mindcracklove | The Light In the Dark: Chapter 1: Nightmares

shaziru posting in

Hello Salad! This is my first fan fiction, hope this goes alright.

Vechs wakes up from a strange nightmare and some very unusual things occur.

Words: 2283

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A winter storm was hitting Greenville, South Carolina. The wind howled through homes and buildings, causing some annoyed residents to fall sleepless.

Down to the streets was a figure. He was tall and lean, unsuitably dressed in a sweater and a small beanie that barely covered his ears. The figure fought the force of the storm, shielding his eyes as he did.

The figure crossed his arms together in an attempt to warm himself when the wind blew stronger, making his face tingle. He weakly ran to the entrance of a building and entered quickly.

The lights of the lobby revealed the face of the figure, some recognized him as Matthew or Matt, but some of his friends called him Vechs. The wind blew the door shut, making Vechs jump slightly at the sound. He slowly made his way to the corridor and took off his beanie, attempting to warm his ears with what he thought was his slightly warmer hands but found them to be numb from the cold.

About half way down the tunnel, Vechs felt like his eye lids weighed a ton. Although none of the Mindcrackers knew it, he went to Pax and came back exhausted. Vechs managed to keep them up until he was on the second floor, where his apartment was.

From then on, he relied on his memory and the slither of vision he managed to hold up. Not too long later, Vechs was dragging his feet across the tiled floor with his head down and eyes closed. He began to wonder to himself, "How far have I wa-".

Thump

Vechs mouthed a curse. He hit his head against the door at the end of the corridor, partially waking him. It made a sound loud enough to easily wake someone inside and probably the next door neighbours on either side.

He backed away slowly until he met his door, 221. Vechs lazily pulled up his left hand to rest on the doorknob and leaned his forehead against the door frame. Knowing that he'd sleep on the spot if he stayed there, he entered his apartment.

Upon entering, Vechs was met with a cold outside breeze. "It's freezing in here", he thought. He let out a long breath as he rubbed his hands against his forearms. Vechs heard shuffling of papers in the dark. He switched on the lights to find that his window was open, "I must've left it open before I left". Before he could forget, he closed and locked it.

Vechs shuffled his feet to his bedroom, trying his hardest to stay awake until he got there. When he did, he took his sweater off and threw it on the end of the bed along with his beanie. He fell onto his bed and pulled the covers around him, not caring to brush his teeth or take a shower. He was far too tired to do so. Slowly, he drifted into sleep.

-----

Vechs laid stomach-down with only one eye being able to see the unfamiliar room he was in. The other being pressed against the metal bed he was on.

~~~

He woke again to the clinking sounds of metal tools.

~~~

Vechs started to panic when he felt the knife go down the back of his head.

~~~

"Shh"

~~~

Vechs started to panic again as every nerve in his body triggered as he felt agony where the knife had cut before. He was earned a hard slap on the face.

~~~

"Are you afraid of the dark?"

-----

Vechs sat bolt up in his bed panting and in cold sweat. He reached for and felt the back of his head, nothing. Lying back down, he sighed out of relief. The pungent smell and coolness of his sweat on the bed sheets made him sit right back up. "Why's it so cold?", he thought to himself. Vechs looked to the thermostat next to his bed and cursed under his breath, he forgot to turn up the temperature.

Still scared from his nightmare, he hesitantly walked to the thermostat and raised the temperature. Vechs smiled at how silly it was to be scared of such an illogical nightmare. He stretched out his arms and back, and pulled open the blinds of his bedroom window, letting some natural light in.

As he turned to face his bedroom, a suspicious look crept onto his face, "Something's off here", he thought. Vechs couldn't quite put his finger on it. Eventually, he shrugged the feeling off and walked to his kitchen.

He didn't realise how much his hands were shaking before he almost dropped a glass of water, spilling some as he caught it. Vechs downed his first glass in one gulp, then his second, and then his third; he stopped himself from pouring another. Putting his glass down, he leaned back against the counter with his hands to the side of him.

Vechs continued on, getting a box of cereal and a bowl out from his cabinet, along with a carton of milk from his fridge. He set them all down on the counter to get a spoon and pulled out a drawer that contained dozens of each type of cutlery.

Memories ran past Vechs' head, he was given them when his grandparents passed away. Pushing the thought away, he picked up a spoon, making a clicking sound as it hit other cutlery. His pupils dilated.

A flash of white

-----

Vechs laid stomach-down with only one eye being able to see the unfamiliar room he was in. The other being pressed against the metal bed he was on.

~~~

He woke again to the clinking sounds of metal tools.

He heard mumbling next to him but was too weak to react, "...sure...wash.

Vechs started to panic when he felt the knife go down the back of his head.

-----

Another flash of white

"Wash", Vechs thought aloud. With suspicion in his movements, he turned to his sink. His face went pale when he saw that it wasn't dry. He threw the spoon back into the drawer and ran to his computer desk. Vechs pulled a Remington 870 Tactical from behind his monitor, next to his CPU. Keeping it there would prevent unwanted guests at his door from seeing it. He pulled out his phone to dial three numbers.

Before he pressed the call button though, he thought about it. "What am I going to say? That a psychopath in my nightmare might be in my house because my sink's wet?", he let out a disgruntled sigh. He looked to the phone in his hand, then to the shotgun he held in his armpit, he thought, "I'm probably just paranoid, I need a shower". He set his phone down and walked to the bathroom, keeping his 870 with him.

Vechs turned the knobs in his shower, letting some water flow. He hung his clothes on a towel rail and stepped in. Vechs pressed his hand against the shower wall and cast down his gaze, thinking about what just happened.

He remained in that position for a few minutes before his neck started to hurt. When straightening out his neck and back, he shut his eyes as the streams of water hit them.

Vechs stepped out of the way of the water and rubbed it out of his eyes. As he opened his eyes again, he found himself petrified at the sight before him.

At first glance, Vechs thought they were long and thin spikes that shot out from the wall, "Nothing can cause that", he thought.

Upon further inspection, he found it to be even stranger than that. The long spikes were crystal clear, like water. In fact, they were water. They were sticking out, perpendicular to the shower stream and seemed to be frozen in time. The streams were arranged in a circle, much like the shower's streams. "How the f-"

A flash of white

When straightening out his neck and back, he shut his eyes as the streams of water hit them.

Another flash of light

Vechs started to panic and reached out to turn off the water but immediately pulled back his hand. His hand seemed to have punctured through the frozen stream, but there was no blood nor any pain. Slowly, he reached out towards the stream and hesitantly pushed his hand forward.

Vechs was amazed yet terrified as his hand seemed to be intangible to the stream. He turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, trying to comprehend what happened.

"What?", he said disbelievingly and looked back to the shower. The streams of water were no longer there. "I need to get help", he thought.

-----

Fast knocking

"Jeff!"

More fast knocking

"Blame!

More fast knocking

Tumbling and crashing could be heard from out the door, where Vechs was.

"What's happening?!", the alertness in Blames voice and the speed at which he arrived at the door made it obvious he was prepared for an emergency.

"I-uh', Vechs swallowed, "I actually came to see Jeff", said Vechs softly, telling Blame that there was no immediate emergency.

Blame gave him a dead stare, the bags under his eyes didn't help the guilt that started to build up. Blame took in a long sigh and gestured him to enter.

"Thanks", he said.

"I'm assuming Jeff's been at work since yesterday but I guess since you're here, we might as well talk a li'l bit", said Blame as they passed what Vechs assumed was Blame's bedroom. He felt even more guilty when he saw the knocked over trash can that caused rubbish to litter all over the floor. They entered the living room and Blame sat down on one of three leather chairs that faced three sides of a coffee table, the fourth facing a television.

"So what brings you here?", said Blame as Vechs sat in another chair,"And why the heck are you up so early?", as Blame asked the latter, he squinted his eyes , making his eye bags even more noticeable.

"Is it really that early?", he thought to himself. He looked to a clock on a shelf behind Blame. "Six-fifty?! I am so sorry, I feel like crap".

"Eh, don't worry about", said Blame, waving a dismissive hand, "I've been in worse situations". There was an awkward silence between the two,"So, you gonna tell me why you're here?"

"Oh right." Vechs leaned forward and took in a deep breath "Okay, I know this'll sound crazy, well...that's a part of the problem, but I had this nightmare. All I remember in this nightmare was that I was lying down on like a surgery table or something and someone began to cut the back of my head." Vechs felt the urge to cringe at how crazy he must have sounded to Blame. The questionable look he got didn't help. He swallowed, "So when I woke up, I found some stuff that was unusual at my apartment".

"Like...?", Vechs knew he was going to ask and he hated to answer it.

"Well...when I woke up I actually found my sink was wet, so I figured that this person used my sink to clean the blood off the knife he or she used", said Vechs. He was earned the same questionable look. Blame started to open his mouth but was interrupted by Vechs before he could speak. "But that's not why I came here", Blame simply responded by leaning back and taking in another sigh, "While I was taking a shower, I...I started to hallucinate. So, I wanted to speak with Jeff 'cause I figured he'd met at least one expert that can help me. You know, 'cause he's a nurse."

"Why couldn't you just go to the hospital yourself?" asked Blame.

"What're they gonna do with me? I mean, maybe I'm watching too much Netflix but I don't want to be trapped in some white room until they know that everything is okay with me", said Vechs quickly, his voice becoming more southern. "What if I don't get better"

Blame laughed for a second before stopping himself and said with a smile, "Dude, you're just a little paranoid. They're not gonna confine you in a white room or whatever."

"Well, how do you know that?"

"Vechs," he said, putting his palms together and leaning forward, "there is voluntary commitment and there is involuntary commitment. They put you in involuntary commitment when the psychiatrists think you're a danger to society."

"That...would make sense" said Vechs. "I'm so sorry for this, you're right I'm just paranoid as shit. I'll probably get to a mental hospital later". He stood up, "I can pick up that stuff you dropped at your bedroom if you want."

Blame raised an eyebrow, "What stuff?"

"The litter all over the floor," he pointed back to Blame's bedroom, "when you accidentally knocked over the trash can".

Blame shot him a confused look, "I don't have a trash can in my bedroom, Vechs". Vechs walked back to Blame's bedroom door and found no trace of any litter nor a trash can.

"I think I need to go now before this gets worse", said Vechs.

"Actually, I think I should drive you there." said Blame, "I wouldn't let a hallucinating friend of mine get behind the wheel". He stood up and picked up his keys from the table.

"That'd be wise". As Vechs began to walk to the door, he started to get light headed.

About 10 feet away from the door, Vechs' vision started to blur and time seemed to be in slow motion.

At 5 feet away from the door, darkness started to consume his vision and he fell forward.

-----

Edit: I had a panic attack when I couldn't figure out the cuts...several times. Also, thanks to Chemrepnacl for betaing the first draft(there were many, many drafts).

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A/N: Please, tell what you think of this chapter. Do not expect me to update this very soon as I am a slow writer. Also, did you catch the references?

Current Mood: panicked
Current Location: A peninsular

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

kappa77

Pretty good for a first try at writing!

From:

shaziru

Thank you!

From:

gummy53

Oooh! This is very interesting! Lots of detail, I like it :) Great job!

From:

shaziru

Thank you so much!

From:

athell

This is amazing! I can't wait for more!

From:

shaziru

This really means alot to me, thank you.

From: (Anonymous)

I haven't read something as interesting as that in ages.

From: (Anonymous)

Ah, yes I agree, so confusing for me though. I'm reading it too fast.

From:

shaziru

Thank you, hopefuly I'm not creating that confusion for others. :)

From:

shaziru

Thank you so much, I'm so happy for all these nice comments.

From:

wildh10l

Hey look! Something that's more than 100 words! Anyways, I like it! Do keep posting, and worry not how long it takes you to update. Aim for quality not time. :)

From:

shaziru

Thank you very much! Yeah, I didn't know how long I was supposed to write so I aimed for 1k. You can see I overshot that

From:

wildh10l

Yep! All good. 1k is a good place to aim for, since usually once you get a plot(since you usually need one for 1k), it's ends up being longer than you expected. Really, if you're calling something a chapter, it should be at least 1k, so you're good!

From: (Anonymous)

Hum. This looks interesting.

-Eclipse

From:

shaziru

I'm glad you found it to be that way!

From:

sleetgeekartist

Ooh, interesting setup! Hope it was as fun to write as it was to read! Can't wait to see where you go with this ^^

From:

shaziru

Thank you very much! This means alot!

From:

its_catbug

Liking this... Yay! :D can't wait to see more, and also, hi! :)

From: (Anonymous)

Hello!

From: (Anonymous)

Whoops, this is from shaziru on a different computer

From:

halcyonlioness

This is the first time in a long time I've seen something this interesting and something that encouraged me to read it over and over just to make sure I didn't miss anything. A seemingly innocent set up, then a dubstep drop into the uncanny, unsettling, and altogether mysterious. Is Vechs really just going insane from paranoia or is he in some sort of Matrix? Is Blame involved? Was that really a nightmare? (I'm pretty sure it isn't and I have a qualified guess as to what might happen in the next chapter, but I won't say :3. Oh, how nice it is to actually enjoy the ride for once instead of driving the bus. *resists shameless plug here*)

Now, I'm curious now about the world and reality this story takes place in. The usual straight up fantastical settings and situations we often see around here has given way to something closer to Earth in this story ... a setting usually saved for less gritty subjects. Yet, here we are, reading something that feels like a legitimate paperback thriller.

Also, for a first time go, you've got this old hand hooked. Yes, I'm honestly impressed, and I've had about a decade or so of experience on you, dear. To this, I say 'Bravo'. *applause* :D

(and kudos to your copy-editor. They seem to be a top-notch person. I doubt this story wouldn't have been the same without their help. <3)

~Lioness

From:

shaziru

Wow, I cannot say thank you enough, especially since this is from you. I was next to my friend discussing about this fic when I saw your comment and my jaw dropped. I am absolutely speechless. Thank you.

From:

halcyonlioness

From one author to another, it brightens my day that I was able to brighten yours. <3

Looking forward to what you'll bring to the table next you post! ... And I'm willing to wait for this sort of quality in fiction, so don't rush on my account or the expectations of others.

*hug* Stay awesome. :D

~Lioness

Edited Date: Monday, October 27th, 2014 09:52 pm (UTC)