Author's Note: Consider this the reason why I haven't uploaded anything related to my other project yet.
I'd only had four hours of sleep in the past five days. Fatigue had long since begun to impair my mental as well as physical ability. 'Just a few more minutes,' I told myself for the umpteenth time. My deadline was only a few hours away and I still had three planned chapters to go.
"I promised a Depraved Dentist and damn it, I'm gonna deliver," I shouted as a means to motivate myself. I'd been too lenient in planning this story.
I was at the end of chapter seven now and I'd begun to perk up. Finishing the last sentence of the chapter, I stood up and headed to the kitchen to grab a soda.
"Dentist down. Now I need to work in the captains betrayal and tattoo-guy's introduction and I'll be all set," I mumbled with a tiny grin.
I made it the ten feet to the stairs when I was finally hit full force by my exhaustion. I lifted my foot to mount the first step and everything went dark.
I laid on what felt like cold cement for a long time. How long, I can't be sure. But it was strange. Some part of my mind was shouting that I was laying on cheap, torn up carpet in the downstairs computer area of my house. Another part of my mind was arguing that I could have just blacked out from lack of sleep and wound up stumbling outside. Another part suggested it was just a dream. I wanted to believe that one.
Finally, I reluctantly opened my eyes. I had indeed wound up outside, but I had no idea where I was. My head was pounding. If I had passed out and fell backward, my head would have hit the side of a coach. Or, it could be from hitting the cement. It really didn't matter at the moment.
Fog obscure my vision. Silence pressed in on all sides. My head was still pounding. I was in the middle of a four-way intersection.
More alert now, I glanced around to try and get my bearings.
"Stupid fog. Is that a building. It looks like a building. I can't really tel-STUPID FREAKIN' FOG," I shouted.
"Come on now. It's not the fog's fault you can't see," someone nearby said in a vaguely familiar voice.
I looked around, ears straining for the sound of footsteps. Nothing.
"Where are you," I called out. I was starting to lose my nerve.
"You were asleep a really long time."
With each word, a faint recognizance swelled up in my mind. It was a mans voice. Somewhat childish. It definitely sent chills down my spine. But why was it so familiar. That's what I was straining now.
"I thought you might be dead," the man said. He sounded closer now. I still hadn't heard any footsteps.
"Who are you," I asked in a shaky tone.
"But here you are, standing and looking and talking to me," the man said as though he hadn't heard me. He was practically on top of me now. I could feel his presence mere inches behind me.
I balled my fist and swung around, hoping to catch the man by surprise. My fist made contact with something that could have been his face. He was knocked back by the surprise but was still on his feet. I cringed as I realized why his voice was so familiar.
"That wasn't very nice," Walter Sullivan said as he straightened up.
I was struck by both fear and awe as he spoke. A wicked grin spread across his face as he lifted the pipe in his right hand.
"The Game!" They were the only words I could think of.
He suddenly dropped the pipe and said, "Seriously!"
I seized this opportunity and ran as hard and fast as I could. Walter was only flustered for a few moments. Unhindered by the fog, he pulled a handgun out of his coat and aimed it at my back. He pulled the trigger but a lucky trip at the last second saved me from what would have been a bullet in the back of my skull.
My glasses had flown off and I swept the ground with my hands for a moment. They made contact and I slammed them onto my face as I half-stood up, half-ran down the road. It didn't take Walter very long to catch up to me. I was out of shape and my breathing became labored very quickly. An idea suddenly struck me. I knelt down on one knee and waited for Walter to reach me. I raised and hand and said, "You go on ahead. I'll catch up."
"Alright," he said and continued on into the fog.
"Heh heh. Sucker."
I ambled back to the intersection and decided to take his abandoned pipe. 'If I am where I think I am, I'm gonna need this.' A memory of a quote from one of my favorite games floated into my mind.
"It's dangerous to go alone. Take this. … YOU JUMPED INTO A SWORD. YOU RETARD!"
I smiled to myself and set off at a quick pace in case Walter figured out what just happened.
"Hey, wait a minute," Walter yelled as he turned back around.
