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by Shi-chan on Thu May 26, 2011 12:30 pm
The ceiling in the library had an odd colour. He wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been staring at it as soon as he had opened his eyes, and in most cases, he would never have cared about the ceiling, and he really didn't know why, but those black spots that showed it had once been a living tree, with branches and leaves, reminded him of buttons. Hundreds of small buttons that he could push if his fingers were only long enough. Where would they lead him? Would each button open a door into a new world? Would each button transform him into a monster? Would each button lead him to Emma, who was really Sidney. Or Sidney who was really Emma? It didn't make sense in his head, and his thoughts kept spinning and spinning, and he couldn't get her face out of his mind. Oh, and how she screamed. The memory of her as the light disappeared from her eyes, and she took one final breath.
Then, just for a moment, the ceiling changed. Just like when the fat rotten pile of flesh had screamed at him, this was only there for a short second. Eyes, beautiful, big blue eyes, all over the ceiling stared right at him. It was the same pair of eyes, just duplicated over and over. They didn't blink at the same time, in fact, he didn't see any of them blink, they just looked at him, calm and unwavering stares.
Then they were gone again, and there was no trace of them.
He lay on his back, stretched out on the floor. He was aware of what had happened, at least he thought he was, but still, he couldn't stop himself from asking, just out in the air, to anyone, "What happened?" he whispered. Finally turning his head, he found that just about every muscle in his body hurt. And it wasn't just a light sting, it wasn't like the pin prick he had felt just a few minutes before. It felt more like he had been forced through a meat grinder, and then left as a nice little pile of bloody pieces. Still, he moved his head to one side, and his gaze fell upon Sidney.
"How nice that you're here." he said, his voice raspy, almost gone in the silence. He then continued while trying hard to keep her in his focus. He wasn't sure why, but this felt an awful lot like some of the pills the doctors had given him whenever they'd have to calm him down. Despite that being a scary thought, he pushed it to the back of his mind, and attempted another smile at her. "I was afraid that I'd never see you again. I'm very sorry for what I did."
Was he babbling? Yes he was. The images of Emma and Sidney kept mixing up in his head, and right now, even Daniel didn't know which one of the two girls he was talking to. He just felt a need to apologise. What if he had scared her? He certainly hadn't meant to, but what's done is done, and he could not do anything else but to try and say sorry.
Then, close to him, he heard a man's voice. He turned his head to the other side, and was met by the kind face of a paramedic. "Where do you live?" he asked Daniel. At first, there was no response from the man on the floor, but slowly as he was able to collect more and more of his own thoughts and put them in line, he realised that he couldn't give them even as much as a street name. He didn't have a place to live. He'd only just gotten out of prison. Or well... He wasn't sure where they'd released him from, but he was pretty damn positive that someone, somewhere had made a really bad decision regarding him.
"I'm not from around here." Daniel then finally confessed. Half a truth is still better than no truth. The paramedic looked at him as if he sensed something was off, but then continued. "Have you been under a lot of stress recently?" He then asked, and to this, Daniel simply nodded. He felt better now, as if his body had gotten used to not trying to kill him.
Then, after a few seconds with silence, the paramedic looked at Daniel with a stern expression on his face. "Go home and rest. Make an appointment with your doctor, and have a talk with him. These things can happen for all sorts of reason. Who was it you called out for before? We could give... Was it a her?" Once more, Daniel responded with a nod. The paramedic then continued talking, while he gathered his things, and signalled for his co-workers that they had nothing more to do here.
"If you remember her phonenumber, or have it written down somewhere, I could give her a call?" he offered, while he flashed a kind smile at Daniel, who, still on the floor, just shook his head and mumbled a reply. "I don't think now is a good time."
With a sigh, the paramedic answered, and then turned to leave the library. "You should be able to manage something. Get something to drink, rest a little, and eat. Take care, now!"
Like that he was gone, and slowly Daniel sat up. He then looked at the librarian, and then Sidney. "I'm sorry I've caused such a fuss. I'll hurry and get out of here, I won't be a bother for much longer. If you could tell me where I could rent a cheap room, that would really help me out though..." He avoided looking any of them straight in the eye, and kept his head low. Once again, he missed the long hair he had once had to hide behind.
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