It was 4 am as I laid in bed - wide awake. After I met that guy from the party I could not manage to focus on anything else anymore and actually just wanted to go home, however I didn't want to ruin Jess' fun, so I stayed there until late.
Lucky thing that Jess only lived a few houses away, so worrying about the other whether they walked home safely or not was never a real issue. Her and I could always see each other stepping through the door of our home which was a great relief.
I watched the shadows on my ceiling slightly moving as the trees outside of my window slowly moved to the rhythm of the wind.
Who was he? My thoughts wandered again. "Seriously, what's wrong with me", I sighed as I stretched out my hand like I was reaching out for something. But the only thing which seeped through my fingers was darkness.
It was nerve-wracking. I have never been a person to engulf myself in thoughts about someone else this much before - especially not because of some random guy. It was also never the case that some sudden encounter has shook me up to this extent. Not in this way. I was really tired of thinking about this all night long. Well, whatever. I don't even know his face.
Shoving each and every useless thought aside, I finally closed my eyes and fell into a restless sleep.
**
The room was dark. I tried to look around but my head only faced a plain grey wall. Where was I? My arms were crossed - no, wait, whose arms are those? I tried to squint my eyes but nothing moved. It was like I was stuck in a third viewer's perspective without having control over anything I tried to do.
"Were they there?", an unfamiliar voice asked. Even then my sight was only headed towards that grey wall.
"Yes, but I couldn't catch one." A deep voice which sounded slightly rough. His voice. I tried to gasp but nothing I tried to do was happening. But I remembered it. His voice.
"Woah, I'm kinda surprised. So our special little star couldn't catch one?" A mocking tone. This time it belonged to a woman. Finally, my sight left the grey wall and turned towards her. If I could, I would have gasped again.
A huge scar ran across her right eye which was covered by a small eye patch. Her dark long hair was tied in a strict and neat pony tail. On top of that, she was clothed in a similar black attire as the guy I met at the party.
"I had an issue.", was the only answer he gave. The woman's left eye twitched slightly as she listened to him.
"What would that issue be to hinder the great, great You from catching rats?" She smirked, wherupon he sighed.
"Nothing special." As I heard that, I kind of felt a faint throbbing inside my chest. I didn't even know what they were talking about but it felt painfully real. So weird dreams like this exist, huh.
The woman crossed her legs and smiled smugly. "Don't be shy. Tell us, Zero."
I didn't know where we were but as soon as her words ended, it suddenly started to get shaky.
"Guys, there is something following us - buckle up!" It was the unfamiliar man's voice from the beginning. Zero looked at him and only nodded. They seemed to be in some kind of transporter.
"Natasha, get the weapons ready." Weapons?
"Aye, Sir." The woman with the scar on her right eye stood up in a graceful manner and started to rummage in a box which was secured in the corner of the wagon. I couldn't see what was inside as my sight turned to the front of the vehicle. The only thing I managed to perceive were faint outlines of buildings being sunk in darkness.
Even the car light was not turned on, so I asked myself how the driver could get through so effortlessly - especially because the wagon started to jolt to the left and right.
I expected my heart to pound rapidly, however all I felt in my chest was a calm rhythmic beat. He seemed used to it. Used to this kind of tense atmosphere which gradually built up more and more.
"I just got a message that they got one", someone in the transporter said.
I felt myself - or better said, him - crushing his lips against each other. Anger seeped through every fiber of his body, causing him to clench his fists. I shuddered inwardly.
"Can we save that one?", Zero asked. Although I felt his resentment crawling into his mind, grabbing onto his consciousness, his voice stayed calm and collected.
"We are too late", the other person answered. "It was someone from the party."
"No wonder - I mean, SKIA practically hosted that party.", Natasha scoffed. "They've really got their rats everywhere." SKIA? What did she mean?
I couldn't even think any further as Zero abruptly shot up.
"From the party? Who?" I felt a sudden surge of anxiety seeping through him.
Natasha eyed him suspiciously. "Did something happen at the party or why are you-"
"I asked who", Zero cut her off. His fists were still balled. And I slowly felt his knuckles turning white. I wanted to open up his hands but couldn't control it. This was only a dream after all. Of course, I couldn't do anything.
My sight turned towards the person who gave the news. A tall blonde man who held a tablet in his hand, scrolling through several tabs.
"I'm searching for CCTVs but they really set that up quite well. They are on none of the cameras. But as far as we know, it's a male they caught.", he finally said after typing in something on his device. His glasses slipped down to the crook of his nose as his face snapped up to look at me alias Zero.
I suddenly felt slight relief seeping through him but it was soon replaced by anger again.
"We have to find him.", Zero said. Natasha opened her mouth to say something, however the whole transporter suddenly got jerked to the left.
My sight crumbled a bit as I got hit against the wall. But I didn't even feel the slightest hint of pain. Well, if someone had wished for this to be the end of the shaky journey, they would have been greatly disappointed. The next moment, the car made a full turn to the right causing a few people to stumble and lose their balance again - however, Zero stabilized himself by grabbing a handle on the ceiling.
I was shocked as I heard gun shots and dozens of explosions right in front of the transporter. A blinding light went up and flashed the whole windshield. Immediately after, the car screeched in a painfully loud scream as it drifted right past the fire which started to aggressively spread on the ground. This feels way too real, I thought to myself while shivering inwardly.
"Zero baby, time to shine", Natasha smirked and threw a gun at me. The hand which shot up caught it effortlessly. As soon as Zero caught his weapon, a small luke was opened, leaving enough space to climb onto the top of the transporter. Leaving no time to spare, he pulled himself outside. I felt the adrenaline rushing in, felt the blood pulsing through his veins and felt his unbending resentment tightening around his chest. Resentment towards what?
I couldn't think any further as the night sky hit my face - or rather his face - with such a cold and brutal force that I felt painfully short of breath. I nearly gasped but Zero didn't even flinch once. His sight was only focused on the vehicle behind ours, following us relentlessly. He positioned the gun in a right angle and slowly put his index finger on the trigger. His slow, rhythmic heart beats counting the seconds until his first shot.
Each sensation he felt, seeped through myself, as well. I felt the wind gnawing at his clothes, trying to tear him apart, trying to tug at his bitter determination.
I also felt gun shots flying past him left and right and yet, I knew that he did not even make a face or even flinch in the slightest bit. His hands stayed calm as he pressed against the trigger and fired. Not even a second after, I saw the windshield of the other car getting destroyed and not only that - their whole car got out of control.
He must have hit the driver. He must have killed him. I shuddered at this realization. What was I even dreaming? I tried to shake my head and snap out of it but I stayed trapped inside of a body which did not belong to me.
A few moments later I saw the car gaining its control again. And from anew - Zero positioned his gun and shot his bullet. It was only one shot and yet it hit the windshield on the driver's side with a dangerously clear accuracy that I could not help but be amazed at it. But then I realized that he must have killed someone again.
It's just a dream, I reassured myself. But what if not?, a tiny voice in the corner of my head popped up. I inwardly shook my head again.
It can't be. It surely can't be. This was all just a weird, bad dream.
Suddenly, I heard myself groan. A hoarse, rough sound. And a sharp pain on my left shoulder struck me - or rather him. I felt a warm substance seeping through my clothes and tried to look at it but his sight never left the vehicle in front of us, so I was forced to look at it, as well. They managed to fire their last shot as they finally lost their tracks and crashed into the next building.
Not long after, the car burned up and exploded causing a huge flame to flare up. A sudden surge of heat hit me for a short blinding moment, just to vanish in the next second as our transporter turned around the next corner.
"Crashed.", Zero said hoarsely as he climbed inside again - one hand holding his shoulder. Warm blood seeped through his wound, trickling down the ground. I saw Natasha rummaging in one of the boxes again, her hands full of bandages and meds.
"Strip.", she said as walked towards him. Her lips tight.
Zero slowly made his way out of his jacket while surpressing a pained groan.
"What about the guy they got?", he asked as Natasha cleaned his wound and wrapped the bandage around his shoulder and arm.
"We can't save him anymore. They used that vehicle to distract us.", the blonde guy with the glasses said in a low voice. "We have to go back."
As he said that, Zero only stood still while slowly closing his eyes.
And as his eyes closed, I felt like I was being thrown out of his body. His sensations gradually faded away and my sight crumbled as I lost the ground under my feet. I tried to scream but nothing came out of my mouth.
The last thing I felt was the darkness wrapping around me.
**
I gasped as I woke up. Sweat trickling down my forehead as I laid in bed. My heart pounded in a rapid way as if I just ran a whole lap around the block, my fists were clenched and my mind was just a literal mess. What a dream, I thought to myself.
I stretched out my hands and released the tension in my white knuckles. How long have I been balling them like that? They sure hurt like hell. I sighed and looked outside of my window. A few strands of light softly flooded into my room as the sun slowly rose.
This sure has been a rough night. I couldn't even sleep well. My mind was already a mess after that party and it really did not help that this dream was making it even more catastrophic.
As I rubbed my eyes and yawned, my mind wandered back to the dream I had. It all felt so damn realistic.
I unconsciously touched my shoulder and rubbed the part which still ached like I really got shot by a gun. And although I knew it was just a dream, I still asked myself if he was alright. Not only that but I even wanted him to be alright.
I sighed again while thinking about him.
Zero. That was what they called him.
____
Welcome to another part of my story!
I really hoped you enjoyed again - this time around I finally added a bit of action. :D
Feel free to leave a comment and vote if you'd like! ♡
Yours,
Christine ♡