Derek sighed, relieved to have finally completed his essay on criminal intent as he clicked the 'send' button in his email and closed his laptop for a nice long nap.
Erg, who am I kidding?I can't sleep! He thought with another sigh and went to make something to eat.
He was so glad his parents let him rent out his own place, using his own hard-earned money. It made him feel independent and in control of his life.
As he paced impatiently waiting for the microwave dinner to finish, black and green from the window, caught his eye.
The sky was green and the clouds were black. He knew he wasn't seeing things.
Was the ozone that fucked up? He thought as he whipped open his laptop and began calling his best bud. A slight panic was rising in him as the phone kept ringing. Then the other end clicked and a singing message began.
"Believe it or not, JRisn'tAtHome.
LeaveAmessage at. the. beeeeep.
I must be out or I'dPickUpThePhone.
Where. could. I. beeeee?"
I hate that stupid message machine! Derek thought with annoyance.
"JR, I know you're on the damn train, man. Pick up!"
"Gosh, DJ. You're no fun, dude! And is that major gruffness I hear in your voice? Are you on your lappy?!"
He could hear JR's mocking laugh on the other end and scowled.
There was so many things that bothered him about the guy and right now he really wanted to punch him!
But he couldn't right now, so he took a deep breath and looked outside which immediately reminded him of why he even called JR.
"Look, man. Look outside your window. I don't know if you can see it but. The sky. Is green and not the kind of green that comes after a fog. It's GREEN!"
There was a long silence on the other end and Derek's panic began to rise.
Then, he finally heard his friend's voice.
"Hey uh d-do you see green bats too, dude?"
Of all the stupid ass questions! Derek scoffed.
O he so wanted to hang up on this fool right now!
"Man, this is fucking serious! Something weird's going on!" Derek yelled. Then, it seemed out of no when, green bats had blasted through his window and swarmed him.
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Shadows danced on the edge of my vision. The bats that attacked me. Those green bats...
I tried to recall their features but pure darkness had engulfed me and I can feel my body shaking immensely.
I don't like the dark. In fact, it terrifies me.
Why can't anyone hear my cry. My cries for help. I'm desperate. Gasping. Grasping. But my hands touch nothing in particular.
"Help." Ice-cold fear is spreading throughout my body. No.. It's not the fear that's making feel cold but the simple fact that I'm covered in ICE. I don't know how I know it. I can't see my own body but I can FEEL it.
"HELP!" Another silent desperate call that no one seems to hear. Then I realize no words are coming out. They're lodged in my throat, frozen with the terror. Terror, its ice-cold fingers twisting my gut in an agonizing pain. Help. Terror, crushing my spirit with its dark rage. Help. Terror, deflating my lungs of precious air. Help. I can't. I can't... breathe. Gasping, choking, struggling for oxygen. This terror was threatening me in ways you can't imagine.
And then its gone. And just like that, my sight was being restored and what I see is... myself? Standing right in front of me was me: Derek Jules. Well, another Derek Jules because I was standing there too but it was like I wasn't there. JR, my best bud, was there. He was talking but I couldn't hear anything he was saying. In fact, I couldn't hear anything! I watched him in disbelief. He was being his goofy self, walking backwards and chatting on, not realizing he was talking to 2 DEREKS.
But I didn't have much time to process this. A car was heading straight for him. It wasn't stopping. It would kill him! Unless I did something. I dashed toward him. The only thought on my mind was to save him. But that didn't happen. I was supposed to collide into him, pushing him out of the way. But that also didn't happen. What did happen was my body flying right through him. I phased through my friend! Like a ghost! What was going on?
But I didn't have time to think on that because then... I'm falling. Falling through darkness. Blurry images start to appear, passing really fast like a movie before my eyes. Realization soon comes crashing down on me followed by pain. Red, hot, searing, agonizing pain. A moment passes and I see myself again being touched by JR and his hands omit a blazing fire on my body.
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"AAAAAAAH!" Derek screamed as his body shattered the ice covering it and he scrambled out of his apartment to go find JR.
