The Other Side of Day
1277 Words
There was a noisy sound of cawing crows. The eerie sound would fade and suddenly increase it's volume.
Joe could see a crow, appearing and disappearing, just like the 'facade' he had seen earlier, with Stanley.
He fought the urge to get a stone and throw at the bird. 'How much can the actions, here, affect the real world?', Joe wondered as he kept walking.
He was heading for The Other Side of Day. According to Stanley, ghosts can sense one another so they didn't accompany him to the border.
Joe looked forward. He couldn't see a gate or anything that divided two lands but he felt something. He couldn't see what was ahead but when he got there, he felt something in front of him; the same feeling he had when entering into Daylight.
"Prepare for the worst! Prepare for the worst!", he muttered to himself, closing his eyes. "It's nothing".
He clenched his fists and the knife floated on air, beside him.
He stretched out an arm and could feel heat, halfway. His hand felt like it was in an oven while the rest part of his arm remained as cold as it was. That meant something.
"Here we go", Joe grabbed the knife with his other hand and entered. He opened his eyes and only saw the dark skies when something heavy landed on his head, instantly knocking him out.
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His eyes opened, slightly, but his vision was still blurred. The headache, stress, and fear, which seemed to have left him, returned sharply.
Akeem shivered, as the memory of the wild dog returned to him. 'I'm alive?', he thought.
He raised his head up, resting on his left elbow. He could perceive the smell of roasting meat. He looked left and saw a man, sitting before a fire, a stick and the carcass of the wild dog that had been chasing him.
"What the ... ?!", He exclaimed, silently. "Hello!".
"Hi", the man replied and turned back. "You're awake".
"What happened?", Akeem rose to his feet.
"Sit...", he maintained a neutral expression. "I killed the dog. You passed out. I roast the dog. You wake up. I'm not sharing".
Akeem smiled. "Thank you... I'm grateful for that".
"You're welcome", the man replied, and cut out a part of the meat for Akeem. "What's your name?"
"I'm Akeem... I just escaped from the soldiers' camp".
"You got captured?"
"Yes... how did you evade capture? you're the first person I've seen since my escape"
"Rare luck, I guess. I'm Okon"
Okon grabbed the rest of the meat and devoured it, barbarically.
'Oh my...', Akeem thought, as he watched the horrific feeding. 'Calabars and their weird food choices'
"Nice to meet you. Thanks for the meat... and everything," Akeem said and stood up.
"I'm still hungry", Okon said. "Are you going?"
"I don't even know what I want to do", he replied and looked back. "Instead of going around and hunting for food, everywhere you go, you can come with me."
"And how much survival do you offer?"
"As much as an average soldier gets. If I return to the camp, I'll be given a uniform and automatically become a soldier"
"Why would they give you the offer? just you?"
"Just me, yes. if you come with me, I'll convince him to help you too"
Okon shook his head. He suspected a trap. "What did you do to get the offer from the soldier? Mere favouritism?"
"Maybe. They gave me the chance to escape. They've earned my trust".
"Well, I'm still hungry", Okon said, repeatedly, toying with the knife he had used in cutting meat.
"There's nothing we can do about that, now. Come with me".
Okon stood up. "I need food", he repeated and ran at Akeem, driving the knife into his neck.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry...", he repeated, maniacally, as he kept cutting through Akeem's neck.
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He could hear slurred voices. The whole place looked like the night, unlike the other side. His hands were tied and the knife had been taken from him.
"Welcome to The Other Side of the Day", a man said, standing before him. Joe could see many people. There was one sitting on a kind of throne. There was one carrying a heavy log of wood; probably the one that tried to bludgeon him to death.
"This place is s**t! What do you want with me?"
"The question is, what do you want with us?".
"I'm here to take Toby", Joe replied. "I know you have him".
"He's right beside you. You can take him home"
Joe looked at his left, where Toby was also tied. "Aargh! Someone has stabbed me by the side"
"It'll heal", Toby replied, weakly. "As long as you stay ghostly"
Joe couldn't stop looking at the ugly wound. It looked deep and brutal.
"You should have stayed on the other side. They are up to no good", Toby warned.
"Shut up", the man before him howled. Another man took a spear and drove it in and out of Toby's head.
"Nooo! You killed him!!", Joe shouted. "Why would you do that?".
"It's a warning. You may be next".
"What do you want?", Joe asked, breathing heavily.
"Silence!", the man on the throne howled. His face shone brighter and he looked less like a man. To be sitting on the throne, he must have chosen the dark side for a long time. "You are fighting for something that has stopped existing. You are traveling down a path; ignoring warning signs of a dead end. The godmode has gone blind and you will see why."
He heard a sudden cough from Toby. Joe's eyes opened wider but he didn't say anything. Toby said nothing and the hole in his head had closed.
Joe could see the 'cities' in The Other Side of Daylight. He wondered what some people wanted when they chose the place... and how the others feel to be forced to live in such a horrible place. The sun never rises but the whole place was as hot as an oven.
"What do you mean by 'the godmode is blind'?", Toby asked and, immediately, the spear was driven in and out of his head, again.
"What's that for if he'll wake up again?", Joe questioned.
"Short-term silence and peace"
"Why don't you make it permanent by letting us go?"
"You'll return", the man said, raised his left arm and rolled up the sleeve. "You need to see why you should forget the quest and get a life"
The man put his hand on Joe's head. His veins became more visible, through his old wrinkled skin. "See it... That's what happens".
Joe closed his eyes but he could see something; he could see things. The man removed his hand and Joe's expression changed. "I'll say no more", he said and went back to his throne.
Joe looked at his knife in the hands of one of them. He pulled the knife, faster than he ever tried, with his mind and cut the chains holding him. He made the knife go through every one of them that he could see.
He cut Toby's chains and carried him. He ran as fast as he could to get out before they could wake again. Standing in front of the border, about to cross, he looked back.
As he turned to cross the border, he saw a ghost in front of him; one of the dark ones. He only saw it for a second. The ghost ran at him and seemed to enter his body. Joe just crossed the border. He didn't feel different.
- Writer
