Chasing Time

Reliving Horrors

Upper Terragon.

08:00, 3rd July, 3000.

Stanley was usually distracted during breakfast but he was more distracted that morning for reasons unknown to him. His parents were discussing something of great importance but he could not bring himself to even try to listen. The sky was orange and cloudy like usual but the floor to ceiling window in the dining room displayed a bright blue sky with scanty fluffy white clouds. His father always specified the type of scenery he wanted during the family meals. Stanley thought it was silly to pretend like the sky was blue when in fact the sky had not been blue for almost five hundred years. Everyone in the world had probably read about and seen pictures of what the Earth used to look like; green grass, clear skies, clean air and all that. Some even believed it was not true but Stanley knew it was, he had seen it in his dreams.

"Stan?" his mother called out to him. He looked away from the stimulated sky on the window and faced her. His father cleared his throat and caught his attention.

"Did you hear anything I said?" his father asked and Stanley just stared at him at first. His father, Frederick Damien, was the Head Councilman of the Council of Thirteen. The Council of Thirteen made up the families that occupied Upper Terragon. Only thirteen families in the most luxurious part of their entire city. Anyone else living in Upper Terragon were either helpers or defenders. That was another thing Stanley did not understand, no one from the other sections of Terragon were allowed in Upper Terragon unless they request a visit which is reviewed by the Council of Thirteen for a period of no shorter than three months or they are invited by any family member of the council.

"Something about traveling, I don't know..." he answered with a non-committal shrug. His mother sighed.

"It's okay Yvonne," Frederick said to his wife and grabbed her hand from across the table. He gave her a smile and she smiled back. Stanley almost rolled his eyes at them. It was unusual to him that they were so into each other, that was something else he could not understand.

"Stanley," his father finally looked at him again "something big is going to happen in a few months and we need to be prepared. I know we talked about you exploring the whole of Terragon for you final Defender training but we are going to have to cancel that-"

"What?" Stanley exploded suddenly "you can't do this father, you can't-"

"Listen to me, damnit. It's for your own good. You can go next year, if it's possible but not this year."

Stanley glared at his father with a burning anger that felt like nothing he had ever experienced. His father had not approved of him training as a defender in the first place. The Defender Training Academy was located in Middle Terragon and the Uppers always turned their noses up at the idea of stepping a foot outside Upper Terragon. Stanley on the other hand had wanted to leave Upper Terragon since he could understand his letters, most of the people around him expected him to take his father's place on the council of Thirteen since he was the only child but he was not interested in sitting in a chair half of the day and dictating other people's lives.

"What's happening in a few months father," Stanley asked calmly. He knew trying to be stubborn did not work with his father and he was honestly curious about the reason his father would give.

"It's council business son, all you need to know is that it's not safe for you to leave home,"

"Home? You mean prison?"

"No, I mean home. The sooner you realize that this is your place and this is where you must be, the better. The Defender thing you're doing is a passing fancy. You'll see that you're meant to be the Head Councilman after I'm gone, I just hope you see it quickly."

Stanley scoffed and gritted his teeth. He should have known that everything was a ploy to keep him right where he was.

"Please don't fight your father Stan," his mother said to him and reached out to hold him but he snatched his hand back and glared at her. She swallowed and pulled back with a defeated look. Frederick held her hand again and gave Stanley a hard look.

"Father, the sooner you realize that I will never do what you want and leave me the hell alone, the better."

"How dare-" Frederick was cut off by the sound of Stanley's chair scratching against the floor and he pushed himself back. He stood and looked at him parents with something that was akin to hatred but not quite.

"You may be able to keep me here, but you will never be able to make me sit on that chair of yours." He turned to leave and his father called out to him.

"You don't have a choice Stanley, you're my only child and a member of the thirteen families, you have to be on the council."

Stanley laughed and turned to face his father.

"Here's a suggestion then... make it the Council of Twelve."

•|•|•|•|•

Sector A2, Lower Terragon.

17:06, 3rd July, 3000.

She stared at the dark orange sky and felt her chest tightening again. Sitting on the edge of the roof of their building, she asked herself again if anything was real. She had died, that she was sure of. She could still feel the tiny teeth and claws or those monsters tearing at her. Travis had drugged her and her sleep was filled with the vivid images of his and her deaths. When she woke up, she was calmer.

He asked her what was wrong and she almost started crying again. She had no idea what to tell him, she had been reborn? She travelled back in time? She just gave some lame excuse about being stressed at work and went up to the roof.

The city was dark and cold this time of the day, it was the best time for somber reflections. When she woke up from her pill induced sleep, she has asked Travis what day it was. One thing was for sure, in two months, terror will descend on Terragon. Somehow, she either had to stop it or survive it. Focusing all her mental strength, she thought about what happened in July. She started to remember a news report about a lady in Middle Terragon who had a seizure and started talking about tiny monsters and the end of the world. Everyone, including herself categorized it as entertainment news, she knew better now.

"Hey," a voice came from behind her. She turned to see her brother's girlfriend - Melinda standing with a tray of snacks in her hands. Melinda was very pretty and kind. When she and Travis lost their parents, Melinda took them into her house and took care of them. They never left. Whenever Travis fought her, Julia always supported Melinda because she knew how stubborn her brother could be. Melinda had been the first one to die.

"Hey," Julia replied and watched Melinda walk up to her. She sat next to her and handed her the tray.

"Eat something,"

"Thank you,"

There were three packets; crunchs, fruits and munchs. They were Julia's favorite. As she stared at the packets, she started thinking about that day. She, Melinda and Travis were going back home from their Packer jobs. Being a packer was exhausting. All the debris from Upper and Middle Terragon were dumped at the border between Middle Terragon and Lower Terragon, it was the Packer's duty to transport it to the very end of lower Terragon where they would be pressed into smaller bits by the Crushers. The only thing worse than being a Packer was being a Crusher.

That day, they were returning from the night shift when sirens started blasting all around them, it was unlike anything they had ever heard. They all looked up, wondering what was going on. Julia suddenly screamed and they turned to see that a hole had opened up where she stood and she was being pulled into it by those tiny monsters. She was reaching her hand out and screaming. Julia was still standing there, stunned when Travis grabbed her hand and they started running. They ran so fast that Travis tripped, that's when they got him.

"Travis thinks you're trying to avoid working," Melinda interrupted her thoughts. Julia did not respond, she peeled the straw of the fruit packet, pokrd a hole in it and started sucking the semi-liquid content.

"I'm not," she finally answered and gave Melinda a sad look "I'm going to tell you guys something and I need you to believe me, it's going to sound crazy...but I promise it's the truth."

•|•|•|•|•

Sector A, Middle Terragon.

20:30, 3rd July, 3000.

"You're late again Layana,"

"I'm so sorry," she said as she hurriedly washed her hands to prep for the surgery. Doctor Baxter rolled his eyes at her.

"What happened this time?" he asked her as he stepped next to her to wash his own hands. She took in a deep breath and shuddered, the dreams were getting so bad, she could hardly close her eyes.

"I-I must have lost track of time, I didn't-" she was cut off when he raised held her chin and raised her head. She kept quiet as he observed her face and eyes.

"You need to get more sleep you know? You have all the markings of exhaustion. If you don't slow down, you might collapse," he said and let go of her face "do you need to get off work?"

"No!" She exclaimed quickly "if I don't work, I won't get paid and I need the money..." she added softly. He sighed and gave her a pitiful look.

"Just take it easy okay? Come meet me after the surgery, I'll give you a prescription to help you rest," he said and she smiled at him, genuinely.

"Thank you so much, doctor."

"It's nothing. Let's go in,"

She helped him into his scrubs and went about the routine quickly. Doctor Baxter was a heart surgeon and he was one of the best, working with him always kept Layana one edge because even though he was nice, he was very specific about how he wanted things done.

The patient was already prepped and under anesthesics. The doctor started the process, he called for a scalpel and she handed it to him. He inched the blade close to the open skin and made a sharp incision. Layana gasped as she saw the blood, everything became brighter and the lady from her dreams appeared right in front of her.

"Everyone will die!" she screamed at her "only the truly worthy can hide behind my gate until it's all over."

"What are you talking about!" Layana screamed back.

"I am Gaya, you have all poisoned my soil and you will all die!" the lady opened her mouth and it spread wide, the tiny creatures started spilling out of it and started to crawl all Layana while she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Get me a tranquilizer!" Doctor Baxter screamed as he held Layana in his hands as she screamed and thrashed. Another nurse quickly brought the needle and punched it into her leg, releasing the content into her blood stream. She immediately calmed down and passed out.