[BZZ BZZ]
The muffled mechanical vibration disturbed the silence, echoing throughout the room with a small amount of light filtering through the curtains. A young man removed the blanket off his head using one hand, while simultaneously moving his other hand under the pillow. Upon moving the smartphone in front of his eyes, a screen with Ceremony at 9:30 AM written on it appeared. His eyes stared blankly at the piercingly bright screen while his mind unknowingly drifted through various thoughts. He moved out of bed while placing the smartphone on a table beside him.
Just a few inches away from the smartphone, there was a bracelet made with blue and white pearls placed on the table. The sight of the bracelet suddenly halted his movements; he kept staring at the bracelet for a few seconds while still holding the smartphone on the table. Once again, thoughts swirled in his mind as he stretched his hands and grabbed the bracelet, wearing it on his left hand.
Amidst all the thoughts, he turned to the left and saw a bunch of books placed on a table. His eyes ignored the books, focusing on a piece of paper stuck on the wall; barely visible in the darkness. "SIGH!" he sighed while turning away from the table. He stepped toward the only window in the room. The black curtains covering the window barely allowed any light to enter the room. His feet felt the floor getting warmer as the light slowly intensified as he got closer to the window, while his hands were already reaching out to grab the curtains.
The moment the curtains were moved, light suddenly engulfed the entire room, forcing his pupils to contract. As his vision got more and more stable, the sight of the busy city appeared under him.
Strangely, his eyes drifted up from the roads and the rest of the city – stopping on a flock of birds flying right above the window. As if expecting this, his hands moved on their own and grabbed a bowl of seeds placed beside the window. The moment the bowl came into the birds' sight, they all rapidly flew down in unison without the slightest concern of his presence. The birds swarmed the small bowl, some landing on his hand while chirping in delight. All of these occurrences provided a strange peace to his heart. The signs of previously cluttered mind were nowhere to be seen, washed away by the birds' presence.
{Half an hour later}
The young man stepped towards a door, while dressed in formal attire. He stretched his hands towards the doorknob, but a sudden hesitation froze his open palm as he noticed dents on the metallic knob. The dents were formed in the shape of fingers and palm, as if a human had crushed the metal with bare hands. Just after mere moments of the hesitation setting in, the mechanical sound of his smartphone returned. His eyes shook for a moment, followed by him taking out the smartphone from his pocket.
"Dude! I just saw the advertisement! A ton of people are gathering, you better not be late." Someone enthusiastically announced a lot of information in a single breath. The young man still had his mind muddled with thoughts as he didn't realize the man on the phone had been silent for a few moments. "Victor? You alright?" the man on the phone followed by a question in a much calmer tone than before. "I'll be there on time," Victor spoke in a calm tone while opening the door.
A creaking sound suddenly echoed in the hallway as the door opened and closed. "Come on, dude. Really? You still didn't fix that loud door?" the man on the phone spoke in a slightly annoyed tone, along with a hint of him already expecting the situation. Victor once again didn't answer his question; his eyes noticed a number of ants aimlessly walking around the floor. He heard faint sounds the next few instances; raising his eyes, he found a few lizards walking on the hallway walls. "I heard you were quite drunk last night. I'm surprised you are well enough to make a call," Victor said in a calm tone, while his eyes held quite a contrast. "Huh? How did you find out?... I wasn't that drunk anyways... I could still drive properly," the man replied while oblivious to the strange environment around Victor.
Victor began walking through the hallway – with a strange uneasiness creeping in his heart. After a brief moment of silence, "Will he be coming?" the man on the phone spoke in a hesitant yet sad tone. "No," Victor answered without much emotion placed in his voice. "Well... he might be busy," the man on the phone spoke in an even darker tone. Victor briefly kept the phone near his ear. Then, "See you later," he said while disconnecting the call.
He had exited the building and was now walking on the side of the road. The environment around him was filled with noises from vehicles rapidly moving past him, along with their honks removing any possibility of silence. Even then, Victor's ears somehow managed to ignore all the loudness around him and he heard a shrieking sound on his left. Upon swiftly shifting his gaze, he noticed dozens of rats rapidly exiting the sewers below the road, adding to his uneasiness. All these events held an uncanny similarity to an event from his distant past – something he didn't desire to recall in the slightest.
"HEY!" Someone shouted from behind him. Victor immediately recognized the voice; he turned back and found a child, around the age of six, holding an old camera in his hand. "BROTHER VICTOR!" The boy exclaimed in excitement while sprinting towards him. His eyes glimmered with happiness at the sight of Victor, with his feet doing their absolute best to reach him. "HOOH! HOOH! I... have been waiting for so long! I even got my grandpa's camera here." The boy breathed heavily as he eagerly showed the camera. Victor noticed numerous scratches throughout the old device and was doubtful of its function. "Shouldn't you be in school?" Victor asked while walking at a relatively slow pace – helping the boy keep up.
"Not today. I will take your photos!" The boy said while pointing the camera at Victor. A clicking sound appeared from the old device after the boy pressed the shutter button. Victor smiled while placing his hand on the boy's head. "I don't think your mother will be happy," he said while patting the boy's head. "ICE CREAM!" The boy suddenly jumped while pointing at an ice cream cart a small distance away from them. Before Victor could say anything, the boy sprinted with even more enthusiasm than before, while the camera got flung from left to right – dangling on his neck. Victor's smile stretched even further as he walked towards the ice cream cart while his left hand sensed the surface of money in his pocket.
Then his feet suddenly stopped the moment he noticed a shadow. Before he could properly process the occurrence, the shadow exponentially increased in numbers with hundreds of them rapidly moving away. His smile disappeared as swiftly looked up and found hundreds of birds flying in the sky.
The next instant, he sensed sudden vibrations in the air. His heart began racing while the darkest moments of his life reappeared in his mind.
[BOOM!]
Without giving him even a second to think, an explosion suddenly occurred some distance away behind him, with another shadow suddenly beginning to move towards the kid. Victor's eyes widened with a chill crawling down his spine. He saw a huge oil truck rapidly falling towards the boy with only a few moments to spare.
In that desperate situation, Victor sensed a strange explosion in his heart. His blood began racing at a far greater pace, his heart was beating almost four times as fast. The passing moment suddenly stretched out, as everything around him appeared to slow down. All signs of hesitation disappeared with urgency taking control over him. His feet gathered tremendous force,
[BHUM!]
An explosion of strength propelled him towards the boy, crushing the road beneath his feet. Victor quickly grabbed the boy with one hand while holding the man on the ice cream cart with another. All the while, the falling truck moved slower than a feather. Suddenly, a powerful shockwave appeared from the ice cream cart's location.
The boy and the man both were left confused for a moment by the sudden change in their location. But their confusion wasn't long-lasting; the huge oil truck crashed onto the ice cream cart with a powerful eruption of flames, blasting the tank open. "Wh- What is happening?" the man said in a horrified tone while frantically waving his limbs. All the while, the boy was frozen while tightly clinging to Victor's arm.
Desperation and anger etched onto Victor's face, he stood up while holding the shaking boy in his hand. His eyes were contracted as he gazed at red flames suddenly erupting out of the road in the distance.