He sat up in his bed with a jolt.
He had been in a nightmare again, but that wasn't possible was it?
He couldn't have been having a nightmare, because it was dark out, and the boy never slept when it was dark. Not for years and years and years.
Not since he'd moved here and beyond.
Not since he was a little boy.
He had to get out, he knew it. He crept out of his bed, still dressed from the rave he'd been at until three that morning, a mere hour ago, and grabbed his skates, moving quietly past his roommate and into the hall. He slid the skates on, and silently he wheeled down the smooth concrete floor, through the halls of Dead End. The halls of home.
He hoped, prayed, that no one would wake up. He wasn't supposed to go out at night alone, because he was 'unstable'. They didn't trust him not to run away. His own friends locked him in Dead End, his cage, his home, until the sun came up. Unless- of course, he had the working key of another beating heart nearby.
He climbed the stairs, designed with steep grooves to prevent skates from slipping, and silently made his way out the door. It wasn't long before he was sliding along cold pavement and rushing on top of segmented sidewalk. His shirt billowed, how it was loose he didn't know. Through rips and holes he could feel cold air, and could see the mesh undershirt. His 'name' slid down his left arm in stylized characters, reading "Takai." He didn't even care what it meant, it was his and he'd taken it. Fair and square. Across the right arm would be his name again, this time in Kanji. The character for 'Maka,' meaning other, and the character for 'Kai,' meaning world.
Otherworld; Death.
He left Dead End and turned left, onto So Close, which transitioned to Keep Going, and finally to Almost There before turning left again onto Creep. He rocketed his way through Creep, and relished the feeling the air gave him. Creep transitioned into Connector, and from Connector he turned onto Fill Up. Fill Up was named so because of the, literally, ten or so Gas Stations packed onto the street. He decided to do some shopping, and entered the only 24-hour station. So aptly named 24-Hours.
If I lost you somewhere, let me explain. Takai had his own way to remember streets, he rejected the government appointed names and made his own. That included buildings, which did not exclude Dead End. He didn't care what they were really called, the names were his and he'd made them.
As he entered he didn't see any GovernmentClone Whores working, so before any could show up he grabbed some candy and pocketed it. He slid toward the back of the store, with the drinks, and grabbed some soda. Then, at almost the worst time possible, the afore mentioned GovernmentClone Whore stepped out. It was only Paul, the nice, if creepy at times, old man. Takai oozed toward the register and paid for the soda, tossing a couple dollar bills onto the counter. Silently Takai left the store, and again turned left. He headed down Fill Up until it ended. And he was faced with a choice. He could go straight, down Desolate- which would, upon crossing the Rail Road tracks, turn into Lovely, a nice smooth bike path right by the water's edge, which would then Abort into a gravel field and he would be forced onto Options, the still nicely paved, but not a nice, road, which ruptured into Rough, still road but not paved since long, long ago, which ultimately erupted into The Docks- or left, down Restaurant Street.
Takai chose Desolate, but Takai always chose wrong, right? Though, thinking upon this later, Takai would comment how they were his mistakes, and he'd made them.