Jack's Tales

On the 20th of August, 1985, an archaeological dig site was made in the plains of Baghdad, specifically in the land once called Mesopotamia. Everyone knows it as a cradle for human civilization, even possibly the genesis for human life in the first place. The reason it was being excavated in the first place was because of an ancient shard of pottery, unearthed next to the flowing Tigris river. For Jack Andrew, it was a new discovery, one that held promise of more history to be unfolded.

"What the hell are we doing out here, Clark?" Jack asked, slightly annoyed by the burning sensation of the Sun on his forehead.
Clark laughed a hearty laugh. He looked over at his old colleague through dust covered wire-rimmed glasses and positively beaming at the seeming negativity from his friend.

"You can't tell me you aren't excited, Jack. I know you were just exited to hear about this dig as I was."

Jack grumbled under his breath. "Sure, but you didn't tell me we were going to arrive in the middle of the day. I have jeans on! Christ, it's hot."

Clark laughed again, just as heartily as before. The older man looked ahead, and wiped his glasses of dust before nodding towards the onlooking city, and the large, legendary Tigris next to them. "Look where we are, Jack. This is true beauty, the beginning of civilization."

The young man looked around, taking in the view of the country around him. "It is beautiful, you have me there.

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Jack awoke in his bed in a hotel in Baghdad to the sound of a soft humming. A constant hum, occasionally changing pitch and tone. It seemed to resonate, as if it were a choir singing in perfect accordance with each other and harmonizing into a perfect melody. Jack shook his head to clear his mind of drowsiness, yet the hum continued, filling his room with a soft melody. He got up and peered out into the streets below and around him.

"Nothing." He couldn't help himself saying. As soon as he peered out into the streets, loud with the sounds of small motors chugging away in the Iraqi city, the humming ceased.

Jack went over to his kitchen, opened the fridge, and took out the bottle of whiskey he had brought on the plane, and poured himself a small glass. He gulped it down, sat his glass upside down in the hotel sink, and shuffled over to bed. He entered into the welcoming embrace of the comforter, the sheets and thick blanket covering him entirely as he faded off into the sweet release of sleep.

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"Jack." A sweet, soft voice spoke into the blackness of unconsciousness. "Jack." A soft glow, pale as the moon, seemed to drift over his mind as he slept peacefully.

Clark slapped him, and Jack's sense of surrounding rocketed back into action. "Jack! You are so difficult to wake up sometimes, you know that?" The elder man shook his head in disappointment. "Come on, we'll be late to the site if you don't get dressed."

Jack blinked rapidly, clearing the shock of pain from his cheek. He slowly got up, and began getting dressed, before turning towards his hotel window. 'So it wasn't a dream.' He looked over to Clark. "Did you hear anything last night?"

Clark shook his head. "Nothing but you snoring from two rooms down." He smiles.

Jack sighed. "Have a sense of class." He put on his last piece of essential clothing and went to the kitchen to pour some instant coffee. "Are you sure you didn't hear anything?"

Clark turned towards his friend. "In all honesty, I hadn't. I slept like a child who had been gassed with Chloroform." Jack nodded.

"Then I must have dreamed it then."

Clark raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Dreamed what?"
Jack turned from his coffee pot, only to see his Whiskey glass from after the experience sitting in the sink, residue from the harsh liquid still lingering in the cup.

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The archaeological dig from the edge of the Tigris, just south of Baghdad, had proved to be quite fruitful in the five days since starting. Many Pottery shards, evidence of homes, ancient tools. Hell, even a block of ancient bread or two. The most interesting find, however, was found after the large machinery had been used to open up a large area of the dig. After clearing a large ditch in the side of the site for an area of logistics, a planning area of where to go next, a large tunnel was unearthed with strange markings outlining the passage. When Jack and Clark arrived, a group of local assistants had already gone into the tunnel, and had been in there for four hours.

Clark was always keen to first examine the pottery, utensils and tools before heading towards the larger finds. Jack, on the other hand, went straight towards the tunnel, examining the markings on the tunnel. The symbols seemed to be written in an almost phonetic manner, with the writing not having any meaning on their own. As he studied the symbols, a faint noise sprung up, almost from inside his own mind. A shifting, yet melodic, hum seemed to fill the site, crescendo-ing slowly to the full sound, soft and beautiful, but strong and undiminished.
Clark ran over to Jack, the young archaeologist swiveling around to meet him.

"Do you hear it now, Clark?" Jack sneered in an ever-sarcastic tone. "Or are you asleep again?"

Clark looked at Jack, wide-eyed. "Jack, there's a tremor coming from inside the tunnel! It's not the time for one of your post-flight dream tantrums, we have to get out of here with the artifacts, before they shatter!"

Jack stared at Clark in confusion. "What are you talking about? The ground isn't shaking, but there is that humming melody that woke me last night."Clark, in an ever desperate attempt to wake his friend from seeming insanity, slapped Jack across the face, and as he did so, the humming seemed to end, and Jack suddenly felt the earth shaking beneath his feet. The snap back into reality left him reeling backwards, stumbling before gaining his balance.

"The.. the assistants…" Jack looked at the tunnel. "They haven't left the tunnel yet."

Clark saw the look in Jack's eyes before Jack had even said anything. "Don't try it, Jack. Please, if they make it out alive anyways they'll be lucky. I don't need your body under the rubble with theirs."

Jack was already shaking his head. "You're not going to logic me out of this. I'm going in to help them." Without another word Jack ran over to a table covered in exploration gear, newly requisitioned after the tunnel was first found. Jack grabbed a light, some rope, and a large Dig-knife before running into the tunnel, Clark involuntarily chasing after him.

"Jack, stop! Don't-" Clark shouted into the tunnel, before sighing heavily and running in after his brash colleague.

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The inside of the tunnel was dark, the only illumination coming from the light in Jack's hand. the sound of footsteps behind him didn't offset him a bit, as he figured that Clark would come running after him if he did something brash. The tunnel expanded the farther he went into it, the exterior entrance paling in comparison to the cavernous area he now found himself in.
More of the same symbols from outside the door were carved into the walls, the unknown language appearing, at least, to be a somewhat basic, if not a prerequisite, for Cuneiform.

Jack Felt the earth tremble under him. The dark tunnel seemed to express the movement of the ground easily, dirt and roots falling from the ceiling to the floor. "Where are they…" Clark, after about 5 minutes of running full-speed to catch up to Jack, finally made it to his friend.

"This… is insane, Jack. We have..-" Clark takes a breath before wheezing it out, "We have to leave now, before.. it's too late."

Jack continued down the path, the floor slowly seeming to transition from dirt to stone, small step-shaped indents carved into it. "We aren't leaving, Clark. I have to find them."

Clark furrowed his brow. "You drag me in here… into this dangerous tunnel, in these dangerous conditions, and when I try and talk you into common sense, you won't listen? Really, Jack, are you that naive to think that you are the hero of this story?"

Jack turned around to face Clark. "I'm not here to be a hero, I'm here to save these assistant's lives. If you want to leave, you can. I don't want you to get hurt."

Clark sighed. "You think that I want to leave for my own safety? Jack, I'm here to try and help you!"

Jack turned and began running down the tunnel again. "Then help by saving these assistants." As he ran, He heard a clicking noise behind him. He turned, and Clark was holding something towards him. Gleaming metal shone around the worn barrel of the pistol, reflected in Jack's light.

Clark seemed extremely upset. "Leave now, or.. or die now."

Jack seemed stunned, in disbelief. "What are you doing, Clark? Why are you pointing that at me?"

Clark gulped. his wire-rimmed glasses, reflecting in the flashlight, seemed to accompany the look of sadness in his eyes. "I said.. I said I didn't hear the hum, Jack. The sound…. but you were wrong, Jack.. it wasn't a melody. It was screams. Horrible, terrible noises that kept me awake. I've been awake.. for three weeks now! It started back in Oregon, Jack.. The screams in the night. Then they started happening in the day.. all the time, Everywhere, I can't get rid of them I Can't!" Clark seemed in a state of hysteria, shaking and crying. "I found out where they were coming from, the old texts.. the old texts of Mesopotamia talks of creatures that call to those who are worthy, and just.. and those who are wicked. Apparently… they think I'm wicked.."

Jack chuckled to himself in this harsh situation. "You are aiming a gun at me, Clark." As his former friend had been speaking, Jack had been backing away, ever so slowly, down further into the tunnel. "You don't have to do this, Clark. I just want to save these people. These fellow archaeologists. Please.."

Clark shook his head. "No. they've already been taken, there isn't a way to find them. Just.. come out of the tunnel. Don't go any close to those creatures.. please… "

Jack nodded his head. "Okay, Clark, okay. Just.. What are they? These creatures?"

Clark sighed. "No.. I can't say it. I can't-" Clark suddenly jerks his head to look at the wall. "No.. please don't make me say it.. it hurts to say it.."

"Say what?" Jack pushed. "What are they trying to tell you?"

Clark shook his head, and then opened his mouth to speak. However, it came out as a scream. "The Seraphs!" Clark's hand clutched. a loud bang echoed through the tunnel, a flash of light shining, before fading as the sound of the shot reverberated down the tunnel.

Jack felt something enter his chest. he felt liquid sticking his shirt to his chest. For a delirious moment, he thought it was just sweat. When he looked down at his chest, shining the flashlight towards it, a flood of blood had seeped down into his shirt. He fell back onto the stone stairs, tumbling down the tunnel with muffled thuds as his mind began numbing.

Clark let out what can only be described as a whimper. "Jack, Jack No!" He rushed forward, to Jack's side. "Jack, I didn't mean to.. I would never.. It's not my fault.."

Jack heard a soft humming as his eyes slowly closed. Clark screamed. "The screams, they're back! Can you hear them, Jack? The demented horrors of sound?" a pale, bright light flashed before Jack's closed eyes, and he opened them to see a large, glowing entity standing before them. He suddenly understood why the tunnel was so cavernous. The creature was massive, standing 20 foot tall, and with massive wings. Six of them, spanning a length of… Jack was delirious, and he didn't have time to estimate the in-determinant length.
It stared towards Clark. If you could call it staring. It was more a feeling of being watched. a soft, sweet voice seemed to emanate from the being. "Clark. Why have you done this? Shed your friend.. no, you're brother's blood. You spent so much time with him, mentoring him."

The being reached out a bright, shining appendage to Clark, but he backed away. "No.. please, get away.. stay away from me!"

The being seemed disappointed. "Clark, for this sin, you have been cursed to oppose your brother forever. You shall never have peace until he does the same to you that you have done to him."

Clark's forehead began turning red. He screamed as a mark began being carved into it, one of the symbols that had been written on the wall. Jack tried to sit up, tried to object, but he couldn't. He was too weak. The creature turned towards Jack, and as he looked up, the face of a glowing woman appeared before him.

"Jack. You came to the brink of death trying to save lives. sadly, they have already been taken to the Land. You, however, shall not die. You, Man of Valor, Shall sing with the Seraphim in your time of reckoning." The creature touched his chest, and Jack felt as if enveloped in light.

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Jack awoke to a bright light shining in his eye. He took a breath, and felt air enter his lungs. "Where.. Where am I?"
He looked around and was greeted with the sight of trees, a forest. Plants surround him, all of them bearing fruit. Animals graze among him, some of them he had never seen before. The trees took colors from everything, and The fruits seemed to gleam on the branches.

A Kind, Masculine voice sounded behind him. "That question is easy. Welcome, to Eden."

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