"Riiiing" - A shrill sound was what woke me up. I quickly tried to stop the annoying sound that disturbed my much-needed rest.
"I'll throw that thing away," I promise, as the annoying device rewards me for my promise with a long,
"Riiiing" - Just as high-pitched as the last one. "I never should have bought that thing," I reflect, so in the end I had to give in and open one eye to see the source of the sound. Said source turned out to be my alarm clock, as expected.
8:45 AM
The screen stares back at me and I remember today is Monday.
The last exam of the year is at 9 AM in less than 15 minutes," I remember before my eyes snap open.
8:46 AM
As I get out of bed, I try to remember why I decided taking a Sunday break was a good idea.
I went to this new bar at the insistence of some friends, only for said friends to not show up.
It wasn't until later that night that I discovered the plan was to go next week. I'll admit I should have paid more attention. But the bar wasn't that bad. I ended up talking to a really strange, though interesting, man. The guy kept talking about stars and the emptiness of space. He honestly seemed very drunk, but the conversation was interesting, so I stayed with him for a while.
Honestly, I only understood half of what he was saying: something about the number of stars having to do with the soul's tolerance for pain. Not the soul itself. I honestly ignored a lot of what he said because something else distracted me during our conversation. The real reason I sat next to him was that he was simply too perfect. I'm not talking about feeling sexually or romantically attracted to him, mind you.
His appearance was as perfect as possible, but it was as if he was missing something inherently human, as if something fundamental were missing from his figure, as if he tried so hard to appear normal but never quite managed to be. Maybe that's why he was alone, and no one dared to sit next to him. Even the bartender shifted uncomfortably at the bar as he cleaned with the expression of someone who didn't want to be there. That was actually what made me curious and what compelled me to sit next to him and talk to him.
The uncanny valley effect, I think out loud. That's what it felt like to talk to him.
I quickly finish dressing while reflecting on the strange man. But to be honest, if I hadn't been a little drunk myself, I never would have approached him.
But I don't think it matters in the end. I won't see him again, and the most important thing now is getting to college," I tell myself, trying to forget the stranger as I head to the bathroom to wash my face. A shadow in the corner of my vision startles me, only to turn out to be a slipper lying next to the door. I ignore it when I see it's nothing.
Gruuu- My stomach growls as soon as I finish dressing, so I make a quick stop in the kitchen.
Inside said refrigerator, I look for something to eat and notice how messy it is, which makes me feel a certain discomfort, which I ignore again. I quickly look for something I can eat and am rewarded with a particularly juicy Vista apple, which I bite into as soon as it reaches my lips.
I grimace almost instantly. The apple turns out to be too sweet, almost cloying, as if it were dipped in honey. The taste makes me dizzy as soon as I swallow the piece in my mouth.
I quickly look for something to drink to clear the taste and end up grabbing a bottle of water and quickly slamming the refrigerator shut.
I barely close the apartment door when I down almost half the bottle in one gulp, only to pause for a moment at the delicious taste.
Without thinking much about it, I down the rest before blinking and realizing that what I was drinking definitely wasn't water.
"Wait a minute, this isn't mine," I murmur when I see what I'd been drinking: a pitch-black liquid with only a few drops left.
I look toward the door of my suddenly dark apartment and slowly lock it.
My eyes snap open, and I stare back at the mysterious bottle, easily reading the label: "Devour a Star."
Without knowing why, a memory comes back to me, and I pause, recalling what the stranger said last night.
Don't worry, I'll shine a light on the void for you," he said with a smile too big for his mouth.
He ended by shaking his head, pushing the memory out of my horrified mind. "It was just someone a little strange." I shake my head and remember his stumbling figure leaving the bar as if he'd had too much to drink or as if his legs weren't the same size.
"I hope it's not drugs," he half-joked, slowly leading me away from the apartment.
"I should also check that no one is home or call the police," I say, my voice trembling slightly, but before I can do anything, reality flickers for a moment.
"What?" I gasp as the colors melt like fresh paint, simultaneously twisting space and reality literally opening up in front of me.
It was a moment that lasted minutes, but the Matrix glitched, and then I simply existed outside of it, facing the immensity of nonreality. A soft blue light emanates from me, illuminating the dark void I ended up in.
"Well, I don't think I'll make the exam," he joked with a half-shaky smile. "So if it was drugs, I'm pretty screwed now, right?"
________________________________________
Prologue finished. 🥳🥳🥳
I'm sure everything will be fine. It's not like there's anything in the void besides him, right? 😅