...
Emptiness
Dark, Ever-present Emptiness
...
It had been like this for quite a while now. Ever since that day....
That day?
When was it? Years? Centuries? Eons?
How long have I been trapped in this darkness?
It feels so long ago that i was still alive and got into that bus alongside my family...
That day...
I was a clumsy teenager, always thought of as trash, or that kid to be ignored. Someone who could never amount to something, just another person in the background. Those who knew me pitied me for my ability to ruin anything I touch. But I never expected that day to be any different than my other. It was my sisters first concert at the theatre, as she was an aspiring musician. She had been practicing with her band for a bit over two months now. It wasn't far, just a kilometer and a half so we got onto the bus and sat near the front. Me, Mother, Father and Sis.
"Hey, Aldwin! are you listening?"
Oh right, did I mention she was a bit hot tempered? Always got annoyed at me for dazing off.
"Jeez, try to listen sometimes will you?"
"sorry.." I reply
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"Where do you want to go get food after the concert kids?" Dad interjected as my eyes trailed off again.
The bus had stopped at an intersection. As the doors opened, a drunk looking man wearing haggard looking clothes stepped on to the bus. "McDomalds or Pitza Pitza" I vaguely heard my mother in the background. The man reached into his coat and pulled out something I registered a second later.
"HEY! NO TALKING!
THIS IS A HIJACKING! ANYONE WHO DOES SOMETHIN FUNNY GETS A BULLET IN THEM!"
The man shouts his warning out pointing the gun at the driver. Chaos ensues as the passengers begin clamoring and a gun shot rings out. The Man clearly drunk from his unfocused eyes and shaky legs had just shot the driver. The few screams got silenced as the man pointed his gun at the passengers.
My Father moved to the seat closest to the aisle. My sister was frozen in fear and my mother had a horrified expression on her face.
"Be quiet and don't attract any attention" hissed my father as he covered us from view with his body.
Suddenly a loud honk sounded as the driver slumped forward in his seat and the bus moved straight into the ongoing traffic.
HONK HONK
I turned to see the window just as the truck slammed into us and the everything went black and a searing pain followed all across my body.
That was it...
All my life gone because of a drunk and possibly homeless man. There was no chance my family survived that either.
As the throbbing subsided, a calm settled over me... and a strange feeling of weightlessness soon followed. When I opened my eyes I was in a tunnel of light and my body was reduced to a single point of dim light. I wasn't alone either. What looked hundreds of thousands of lights were also present, moving along the tunnel slowly drifting towards its end. How do I-
As I thought to move forwards my light began to move just like I envisioned it. I drifted slightly towards the edge of the tunnel as I moved forward. When I close enough, I noticed that there was a current pulling me and the rest of the lights forward slowly but still faster than we could move. Some others also chose to do things like inspect the walls or bump into each other. These other souls seemed to be curious as well. How could they not? Death was a mysterious concept for everyone. This thought sparked a memory in me. My family. They died too.
Are they possibly here as well? Somewhere in this endless stream of souls? Probably, but I can't do anything to find them. Every soul looks virtually the same with varying levels of brightness. As I am lost in thought a crack appears on the border of the tunnel. Too small to notice, barely the same size as me. I looked around and none of the others had noticed it yet. Foolishly I hovered closer.
SCHHRRR
WHAT?!?
AGH!
The crack spread, pulling me out of the tunnel and abruptly resealing behind me. Bringing me to this place of darkness...
Next Chapter: The God In Chains