Lotus Flower (F)

Lotus Flower

Another day had begun in the city of Catolândia, Bahia. A young man, only twenty-five years old, named Afonso, woke up early with the feeling that he had had a strange dream, but he couldn't remember anything. He got ready for work as usual brushing his teeth, putting on deodorant to get rid of that sweaty pastry smell, dressing up, and heading to work.

A few hours passed, and lunchtime finally arrived. However, he wasn't excited about eating since there was only one restaurant in town, and about a thousand people went there for lunch. Instead, he used his thirty-minute break to call his wife, Manuela, and his son, Vinícius.

Afonso had met Manuela two years ago at a bakery, where she worked as a cashier. The young man had grabbed four loaves of bread and went to the register. When the cashier asked how he would pay, he replied:

 "Look, it's a credit card, miss, but, but…"

 "What?"

 "What's your name?"

 "Manuela, and yours?"

 "Afonso, nice to meet you. I have another question…"

 "Go ahead."

 "Could you give me your phone number, Manuela? I think you're so beautiful and kind."

 "Look, Afonso, I appreciate it, but I can't right now. How about you come back later, around 7 PM?"

Surprised, he answered:

" Be… beautiful, alright, see you then!"

" See you then! (laughs)"

To summarize, that day they went out for dinner, laughed a lot, and at the end of the night, shared some sweet kisses.

Now, back to the present, Afonso was planning to propose in a special way by taking Manuela to her favorite restaurant. He decided to do it that very day, so he made a phone call during his lunch break. But just as he was about to ask, a power outage struck the city, interrupting the call. The building he was in started shaking, and he could hear a chorus of terrified screams in the distance.

Suddenly, he felt like he had experienced this before as if it were déjà vu. He immediately ran toward the source of the noise and saw a crowd fleeing from something enormous falling from the sky. It looked like a meteor.

Instead of running like everyone else, Afonso decided to follow it and ended up in a vast, grassy area. He heard a loud explosion and saw a purple light glowing nearby. He cautiously approached and discovered a strange container shaped like a lotus flower, with something purple at its center.

Fearful, he picked up the container and immediately thought:

" I'd better take this before more people and the police show up."

Once again, he had that eerie feeling of familiarity, even though he had never been there before. He hid the object in his pants and headed home, as his workplace had already been deserted by fleeing employees.

At home, he took a shower. Afterward, he grabbed the strange container and started examining it. Keep in mind, this was the year 1977, so he had no way to research what it was.

Suddenly, the object started oozing a purple slime and moved as if it were alive. In the blink of an eye, the strange substance entered Afonso's eyes, and he immediately passed out.

While unconscious, Afonso traveled through time at the speed of light, passing through a dark tunnel and witnessing flashes of images—memories of other people engaged in violent, bloody battles.

At the end of the tunnel, he saw a bald man holding a golden sword, who said:

" YOU HAVE TWO CHOICES!"

" But, but… who are you?"

" DANTE. YOU HAVE TWO DOORS. CHOOSE ONE…"

" Alright."

Two doors appeared side by side. Trembling with fear, Afonso chose the one on the right.

As he opened the door, he saw Dante being impaled through the chest by an unidentified man, covered in a dark, red aura. The eerie figure slowly turned to Afonso, its glowing red eye staring at him, before grinning from ear to ear with razor sharp teeth.

Dante, bleeding profusely, also turned to Afonso and, with his last breath, said:

" Afonso, y-you… will change history. You didn't see the left door, but you can create it. Find your friend Sebastião. The two of you have the pow… the pow… the power needed to end this. But be careful of Ant—"

Before he could finish, the shadowy figure plunged the sword deeper into Dante's chest, silencing him.

At that moment, Afonso woke up in a panic and immediately called his friend Sebastião, as Dante had instructed:

" Hello, Sebastião!?"

" Hey, man?"

" So…"

" What?"

" Do you remember the drawing?"

" The lotus fl—"

" That's right."

Both of them shuddered over the phone.

" Did you feel that, Sebastião?"

" Y-yeah. It's happening again."

" Listen, I need you to come to my house. It's something related to this."

" Alright, I'll be there around midnight. I'm still at work."

" Okay."

To begin to understand this crazy universe, where a strange slime seemingly comes to life and enters Afonso's eyes, sending him on a mind bending journey that ultimately leads him to seek out his best friend, Sebastião, we need to understand who Sebastião really is.

Sebastião was born in the same year as Afonso (1952), which strengthened their bond from the start.

One summer day in 1960, at Maltasti School, young Sebastião was playing with his rare and beautiful marbles when he noticed another boy in the distance, playing alone kicking a ball against a wall (since, apparently, the wall played better than his friends).

Tired of playing marbles alone, Sebastião decided to approach him:

" Hey, my name is Sebastião. Want to play with me?"

" Oh, hi Sebastião, sure."

" So, how about hide-and-seek?"

" Alright, but we have to be quick. Recess is almost over…"

" Yeah, yeah. I'll start counting."

" Alright, count to 60!"

" Okay, okay."

Sebastião counted and went searching for his new friend. But when he found him, Afonso was paralyzed, staring blankly at a drawing traced into the sand of the playground. It resembled a half-open lotus flower.

Without moving his gaze, Afonso muttered in a low, cold voice:

" This… I… I know this, but I can't remember."

" Hey, are you okay?"

" Huh? What?"

" You're shivering…"

" Wait… You are too!"

They stood there for ten seconds, until the bell rang and they had to return to class.

Before leaving, Sebastião asked:

 "Wait, I didn't even ask your name!"

 "Oh, it's Afonso."

 "Got it, nice to meet you, Afonso. Let's come back here after school to figure this out."

 "Sounds good. See you then."

 "See you."

That afternoon, they returned to the playground but found no answers. However, every time they saw that symbol or something resembling it, they both felt chills and an indescribable fear.

Over the years, until that fateful phone call, they became best friends—going through school together and even attending the same college. During that time, they had witnessed strange events that made no sense back then, but now, everything was finally starting to fall into place.

Back to the present:

 "Hello, Sebastião!?"

 "Hey, man?"

 "So…"

 "What?"

 "Remember the drawing?"

 "The lotus fl—

 "That's right."

Both shuddered again.

 "Did you feel that, Sebastião?"

 "Y-yeah. It's happening again."

 "Listen, I need you to come to my house. It's something related to this."

 "Alright, I'll be there around midnight. I'm still at work."

 "Okay."