Read Cobalt [OUTDATED VERSION] :: Chapter 5: Tick Tock

The next thing I knew, I woke up in the welcoming darkness of my room.

"Was that all just a dream?"

Nope, it was not, my hand ached from when I slammed that elevator button. I slowly fell into a fitful sleep...

Then instantly woke up in a very different place, I sat up and looked around...

Cobalt:"Where am I now?"

My voice echoed, I was standing on a tiny island overlooking a gargantuan cube. Could this have anything to do with what I saw last night?

I looked for a way to get off this spit of land, I soon found a floating pathway that definitely wasn't there before. It was lined with floating lanterns that glowed with a ghostly blue hue. I started down the path and sighted someone's silhouette further down the path. At that time, the only thing that I was able to know about her was that she seemed to have a feminine stature.

I got the feeling that I had to follow her, the echoes of someone gasping reached my ears as the figure turned and started running away.

I was hot in pursuit, I wanted to know who this may be. The chase soon came to a labyrinth, I luckily was able to follow her. For about a second, she was outside of my visual range and I lost her in the center of the maze. It only had a pond and one of those Shinto archways in the center. I soon noticed that the archway was actually some sort of portal, but I simply cannot get through.

"Oh... maybe this would work..."

I bowed twice, and this time I was able to proceed. I found myself standing on a smooth wooden floor. I was on a catwalk with an oriental railing. A thick fog hung over this area. A glance toward the space beyond the railing reveals many other catwalks just like the one I am on. There were shadowy forms walking these paths. I was in some sort of oriental palace or some shit, the place looked huge. But the person I was chasing just so happened to have been staring at me for the past minute. The chase continued, a couple of very long hallways later, I finally was able to catch up with her. I soon noticed that I had some sort of cane in my hand and this person’s back was turned to me. I tried to approach her…

But before I was able to get a good look at her, I heard a girl screaming and saw flash frames of the following...

A hospital bed...

Some sort of dart...

And what appeared to be a headstone...

I then heard the sound of a patient flatlining, and the sound of a clock...

Tick...

Tock...

Tick...

Tock...

Tick!

Tock!

TICK!!!!