Luke Solis: Dawning Star

"Sir? Sir? He's awake!" What’s that sound? Where am I? Who said that? These questions quickly filled up my head. I did not quite get it and had absolutely no idea how to answer. My mind was a blur. The last thing I can remember was the taste of the orange juice I am drinking, or was drinking. Oh yeah, where is my drink? Whee whoo whee whoo whee whoo- An ambulance sound slowly materialized within my ears; it was like there was someone standing right at my ear drum playing that annoying sound. However, unlike how I hear it when I'm standing at the roadside, it's quite different. Like how the sound will slowly fade as it passes you, but this time the sound is constant, constantly annoying, I can say. Vroooom- Now it is an engine sound. I'm usually quick witted but all these pain that slowly- suddenly! Oh my good lord, what is this pain! No, what are these pains? They're all over my body. "Arghhh..." Now I regret trying to get up immediately because I now know and prove the earth is indeed spinning so fast. Everything was spinning. Am I the one spinning? Or are they spinning? Hah, I hate this feeling. "Hello? Can you hear me?" Someone said, and I guess they're trying to get my attention. Now who is the owner of this voice? It's rough like someone's gasping for air, a tablespoon of panic and with a pinch of concern. He sounds like a rookie for whatever he is doing at the moment. And yes, I can hear you mister. "Harghh" I tried to answer with yes but this is the sound that came out. What the actual f*ck man, what did I say? That was funny, 'harghh' way to go i***t, you sound like a zombie. Let me try again to answer that before this novice sounding guy decides to shoot me for mistaking me for an undead. "Yeeeaahhh" I finally said it and it was actually hard. Why does my mouth hurt anyway? Was it because of the orange juice? I do not know what's happening right now. Suddenly, a flash of light passed through my eyes. Is this heaven? Like the light when you're at the end of your rope? However, to my disappointment, it was actually just a flashlight. Wow. For a second, I thought that was it for me. Why would someone even flash a light with a flashlight in someone's eyes? Are they psycho? Unless... "You are all good sir, just hang in there okay, we will get you to safety." Safety? Am I in danger? I still do not remember anything, just orange juice. However, at least now I know that I am in an ambulance. "What happened?" I tried my best to ask this, like every cell in my body was doing overtime just to let me get this out of my mouth. I could really use one of those things they say about adrenaline, but I guess I'm out of those things at the moment. And now I am regretting why I even asked that, because now I am fading, oh, not me physically, but my consciousness. "Sir! Sir! Stay with u-" ------------- Us. That's what he tried to tell me, right? Oh, my head's clear now. What happened again? Uhmm, I was inside of an ambulance, while a novice paramedic was tending to my injured body and he didn't even finish his sentence. But before that, I was walking into one of those famous juice stores that I always pass by when going to school, then purchased an orange drink to quench the thirst of my drained brain from all that gaming last night. The brain is thirsty, huh, it does not even make sense. And after walking a few paces… a few paces… what happened after again? This really sucks, everything just won't make sense. But why would things make sense anyway? First, I'm in this white room, or overly lighted room, either one works. Second, I am talking, at least in my head and I can see my body- 'Ahhhhhh!!! My body! Why can I see my body?! I thought this was just a thought!' Like how we have this tiny voice in our heads, but now I am the tiny voice. I am talking, like my mouth is moving but there's no actual voice coming out, it’s like it is still in my head. 'Haha, I'm freaking out, a thought in my head is having a thought. What is happening? Is this one of those scenes where I am dying? Like how they describe it in fiction? Silly dude, this ain't fiction, but what if I'm really dead? What if I-' "Hey" AHHHHH!!!! What the- or who in the hell is that?! "Hey, hey, calm yourself." I turned around and saw a spirit. Well, that's what I thought at first. An average height for a man, like 5'7", cannot really distinguish his face, but he wears a white suit, white tie, white polo, white pants, and white shoes. Lastly, white hair and beard. 'Am I seeing God? I guess I am indeed dead, but I'm a terrible person, so it should be the devil or something.' "Oh, how silly kid, I'm not God, or the devil, or something, so settle yourself down, okay?" 'Sh*t, he can read minds. Don't think, don't think, don't think, don't thi-' "Stop it. I can't read minds, but we are inside your mind, so whatever you think is totally echoing around right now." 'Who are you?' "Who I am? Maybe you mean, what am I?" 'This guy is bad news, I'm sure. It's like he got some screws loose in that old head of his.' "Come on, don't be so harsh on me now. And I'm telling you as early as I can, but I am deeply sorry, you may not be able to enjoy your student days anymore." ‘I don’t understand what you are saying, please clarify everything’ "We don't really have much time. I don't know when we'll meet again, but just remember to Feel the Stars and now is the Time." 'Suddenly telling me that won't help, old man. What is actually happening, that's what I want to know!' "One more!" One more? What's one more? "60 cc" Sixty? What six- And immediately a force pulsated throughout my body, it's like high-pressure water finding its way out through my veins but in the form of electricity. "Haaaaahhhh" I woke up literally shocked. ---------------> Well that sucks, I woke up with a defibrillator ready for another contact on my body and all of us within that emergency room screamed. Cannot really blame them though. How would you react if a half dead man you were trying to revive suddenly sat up straight screaming? Wouldn't you scream too? After that, I fainted once again and had those dreams. What were they again? Arachnids or dogs? And also, goats, pretty weird, huh. And when I woke up again, which is right now, the nurses told me that I was all good and ready to go. "Sir, you're good now, but it was just shocking. You were in a comatose state and lost your pulses for a brief moment. Based on the report, a nearby gas stove of a vendor suddenly exploded and you collapsed. Do you have any heart problems which caused your collapse?" Wish I had one and just die right now, "haha, don't know ma'am, can't even remember what happened after that orange juice, much less having organ problems" "Orange Juice? Well, whatever sir, here are your things. And the bills were covered by your insurance. We looked it up using your ID." "Thank you ma'am" Thank God, insurance. I love that. Oh yeah, now I remember, while I was walking and drinking, I heard a rumble on the opposite side of the road. When I looked, a beat-up old beggar was running, then suddenly the vendor’s stand exploded. I thought he was Santa and those guys following him were the dwarves chasing after him for not paying labor for producing all those toys. But they would be too big for elves though. They also look shady. I was exiting the hospital when my phone rang. Ring ring- click- "Hello?" I hope it's not one of those scam calls people receive these days. "Dude, it's the opening day, where are you?!" Yeah, it's one of those scam calls. "Sorry man, I was at the hospital, I'm going now." "What happened? Ah whatever dude, just come here already. It'll start any minute now." "Yeah yeah, bye" That guy who called me? He’s the guy who's been around with me for a long time. Well, not very long. We met at the university I'm attending and we were classmates, we just clicked on our vibes and boom, friends. He's Andras Ramirez, a classmate in the same program on the course I am taking. Wait, you don't know me yet, right? Sorry for the late introduction, but I'm Luke, a third-year irregular student of an engineering program, which I took for no reason, it just sounded cool, so I took it. And now I suck at it, everything's number and stuff. I hate those things. I'm not particularly good at anything. Oh, maybe in messing up, I'm top notch. I just always hope for the best a day can give me, and today, I guess it's not giving me even a bearable one. Well, I guess I should better hurry up before one of those terrifying professors bites at me for being late. They always nag me and remind me of what a failure I am. They're all like: 'Luke, you are still like a first year at this point.' 'Luke, you failed most of your subjects this semester.' 'Luke, if you get another semester with more than 3 failed marks, you'll be dropping out from this program' ‘Luke this, Luke that’ It's getting annoying, but we cannot really blame them. I really am bad with my academics and I agree that I will be saying goodbye to numbers sooner. When I was nearing the school, I caught a familiar figure from my peripheral. I looked in the direction and saw one of those angry “elves” chasing after the “Santa” that I remember in the explosion. They really do look shady. Like literally shady. With shades, suit and tie, and long pants. Are they something like the FBI? But there's no FBI in my country though. It seems like they're looking for something or someone. I just really do hope it's not me. But guess what, fate is a f*cking clown. By the time they caught me in their sight, they simultaneously started to move towards my direction. Well, as a trouble maker myself, I know that it'll end up badly if I just stand there waiting to get shaded by these people. So, I ran for my life like there's no tomorrow. I took the corner ten feet ahead of where I was. I know this direction since that is also where I pass through from school if I am trying to avoid the computer cafe that I have a debt on. I just need to backtrack it and go inside the school premises. I just really hope they won't follow me inside. I ran as fast as I could while occasionally looking back, checking if they are at my tail. And yes, they are. Now it really looks bad. I'm just thankful for all the trouble I was in. It helped me get into shape for some physical activity like running. I really like running, in a physical way and a metamorphic way. Guess I just got that from my childhood. I saw the sign thirty feet away that said slow down pedxing. I've always thought about what that pedxing means, but now with all the adrenaline coursing through my body, my brain told me that it was a pedestrian crossing. And it is a sign that I’m nearing the school gates. As I was nearing that sign, a bit of relief somehow entered my soul, but I guess it was a mistake, as I was slowing down and all the energy was seeping out of my body. At least I know that I am near the school now. I ran with the bit of energy left from my body and finally reached the gate. Quickly showed my ID and entered the school. As I was gasping for air like a madman, I checked outside the school. Those people chasing after me stopped in their tracks. I can really feel those gazes even with their shades on. They were looking at me intensely. Now I can clearly count them and there were six of them. They disappointingly left for their vehicle, I guess, as they started to back away. I really hope they will be gone for good, but I am a hundred percent sure they're not. And they'll be back for me when school ends.