The kid and his city

A Story by GabeT

Being in a desolate city would disorientate anyone, but pair that with memory loss and you have a doozy of a problem. Gordon has to battle demons inside and out of his head to find out where he is.

Alone

The first thing I felt was the headache. A dull thud sending pain through me. As my brain rebooted itself I was momentarily confused. The wave of memories I was expecting never came. Generally when you wake up all the memories hit you at once, but nothing. It gave me an empty feeling inside. A feeling I didn't like. A groggy moan escaped my mouth and I felt how dry my throat was. I coughed and sputtered as I sat up. I realized I had been laying on what felt like a huge pile of rocks and dirt. I warily opened my eyes and was immediately blasted with sunlight.

"Why’s everything so difficult this morning?" I croaked through my dry throat. I looked around at my bed and came to the realization that I was, in fact, sleeping on a pile of rocks and dirt.

"Now what did I go and do that for?" I mumbled to myself and looked around.

I got a sick feeling in my stomach as I realized I had no idea where I was, but not just that. I had no idea where I was supposed to be. I don't know what my room looks like. I don't remember my family. I don't remember what school I went to, or hell, even what my name is. All I have is a huge hole in myself. I know it's supposed to be there. I know I had a family, and a room, and a school, and a name, but I just don't know what or who they were. I felt sick.

I was lying in the middle of a cracked street covered in cement chunks. Towering over me were huge, slumping buildings looking broken and defeated. Like something had worn them down so much they had given up and crumbled under the force of it. Almost every single window was broken as far as I could see. Whatever tore this place apart had no mercy for those damn windowpanes. I looked around and panic rose in my chest. How the f**k did I get in this city? What is even going on? I stood up quickly and got dizzy, which just increased my panic and caused me to try and run while dizzy. I slammed into a half destroyed car and fell back down to the ground. I closed my eyes and tried to control my breathing. I felt so vulnerable lying in the middle of the street. I counted to ten and mustered up the strength to open my eyes. Nothing. No monsters looming over me ready to kill me. Just my imagination...I think? I sat up and looked around. The streets were all cracked. Cars up-ended and tires popped. Still slightly reeling I pressed my back up against the car behind me and slid up the broken vehicle until I was standing on my own two feet. Everything was happening too fast. I shook my head and looked around once more. Nope, city didn't disappear and I didn't wake up. I was standing in the middle of this deserted city, thrust into a world alien to me with no memory and nothing but the hunger in my stomach.

Oh man I am really hungry. My thoughts were interrupted by my hunger. My stomach growled loudly, almost seeming to echo around the deserted alleys and streets of this concrete jungle. I stood, momentarily unsure of what to do next. Obviously I had to find food but how would I even go about doing that in this situation. Whoever I was in my past he certainly wasn't someone to survive out in the wild. Why am I alive when it seems like everyone else is...dead. The words that had just flittered past my mind hit me harder than any actual punch could have. Listening hard made the wound hurt more. No human life could be heard. No cars, no airplanes, no footsteps, no coughing, no phones or obnoxiously loud music, or buses, or horns, or trains, or anything.

Nothing.

Just wind and the creaking of god-knows how old structures moaning as they all neared their inevitable collapse. I almost started to cry but what would that do. Who would see nor care? Nobody. I was alone. Time no longer mattered, days no longer mattered. There was no Tuesday or Friday or weekend or school. There was just this now. Nothing else. Night and Day. I remembered it had been 2017 in my past but now? Had I time traveled? Such a thought seemed impossible even with all the other insanity I had woken up to.

My stomach growled again to remind me I needed food. I stopped my brain from working overtime on the impossible questions I had in front of me and turned left down the street. I walked for a few minutes before taking a left to what looked like an apartment building. The cracked and slumped stairs led up to a reddish building five stories high. My stomach grumbled once more providing the motivation I needed to move my feet to walk up those stairs. I felt slight fear for obvious reasons. What if there was like killer zombies or robot werewolves or any other enemy in this place?

"Okay okay calm down. Find food, and find a weapon" I said to myself.

I stepped up to the building. The door was gone. Maybe off having some amazing door adventures. I wish him luck on his endeavours. Stepping inside I looked around the lobby. It might have been a pretty nice place if it wasn't destroyed and all. The floor was a dull red carpet with chunks of the ceiling laying here and there. The walls were a soft brick color and had very little cracks. The only thing wrong with the walls was how faded they had gotten. There was a front desk lying in the middle of the room. Possibly were someone would have greeted you and given you a key to your room..wait this wasn't an apartment building. This was a hotel.

"Oo even better, Maybe I can steal some time in a five star room." I mumbled and walked over to the desk. There were papers lying everywhere with random clumps of words here and there. Official document stuff but most of the ink was worn so badly you could barely read it. Except for one sheet that stuck out. The words were visible.

The police department has sent out a statement referring to the accident that happened outside your establishment. The victim is currently in intensive care for ...

At this point the ink turned into nothing but smudges. It almost looked as if there wasn't any words there to begin with, someone had just smudged ink all over to look like there was writing.

"This place is weird" I said to the chair that had been knocked over and waited a few seconds for a reply before realizing I was talking to a chair. I looked over at the little boxes with room numbers marked on them to try and find some keys. They were all empty.

"Goddamnit" I said aloud. "Maybe the doors to the rooms went on adventures just like the front door did. A world without doors." I headed up the carpeted stairs to the first floor of rooms. The hallway was dark. There were no windows to provide any sunlight except at the very end of the hall. I would only be able to see something moving towards me by a shadow stepping in front of the window. I shook my head.

"Knock it off" I said to myself. I couldn't be playing mind games against myself right now. I started to take a step forward but my head stopped me. The dark was a canvas for my imagination to paint all sorts of terrifying monsters on, and sense things I didn't think possible were happening around me the fantasy of a monster seemed more realistic than ever.

"Maybe they'll be light on the top floor.." I mumbled and headed up the stairs once more. Up the rest of the stairs to the fifth floor. The ceiling was gone. It had caved in and there was a very illuminated hallway before me.

"Oh man a hallway built just for me!" I said and tried the handle to the door of the only room that still had an intact ceiling. Room 117. I might make this my home and I definitely wanted a ceiling on my home. Of course it was locked. No matter how much time that had to have passed to destroy this city like this, it still wasn't enough to erode this lock away. Luckily I just happened to be in an abandoned city. There had to be bricks laying around somewhere.. I headed back down the hallway to the stairs. My footsteps seemed oddly loud even though they were muffled by the carpet. I stopped for a moment almost on the last step of the stairs and really listened. You know what birds sound like right? Crickets and frogs and bugs and just nature in general? I heard none of that. I heard absolutely no signs of other life. Despite the fact that most of the buildings had vines growing up them and it looked as if nature was reclaiming most of this city, there were no animals. The only sound I heard was a low dull noise. Almost a roar of a constant wave from the ocean but the volume was turned down so much you had to strain to hear it, and even then you were not sure if it was real or just your imagination. It could drive you mad if you sat and listened for too long. I continues back outside in a hurry. The sun was about halfway down the sky. I really didn't want to be out here at night time. I stepped down the cracked concrete stairs and crossed the street that was in front of the apartment building. I surveyed the neighborhood I would be living in until I found my way out of here. The buildings were crowded together like people crowding in for a concert. Only narrow alleyways kept the buildings from connecting completely. The hotel building had two adjacent buildings on either side of it, both about the same size. The one on the right was a faded, concrete building which looked like it had been some sort of shop, and the building on the left was a faded green restaurant called

Mercys hospitality, Quality pizza

The name struck me as odd but I was on a mission for a brick. I didn't give it a second thought. The rest of the buildings were about the same with restaurants, shops, and housing. That didn’t matter right now though. The sun was sinking over the horizon and I really wanted to be safe inside my apartment when that happened. I walked across the square grass center that was in the middle of the neighborhood and crossed the street again. There was a road that went in a square all the way around this grassy middle part and on all four sides there were buildings with alleys keeping them apart. The road went off deeper into the city on all four corners, probably would have been a busy part of the city if there were still inhabitants that were alive. It was a nice little neighborhood. The grass square in the center wasn't too long almost looked freshly mowed, which again would have struck me as odd if I wasn't hell bent on finding a brick to smash a door open with. The grass was a pleasant green color that spilled over into the sidewalk, and was nearing the road. This grass might take over the entire city one day.

You go grass.

I crossed the road on the opposite side of my hotel building and entered one of the alleys separating a blue and darker blue building. Both these buildings were taller than the hotel. I looked around at the trash strewn about. The green dumpster back here was very vibrantly colored. It was overflowing as well with various scraps and trash. Only humans throw away scraps and trash right? This stuff didn't look as if it had been here very long.

"This doesn't make any sense" I mumbled to myself and ran my left hand up and down my left cheek feeling the stubble there. Something i tend to do when i'm thinking, or worried. My mind briefly thought about what I would do about shaving. I imagined myself with a full length Gandalf beard and chuckled to myself. After a while I finally found what I had been looking for. A brick. It was lying about two feet from the Vibrant Green dumpster on its side and propped up against the tall dark blue building. I walked over and grabbed it firmly in my right hand and headed back to my future home.

Having no other living organism make a noise besides you really makes you self conscious of all the noise we really make. We are loud animals. I headed upstairs to the locked door of the hotel room I was going to claim as my own. I looked up through the destroyed ceiling at the sky. It was beginning to turn to dusk. I Raised both my arms with the brick held in both hands and smashed down onto the door handle, which flew off immediately on impact. I dropped the brick and gave myself a mental pat on the back before trying to push the door open. It was still locked.

"Oh What the FfffffRick" I mumbled under my breath subconsciously stopping myself from swearing. Although there was literally not a soul in sight to hear or scold me on my foul language the old shackles of society were still wrapped around my ankles keeping my behaviour in check. At least for now.

I peered inside the open hole in the door left by the dull brass handle. The lock was still in place, but I saw the locking mechanism. Maybe I could unlock the door by hand? I looked around for something slim to fit into the lock and remembered the office-like supplies that had been strewn about the front desk. I grabbed a paper clip and headed back upstairs once more to pick the lock of my new hotel room.

"Never done this before, first time for everything" I said a little too loudly and almost flinched at the echo that came back at me. "This place is messing up my nerves" I said and warily looked over my shoulder. Of course there was nothing there.

I looked back at the lock and slipped the paper clip inside for room 117. The process of me actually picking the lock was long and boring so let me spare you the details. Long story short I needed two paperclips and I eventually unlocked the door. The sky was almost turning black by the time the door finally popped open.

"And praise whatever god exists there's a working light" I said to the empty door as i saw the overhead light was shining into the corners of the apartment.

I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. The apartment was definitely not a 5 star hotel room, even if it wasn't destroyed. But beggars can't be choosers. There was a mini kitchen area with a counter in the center and across from that was a king sized bed. Immediately to my left was a door leading into what must be a bathroom. It struck me as odd that a hotel room would have a kitchen? Such a clean kitchen too. You'd almost think it was a kitchen in a hospital for how clean everything was. Or maybe sense everything else is destroyed seeing something that's actually intact gave it more credit. There was a sliding glass door that lead to a balcony overlooking the city block...did the building even have a balcony?

"Man either i'm losing it or the rest of the world is loosing it" I said looking bewildered at the balcony that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. By the looks of how everything was going the answer might be both.

Meet the neighbors

I began to settle into my new home. It was easier considering I had no memory of what my actual home was, or if I even had one. I closed the hotel door behind me and locked it tight. I felt a little more security knowing there was no door handle for someone, or something, to try if they wanted to get inside. It was night time outside now by the looks of the sky. Fear began scratching at the back gates of my mind but i locked the fences uptight and didn't even acknowledge the fear that wanted to seep in. I strode over to the sliding glass doors and pulled the curtains shut. I did the same to all the windows in the small apartment. Looking around contently I sat down on the bed. My stomach rudely reminded me i still had something to take care of with a loud Gurglegurglgruglruggle.

"You are a whiney little biatch you know that stomach?" I grumbled as i stood and walked over to the almost-too-clean Kitchen. I opened the fridge and felt no rush of cold air. It had stopped working. I glanced over and saw nothing inside anyways. Scrounging around the kitchen I found 4 cans of peas and a little tin of pineapples. Food was going to be a problem.

"I don't even like peas" I said opening one of the cans. I scarfed down the contents and tried to convince myself i was full. I wanted to start rationing my food right away. I wasn't going to die of starvation.

"What a lame way to go." I said aloud. A bottle skitted across the ground somewhere in the neighborhood outside as if agreeing with me. The glass-on-concrete sound reverberated around. As if the bottle was saying

"Oh dont worry, there is plenty more ways to go in this place buddy."

I thought about the noise for a second or two. Then like a tidal wave hitting the village that was my brain fear went through my entire body. My skin crawled like it was covered in ants and a cold pit of terror filled my barely-filled stomach. No wind, no animals, no other humans. So what moved the bottle? My legs seemed to have suddenly filled with lead. My mind had spiders crawling all over it and i swear my eyes were bigger than ever before. I put one foot in front of the other and, after what felt like years, made it to the curtain in front of the sliding glass doors. I saw my hand reach out and pull the curtain back. I looked outside into the night now filled with terror. The noise had come from the alleyway that i had retrieved the brick from. The ants that had started retreating from crawling over my skin came back in a rampage at the thought of that. The noise had came from where i had been just a few hours before. Hell i might even have seen the bottle that had gotten knocked over by whatever is out there. My heartbeat seemed much too loud in my head. I couldn't concentrate.

"ugh" I said shaking my head and quickly closing the curtains once more. "Okay okay it could have just fallen over”. I said to myself.

I knew I didn't believe it though. Something deep inside me knew something was out there. Knew I wasn't safe. I walked to kitchen and picked up the red velvet looking stool that was standing up around the center counter piece. I propped it up against the door handle in a crude attempt at securing the door. My ears picked up another unwelcome noise. It sounded like...paws? Like an animal walking across the street. I could hear the distinctive *click clack* noise coming from claws against the ground. Just a stray dog?

*WHAM*

I felt the building shudder. Something had jumped onto the wall. The scratching noises and low breathing I could hear now confirmed my terror. There was something climbing up the wall of the hotel. Climbing up to the 5th floor.. Up to my sliding glass door.

"F**k f**k f**k f**k f**k f**k f**k" I said horsley as I ran back to the front door.

I was about to rip the stool out of the way and run outside when I saw it. A shadow on the bottom of the door frame. Two shadows actually. The shadow cast by somethings feet when it's standing right by the door. There was something on the other side. I turned around with my eyes wide with panic. The thing outside had gotten to the balcony. I saw a dark shadow on the other side of the curtain. A scratching noise came from the sliding glass door. Claws sliding across glass.. I ran as quietly as I could to the kitchen, grabbed the biggest knife I could and prepared to stab whatever was outside my door. I pulled the stool aside, unlocked the door, and opened it swinging madly with the knife. There was nothing there. Not anymore. I looked left and saw something walking on all fours down the hallway. I swallowed a scream and huddled down against the wall of room 117.

*SMASH CLATTER CLATTER*

The sliding glass door exploded.

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF" I managed to whisper without yelling.

The thing at the end of the hall paused and turned around painfully slow. I scooted as close to I could against the rubble of the destroyed ceiling and the wall. Another one of those creatures popped its head out of the doorway leading to my "home." If I had stayed in their a second longer... It raised its head, as if saying hello to the other monster at the end of the hallway.

Nice weather we're having isn't it?, I can't wait to tear Gabe's face off.

Commentary played insanely in my head as I held my breath.

Oh ,Gabe. My name was Gabe. What an odd time to remember such a thing.

The monster in the doorway turned its head left and right making snorting noises. It looked left again and stared right at me. My heart was pumping so loud I swear anyone within a 24 mile radius could hear it. I prayed the darkness was covering me completely. The monster was all black, almost a liquid black hanging together by some unseen force. Its eyes were like scribbles were the eyes should have been. Like a children's scribbles had been placed into the things eye sockets. These tangles of black lines and shapes seemed to pulsate and rotate with some evil force. Maybe hatred, maybe the want to kill. It hurt looking at the monster's eyes. The thing in the doorway sniffed once more. Its hot breath brushed passed my face making me want to hurl, then it turned away down the hall and the two creatures walked side by side down to the lobby. They reminded me of lions. If lions were liquid dark demon creatures. I don't know how long I sat in that corner against the ceiling rubble and wall frozen in fear but it was long enough for me to drift off and fall asleep.

Quality Pizza

I woke up and felt Deja Vu. Laying against something hard and concrete for the 2nd time in a row. My memory of my first day in the city was still with me, In Fact i had multiple nightmares about the Liquid Darkness lion things that had almost killed me last night. I stood up slowly to avoid dizziness and looked around. No death darkness lions anymore. My head hurt more than it had yesterday and i let out a little groan. I turned into the doorway leading to my "home" Expecting shards of glass and the jagged destroyed sliding glass door. It wasn't there.. At least the glass wasn't. Infact none of the glass was there. There was just a big square opening in the wall leading out to the balcony.

"What the hell?" I said aloud to the empty room. Everything seemed so consistently like a dream I really didn't know what I had expected. I needed to secure this place, that was for certain. I looked at the tiny pile of cans that passed as my food supply and sighed. I needed to start surviving.

"Maybe i just imagined those things." I said to myself, trying to calm my mind down. My thoughts were going at a million miles an hour and it was difficult to try and concentrate. Had I really even seen those things last night or was it just a nightmare? There wasn't any glass strewn anywhere and maybe the sliding glass door had just been gone to begin with? I was so unsure of myself, So unsure of everything I had seen. The headache got worse.

"F**k" I said outloud, unshackling myself from the restraints of society by swearing aloud. I knew I’d need food and supplies so I started searched every hotel room on the top floor. All the doors were unlocked thankfully. No brick needed. The rooms all looked the same, one bed one kitchen, one bathroom to the left of the main entrance. All kitchens really clean. Almost like a hospital it was so clean. I found eight cans of food in all and one bottle of water from the top floor. I walked back into my room and paused. The glass was back. The sliding glass door was back where it was supposed to be. I tilted my head and looked at it with squinted eyes.

"What?" I said to myself.

Maybe it had been there the whole time? Maybe i had imagined those creatures last night? The headaches screams got louder. I dropped the food into a little pile and rationed out myself some lunch. Maybe I could get rid of this headache if I got some food and water in me. No luck. The deep throb persisted. Maybe if I was lucky I would be able to find some pain killers. There was a lot of daylight left and it wouldn't hurt to know the rest of my new neighborhood. I made my way outside. The sunshine was reassuring. I felt protected in its light. I knew, somehow, that the monsters wouldn't be able to get me in the light. I had a place I could call home. This entire city was alien to me, but this little spot in the middle of this sea of uncertainty would be my own. I decided to check out one of the buildings next to my hotel. I say "my hotel" simply because there is no one else here to challenge that claim. The faded green building on the left of my hotel building was the Pizza shop i had seen earlier.

Mercy's hospitality, Quality pizza The name was odd for sure. A small alley way made the space between these two buildings. I opened up the door and stepped inside. I was greeted with a warm, homey smell. As if pizza was still being cooked here. The counters were clean enough and the bright red booths looked good as new.

*click click click click*

I froze. I had heard something walking upstairs. Like an animal's footsteps. This building was five stories high, whatever was up there could be on any floor. Do i run away? Do i investigate? What if it was the things from last night?

"You gotta face your fears." I said out loud without thinking. I blinked and realized what I said was right. There was food in this building and this was right by my home. I needed to know it was clear. I walked around the counter and looked for a weapon, maybe a knife of some sort. Opening and closing the cupboards below the counter i found a dark blue backpack. Almost looked like it was made of Denim. Maybe one of the employees had left it here? I grabbed it and put it on. This would be useful for carrying around food or anything else needed to survive. After searching a little more i found the only sharp thing in this store apparently. A pizza cutter. One of those circular knives that rotate so cutting pizza is easy. I sighed and picked it up. Not my weapon of choice but it’d work. Hopefully there would just be a dog upstairs. I made my way to the back door reading Employees only and pushed it open. A dully lit staircase greeted me, welcoming me to explore the rest of the 4 stories. I stepped cautiously up the stairs with the pizza cutter raised out incase anything jumped out at me. The 2nd story was offices it looked like. Maybe where they kept track of money and everything else boring. Same story for the 3rd and 4th level. I searched each one and found nothing but papers and computers that didn't work. One of the papers did catch my eye though. I was looking around for supplies or whatever had made the noise on the 4th floor and i saw a piece of paper taped to the wall in between two windows. I made my way towards it and read what was said on it.

Doctors recommend decreasing Morphine dose to 10mg per 6 hours.

What an odd note to be taped like that. I knew it didn't belong there. I could just feel it, like the page was giving off a certain vibration of uneasiness. If I reached out and grabbed the paper i was certain it would puff into dust. It didn't, it felt like any regular piece of paper.

"I feel drunk and i don't even know what being drunk feels like" I said to the relatively clean office space on the 4th floor of Mercy's hospitality pizza in a mystery city in the middle of what seemed to be the apocalypse. Just then I heard it again.

*Click click click*

Coming from the floor above me. Like claws tapping on a smooth wooden floor. There was something upstairs no-doubt. If it was a dog maybe i could scare it away. A wolf? I don't think wolfs would be in the middle of a city. I was almost certain it wasn't one of those darkness monsters I saw last night. In fact i had almost convinced myself I had imagined those.

I was wrong. I stepped up into the 5th floor. There was nothing up here except a hallway with a window at the end pointing towards my hotel, and a door. I opened up the door to a dark room. It was hard to see in here. A small amount of light filtered through a dusty window also pointing towards my hotel, but it wasn't much. This looked like a storage area considering the boxes of pizza dough and other ingredients. I wondered how much of this stuff was still good considering it wasn't cold in here. Nothing smelled rotten though. The boxes were stacked as high as the ceiling in some places It almost looked like a maze. I cautiously stepped inside, my pizza cutter held ready at my side. I came around the first corner of stacked pizza ingredients to find nothing but a long corridor with boxes stacked high on either side. Mercys hospitality read on all the boxes in green letters. The rest of the city seemed loud compared to how still and silent it was in this place. The only sound that could be heard was a faint clock from somewhere in the back of the room. Ticking down the seconds until all these buildings eventually collapsed. Until I eventually died. I shook my head.

"That was oddly morbid of me." I said aloud, almost hoping one of the pizza toppings would respond. I made my way further into the maze of mozzarella cheese and pepperoni until it was almost too dark to see. I checked all the corners and weaved my way through all the maze for the most part. Didn't see any kind of four legged animal, also didn't see any clock although i still heard it's ticking. The pizza cutter had actually made me feel better.

"See little buddy? Nothing here." I said to the sharp circle as i spun the blade. “There is no such thing as monsters. Thats kid stuff. Monsters aren't real.”

Oh. But they are.

*WHAM*

Something black smashed through a wall of boxes to my left and slammed into me knocking me onto the ground in one big movement. In a blur i was on the ground staring up at one of the massive liquid black monsters from last night. They were real. The thing snarled down at me biting at my throat and trying to tear at my face with its claws.

"M**********R" I screamed pushing its claws away with my left arm, unfortunately my weaker arm.

The pizza cutter had been knocked from my hands and lay to the right of me. The things jaws got closer to my neck and snapped open and closed. It snarled and breathed its disgusting breath on me as it's black drool dripped down on me. It kept snapping and snarling as i desperately reached for the pizza cutter.

My fingers barely touched the handle but it was just enough to scootch it closer to grab it and thrust it sideways against the creatures right eye. The thing reeled back slightly and I got my left foot up in between the thing and me enough to kick it away from me and crawl away panicking. I scrambled to my feet in time to turn around and see the thing lung at me again. I ducked left and wildly swung the pizza cutter. I hit nothing but air. The monster turned again. I backed up into a box of pepperonis and tripped backwards. The thing jumped ontop of me. I would have been dead right there if i hadn't grabbed a box of mozzarella and thrust it in front of me. The monster's jaws and claws met the box and tore it to shreds showering me in cheese.

"Good thing I like cheese" I thought almost insanely to myself as the box was thrown aside and I regained my feet once more.

I faced the monster, my adrenaline was pumping and the pizza cutter was held out in front of me. We circled each other once or twice. I can't remember the exact number. I dashed forward and clumsily swung the pizza cutter down at the monster which easily jumped aside then charged me. Me and the beast went straight through the window facing my hotel.

I hadn't realized there was a window behind me and for a moment I was confused as I felt the wall crack and fall away behind me. Then I saw the outside walls of the pizzeria falling away and I realized what was happening.

*CRUNCH*

We landed hard on one of the fire escape platforms right outside the window. The metal grates below me did nothing to cushion the fall and i felt sharp pain in my back. Maybe glass maybe the impact. Wasn't too sure yet. Had to focus on not dying for the time being.

The thing snarled once more and snapped at my chest with its jaws. It managed to grab the front of my shirt and rip it.

"B*****D" I yelled through gritted teeth.

I was fully aware that i had broken into a profuse sweat. This was quite the workout.

With adrenaline pumping through my moderately strong arms i grabbed the beast by its liquid shoulders and managed to heave it off me. The thing felt like smoke almost in my hands. It's hard to describe but if smoke could have a physical touchable form, this monster would be it. Me and the liquid darkness monster tumbled for a few moments around and around on the fire escape until, of course, we hit the railing and both went over the edge. There was a brief moment of falling and a flash of the railing on the fire escape the next level down. I grabbed wildly for it and felt a pop in both my shoulders and a fiery pain in my leg as i stopped my fall by grabbing the railing, and the monster stopped its fall by grabbing onto my left leg. I looked down and saw the thing still snarling up at me. Its eyes almost shimmering and going in and out of focus. Like a child's drawing experiencing a glitch. I kicked as hard as I could with my right foot. Over and over and over as the monster tried to climb up my leg. Finally after the fourth kick I felt the claws retract out of my leg and the monster fell to the next fire escape level.

I stayed hanging on the 4th floor fire escape of Mercys hospitality quality pizza for a moment or two more until I realized the monster was making its way back up to me.

"God help me." Was all I remember saying.

Somehow the pizza cutter was still dangling from my right hand. I strained and pulled myself up over the railing. My arms felt numb. Down below I heard the thing making its way up to me. I ran up to the 5th floor fire escape and jumped up to the roof. I pulled myself up on top and ran to the other side. No way down. I had just trapped myself. The monster clawed its way up to the roof with me.

My mind hardened. My resolve was set. I am NOT dying on this roof in the middle of nowhere with a pizza cutter in my hand.

"CMON THEN.- UNDELLA UNDELLA" I Screamed at the thing out of rage.

I waved my arms wildly in a " bring it on" motion. The thing charged. I backed up. It got closer, I could see its scribbles of eyes locked onto my throat. It jumped me and I jumped to the left swinging the pizza cutter. I cut the monster from its left eye down the side of its body which made it give a loud almost human scream. An awful scream.

It slammed into the small ledge on the edge of the roof and went over. I heard scrapping noises as the monster slid down the wall then landed with a satisfying crunch at the bottom.

I stood for a moment or two dazed on the rooftop. Pizza cutter still in hand with some black gooey substance on it. I limped over to the edge of the roof and looked over, hoping to god that the thing was dead. It was. It lay limp on the ground below me with smoke rising from it. The monster was evaporating. At least that's the best way i can describe it. I looked down at my left leg and saw tattered remains of a pant leg and blood everywhere.

"Oh f**k." I said outloud.

I looked around wildly as I understood that I was loosing blood. There was nothing else to use. I took my already ripped shirt off and tied it tightly around the top of my thigh to stop blood flow from going into my leg as much as possible. At least that's what I think I was doing. I still have no clue what I was before this but I could be certain I wasn't a survivalist. I tied it as tight as possible and felt a little numb, which was good I think.

I gingerly lowered myself down onto the fire escape. Shots of pain ran up my leg as i set myself down and started to limp back to my home. I almost fell down the stairs twice as i made my way down to the ground floor of Mercys hospitality quality pizza. The pizza cutter was still in my hand as i limped outside. It was almost dark. "Time sure flies when you're having fun." I sarcastically grumbled to the dusk air.

I went as fast as i could back to my hotel and up to the 5th floor. I had a lot to do. Those monsters where going to come again, I was certain of it. I needed to fortify this place, but first needed to stop my bleeding leg. Infact stopping yourself from bleeding probably comes before a lot of things. Its pretty high up there on the importance list.

The Junk Tunnel

Shutting the door behind me, I headed for the bathroom. I hadn't searched this place yet and if there was going to be any medical supplies it would be here. The bathroom door opened and revealed a small, well lit, room. There was a shower against the right wall with the shower curtain pulled across it. Hiding whatever was behind it. Immediately my imagination tried to scream warnings at me but i pushed it back. I knew there could be no monsters in here. There was light in here. I pulled the curtain back swiftly with pizza cutter raised defensively. To my surprise i found a pile of wooden boards lying in the bathtub. Ones stereotypically used to close off doors, and a box of nails with the brand name Hammerheads reading across the white box in blue print.

"Odd place for these things, convenient too considering i need these.." I said.

For the first time since i woke up in this damn city it felt like something was working for me instead of everything working against me. I turned towards the sink and paused. There was a mirror above the sink reflecting all light and letting me perceive its image. I had forgot what I looked like. It was an odd sensation to say the least. I took in the mess of dark brown hair, the shock blue eyes with explosion of yellow in the middle. Built face, good jaw line. This was like seeing someone you went to elementary school with when you're both adults and recognizing them. I saw myself and i was taken aback almost. That was me. This was what i looked like. It surprised me i hadn't thought about my own self image until now considering all my memory was lost when i woke up in this place.

"Nice jawline." I said to myself and winked at my reflection. It winked back at the same time. I stopped admiring my own physical features and opened the cabinet to the left of the mirror. There was a red cross in the center of the dusty, white box. The universal sign for first aid. Stuff I could definitely use. Inside I found Band-Aids. So I could cover up my scraps Incase i fell on my knee. Thank god. There was also painkillers in a little white bottle with the words PainGone! Written across it in orange letters. I shook the bottle to judge how many pills were left and it sounded like a good many, which was good. I would need them. Most importantly there was a little bottle of rubbing alcohol and a roll of gauze. Exactly the things I would need to take care of this leg. I went over to my bed and dropped the denim backpack I had found at the pizzeria on top of the white blankets covering the mattress. I had to get these wounds clean before an infection spread and cut my time in this desolate city short. I pulled off my black jeans and surveyed my left leg. There was multiple scratches coming down from my knee to my ankle bone and a few deep puncture wounds from the things claws. What had to happen next might be more painful than the actual marks themselves. I twisted the cap off of the rubbing alcohol bottle and quickly turned it over so the liquid ran down my leg and all over the wounds. White hot pain crawled up my leg at a vicious rate and I started shaking I laughed in spite of myself and thought of how the thing I was using to save myself from infection was hurting me more than the actual wounds. After a while the pain had subsided and I wrapped my entire leg from the knee down in gauze. I unwrapped my shirt from around my upper thigh and tossed it on the floor then went to get some food.

“Hopefully that'll stop any infections.” I said as I limped towards my stockpile. I set the pizza cutter down on the counter. It would have to be my weapon for a while until I found something better.

After opening two cans of food and drinking a little water I had 10 cans of food left and half a waterbottle. Then it was time to fortify my home. I had an idea to block off the front door and all the windows so the only way in would be to climb up to the balcony and enter through the sliding glass door, but I would need some sort of way to block the monsters from getting in through the same way. From my first encounter it was obvious they could get up to the balcony with no trouble. I started scavenging around the top floor of my hotel going to each individual room and grabbing all the furniture and bringing it back to my home. I started a stack of furniture around the sliding glass door. I got a couple old looking yellow chairs from room 118 and a green couch from 120. The surrounding hotel rooms started looking more and more bare as the pile of furniture grew around the sliding glass door.

“I'm going to call you the junk tunnel.” I said proudly after I heaved a couch on top of a pile of stools. I worked most of the evening taking odds and ends along with all the furniture I could find to create the entrance to my house. After a few hours I had what I was looking for. The junk tunnel. There was clocks, chairs, couches, stools, cupboard doors, and even a refrigerator from room 116, all stacked around the sliding glass door. I had placed them so there was a small tunnel leading from the outside of the balcony to the inside of my home. Just big enough for me to crawl through. I ripped up the window curtains I had and used them to create a “door” for the entrances so the tunnel wasn't in plain sight.

I took a few steps back and surveyed my work

“It's a beauty. There was never a pile of junk more perfect.” I said and got to work boarding up my door and all the windows I had. The only way anyone or anything would get in or out would be the junk tunnel. I had to use the handle for the pizza cutter as a hammer but it worked well enough. The conveniently placed Hammerhead nails and boards quickly covered the rest of the entrances.

I was safe and hidden away from the darkness in this city.

It was almost nighttime when I finished boarding up the rest of the entrances to my little bubble of light. I knew the monsters would be out again tonight. I don't think there will be a single night without the monsters in fact.I paced back and forth waiting for the sun to sink below the horizon line of this apocalyptic city. I had nothing else to do but wait for the night. The moon quickly overtook the sun and with the darkness came the fear of the uncertain. I held my pizza cutter in hand and stood in the kitchen ready for anything. Slowly the city started to come alive with noises. A scrap of paper being moved by something walking passed or a grass crunching under something’s paws. It's amazing how much you can hear when all you’re used to is complete silence. They were out there. I wasn't sure how many there was. There could be an infinite number of them. Impossible to fight.The monsters were out there. Crawling all over this hellish city. Searching for any ray of light or life. I peaked out there the space between two boards that were across my window. I had left just enough room to see a sliver outside.The darkness was crawling with movement. The four legged monsters were everywhere along with other things I could see in the dark but couldn't quite make out in the dark. They seemed to be in small packs searching for something. Searching for me. I knew I had to get some rest, or try at least. I was planning on searching the concrete building that was on the other side of my hotel. I thought sleeping would be difficult but as soon as my head touched the pillow I was out.

Then I was awake, but I wasn't in the same place I had been before. I was looking up at a different ceiling. The air was different. The sheets and bedspread were now up to my chest even though I hadn't pulled them up in the first place. I lay frozen for a few moments trying to understand what had happened.. My head started to hurt immensely. A tear escaped my left eye. I heard a clock ticking down the seconds. Footsteps off somewhere in the distance. Human footsteps. The pain got to be too much. I started screaming but I couldn't move my arms or legs. I couldn't move anything. Darkness took over.

I yelled as I sat up quickly and looked around. I was in my hotel room. The junk tunnel was still there. I was still here, pizza cutter in my left hand.

“Nothing but a nightmare Gabe keep it together.” I said sitting up. I don't know if talking to myself had been a habit before all this happened but being alone for a few days straight was starting to get to me. I got out of bed and looked around the hotel room. I had no shirt on and if I had to face another one of those things I really didn't want to be going shirtless.

Rummaging through the closet I found a black T shirt and a black hoodie. Nothing fancy but perfect for me. I slipped it on quickly and checked on my leg. I saw no sign of infection, thank God. I climbed down into the junk tunnel and pushed the curtains out of the way revealing the sunlight. The city was the same.

If I had to think of something to be thankful for it would be the sun.

I looked over the balcony down to the ground. I was planning on searching that concrete building today. Climbing up and down the building every time would be impossible. I headed back inside and found the stash of clean sheets in the room. Tying them together made a perfect rope for me. I made sure to grab the denim looking backpack I had found in the pizza place and headed for the junk tunnel. Tying the makeshift rope to the left side of my balcony and throwing it over the edge made my heart start to race. It would be a long drop if this rope broke. Stashing my pizza cutter through one of my belt loops I grabbed hold of the sheet rope and gingerly lowered myself over the balcony. I felt no sign of it breaking or loosening so I started my climb down. My hands got clammy almost immediately and my feet had trouble getting around the rope but eventually they touched solid ground. This would be a perfect entrance. I looked around my neighborhood and breathed in the fresh air. Whatever kind of nightmare I had last night I was glad the air here smelled differently. The air in my dream had such a sickly smell to it. Like medicine mixed in with death. An awful smell. I breathed in once more to clear the smell from my thoughts and turned towards the concrete building. The entrance was a single grey door.

Above this door read the title Odds and ends. Some kind of trinket store? I pulled out my trusty pizza cutter and entered the building. I was greeted with a lifeless reception area. Black chairs were lined up against the walls and a white, round desk stood in the middle of the room covering up most of the center of this room. If there had still been human life around here this looked like the place a receptionist would be. Behind the white desk there was two stair cases on both sides of the room leading upwards to the 2nd floor. That must be where the shop started.

Walking past the reception desk I made sure to look over the papers and contents strewn about the desk. The papers were all blank and there was nothing else besides an orange desk lamp and a purple stapler that looked brand new.

“Stapler might be a better weapon than a pizza cutter” I said jokingly out loud and started to chuckle. I had to laugh at my own jokes. There was no one else around. All the walls I had seen in this place so far had been white or concrete. It was a little hard on the eyes. I stepped up onto the landing between the two stair cases and turned around to head up the 2nd flight of stairs. The next level came into my view and it was, thankfully, not as boring as the reception area. The walls were covered in paintings and there was white pedestals scattered around the floor with paintings displayed on top. The low rumbling I heard everywhere was louder in here for some reason. It was like the low undertone of machinery or a boat engine. Something you couldn't quiet hear but you knew it was there. I walked forward and took my pizza cutter out. This place had me feeling very uneasy. My eyes drifted over the paintings catching glances of the artwork. Most of it was amazingly realistic and almost looked like photographs, others looked as if they were drawn by a child throwing a tantrum. I looked closer at one on the wall to my left. It looked like it was drawn out of purple crayon. The lines races angrily over the white background and there were scribble marks all over. I backed away and looked at one of the paintings on the pedestals. This one was amazingly realistic. I could barely tell it was paint until I got super close and saw the details of the brush strokes. The image depicted grassy hilltops with a huge, open blue sky. There was horses running up and down the hills, but they had something on their heads? I looked closer and took in a sharp breath. The horses were wearing oversized clown masks that went down over their manes and down to their bodies. Their heads were completely covered in the rubber masks. There looked to be a heard of these things running through the grassy field. I looked down at the plaque. The word Babadook was engraved there.

“Babadook?” I thought to myself and furrowed my eyebrows. I had heard that somewhere before. Before I had woken up here.

*Are you sure you want to see this movie Gabe?*

White. All I saw was white. I yelled but nothing came out of my mouth. I was somewhere else. A red chair? A big screen? Popcorn?

“UGHhhh” My eyes flashed open. I was breathing heavily and swaying back and forth in front of the Babadook picture. The clown masks on the horses heads looked at me smiling. I backed up a few steps and squeezed my eyes shut. I wasn't entirely sure what had just happened but It was incredibly disconcerting. I had to get away from the Babadook picture. I walked passed it quickly and went up the next flight of stairs up to the 3rd floor. What had just happened felt like a bitter-sweet dream. Something good that you knew was already over. A life I had once lead that I now knew was finished. There was always hope. I had to hold onto the hope of seeing that life again. I had to hold onto the chance that I could sit in those red chairs and eat popcorn again. I had to use that hope to fuel me. Hope is the most important motivator and it can come from anywhere. I needed hope.

I rose up the stairs and was greeted with the 3rd floor and an explosion of color. The walls and ceiling and floor were all a bright orange color. My eyes hurt for a moment as the complex machine that makes up the human eye adjusted itself to the contrast in light. Right where the stairs ended the orange color began. This wasn't a violent orange or anything sinister. This seemed to be a happy orange. Almost giving a carefree feel. There wasn't anything up on the 3rd floor and I wasn't entirely certain why until I stepped onto the orange floor. Which wasn't actually a floor at all. It was a trampoline.

Ascent

I wobbled off center as my left foot sunk slightly into the elastic surface of the floor.

“Whats even going on right now?” I said outloud and started to laugh. The happy orange color coupled with the bouncy floor made me want to laugh all day. I hopped onto the floor and was propelled back upwards by the elastic force. There was a moment of freefall as I flew into the air then landed back onto the trampoline and kept bouncing. Up and down up and down. As carefree as if I was a child again. Not like I remembered what my childhood was like, but you get the picture. I propelled myself into one of the orange walls and was bounced off onto my back where I bounced a couple times then lay still laughing aloud. I had no idea what this building was supposed to be but I loved it. I bounced back up to my feet and started trying to do a flip. Of course dying by breaking my neck on a trampoline would be a hilariously ironic way of eating it in a city where literal monsters were trying to rip my face off, but I was having too much fun to care. I leaped up then pulled up my legs so I landed on my knees then immediately thrust my weight forward and did a flip landing back on my knees. I lay back onto the orange floor and breathed heavily. Trampolines were a big workout. I sat up and looked around finding the next set of stairs up to the 4th floor. The stairs were orange as well and jumping up them was the last bit of fun I got out of the trampoline room. I jumped up the first section of stairs and landed on the landing that connected to another flight of stairs that led to the 4th floor. There was something scratched into the wall here. I jumped over to the wall on the landing and took in the words that had been etched onto the elastic, orange surface of the wall.

It's always something

I looked at it for a while and tilted my head trying to discern a meaning of some sort.

Nothing came to me. At least not yet. I still had two more floors to explore and I didn't want to be stuck in here during the night. I jumped my way up the last flight of stairs leaving behind the etched words in the trampoline wall. My feet landed firmly on the 4th floor after I jumped up the last step. The ground was once again solid and the room looked exactly like the 2nd floor. There was displays everywhere and pedestals with sculptures instead of paintings. Some looked ancient and others were smooth and crisp as if they had almost just been created.

One sculpture stood out amongst the rest. It was sitting on a pedestal in the center of the room with a purple pillow underneath it. The sculpture was of a black and white looking skull mask. The black was smooth and shiny while the skull design was roughly painted on it. The eyes were hollow and lifeless and the white, painted teeth looked like a wolf’s. Underneath this mask was a plaque with a single word written on it.

Lunatic

My fingers traced over these words

“Lunatic?” I said out loud and felt a shiver run through me. As if something had connected when I said this word. Something big. Bigger than me. I quickly scanned over the rest of the sculptures and started heading to the 5th and final floor. The rest of the art pieces looked trivial. I headed up the last set of stairs and came up to a shiny wooden floor with nice wooden walls and a fireplace at the end of the room. There was a strong fire roaring in the fireplace and a faded blue rocking chair sitting in front of it.

“Fires certainly don't just start on their own.” I said and moved more cautiously into the room. I had seen little signs of life all over this city yet all the evidence pointed to the exact opposite. This place was a madhouse. There was nothing here but darkness and monsters… but maybe there was something more. My eyes got caught on the single display case in the center of the room. A beautiful looking glass display case with a sword sitting on display in the case. I moved up to the sword and took in its intercit design.

Silver handle up to a black blade with the very edge being a vibrant red. All the colors moved from one to the other flawlessly. I couldn't take my eyes off of it and I realised after a few moments that I had stopped breathing. I had to get this sword. I looked around the room and saw the sheath sitting on top of the fireplace mantle. I ran over to it and grabbed the sheath to match the sword. I made my way back over to the case and held the sheath above my head, preparing to smash the glass.

*Thud*

I smashed the sheath down into the glass and it simply fell out of place. The glass looked as if it hadnt even been attached to the case it was just there for looks. The weapons we need can sometimes be easier to get than we think.
“Well this is definitely better than a pizza cutter. Unless i'm cutting pizza. Then the sword probably wouldn't do to well.” I said as I walked over to the blue rocking chair and sat down in front of the fire to admire my new weapon.

*RING*

Everything once more went black. I felt severe pain in my head and could faintly hear some sort of siren going off. My mind was spinning and I couldn't control my limbs or body. I couldn't scream. Huge metal things flew past me at ludicrous speeds. These metal beasts roared down huge black lines cut into the ground. I knew one was going to smash into me. I felt the lurch and realized I was in a metal beast of my own. Screaming down the dark line with all the other monsters

*SMASH*

Screeching metal as the monsters collided

*CRASH*

Glass flew everywhere and the spinning didn't seem like it would ever end.

“GABE OH GOD GABE!”

A voice screamed my name over and over until another one of those metal beasts came tearing down and hit us again.

Descent

“F**K!” I lurched awake and jumped out of the blue chair onto the wooden ground. I stayed there shivering for a moment then opened my eyes and did my best to stand up. The room was the same. The fire still offered the same reassuring light in the room. I looked around dazed for a moment then picked up my sword as I tried to comprehend what had just happened. Why was I being haunted by these nightmares? What was causing them? My questions were halted by the sound of frantic footsteps thudding up the stairs to the 5th floor. Something was coming.

“Oh s**t.” I said under my breath and sprinted over to the display case and crouched down behind it. As silently as I could I wrapped the sheath around myself and held my sword at the ready. The sheath was positioned on my back and I was careful not to let it make a sound. Whatever was pounding its way up the stairs came to an abrupt halt as it got to the fifth floor landing. I held my breath and listened. A low ragged breathing sound was coming from the thing. Then the creature walked into the room. My heart skipped a beat as I saw a black figure lurch across the room to my left and I quickly scooted around the display case and broke the line of sight. I eyed the staircase. I had to get out. The blue chair was knocked aside and a screech of anger came from the thing. It was looking for me. It knew I was up here. I sat up and bolted for the staircase. I flew down the stairs before I could even look back at whatever was hunting me and came tearing down to the 4th floor. I skidded to a stop and suppressed a scream. There was more monsters down here. Three of the dark liquid lion-like creatures and one humanoid looking beast. Something I hadn’t encountered before. It stood tall and had long blades for arms. The thing had no face, but It had some sort of reflective black surface over its head with wires running all up and down its body. The same black smoke drifted off of its skin. I crouched down behind one of the pedestals. One of the monsters snarled and knocked over one of the displays. It's like they were getting frustrated they couldn’t find me. The monsters were moving around in all directions. They were going to see me no matter what. I was going to have to make a run for it. I held still for a few moments debating this until the monster from the 5th floor came down the stairs and decided for me. I saw it and it saw me. We stood for a moment looking at each other. It was the same humanoid monster with the blades for hands. Then the thing let out a ear splitting screech and sprinted towards me. I had no time to think. My sword was out in a flash and I swung it at the things feet and jumped to my left. The sword made contact and the monster slammed into the display I was hiding behind. I stood up as fast as I could and ran for the staircase to the 3rd floor. I bolted past the beasts and the room was a blur. One of the monsters caught my shoulder with its claw but I kept running. I flew down the stairs so fast I lost my footing and bounced down the orange trampoline stairs. The beats were right behind me. I turned on the landing and saw another group of monsters coming right for me. As they clawed up the stairs towards me I got a running start and jumped over their heads and landed on the 3rd floor.

The words It's always something left imprinted on the wall behind me.

*RING*

Everything was white this time. I was in two places at once. I knew the monsters would be on me any second. I needed to move but at the same time I wasn't even there. I was somewhere else. Listening to a song. A thought crossed my mind. Caged elephants?

My eyes flew open and I jumped to the stairs. Unfortunately these were no longer trampoline and there was a distinct crack as I lurched down the first flight to the 2nd floor. I heard the darkness right behind me. Tearing its way towards me. I managed to throw myself down the next flight of stairs attached to the landing and landed in a heap onto the 2nd floor. I had to keep moving. I half ran half limped through the 2nd floor dodging the claws and teeth that seemed to be coming from everywhere.

*RING*

White again. I felt something tearing at my skin but that seemed farther away. I was in a bed somewhere. My room was nice and white with a dull hum next to me. Such a comfy bed.

“GAHH” I screamed myself back to reality as a monster came down on me. I felt blood coming from my stomach. I thrust my sword deep into the monster ahead of me and felt the warm black liquid run down my right hand. I threw the dead thing to the side and ran down the last flight of stairs. Finally I came to the bottom floor. You could barely see the white floor. The monsters were everywhere. There was no way I could run through this. I ran forwards and jumped up onto the receptionists desk flailing my sword whenever the darkness got close. Teeth and claws came down on me like a tidal wave. I swung left and right then dodged and lost my footing and fell backwards behind the receptionists desk. The darkness was on me before I could move. A thing ontop of me snarling and tearing at me. My sword was still on top of the desk, but the purple stapler had been knocked to the ground next to me. The monster sunk its claws deep into my chest before I grabbed the stapler and slammed it over and over into the monster's face. Black liquid oozed out in between the growing number of staples lodged into the evil b*****d's face.

“GET. THE. F**K. OFF” I screamed after each staple. Finally I was able to throw the weakened beast off of me. I was covered in black goe and pumped full of adrenaline. I grabbed my sword and jumped onto the receptionists desk once more.

“WHO’S NEXT!?” I screamed at the reception of evil in front of me. They charged. I swung my sword down and chopped a beast's head clean off and brought my sword up just in time to parry a swipe from one of the humanoid monsters. Another one was behind me and my life became a blur of their blade-like arms and my own sword. I blocked a stroke from the monster ahead of me then twirled my sword around and clumsily thrust it backwards. I heard a screech of pain as I caught the monster behind me off guard. One of the Lion-like monsters chose this time to pounce on me from the side. I whirled my sword around and made contact with the beast. There was a dull thud. The humanoid monster’s body was still impaled onto my sword and had simply knocked the lion-like creature aside. I kicked the body off of my sword and finished off the beast that was still on the desk with me. Through the blur of claws and black goe I became aware of a song playing over the loudspeakers in the museum. It sounded almost like elevator music?

*RING*

A pain bigger than anything I had felt before shot through me. I fell face first off of the receptions desk and onto the floor in front of all the monsters. I couldn’t move as they closed in on me. I knew I was dead.

No wait. How could I be dead if I wasn't even in that little abstract shop surrounded by monsters? My eyes opened and I was once again in the other place. The nice bed with the sick smelling air. I moved my eyes around as much as possible to take in all the details. There was a clock on the far side of the room. I tried to sit up and it almost felt like I was about to move but my body just couldn’t do it. Was this a good dream? It had to be. I have heard when some people are in times of extreme stress or danger they go to their “happy place”. Maybe I had found my happy place. I sighed and scooted down under the sheets a little bit more. I liked my happy place. Except for this constant cold feeling I had on my face. Actually I felt that cold feeling on the entire front of my body. I started to shiver. It felt solid and hard. Then a huge feeling of disorientation hit me as the world flipped over around me and I was awake lying on the cold ground of the trinkets store. I wasn't dead. Or maybe I am. Maybe this is hell.

I listened hard and heard no sounds of movement around me. I sat up quickly and grabbed for my sword. Nothing attacked me. I was alone in the receptionists area of the store. Right where I had passed out. Then the pain of my injuries chose this time to hit me all at once. Sprained ankle? Broken leg? I wasn't certain but it really hurt. Scratches all over my stomach and chest. A deep cut on my shoulder. I needed to get back home and treat these wounds. I would be staying inside for a long time after this. Going outside never seems to end well for me in this place. I limped out of the trinket store. It was night time. I knew the monsters were out. I started making my way over to my hotel room as quickly as possible. Then from behind me a terrible roar as one of the beasts spotted me. I heard rapid footsteps.

“Not again! F**k! F**k!” I yelled over and over as I neared the sheet rope hanging from my balcony. I forced my legs to go faster and got into a half limp-half run. The monster was right behind me. I jumped for it and got entangled with the sheet rope. I madly started to climb up it as fast as possible. The beast jumped for me but I was already too high up for its reach. I heard a satisfying crunch as the beast slammed into the hotel wall. I dragged my way up to the balcony. I heard the beast was climbing up the building after me. I drew my sword and waited. The moment I saw its black head pop over the edge I promptly lopped it off. The thing let out a small squeak almost as its body disconnected from its head. The beast's eyes, that looked like moving scribbles, went still. The creature fell from its hold on the balcony and turned into black smoke before it hit the ground. I flipped it the bird for a good ten seconds before heading back inside. I climbed through my junk tunnel and headed straight for my medical supplies. Once more I took of my clothes and made sure rubbing alcohol was on every wound. I had read somewhere that rubbing alcohol actually did more harm than good, but I had no other choice.

“Didn’t my mom tell me that?” I asked outloud. A faint memory brushed against my conscious as I wrapped gauze around my wounds. A mother and a father. A home. I had a life before this. My memory was there but it was like looking through a foggy field and seeing the outline of a tree. You know what it is but you can't see any details. I ate another can of my food then laid down in bed. My body hurt all over. I definitely needed to give it time to rejuvenate.

“I have a Mom and a Dad.” I said and smiled slightly to myself. At least all of my life wasn’t lost in the fog. To top it all off I didn't have school tomorrow, or ever again. I had a pretty sick looking sword too. I felt really good for the first time in a while even if my body felt the exact opposite. I fell asleep smiling.

The other place

Dreams are an odd thing. You have those moments where you can feel yourself slipping in and out of your dream and the real world. Cracking your eyes open for just a moment to see what time it is then drifting back asleep. Dreams are a world your brain has complete control over. You just have to hope your brain isn’t working against you. I woke up and immediately knew I was dreaming. I was in the other place again. I tried to sit up and once more failed. I took a few deep breaths and turned every ounce of willpower towards moving this flesh prison. Finally, inch by inch, I managed to pull myself back and sit up. I surveyed the room around me. I blinked a few times and squinted. The room was blurry. All the edges were soft and the colors all blended together. Like a watercolor painting with a little too much water. I took a look around and saw something that looked like a window. I tried to get out of bed to go look at it but my body wouldn't move. I thought I could see the stars outside, but there wasn’t just stars outside. There was stars everywhere outside. Hundreds of little dots of light. I had no idea what I was looking at and before I could ponder it more I felt myself being dragged back to reality. To my own personal hell. Waking up never feels good. This time was no exception. My eyes fluttered open and I groaned. My body was not healing too quickly. I sat up and looked to see the same hotel room. I got up and surveyed my food situation. I didn't have a lot of food left. I was going to have to stay inside for a long while to heal up. I spent the next couple of days scavenging around the hotel rooms. Breaking into the rooms became a sort of ritual for me. I didn’t visit the other place in my dreams or while I was conscious during this time. I hoped the passing out part would stay gone.My wounds were healing up good enough.. My days turned into teaching myself how to use a sword and working out with whatever I could. I carried my sword everywhere I went nowadays. Eventually the food in the hotel room ran out. I would need to head over to the pizzeria and grab some of the ingredients from their storage area as soon as my food supply got low enough.