Blinding City Lights (Abel)

(Midnight- three days before incident)

“That should be good enough,” I thought to myself. I had spent the last couple of hours rummaging through several contraption I could only assume were dumpsters. I was looking for something to wear. Anything would do. I didn’t have much of a choice to what I found.

I stumbled upon an black long sleeve v-neck shirt. It had a detachable black hood, which would be nice for it were just windy. However, the way it was raining it wouldn’t do much use. I also found some weird looking damp cargo pants. They had been caught in the rain out side.

The pants appeared like regular cargo pants. However, they had strange lines that ran up and down along the seams. The pants themselves seemed to produce a strange burnt smell. It was sweet like cinnamon, yet with a dash of hickory seasoned in the midst of it.

“Strange,” I thought.

I held the pants in my hands as I opened the lid to one of the strange dumpsters. The rain had still been in a downpour and the temperature was beginning to drop tremendously. It had gotten so cold that I couldn’t afford to stay outside for long periods of time. So, I resorted to hopping inside dumpsters while looking for anything of use to keep my feet from getting hypothermia.

A lot of the dumpsters were mostly empty. In which, I deduce was because of a trash run. However, when I opened some of the bags I noticed that most of them were filled with these strange white substance. They were hard, small, and strangely slippery. It was in the shape of a small egg no bigger than my thumb. I tossed some around in my hand, before I casually placed them back where I got it from. I slipped the long serve shirt over my head and onto my body.

Immediately, an instant sense of heat comforted me. I rub my arms and notice my skin drying instantly. The dumpster warmed up, slightly. I grab the pair of cargo pants to feel their dampness.

“Still slightly wet,” I thought.

I shrug and slide them on. With a little effort, they slip on fitting almost perfectly. The were a little loose, but beggars can’t be choosers. A warm comforting sensation rushed over me as the pants seemed to warm my legs as well. Steam flooded the inside of the dumpster; warming it even more.

I sat in the dumpster, warm. Lost. Alone. Confused.

“Where am I?” I thought.

I was in a place unfamiliar to me. Everything that I had seen while roaming around outside was completely foreign..... yet familiar. Though I hadn’t really seen much. I stuck to the alley ways, mostly. Everything I had seen up to that point seemed, so far, to appear normal. There were buildings, alleyways, trash bins, and normal stuff. However, the way they looked was what matter. Everything was so technologically advanced.

Everything…. Moved. The bricks on the walls seemed to shift by themselves. Neon lights pulsed when you got near them. Things like the alleyway ladders lowered when you got near them….. and the streets.

Pain began to form inside my head as I tried to remember the details.

“The light,” I thought to myself, “it was so bright.”

Indeed, it was. When I was running away from the exploding building, I remember running for what seemed like an eternity. I didn’t know where I was going. I don’t think I cared either. My legs didn’t seem to tire nor did my body. I was running purely off adrenaline.

I recall stopping in the edge of an alley. I finally decided to catch my breath and try to make a decision on where to go. I slowly stumbled onto the street sidewalk. I looked around and was shocked. I remember thinking, “Is this a dream?”

Everywhere I looked, I saw things my mind couldn’t comprehend. There was no way that the things I was seeing were possible. Yet, my eyes didn’t lie.

What I could only guess were flying cars zoomed far above my head. The were nearly noiseless. The only noise being a quiet “whoosh “ as they passed by overhead.

What appeared to be holograms could be seen as far as the eye can see. It was endless. I saw everything I could think of off the top of my head. I saw what appeared to be models, advertisements for businesses, food, and etc.

“They looked so real,” I thought to myself.

Indeed, they did. Everything I saw looked like I could touch it. Like it was right there in front of me. I could smell everything around me. The sweet salty smell of food, the mixed body odors of people, and any other aromas you could think of it was all there.

I looked up and I was astonished by how large the area was. There seemed to be no limit to how far the infrastructure stretched in any direction. The buildings around me seemed to go on forever.

I continued to look around completely awestruck when I took notice of an enormous glowing light in the sky. The light blinded me at first, but as my eyes adjusted I saw that the light was a man drinking a canned beverage. It appeared to be an advertisement, but the man was odd looking. I had never seen anything like him.

He was a tall dark black man.... or at least I thought he was a man. His skin was extremely pale, even with his dark skin tone. His eyes were unnatural. They appeared..... artificial. Animatronic. The had appeared normal, but I could see what seemed to be wiring hidden very well underneath. His eye color was a glowing purple color and he had white pupils.

He had a sharp jaw. His nose wide and nostrils flaring. His eyebrows were thick, yet neatly trimmed. There were no blemishes, bruises, or scarring on his face. It’s was absolutely clear. His head was completely shaven. He looked easy to draw.

On his head, there was a tattoo marked across his scalp. I squinted to see that it resembled a barcode of some sort. Underneath the barcode read writing saying, “RE-0025.” It was some sort of model.

I watched as the man lifted the beverage to his lips. It was an all black can with no design. However, on the side of the can read a word in a strange language. I couldn’t understand it.

The man sipped from the can. I watch as he gulped down the entirety of the contents inside the can. After removing the can from his lips, he then looked at me. I automatically felt threatened. The adrenaline in my body began to course. I could hear whispering scrapping against my skull as he continued to glare at me.

I watched as he began to speak; however, I couldn’t understand him. His tone was soft spoken, yet deep and.... demonic. He smiled at me. It was an off putting beam that would send shivers down anyone’s spine. His eyes wide and his grin wider, he glared at me with what seemed to be insatiable hunger.

I looked around. Nobody was around me. The street I was on was void of life. I look up and noticed that everything was darkened. The bustling skies above seemed dead. No car was above.

All the holograms seemed to have disappeared. The beautiful aromas that I was beginning to become infatuated with were gone. A smell of sweltering decay now flooded my nose. I looked back at the man in the advertisement. It was just me and him.

The man spoke to me in his soft demonic voice. I took a slight step forward; standing my ground. I didn’t say anything. I just stared at him. IT. I continued to stare at IT.

It shifted its weight, slightly. I continued to stare at it.

“Something was off about this thing,” I thought to myself.

I watched as it shifted again. This time it appeared to glitch ,slightly. I noticed that for a brief second that it’s face changed. It switched into a blur. A twisted amalgamation of skin and teeth. Something out of a nightmare. Something that doesn’t belong in the real world.

For the briefest of seconds, the smile on his face dissolved into a grimace. His eyes were wide, but they were different. The wiring was extremely visible. Black lines of different patterns stretched out and around his eyes. The whites in his eyes were now black and his pupils shone silver. The blinding whit screen behind him flashed crimson. Then he went back to his sinister smile; however, this time black liquid teemed from his eyes.

“You’re not from around here are you,” he questioned.

I could final understand him. The whispering that was scrapping in my skull was getting louder. I watched as the man began to sink out of frame on his advertisement screen. He was still staring at me. I took a step back. I could hear the voice in my head grow louder and more clearly by the second.

It was the soft voice of a women. It sounded familiar, but I don’t remember it from anywhere.

“Leave,” it said, “cognitive hazard.

I listened. I was beginning to turn around and leave, but suddenly I was thrown off. Out of no where, all of the missing lights from above turned back on. But it was wrong. It very wrong. Everything was.... dead. The models were dismembered and disemboweled. All the food was now rotted. Decayed. The smell of dead and rusted iron overwhelming my senses now. Everything was red. I stood there drenched in a world of crimson.

I turn back towards the advertisement with the man. He wasn’t there, but the screen was unnecessarily bright. Suddenly, an abrupt flash scorched across my vision; blinding me.

“Leave now!” the voice hissed at me.

I turn on my heels and ran back into the alley. A loud feminine screeching sound could be heard behind me, but I was long gone already.

I ran until I remember I bumped into something. It was soft like a person. I recall falling on the ground. Anger of an unknown scale coursed over me. My body was hot. It felt like I had been drowned in lava. The scent of blood overwhelmed my nostrils. My fist clenched, nearly drawing blood from my nails digging into my skin.

Then.... I blacked out. I reawakened in the freezing cold rain somewhere else. I couldn’t remember anything past that.