917C - 3 - Eight Hours

The night sky was rapidly torn apart by the numerous bolts of electricity thundering throughout the clouds. The cobblestone walls were coated in a slick glaze from the rainwater that poured from overhead. Narrow dirt passageways between buildings quickly turned into sloshy trenches of mud while the occasional rooftop released a thin stream of smoke from deep within the dwelling. The howling wind overpowered the commotion among the multiple spectators standing in front of the town's announcement stage. Upon it stood a man whose hands were bound behind his back. The thin cloth robes were drenched in rainwater as his frail body was visibly shivering in discomfort and agony. Beside him was another man, however this one stood proudly above the other. His glistening armor clammored together as he raised his arms and removed the ornate helmet from his head. His lengthy silver hair accompanied his face's soft features as his beautiful blue eyes stared deeply into the crowd before him.
"My people! It has come to my attention that a traitor is among us!" He announced to the crowd, shouting loud enough to overpower the rainfall. "I have called you all here to witness something." The man reached to his side and began sliding his rapier out of its sheath.
A hush of anticipation ran over the crowd as the man raised his sword. The storm was loud enough to conceal the footsteps of a lone figure running across the rooftops, brandishing an elaborate dagger that reflected in the moonlight. Their appearance was hidden by a dark matted cloak which trailed through the wind behind them as they ran.
Alarmed screams feintly broke through the showering sounds of rain, causing the man weilding the sword to look around frantically. He lowered his sword and shouted out in fear "What!? What is it!?"
The audience continued to scream in an inaudible amalgamation of horror. Flailing arms and fingers frantically pointed towards the rooftops behind the stage. The swordsman shifted his footing and began to turn around.
The cloaked crusader leaped from the rooftops, quickly falling towards the armored man on the stage. Before he could make any move to defend himself, he was swiftly trampled by his airborne opponent.
The ironclad executioner crashed to the ground, dropping his sword beside him. He struggled beneath the mysterious person's weight, twisting an turning in an attempt to escape their seemingly unbreakable hold. The dagger wielder raised their weapon into the air, and stared into the blue eyes beneath them. In one swift brutal motion, the assassin plunged the knife down into the man's horrified face.


I felt my arms shake, triggering my entire body to follow up on a similar action. I opened my eyes slowly. My memory wasn't serving me well. I felt disoriented and confused. What happened? Had I fallen asleep?
I was still in the coffee shop. I was sitting in a large, comfortable chair. My cup of tea was on a small table next to me. The girl on the couch was nowhere to be found, but most everybody remained in their same locations. The fact that not one of them seemed to notice me in the slightest was still very obvious. Chances are that I just fell asleep in front of all of them. The one person I knew was nowhere to be found, so as far as I was concerned, everything was ok. It was considerably foolish of me to accidentally fall asleep in front of someone I just stole a lot of money from, but luck seemed to be on my side. I'm not complaining.
Calling my otherworldly experience a "dream" still felt so strange to me. Maybe I actually did just fall asleep, but it was hard to believe. The whole scene felt strangely realistic. A vivid image of the armor wearing man was burned into my head. Was he someone I had met before?
I decided to let it pass for the moment and checked the time on my cellphone.
6:26 PM.
Holy hell.
That doesn't make sense... If that was true, I was asleep for almost the entire day! It had to be some time around 10 or 11 when I walked in the coffee shop... There's no way! Something must have happened!
I quickly got out of my chair, leaving my teacup behind. I navigated my way through the maze of tables and chairs, being careful not to bump into anybody. I walked straight out the door and was immediately confronted with a dense barrage of rainfall, not too different from the scenery surrounding the silver knight of my apparent "dream". The streets were ravaged with chaos. The remnants of the dog festival ran all around the block, occasionally carrying their pets if their size allowed for it. Accompanying the mess of people running through the town was a parade of ducks marching proudly through the wet streets. It was more than unusual, but in my situation, oddly reassuring. It led my mind to believe that something had actually happened while I was inside the coffee shop. As for what happened, I had no idea. All I knew was that the town of Collingwood apparently turns upside down whenever it rains.
Doing my best to steer clear of the madness, which wasn't particularly easy, I made my way through the street towards home. I was entirely focused on my footing, making sure I didn't step on any dogs, ducks, or other dangers.
I turned left from Baker street on to Stanley, passing by the local graveyard which, might I add, was full of ducks.
I stayed close to the graffiti stained walls of the parking deck as I powered through the rainstorm towards my apartment. The multiple cryptic messages written in green, purple, and red accompanied me as I moved along the slippery sidewalks. Collingwood Heights, my current home, came into view through the overshadowing barrier of rain. I pushed onward, arms in front of my face to maintain a clear view of the path ahead of me.
Collingwood's lobby was never too active. This evening, it was more crowded than I had ever seen it. Most of the people inside didn't seem to be residents. Anybody who lived here would have gone to their rooms, not waste their time hanging around the lobby. The various temporary inhabitants must be waiting for the rain to pass, however I feel like they will be waiting for quite some time. It didn't make much sense to me why you would choose an apartment building of all places to wait out a rainstorm. Not only would you get in the way of people actually living there, but I feel like it would be incredibly mundane. Considering there are multiple restaurants around town, not to mention the rediculous lesbian bar right next to the apartment, why stand around in here? Thinking back on the subject, I probably should have stopped at that little pizza place on my way back. I apparently hadn't had anything to eat for what? 8 hours? The more I thought about it, the more impossible it began to seem.
I pushed through the crowded lobby and arrived at the elevator. I was the one of the two passengers inside the cramped box. Next to me stood a very peculiar older woman. Trying to be somewhat conscious of my actions, I gave her a short wave. Her lack of response wasn't really a surprise at all. I feel like many people are either turned off by me or have too many disgusted emotions pent up inside them to make any effort to interact with me. Perhaps its just other people's pure laziness or the lack of interest in general conversation. Bizarre. I didn't let it bother me, I was used to it. I stayed my same quiet self and rode the elevator upward to the 12th floor.
The elevator doors opened, and I left the woman by herself as I heard the door close shut behind me.