With coffee in hand, Neo was ready to start his day. Work was long, his attitude just as foul. As usual, no one bothered him. The constant bickering and bullshit was being kept to a minimum since the boss appeared at the construction site.
The workday ended, and Neo left with the same coffee cup in hand.
On his way out, he chugged some of it, the rancid flavor souring his taste buds. And yet, he refused to throw it away. Rule number one: never waste anything bought with your hard earned money.
Next to him, streetlights turned on one by one, some broken, others missing a lightbulb completely. The shadows cast from the sun dipping below the cityscape looked like monsters, oddly shaped and jagged.
He took another swig of his drink, face scrunching as he swallowed it.
“Damn, that stuff is nasty.”
He spit some of it on the grass, hoping to get the taste out of his mouth. A shadow of a person walked by, and he looked up, about to apologize if it was a lady.
It wasn’t.
His eyes widened, and he held the scream that wanted to burst from his throat. It took all the willpower in him to cover his mouth with his hands, warm breath coating his palm.
She faced him, head slanted and disfigured, smashed in on one side. Long black hair covered the other half. Her body was thin and had a dark-skinned complexion, legs crooked and facing different directions. Her nails were long and covered in what looked like dried blood. She tapped them slowly on her arms.
Suddenly, she stopped. It felt like the world around him did, too.
Neo took what seemed like his only chance and booked it past her, glancing at her as he went by. All he caught was a glimpse of empty eye sockets.
Bile rose in his throat. He knew he was not supposed to look at or acknowledge them. It was a death sentence waiting to happen. He survived as long as he did by following his carefully set rules. There was no way he was going to get curious and fuck it all up now. It happened once, and that was enough. The memory of seeing a body ripped to shreds in front of him was all it took to keep his eyes firmly on the ground. Not because he was scared, but because he didn’t want that shit to happen to him.
As expected, under his feet was sand. Not the kind one would see at the beach, but a rough, scratchy-yellow type that would burn your feet if you were barefoot. It was difficult to walk on, and it made running tough. It sucked your body down if you stopped moving for a long period.
The landscape was the same every time.
The surrounding air clung to his lungs and made it hard to take a breath. It was like one could see the air in front of them as it swayed, kind of like how a road does when there’s a lot of heat.
Neo groaned, his flight instinct taking over as he picked up the pace.
With eyes focused on the ground, he didn’t realize there was someone in front of him until it was too late.
He slammed into the person with enough force to fling the coffee cup from his hands. He glanced up, forgetting his rule, instinct taking over any rational thought.
It was his new neighbor. The weird one he met earlier in the day. Except this time, instead of being a bumbling fool, he was smiling, a creepy, full faced one.
And like every other time before, the world suddenly flashed and went back to normal. The sand turned to cement; the air became breathable, and the person in front of him was no longer smiling.
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