The Trip of a Lifetime

It’s almost Halloween and the haunting memories from that night five years ago are back again. Every year since that trip, around this time, the nightmares caused by that night return and transport me back in time. I know in my heart that the things I saw on that day were not real and just tricks played on my mind by the incredibly well-planned set-up of the party and whatever the hell it was that Tony dropped in our drinks.

It was the trip of a lifetime in more ways than one.

I remember being surprised and excited when I received the invitation from Marcus, an old college friend who was a tech genius and was suddenly very wealthy at the young age of twenty-seven. He’d invented some device that could allow you to cast holographic images with your mind when implanted at the base of a person's skull. It was called a turning point in the advancement of technology and, once fully developed, would change the world as we knew it.

Marcus always loved Halloween,as it was his birthday, and the parties he arranged during our college years were considered the highlight of the year.

I was never a close friend of Marcus, and I don't believe anyone really was as he always seemed a little strange. That’s why I was so surprised when I opened the letter and saw that my girlfriend and I, along with about one hundred other people from our school years, were invited to the Halloween party of the century. It was being held in an old castle on the outskirts of Seville, Spain and would be an all-inclusive, all expenses paid trip.

People would be flying in from all over the states and Canada. We were living in Georgia at the time and hooked up with another couple, who were also living there and also invited. We decided to fly to Rome a couple of days early and take a train trip through Italy and then into Spain.

One of our friends drove us to the airport, and to get in the mood, we blasted the song that everybody in Georgia plays around Halloween.

"The Devil went down to Georgia," by The Charlie Daniels Band.

We spent a day in Rome visiting all the tourist sites before boarding the train that would meander through Italy and into Spain.

The plan was to change trains in a small town somewhere between Guadalquivir and old Seville, where we would meet up with several other friends.

The train that would take us the rest of the way was famous and considered a step back in time. It was ancient and had been travelling this route for over eighty years.

It was known simply as the “Spanish Train.”

Spanish train by Chris De Burgh.

We boarded the Spanish Train with twelve other friends, and the party began. It was supposed to be a short trip, less than two hours, so we disregarded our seats, headed directly to the bar car, and started drinking. We didn't realize that one of our friends, Tony, who had always been a bit of a dick, spiked our drinks with some new designer drug he was developing.

It wasn’t long before I started feeling strange and seeing things that couldn’t be real; crazy things like my girlfriend, Alice, who now seemed ten feet tall.

White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane.

I felt like I was losing control of my mind. Everything seemed jumbled and out of place, and simple conversations were making no sense. Alice seemed fine and was having a blast; maybe she was one of the lucky ones that hadn't been spiked. I started to feel nauseous and had to get out of that bar- car and get some air, so I excused myself and walked to the back of the train where I could stand outside and try to regain control of my mind.

I swear there was no one on that platform when I stepped out, but after a few minutes of staring into the black night, I suddenly heard a voice right beside me. In shock, I quickly turned to my right and saw a man standing not three feet from me smiling from ear to ear. I mean literally from ear to ear, making him look like the Joker from Batman and scaring the shit out of me.

I guess he saw my fear and started to laugh, but the thing is, his laughter seemed to come from everywhere around me except him. I stood there terrified, just staring at him for a minute until he spoke, "Don't worry, Gerald. It's not your time, but when it is, I will be back.”

His face seemed to change shape as he spoke, and I felt something like peace come over me. I stared at this man, who now looked remarkably like my father, and asked, "how do you know my name?" I thought this must be some elaborate plan designed by Marcus before the man spoke again, "I know everything about you, Gerald, all your dreams, fears and nightmares because that's my job, and I've been doing it for a very long time."

I stumbled for words, “Who are you? Did Marcus send you? Is this some kind of Halloween joke?”

He smiled that crazy smile again and reached out his hand as he said, “I’m glad you asked.”

I felt a sense of fear like none I have ever felt travel through my body as he quickly grabbed my hand and started to introduce himself.

“Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for a long, long year. Stole many a man’s soul and faith.”

Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones.

I can’t remember anything else from that train trip as my next memory is boarding the bus at the station, which would take us the last few miles to the party.

When we arrived at the gates to the Castle grounds, we were met by one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen. The Castle looked medieval and seemed to lack electric light as hundreds of flaming torches lighted the whole exterior. As we arrived at the main entrance, several people came to greet us dressed in all kinds of elaborate costumes and carrying trays of drinks.

We were given a drink and led to the entrance, where stood the strangest man you could imagine. He had to be seven feet tall and was dressed entirely in black. He stood ramrod straight with one hand on the enormous door and looked like he had no eyes. Once we were all gathered before him, he spoke in a voice that seemed to come from very far away, almost like he was speaking from a dream.

He said, "You will enter one person at a time, five minutes apart." He revealed no expression whatsoever as he spoke, and it honestly felt like I was looking at a statue that could speak.

He slowly turned his head my way and said, "You first, Gerald." It was happening again. How could this man know who I was and know where I was standing, as it was apparent he couldn't see. I walked towards him, and he put his hand on my shoulder, saying, “welcome to your dream," before slowly opening the door and saying, "Exit light, Enter Night."

Enter Sandman by Metallica.

The door closed behind me, and I had to wait a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the lighting.

I was standing in a long hallway that seemed to stretch on for miles and was dimly lit by a single candle every ten feet or so. At the far end, I could see what looked like an entrance to a room emitting a flickering light resembling flames. I started in that direction and was surprised when a skinny, long-haired dishevelled man appeared out of nowhere and walked towards me.

As he got closer, his appearance changed, and he was now wearing what looked like an old-fashioned tuxedo and Top hat and was carrying a walking stick. For some reason, I felt like I had seen this man before. His manner was pensive as he approached and seemed to be carrying great pain in his eyes, which looked to be bleeding black ink.

He smiled when he got to my side before placing his right hand on my back. He stared down the hallway towards the burning room for a minute before making a grand gesture with his left hand in that direction and saying, “Welcome to my nightmare,” and pushing me forward.

Welcome to My Nightmare by Alice Cooper

I stumbled and almost fell from being violently pushed from behind. I was pissed and spun around to give the guy shit, but when I did, he was gone. I was alone in a hallway that was starting to make me feel very nervous. It seemed that the walls were moving almost like they were alive.

I turned and moved quickly towards the room at the end, but the faster I walked, the room seemed to get farther away. It felt like I was walking the wrong way on a moving sidewalk; I was making progress but not at the rate my legs were moving.

As I got closer, I could see that the doorway to the room was a wall of flame, which scared me, but what scared me even more was there was a face in the flame; it was the face of the man on the train. The face grew to fill the doorway as the hallway narrowed and lines appeared on the floor, directing me into the open mouth of the flaming face.

I felt like I was on a Highway to Hell.

Highway to Hell by AC/DC.

As I got within twenty feet of the door, it suddenly slammed shut, and I plunged into almost complete darkness. I reached out to touch the wall, trying to find my way, but when I did, the wall started moving under my hand. It felt like it was covered in insects, maybe spiders, and I pulled back in fear. There was a very dim light about ten feet ahead, to my left, and it seemed to lead to a staircase.

I slowly moved in the direction of the light, but as I did, I could hear low laughter, and a figure appeared, walking towards me. As the figure got closer, I could see a beautiful woman wearing a shimmering black dress. The laughter grew louder as she approached, but something didn't feel right as the laughter wasn't that of a woman but a man. It wasn't joyful laughter but sounded like something from a nightmare.

She carried a candle, and as she got close, I could see that what I thought was a shimmering black dress was actually hundreds of black spiders crawling all over her body.

She smiled and said, “Get ready for the Lady,” before I screamed.

The Black Widow by Alice Cooper with a Vincent Price intro.

I fell against the wall and hurried past the nightmare standing before me, rushing to get to the staircase. The stairs were dark and headed down at least fifty steps to a room that emitted a soft light and some bizarre sounds. It sounded like smacking or whipping sounds mixed with cries of pain and strange laughter. I didn't feel good about going down there, but the last thing I wanted to do was go back into that hallway.

I moved quickly down the steps trying to escape the horror behind me but didn’t know the horror that lay ahead.

The light became brighter as I approached the bottom and saw the entrance to a rather large room. There were several cages outside the room with chains and shackles attached. There were all kinds of knives and whips and other things I cannot describe hung on the wall, but I knew what they were. This was a dungeon, and these were implements of torture.

I could hear whimpering coming from the room, and as I approached the door, my body was overwhelmed by a stench so powerful my legs became weak.

I made it to the door and looked inside to see the source of my nightmares to this day.

I threw up everything in my stomach as I looked and saw, Flies all green and buzzing in this dungeon of despair.

The Torture Never Stops by Frank Zappa.

I must have passed out because the next thing I remember is being shaken awake by my girlfriend and two of our friends. I was lying on the floor outside the room that was a torture chamber before, but now it was just a large empty room.

They helped me up and guided me upstairs and outside to join in the party. Everything looked completely different to me now. The staircase and hallway were no longer menacing, and the flaming room wasn't actually a room but the exit to the rear garden, which was lit by flaming torches. There had to be at least one hundred people in the garden, all dressed in costume. A large cake on a table in front of the stage said Happy Birthday to the Magician.

There was an all-female band, dressed as flowers, on the stage with Marcus, the birthday boy. He was throwing money at the people, so my girlfriend and other friends rushed forward, trying to snatch the bills floating in the air. I sat at a table at the back and started drinking wine, trying to forget all I had seen inside the Castle.

Marcus was dressed in a magician's costume, and as the band started to play, he began to speak.

As he spoke, strange things were happening, and I knew he was doing it. The people in the front were terrified as he said, "I've invited you all here today not because you are my friends but because you are not, and now you will pay."

The music became deafening as the band started singing, “Let’s all go to the Magician’s birthday.”

The Magician’s Birthday by Uriah Heep

Many strange things happened while the song played that caused great fear in everybody there. That is, everybody but me because I knew now what was happening. Marcus was doing this, and none of it was real. He was using his invention to control people through fear.

I sat at the table alone, watching the madness unfold until a very old man came and sat beside me. There was something about him that made me feel comfortable as he smiled and said, "Don't worry. I know you know the truth, and I am here to fix this."

He stood and stared at Marcus before screaming in a voice louder than any voice I had ever heard, “Stop this NOW!!!”

Everything stopped, and Marcus fell to the stage as if he had been hit by the power of this man's words.

This fragile-looking man walked to the stage and lifted Marcus in his arms, and carried him back to our table, where he slept. The man pulled a small device from his pocket and touched it to the base of Marcus's skull, causing him to weep like a child. The man looked into his eyes and said, "I told you, Marcus. I told you that you had a choice to make, but you must choose the right path, or this power would be taken back. You have made the wrong choice. The others will be here soon to take you home."

He lifted him again, carried him to the grass beside the table, and laid him there before coming back to me.

I felt an overwhelming sense of goodness and love coming from this man and asked, “Who are you?” He smiled and said he was “The wizard of a thousand kings.”

The Wizard by Uriah Heep.

This song was released in 1972, almost fifty years ago, and the lyrics are just as relevent today as they were then.