Three: The Ring

Ethan remembers what brought him here.

Ethan looked around for a moment, confused by everything that had just taken place, and then his memory came flooding back. Tabitha, the old lady who had left him a box. He, the idiot who opened it. 

2 minutes ago

Ethan was always pretty awful at self-control, and there was a freaking unopened box in front of him! Of course, he couldn't resist it, and what he found inside he believed to be his reward. 

Now, he didn't know much about wood, but even he could tell that the box was much older than he would be able to guess. Yet, as he opened it there were no creaks, no splinters, and no hard pulling required. Instead, it seemed more like it wanted to be opened. 

He was greeted by a crimson velvet-lined interior, with a ring sitting directly in the middle. As he narrowed his gaze on the circular piece of silver, it began to glow with an increasingly bright pinkish hue. Ethan squinted as he tried to focus on the light's source. The ring was encrusted with a logo of sorts. He couldn't make it out clearly at first, but the longer he looked at it, the more it made sense. The Star of David was one he knew well, from the embattled country that often sprung up on his social media feeds. Yet, there was something else in the middle of the star, something that broke up the shape. An amoeba of sorts at first, but once it came into focus, it became clear; it was the shape of a wolf's head. He wasn't sure exactly why, but he instinctively reached out to touch it, and everything around him turned pink.

Present

There it was, right there on his finger. The small ring he couldn't talk himself out of touching. He wondered what in the hell he had gotten himself into. He grasped at the ring and tried to pull it off, a stupid attempt at trying to get out of his current predicament. It wouldn't budge. What's more, it felt like it was fused to his skin. It didn't hurt, but it was already driving him mad. 

"Hey! What kind of voodoo is this?!" Ethan yelled. He took off into the brush after the girl. She was yards ahead of him, stepping between trees and over fallen branches. It took a moment, but he caught up with her. He reached out and grabbed her arm, and she instinctively swung at him and pushed him back.

"Don't touch me, creep," she hissed.

"Listen, I-," Ethan began to respond. 

"No, you listen. I needed Lady Tabitha to help, not some broken down, pre-midlife crisis, handsy asshole," she fussed, turning and continuing her walk.

That one caught Ethan by surprise. Not because she was wrong, exactly, but because he didn't realize how someone could put together that information so quickly. He followed behind her in close step, scratching his head to decide on a response.

"I really don't know what is going on here. Also, I'm not going through a mid-life crisis," he said shakily. 

"I said pre-mid-life. As in, you're still in the part of your life where you haven't gotten your shit together," she responded without looking back. 

"I don't-" he started. Miranda put her hand up to silence him.

"I don't really care. If you have the ring on, then you are supposed to help… it is that simple," she said as he pushed into the last line of trees. 

"Help with what?" He asked. 

"With this…" she responded, stepping past the last of the tree line. 

The two of them stood at the edge of a massive clearing, encircled by trees. The ground was a thick dark black sand, glistening in the sun that shone above them. The wind blew across the terrain, lifting bits of the dirt and tossing it about in small whirlwinds before setting it down again. 

"What is this?" Ethan asked, his tone softening.

Miranda looked into Ethan's eyes for the first time and responded, "This… is what is left of my people."