"29" :: Chapter-11

The horror was unbearable; Fabrice trembled as he barely tried resisting the chill down his spine. His eyes scanned the canines, three pairs of eyes, one on the forehead and the second near the cheek, the dark brown eyes gleamed with a shine. Fabrice got out of the bed, and Charisa approached nearer, with each step she slouched a little lower. She was revealing herself, the only constant aspect remained the three pair of eyes while the entire body ripped the clothes apart with fur that grew out. Dark brown fur continually covered every part of the body and after finally tearing off the cargo shorts the growth stopped. It was an ape, a mutated ape. She, right there was Charisa.

Charisa growled, Fabrice who was lying shell-shocked on the floor got up. Charisa leaped up in the air, landing just where Fabrice stood some seconds ago. Fabrice moved into the balcony, with sudden movements as if a seizure had hit him. He kept on moving back till the grill blocked him and he stood right there, trembling to random growls of Charrisa. He knew he was doomed, so he turned back towards the open balcony and saw the approaching hope.

The flying angel in the skies, his mother had come, just in time and so he took a leap to catch hold of her approaching hand. But his grip just passed through, in a flash there was nothing in the air and Fabrice fell hard on the ground. His fists had shielded his head but a bloodied jaw left marks on the dark colored tar. A burning sensation made him lay down on his back. Charisa was on the balcony, just like she was, beautiful and un-aped. She was smiling and the skies turned red. The number in the sky changed. From 20, the skies now showed the 16^th hour running back in time. Maybe there was a price that had to be paid for the moments of passion that were shared. Fabrice was now a couple of hours closer to the doom.

Emilia suddenly blocked Fabrice’s view, she held Fabrice’s arm and pulled him on his feet. Charisa was gone; a few faces were still popped out of the balcony, a few of them giggling in an airy laugh. A constant roar echoed from a distance, Fabrice looked behind and saw a bus, approaching towards them.  Without any signaling the bus screeched in front of them, skidding a little. The door opened and a spectacled man gave a welcoming smile. Emilia held Fabrice’s hand and led him to the first seat. The doors closed and the man accelerated.

There was silence in between, Fabrice wanted to think but he couldn’t. Too much was happening; it was all just happening pushing his thoughts behind an unknown barrier. Fabrice’s contemplation was interrupted by the bus driver’s voice,

After covering the miles,
We need to answer fate’s call…
From the nearing cliff,
To our graves we shall fall..

The lines he uttered ended with a laughter which could be heard prominently even while the engine roared noisily. Emilia turned towards Fabrice, “I sense trouble”

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"29" :: Chapter- 10

The flashes of lightening momentarily illuminated the hole around Fabrice. He sniffed to detect some stink inside but it all seemed clean. Emilia signaled him to move up and so he did. The view was a little different, the buildings were different. There were buildings, not places where people would be living. The buildings had shops that were shuttered down and on the upper floors were balconies. Empty balconies, seeming mysterious in a strange way.

Fabrice climbed out of the sewer after helping Emilia out. Emilia dusted her black dress which anyhow looked spotless, ”Keep the photo frame safe with you, it will take you where you want to go” she said.

Fabrice felt the metallic frame in his pocket and moved ahead holding Emilia’s hand. He had just taken a few steps when a face popped out of a window. And then another one smiled from a window in the corner. 

There were many faces in numerous windows. It was surprising at first and then it started getting creepy. The faces just wouldn’t go in even after it started pouring hard. It was like the heads were held to the windows. Just the heads.

The road opened up into a crossroad junction. Some faces still stared from the Windows, random faces that happened to be non-identical, not known, just faces that could randomly exist. Then there was a certain someone standing in the balcony. Brown hair, long slender legs exposed down from skin tight cargo short and a bloody red tank top with flurry patterns falling on her arms. She was far away but Fabrice knew that she was staring right at him. Like a memory staring right at him from somewhere back in time, of a certain someone he wanted to be with. A memory from the final year at high school, and that girl right there, who wouldn’t accept his arm to hold as Fabrice wasn’t the who’s who of the high school. But she was right there, Charisa was her name and maybe she was calling out.

‘I hear you’ Fabrice thought.

Emilia watched Fabrice run like a dog till a door towards the far end banged shut and she sighed in response. The stair case ended even before it began and there was just a single door which was open. Fabrice stormed in the only single room that appeared to be there. Charisa had come into the room from the balcony, she was right there, on the bed. Smiling and talking at the same time. Pick up the glasses  Fabrice could hear her even though she was smiling. The voice was in his head, right there, so loud and clear. He followed the command, the tempting seductive tone that made him feel that he was slave by will.

The marble structure beside the bed started dripping inside a bowl-like structure below, until the liquid started flowing rapidly. It was wine and it was flowing cyclically through a fountain. Without a further command, Fabrice filled the glasses and they both drank it up. Maybe numerous times and just like that time flew and he was with her. Feeling her smooth flesh, every inch of her skin pressed again his, making the pursuit of pleasure even more satisfying than the final attainment. He heard her in his head, every response echoed and amplified, taking him to a trance. Fabrice saw her bend and welcomed her lips into his.

A little pain shot up in his lip. He knew she was intoxicated by the wine and the encounter alike. So he tried to climb higher on to the mountain of passion till the pain in his lips got unbearable. He moved back just to see a pair of large canines in Charisa’s mouth and the laughter rang in his ears.  

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I thoroughly enjoyed writing this chapter. Yep.
Still don't know where we're headed to.

"29" :: Chapter-9

The moment it was all turning too damn horrible, it had all blacked out. For fabrice, his eyes had blinked for a moment, and the curtains of darkness were pulled before his eyes for a couple of seconds. The darkness brought back a damp place, the darkness only broken by the light outside. Fabrice's feet struggled, feeling something holding them. He screamed and he was answered at once. The pull was hard and his entire body slipped away, towards the door. Slowly and steadily. The sounds were horrific screams that some how were joyful. Screams breaking into laughters, into howls. The human guests of the feast were half humans in deceiving skins. Fabrice heard muffled foot steps, his mind rapidly playing with a thought like a jigsaw puzzle. This isn't real, This isn't real.

Something came. This ain't real. This ain't real.

The shadow appeared. This ain't real. This ain't real.

It showed the hands raising an axe. This ain't real. This ain't real.

The axe was down, and Fabrice leg jerked a little too violently. The pain never came and in an instant Fabrice looked back. He had actually seen Uncle Andrew in the crowd earlier, it was proved, he was right there, smiling. Fabrice got up and somehow he knew he had to run. Straight ahead.

It was dark and the fact did not slow Fabrice down. He wanted to walk out. A door opened like a piece of darkness had been cut out in a vertical rectangle. And outside, she was there, Emilia. She held his hand and they ran in a back yard with a laddern hung to something unknown in the skies. Fabrice climbed it, pushing the little girl first. And the ladder moved up, Fabrice saw the half humans below, leaping up like hungry Jackals. Undle Andrew was there amongst them, with a smile. Fabrice smiled back. Emilia was right there infront and they moved up till a shade of white took over whatever was around. Emilia put a hand in Fabrice's pocket and took out the frame.

She showed it to Fabrice. The picture was complete. The house, his innocent face back in time, the tricycle and his dad. For a moment Fabrice thought, he had seen his mother in the frame. Just for a momenet. The white was getting darker and dark. Till the ladder stopped moving and from a dark hole. Fabrice saw the clock in the skies.

20: 17 and going back in time. One second at a time.

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"29" :: Chapter- 8

The old man led them to the frontal area of the dry stone structure. It was a Church as it almost looked like one, but there weren't any prominent symbols of identification. Just like an unknown rule of this world Fabrice could spot the endless line of Churches extending on either sides.

“The feast is waiting for you, son” the old man said as he opened the door. It was dark inside but Fabrice headed in with the little girl. He looked at the skies before the door shut behind, it was the 27th hour in its 46th minute. The man quickened his pace towards another door that was inside. The interior betrayed what the building looked like from the outside. The old man opened the door, and a bright light spread into the dark room, “Come now” he waved with a smile.

Fabrice went in and it looked like a big feast was in place, the narrow hall had a long table, fully laden with lots of food. Fabrice sat on the chair with the little girl. Numerous ladies came into the hall, serving fabrice and after every part of the plate looked full. They stared at Fabrie, “You can begin now” . The moment Fabrice put the first crumb of bread in his mouth, numerous doors in the sides opened up and many people started walking in. Those faces were familiar, many of them Fabrice had seen in the home videos. Some of them were no more, according to Fabrice for he had seen many of them in home videos. Fabrice thought he had seen his Late Uncle Andrew but he has lost him as the room was quickly filling up with more and more people. They all had come to life for this magical feast. The little girl wasn't eating anything, she signalled at Fabrice to check his pocket. He rummaged through his pocket and felt the photo frame, he had picked up previously. On looking at it, he could now see an image forming in it. He could see his own face as a child. The little girl came closer, “The picture will complete as we proceed”

“What's your name ?” Fabrice felt absurd to ask this question but he some how did. “Emilia” she smiled for the first time.

Fabrice suddenly felt the old man's hand on his shoulder, “I hope you're liking it. Please remember, this feast is mutual” Fabrice wasn't sure what he was talking about. “After the feast, you're the feast” the old man gave an ugly smirk. People standing with their plates, dropped them down letting out shrill crashes of disturbances. The pretty waitresses started moving towards Fabrice, their nails growing with each step and their faces continually decompising forming dirty clay-like pores. Now the entire gathering turned towards him, surrounding him from every corner.

Fabrice looked back and the old man's face had changed, with his facial skin peeled off in various parts and his chin burnt. What made him more horrible was that he was still smiling. Emilia was breathing heavily and all Fabrice could do was utter a “Fuck” under his breath.  

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Forgive the typos, if any blog.

"29" :: Chapter- 7

The heavy breaths let out by Scruffy seemed like heavy blows of air coming out from a furnace. He sure was hungry. The brown furred rabbit leaped out and Fabrice moved back. It moved in leaps that only look adorable if the creature is of a much lesser size. Fabrice bent down and moved beneath the cradle with the little girl (who still looked less frightened than Fabrice)

Scruffy repeatedly bumped the cradle letting our shrill squeaks. The cradle moved a little with every push. “On the count of 3, start crawling from the other side” said Fabrice, the girl nodded in a silent response.

“1…2…3” they began crawling towards the door. Fabrice felt his body shivering but Scruffy did not notice them. They got up once they reached the corridor outside and began running. “Stupid hamster” shrieked Fabrice and there was a noisy response from the room. As they were climbing down the stair case, Fabrice sensed from the noises above them, that the hamster wasn’t so dumb after all. He was right behind.

Out through the door the road was as serene as it was before. Fabrice began running holding the little girl’s hand. The road seemed endless and the line of similar houses on either side was never ending. There was a weird sound of hooting, right behind. Fabrice turned back, spotting the same red dots following them and then there was scruffy right behind. Those dots, those pair of eyes of something flying, there was no time to figure out what it was. The little girl was breathing heavily. Fabrice picked her up and ran towards one of the houses by the side. He went all the way to the backyard and things were a little different on the other side.

Fabrice looked at the structure of dry stone right in front, it looked like a church. Similar structures stood on its adjacent sides. The hooting returned, Fabrice looked back and flying creatures were right there, flying in completely random patterns, like bats, under an influence. There were a couple of them, and then a swarm descended from the skies joining them, to form a massive swarm. Fabrice wanted to run but it was too late. They cast shadows above him and he bent down with a little girl. With eyes wide shut, he held shielding her. The hooting was right above him, and then… it reduced a little.

Fabrice felt something touch his shoulder. His heart beat ran like an elephant. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

He looked up and an old man was smiling at him, “Come now, we must leave at once, son”. The swarm was flying back as Fabrice glanced in the other direction. Fabrice wanted to thank the old man and maybe even ask the key to reality. But for now he just followed him, to another mysterious scenario.

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"29" :: Chapter-6

“So how will I escape?” Fabrice entered the living room, looking at the carpet which refreshed a forgotten memory of the picture it showed, a couple of men on horses chasing a flying bird. Even the fish tank was just like it was, the four gold fishes were right there, swimming carefree as if it was all too real. ‘Too damn real’ Fabrice thought walking towards the staircase adjoining the living room.

The little girl was walking right in front of him, “I’ll help you pass through” she said. They entered the first room to the right. Again very familiar, the light pink shade of the paint still looking the same. The cradle was there in the corner and the cupboard next, the room was dark with the light coming in from outside through the window, faintly exploring the shade of everything inside.

Fabrice noticed the little girl removing the photo frame from the wall. She gave it to fabrice , “Take this, you’ll need it” . Fabrice found it rather strange, to keep a frame which absolutely had nothing in it, no picture. Fabrice looked at the hamster’s cabinet, “Scruffy” he whispered. Scruffy wasn’t there perhaps he was on the other side of this prison where everything was real.

Fabrice saw that the little girl was now looking out through the window; he didn’t wanted to be bothered for some time. So he took a walk through his days of infancy, to his parents’ bedroom. Every single detail there wasn’t clearly recallable but seemed familiar, the grand dressing table, a big bed in the center and an unused candle holder on the table.

The window was open and the netted curtain did a random dance to the winds. Fabrice closed his eyes and watched the scenes of his early childhood roll right before his eyes. Fabrice wasn’t sure if the interrupting sounds were real or not, till they grew loud and he could clearly hear the crash and bang, it was right below where he stood. He hurriedly ran towards the other room, the little girl was still there right beside the window. Fabrice ran up to her, she looked back and raised her finger.

Fabrice looked back and he realized that the hamster’s cabinet was empty for a reason. Scruffy stood right there, huge, horrible and drooling with fat droplets of saliva.

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Dear imaginary reader,

Forgive me, in case of any typos and in case the story is allowing you to yawn.

"29" :: Chapter-5

The view below had now become noticable, the little strip of road was now surrounded by a full-fledged residential arrangement. The skies were still dark the faint texture of the clouds was illuminated by the timer that was still high in Fabrice's view. The 29th hour was running in its 18th minute. Fabrice's still hadn't gotten his answer about the mysterious scenario he had woken up to, the question itself did not haunt him as he was living the haunting. It was like the circumstances were laughing at an entire life that he had lived, claiming all the years to be unreal.

They glided down, drawing closer to the line of structures in the neighbourhood that moved backwards, a thunder now and then, would expose the greenery, of the trees and the lawns in front of the houses. The houses on both the sides were the same , exactly the same. To Fabrice the structure was familiar, yes another picture he had seen in those photos. A tricycle, a kid which happened to be him, dad and the same house in the background.

Among the line of houses, a house shone in a weird light that came from within it. They landed right in front of it. Fabrice got on his feet as his mother drop them down and flew, disappearing into the skies.

“She saves me and departs, just like before” Fabrice said looking up at the skies. He stared down at the girl, “Tell me now, is this a dream ?! If it is ? End it now! Please!” he cried.

The little girl walked up to him “It's a little more than a dream” she held his hand and began walking, trying to lead him somewhere.

“But how did I get here?”

“Ask yourself?”

Fabrice did ask himself, and there were fragments of thoughts all mixing together forming a weird sense. There was a birthday party, some smuggled whiskey. Yes, the whiskey, they had gone to the suburbs to that Asian man with small eyes. He called the drink “whiskey”, but it was some thing else. It had some herbs which were treated to a pressure of the smoke of some sort of essence sticks. He had warned that the whiskey if consumed excessively could turn your worlds upside down. It all made some sense. 'Upside-down. Upside-down. Upside-down” the words echoed in Fabrice's head.

The little girl had brought in front of the building that was shining under a mysterious, heavenly glow. The skies were suddenly coloured in a dark red colour, so dark that it strained the eyes. As the brightness of the light progressively reduced, Fabrice noticed the clock had struck the 28th hour.

“We have to get you, to your present” the little girl said. “I know a way out” she said suddenly looking up. The skies were dark again but there were little star-like red dots appearing closer and closer. They blinked too, like they were alive. Fabrice looked harder and the dots changed form and he knew he was staring at many pairs of eyes drawing closer. 

“Come now” the little girl pulled him into the house.

They rushed in and quickly shut the door. Fabrice looked around, he knew the place, he had grown up right here in this very two storied house. He was home, maybe in a different place in time.

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Dear imaginary reader,

Still have no idea where we're headed to...