It was dark. It was dark and it was cold as he looked, looked beyond the vast black void that stretched out beyond him. He saw nothing, not even himself.
Even so, Danny rose to his feet, slow yet steady, and began to run. He ran because he had to. He could numbly feel a presence lingering, a presence that didn't feel inviting nor sincere. He knew it was dangerous, just like a prey knew its predator.
But he was getting nowhere. He ran forward, yet by the lack of vision and coordination, he felt like he was stuck. How could he get somewhere if there was nothing to begin with? He couldn't have a goal, there was no starting point. He couldn't stay, lest it follow him.
He saw nothing, but felt everything. It overwhelmed his senses. There was a ground, so was there a sky? Several things around him in all kinds of shapes and sizes, did that mean there was a limit to its reaches? How did he get here, hadn't he been inside a–
Danny felt his progress in motion. Despite the threatening circumstances, he felt no emotions. It was as if something from above had taken his ability to feel. His feelings were invisible as replacement to feeling the things around him. Just like he was expected to.
He could only run away.
The presence never ceased. Eventually, Danny wasn't sure if its existence was real, as it just seemed to be there. Following him with its feelings of wrath and betrayal it wanted to give him. No emotions.
The boy knew he did something wrong. Something was terribly wrong. He was aware of the cuts and bruises adhering his skin, the throbbing in his head. His running felt weak, as did his breathing, he couldn't evade the somethings around him any longer. He felt so weak, he had to start flying, even with the somethings surrounding him. Anything to not stop. If he stopped, he'd get caught and sent back to–
A liquid. A liquid stopped him in his tracks. He hit the ground once more. No. No, he hasn't escaped yet. He was so close he was and he couldn't see anything. Why couldn't he see anything. The liquid felt so soft but it was hard and it wasn't, that liquid. It felt so sharp and acid.
It swallowed him, it hurt him. What was it doing to him? He stopped thinking. No, he couldn't move, the liquid was stealing him from the ground up. The ground took him, the one thing Danny could actually feel. He couldn't think. But he absolutely had to. Thinking was the only thing he that he had left and if that was to get taken, taken from him, he will become part of the nothing. The thinking.
Thinking
Thinking he had made it out.
He would never be out. He didn't hold the power to.
He was falling, and he couldn't stop it. He had no control. None.
Long later, he felt the front of his lower legs touching a ground. It was not abrupt, and Danny could sense pieces of the somethings materialising around him as he regained control. He found himself leaning his head above something, his hands desperately clinging to its oval shaped sides. He was coughing, coughing, but why? Was he choking? Was it to trigger a gag reflex?
A body hovered behind him, tapping at his back repeatedly in a paranoid pace, right where his lungs lay. Danny found himself, he was now conscious. He stopped his coughs and put his weight to his lower legs as he slowly leaned back. The tapping hesitantly ceased along with him.
The boy panted weakly, eyes opening.
"Danny," a voice creaked, a voice which Danny didn't immediately recognise.
It was a feminine one. He had to think. Think by himself with such a blurry mind. Jan– Jasmine, it was his sister.
"Danny, are you okay?!", she continued, mind in a frenzy. Jasmine, she wasn't aware of the confused yet thoughtful look on his face. She brought her right hand to his shaking shoulders in a poor attempt at comfort. She didn't quite know whom the comfort was for. His weak figure felt so soft but also so hard.
The addressed boy was still panting, still trying to make something of his surroundings. This wasn't right. He was quick to glance around him, left and right, up and down, trying to find something of significance. What exactly, he wasn't sure.
"Gosh– you, you stopped breathing and," his sister, Jazz, said. "You suddenly started yelling and I was worried that you were–"
"Where is he?" Danny interrupted, voice unexpectedly raspy.
"W-Who?"
"The man, Jazz. The man who brought me here!" It sounded like he was in danger, and that he had to find the answer immediately, impatient. Danny finally faced Jazz, who had a panicked and worried look on her face. A man? Danny turned his head and gave a cough.
"No. There, there's no man here. I brought you to the bathroom on my own, no one else's with me. Danny, you're scaring me."
The grip on his left shoulder tightened.
Danny's alert and widened eyes started to droop as he slowly began to catch his breath. There was no way. That man– something– he needed to– it was important. The liquid.
No. He was in a bathroom, and it was dark outside. He had slept, it was all but a dream.
The boy willed himself to calm his frantic mind. So he kept thinking. His hazy memory recalls his usual dreams as relatively normal, due to his (throbbing) mind going through a forced maturity that held no time for imagination. For him, this was all odd. But what's one dream in a million? Right?
A dream that felt so real, like a memory.
Danny forced a laugh. "You're right, wow. Maybe I was, maybe I was still in dreamland looking for a long lost brother or something, haha!"
Jazz's shoulders slumped as she gave a relieved smile. "Oh, thank God, little bro." She sighed. "You know, if you tell me what you dreamt about, I could give you a list of dream interpretations. The subconscious mind speaks a lot of symbolism about the psychology and mental thoughts of the person–"
"Dude, no. I already forgot what happened by now," Danny deadpanned.
"I'm not a 'dude', little brother. Too bad you forgot. I really would've wanted to know," Jazz said. She ruffled his hair fondly, ignoring his hand swatting with a playful grin and a giggle. Her eyes and arms dropped. "Well, guess all we can do it go back to sleep, then. Sheesh, I'm so glad our parents aren't home tonight," she laughed as she stood up.
Danny slowly stood up as well, with a soft spoken 'yeah' of agreement. He didn't lie when he said he forgot. All he could remember was a claustrophobic tightness, shattering as a vast blackness engulfed him, with a bit of neon green in between. That.. was nothing to think about. He didn't know what man he was talking about during his half awake state. However, he felt like he should.
He was about to exit the bathroom, yet the halfa found himself taking a quiet glance at the toilet he had suddenly found himself hovering in front of moments ago. Inside of it was nothing, only water. Water, and the pecks of a green liquid..
His body felt so weak, so softened yet so hard.
"Here," he heard Jasmine say from a slight distance.
Danny hadn't realised that he had been staring at a toilet seat for a considerate amount of time now. How embarrassing. He quickly turned to the voice, seeing his sister holding a glass of water for him, wearing a tired grin.
"Thanks, sis," Danny absently replied with a lazy smile as he took the offer.
"Let's hope this won't become a chronic issue. You really got me there for a sec," Jazz said with a laugh, yet also rubbing her temples and shaking her head. Danny was starting to think her constant laughing and smiling was a defence mechanism to the shock. He saw her smiling, but he felt so empty.
Drink finished, the halfa apologised for the fiasco. Jazz accepted the apology, saying it wasn't his fault to begin with. Both parties were glad the other was there. With that said, the siblings went back to their respective rooms for a second attempt at sleep.
Danny's attempt failed as he stared at the ceiling, thinking.
He could numbly feel a presence lingering.
August 18, 2014
This time, I'm completely aware of what's going on. It's meant to be confusing, but I hope it isn't too confusing. If you catch my drift. I'm really curious about how people will interpret this.
Thank you so much for the kind welcome and nice feedback. It inspires and motivates me.
-CC