As the days went by, as I tried to convert people back, everything just seemed to get worse. I was so tired after each day, and I seemed to barely get any rest. My dreams seemed like they were getting better, but then it did a complete turn, and now they seem worse than ever. All of these lies make it feel like I am so heavy, and that I shouldn't be saying anything to Gabriel or his parents.
I have only been usually able to convert one person a day, at most. I usually do seven to ten people per day, before I feel the need to just give up. I give in, and I just watch Maya's boring speeches. I barely feel like I can watch, because I feel so drained inside. I have also seen that the people I convert can also go back to being Supporters. It was so unnerving to see the one that I had converted actually be back there a week later.
I had realized over time that I would have to disguise myself in order to keep my identity safe. Just because I got lucky these first few times doesn't mean I am going to get scanned later, and get caught. Even though the Supporters are mostly harmless, they could just report me too. Then Gabriel and his parents could get caught too, and it would be all my fault!
I looked around Gabriel's house for something to wear, but there was nothing. I needed something to cover up mostly my face and body. If they actually got smart, they could just get a DNA sample from a picture on my body, which could easily be used to identify me. Technology has gotten so advanced that it almost makes it impossible to have privacy.
So after a lot of thinking, I had gone a different direction when I went out the window one day. I headed towards my house, which I have not been to in around a month. It's crazy to think that it's only been three months since this whole fiasco started. I have lost a lot of things in just a fourth of a year.
I started to relax when I saw the entrance to my house. I have been here so many times before, but this time, just felt so different. Everything has changed ever since the last time I have entered this house. I noticed that my mom's plant was now completely dead, with no hope for survival. Reminds me of the situation that I have with her right now, or the reminder that I'm not with her.
My plant is doing fine though, to say the least. It has turned much more brown, and more of its leaves have fallen. It's surprising to see that it's still alive. I go inside, and look around. It was the same as it was when I had left, unsurprisingly. I guess I maybe should be a little impressed, because I have heard that some houses are being looted by a few people.
I first looked around in the closet, looking for some jackets or hoodies that I could maybe wear. I didn't find anything that I liked right away, so I moved on. I did take note that there was some sort of head scarf that we had that I have never seen before. I looked in my room, where most of my clothes were still at, and there wasn't really much that I liked. The hoodies that I had didn't give off the right vibe, and I didn't have much to wear that would cover me anyways. My mom liked making bright, flashy clothing, which would give me away almost instantly. I had such a difficult time trying to find normal clothes to bring to Gabriel's because of that.
I went into my mom's room, even though it felt a little unnerving going in there. I quickly skimmed some of her clothes and realized that there was nothing here that I could use either. Her clothing was much fancier and more colorful anyways, and I should have known that already.
I was stumped. Maybe I shouldn't be so picky on what I wear. Most of the Supporters are wearing bright orange jumpsuits anyways, so maybe I should wear something like that. My mom didn't really like the color orange though, since it kind of matches with your skin. Or I could maybe try...
Then I had realized something that I had missed. I went back downstairs slowly, and I opened the closet back up. I moved most of the clothes that I looked at earlier to the side, and I stopped when I found the thing I was looking for.
My dad's old warcoat. It was still here, intact, and it was nearly perfect for trying to hide away. It wasn't too bright, but just enough to blend in fine when it's cloudy. It also would probably make me look tougher, and more fearless than I am. It's probably going to make me look like a different person, in fact.
I looked at it, and brought it upstairs into the bathroom. I put in on, and buttoned it, and I looked at myself in the mirror. If I was wearing tighter fit clothes, then it might be more comfortable. It was maybe a bit bigger than I was, but it looked pretty nice on me. I still need something though to cover my face and fully hide my identity, since this doesn't have a hood.
I went back downstairs, wearing the outfit. I didn't have any trouble getting downstairs since the coat was made so that it was stealthy. My dad had to be fast and flexible, which could fit nicely with my powers. I got the head cover out, which was a little more dusty than all the other things, and I realized where this came from.
It wasn't dust, it was fine sand from one of my dad's missions. He would travel all over to save the new lifeforms from captivity. Mom had told me that he had to wear this so that he could be protected from the harsh sun and stinging sand. I put it on too, and I looked in the mirror, and it fit.
I decided that I would keep wearing this outfit. It was a struggle to bring some more clothes that I could wear for the coat back into Gabriel's but everything worked out in the end, mostly. Maya had asked whom I was the second time wearing this, and I suddenly came up with the name "Anonymous". So that's now my second name I guess.
Real life isn't the only thing that has been draining me recently. It's also been happening in my sleep. As I said, my dreams, or nightmares, have been getting worse and worse. Now I usually have to take a breather as I wake up, because I usually lose track of where I exist, and have to question myself if I can keep going on like this. Presenting myself as someone who I am not.
Around a tenth of the time I just seem to be reliving one of my memories. If it's watching my mom turn into a Supporter, or having to witness Rome's death over and over again, or endlessly scrolling through my phone to escape the worries that surrounded me. Usually there is some twist in the mix of memories. Like seeing shadows creep around me, or hearing strange, undecipherable voices, or crowds of people. The list can go on for ages.
A larger fraction of my dreams involve me trying to run away from something. It might be those shadows, it might be Rome, it might be something that I cannot see. I'm usually running through a black abyss or the halls of the city, which seem to be much narrower than in real life. In the end, I usually find a dead corner, or I jump off of somewhere, as I don't want to get caught.
Another fraction of my dreams try to replicate reality was much as possible. I'm usually trying to convert people and listen to Maya at the same time. It's like I'm working in my dreams too, and I don't even realize that anything is wrong until I wake up. Then sometimes It's just a normal day of school, and I wake up, extremely confused. Those are the ones that really screw with my focus.
Then there's dreams that might have a hidden meaning behind them. I have had the same dream with the farm and the cars and the alternate reality over five times in the past two weeks maybe. That's a lot, even if I am dreaming, sometimes multiple times, in one night. The worst part about those is being able to see my dad over and over again. Even though he has told me that he isn't real, I still can't get over it. It's just... I don't know.
It's not just the farm dream though. I'm usually in a normal dream, which seems to be super rare for me nowadays, I started getting these messages. It might be on a computer, or my phone, or on paper, and it tells me one of three things. To wake up, to find another way, or to tell the truth. I understand the last one, and I'm not going to do what it says, but that's not me telling myself those things. Dreams are usually a place where the mind makes a compilation of things that you saw and remembered throughout the day. Not a place where you get strange messages from someone.
Finally, there's the really scary ones. The ones that really do make me want to stop everything that I am doing, and give up forever. It becomes hard to keep going just remembering them. There is usually no theme to them, they just revolve around my anxiety and worry, which is usually why it's so bad.
One time, I saw this blacked out person, and everything was really bright. It also seemed foggy. I walked towards the person, and as I got closer, I realized that it was me. They turned around to look at me, and I stopped walking. Their face seemed to melt, as their eyes and mouth were replaced with white light. The light was covered by their dripping face, and it walked over to me too. It locked on to me, and started to drip onto me too, like it's entire body was melting. I tried to get away, but I couldn't move. The light around me was starting to fade away.
As the thing melded into me, it looked up at me, it's face nearly gone. It had said something though, though his melting skin in a scratchy, gurgling voice. "You had done this to me. I tried to save you, but you won't let go."
Once it had fully mended into my skin, I thought it was all over. I seemed fine, and I was alone. But, I felt pain on my shoulders. I was able to see them, and there were the cracks, just like they were in real life. It didn't just stay in place though. It kept growing, to my fingers. They started to get black, and the pain was too much that I could no longer stand. I just had to wait, until the dream was over.
When I woke up, it was a relief, but it just added on to my ever growing worry. Was that going to happen to me one day? Who was he? I had checked my infection as soon as I was able to, and it was definitely worse than when I had first seen it. It was probably now down to my elbow. I know I had a dream like that before, but this one felt so much worse.
I had another really bad nightmare with Maya centered around it. At first this would have been a dream where I couldn't tell the difference from reality. I was talking to people, and I wasn't getting anywhere with the person as normal, when I heard Maya stop talking again. That usually only happened when there was something interrupting her. I wasn't doing anything wrong.
I guess I was though. Instead of her saying something, she stepped off of the stage. The crowd had adjusted so they would stay far enough away from Maya, but still revolve around her. She started walking towards me, as the person I was talking to disappeared into the crowd. She had stopped when she was about six feet away from me, and started at me, as neither of us moved.
"Do you think you're going to be able to get anywhere like this?" She asked me.
I hesitated to respond. "Yes, I do."
"You realize I could annihilate you at any instant, still here you are, cowering in the crowd, doing what you think is your best. You know that you aren't getting anywhere."
"I..."
"You have lost, haven't you already seen? You have no plans to take me down, your mom is gone, and each day you are being pushed to your breaking point. One day, you will not be able to do this any longer. It's best that you just give up now."
"I-I'm not going to! Me and Gabriel will find a plan, and we are going to defeat you! You don't know what's going to happen in the future, no one does."
"I think that you might be wrong. You, and your kind are much more powerful than it may seem. Anything is possible if you really try. Gabriel will not always be with you to take me down. Gabriel is going to find out one day, and he isn't going to be happy. You may be together right now, but things can change."
I was starting to realize that she might be right. I'm not going to be able to keep this up forever. Maybe if I just tried harder though, I would be able to avoid what she is talking about.
"It's only a matter of time before everything starts to crumble. See you soon." She told me, and I woke up, about ready to cry. I wasn't going to cry though.
I could go on for days about what I have had to go through. I took a big risk, and searched up on the internet for really bad nightmares that people have had, to try and compare what I have been through. Maybe people have been through worse, and maybe I am just weak. I don't really want to consider myself a special snowflake just because of my nightmares.
It's risky to do because basically no Supporters use their phones anymore, and Maya has control over everything now. The only reason why we haven't been caught yet is because a team of hackers that aren't Supporters have been trying to help the five percent that haven't been converted yet. They have been giving us tools to block Maya's tracking.
Anyways, what I found was something that I didn't expect. It was usually about sleep paralysis, or losing a loved one, or having to kill someone. They also include screaming people, showing human guts, louds sounds, being on fire, or going insane. The thing is, that I think I have had worse nightmares than all of them. Maybe I can't top the one where someone was getting eaten alive, but still.
I've somehow dreamed about my dead dad, my mom still being alive, and then her blaming me, Maya eating all of my friends, and her telling me to just give up, this stupid infection, and this person who keeps showing up in my dreams. Maybe there is something that I should do about this?
No, I shouldn't. I have been strong enough to have been dealing with this for over three months now, and I can keep going on if I need to. Maybe their dreams were scarier to them than they seem to me. I don't need to make myself seem like a special snowflake because of everything that I had witnessed.
Then, I had something odd happen. And no, it wasn't a really scary dream. I've gotten used to those by now. I was in a dream though, wandering around.
I was walking through the city, which was cold, and barren. The skies were as cloudy as they are in real life, but they just seemed more bland here. There was no one on the streets, and it felt like one of those ghost towns that I have heard of. I would have assumed all of the Supporters that were roaming the city endlessly were at Maya's speech, but I didn't hear her at all. The air was misty and heavy, like it was about to rain.
I started to hear something, and I started to walk towards the sound. It sounded like music. I could tell that I was starting to head towards the direction of my house, as I kept going on. Eventually, I saw bright, colorful lights coming from somewhere. I was excited to see what was going on.
I had reached my house, which was the one playing the upbeat music and creating the colorful lights. I looked inside the window, and I saw a bunch of people I knew inside, partying. My mom, Gabriel, Kyle, Brady, and my teammates and friends. I started to smile, as I saw the banner, which read "Congrats Ezra!"
Was this a party for me? Had I missed or forgotten something that was going on? Regardless, it's a party! Everyone was here, safe and sound, and it's a party for me! I went up to the door, and pulled on the handle.
Then, the door disappeared. "What?" I asked myself. I looked up towards the window, and all of a sudden, it was gone too. Even the two windows upstairs had disappeared. I started to knock on the front of my house. "Hey, guys, let me in!" I told the wall. I could no longer hear the music or see the bright colors.
No one responded. I looked around and it was now nighttime. It was more eerie than it was before. There were no lights on, and the streets were still as empty as they were in the daytime. Everything around me was dark, and I had nowhere to go. I heard something from the top of the house.
Maya was perched up on the slight roofed ledge above the second floor. There is another apartment above it, so we don't really have a large roof. She was looking down at me, smiling bigger than I have ever seen before. There was a glint of red in her eyes, as she started to chuckle quietly.
"Ezra, no one needs your help. So why are you still here?" She tells me, without having to move her mouth. The environment around me starts to turn darker, and darker, until I can barely see Maya. The glint of red in her eyes is brighter than before, which was now able to luminate her most of her face.
"W-what?" I reply.
Suddenly, I'm starting to fall, like the ground below me had opened up like a trapdoor. Maya watches as I fall, unmoving, and smiling, as I start to scream. I see the stars pass below me, like everything here is not real.
I woke up, sitting, wondering where I was at, and how I got here. I realized that I was just dreaming again. Of course, it was just another nightmare. It's early in the morning, but not too early where I would probably have to go back to sleep. I picked up my phone, and waited until Gabriel was awake.
A while later, he was up, and we were waiting for my parents to make breakfast. It was a Sunday, so they were going to be sleeping in today. We were both talking about things, what Maya might be up to and about her ideas, but then we both heard the TV turn on with a little click. I turn around as Gabriel looks over me, and there's static. It keeps making this sort of fuzzy sound.
The static and the sound starts to go away, as it starts to form something on the screen. It's a person, walking out in the city, alone. It's empty and barren, and cloudy, just like... Wait, that's not any person, that's me!
"Hey, how did you get on the TV? Is there something in the tape slot?" Gabriel asked.
"Uh... I don't know." I said, trying to not sound alarmed. I started to casually look around the TV to find the off button or something. Gabriel didn't need to see my dreams. I looked around nonchalantly so Gabriel wouldn't see any issues.
I hear the door downstairs open, and Gabriel's mom steps out. "How are you boys doing on this fine Sunday?" She asks. I look up, and I hear the TV suddenly stop playing my dream, right before I had looked inside the window to see the party. It must have turned off somehow, that's good.
Gabriel's dad came out a few minutes later, and Gabriel's mother was already making eggs and bacon. I had excused myself to the restroom as soon as I could without looking suspicious. I quickly went downstairs, into the restroom, and shut the door behind me. I leaned on the door, and I slid down onto the floor.
I don't know how much more I can take with everything going on. Just being here, knowing that my mom is gone, and that Maya was winning was more than stressful to me. Then, having to take notes and try to convert a person or two back every day, lying to Gabriel, and having to handle my powers is just too much for me. I'm not a guy who can keep a secret well, and now, having to lie feels like the only good thing I can do.
Now, it seems like I haven't even been able to control one of my powers that I didn't even think I had. How else would I have been able to accidentally broadcast my dream? I need to learn how to handle it before I accidentally reveal my secrets. But what's the point? The last time I knew that happened was back when I still had my mom, and before everything spiralled out of control.
I kept sitting in the bathroom, alone, until I realized I was staying inside for too long. I got out, and continued my day as normal. I don't think anyone suspected a thing wrong with me. Not even Gabriel, who watched the TV thing happen.
As days passed by, I also realized how weak I was starting to become. It wasn't just physically, either. I was doing my normal round of converting people, and listening to Maya at the same time when I had first realized this.
"You gotta believe me, Maya is going to try and kill you if you keep this up. Do you have family? Friends? You care about them, right?" I was asking this man, as I was losing his approval.
"And now, my fellow Patrolled Supporters, please come up, and bring the non-Supporters to me. We must get rid of the evil that is within then, and make them see the way to the Wise One. They may not be able to ever get to their goal of being on the right side, but they will be of good use to our project." Maya announces in the background. Now, she's been doing this ritual where she converts people who were found in homes or on the streets to a Supporter. It's a horrible thing to see that some of our allies, or even the ones who I had previously converted, become a Supporter.
Maya can also force those new Supporters to spill out whatever they have seen, heard, or experienced at her command. If a non-Supporter is caught by Maya's Supporters, then they would give the location of their friends and loved ones who haven't been converted yet. If that happened to Gabriel, or me, we could ruin it for each other. They would know the identity and the locations that we were at. It's a horrible thing to even think about.
"I'm not going to believe you, wherever you are at, or whoever you are. The people I know are full-fledged Supporters, and they probably wanted me to do this. You aren't making any sense, and Maya is now going to do her ritual."
"Of course. Have a good day." I mumbled, and I looked around for another potential person to convert. It didn't really matter who I chose anyways, since I probably won't be able to convert them back anyways. I cannot focus on a single strategy, because everyone is unique, and has different experiences. It would have been so much easier if I could have developed a tactic.
I was looking around when I saw a familiar face. Just for a moment, I thought I had seen her. My mom. I couldn't tell if it was actually her or not, but something sparked inside of me. Something that I cannot explain with words. I will try though. All of a sudden, I was just remembering all the dreams and experiences I had with her. All the good times, and all the bad ones too. It was like a flashback of everything I remember about her.
It was just too much for me. I was frozen in shock. I realized how much I wanted her back. How much I had missed her. How much I felt left out and alone without her. She was the only person who I could look up to and learn from, and she was now gone.
I was able to finally move again, and I realized that I was shaking. I looked down at my invisible hands, which were now starting to turn visible. I was dealing with too much right now. I ran away from Central Park in a hurry. I didn't want anyone to see me like this. I hid in an alleyway, trying to calm myself down. I don't know why I suddenly had all of those memories. I don't know why they were just triggered like that. I didn't want to see them.
That sudden surge of feelings don't just happen once though. It happened multiple times, at different parts of the day. They aren't always triggered by a person or object. Sometimes, they just happen. I usually try to appear like nothing is happening, but whenever I can, I try and hide somewhere.
It wasn't only mentally when I felt weaker, it was physical. Or maybe it was based on my powers? I don't know anymore. I have noticed that I can run away as quickly, and I can't do as much exercise as I used to be able to. Even before I got my powers, which had enhanced my abilities. Maybe it's just because of my ever worsening self-esteem, or not being able to go outside and do much. If it gets any worse, I could have trouble running away from Maya and her crowd of zombies.
I have noticed that Gabriel has been investigating me more than ever. He always seems to ask if I am alright, and I just tell him that I'm fine, or a little tired. He doesn't always seem to buy it though. He sometimes tells me that "You can tell me anything" or "We are best friends after all, so we don't need to keep secrets." I'm guessing that his suspicions of me are growing, a lot.
I do really wish that I could tell him everything, I really do. I hate feeling like I am trapped inside of an imaginary box, imprisoned in lies and the dominance of Maya. Feeling like I can never escape, no matter how much I try.
Maybe there was a certain reason why he was suspicious of me. "Hey, Ezra, I found this weird article on the internet." He tells me one day, while we're just hanging out.
"What is it about?" I ask. I am trying to come up with more plans for Gabriel.
"Come over here and see." He replies. I get up and walk over to him. He is laying upside down on his bed, and he gets up so I can see his screen better.
"So it's about this person that keeps showing up to Maya's speeches. It turns out that he was there long before anything got really bad. He revealed that he called himself Anonymous just a week ago." He explains. I quickly scanned the article. It was about me, a "very evil" person who was tormenting Maya's precious speeches.
"It says that about once a week, maybe even more often, he is caught talking to people, trying to make them go back to normal, or as they call it, the 'dark side'. Have you ever seen him before? Why have you never mentioned him?"
"I didn't think it was... important." I quickly lied.
"Not important? Ezra, if we can find who this is, we could get valuable information and another team member. They are on our side, and want to make a stand like us!"
Maybe revealing myself wouldn't be such a bad idea now. "Well, I think I might know who this-"
"But of course... wait what were you gonna say? Sorry." Gabriel starts to say.
"Eh, it was nothing. Go on." I said. Then again, there could be some unattended consequences that I don't want to happen. Gabriel could feel hurt by my actions. If there was somehow a chance where he became a Supporter, everything about me would have been revealed to Maya.
"Okay, but clearly he's doing everything wrong. He should know better to not brute-force his way to victory. It's nice that he is trying, of course, but he's going to get himself caught one of these times. Then Anonymous having these cool powers, it's great that he's on our side, because if he was on Maya's side, we would be in huge trouble. Like, we would have no chance."
I'm glad that I didn't tell him that I was Anonymous. I think he would have been pretty upset that I wasn't following his ruleset. I understand that he wants to defeat Maya in a safe way, with no risks whatsoever, but I can't live like that. I have to do something about Maya, right now. Gabriel was overprotected all his life, so he's going to do things that won't get him in trouble. Sometimes he can take risks, but I know that usually he is cautious.
"...Do you think he has cool powers?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah, don't you agree? Imagine being able to be incredibly stealthy, or shoot light out your hands? Being able to face danger like that? Or just to be as cool as him?"
"It is pretty cool to see..." I say. I don't think my powers were that likable. They aren't supposed to exist, and they don't help me all that much.
"So, we need to find him. Or you have to, since I can't go out. If Anonymous is there, I want you to tell me everything. If you can find where he lives or something, go find him. He is going to make our plans so much easier when we have someone like him." Gabriels tells me. It sounds like he really adores Anonymous.
"I guess I can do that too." I say.
"Okay, but just tell me if it's too much for you. You have been doing great though." He assures me. There he goes again, trying to check to see if I am okay.
I shouldn't be so hard on him when he is trying to comfort me though. I know he cares about me, and I do sometimes ask for advice from him now.
It was the afternoon, and it was sprinkling outside. You could hear the soft shouts of thunder in the far distance. You couldn't see any lightning though. I have never experienced a thunderstorm until just this week. I don't know why the weather always seems to get worse over time, but it's not something that I can control.
I had just gotten done with a stressful session of trying to convert people back. I didn't get anyone today, because one of the people I was trying to convert just decided to scream like there was no tomorrow. This had quickly alerted Maya, and she had ordered everyone to come and get me. Of course, I had to use my stealth skills to be able to hide. I waited on top of the tall buildings, using my super jump to get up, until her speech was over.
"Hey, Gabriel." I said to him. I was laying down my makeshift bed. He was the only other person I knew that I could maybe look up to. He was my best friend after all.
"Yeah?" He asks. He's reading a book on his phone, but puts it down.
"How do you keep going when all of this is happening?" I say. I have to be as broad as I can.
He sits up. "I... don't really know. This whole thing has been such a roller coaster. If you would have asked me about Xeinil being taken over a year ago, not even a year ago, like half a year maybe. I would have said that was impossible. I guess Maya found some sort of loophole that no one else has found."
"Is that really what you think about?" I joke.
"No, that's not all. Maya is just like any other person, and one day, we will find a way to take her down."
"I'm just asking about stress though." I say.
"Right, I'm going on a tangent. Whenever you're stressed, you should let go, and let loose. Stress messes up your mind, and you can't let it do that. You need to acknowledge that thing that is making you stressed, and take care of it." He quickly explains. He doesn't always give me the best explanation, but I know that he knows what he is talking about.
One night, I was having another nightmare, just like I normally do. I was just walking endlessly through the black, empty void that I have become familiar with. I could hear noises and whispers that I could not decipher. I have had the same nightmare a few times already, so I was pretty used to it. I would just have to ignore their whispers, and I would wake up, safe and sound.
Except, that didn't happen. Rain started to fall down, and I stopped walking, to look up. Suddenly, a bolt flashed, and the sound felt like it shook the ground. I started to run now, as the rain started to feel like needles trying to get inside of my skin. This has never happened in a dream before.
I kept running, but there was no end. Eventually, I got tired, and I couldn't run or walk anymore. I couldn't stand either, so I was on my knees. The rain hadn't gotten any better, and it felt cold inside of here. I was trying to catch my breath, but I heard something behind me, breathing.
I turned around, and Maya was walking slowly towards me. Her eyes were gone, and it looked like she was limping. I got back up, in fear, and I started running again. Lighting flashed in the sky, and it lit up everything around me. I thought that everything was flat here, but no, there were other things in the darkness.
I could see other people, staring at me with cold, dead eyes. I think they were also moving towards me. I kept running, but Maya was always somehow on my tail. Then I tripped on something, and I fell onto the ground.
I sat back up, and I would have started running again, but with one more flash of lightning, I could see that they were surrounding me. Maya stopped when she was at my feet, and told me something. "No more lies."
I woke up. It was dark outside. I was breathing heavily, and sitting up. I realized that it was just another nightmare. Regardless, I buried my head in my hands. I wish they would just stop, or maybe give me a break for one night. I felt so exhausted, and all of these nightmares are not helping.
I look at the time on my alarm clock. It is nighttime, so I should go back to sleep. Before I do though, I notice that there is something on my chair, looking at my desk. I would be able to see it if I had my nightlight, but it was not there. I got up from bed to investigate, and I stepped closer to that thing.
I realized that it was Gabriel. There was also something on my desk that he was watching. It looked like a phone. I could see that there was nothing on the screen though, only white, and mostly no noise but some static.
"Gabriel, what are you doing here? It's too late for you to be here. Your parents are going to be upset that you're not home." I tell him. I put my hand on his shoulder to alert him, but he did nothing. He just keeps staring at the phone.
"Are you even listening to me?" I ask, now irritated. He does not reply. "Why won't you look at me?" I say, and I force him to turn around, pulling his shoulder back.
He looks directly at me, emotionless and also lifeless. His pupils are gone, and are just glowing white. That static noise that I was hearing was amplified, to the point where I had to cover my ears and shut my eyes. I fell to the ground in pain, hoping that it would stop. Why was he making that awful sound?
Then, it suddenly stopped. I opened my eyes back up, and I was in a black abyss. I stood up, looking around in desperation. "Gabriel?" I said to the void, hoping for an answer from him. "Gabriel, where are you?"
I started walking forwards, with no reason, like I was forced to from the dream. Eventually, I was walking on sidewalk tiles, and the buildings around me started to form. I was in Xeinil. It was still dark out, and none of the lights were turned on. It was also misty, and it made me feel cold. It reminded me of that dream I had that Gabriel was somehow able to see on the TV.
I kept walking forward, and unlike Xeinil, it seemed like there was no ending. At this point, I would have ran into Central Park or one of the city walls. The city we live in is pretty large, but it's also compact enough to fit around five million people. It's not extremely big like those ones with two million or more of a population. I realized I was getting nowhere, and I stopped.
I saw one of the doors from a building open, and someone stepped outside. With just enough illumination from the moon, I could tell that was Gabriel again. I rushed towards him, but something suddenly disappeared in front of me, and I stopped running, fearing that something bad would happen to me.
I looked down, and I noticed the tile falling downwards in the void below, and not stopping, until it disappeared from my sight. I stepped back, and went to the side to reroute towards Gabriel, who was walking towards the middle of the street, which was where I was at. If I haven't clarified, we don't really have a street, mostly just a street of sidewalk tiles.
The one that I was going to step on also fell too, and I had to force myself backwards so I didn't fall in with it. I looked around, and a couple of other tiles have fallen around me too, and now I might just be stuck here.
Then, the tiles had suddenly started to glow. They were an assortment of different colors. A couple pink, a couple green, a couple cyan, and so on. I watched in horror as tiles kept falling, and Gabriel walked towards me now. He had stopped when the only thing stopping us being together was one missing tile. He stared at me, his eyes not glowing anymore, but they were blank. He had a straight shot to get away from here, as he looked around, it looked like he was about to step away.
"Wait, Gabriel!" I yelled, having nowhere to go. He stopped, and looked towards me, listening to me, finally. "Please, don't leave me here. We... We are still friends, right?" I asked.
He kept looking at me, unmoving. Not even expressing the fact that I had even said anything to him. The horrible static that I had heard back from my bedroom was starting to come back, as if it could drain out my thoughts.
Tiles kept falling down to the abyss, as I realized I could be next. "Look, I understand that we have been through some rough times. In fact, it seems like we are always going through a rough time." The static kept getting louder, and louder, now being able to partially silence my voice. One of the tiles that I was able to walk on had fallen through the floor, and I had only one spot to stand left, before I fell too.
"It's just that, I need you. I don't understand what is happening to me, and each day it seems like they get worse. Not just my dreams, they've always been bad, but-" One of the tiles next to falls down, and it starts to shake the tile I was on.
"On top of that, everyone we know is turning into these mindless zombies that refuse to believe nearly everything that I say. Because of Maya, my mom is gone, and I have put everyone's life at risk. It's all my fault that this is happening. I still cannot believe that I had let her do this. I wish I could do something serious about this, but I don't know what to do anymore."
I realize that all the tiles on my side are gone, and I was standing on the only one left. "I have to act like everything is fine to everyone that I see, but nothing is fine for me. You are the only hope that I have for getting out of this mess."
I feel my tile shaking, and I knew that it was going to fall. I jumped for Gabriel, as the tile I was on fell, down into the empty void. I wasn't able to make it onto one of the tiles, I had just barely been able to get my arms on the one that Gabriel was on though. I struggled to stay up, trying to use my upper body strength that I didn't have to get up, but failing. Gabriel was now looking down at me as I kept struggling. The static that I was hearing was drowning out every thought that I had.
"Just please... I... can't... lose you too..." I said as I tried to reach out for him, but then, everything went dark.
I woke up with my vision blurry, and my teeth were gritted together. One of my hands was trying to cover my face. I felt a tear roll down my face. That's the reason why my vision was blurry. Then, I heard a click come from the TV, as it shut off.
"Oh, my god, Ezra, you're finally awake!" Gabriel said, as I realized that he was watching over me. "I saw everything! You don't have to pretend like everything is fine! I want to help you!" He tells me as tears start to form in his eyes.
It must have happened again, oh no. "I..I- How did you know?" I ask. I was still shaken up.
"I woke up because I heard the TV playing something. I heard you saying my name, so I got up. And... and I'm sorry for not knowing about this earlier, I knew that maybe you were upset, but I didn't know that it was this bad."
"No, no, it's okay."
"No, it's not okay. This is a serious problem, and I want to help you out.
"Like, what did you mean by 'you let her do this?' Or 'what is happening to me?'"
"It's a long story." I tell him.
"Well, if it is, we have all day. You can tell me anything." He explains, and sits down next to me.
I give in. "Okay, fine. You remember that person she likes to talk about? The one that had supposedly saved her from rotting in a street?" I ask.
"The Wise One?"
"No, the one who had first helped her when she arrived here. The one who Maya knows nothing about?" I tried to ease myself into this, just so I couldn't scare Gabriel.
"Oh, right. I'm guess that is-"
"Yep, it was me. Three months ago, she was sitting on the streets, and I had helped her start this entire thing. So you can say that this whole thing is my fault."
"It's not your fault, Ezra. Back then, she wasn't like what she is now, right?"
"No, she wasn't at all. She just wanted to help people, that's all. I should have known though that maybe it was too good to be true." We kept chatting about Maya and I. I never talked about having any powers, or being Anonymous, or any of that stuff that he would probably get really scared at. He couldn't know about that stuff. He doesn't know what could happen to him.
YOU ARE READING
Supernatural Book 4: Ezra's Story
ParanormalEzra is a young teen who enjoys his life at Xeinil, the biggest and most developed city after a nuclear bomb had brought the planet to grinding halt. He is the best player on his soccer team, has many friends, and has a bright future ahead of him, o...
