SPL Chapter 1 Forgotten Nightmare

  He tried to take in a breath of air only for the polluted air to block his lungs, bringing about about catatonic coughs. The smoke was heavy, bringing tears to his eyes even though the majority of said tears were a result of him wailing.

  "MOM! DAD!" He shouted, yet all that entered his ears was the crackle of burning wood. Was anyone still there? His young mind wondered.

  He was crawling on the ground, his clothes making that particular task even harder due to the fact that they were soaked with his sweat, though the heat was making certain that it was evaporating. The flames were everywhere. Not just on the walls, but even the furniture, and were also in the midst of devouring the floor bit by bit.

  He raised his face and looked towards a particular wall, where a framed photo hung, one which had three people within it. The figures were blurry, but they appeared to be a man placing a hand around a woman, with a boy in their midst. Why had it attracted him? Because it had started sliding down, leaving a trail of something transparent, before clattering to the ground beside the wall, and being consumed by the flames.

  After searching around, having spun on his axis multiple times, with the exit nowhere to be found, he finally gave up and sat there, with his throat sore and lips perched, preventing him from even shouting out.

  This had happened before. That was what his mind was telling him. This wasn't his body as he couldn't control it, merely being a passenger, yet all the heightened emotions were being transmitted over.

  There was a crackle, attracting his attention. Barely had his eyes fallen upon the long dining table a few meters away, than it collapsed in a fiery blaze, with the flames having finally managed to conquer its joints.

  He wanted to be saved. It was a desperate wish that caused him to cling to life even as breathing became increasingly difficult. His mom and dad. He really really wanted to see them.

  Something, one of the four walls collapsed, or you could say a part, probably where the door should have been. Something gleaming, silvery in color, burst in, eliciting a spike in the boy's heartbeat. The spike was out of excitement as he knew what the silver humanoid was. It's blue eyes instantly fell upon him and a voice radiated out from it.

  "Master Eric! I am here to save you."

  Barely had it finished than a thin red line traced it's body vertically in the middle, with the two halves falling on either side, causing the boy to scurry further back while his eyes widened and a terrible feeling to gripped his young mind.

  The flames behind the fallen robot body parted, as if on command, with a figure striding through. The figure was clad in all black, with a mask covering his face, one which looked like a crow's face, complete with a beak.

  "Flame spreads like a plague."

  The words were uttered in an emotionless tone even as the boy gulped down saliva when his eyes met with the figure's. Then, flames enlarged within his vision, while his eyes widened and he shrieked loudly only for everything to be plunged into darkness and for that darkness to vanish upon the opening of another pair eyes, with the entire nightmare already forgotten.

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  The first thing he noticed upon opening his eyes in the dim room was the fact that his night garments, specifically the shirt, was clinging too close to his skin for comfort. It was drenched in sweat, making him very uncomfortable. So, with a tug, he lifted it over his head and threw it towards the bedside. Instinctively, like many a time, his right hand moved towards the burn scar running from his chest to his stomach, caressing it, familiarly tracing the contours. It was ugly, that he knew, yet he had failed to get rid of it. Any kind of treatment failed, as if it had been etched in skin. A specialist had made the hypothesis that maybe it had been caused by a Spirit Lord.

  His thoughts moved inwardly as he tried to recall anything he could about the nightmare, yet he failed, just like always. There was no way he could prepare for it as he experienced it at irregular intervals. He bit his lower lip when once again, he failed to remember anything, kicking away the blanket that had been covering his lower half in frustration.

  A chirp entered his ears, attracting his attention towards the blue bird restlessly flying around his room, releasing mesmerizing motes of light. That prompted him to shift his weight towards the right and drag himself over to the cuboid structure sitting upon his bedside table, with a sigh of relief escaping his lips upon catching the glowing digits on its front.

  (6:02AM)

  That sigh removed all the tension he had been feeling, which caused his eyelids to start being weighed down, wanting to close themselves, dragging him back to the realms of sleep, only for another chirp, this time louder, to jolt him awake. He slapped his cheeks with enough force to elicit pain, which also served to temporarily chase away the drowsiness.

  He dragged his legs over the bed and dropped his feet down onto the floor, with the sound of something being pressed underfoot, coupled with a sound effect entering his ears. He reached underfoot and picked up the perpetrator, closely examining it in the dim light. It was a potato chip packet, one he had consumed the previous night.

  That prompted his gaze to travel to the haphazardly strewn things in the room. A shirt was on the single seater, a pair of black stockings on the floor, multiple large pieces of chips left a trail from the seat to his bed, and he couldn't find the pair of pants in his vision. They were probably somewhere. The mess elicited a groan out of him.

  He wondered when he would gain the time to clean all this up. An automated bot would have really solved all this... But he had to be realistic here. That was a very costly thing that a worker drone like himself couldn't buy. Even if he could, maintainance fees would be a nightmare.

  Though, that trail of thought dredged up the realization of what day it was today. And that, caused his previously drooping eyes to widen and his heartbeat to accelerate. A smile lit up his features, and the dim light strengthened to normal levels within the room. With not a moment to spare, he literally sprinted into the small cubicle he called the bathroom, ending up just infront of the mirror.

  Around his brown pupiled eyes, there was some dark circles that took some joy out of him. Three whole days! That's how long he had been working overtime! And there had been no extra pay! The skin on his face was pale, while his face was somewhat pallid, with bone outlines starting to become somewhat visible. A sigh escaped his lips at his reflection before he turned away and proceeded to ditch the pants before entering the small cubicle that was the bathroom. Within just a few seconds, humming was heard from within, one that was more upbeat.

  -----

  After his bath, with his body wrapped with a cream colored towel, he stood by the doorway of the bathroom, taking in the room. He moved towards the single seater sofa, one whose brown fabric had been worn down by time. He picked up the shirt that had been resting upon it, scritinizing it closely. He had been mistaken in the dim lighting as it hadn't been the one from yesterday. Instead, it had probably been pulled out from the case and discarded in favor of the one he wore yesterday, which was lying on the ground at the foot of the bed.

  He picked up the shirt and started dressing himself before moving towards the open case, which was resting on the floor. Searching through it, a pair of pants was dredged up. After that, the stockings and the tie.

  (CHIRP!)

  A loud sound finally drew his attention to the bird, which had been flying around the room.

  "Alexandra! Turn it off!" He ordered, causing the holographic bird to dissipate into motes of light, vanishing from the room.

  Once again, he stood before the mirror, this time making certain to adjust his tie. The dark shadows in his eyes were still visible, something he didn't really care about too much. Many colleagues looked the same. Only the female ones took the time to hide them with their cosmetic products.

  A smile, one that clearly didn't convey enough enthusiasm, was reflected back at him through the mirror. His heart was racing with excitement, induced by the mind, but for some reason, the idea of going back to that place was dousing much of it.

  A sigh escaped his lips as he moved away from the mirror to his bedside, where, with a press of a button, a small section on top of the cuboid, holding his rudimentary AI's processing chip, opened, and a device rose out of it.