V-00000.1 - Nightmares

I stared through the hallway windows of my school towards the exit. I watched as people walked the street just outside, and then the morning bell rang. I turned away from the window, moving to English.

As I walked through the halls, I couldn't help but compare myself to other students: perfect uniforms, neat haircuts, platinum hair with shining blue eyes. I had ragged long hair, almost black with copper strands mixed in the dark mess, contrasting against my almost unnaturally pale skin with hazel eyes.

Every class made the difference between the rest of the students and me clearer: perfect attendance, perfectly on time, perfect performance. With each passing class, I felt myself falling more and more behind, arriving even later, my uniform getting dirtier.

Finally, my day ended, and I was standing before the hallway windows again, my reflection a mocking confirmation of what I already knew: that I was a mess.

My eyes bore into my numerous imperfections that marked me out: my damaged shirt missing its top buttons, the rip in my sports coat, and the scar on my neck that extended into my collarbone. Then I stared past myself out the window the sun was getting low, casting its brilliant red light in warning of the night.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and when I opened them, the sun was high in the sky, casting a warm glow upon the streets, and the morning bell sounded, signaling the restart of my day.

I turned, taking in the school's hallway again, staring at my fellow students, whose eyes seemed to hold an even greater contempt for me than they did yesterday. Just as I began to step forward, I felt a tight grip on my shoulder and found myself twisting around before a much louder bell rang.

I felt a sense of vertigo hit me as my eyes snapped open, and I realized I was sitting up in bed, not standing in school. I could feel my heart rate rapidly dropping, along with the anger I felt moments ago fading like a forgotten dream.

I reached over to my phone and swiped my thumb across the screen, then did it three more times as I tried to get the ancient smartphone to register that I was touching the screen. Eventually it lit up still blaring the alarm opening my Calendar instead of turning off the alarm, and I swore loudly feeling as though the thing was trying to piss me off as the grating sound continued and reminded me of my back-to-back hospital appointments coming up.

Eventually I just slammed my hand hard onto the phone making it shut up, I quietly muttered to myself

“Couldn’t let me have five peaceful fucking seconds could you... nope just fuck me I suppose.”

Shifting my legs off my bed I began to rise, pressing my feet to the cold wooden floor. I felt my joints protest in their usual symphony of aches which progressed to searing agony as I forced them to take my weight, a series of grotesque cracks and pops sounded from my hips, knees, ankles, and finally my toes as I worked the bones back into their sockets, my degraded body practically incapable of holding itself together for long.

With the agonizing sensation of my bones socketing having cleared the post sleep haze, I shifted that disturbing dream to the back of my mind. "I think I'm going to firmly repress that one, just like every other dream I've had in the last ten years."

I said to myself stretching my aching body.

Finally, I started my day, walking to my dresser and pulling out a pair of loose black jeans and a thin long-sleeved black shirt with a V-neck. After dressing, I walked out from bedroom and stepped into my narrow kitchen.

A cup of instant coffee was the obvious first choice, but before I could drink it, I felt a soft vibration in my pocket.

Reaching down, I pulled my phone up and saw a notification that made me smile.

From: Vlad

"Hey, Viktor! Congratulations on finishing high school! I know things were rocky to start, but I always knew you would. You should come to visit soon; we can go out to dinner. P.S. Take it easy on the drinking tonight."

I took a long moment scrolling through my contacts for any other messages, eventually finding nothing.

Why do I even let myself hope up? No shit, the rest of my family forgot, well that or they straight up don't care, probably an even mix.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

To: Vlad

"Thanks for the text, bro! I'd love to come up and see you and Allie sometime soon, hopefully before I start uni or a job and get too busy."

With my texts sent and checked, I placed my phone down on the counter and started drinking my coffee while preparing a nutritious meal: cup noodles with chorizo chunks and hot sauce. It took very little time to create my red little monstrosity and even less time to inhale it.

With my bodily needs met, I can finally move on to the important parts of my day: submitting applications and justifying skipping my own graduation with the help of my age-old friend... crippling depression.

Gods I really hope I'm kidding.

"My thoughts worry me sometimes.”

I said to myself as I mulled over my most recent internal monologue.

“Hmm, you know, I think I'm talking to myself even more often these days."

"Could be the fact that you are spending even more time alone and avoiding people like they're lepers."

"Yeah, that, uh... could definitely be it."

Choosing to ignore whatever upsetting probable truths the mean head voice told me, I stepped onto my apartment balcony, pulling a pack of cigarettes from my jeans pocket and pressing one to my lips. I pulled on the cig and I lit it up.

I stared towards the grey skies; the chilling bite I felt in the wind signaled summer's tyranny was finally coming to an end making way for autumn.

I leaned out on my balcony railing for the better part of the day, watching the clouds shift and texting my girlfriend allowing myself to be absorbed into the memories of our relationship, my melancholy not aided by her being absent due to her own graduation and celebrations with her family.

Staring into the sky one particular memory came over and over again, that filled me with smiles and reminded me of my self-made promise to ask her to marry me as soon as I could get a ring now that we’re adults.

The day she asked me to come to her school dance was the day I realized this wasn’t just fun or a distraction or high school romance it was when I knew

I have to spent the rest of my life with this girl no matter what

I could still feel her hand in mine as I closed my eyes to see her face in my memories, my hand in hers we danced together, as we moved I could feel the nerves and tension of making mistakes flee like it had no place with us, her eyes stayed with mine as we stepped and swayed bowing and twisting together.

I said aloud the words that followed my memories “I love you” I heard her voice in my mind “I don’t want this night to ever end.”

The sky darkened with me lost in the memories of how I realized I was head over heels in love for what must have been the thousandth time since we had our first dance, this was a memory I treasured deeply it was the last time I was able to dance without it hurting and the first time I understood what it meant to be in love.

However, all good times come to an end, and notification pulled me from my memories, a long text from the hospital came, as if purposefully sent to sour my mood it informed me that my test results were inconclusive, that I would need to have more blood drawn with preparations made to map my genome.

I took a long drag on my cigarette, blowing the smoke out in a sigh, my hand balling into a tight fist, as the sudden shift in my emotions whiplashed my mind, knuckles cracking with the joints in my fingers being forced into place one after another, pain radiated up my hands completely ignored.

"FUCK me! Again! Nearly six goddamn years and still no answers not even a semblance of a goddamn treatment plan and now they can’t even stick to their fucking appointments just couldn't wait to give me shitty news.”

I took a deep breath attempting to calm down, instantly failing I shouted again at no one.

"This is the 20th FUCKING time this year they’ve taken blood how many blood draws could they possibly need from me!"

My ranting fluctuated from seething venomous tones to outright screaming at the sky my rage only inflated by them having ruined the escape my mind had given me from my depressed thoughts of graduation.

Eventually I managed to keep the outburst in my head instead of shouting off my balcony like a nutcase

I couldn’t shout a doctor into having an answer; I couldn’t intimidate a test into having understandable results, although I'd love to be able to. Close second for a superpower I'd want if regeneration was off the table: intimidating medical equipment.

I pocketed my phone before straightening up grimacing from the pain, hearing my back snap and crack like someone smashed a Lincoln log house.

Before I turned to head back inside, I thought I saw a strange darkness spreading through the sky from my peripheral vision, as if something unnaturally dark and light-consuming that wasn’t my new mood was flying across the stratosphere.

Twisting around my eyes wandered through the night stars as if ready to accuse each and every constellation that seemed to look down on me.

Eventually, I gave up, finding nothing but the feint red outlines stretching across the sky's as the sun dove below the horizon.

“I think your starting to lose it Viktor… well more of it I guess you’ve never quite been right in the head”

“Go fuck yourself” I said as way of reply to my own jab… against myself.

Pushing my balcony door shut, I sat down at my desk, checking through my notifications and emails. I spent a decent amount of time doing the work I had planned to finish hours ago: submitting my university application and applying for loans planning for my future even though I was uncertain whether this was the future I wanted or not.

Finally, I shifted to my bed, hoping that when I woke tomorrow, the strange melancholy that gripped me anytime a big event that should make me happy occurred would be gone.

I pressed a palm full of codeine to my lips before swallowing and laying back with my eyes closed, waiting for the drugs to kick in and ease my pain enough to sleep.

4:37 AM

I awoke with a start, as a grating noise screeched its way out of my phone's speaker, once the sound finished its first cycle, adrenaline pumped its way into my veins waking me fully as I listened to the FEMA National Emergency Alert.

I tore myself from bed as fast as I could leaping up to see why the alert was sounding ignoring a loud crack in my joints that tore a groan from my lips as my kneecap slip into place.

I stared in a mesmerized horror out the window with my phone sliding from my hand slamming hard against the floor, my attention stolen by blinding crimson lights filling the night sky, they blared through my windows an intensity that made the light fill my vision with needles as I helplessly stared onwards all other colors washing out as the red taxed Red light receptors.

The searing blood red light was being emitted in pulsing waves from Jet-black Missiles. Falling from space so fast I couldn’t blink from fear of them disappearing.

My heart leapt into my throat with a sickening rhyme as it skipped beats and the red lights disappear over the horizon.