Omniscience

No Good Ending: Part Two

I spent what felt like several hours crying into my hands, wallowing in self-pity. 

Finally, my tears dried up. I had to do something, or I'd go insane. 

I stumbled to my feet and against my better judgement went back into the lab. There, I silently picked up the bag and slid it on, leaving the note on the table the bag had been on. 

 I searched the rest of the lab in complete silence. 

I left. 

As soon as I stepped out of the lab, there was a quiet voice. 

You've forgotten something. 

I went back inside and looked everywhere all over again. 

I'd given myself a headache from crying, and that was all I could think about as I searched. But I forced myself to look again. 

Halfway through my third attempt, I broke down. 

No tears streamed down my face but I could tell they would if there were any left. I didn't realize I'd hit the floor, the pain barely registering as I gripped myself just to feel something solid under my fingers, just to have an anchor in the vast ocean of my rampaging emotions. 

Maybe I should look in the garden?  Chimed a voice in my head which was distinctly not mine.

Oh for freak's sake. 

Fine. Fine, I'll look in your stupid garden. 

I stomp out of the room. And of course, I've got no idea where the garden is. Finally, after several minutes of fuming, I tramp around the building. 

The garden. 

It was decorated with an array of flowers in every color of the rainbow, a very gaudy effect. There was a thin cobblestone path that led to a wooden table with a grey metal tablet on it. 

As I got closer, I saw it had a brown leather baggie in the back, and a black screen on the front. Mystified, I approached it. 

When I touched it, the screen lit up, startling me. A line of tiny black letters ran across it, and the voice started up again. 

We live in a world of fantastical little monsters, who we can catch and train. We can even get them to breed! The standard team is composed of four monsters and one master, though some truly exceptional people can become the master of even more! 

What. The. Hell. Did I get dropped into a Pokemon game or something? 

Suddenly, while I was contemplating the tablet and trying not to puke from the stress, a loud noise rended the air, startling me - like with the screen, but ten times as much. 

The noise was something in between a roar and a siren. I hesitantly looked around, but I couldn't spot anything. 

Wonder what that was- I thought, gripping my shorts (because yes, shorts. Even if I wasn't wearing them before. Honestly, I wasn't even horrified by now.) 

A second blaring roar ripped through the air. I glanced behind the lab. And I saw it. 

A giant. That was the only word I could think of to describe it. A giant, blue-skinned, monstrous giant. On it's head was two sirens, tilted slightly to the side and embedded gruesomely in its flesh. It looked almost in pain, and I couldn't help a pang of sympathy. 

Then it leaned down, clasped the roof of a building with it's candid teeth, and ripped it right off, walking off with it like a bizzare blue monster who was just nonchalantly carrying what must have been five times my size. 

If it could do that to a roof, what could it do with my head? 

I shivered and made my decision. I needed to find other people. I couldn't be the only person here- right? 

I turned and picked up the tablet, which had fallen from my hands when I'd heard the roar, and stuffed it in my bag. 

You've forgotten something. 

Oh, sorry. 

Irritation, rage... It was all easier than seeing the truth. 

Let's go. I thought. 

I checked the lab and the rest of the houses. Nothing. 

Maybe it's at home?  Said the annoying voice.

Where is... I looked around for the 50th time.

Think like you're in a videogame. Popped into my head. It was just a hunch, but everything seemed different. Maybe this would work. 

Okay. Where is the protagonist's house usually? 

It's usually big, I think... And a little far away maybe. I thought. 

I looked, for the 51st time. There was a path leading away from the town and one next to the lab. I walked towards the first path. 

A sign with green letters proudly proclaimed STONEVALE. Quaint. 

I went straight to the other path and jogged up it. I reached a house and sped up. Throwing open a door, I was greeted with a beret sitting on a table. A pink beret. 

I put the beret on. Nothing happened, except I felt more and more like a videogame character to accessorize. 

I had to find other people. Fast.