I awoke in a sea of darkness, I couldn't see my surroundings, but my body was outlined with an eerie white energy. No sensation reached my skin, Neither cold, nor heat. Not even discomfort. The only feeling that lingered was a sense of emptiness, A shell of something that once was, but isn't anymore. I attempted to take in my surroundings, my eyes darted around looking for something—anything—in the void. Then, in the distance, I saw it. A clock.
The numbers scrambled and glitched, I squinted to get a better look, they froze, It flashed 7:32 PM, I tried to get closer, maybe it meant something. However, my legs refused to move, like the darkness itself held me, locking my legs into place. Before I could understand anything else, the ground beneath me trembled. I realized that what I was standing on wasn't solid ground, but water. The realization sent a chill down my spine. Then, the ocean rose, a large tsunami towered over me. I wanted to run, to scream, and cower in fear, but my legs were locked, my voice muted, and my body froze. The instant the waves crashed, I woke up. My body jolted upright as I broke out into a cold sweat. I glanced over at my digital clock,
[5 AM.]
I leaned over, burying my face into my trembling hands, "What the hell was that?" I had never experienced a dream, or.. a nightmare like that. Despite the overwhelming feeling of dread that lingered, I attempted to shrug it off as 'Just a nightmare' and continue with my morning routine, but something about it felt off. Why was the time so specific, what was that sea of darkness?
I let out a deep sigh.
I rubbed my temple to calm myself. Glancing over at my alarm clock, 5:02 AM. I let out a breath of relief. "It was just a nightmare. It was just a nightmare." I forced myself out of bed and shuffled towards the bathroom. The light flickered as it turned on, I shielded my eyes, they were still adjusting to the light. Approaching the mirror, I examined myself. Sunken brown eyes, white messy bed hair, crusted drool on the corner of my mouth, and my breath reeked of alcohol.
"You've really outdid yourself with this one, Adam." i muttered
Yesterday me and my coworkers went out to drink. I may have drunk too much because I don't remember anything besides, sluggishly walking down the street with my arm around my friend, singing some foreign pop song that played on repeat over the radio at the bar we went to. Even now the song still plays on loop in my head,
"Stay with me.. Stay with me~!"
I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Despite it being a catchy song, I get a headache when I try to remember anything about last night. I turned the knob on my sink and turned the water on,
"I need to wake up."
I grabbed my rag that was hung on a rack by my mirror and dampened it. Placing it on my face in an attempt to wake myself up. The shock from the cold water gave me goosebumps, and for a moment I forgot the terrifying nightmare. Just as I was removing the rag from my face, my phone buzzed. A text message? From who? It's 5 AM. I set the rag down and turned off the running water. Approaching my phone, something felt off. That same dread washed over me again, and it felt like someone was watching me, but I couldn't see them. I froze, my eyes darted around the room but no matter where I looked I couldn't find the pair of eyes watching my every move. BZZT, my phone buzzed again.
"Must be important."
I shook off the nervousness and grabbed my phone off my nightstand near my digital clock,
[5:08 AM]
Time moves slowly when I'm tired. It's like a shitty superpower. My phone turned on and the brightness nearly blinded me,
I squinted my eyes, baring the stinging, "Why is everything so bright all the time?"
I turned my brightness down and check my notifications– three from Sadus,
"Yo"
"You seen Bruce anywhere?"
"I lost him otw home and he didn't answer his phone lmfao."
That's weird, last time I saw him he was– Then it hit me, like a freight train. The memory flooded my mind, .. Actually.. After we left he disappeared, I was so drunk I thought he went to throw up. But something seemed off about him. I thought,
His eyes seemed distant like he wasn't staring at anything in front of him, but off into the distance, something beckoned his name and called him, but we couldn't see it. he may have just been hallucinating. Hopefully he made it back home safe.
I respond, "Nah man, last time i saw him he was out chasing butterflies 😂😂"
Within a few seconds he replies back, "Whatever the hell that means. LOL"
I set my phone down on the nightstand and went to take a shower. I turned the knob and looked up, praying to God the gas company had given me an extension.
"Please, God, give me some good news."
I waited. The water always took a while to heat, so I tested it every few seconds. Still ice cold. Thirty seconds passed.
"Don't tell me…" My reality crumbled. I fell to my knees in despair.
"I have to take a cold shower?!" The words left my mouth like a funeral wail. I accepted my fate. Just as I was preparing to jump in, steam started to rise.
My eyes lit up.
At 5 AM, I jumped up and down in the middle of my bathroom like I'd just won the lottery. I think I actually shed a tear. I hopped into the shower like a king returning to his throne. After drying myself off and doing my morning grooming, the smell of food trickled into my room.
I smiled. Looks like Mom's cooking again... Every morning, without fail, my mother rises at 6:30 and cooks breakfast. Since she's sick, she cannot work or move around for an extended period without fainting or losing control in her legs.
I tied my tie loosely and went downstairs to greet her.
"Good morning, Mom. How are you?"
My mom turned her head slowly, her long brown hair falling slightly behind her shoulder. "Good morning, son. I'm fine, how did you sleep?"
"I…" I choked on my words. I debated if I should tell her about the nightmare. I'm probably overreacting. Everyone has nightmares, I thought.
"I slept well."
"That's good." She looked down at the pan.
A pause. The sound of sizzling filled the room.
"How was your day yesterday? You stayed out pretty late," she said, breaking the silence.
I chuckled nervously. "It was fun. I went out with a few co-workers."
"That's good, I'm glad you had—" She choked and coughed aloud. It was getting worse.
The room fell silent once more. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. She's been sick my whole life. No matter how many doctors we go to, they cannot find the source of her sickness. I glanced over at the orange empty pill bottles on the table. They've given her every pill imaginable, yet we see no results. Every day that I see her like this, it makes me angry at fate. They've given the worst hand to the nicest player. She doesn't deserve to be so weak all the time, and I'm sure she's tired of it. My eyes hung low as I sat at the short round table in the dining room.
She looked up at me, her eyes soft and weary, and said something that made me swear she was a mind reader:
"I'm fine with how life is, you know? It's not terrible living like this." She pulled the pan off the stove and poured some eggs onto the two plates on the counter, giving one plate a little more than the other.
"I mean, at least I don't have to work, right?" She smiled.
That smile, I thought, giggling to myself like a kid in a candy shop. Whenever she smiled like that, it made me feel like everything was going to be okay, and it made me forget the situation we're in. More importantly, it made me feel content. Without her love, I don't know where I would be in the world.
"I guess that's true…" I let out a small breath. "Although, even if you could, you wouldn't because you're LAZY~!"
Her smile grew larger. "How could you? I am your mother!" She threw the spatula she held at me. It wasn't very strong, so I faked like it almost knocked me out of my chair.
"Woah~!" I leaned back, but my chair tilted too far and I crashed and landed on my back—THUMP! The chair smacked against the ground, and she erupted in laughter. Hearing her laugh brought unimaginable joy to my heart. A great start to my day. After I recovered from laughing, she placed both of our plates on the table and sat next to me.
"Wow, Mom, what's the occasion?" I asked gleefully, staring at my plate full of eggs, sausages, pancakes, and bacon.
"Your promotion is today. How have you forgotten?"
I sat in my chair, dumbfounded. How could I forget about the biggest day of my life? My whole reality shattered like glass. Seeing this, she placed her hand on top of mine and calmed me. Her hands were cold, rough, but soft at the same time.
"It's alright. We all forget things. Don't stress." Her voice was as smooth as silk, and as graceful as a butterfly.
"You're right…" My eyes drifted to my digital wristwatch. [7:05 AM]
"Alright, I have 55 minutes," I thought, calculating the time it should take for me to eat the food and get to the bus. "What am I thinking about? I should be enjoying my time with her." I shook my head, clearing away any lingering thoughts, and turned off my first alarm.
"You alright?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm good. Let's pray."
We prayed over our food and ate away. Quickly, my large plate full of food emptied. But as I ate, I kept glancing at her plate—it was nearly full, minus a few bites from the bacon.
"What's wrong, Mom? Aren't you hungry?"
"Nah, I'll…" She took a deep breath. "I'll eat it later." Her tone was reassuring, but I had a feeling she was lying. Her skin was growing more and more pale, to the point where her blue veins were showing through her skin. I hated seeing her like this, but there was nothing I could do but keep working and trying to support the two of us.
"Are you sure?"
She took a pause and stared at her plate. It looked like she wanted to say otherwise, like she was conflicted. Her lips curled and she blinked slowly.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Alright. I—" I was interrupted by a small beeping sound. It was my second alarm.
"Oh, I have to go."
Her brow furrowed. She doesn't like it when I leave, but she knows I have to. I grabbed my brown suitcase and began to walk out the door. I stopped and looked back at her. She still sat at the table, looking down at her plate.
"I love you, Mom. We'll get through this, I promise."
She got up, walked towards me, and gently placed her arms around my waist, burying her head in my chest. "I love you, son." I returned the warm hug and squeezed her a little tighter.
"Alright, Mom, let me go. I have to leave."
"No, you're going to have to miss work now."
I rolled my eyes, smiled, and softly removed her hands. She was ready to say goodbye when she saw how loose my tie was.
She chuckled. "Silly boy." She tightened the tie and slapped my chest.
"Ow!" I laughed.
"Have a good day.." she said.
I ran down the hall and approached the stairs.
"See you later!" I waved my hand, looking back at her. She waved and smirked, then disappeared into the apartment.
I jogged to the bus stop, periodically checking my watch, [7:32 AM] "I've got time." I muttered, picking up pace, hoping to catch a breather before the bus rolled in. Thankfully, it wasn't cold out. In fact, it was unusually warm for the middle of winter—odd, but I figured it'd just be one of those rare warm days. I approached the bus stop and I saw my friend Sadus, waiting for the bus, slowing down. I stopped right next to him, he turned and nodded his head.
"Oh boy, hell must've frozen over, no way mr. "I don't have time for the bus" is here." I said.
"Shut up." He laughed, "You know I couldn't miss my boy's promotion." he tapped me with his elbow to show his sincerity.
"Thanks, man. You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Alright bro, don't go getting all sentimental with me, I'm not trying to cry today."
"I'll make sure to be EXTRA sentimental with you then." I said with a smirk.
Sadus fell silent and glanced around, scanning the street– looking for someone. He was waiting for Bruce to show up.
"Bruce still hasn't shown up.." his tone, a hint of worry.
"I know. This isn't like him at all. He'd usually be all giddy to see me get promoted– Wouldn't miss it for the world."
The bus began to pull up to the stop.
"Hopefully he's already there," I said as we boarded the bus.
I entered the office and was flooded with congratulations, smiles and laughter. Everyone was so happy for me. This is new, I could get used to this. Minutes passed and I kept glancing at the door and at my phone, hoping he would walk through the door with a big smile and a cake, or a text just to let me know he's okay. But he never came. By the end of the day, when everything had died down, no one knew where Bruce was, the life of the party, the loudest laugh, the funniest guy, this isn't like him. We were all worried, but there was nothing we could do.
"Hey man, you alright?" Sadus asked.
I sat on the steps of the tall office building with my arms resting on my legs. "Have you heard from Bruce?"
He checked his phone and shook his head.
I let out a heavy sigh, "I'm really worried about him. He's been gone for a whole day, without texting us at all."
"Yeah, but what can we really do..? All we can do is wait.."
I thought for a moment, but ultimately I came to the conclusion that there really was nothing we could do. The sun was setting and it was time for us to go home, we couldn't wait all day. "I guess you're right." I grabbed my suitcase, and with our heads held low, we began boarding the bus.
As the bus moved, its engine roared, and the interior rattled. I always tend to think about these things as even the little parts of life, matters. Even an ant has a purpose, and to them it's their entire world. But, to humans, it's so insignificant that we just glance over them. These thoughts rang through my mind, before the bus came to a complete and sudden stop. Tssssss.. Everyone was confused why did the bus stop in the middle on an intersection and so sudden at that,
"Come on man, Get off the road!" The bus driver shouted from the front.
I glanced over at Sadus and he was just as confused, so I stood and tried to get a glance at who was blocking the road.
"Bruce?!" I shouted. Sadus jumped up from his seat like a spring.
"What, where?!"
He had been missing for a whole day, and now all of sudden he appears in the middle of the road, but.. Something isn't right about him, he's staring up at something, something so captivating he can't look away. Drool rolled down the corner of his mouth down to his chin, his lips were pale and chapped, like he'd had his mouth open for a while, his hair… Usually it's neatly done, but it's like he'd been rolling in the dirt for hours, twigs and different trash sticking out unnaturally.
"Stay here. I'll go see him." I said, turning my attention toward Sadus.
"What?! No! I'll go out there too, he's my friend as well!"
"No.. Sadus, Something doesn't feel right with him. Just.. Stay here, just in case."
His eyes drifted to bruce, taking a deep breath he reluctantly held onto the pole, and his head sunk. "Okay."
I walked to the front of the bus,
"Open the door."
"Do you know that guy?" the bus driver said, he was irritated, rightfully so.
"Yeah he's my friend."
"Get him the hell off of the road, people have places to be."
The automatic doors creaked open and I stepped off the bus, walking cautiously toward bruce.
"Bruce! Where have you been man?" No response. Everyone on the bus watched as I tried to talk him out of his trance.
"We were worried sick about you, man!" Still, no response. But I still crept forward.
"What happened to you? Where did you go?" Now, I'm almost right next to him, but he still doesn't notice me. I waved my hand in front of his face but his eyes didn't react. They were locked onto whatever held them in place, bloodshot and crazed.
"What is going on with you.." I muttered.. But for the first time since I stepped off of the bus, he reacted. He slowly raised his arm and pointed toward the sky, the sun.. Hidden behind clouds.. That's.. Odd, I thought it had already set, why is it still in the sky..? That's when I realized that it wasn't supposed to be there. Hurriedly i pulled out my phone and check the time, (9:52 PM)
A chill ran down my spine and I froze as I gazed upon what I can only explain as fear, the sun had gotten closer. "That's.. Not.. the sun.." Bruce muttered. Beyond the clouds, a shadow appeared, it was a figure of some sort of pterodactyl, but it had a spiky tail, and a round head, and arms that sprouted from its wings.. Then one more appeared– two, seven, thirty.. Too many to count, but at this point, everyone had exited the bus and was staring at the exact same thing we saw, I snapped back to reality and thought 'is this what bruce saw? Is this why he went missing?" But as I turned to look at him he was nowhere to be seen. But, in his place more people crowded the street. The entire intersection of downtown was filled with cars and people staring at what seemed to be a magnificent appearance. But it quickly went downhill as the monsters' faces began to appear from the clouds, they were horrifying. Their mangled expression mimicked an agony filled smile and their eyes were hollow, these weren't creatures of god.. Far from it.. They were demons..
Everyone's face of surprise and curiosity turned to fear and disgust. I was the only one not looking at the sky, and was conscious enough to shout,
"RUN!" and then it started, Doomsday. Those creatures began swooping down and taking whatever they could grab with their sharp talons, cleanly snatching the torso off of someone and eating it in one gulp. A slit on the side of their heads sprayed mist, the blood of the victim they ate. The sky was painted a crimson red as everyone began panicking, but I was certain I had to find my mom so we wouldn't be separated. I didn't want to lose my only hope. So i ran with all of my might, i knew this city well so i knew my way home, but as i ran, things kept getting weirder, people were being sucked into portals, these dark ominous rifts didn't last for long and they didn't put up any sort of fight. Like they were snatched from reality in the blink of an eye, but i didn't care, it scared me, yes. But only one person mattered in this very instant. And there she was, she was so far from home, it seemed she came to find me as well. For a moment I relaxed, the sweat poured heavily and dripped off of my face. I was never an athletic person, but this adrenaline brought out something I never knew I had in me. I smiled, She was just in my reach, if i could just reach her now. But she was shouting something, i tried to read her lips as i came closer
'Look out!' she pointed behind me, and my eyes traced the path, behind me, a portal. The rift that snatched everyone else, is now coming for me. But I kept running, though I could feel my momentum slowing down and chain, tied to a fence nearby flung in the wind, I grabbed hold of it and pulled myself forward, gritting my teeth and looking ahead. She was so close, running toward me. But she was shouting something else, this time i was close enough to hear it,
"It's not his time. Don't take him, Please don't take him." She must've been talking to god, praying that it wouldn't take me away, but something she said confused me, "this isn't what you promised." What did she mean? Who was she talking to? Her face was twisted with sadness and fear, like most people, I was so scared. All i could do is scream like a little boy,
"MOM~!" The long chain unraveled, I reached for her one more time, before the world swallowed me whole. Darkness.