The Switch

This chapter is beta'd by bloodyxunicorns.

Chapter one


Eric Kendell fired two bullets at the monster lying beneath his feet. He turned to his friend. "Is that the last one?"

His friend shook his head. "There’s one more down at the lab."

"Shit!" Eric cursed, dashing down the stairs.

"ERIC! DON’T GO NEAR THE MACHINE!"

Eric was already half-way down the stairs when his friend shouted out to him. Fuck, today was not his day. Why the hell did he have to take on this job? Eric thought as he took the last step. He checked to see if he had enough bullets first before going to the lab at the end of the hall. Satisfied that he had enough, Eric made his way slowly toward his destination, keeping his back against the wall in case there were any more of those creepy, slimy monsters that had attacked him earlier. He kept his gun ready to shoot.

Eric took a deep breath and slowly pushed the door opened. Slowly stepping inside, he kept alert the whole time. It was when he was surveying the room that he saw the other door swing back and forth. Hesitantly, he made his way there. A sound of glass hitting the floor and shattering to pieces came from inside. Eric took a deep breath, making sure that his gun was still ready, in-case he needed to shoot. Then, he barged in, aiming to fire.

Standing inside the room was not a monster, though, but his own brother. He lowered his gun and marched up to him, worried and angry. "What the hell are you doing here?"


Erin took his brother’s hand and led him to a machine that was egg-shaped. Erin then reached into his lab coat and placed a gold key in his brother’s hand, smiling weakly before shoving him straight into the machine and locking him inside. Eric was stunned.

"Find the gate Eric," Erin told him as he pulled the switch.

Eric pounded on the door, demanding that his brother let him out. As he hit the door, he wondered what the hell his brother had said, and why. While he was pounding even harder, he saw his brother pull the switch.

"No... "

Erin clutched his stomach and fell to his knees. "Shit, it hurt like hell," he muttered.
Suddenly the machine in front of him made a loud beeping sound. Erin struggled to get to his feet so that he could reach the switch near the door. With one hand on his wounded stomach, Erin gripped the switch and turned it. He heard a click and then, the door slid open. Erin fell to his knees once more, but a hand came out and caught him before he hit the floor. Erin looked up and saw the most handsome man he had ever laid his eyes on.

"Hey, don’t die on me yet. You need to tell me where the hell I am," Garrick said to the boy in his arms.

A crashing sound from the other room got his attention before he could do or say anything more. Picking up the boy, he carried him over his shoulder. The boy was as light as a feather. He wondered how much the boy weighed. Looking around the lab, he tried to figure out what the hell all this stuff was, and where the door could be.
Suddenly a Gia leapt out to try to attack him. He stepped toward the side in the nick of time. Drawing out a sword that was hanging on his right side, he charged at it. It was killed within two seconds. He had cut it in half.

"What the hell is a Gia doing here?" Garrick wondered aloud. He looked away from the dead Gia and went in search of a way out of the this strange building. The boy he was carrying began to stir as he walked.

Erin slowly opened his eyes as he gained consciousness. He immediately became aware that he was being carried.

"You, awake boy?" Garrick asked him.

"Yes," Erin sighed out.

"Good. Now tell me, where the hell am I, and what the hell is this place?"

"Before I answer that, can you tell me who the hell are you?" Erin asked, looking up at the man.

"My name’s Garrick. Prince of Shira," Garrick told him as he went up the stairs.

"Where did you come from?" Erin asked, trying to get as much information as possible.

"Are you daft boy? Didn’t I just say that I was Prince of Shira? Don’t tell me you never heard of my country?" He asked, shocked.

"Oh, God, oh God. You came from another world! Shit!" Erin cursed. "Put me down; we have to get back to the lab."

"I’m afraid we can’t boy," Garrick told him, his nose picking up the disgusting smell of a Gia.

"Why the hell not?" Erin shouted, exasperated. He didn’t see why.
"Well, boy, it looks like we are surrounded by Gia."

"What!"

Garrick put his sword in front of him in a fighting position. "Hold on tight to me if you don’t want to die," Garrick commanded as he lounged forward and attacked.

Erin held on for dear life. He couldn’t die yet! He had to get this man back to his world and wait for Eric to return to their world with the box. Shit, did he even send Eric to the right place? He hoped to God that he did, or else they would be doomed.

===============


Eric screamed as he fell from the sky, landing right into the arms of a man with gray eyes and long dark hair that had a bit of silver on the side. The man was gorgeous, which equaled dangerous in his logic. The man stared down at him with a dumbfounded expression, as if trying to figure out what the hell happened, and why he fell from the sky.

Zephyr stared at the man in his arms, completely dumbfounded. Never in his life would he expect a man this beautiful to fall from the sky and land right in his arms. It was like this man was sent down from heaven for him. The man, he noticed, had vivid blue eyes and blond hair. His lips was the colour of pink roses. He just couldn’t stop staring at the man in his arms. Not until he heard the man speak. He spoke in a language that he couldn’t understand.

"I’m sorry, but could you put me down?" Eric asked, beginning to feel very uncomfortable and annoyed with being carried.

"What did you say?" Zephyr asked in his own language.

Oh God, the man didn’t even speak Phala! Now that was great! How the hell was he going to get him to put him down, let alone ask the man where the hell he was?

Eric sighed out. He looked up, trying to communicate with him through his hands. The man only gave him a puzzled look when he pointed to himself, then at the ground. It took Zephyr a little longer to try to get what the boy was trying to tell him. When he finally figured out what the boy was saying, he turned to his side and set him down on the ground. He had been on his horse when the boy fell, so it was a bit more difficult to sit him down without causing any harm.

"Thank you; for catching me," he told him, then smacked himself on the head for forgetting that the man couldn’t understand a word out of his mouth. So he chose to bow to the man to show his appreciation, instead. Zephyr reached down and lifted the boy’s head up with his hand, then leaned down and kissed him on the lips. Eric’s eyes widened in surprise. His first reaction was to hit the man, but the man pulled away from him before he could lay a fist or two on him.
"A taste of your lips is all the thanks I need," Zephyr told him, grinning.

Eric had no idea what the hell the man had just said. Zephyr turned his horse and waved to the boy before he took off. Eric’s hand went to his mouth. Shit, this was the first time that he was kissed by a man. Eric decided to forget about the man and the kiss that was stolen from him. He turned and took a look around him, knowing more important things needed settled. He was in a strange place, he knew. Now to figure out why the hell his brother sent him here, and how to get home was on his agenda. Eric put his hand on his hip. He better get moving now if he wanted to find his way home soon.
============
Zephyr slid off his horse and handed the reins to the stable boy. He strode inside, heading straight to the room on top of the castle. He took the stairs two at a time, opening the door without knocking.

"Alina, I need to know right at this very moment where the key is?"

"My lord, you are a wizard with great magic. Why do you need the key?"

Zephyr went over toward the window. "Alina, I may have great magic, but that does not make me invincible or will it help me rescue my mother from that terrible place. Now, tell me where is the key? I need to get my hands on that box."

"Very well, my lord," said Alina, pulling out her crystal ball and gazing into it. "My lord, there is no need for you to look for the key, for the key will come to you."

Zephyr strode over to Alina. "What do you mean the key will come to me, Alina?"

"I’m sorry my lord, I cannot tell you more then that. All I can say is this: Be patient, and you will get your key. But I must warn you that it will come with a sacrifice."

Zephyr walked to the door."I don’t care what I have to sacrifice, as long as I get that key and rescue my mother." He opened the door and left.
======
Eric scooped the cold water and splashed it on his face. Oh God, that feels very refreshing, Eric thought. He splashed some more water on to his face. It was when he was about to splash more that he heard the sound of a twig snapping nearby. Tensing, he slowly reached for the log next to him. At a time like this, he really wished that he had his gun with him. It would’ve made him feel safer, more protected knowing he could defend himself better. But thanks to that brother of his, he was stuck in a strange place with nothing to protect himself with except a piece of log. How pathetic could that be?

As soon as he got a hold of the log next to him, a monster that was all too familiar to him, leaped out and attacked him. He blocked the monster’s big sharp teeth with the log, just in time before it could get at him. Shit! Why the hell are these things here, he wondered as he tried to push the monster off of him. "Fuck!" He cursed as the monster raised its hand and brought it down toward him. Shit, there was no way he was going to be killed by this monster, Eric decided as he struggled to get the monster off of him.

The monster managed to sink its teeth into his flesh. He screamed out loud in pain. Shit, that hurt like hell. When he thought that this was it for him, the monster suddenly let him go and disappeared into the woods. What the hell was that all about? He wondered. Why the hell did it let him go without killing him? Eric got up, but soon after, he collapsed into the stream and lost consciousness from the pain he received from the monster’s bite. He laid unconscious in the stream, while his blood flowed out from his wound.

A person wearing a black cape found him and picked him up, carrying him off while he slept.

================

Garrick stood in the middle, counting how many Gia he had taken down. Twenty, that wasn’t as much as he had thought when they attacked him. He turned to the boy that was sitting on the floor near the wall, hugging his legs to his chest. Garrick walked over and picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder.

"Ouch! That hurts, you idiot."

"Don’t tell me that you got hurt boy."

"Of course I am you idiot! I was attacked before you even got here!" The boy half-screamed.

"That’s too bad boy; now tell me, which way is out?" He asked flippantly, as if he didn’t care.

"We have to get back down stairs to the lab, or else I can’t send you back," Erin told him, serious.

"Look here boy, if we go back down there, we will run into more Gia. Now, be a smart boy and point me to the way out."

Erin sighed. He would have to wait to return this man back to where he came from. "Go up one more flight of stairs, there, you will see a door that leads us out."

Garrick smiled, then slapped Erin’s butt, shocking the boy who gasped aloud. "Now you are thinking smart. Let’s get out of here."