Coffee in hand, Neo was prepared to begin his day. The workday stretched ahead, his mood sour as ever. As was typical, no one bothered him. The usual bickering and bullshitting were being kept to a minimum thanks to the boss’s presence at the construction site.

The workday came to a close, and Neo left with the familiar coffee cup still in hand.

As he left, he gulped down some of it, the foul taste assaulting his palate. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to discard it. The first rule of life: never waste what you’ve purchased with your hard-earned money.

Beside him, streetlights flickered to life in succession, some shattered, others devoid of bulbs. The shadows thrown by the setting sun against the cityscape morphed into monstrous figures, oddly contorted and jagged.

He took another gulp of his drink, his face contorting as the liquid went down.

“Damn, that stuff is nasty.”

He spit some of it onto the grass, trying to rid his mouth of the taste. As a figure’s shadow passed by, he glanced up, ready to offer an apology in case it was a lovely lady.

But of course, it wasn’t.

His eyes widened, and he held the scream that wanted to burst from his throat. Summoning all his willpower, he clamped his hands over his mouth, feeling the warm breath against his palms.

What should have been a woman stood before him, her head tilted and misshapen, her caved in face smashed on one side. Long black hair veiled the other half of her face. Her slender frame was dark-complexioned, with legs bent awkwardly in opposing directions. Her elongated nails, caked with what appeared to be dried blood, rhythmically tapped against her arms.

This was nothing more than a monster disguised as a fucked-up looking human.

Abruptly, she halted. It seemed as though the world around him came to a standstill, too.

Seizing what appeared to be his sole opportunity, Neo dashed past her, stealing a brief glance in her direction. The only detail he discerned was the haunting sight of her empty eye sockets.

Bile climbed up his throat. He knew he was not supposed to look at or acknowledge them; it was a death sentence waiting to happen. He had survived by strictly adhering to his own set of rules. There was no chance he would let curiosity ruin everything now. It had happened once, and that was sufficient. The haunting memory of witnessing a body torn apart was enough to ensure he always kept his gaze downward. He wasn’t afraid; rather, he didn’t want that to happen to him.

As he ran, the sand beneath his feet was not the soft, white kind found on beaches, but a coarse, yellow variety that could scorch bare feet. Walking on it was challenging, and running was even tougher. If one hesitated too long, it seemed to pull the body down, making it arduous to start again.

The landscape was the same every time.

The air around him was so thick that breathing became a struggle. It seemed almost visible, swaying before his eyes, much like a road does in the intense heat.

Neo groaned, his instinct to flee kicking in as he picked up the pace, flying faster than he ever imagined he could. His gaze fixed on the ground, he failed to notice the person 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. Looking up, he abandoned his usual caution as instinct overrode all rational thought.

Before him was his new neighbor, the strange guy he had encountered earlier that day. However, this time, the neighbor wasn’t acting like a bumbling fool; instead, he wore a creepy, wide smile.

And just as before, the world abruptly flashed and returned to normalcy. The sand transformed into concrete; the air grew breathable, and the individual before him was no longer smiling.