You shouldn't have. I'm perfectly intact, — I said with a chill in my voice, then asked, — how did you bypass every single danger on the way and now just stand here as if nothing ever happened?
It's really simple, — Julia shrugged, — we didn't encounter a single obstacle. They were all sent your way, darling, so we strolled the whole route in peace. — Antwan confirmed.
Our little chat was rudely interrupted by blatantly optimistic tunes—music you could dance anything to, from gavotte to shuffle, depending on your mood and moves.
And the instruments themselves couldn't resist the sudden revelry: they crept to the edge of the stage, paused dramatically, then dove headfirst into the crowd. Of course, nobody raised a hand to catch their idols, and the violins and harps just vanished into the darkness.
We couldn't help but stare at that spectacle, which was fast becoming my personal drug—its dosage rising by the minute, coursing through my veins without any pushers needed. After all, thrill-seekers chase new highs—and here I was, getting mine free, courtesy of my fried nervous system. Just like those hunters of fresh truths and perspectives.
Antwan let out a shout and pointed at the stage's latest act:
Look, that guitar is picking up
More than that—it seemed to stare right at us before bounding across the deck, aiming straight for our heads like a guided drone.
Oh, God! — Mia sobbed, and she was first to launch herself through the scrum toward the exit on her short little We tore after her. The guitar's speed defied reason, and it slammed into Antwan's knee. His kneecap cracked, and I heard him scream inside my head:
-Alenari, nooo! Save yourself!
Third failure.
The guitar bounced off his leg, flipped end over end, and rocketed backward to gather speed for another run. Julia screamed and pointed above our heads to a forming cloud.
There hovered the very concert banner that had been flapping above the performance all along. It drifted down over us like a funeral shroud, eager to carry me off at last—something I'd been dodging forever.
I don't want to go… not now! I don't want to go… not yet!
The nightmare left me not one moment's peace—it had become part of me.
All I could do was take one single step back… into the pale electric circle of the streetlamp. I looked up, unbelieving, and saw the bulb swaying, plastered with crawling bugs.
My enhanced night vision flickered out, and I was nearly blind again. But I didn't mind—after all, the concert, its crowd, and the whole ghost orchestra had dissolved into silent Nothingness.
I opened my backpack and extracted a shaker bottle of cheerfully sloshing punch—my secret stash, untouched till now. Clearly, the moment had come.
I leaned against the lamppost, pulled my knees in, and took a long, satisfying swig of fruity, boozy punch. Delicious. I smacked my lips and drained the rest. Nature provided its own moisture, too—I heard rain start drumming somewhere beyond the barrier.
How long I sat, who knows? I simply felt the raindrops on my open face and smiled like an fool. When my thoughts finally began to regroup, I remembered I'd lost my friends somewhere out there. Time to stand and go find them.
Oh merciful Gods, you're here, the raisin of my heart! You made it out!
About five meters away stood a filthy, bent shape that no one would recognize as the pristine Julia. She was gasping for breath, hacking wet coughs from her chest, and supporting my nephew, who draped his arm around her neck like a broken puppet bowing in gratitude.
With my poor vision, I could see his kneecap twisted into shards of bone, bloodied and protruding.
How terrible! — I — But I'm not helping you—deal with this yourselves. What do you mean, darling? It's us! — Julia cried from her last ounces of strength. When they hit Antwan, he called me by my full The real Antwan would never call me Alenari. Please, don't be angry! — She almost — He got shot in the leg and was in shock—he might've said anything. Just help me get him down and put something under him. They limped across the light barrier and approached me. Inside, everything did a few flips: terrified ones first, then They were really my friends—after all, the circle of light wouldn't have let them through otherwise. I took off my jacket again and laid it down as bedding, setting my backpack beside it to mimic a pillow. And just like that, we built a makeshift hospital bed and gently laid down a groaning Antwan, who kept slipping in and out of consciousness. Mia talked to him softly while I prepped to set the bone and figure out how to rig up a DIY splint.