The world was wrong.
Mirai sprinted desperately down the road that refused to stay solid. The road beneath her sandals, clinging to the soles, like honey. The sky above was the same sickly purple, streaked with blue that pulsed with her racing heartbeat.
The building around her... melting and turning into liquid sludge. Distant building turning into impossible spirals. The air was filled with the same smell of decay. The world was a blur around her.
To Mirai, everything felt unreal. The world warped, stretched, like a fever dream. Still, she ran. Ran as if someone was chasing her. Someone was waiting for her. Someone needed to be found.
Her lungs burned, her legs ached, but she never stopped running. She needed to....
Suddenly, she turned her head to the right and saw him.
A boy, maybe the same age as her, 18. She saw the same desperation in those hypnotising black eyes of his. The same need to...
When their eyes finally met, the colors bled away. The world around her twisted into a blur, fading into gray and white.
A sharp, mechanical beeping pulled her back into reality.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Mirai's eyes snapped open.
The soft, holographic glow of numbers floated above her bedside table: 06:30 A.M. - 13th April, 2037.
Mirai groaned and slapped the projection on the bedside table. The beeping stopped, but the hologram remained.
She sat up in her bed. The comforter slipped off her, pooling around her hips, revealing her curvaceous figure to the soft morning light. Full boobs, barely contained by the delicate, lacy bra. Her smooth skin glistened with sweat. Heavy breathing made her boobs rise and fall slowly. Beads of perspiration sliding down the valley of her boobs, down her toned midriff.
She ran a hand through her long, dark hair, streaked with white, as she whispered to herself, "What was that? And who was that handsome boy? And..." She clutched her head, "...why do I feel so weak?"
A soft knock on her bedroom door pulled her out of her haze.
"Mom..."
Her mother stood there, leaning against the doorframe. She was an emo-styled milf in her forties, with short, messy black hair streaked with subtle purple. Heavy dark eyeliner, and tired, melancholic eyes that always seemed distant, even to Mirai. She carried the quiet aura of a widowed woman who has seen too much to give up on the world.
"You alright?" She asked softly, her voice laced with concern and worry, but her tone was undeniably emo.
"Don't know, mom." Mirai replied, as she added, "I feel really weak."
She walked over to her and sat down on the edge of the mattress and pressed her hand on her forehead, "Damn... You're burning."
Mirai's expression turned a bit sad, "But... Today is my first day at the new school. We just moved here."
Her mother brushed a strand of hair from her, "I know. But you're in no condition to move. I am a nurse, you know. And when did you start caring about having friends?"
Mirai pouted adorably toward her. Yes... She is socially awkward. Yes... She can't make friends. But saying it on her face didn't make it better. She was really determined to change that.
"Don't look at me like that, I ate your favourite snacks." She teased Mirai.
Mirai frowned, looking away.
"Oh... Come on. Can't your mother tease you a bit?" She exclaimed.
Mirai didn't reply.
Mirai started feeling low again. Her mother rested her hand on her shoulders and pushed her softly to make her lie back on the bed again. She pulled the comforter over her and told her, "Rest up. I'll bring you some medicine."
Mirai nodded softly as her mother straightened and walked over to the door, slipping out of the room. Mirai stared until her mother's figure disappeared down the corridor.
Mirai looked up toward the unfamiliar ceiling, still trying to get used to it.
She murmured to herself, "Who was that handsome boy in my dream? Who was that..."
---
In the kitchen, Mirai's mother leaned down heavily against the counter, one hand gripping her messy black hair, as she let out a deep, exhausted sigh. Her tired, melancholic eyes were filled with worry.
She raised her hand as if she were holding a mobile phone. A sleek holographic panel, the size of a mobile phone, instantly materialised in her hand.
She called someone. Then she dropped her hand on the counter, and the panel disappeared. It rang in her mind.
The moment someone picked up, her voice came out, low and strained.
"I guess it started."
There was a long pause. Whatever the person on the other side said, it made her face go pale for a heartbeat. She quickly composed herself as her emo style feature returned to her usual tired expression.
"It's been a long time." Her hand tightened at the edge of the counter. "Let's meet up like old times again."
The person on the other side said something that made her smile a bit.
"How long has it been... 17 years maybe? Time really does fly by when you raise a child. Oh... sorry..." She teased, "Children in your case."
---
"Onii-Chan... Open Wide." Yumi scooped a spoonful of porridge, blew on it and brought to his lips.
Yohan opened his mouth, obidiantly andet her feed him. The porridge was smooth, slightly sweet, and comforting.
"Onii-Chan, how is it? Does it make you feel good?" Yumi asked with those puppy eyes full of hope.
Yohan nodded with a smile, his hand patted her head as she nuzzled her head into his palm.
"Yumi, it is really good. And I fell better because of my amazing litlle nurse."
Yumi beamed. "Yay! See? Mamma's porridge is the best in the whole world." As she scooped another spoonful of porridge and blew on it. "I told Mamma to make it extra special because Onii-Chan is the best big brother in the whole world."
---
Somewhere in the dimly lit street of Aether Harbour, far from the loving bedroom, the night was anything but loving.
Two school girl, walked side by side on the sidewalk. Their normal clothes rumbled, as they had spend their evening at their friends house.
Aiko, in a simple white hoodie and an white shorts. Kept glancing at her phone. Beside her, Yuki, wearing a comfy black pullover and a pleated black skirt.
"Yuki, seriously... Are the guys at our new school are any better than our old ones...?" Aiko asked, nudging her friend with her elbow.
No answer.
Aiko walked for a few moment, before realising the silence. She slowed down, frowing. "Yuki? Hello? Earth to Yuki?"
Still nothing.
She looked to her right, but the girl who was walking with her till now, wasn't there.
The street were empty under the flickering street light.
"Yuki, come out! If this is a stupid joke, I am going to kill you!" She spun around, eyes looking toward the shadows between buildings.
Then-
A bone chilling scream came out from the narrow alley ahead.
Aiko's heart slammed against her ribcage, as she bolted toward the sound without thinking, "YUKI!"
She reached at the entrance of the alley and froze.
The nightmare was real.
Yumi was pinned against a brick wall by a Nightmare. Towering, skinless abomination from the Abyss. The body was a wet mass of raw muscle and pulsating vein that constanly split open and closed with an wet sound.
Aiko's legs gave out on her as she fell to the ground. Her face twisted in pure horror as she screamed.
Multiple jacked mouth lined its torso, Releasing thick yellow mucus. Long niddle thick fingers, already pierced deep in her stomach, peeling her skin in long strip. Her intestine spilled out of her, as the jagged mouth fed on them.
Her face was twisted in pain and agony. Her face, half of the skin had been ripped of like a mask. Blood trickled down her mouth. She kicked her legs, urine and feces soaking her skirt as her body convulsed.
---
END OF CHAPTER : 2 : PLACE!
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