Rift in Reality - Enter

Rift in Reality

Prologue

The Earth…
A lone blue planet suspended in the depths of endless space seemingly deserted of life…
On it, humanity exists as the single most intelligent and developed race…
…
…
…
People thought things would never change…


1991
It was just another time on the blue planet…
Humanity had settled their differences…
Or at least… for the time being…
People looked towards the future in desperation…
Hoping for more, hoping to put all the conflict and pain behind them for a brighter tomorrow…
People looked at their lives and wondered if we had found out all that we could…
The answer to this question was no…
Some would know of what was actually out there, while the rest would remain ignorant for the rest of their lives and still hoping when their hopes had already been answered a long time ago…


Rifts between worlds tore holes through sections of space…
And by chance one emerged on the planet which thought it would never see anything out of the mundane…
Only a few know of the true nature of the rift and its very existence…
They either saw it or were among the hordes of creatures that came out of it and into our world…
And it wouldn’t be the only one to appear…


This story begins on the planet Earth…
12 Earth years after the first rift, in the year 2003…
A young man has left school and is ready to seek a life fulfilling his dreams…
He is unaware of his own significance in the chaos…
Ignorant of what has passed and what his role in the bigger picture involves…
His normal life has left him wandering in confusion…
His dreams have escaped the very recesses of his mind and into reality…
Soon… his time will come… and all will become clear.


Chapter 1: Enter

- 5:30p.m. Sunday 6th July 2003 -

The day seemed somewhat surreal to Wright. Somewhat short in comparison with his peers and with clearly distinguishable brown eyes and darkly coloured hair he was a person more suited to a simple routine than a little wander about, but something about this day had brought him outside into the open and he wasn’t in the mood to fight with it. Wright, also known as ‘The Writer’ to those who knew him, was spending his first day off since he left school to pursue his dreams of becoming a successful author. He was going to start work on his first book; one he hoped would make him rich and famous, a common dream in the world he lived in and especially to those around his age. With seventeen years of life under his belt he had yet to make his impression on the world around him and did not want to disappoint.

After wandering aimlessly with no knowledge about where and how long since he left his small, quiet apartment he finally settled down briefly before realising he was sitting on a silver chair. For a moment he felt the anxiousness of his situation but decided to take a breather to settle his nerves. He looked up and smelled the strong aroma of grounded coffee beans and realised he had sat down in a café. With doubt literally washed away he decided to get something. With the swift movement of his arm he quickly caught the attention of a waitress and ordered a cappuccino. While he waited for his drink he rummaged through his bag and took his laptop out. By the time the laptop was running, the waitress had returned with his drink and he took a sip. Now was the hard part.

He opened a word processing program and stopped in hesitation, unsure of what to do next. An idea came to him and he decided that perhaps his surrounding could invigorate his mind to come up with the words and idea which would make him rich. It was mid-summer, about five in the afternoon and the sky was washed in a mixture of red, orange and yellow. He was completely oblivious to the chaotic chatting around him, unaware that the once empty café had suddenly sprung to life. He had a good view from where he was sitting though. It was raised above the streets below him and in the distance he could see the park. Wright now knew he wasn’t too far from home and could spend the rest of the day here.

Just as he thought an idea would come to him he stops. Two words were on the edge of his tongue and he whispered them out.

“Reality’s fantasy.”

He immediately began to type away on the laptop, first he wrote down those two simple words and suddenly they sparked off an idea:


Reality’s fantasy

“Thanks, here’s your change sir.”

The woman at the till gave Rob his change, pocketing it; he picked up the heavy grocery bags and made his way outside. The sun had long descended beyond the horizon and the only way now to return home would be to follow the puddles of light emitted by the various lampposts dotted along the path...

Wright paused for a moment to have a quick sip of cappuccino, then he continued to type.

A cool northern wind made him shiver violently for a moment and with the absence of his overcoat he soon regretted his haste earlier on in the day. Feeling the night chill encouraged Rob to walk a bit faster and his grip had tightened on the two bags he held with each of his hands to the point they started to go numb. Rob also noticed that he was the only person around, which didn’t surprise him since autumn had come rolling in so suddenly many people would either stay at home or if they did choose to go out they would go by car. Suddenly, he felt the ground around him beginning to shake, a humming sound building up to a mighty roar and as he turned round a lorry zipped past him. To his disgust and misfortune, the vehicle had passed through a puddle and at the speed it was going it had flung up a large volume of the filthy water into Rob’s jacket. As soon as the low humming of the lorry drifted away Rob cursed himself for walking so close to the road. Somehow the groceries had survived that incident, but his coat was less fortunate. The left flank of it was soaked in a fresh coat of mud which discoloured it somewhat much to his discomfort.

Wright chuckled quietly to himself, a little bit of humour would help his story go along. By now the cup next to his laptop was half full. Unlike most of the people around him, he was an optimist, and knew too well that self induced negativity generally led to bad things happening to you. He had experienced it himself to know.

Rob wasn’t happy with this development and decided to avoid the main road and chose instead another route home. He took a few careful steps away from the road and noticed a large pathway which would take him in the direction he needed to go. With renewed confidence and a boost of adrenaline he began to stride faster. After getting to the top of the walkway Rob found the walk tiring and unintentionally he sat down on a chair.

Wright stopped for a moment, shocked by what he had written. A sense of déjà vu struck him. His character was following the same actions and was feeling the same way Wright was when he arrived. What shocked him even more was that he had also given his character his ‘other’ name. He sighed, his cappuccino was all gone but the words and the idea was still very much there.

He placed the groceries onto the table then…

Then what? What happened to all the words in his head? Wright slouched slightly in the chair, his head resting in his hands. Nothing. The first part had formed so clearly in his head it was as if he could see the events going on before his eyes and it allowed him to transfer it into words with no problems at all. All of a sudden he felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped, almost knocking over the owner of the hand.

“Why are you so jumpy Wright? It’s only me.”

Wright breathed a deep sigh of relief and looked up at her. It was Laura Skyfeld, a 16 year old girl who he had known for many years now and was very good friends with. An art student, and a pretty good artist in his opinion. He always felt like she treated him rather immaturely, but he liked that about her and wouldn’t want her to change in any way.

“Hello Wright. Is your brain still in the shop like it was last week?”

Wright brushed himself off and smiled amiably at her as she sat down opposite him.

“No, I was just stumped with the book I’m writing. One moment I had all the words I needed in my head, the next they’re gone.”

“Oh, so you’re finally writing it, and we all thought you were aiming to be the world’s greatest procrastinator.”

Wright smiled uncharacteristically at her and like all men his age was admiring the beauty of his female companion. She was a brunette and this complimented well with her pale skin and what he liked the most were her hazel coloured eyes.

“Wright… You’re starting to worry me…”

Wright blinked rapidly, Laura sighed knowing that Wright had blanked out again. When he had settled down a bit Laura had moved her chair next to Wright’s and looked over his shoulder.

“Oh, you just started it.” She said enthusiastically.

Wright smirked slightly. “Yeah, I was doing well until you came.”

Laura teasingly wrapped her arms around his neck, pinning him in the chair. After a few minutes of bickering and concerned looks by the public the talk returned to the book.

“So Wright… can I do some illustrations for your book?”

“There won’t be any Laura…”

“What about the front and back cover of the book?”

“Its too early, I need to finish the story first.”

“Oh…”

There was an uneasy silence between the two until Laura continued from where she left off.

“So what is it about?”

“What?”

“The book silly. What else?”

“Oh. Well…”

Wright looked back at the paragraphs he had written and then back at her.

“It’s too early to tell. I’m still brainstorming some ideas.”

She sighed again and just as she was about to say something else her phone rang and she answered it. Wright saved the work he and done on his laptop and shut down the laptop, packing it away into his bag. By the time he was done Laura had finished talking to the person who called her.

“I’ll see you later Wright, something’s come up.”

“Oh, ok. I’ll see you later Laura.”

She left and Wright was left standing at the table. Everything seemed to slow down around him, the sounds of footsteps began to slip away and what Wright saw startled him. He stood, motionless next to his table and the whole area was empty, devoid of other human life. He jumped away from the table; the light turning on a nearby lamppost had startled him. His heartbeat unconsciously had started to beat faster and his breathing became uneven and hoarse. A thousand questions were in his mind but before he could ask a single one of them a shiver ran along his back.

“Sir, are you ok?”

He turned around and saw the same waitress who had given him the cappuccino, which she now balanced on a tray. Everything was back to normal it seemed.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Wright slung his bag on and began the long walk home.

Wright hadn’t spent a long time in the café as he thought he would. He would have stayed longer, had it not been from the strange incident. His mind was literally miles away from the writing and the book; he had other things to be concerned about. Namely, the mysterious stalker he had noticed recently following him whenever he left his apartment. And today was no different for Wright. The same strange kid would stay a few metres behind him wearing the same dark earthy coloured clothes and on some occasions he had noticed him talking to himself. Wright hadn’t seen the kid’s face yet, it was hidden under a hood of some kind. Wright was tempted to confront this boy but always found a reason not to. Today his reason was because he just didn’t want anything else on his mind. He took his usual path through the park, ignoring the displays and speeding his way home. There were few people around, but Wright knew the kid was still around. He sighed quietly to himself and soon found himself home. It was a large concrete structure built in the last century, recently renovated to meet the needs of modern man. Windows were dotted uniformly around the perimeter of the building, the one belonging to his room glowed a pale yellow which showed that his roommate Chris was in.

After hastily getting to the lift and waiting the usual time to arrive on his floor, he trudged impatiently to the room. He fished the key out of his pocket, careful not to pull any coins out as well, and opened the door. For some reason or another Wright began to feel tired, his eyelids were quite heavy and he yawned.

“Hi Wright, you’re back. Had a good day?”

Wright lowered his hand from his face and nodded silently to Chris. Chris was slightly taller than Wright, well built and a fearless character when it mattered. Wright had known him since they were kids, but the story about their meeting would have to wait, he was tired.

“Are you sure? You don’t look too well.”

Wright removed his bag from his bag and held it in one hand.

“I’m going to catch some sleep. I got to go to work tomorrow.” He replied, hiding another yawn behind his free hand.

“Ok Wright. Sleep well.”

Wright immediately got himself ready for bed and placed his bag onto the table in his room. He wasn’t known to sleep this early but by now he couldn’t keep his eyes open. He got into bed and began to drift into a calm sleep, but just as he lost consciousness he swore he heard the front door open and close. Soon that didn’t matter though, he was asleep and would remain this way until the time was right for him to join the living again.


End of chapter