Chapter 5: Tolls of madness

Above the fog and under the bright moon that never shifted, storm clouds gathered with a rumbling. They swirled into a pool of black smoke and green lightning. Rain began to fall, perhaps the only change this place has ever had.

David watched the clouds gather and shift before the rain fell, he was wary of the unnatural shift of weather. A bolt of lightning struck the ground under the center of the storm.

"Welcome home"

David was terrified, that storm was something coming here and that voice greeted it. David looked back to the house he heard the voice from and saw it was just as empty as the rest seemingly. David at least had a goal now, trying to make it to where the bolt struck and see if he could leave the same way. He doubted it but it was better than wandering aimlessly for how ever long its been. the ravens scattered at the bolt of lightning he noticed. David started laughing, birds with abnormal intelligence scared of lightning, he stopped laughing at that thought and decided to just move on.

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Jackson awoke feeling weightless and cold, he realized he was under water and his lungs were beginning to hurt. He thrashed trying to get any traction to propel himself upward which didn't take long as the water he was in was only chest height. When he got his head above water he took a deep lungful of air that tasted of salt, a quick glance showed that he was in the middle of an intersection close to the station, he knew this because he had to take it to get to the station.

The town was covered in fog and it was still dark out so he couldn't have been out long. Jackson looked at the pool he was standing in and was surprised to see that there was a crater in the middle of the street, come to think of it how did he get here? Last thing her remembers was hearing his name be called from somewhere and a sudden darkness.

Jackson stepped out of the pool and inspected himself for injury, aside from a hole through his shirt he was fine. Well if he was right the station should still have people there, it would be weird if it didn't. So he started his walk to the station and after what was double the time he thought it would take he began wondering if he went anywhere at all. Glancing around he saw that he really hadn't moved far as the intersection with the crater was only a handful of steps away.

'The fuck is happening', Jackson needed to get his shit together or he might be put in a mental hospital by whoever was watching him right now if anybody was, hopefully not. So was he walking in a circle or did he only take a couple steps away from the crater? 'This time pay attention to the crater and walk away, yea lets try that' Jackson thought of another way out and attempted that.

After the crater disappeared into the fog, Jackson turned to walk towards a new destination and saw a familiar crater in the middle of an intersection.

"GODDAMNIT" Jackson was getting pissed, nothing made sense and this fog or town or whatever seemed to be fucking with him.

Caws of birds sounded through the darkness, much like laughter. It only added to Jackson's anger and so he decided he would walk one direction without changing course, paying special attention to his steps. This seemed to have some sort of affect as the scenery finally changed but not before Jackson saw the same crater so many times he lost count. 'Finally something else other than a fucking crater' Jackson had been walking so long his legs hurt and he finally saw the station he wanted to find, he quickly made his way to the front door and went inside, all the lights were on so people must still be here.

Jackson was proven wrong and felt disappointed and confused, 'Where the hell is everyone'. The more he searched the building the more he realized that this place was slightly different from what he remembered. Jackson saw strands of smoke hover in different places as if they were supposed to be there, he saw patches and puddles of water scattered pointlessly around the building. Jackson decided to look into the Chief's office, maybe he would find him there and if not he could always try to find someone else.

Jackson's search was interrupted by a sound similar to water being pushed. He crouched and pressed himself to the Chief's desk as cover if need be and a place to hide right now. The sound of water was only becoming more consistent and louder, the only places Jackson saw water was the random puddles he saw on his way through, then the lights dimmed to almost nothing.

A screech of a desk against wood alerted Jackson to movement outside his door and hoping that he found the Chief or somebody was enough motivation to peek over the desk. What he saw caused him to clutch his head and retreat back behind the desk, a pounding in his head that caused his nose to bleed. After he could focus again he noticed the sounds stopped and silence returned, Jackson was terrified, had he made a noise? Does it know he's here?

Stillness was all that Jackson was for a very long time, he could not process what he saw and anything more complex than breathing made his head pound. 'This isn't real, there is no way that thing or this place exists'. Jackson felt so weak right now, helpless and alone, the only thing he could do was deny what he saw.

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Jackson could finally pick himself up without thinking he would die for it and quickly left and made a mental note to himself to avoid the puddles whenever possible. He shivered thinking of the crater he was in when he got here, was it there watching him or was it elsewhere. Questions like that would need to be culled as quickly as possible else he might think about it again.

Jackson checked for his gun and saw he still had it, that made him slightly more confident, 'I doubt 9mm could even hurt that thing, hell nothing could'. After checking that he had a weapon he set out to find somebody or something, anything was better than the emptiness he felt right now. He saw only a small part the mystery and felt so empty, what must a man look like that has seen more, could they even exist and if they did would they even be human anymore.

Jackson walked out of the station and found that the rain was still falling but making no sound, he never noticed that at first, if it wasn't for his own breathing he would think he was deaf. When he first arrived he was focused on understanding where he was, though now he knew where he was but he didn't know "where" he was. Ravens cawed which startled Jackson from his thoughts as he drew his pistol and aimed it at the noise only to see a raven looking at him not at all scarred of him but aware. Jackson felt that the raven was watching him and judging him before it flew off into the fog, normal birds that gave a feeling of inferiority, 'Fuck you too buddy'. Jackson continued walking and saw the station come into view again but this time there was a cat in front of the door seemingly waiting.

Jackson raised his pistol and aimed at the cat as he froze waiting for it to do something. The cat with its deep black fur and bright green eyes spotted Jackson and simply stared. Jackson and the cat sat like that for a long time before Jackson thought he was being stupid but those eyes are so familiar. The animals only watched it seemed, whether they were the eyes of something he didn't know. He approached hesitantly with his gun still trained on the cat and froze when it moved.

"Meowshsshhsh" was all the noise it made before its face split and revealed a void of black and green light. The cat was walking towards him while making a noise similar to static but it was distorted.

*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang* was the only noise Jackson made as he fired at the cat until it stopped moving. He dropped to his knees and retched at what he saw, whether it was what the cat did or what he saw in its void not even he knew. Jackson's head pounded again and he threw his fist into the concrete to focus on something else. He saw the same thing as before in that void the cat conjured or was, whatever it was. The same hollow feeling settled into him, seeming to try and crush his spirit and taint his soul.

Jackson collected himself faster this time but it was still an ordeal. He felt that finding a place to hole up in and rest was perhaps the best thing for him right now. This place was sick and twisted, animals that morphed into grotesque monsters when you get close was something only a madman would think of. Jackson hoped that if anything this place was nice enough to not have any dogs, he loved dogs and would rather not see one right now, if he did he would probably break down crying after he killed it.

Jackson walked back toward the residential districts, strangely not seeing the same crater nearly as many times but the station seemed to repeat endlessly. Next time he will make a note to count how many times they repeat, it can't be random, surely. Once he reached the first house he snuck up to a window by the side of it and peeked inside, lights on as always. A comfortable looking couch greeted him but what sat on it was repulsive. A mass of writhing flesh sat on it pretending to watch the television that was off. The room appeared to be frozen over with only small circles remaining for sight in and out of the room, the television was covered in icicles and the mass seemed to be unbothered.

Jackson quickly left to search for a different house as this one was taken and even if it looked pathetic he was not going to test it. After a few more houses being scouted one finally seemed to have a suitable condition. It was a house in the northern district so it was somewhat more high end, it would be perfect for a temporary shelter. After he bored up the windows and entrances with whatever he could find such as sheets and deconstructed tables and chairs, along with a hammer and nails he found in the garage, he decided he could finally rest.

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*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*, David perked up at the noise that came from the direction he was heading. 'There is somebody here that has a weapon and probably wasn't a monster, after all the only noise here was the animals' ravens cawed every so often and the other animals were nightmares that he would be glad to never see again. He started walking faster toward the lightning strike and the gunshots until he remembered that this place repeated itself so he took off in a run hoping he wouldn't meet anybody on his way, 'Compared to the other creatures here that woman really is a saint'.

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*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*bang*, echoed through the air and the man turned to face their origin, one eye shined a deep green while the other looked dead with a tinge of blue remaining in the white, a drag of his cigarette lit his face covered in scars. He turned back around and continued walking. Most wouldn't hear what lay beneath the sound of those gunshots but he did and he was not looking forward to it.

*sigh*.

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