The Chosen One

Adriel and twelve hooded, robed men and women stood, holding hands in a circle, within the large henge stone circle. The Druids stared up into the black, velvet night sky covered with thousands of stars like shining diamonds. Their faces suddenly screwed up, terrified as they watched the stars begin to fall towards them. They break off the circle and instinctively take cover behind the large, sarsen stones of the henge.

 Suddenly, Adriel opens his eyes, sweat pouring down his face as he pulled off the bedclothes from his cold, clammy body. Then the phone rings, he walks downstairs. "Who the heck is phoning me at 3 a.m.?” He shouts.

As he picks up the phone, he hears a crackling, static sound. Then, an echoey voice slowly speaks to him-- “Adriel, Adriel, the time is Nigh!” “Look who the--” the voice stopped suddenly before he could finish. Slamming the phone down, his stomach tightened, and a feeling of foreboding plagued him! He dragged himself upstairs back to bed. Adriel has had these dreams and phone calls now for three days.

Later that afternoon, the knot in his stomach and sense of foreboding soon wore off. However, today excitement gripped him as he prepared to visit his old friend, Lapetus, in Warminster Wiltshire. He had planned on staying with his friend and his sister, Oriana, for a few days.

Finally, after two hours of driving, Adriel arrived in Wiltshire. It was now just a short drive to Warminster. As he drove, memories came flooding back to him of the last time he was there, when he and his parents moved to London some fifteen years ago. They had allowed him to stay overnight at his friend’s parent’s house to say his last goodbyes. 

Coming up, Adriel saw Stonehenge. His heart fluttered as he drove by it, watching its stone shadows lengthening as the sun sank slowly towards the horizon. He always felt an affinity towards it. Hence, it’s mysticism, and he always puzzled why it was built? How the stones got there? And what was its purpose?

But Stonehenge wasn’t the only archaeological structure in Wiltshire that Adriel had on his mind; Tomorrow night, he, Lapetus, and Oriana were camping out by Silbury Hill, a burial mound constructed in ancient times as big as some of the Egyptian pyramids. But their main reason for going there is because it’s a hotspot for UFOs!

 Finally, as Adriel drove into Warminster, he remembered all the good times he had had when he was a child. The town hadn’t changed; there were still the old thatched cottages, the post office, town hall, schools, police station, and grocery stores.

 As he drove further, he spotted his favourite newsagents owned by Mrs. Murphy; she would give him free sweets when he got questions right.

 After driving a mile, Adriel arrived at his friend’s house, which their parents had left them after they had passed on a few years ago.

Suddenly his friend Lapetus came out of the house and greeted him with a hug. Lapetus was now a six-foot, bearded, black-haired man. Compared to the five-foot, clean-shaven young man Adriel had recalled.

“You remember, my ugly sister Oriana don’t you?” said Lapetus as he took Adriel’s bags upstairs to the spare bedroom. Oriana was far from ugly as her brother jested.

“Hello!” Adriel said, staring at a now beautiful green-eyed redhead. Whom he remembered was a thin, spotty young girl. 

Later as they sat eating dinner, they reminisced, and Lapetus brought out an album of photos to show Adriel when they were kids. Adriel had changed from a skinny, freckled face, blond-haired boy to a medium build, curly blond-haired man, nearing thirty.

After preparing for their excursion at Silbury Hill for tomorrow night, they continued their reminiscing and then went to bed.

Shortly afterward, Adriel started dreaming again. He was standing with other robed priests holding hands in a circle. Then they looked up to the night sky; the stars began to fall, but this time they abruptly stopped. The Druids’ face winced when thousands of Adder snakes were dropping everywhere, then the priests rushed to hide behind the stones. Just then, Adriel awoke startled, sweating as he pulled back his bed covers.

Then he got out of bed and went to the bathroom. Just then, his mobile phone rang. As he picked it up, he saw it was 3 a.m, like before. And then it happened he heard a crackling and static sound and an echoey voice say --“Adriel, Adriel!” “The ‘morrow, you will knowest what must be done!” “Do not fear we are with you!” The strange voice said.

Later that morning, at breakfast, Adriel decided to tell his friends about the strange phone calls. “That’s odd!” Remarked Oriana, “Lapetus and I have also had peculiar phone calls the past few days.”

“What do they say?” Asked Adriel. “Well, firstly, there’s a kinda crackle sound, then an echo, and then the voice says as it did this morning at 3 a.m, on both Lapetus’s and my mobile phone: It called out our name twice then spoke, “The ‘morrow, you will knowest what must be done!” Then, “Do not fear we are with you!”

“It’s probably someone messing around or a fruitcake!” Replied Lapetus. 

“And then there are these dreams I keep having,” Said Adriel. “What dreams?” Asked Oriana as she crossed her arms, “Oh, that is spooky!”She replied, her face turning pale” “Come on, Lapetus, you have to admit that’s weird?” 

“Shall I tell him or you?” Said Oriana, turning to Lapetus; he turned away as Oriana told Adriel she and her brother had the same dreams. 

They all sat quietly for a minute. Then Adriel spoke, “What does all this mean?” “I can understand the calls could be a prank, but the dreams, they are a different story!”

“Do you think it could have something to do with our trip to Silbury Hill tonight?”Asked Oriana. “I don’t know!” Said Lapetus, but I’m not going to get freaked out about it; none of us should.” 

“Yes, Lapetus is right; whatever it is, we shouldn’t let it spoil our trip tonight.” Said Adriel.

The night soon came as Lapetus and Oriana prepared their camping gear and all their professional cameras ready for the excursion. Both have been photojournalists for some five years now, but tonight was for their hobby. They have been amateur historians and archaeologists for the past few years now. And have been photographing all the archaeological sites in Wiltshire.

As for Adriel, he was particularly excited and was hoping to see a UFO tonight. So soon, everyone was ready, and they all drove off in Lapetus’s range rover to Silbury Hill.

By now, a giant red-orange ball was setting on the horizon as they drove past the silhouette of Stonehenge. Silbury Hill was just some forty minutes away now. 

After parking the car, the three walked up to a high vantage point and pitched their tent. Unfortunately, it was nearly completely dark save for some of the brightest stars in the Milky Way. So they turned on their torches to set up their cameras on tripods. Everything was okay; there was hardly any wind, and the forecast was for mild weather and no rain for the next few days.

“So, have either of you seen one of these UFOs?” Asked Adriel excitedly. “I’ve seen a few funny lights, which can’t have been airplanes!” Replied Oriana. “No, I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary!” Said Lapetus.

“Still, we live in hope!” Said, Oriana.

“If you look to your right Adriel,” said Lapetus pointing to what seemed to be a large silhouetted hill. "So that is Silbury Hill, the large burial mound!”

“Wow,” said Adriel.

An hour had passed with no unusual sightings.

“Cheese and tomato sandwich, anyone?”Asked Oriana. Handing out sandwiches in foil to Adriel and Lapetus.

“I’ll get the hot coffee!” Said Lapetus going to the tent to fetch the flask. Just then, Lapetus saw both Oriana and Adriel excited as they looked through the binoculars. He could see an orange blob with pulsating blue lights around the object to the South-West.

“Quick! let me get some photos of it!” Shouted Lapetus, passing the flask to Oriana; as he pressed the shutter on his camera, taking multiple photos a second. Finally, the object seemed to disappear, going behind some trees.

“That was fun!” Said Adriel drinking his coffee. 

“I have never seen anything like that before!” He continued.

 “Yes, me neither!” Replied Oriana. 

“It certainly looked odd!” Said Lapetus. 

An hour later, it was midnight, then,--“wait a minute!” What’s that over there!” Shouted Adriel, pointing in the direction of some farmland towards the South-East.

Lapetus and now Oriana operated their cameras and fired off dozens of film frames of the weird white, spherical object. Suddenly two more identical objects joined up with it. Then they started moving up and down like a yo-yo.

“This is unbelievable!”Remarked Adriel. “Yes, we have never seen anything like this all the years we have been coming here!” Said, Oriana. “Look!” Shouted Lapetus.

“They seem to be firing beams of light into the cornfield over there!”

Then the mysterious objects seem to fade away behind Silbury Hill. “That’s brilliant!” “We have got lots of footage of these UFOs.”Said Lapetus. “Great!” “We can look at the photos and video tomorrow!” Replied Adriel. 

“Well, it’s gone 2 ‘o’clock, yawned Oriana; I’m tired, I’m going to bed!” Adriel and Lapetus soon followed her after putting the cameras away in the car.

As all three of them lay in their beds in the tent, they began dreaming the same dream; this time, Adriel held both Oriana and Lapetus’s hands in the circle with a group of other Druids. Then they all stared up at the sky, but there weren’t any stars visible! Instead, there was a blank, velvet, black sky. Then a massive golden globe craft appeared and came down, forcing the druids to hide behind the stones.

Three tall figures in white, with their faces blurred, came out of the craft and floated towards the Silbury Hill mound. A couple of doors materialised and opened, whereby one of the figures went through one of them into the burial site.

Soon there was a beeping sound; Waking up Adriel, Oriana, and Lapetus from their dream. They all opened their sleeping bags to check their phones-- it was 3 a.m.

They all heard the sound of crackling, and an echoed voice slowly said --“In the ‘morrow, check the cornfields, seek, and ye shall find the answer!” “Remember, we are by your side; you have nothing to fear!”

“This is ridiculous!” Said Lapetus. “I’m going back to sleep!” With that, they all went to sleep.

“What do you make of that phone call early this morning?” Said Oriana to Adriel. “I don’t know what to make of it!” He Replied. Then Oriana started talking about the dream she had in the morning. Adriel suddenly cut in,” I had the same dream!” Then Lapetus sighed and reluctantly told them he, too, had the same dream.

“I mean, why us?” “Sure, I know something about the Druids; I have written a short book about them, and you Oriana and Lapetus are keen amateur archaeologists!” Said Adriel. “Yes, why doesn’t this weirdo contact a true expert, like a professor or something?”Replied Lapetus. 

“Your quiet, Oriana!” Said Lapetus. Oriana sipped her tea and then answered. “I have often wondered why our parents gave us our unusual names.” She replied.

“What do ya mean, Oriana?” Asked Lapetus.

“Well, come on, have you forgotten, all our names are Druid-related!” She said. “My name means Golden or light. 

Lapetus yours means to wound or to pierce and a Druid warrior. And Adriel, your name means God’s helper!” I know this because Mum told me one day when I was about fifteen.” Both Lapetus and Adriel suddenly remembered the meaning of their names.“Yes, you’re right, Oriana, I had forgotten that! Said Adriel, and Lapetus nodded in agreement. “Yes, I recall my Mum saying she thought it would be a nice idea too, to have a Druid name !” Replied Adriel.

“We forget that Mum got a degree in ancient British archaeology at university.”Said, Oriana. “I remember she said she believed our ancestors were druids!” “Yer, but Dad disagreed with that.” Replied Lapetus. “Yes!”Said Oriana, "he wasn't convinced!"

“Well, this is all very interesting, but it doesn’t help us to know who this wacko is who keeps phoning us!” Said Adriel. “Anyway, we need to check the photos and video of these objects, don’t we and, then, go to the cornfields? He continued.

As they sat in the tent, they checked over the images of the UFOs. "All the exposures are good, said Oriana, but they are just of bright lights, no detail of what’s behind them!” “How about the videos?” Asked Adriel. 

“I’m afraid they are no better, look for yourself. So replied a disappointed Lapetus.” Adriel checked the screen and only could see bright blobs. 

“Right, how far away are these cornfields?” Asked Adriel

“About a mile or so!” Replied Oriana. “It’s a good day for a walk.”She smiled.

“We better take a camera!” Said Lapetus, “oh, and the Geiger counter too!” Oriana grabbed the Geiger counter from the car.

“There’s the cornfield!” Shouted, Lapetus.”Let’s cut through this tall grass path." The three of them continued walking until they came up to a low, wooden fence. They then climbed over it and stood staring at the golden cornfield.

As they moved in closer, Oriana spotted something. “Look there!” she pointed. “Yer!” Said Lapetus, the crops have been flattened by something!” Oriana got out the Geiger counter and scanned over the crop circle. Suddenly there was a loud static, beeping sound. “Yes, whatever flattened these crops must have been radioactive!” Said, Oriana.

“Maybe it was those light beams coming from those lights that caused it!” Remarked Adriel. “Yer could be!” Said Lapetus. “I’ll take some photos. “It must be about thirty meters in diameter.”Said, Oriana. “Of course, if we could get an aerial view, we’d see if there is any symbolism or diagrams in the crop circle!" She said.

“Let’s go back now and make a plan of action for tonight!” Said Lapetus.

As Oriana was in the tent, she checked over the photos, Lapetus had taken earlier of the crop circle. “Hey guys, quickly come and look at these!” She shouted excitedly.

“What is It, Oriana?”Asked Lapetus as he and Adriel both rushed into the tent. “It’s a diagram of Silbury Hill with what looks like three druids standing outside!” She explained.“What the heck!” Said Adriel as he and Lapetus stared at the camera screen.

“We couldn’t see a thing on the crop circle when we were there!” Said Adriel. “Well, somehow, the camera has picked up this image! Said, Oriana. 

“This gets weirder every day!” Replied Lapetus. 

“Don’t you see?” Said Oriana, “whoever they are, they want the three of us to go down to Silbury hill tonight!”

“Luckily, it’s a full moon tonight! We will be able to see more easily when we go down there!” Said Lapetus.

“Alright, have we got everything, cameras, torches, phones?"Asked Lapetus.

Just as the sun was setting, they walked down nervously to Silbury Hill.

They now used the moonlight and their torches to see the trees, rocks, and bushes as they bypassed them. Half an hour had passed when ahead of them, they saw the silhouette of the giant mound of Silbury Hill. Finally, they stood at the foot of the hill and looked dwarfed by its immense size.

“It’s fantastic!” Said Adriel as he gazed up at the mound.

“Of course, it’s much better in daylight!” Said, Oriana. 

“Well, we are probably wasting our time!” Replied Lapetus,” “I’m going to give it an hour if nothing happens, we should go back to the tent.”He said.

“Oriana, let’s re-check our cameras and make sure everything is okay!” Said Lapetus. Then they sat on a nearby rock waiting impatiently. “Who’s for a hot coffee?” Asked Oriana, bringing out her flask. Both Adriel and Lapetus put out their hands. Suddenly, they heard the sound of hoota! hoot! “Oh, it’s okay. It’s only an owl!” Said Lapetus. As heard the bird flap its wings in a nearby tree.

An hour passed, then an hour and a half. “Right, guys, shall we go?” “I knew this was a bad idea!” Said Lapetus.

“Wait a minute, what’s that orange light over there?” shouted Adriel, pointing toward the cornfield. 

"Quickly hide behind the rock; it’s zooming over to here!” 

Shouted Lapetus. “It’s coming down!” Oriana screeched.

A gust of wind hit them as the now pulsating, golden globe craft landed next to the mound.

Lapetus started to take photos, but he felt a strange electric current vibrate through his hand, forcing him to drop his camera. And Oriana couldn't move her body as she trembled. However, Adriel also felt something, but a kind of benign energy, that made him feel unafraid.

Just then, the UFO Seemed to fire out two beams of white light at the base of the mound. Then after a few seconds, the beams shut off, leaving what appeared to be two doorways in the mound. There was a haunting silence, and then Adriel heard the familiar echoey voice again. “Adriel, Adriel, you must choose which door to go through!” With that, he slowly walked over to the mound and stood in front of the two doors.

He paused for a moment, feeling he had been here before. By this time, Oriana and Lapetus seemed calmer as they stared at him. Adriel had made his decision. He turned and looked at his friends, smiled, and they smiled back at him, then he disappeared through the left portal.

                                          End