I'm restarting my old story. I actually plan on finishing this one. It's going to be more in detail than the last one.
Here's the first chapter

A young man is found in a ditch near a highway. The man is unconscious and also has several injuries. A kind tourist notices him and quickly phones the nearest hospital. No one has any idea who he is or how he got there. He carries no identification. The only thing unique about this man is his armband. It has several intricate designs and it cannot be removed. After a few hours in the hospital his injuries heal and his condition improves. A young doctor is given the task of watching over him. This man’s story begins a couple minutes after this doctor has left the room.


A bright light is shining through my eyelids. I hear a steady beeping to my left. When I open my eyes the harsh sun glowing outside the window nearly blinds me. I try to stand up yet I feel a slight resistance from my arm. An IV tube is hooked into my wrist. That’s odd. IV tubes went obsolete years ago… I wheel the system along with me to the window. The cars passing by on the road are of older makes from over 50 years ago. I look down and there are two floors below me. Too far to jump without injury. The door opens behind me but I am lost in my thoughts so I don’t notice.

“I see you’re finally awake.”

The voice behind me makes me jump.

“Did I startle you? I apologize. I’m your doctor. Taylor Elrick. Since you’re awake I need to ask you a few questions.” She politely states.

“Such as?”

‘Well we can start off with what is your name and if you have anyone we can contact.” Taylor replies with a more serious look.

“I can answer the first one for certain, as for the second one I don’t know. I’m Augustus Price.”

“ Alright thank you. I do have another question however. Do you know why you were in a ditch when you were found?”

“Beats me. I don’t even know where we are right now.”

“We’re in Savior Hospital, St Thomas, Canada. We’re surprised you didn’t catch hypother-“ Taylor stops mid-sentence as a watch on her wrist begins beeping.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Where would I go? It’s not like I’m going out the windows. We’re 3 stories up.”

“Just stay here okay.” She promptly leaves the room and shut the door behind her. I look back out the window. A couple of dark vans pull into the parking lot. Several men in suits step out with stern faces. The door opens behind the doctor returns to the room.

“It looks like you’re free to go. One of my friends has offered you a place to stay that is, if you don’t have a place to sleep for the night. The hospital won’t let you stay here if you are well and you look perfectly fine to me.”

“If I had a place to stay it isn’t in Canada. How far away is this friend from here?”

“Far enough that I will have to drive you. My shift just ended, let’s go.” She undoes the IV from my arm and hands me a bag with my stuff in it. She leaves the room allowing me some privacy. Inside the bag are my clothes and I quickly changed into them. Taylor returns to the room with a worried look.

“Hurry up, we need to leave.” We exit the room and down the hall I hear someone ask about new patients. I look for the source and it’s one of the men from the van. Taylor leads me the opposite direction. We head down two flights of stairs and head out a back exit. She leads me to her car and motions for me to get in. We exit the parking lot and pull into the highway.

We drive for a couple of hours then turn onto a gravel-paved road. Eventually a large building looms over the horizon. As we get closer I am able to make out more details. It is a 3-story mansion that covers a large area of the surrounding land. A tree line around it leads into a forest to the sides and back of the building. The building itself looked to be brick and lights were on in several of the windows. We pull into the entrance and a small sign on one of the trees reads The Refuge. Taylor parks the car and steps out. I get out of the car and follow her into the mansion.

“Who is this friend exactly? And why where you so generous to me?”

“I have a feeling you’ll know them when you meet them. As for the second question… I can’t answer that right now.”

Taylor leads me through the house. Several people look out of their rooms at Taylor and me. We get to the end of the hall and reach a door.

“This will be where you stay. Your room number is 28. Here’s your key. I’ll show you around tomorrow.”

Taylor turns around and heads down the hall. She eventually walks into a room a few doors down. I turn back around to my door and open it. It’s an average sized room with two beds across from each other. The room itself is symmetrical with a desk on each side as well as a nightstand for each bed. I look through the drawers of the nightstand and find a journal and a pencil. I write my name on the front and return it to the nightstand. I look to the desk and find a computer. When I boot it up I change it’s preferences to suit myself. It was an extremely old operating system then what I was used to. I’m glad my father was able to teach me about his operating systems when he was a kid. When I look at the clock on the computer to check the time I froze. It was 40 years behind from the time it should be. I glance at a calendar on the wall. It was the same date.

The realization of this hits me faster than a bullet train. I was in the ditch because I somehow travelled back in time. But the real question was how did I manage that. And why was I so injured?











End of Chapter 1

 

I didn’t sleep that night. Part of me didn’t want to believe what happened. The very thought of me being here seemed surreal. I had been ripped away from my friends and family and tossed into this unknown time. Also what would happen if I messed something up? Would I cease to exist? What if I somehow managed to hurt someone and that someone turned out to be my grandfather or something. Would I be the embodiment of that one para-

“Hello Augustus? I was sent to get you.”

The voice at the door drove me away from those terrible thought momentarily. I turn around to face it.

“Oh hello Taylor. Where are we going now?”

She looks at me then around the room.

“Did you sleep at all last night? You look terrible.”

“Let’s just go.” I reply angrily.

Taylor leads me down the hall and up two flights of stairs. I was surprised that I made it up those last steps. The fatigue from yesterday and this morning finally set in.

“Do you need some help? You look like you’re about to fall over.”

“I’m fine just… Let’s go alright?”

She leads me down to the left to a set of double doors. She opens them but doesn’t head inside.

“It’s alright. You’ll be fine.” She tells me as she shuts the doors behind me. I look around at my surroundings. There’s a large desk in the middle of the room and bookshelves adorn the walls. A couple of chairs sit in front of the desk. Behind the desk is a chair facing the wall behind it.

“Sit down Augustus. I feel as if I may be able to answer some of your questions.” A voice states from the chair

The chair spins around and I am faced with a man in his early forties. He has a stern look in his eyes along with an indifferent expression. I sit down in the chair on the left side of the desk. On the man’s desk are a few various items. But sitting in the middle of the desk is a nameplate that reads “Max Price.”

“Let me answer that question for you. Yes I am your grandfather. But as for how you got here that is for you to find out for yourself.”

“How did you find me? And why did you want to find me.”

“Let’s just say we have some special abilities here at The Refuge. The men and women here are different than your average human beings. They all have certain gifts in specific skills. Myself for instance is predicting the future as well as interpreting dreams and past events. A couple of the people here are skilled in locating things as well as people. A few years back I had a vision of young man being found in a ditch. He would help battle a force unbeknownst to me at the time. When the local news reported on you being found I asked Taylor to locate you and bring you back here. The hope is that you can find out your gift soon.”

“What is this force you keep speaking about?”

“I assume you noticed those suits while you were at the hospital?

“Yes I did in fact. I’m surprised they didn’t notice us.”

“I am as well. Would you like me to explain who they are?”

“It’s not like I have anything else planned for the day. I just got here.”

“Alright, this might take a while to explain. Those men were part of a covert organization. They have attacked several of the people here while they were out simply shopping and visiting family members. We don’t know who their leader is but we do know that their main base is not located in Canada. Their plan is to slowly unite the governments of the world into a totalitarian one and take control. It’s no giant war but I know that if we do not stop them it will cause anarchy throughout this planet. They haven’t made a move yet for a while so I hope I can use this time to find your skill. Most of the people here learned what their skill was by exploring the forest behind the mansion. It’s cold out so I would take that coat.”

He gestures to a coat hanging on a hook near the door. I take it off the hook and put it on. It was a fairly light coat but in the few seconds of having it on I was already starting to warm up.

“Be careful out there. Everyone who has gone out there has returned, but some not entirely uninjured. Take the door on the right after you get to the first floor. Good luck August.”

“Thanks… I guess…”

When I open the door Taylor is no longer there. I head back to the stairs and descend to the first floor. I open the door to the right and step outside. The forest is several yards from the door. I start my journey. I have no idea where I am going but for some reason I know I’m not lost. I pass several clearings and find each one to have various bits of odd items. It must have been where the others before me found out their skills. My feet continue to take me farther north.

After what seems to be a couple of hours I reach a large clearing with a cave set into a hill. Against my better judgment I head inside. A light is glowing at the end. As I get closer the light begins to glow brighter. Eventually I reach a small lake. A large boulder sits in the middle. I head closer. When I reach the edge of the rock the ground begins to shake. Slowly a large stone bridge rises from the bottom of the water. The bridge leads directly to the boulder in the center. I step onto the bridge and follow it to the middle of the lake.

When I reach it I see a shape fairly reminiscent of the hilt of a sword. I reach for it without thinking. The sword seems to be set deep into the boulder. Yet when I go to retrieve it I face no resistance. The blade itself glows softly yet reassuringly. I look around for a scabbard for a few moments and find one that fits the sword perfectly. I string it on my back like a baldric. The bracelet on my wrist begins to glow as well. When I touch it my sword hand I am blinded by the light from the bracelet. When I finally regain my sight the bracelet had turned into a large shield. I touch the bracelet again and it turns back into my normal armband. I head back across the bridge and out of the cave. But when I am back in the clearing a large beast attacks me. I leap away just in time. I look back at my aggressor and almost drop the sword. A large bear looking to be over 14 feet tall looms over me. I follow an impulse and dive the left. The bear slashes the space where I was moments before. I dive around the bear’s side and cut the leg deep enough to make it almost fall over. Another roll and I slash its other side. The bear falls to the ground as I jump onto the base of the neck to finish it. There is several gunshots the bear’s back. I drive my sword into the base of the beast’s skull putting an end to its pain. I yank my sword out and put it into its sheath. After that I make my way back to the mansion. It takes an hour but I make it back the mansion grounds. I open the door and walk back to my room. Nobody even looks at me as I head down the hall. When I finally reach my room I collapse on the bed and promptly fall asleep.

















End of Chapter 2

 

The alarm clock next to me on the nightstand wakes me up. The sword was still on my back as I forgot to put it up before I had passed out. I stand up and look around my room. It seemed the same but something felt odd. I walk around the room and head to open the door. But before I do it’s opened from the other side. Standing in my doorway is a man looking to be in his late 20’s. In his left hand is a small package.

“Are you Augustus? I was sent to give this to you.” The man hands me the package.

“Thanks… Who sent it?”

“It’s signed somewhere. I’m just the mailman for this place.”

“Alright. Thanks again.”

As he walks off I shut the door and head back into my room. The package itself was only about the size of my hand. I sit down on my bed and carefully open the paper wrapping it. I looked for the signature on the paper but didn’t find anything that looked remotely like a name. After I tossed the paper into the trash I was left with a small black box. Inside the box was a golden pocket watch. Also inside the box was a small slip of paper

Use this only when you need it most.

There was no signature anywhere on the paper or inside the box. I put the paper back in the box and move the box onto a shelf above the desk. Next I examine the watch itself. It is engraved with several intricate designs. The designs themselves were the same as the ones on my bracelet. I press the button on the top to reveal the clock itself. Again it has the same designs as the casing on the clock face. Conveniently it was already set to the correct time. I place the watch in pocket and attach the chain to one of my belt loops. As I go to stand up I notice a note on my desk.

Come to my office when you wake up –Max Price

I pick up the note and head out my door. As I walk down the hall I get strange looks from the people in the rooms around me. I ignore them and continue on towards the staircase. Once I reach the third floor I head towards Max’s office. The doors were already open and I could see people other than my grandfather inside. There were two other than my grandfather, one woman and one man, and they all seemed to be arguing about something. I wait until the man and woman get up and leave to head into the office.

“Hey Max, you wanted me?”

“Ah yes you did get my note. I would you to tell me what happened yesterday. It’s always interesting to hear how people find out their gifts.”

“Well I found a sword in a cave, then when I walked out a giant bear attacked me. I managed to dodge around in and kill it. The bear itself had gunshot wounds in its back. That is probably the reason why it attacked me in the first place.”

“Anything special about the sword?”

“When I found it is was in the middle of an underground lake stuck in a boulder. As I neared the edge of the water a stone bridge rose out of the bottom of the lake that lead directly to the center.”

“May I see the sword?”

“Sure but you’re not going to touch it.”

I unsheathe the sword and hold it out in my hands. Max studies the sword and after awhile seems content with the sword.

“Did your bracelet do anything special? They both have the same markings.”

“Ah yes it turns into a shield.” I demonstrate this to Max. He again examines it and after a few minutes asks me to deactivate it. He then sits back in his chair and looks to be lost in his thoughts.

“These markings look familiar yet I can’t seem to remember what they are from. Oh and thank you for letting me look at them. I’ll start looking through my books to find out what they are from. If I learn anything I’ll let you know. For now I wouldn’t carry the sword on your back. Maybe it’s able to convert to a bracelet like your shield?”

“I’ll see what I can do. Bye Max.”

I head out of his office and shut the doors behind me. Again as I walk down the hall I get odd looks from the people in the rooms lining the halls. I continue my walk and reach my room. I close my door behind me and lock my door. I look around my room. Sitting next to my nightstand was a small fridge. I looked inside and found several sandwiches inside. I grab one and sit down at my desk. After taking a few bites of the sandwich I set the sword on the desk. The sword itself doesn’t seem to have anything that would look to change it. But as I examine it I notice a small indention on the bottom of the pommel. Hoping nothing bad will happen I press the bottom of the pommel. Another blinding light similar to the one when my bracelet first changed filled my vision. The weight of the sword was gone and my right arm felt a little heavier. Once my vision returned a bracelet identical to the one on my left arm was on my right. I finish eating my sandwich and grab another one from the fridge. After that sandwich was gone I felt dizzy and fell over on the ground. As I fell my head hit the side of the bed causing me to fall unconscious.









End of Chapter 3

 

I wake up in a small pool of my own blood. The wound itself wasn’t entirely large but I will probably need stitches. I slowly stand up and grab the edge of my bed to support myself. I roll onto the bed and sit against the wall. Nothing in my room looks to be able to help with the bleeding. I look over at my door. It was only a few steps but for me it seemed like miles. Alas, it was my only way to safety and proper treatment. I swing my weight across my bed and land on the floor and begin to crawl towards the door. To me it felt like hours but I finally manage to make it to the door. As I near it my vision starts to fade. Just before I lost consciousness again I unlock the door and turn the knob. The door pulls into the room far enough to get my hand out. When I finally pass out my arm is through the doorway and a little bit out into the hallway.





I wake in what seems to be my room. I sit up from the bed and look around. A man was sitting at the desk and appeared to be sleeping. I feel the spot on my head where I hit it. The skin was together and I felt no scar or anything. Almost like I had never actually hit my head. But when I look at the corner of my bedpost I still see a little bit of head blood. The pool of blood where I had fallen was gone as well. So was my fridge. I sighed at the loss. The food in it may have been poisoned but it was still a good mini-fridge. The man in the chair stops snoring and wakes up. It was Max.


“Hello Augustus. Did you have a good rest?”


“As good as a person who busted their head open and then passes out.”


“Yeah about that… We analyzed those sandwiches someone sent you. It wasn’t a poison. Turns out you are allergic to one of the ingredients in it. Sorry no-ones trying to kill you yet.”


“Well that’s anti-climatic. Here I was thinking there was some conspiracy against me by the other refugees.” We both laugh at my comment.


“Alright. You’ll need to be more careful. Just ask someone if you need help. I’ll usually be in my office. See you later August.”


“Bye Max. Oh, I almost forgot. Did you find anything on those markings?”


“Nothing yet I’m afraid. I’ll tell you if I do though.”


I lay back in the bed. The rest of the day was uneventful. Several people came in to check on me including Taylor and others I didn’t know. The mailman brought a letter but I didn’t bother with opening it. I fell asleep like a normal that night.


I woke up the next day and changed into a fresh pair of clothes. The letter was still sitting on my desk unopened. I carefully used a letter opener in the desk to cut it open. Inside was a small piece of paper. All that was written on it was “Sorry about the sandwiches. “ No signature was anywhere. The letter was printed so I wasn’t able to recognize the handwriting. I fold the paper up nicely and store it in the desk along with the letter opener. After that I grab my jacket and leave the room.


I leave the mansion and head to the forest. Slowly I make my way back to cave where I found the sword. The body of the bear was no longer in the clearing. When I head back into the cave the light was still shining. I walked around the final corner and stopped. Around the lake are thousands of fireflies. I hear footsteps behind me.


“Marvelous isn’t it?” I nearly fall over into the lake from fright.


“Geez you scared me.” I turn around and look at the source of the voice. I did not recognize the person.


“Who are you? I’ve never seen you before in the Refuge.”


“You haven’t seen a lot of people in the Refuge so that claim doesn’t really work. But for future reference I’m Stephen. I was the one who sent the fridge. Again I am sorry about the sandwiches. I didn’t realize you were allergic to something in it.”


“It’s alright. Nothing too serious. Hey, how did you find this place?”


“I followed you out here the first time. You were a rookie and Max wanted to make sure you didn’t get too hurt. He also told me not to interfere if it wasn’t serious.”


“Ah, thanks for that I guess.”


“Oh I almost forgot. Would you like a new mini-fridge? This one won’t have anything in it though. I can show you where to get food when you get back to the mansion. I’m in room 4. First floor. I’m heading back now. Bye August.”


“Bye Stephen. See you later.”


Once I made sure he left the cave I head out onto the bridge. After I reach the boulder I look around for any marks. Somehow when I was first here I managed to miss a lever on the back of the boulder. I pull the lever. The ground shakes again. Another stone bridge rises out of the lake and leads to the other side. A bright light shines on the other side of the bridge. I head towards the light. When I reach I find a small amulet on a stone pedestal. The markings on the amulet were the same as the ones on the bracelets and watch. I take the amulet and put it around my neck. It didn’t do anything at the moment but I felt I wouldn’t need it to do anything right now. I make my way across the bridge and out of the cave. Eventually I find the mansion. As I was walking out of the lobby my stomach growled louder than the bear that attacked me that second day. I looked around for Stephen’s room. It was the first door from the left. I knock and he opens the door.


“Oh hey August. You looking for food? Follow me.”


He leads the way to the other end of the first floor. A set of double doors is at the end. Stephen opens the doors to reveal a large banquet hall. Hundreds of platters line the tables. He hands me a basket.


“Take what you need and more. I already had the fridge delivered to your room.”


“Thank you so much man. I probably wouldn’t have found this without you.”


I then proceed to grab enough food to feed an entire family for a year and bring it back to my room. After a few minutes I manage to fit it all inside my fridge. I make a small dinner and eat the entire plate. For the first time since I arrived here I had eaten a full meal and not gotten injured from it. I jump into my bed and fall asleep.























End of Chapter 4