Two Worlds

Chapter 3

He bolted upright in bed, his heart slamming against his chest. He had dreamt. For the first time in years he had dreamt. Sadly the only thing he could remember was the uneasiness that the dream had filled him with. The way his heart pounded fascinated him. The fact that a dream could impact his body in such a manner had him curious and worried at the same time. He was frustrated at the fact that he could not remember what he had dreamt, but could merely remember the fact that he had dreamt. He mumbled a few incoherent words, obviously still rather out of himself due to the sleeping tablets he had taken earlier. Groggily he had managed to take a hold of his phone. 04:45pm. He huffed and let the phone drop on the bed before ruffling his hair. A yawn escaped his lips and like a deer caught in lights he stopped his yawn midway- suddenly remembering the meeting he was supposed to attend. He knew it wasn't that important for him to attend the meeting, but knowing that there was a slight possibility of it helping him made him want to attend.

He hissed an obscenity and jumped out of bead. With a rush he dressed himself in a pair of black sweatpants and a grey T-shirt. Under different circumstances he wouldn't attend anything wearing such comfortable attire, but seeing as he was already almost late for the meeting he did not care what he wore. Due to his lack of time he hurriedly snatched his phone from the bed along with his car keys from the hallway counter and dashed out of his apartment. He couldn't afford waiting for the elevator and instead took the stairs two at a time. Once he exited his apartment and was seated in his car he eagerly searched his email for the address before pulling out of his parking. His obsession with time had him speeding on the streets like a madman. The possibility of being fined not crossing his mind at all. He relaxed his tensed shoulders only somewhat once his car came to a skidding halt outside a dull looking building, however, remembering the reason for his attendance to this meeting had his shoulders tensing up more than before. He robotically forced himself out of the car and stifled the urge to check the time on his phone. He could tell he was late by the fact that nobody had been lingering outside the building he was supposed to be in. The revelation of being late had put him in a sour mood which was most probably going to be intensified by the meeting that lay ahead. Well, here goes nothing. He thought sarcastically and walked up to the front door of the building.

Once knocking on the door he warily inspected the building before him- it looked quite sad. How ironic that the building where sad people gather looks sad. He snorted and almost choked on his own spit when the door suddenly swung open.

"Hello there! Can I help you?" The woman who greeted him smiled brightly, her eyes littered with wrinkles. She seemed to be somewhere in her late 50's.

"I'm Derick. Heather advised me to attend." The formality in his voice had her raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"We always welcome new guests. Welcome Derick, my name is Sophia. Please come in." He rolled his eyes at her statement of welcoming new guests. She made it sound like this was a party.

Without another word she moved from the entry way of the door and kindly invited him in. He stiffly walked passed her and patiently waited for her to lead the way. She had touched his shoulder before gesturing for him to follow her. He frowned at the fact that she invaded his personal space. He couldn't fathom the need for anyone to be so close to him. He shrugged off the uneasiness that lingered in his subconscious and followed Sophia down a seemingly never-ending hallway. If this is how I die, go figures. He thought as the hallway filled him with a spooky feeling. He grinned slightly at his strange sense of humor. Before he could think of anything else Sophia had opened a double door leading into a big hall. Animate conversation filled the air around him, which surprised him profusely. Somehow he had imagined a very different scenario in his head. A dark gloomy atmosphere with saddening tales of those around him.