, rolling her eyes. Jack liked their dynamic and it reminded him of his relationship with Angela, but without the complications, before Dr. Cato took her away from him that dreary night. He watched the two argue and they seemed to cuss each other out in their native language which made him smile. It felt so nostalgic to Jack that it made his eyes water. Before they could notice his emotions coming out, he quickly wiped his eyes and took a breath.

After finishing her rant to her brother, Linnea looked at Jack and smiled, flinging her hair. “So Jack, you’re lost you say? What brought you here in the first place.”

The young man was hesitant to answer. The two siblings watched as he looked to be in a deep thinking process, feeling concerned. He gripped his pants and moaned, not wanting to seem like a madman if he asked them something ridiculous. In conjunction with the subject of lost tourists, he decided to roll with himself being one, but without saying anything bizarre.

“I-I was with a group of friends and got too drunk… so I found myself lying in the middle of a field when I woke up. Weird right?”

Linnea rolled her eyes. “Typical American’s… drink wherever you go. Well, what town were you before then?”

Oskar didn’t buy it because Jack earlier wasn’t sure where he was at. Instead he stayed quiet, listening closely to what he’ll say next. The young man couldn’t give a proper answer, scratching his head in silence as Linnea’s deep blue stare made him nervous. No one’s talking, the crackles of the fire did the talking, and Jack didn't have the courage to lie.

He brought his eyes to the ceiling and deeply sighed. “I-I, I don’t know…”

Linnea smacks her lips, crossing her legs. “Hmph, got so drunk you forgot the town too ey? Typical, Hmph!”

Oskar stood up and walked to the kitchen, but before walking in, smacked his sister's head. “Don’t be so harsh on the kid, you bully.”

She immediately retaliated, punching his arm and cursing at him. Jack can hear their silly argument as he sat there, staring at the clear white ceiling. He stared deep at the whiteness that represented his mind at the moment, he can’t help but feel alienated. The feeling of this palace being so real still boggled him, and made him believe that this isn’t a dream anymore.

The thought of it made him scrunch his face in confusion. This-this has to be a dream… no way in hell this is real life, no. Please, I need a sign, anything. Jack thought.

While in deep thought, Oskar interrupted him, snapping his fingers in front of the young man’s line of view. “You alright my friend?”

The young man slowly sat back straight. “Yeah, just feeling out of place.”

Oskar had a cup of coffee with him and placed it next to Jack. “Well don’t be acting all funny. I know hangovers aren’t easy to overcome, my friend.”

Linnea barges in their conversation and sees something that’s bothering her eyes. She spoke again in their native language and seemed to be pointing at a calendar, one with a marked date on it and month. She shouted, viciously pointing at it and in a fiery motion sets her fists on her hips, dwindling her finger at her brother. Oskar nervously laughs, shrugs off her insults and seems confident about what she’s arguing with him about.

“Man those two sure are feisty with each other, hehe.” Jack says, grabbing the mug of coffee and taking a sip. “Fucking delicous, dream or not, this coffees worth it.”

He decides to intervene, standing up and walking up to the calendar. In doing so made the two stop their barking and watch the young man trying to figure out what it says. Oskar snickers to his sister and the two softly chuckled while the young man did his best to read their language. Linnea walks over to Jack and bumps her hip on him, which makes Jack look at her in confusion. She replied to his annoyance with a wink. The young man shrugs and tries one last time and gives up, making Oskar wrap his arm around Jack’s shoulders.

“Having trouble there, my friend?” Oskar asked.

“Yeah,” he replied, “your language is bizarre, like the symbols and crap.”

“Coming from the guy who has a Norwegian last name. What, did your parents randomly think of a random last name or something?” Linnea said, acting sarcastic.

Jack shook his head. “No, it was my mother’s last name.”

“Was she white?” Linnea asked.

“Well duh, but… I’m not sure now, now that you asked and defined my last name.”

“Hmm, American woman. Always finding a nice last name when they travel or something.” Linnea giggles and walks off back to the kitchen.

Jack didn’t like how she was throwing shade at his mother. Oskar saw the young man’s anger slightly show by his growing glare that was aiming towards his sister. To cool him off, while still in his grasp, he turned Jack’s attention back to the calendar.

“Don’t mind my stupid sister. She acts this way to most tourists, especially you Americans.” He cleared his throat and pointed to the month, “We’re in June, that says June in our language.”

Hearing him say the month made Jack raise concern. “Ju-June?! Woah… th-that can’t be right.”

Oskar looked at the young man as if he’s crazy. “What do you mean, we’re here, date is June 5th, 19—”

Linnea suddenly burst in with an empty plastic packet. “Oskar, what did you do to all the fil—”

“Damn it Linnea, don't interrupt me over my lessons!” Oskar shouted.

Jack shook his head and quickly reached into his pocket to get his phone. He felt it and pulled it out, flipping it open and the two siblings were caught on with curiosity.

“What’s that?” Linnea asked, pointing at the phone.

Oskar pressed a button and a number was dialled. “Oh! It beeped!”

Jack’s face scrunched in response to their curious nature. “It’s a phone? What, do Norweigians not know what cellular or touch screen phones are?”

Linnea placed her hands on her hips and plastered her face on the screen. “We have telephones, but not this… it’s so strange. No country in the world has made something this cool or advanced, especially you American’s.”

“And she can back this up because she travels the world.” Oskar said.

Jack’s heartbeat begins pacing, and he’s sweating. “Th-This can’t be… no, today’s—!” When the young man pulled the phone back to his face, the date was blank and it made him panic. “What the fuck… what the fuck…” he muttered.

Oskar and Linnea backed away, giving him space. They looked at him as if he were crazy. Jack kept his eyes on his phone, his breathing growing more intense by the minute.

“No, today should be November 14th, 2016. There’s no way in hell it’s June 5th man!”

Oskar raised his brows and walked back to the calendar. “Damn, how drunk were you last night?” Once again he pointed to the date and month they’re in. “You’re wrong, my American friend. As I was saying, it’s June 5th, 1992.”

“H-huh…?” Jack’s eyes grew wide, his vision started blurring. “19-19…9—2?” he said, starting to hyperventilate.

Oskar can hear Jack’s breathing become unstable. Jack stumbled backwards and he could feel his pupils starting to swell. Linnea asked her brother in their language what’s happening to the young man and all Oskar could do was watch because since meeting him, he’s been a full mystery to him. Oskar placed his hands on Jack’s shoulders and gently pushed him to the seat he was sitting on earlier. Linnea felt worried watching the young man having a panic attack and quickly went to the kitchen to fetch something.

“There there, Jack. Relax now, because at this rate you’ll eventually pass out.” Oskar said.

Jack’s breathing grew more intense and the young man started gasping for air. “19-19-19-19-19-19-19… 19-19-19… fuck-fu-fucking… 19-19…”

“Hey man, relax, stop repeating yourself—Oiy! Linnea, hurry get some water for this poor bastard.”

Jack slowly brought his phone back to his blurred eyes, and quietly dialled for Eric’s number. Upon pressing the buttons, Oskar locked his eyes on the young man’s fingers, watching as he snailed his thumbs across the numbers. Once Jack had every number on screen, he dialled. It rang, but immediately beeps with no signal reach.

Jack ground his teeth and his face was drenched. “No… pl-please, dial…”

“Hey, you’re worrying me here with that weird contraption of yours my friend.” Oskar then reached for the phone, lightly grabbing it. “I think you need to put this away, Jack, if it's causing you so much stress.”

Jack allowed Oskar to grab it and pull it away while his face was a frozen mess. Oskar groaned and looked at the devic he'd never seen before, rotating it. He shook it, eased it to his face, and pressed a couple of buttons. He rubbed his chin and pressed more until it suddenly rang, which made him fall on his butt. The phone fell and Jack immediately got up from the chair and went to it, picking it up to see why it’s ringing.

He looked and saw a familiar name calling him, and it made him boil in anger. “Wi-william…?!” The young man quickly answers, “Hello?! William, ho-how did you—?”

“Well Jacqueline, it seems as if you’re getting accustomed to your surroundings.” William said, chuckling beneath his breath.

“Wh-What have you done?! Where am I?! Bastard!”

William watched Jack on his giant screen, laying back on his cloudy chair. “That question won’t be answered until you’ve completed your first trial, Jack-o-latern.”

Linnea came back with a hot towel and a glass of water. “Here, Jack take—”

Her brother had interrupted her, putting his arm out. “Listen, and watch. He’s speaking into the thing, Linnea.”

“Huh?! You mean the weird device?”

“Yes,” he replied, while Jack brought out his outside voice. “Look how nervous he looks, but listen to how angry he sounds.”

She sets the items on the coffee table and pays attention as the young man continues throwing a frenzy. Oskar grabbed his sister in case he would explode and go crazy.

“William! Just tell me what you have done! I’m-I’m loo-loosing my fucking mind here!” Jack shouted, clutching his head.

William’s grin transitioned into a curve of satisfaction. “You’ll soon find out. In the meantime, do hang in there, don’t do anything stupid. It’s already bad enough that I’ve tampered with time, so please allow things to flow the way they should.”

Jack’s eyes expanded, and he gasped. “T-T-T-Time…? Wh-What do you mean, time?!” Jack gripped his hair and blew steam out his nose. “Yo-You’re joking, fucking with—!”

“It’s as I said Jack, I’ve messed with time and sent you back. And you and I know when, right?”

Jack dropped to his knees and felt his mind go static. “No… no.” Oskar and Linnea went to Jack, each grabbing his shoulder. “William, my friends… wh-where—”

“Jack, they haven’t even been born yet. They don’t exist, everyone you knew is just a fragment of your burdened memories.” William got up and pointed his cane to the screen, “and you won’t be leaving anytime soon, until your trial is up, Jack.”

The young man grit his teeth and felt the urge to cry in both anger, and sorrow. “Why… Why does this have to-to happen to me? Why me, why torment me, William…”

Linnea hugged Jack and patted his head. “Don’t get upset, Jack. I think it’s best you stop talking to that thing, contraption.”

Oskar rubbed the young man's back. “Whatever you have going on, don’t talk to that, talk to us.”

William lowered his cane and frowned. “Listen to them, Jack. I know you’ve gone through a heap of problems, but I’m not one of them. I am a solution to them!”

Jack crushed his eyes and rubbed his knuckles against his head. “How?! How are you a solution when you’ve caused nothing but—more problems into my life than I…” The young man paused and lowered his head, “I? I… I’m, I’m… No…”

William sat back down on his chair and settled his cane to the side. “Jack, you may think I’m being a problem, but you have yet to let me tell you my side of my reasoning being here.” William poured himself some whiskey into a shot glass. “I’m not with that selfish doctor or pathetic excuse of a fat man, I’m here on a mission to free you, my child.”

“Free… me?” Jack muttered, “But how?”

William paused for a moment, thinking of something. He looked over his shoulder to something emitting plasma off in the distance in his dimension. It went out of control momentarily but dimmed down, and William brought his glance back to the screen.

William shook his head. “This won’t be our only phone call. I’ll be calling you two more times tomorrow, Jack. I’m sorry for doing this to you, but what I can tell you is that I’m testing you, by putting you through trials relating to all the sins that you’ve committed.”

The young man looked defeated and was on the verge of fainting. “Th-Then—what? What will happen if I-I fail?”

Linnea and Oskar wanted to yank the phone away from Jack, but they saw his only free hand ready to engage. It was balled up and he was clutching it hard, enough to pierce his skin and draw crimson.

Before William can answer Jack, the young man suddenly punches the ground, putting a hole in Oskars floor. Both siblings jumped away, frightened.

Oskar had enough and narrowed his eyes. “Alright, that’s it, I’m taking that thing away, Jack.” Oskar said, but his sister stopped him, putting her hand out to him. “Linnea? What are you—?”

“Hush, and listen, he’s about to faint, look at his skin.” Linnea said.

Oskar glanced at Jack’s skin and saw just how white it was turning. “Oh, I gotcha.”

William frowned and sighed to Jack’s response. “Right now, you’re only being tested before the real deal. So do yourself a favour, and don’t do anything that’ll get yourself killed, Jack. Not right now.”

Jack’s becoming dizzy and his visions blurred. “Wh-What do you mean by that? Am-Am I… I going to die?”

William shook his head again. “I’m sorry, I can’t answer that. Good luck Jack, talk to you tomorrow.”

The phone hangs up and Jack starts to cackle. The two siblings back off as the young man loses his mind and laughs. He laughed for another second until he abruptly stopped and looked at Oskar with distraught eyes.

Oskar grabbed his sister and got in front of her. “You-You okay, Jack? My American friend?”

Jack nervously let out a broken chuckle and pointed at the two. “Co-could you repeat the date again, for me, Oskar?”

Oskar briefly looked over his shoulder to his sister who looked afraid. “Su-Sure… it’s June 5th, 1992.”

Jack let out one last forced chuckle beneath his breath and lowered his hand. “Th-Thank you…”

The young man suddenly collapsed like a rock hitting wood. The two siblings rushed to his aid as he lay there, unconscious and feeling hopeless. Jack couldn’t hear their voices, all he could hear was static. The two desperately shook him, Linnea grabbed that hot towel and wrapped it around his head while Oskar tried opening his mouth to pour water into it. The young man’s darkness started swirling, and wrinkles of purple began to appear, ones he’s familiar with seeing.

William brings up his hand to the screen as he watches Jack being aided by his two new friends. “My Exorcist trails begin the moment you try to get in the way of destiny. Jack Samr…” he clutches his hand and the screen shuts off. “Your cleansing begins tomorrow, may God bless you, and hopefully, you’re upcoming future endeavours.”