Mummy's Boy

The word was comming to the end. The world as we knew it.

“Barn Owl” was born as Mason Mynch in cold, windy northern parts of England. Somewhere in between the UK’s two crappiest towns–Huddersfield and Bradford. His father, David, was a coal miner. David back then was one of the most hardworking members of this small coal miner’s community.

David was short in height, bold, strongly built. He lost his hair in his early twenties. He kept to himself, rarely socialized. He solely focused on doing his work well and providing for his family. David was one of the most hardworking members of this small coal miner’s community but at his core, he was a very troubled man. David had severe anger issues which caused many to avoid him. People could notice when David’s temper started raising, as his eyes would go black as the coal itself.

He knew how to blend in and make himself “invisible” to the remaining folk in the village. He worked outside of his working hours a lot. Whenever David passed his fellow coal miners they asked questions while drinking beer on the shift and laughing:

“ Oooh! Look whose here, the damn barn owl! Where have you been hidding and what have you been up to these days? ”

You see, David kept to himself, as he was unable to make connections with anyone nor he sought company. He was unable to, because of his wife Sarah who made sure that she is all that is on David’s mind. She perplexed him and she made sure that she was always the centre of any development.

Sarah, Mason’s mother, was a complex, heavy-built, serious, middle-aged woman. She had a very simple appearance. She wore no make-up, had a simple hairstyle, and the only thing that was striking about her clothing was a small metallic totem hanging from her neck. Sarah had the eyes colour of dark grey and they were enlarged as if they were falling out her sockets.

But that was the appearance Sarah wished the public to see – simplistic, plain, unnoticeable. Sarah was more than that. There was a dark personality hidden behind this “simplistic” appearance.

The Mynch family was different from others.

There was a dark history concerning the Mynch family. They were practising occultism in its purest form of evil. As soon as they moved into the miner’s town, bad things started happening.

Once a wife from a well-known miner Bob O’Neil, Leigh O’Neil came to Sarah’s house bearing gifts wishing to get to know Sarah better. Leigh was 8 months pregnant then. Leigh, naive and friendly confided in Sarah that she suffers from migraines and is unable to get enough sleep. Sarah assured her that she would be able to help her. She prepared her a special tea, next days Leigh’s state improved. Sarah however made a replicate totem of Leigh and her baby and kept casting curses. On the third day Leigh gave birth in her sleep, the baby was delivered with his heart outside of its body. Leigh’s mother committed suicide and her husband Bob started heavily drinking, he always suspected the Mynch family but could not prove it.

Others started avoiding the house in the woods where the Mynch family lived.

It’s important to note that Sarah and David were never in love. They were matchmaked by the cunning cult that was run by Sarah’s own mother.

They had a strong dark belief: all beings on Earth are shells, these shells can be stronger or weaker, but they are shells that can be broken, mended and moulded. Within those body shells are souls - they are imprisoned, in order to achieve the “Awakening”, these souls have to break free from their shells on their own. Death won’t do it, death can keep the souls trapped forever in these rotten shells. Mindpower, sacrifices, constat “control” over the most primal human needs, deprivement of human needs can strengthen the soul and make it possible to break free and achieve “Awakening”.

This “Awaking” was a state of the ultimate power, clarity and strength and its purest form of immortality.

David and Sarah conceived Mason through a morbid ritual, where the leader of the occult, Sarah’s mother took her life in order to open the path for Mason to the “Awakening”. Not everyone achieves “Awakening”. Every 30 years a child is born which is trained to achieve it for the “good” of the community of these occultists, to “save” the others.

Sarah never mourned her mother. Her mother “breathed in” life into Mason. Sarah lacked empathy. Now it was on Sarah’s shoulders to prepare Mason for the route to immortality and it was a challenging task. Together with David, they moved up north, where David took a job in the mines, with agenda: scavenge various rare objects, mostly of metallic origin in order for Sarah to use them in her “séances”.

She believed that the metallic objects can protect her and Mason’s soul from outside influences, but if used in dark magic it can multiply the power when cast on others. Sarah was a hoarder, crafter, she would gather earthly, metallic and wooden tools and craft objects and would use them as totems, breathing in life into them in order to “curse others”, capture their souls in these objects and strengthen the bond between her and her unborn baby.

Other people misery empowered her and her bond with her baby Mason.

David worked long hours, and outside of his hours, he worked on building an underground shelter where he planned to move his wife and son when life ends on Earth. The countdown has begun, there were just a few months left before the asteroids hit Earth and only the chosen ones would be evacuated. The Executives have already built up space stations and Mynch family wasn't invited.

One day the Executives arrived at the mines, the End was approaching fast and David overhears the conversation led by local prominent businessmen and Corporate employee Jamie Cohen who owned the mines. Jamie stated that even after the asteroids hit the Earth the mines will still be reusable for scavenging as it will be possible to come back to Earth.

His wife, Rachel Cohen a prominent scientist has been working on a prototype of a special exo-suit that could protect those coming back to Earth.

On the way back home David was persuaded by Bob O’Neil to join the fellows for drinks after the mining shift. Reluctantly David joined. Suddenly, Bob and his older brothers started asking questions about David’s late-night “disappearances” and probing into Sarah. Bob O’Neil accused him and his wife of murdering Leigh. Bob went so far and insulted David’s wife, calling her “psycho” and exclaimed, “I wish your boy is born with his insides out!”

David’s eyes turn black.

Suddenly he hears Sarah’s voice inside his head:

“Cut him open, he is a swine!”

David erupts in rage, takes his pocketknife, and cuts Bob O’Neil into the stomach. Bob falls to the floor, his brothers surround him, pick him and carry him outside looking for help. David, untouched by what has happened, as if in a state of trance wipes his knife and finishes his beer. Then he leaves home.

David tells Sarah about the conversation and leaves to prepare the underground shelter for them to soon vacate there. The O’Neil brothers approach the house while Sarah is in there. Somehow the O’Neil brothers are unable to find the house, as the woods become thicker and darker and cause severe confusion. They keep wandering in the woods, getting lost. Sarah has long ago cast a curse on the family and she is able to make them disoriented.

Sarah flees the house and goes straight to Jamie Cohen’s manor, she slaughters Jamie, Rachel and their dog and steels documents on mines, exo-suit prototype and other transcripts along with her computer and goes back to shelter.

Sarah arrives at the underground shelter, and as soon as David opens the hatch the O’Neil brothers attack him. David pushes pregnant Sarah into the shelter and as the doors close behind her. One of the O’Neil brother’s cuts David’s throat.

The O’Neils make several attempts to break into the shelter, but all in vain. They swore to make a settlement close to the shelter to be ready to seek revenge when Sarah and her son choose to come out.

Sarah enters the shelter and the hatch closes behind her. Within hours she gives birth to Mason Mynch. She gazes at the baby in her arms, and the baby gazes at his mother's face. That’s where Mason finds himself in the depth of her greyish eyes. They are identical.

Sarah is looking at Mason and she projects her own expectations, wishes, needs, fears and plans for the child. And so is Mason in his human form born, never able to find his true self in his mothers' face, he finds the mothers own projections instead. Mason who is a helpless baby will never know his true mirror reflection and would be seeking the mirror in vain because he would always keep seeing his mothers face instead.

Sarah dresses Mason in a protective exo-suit and prepares the special room, an altar, where she starts working on Mason’s training in order for him to achieve “Awakening”, doing all to strengthen and awaken his soul which is currently in a deep sleep state, entrapped in the little fragile body, she will do all to help him transform and reach his fullest potential.

First, she needs to strengthen their mental bond.

Mason’s early childhood leading up to his 13 years is in the state of sleep. Sarah does all to keep the child in a meditative state in order to strengthen the bond between them. She gives Mason daily vitamin boosts and monitored his vitals. She probes, tests and gives him medications, herbs, and other fusions. She makes sure that his human body is resilient enough while his mind is unbreakable.

She bathes him in the asleep state in the ice-cold water, she “speaks” to him in his sleep, teaches him about the “Awakening”, about various sacred material, reads The transcripts about the space, the aftereffect of the asteroid blast, exo-suit, teaches him the craft and engineering.

Mason’s hands are twitching, while he is hypnotised but his hands are moving and recreating objects. Mason creates a spaceship-like drone - his first creation. Sarah teaches him how to project his dreams onto her. He is stronger and more gifted than she ever thought he could be. Mason summons his father, David, he crafts in his mind a little metallic totem, dark as coal and that’s how he connects to David, whose soul is trapped.

Sarah researches the documents she has stolen from Rachel and works on bettering the exo-suit. She reads about the Secret Project "Spark", which is only briefly mentioned and may not be even possible at that time. A project which hopes to achieve the impossible: transferring human conciousness into machines.

Sarah however believes that Spark is “The state of Awakening” something that the cult has been speaking about for decades. She uses the material David has scavenged to make the Exo -suit more resilient in order to protect Mason from the radiation from the outside world.

Sarah keeps entering Mason’s dreams and keeps telling him the story of :

“...a special boy, who had a special ability to make his dreams come true, he was an in a state of trance, that state let him be free of his human form because the human form was weak and only in his dreams he was able to to be free!”

Sarah projects different environments and even though in reality Mason is stuck underground in a small dark room, where black candles are lit and his tiny body is connected to various fluids he is free, he is walking the Earth on his barefoot, he “meets” his grandmother, his father, he sees the mines and he sees the asteroids hit the Earth, and every day, every second he sees his mother, the way Sarah wished to him to see her.

Together they enter deep hypnosis mode where his mother tests his resilience as if playing the game of “hide and seek” where Mason has to “envision” an altered environment, learn how to trick Sarah, how to locate her and how to envision her next move.

It’s like a game of chess, and every time Mason gives Sarah a checkmate.

Sarah was not well obviously.

But she was also dying, she was ageing very fast and unpleasantly. The radiation started showing its first effects on her human form. At times she started losing the “connection” between herself and Mason and Mason would wake up from his “dreamy” state and see himself in the dark candlelit room with his mother, a dark shadow. He would reach out to her and she would hide away, not wanting Mason to “see” her.

Sarah’s strength was slowly leaving her, her mind was breaking and she started being “paranoid” she was of strong belief someone had entered the shelter and would try and harm Mason. She would chant for hours protection spells, holding a knife in hand so strong that it would start cutting through her hand without her realising it.

At age of 13, Mason finally wakes up from the state of hypnosis himself. He sees his mother in her human form, radiation has done her good: her skin rooting, her eyes red, collarbones showing, she was bold, had no teeth, breathing heavily. He reaches to touch her hand, which holds the knife and her skin falls off. She stands up and reaches to attack Mason, confusing him for an intruder. Mason manages to mind-manipulate her and causes her to lose eyesight for a moment of time. Sarah stabs the wall and wakes up from the paranoid state.

Mason is angered. His mother’s shell is falling apart, he has to save her.

He wishes to put his mother in a state of trance and hook her on the exo-suit in order to prolong her time and find a solution, Sarah declines: Mason is a priority. Mason starts projecting on his mother, trying to entrap her in the mind game in order to put her in the deep state hypnosis, she is getting weaker, he breaks her mind. He traps her in the darkroom environment which she can’t escape, she is confused and obliged to him, he commands her to lie down on the table, connects her to the exo-suit and to the liquids. Mason is strong enough, he is stronger than his mother.

His Mummy taught him well.

Mason works on replicating the bettered exo-suit, but somehow even after hours of researching the transcripts, coding and adjusting various liquids and materials, it’s not enough to have the breakthrough. He needs to get out of the shelter, he needs to find the materials.

He takes the exo-suit from Sarah, leaves her hooked on the vitamins and in a state of deep hypnosis and speaks to her through the dreams

“I will be alright Mother, you taught me well. Hold on...”

For the first time, he was outside of the shelter, as he wandered he stumbled upon a very close by settlement. It seemed deserted. There is a cave that leads underground into the mines, he remembers these mines from his dreams. He walked this path. He stumbles upon asteroid materials in their raw shape he collects them and as he climbs out he hears his mother scream in his head: “Mason, they are here!”

And there they are nearly 10 scavengers, survivors, surrounding Mason.

They attack him and overpower him. As Mason starts to recollect himself from the ambush he manages to outsmart two of them by projecting himself in two places at once, they get confused and start attacking one another. More are coming, and Mason gets captured by one. One holds Mason while the other takes a handmade dagger and reaches as if to stab Mason, a “drone” reappears and decapitates the scavenger. The drone, that Mason has crafted is controlled by his mother, she has woken up from the sleep-state and is using her last strength to help Mason.

Mason kills the other scavenger and escapes.

He flees back to the shelter and he reaches his mother, she is dying, she has become a breathing skeleton, her flesh falling off her body as she moves. Mason is enraged, he feels helpless, he starts flicking all the transcripts books and lies his mother down on the altar. He connects her to the exo-suit, lies around the raw asteroid material, lits the dark candles, connects their body to the drone-like spaceship. He is uploading her consciousness to the drone.

As the “upload” is completed Sarah dies.

There is silence. Mason keeps reaching to his mother in his mind, holding what’s left of her hand: bones. He keeps calling for her. No answer. Then he realises that the route to “Awakening” lies within sacrifice.

He is strong to break free, he lies next to the decaying body of Sarah in the liquid bath. He interconnects himself with Sarah, exo-suit, and drone. He enters the state of deep hypnosis while uploading his concessions to the Exo-suit.

Mason enters the “trial” to the Awakening the one his Mother was preparing him for, he needs to pass 7 rounds of this exhausting trial in order to achieve “Awakening”.

The first part of the trial is physical, his real body is deprived of food for 10 days, while he is in the state of hypnosis. In his mind he is surrounded by food but unable to reach it, it’s torture. He is being sat in the centre of the room, seeing his family, all deceased having a feast. He has to decline their offers.

Mason succeeds and suddenly the chair that he was sitting on disappears and he falls into the mine, he needs to find his way out, his body is giving out, he is unable to walk. There are many sounds around him, he can hear is his mother calling him “Mason I am here! Here Mason! Come to Mommy!” He keeps losing himself in the labyrinth of the mines until he stops and focuses. Exhausted, nearly ready to die, he finds the will to “pick” the right voice and follow it. He sees his mother. He sees in the dark. He approaches her to embrace her when she gets attacked by scavengers.

Mason enters the third trial. He keeps watching as his mother is being tortured, cut, and as her flesh is falling apart. She is screaming, in agony. He is tied to the chair, as he tries to look away he sees her, the room is filled with mirrors. He is undergoing emotional torture, not being able to break free while his mother is screaming for help. He blocks the screams out of his head and the images disappear, he is now in the woods, he sees his house where his mother used to live. He sees her pregnant, as she is stroking the belly and speaking to him. He approaches the house and sees a group of men approaching the house as they did on the night his father was murdered.

"Barn Owl, where you at? Where are you hidding?! We will find you!"

He enters trial four. He eliminates one by one, barehand, he sets traps in the house, captures them, manipulates them by pretending to be a “helpless child”. As he approaches the steps he sees his mother being attacked by one last man that managed to slip, he is back in the chair unable to help her, he cuts her belly and Mason as a baby falls out, with his insides out. Mason blocks the image.

He enters the fifth trial and sees himself in the underground shelter as if he has exited his body, he sees himself lying next to his mother, she has become a skeleton, he has lost weight and is pale. The hatch opens the scavengers enter the hatch and start laughing at what they see, they unplug the mother and move her from the table, her skeleton falls on the floor and breaks into pieces. As they approach Mason and check his vitals they see that he is breathing, they take the knife and stab his body. Mason lets them kill him, he sees himself dead on the table. The scavengers laugh.

Mason’s environment changes and he sees his mother as he remembers her- young. She looks at him and smiles.

“ The path to Awakening is through sacrifice, wake up boy. It’s time to hunt them down...”

Mason opens his eyes. He is reborn. Mason has transformed into his new lifeform as "The Barn Owl".

There is darkness only. He starts playing hide and seek with them and takes them one by one down. As he stands over the dead pile of bodies in the hatchet he thinks “What now?” and suddenly he hears his Mother’s voice: “We are just starting my dear, weren’t there 10 scavengers left? I believe you took out 4…It’s time to pay a visit to your old Daddy’s mines”

Mason agrees and easily slips into his new lifeform as a "The Barn Owl". His need for revenge is bursting out of his human form, he was destined to achieve "Awakening", he was destined to become invincible.

After all, he was always special. He is Mummy's boy.