“dingding”
Mark sighed deeply using familiar sounds of wind bells tied to thedoors, toregainhiscalmness.
And then he steeled himself for the upcoming battle.
Hecouldfeel, how hismusclestensed andfisttightened,almostwithout any conscious thought.
Therewasnothingstrangein it, asthiswasalmostaritualatthispoint.An exhausting battle of will, thatheunderwentalmosteveryday, duringlasthalf ayear, whenhediscoveredthisplace.
How many hislosesthisbuilding hadalreadyseen?Definitely more thanvictories–guyswere simplytoogood.From whatheheard, theyhaddecadesofexperience,not evencounting supposedlyhundredsyears oftradition.
Andhe?Hewasjust youreverydaystudent– fine maybe a little more than everyday–there were probably not many second yearstudentsofphysics, that feel confident ofpossessingall knowledge needed for their bachelor degree.
Butheknewwell, thatthiskindofknowledgewas useless here, stillthisdidn’t mean thathewas willing tojustgive up.
Hisparentsdid notraiseacoward, damn it all!
Hisheartthumped loudly, whenherealizedthat allthisthinking made his preparation timevanishin the blink.He wasalreadystanding before his todays opponent.Muscular man face was expressionless –clearlysignof aveteran, even hiseyes– Markknewthislook–thiswereeyesthattoldyou''no hard feelings boythisisnothing personal'' while body won’t show a shred ofmercy.
Therewasno moretime.Thiswasit–eyefor an eye,bloodforblood,fleshforflesh–nothing but animal desire that left your soul bare all thewayto itscore.To apointwhereyoucouldnearlyhearthecryof aprimordialmonkey insideyou.
“One chocolate donut please.”
“Dollarand twenty-two.”
“I willpaybycard.”
“Thank youvery much.”
***
Marklefthisnewfavoritebakery in good mood.Not only theystillhave "chocolate standard" event quite rare as late as hislessonsended in Tuesdays.Buthealso managed to steel hisresolveenough to buy only one.
Nowhejustneededtokeepthis up and maybe add some exercises, andhewill definitely lose these ten pounds, thathegainedafter discovering place, that turned out to be the best bakery in thecity. Physics studenttookabiteandsmileddelightedby a snacks taste…
Just a secondbefore giant ''BANG!''soundof a crashed carknockedhim down and nearly tore hiseardrums.
Shocked young manblinkedfewtimesandtriedtostand.Hewasnotcompletelysure, buthedidnotfeelanypain, sohewas probablyfine.Theworldaround seemed weirdly blurred, but fast check reassured him thathejustlost hisglasses.Markshookhisheadtrying tofindthem, but it didn''t seem that they wereanywherearound.
Nomatter, his eyesight was good enough without them.
Anddirectlybehind him, he couldseea midsized delivery car, with the completely crashed front, that hitstraightinto thewallof abuilding.
Less than fifteen foots from him.
Mark blinked by full five secondsimplystaring, before his sight fall on few unconscious people, that clearly did nothaveso muchluck.
Therewasalotofred…blood?
Thiswasamainstreet of abigcity, who thehellwasridingthis, and what he or she wasthinking?!
Physics studentfeltunhealthy calmdescendingupon him, whenoldmemories about lessons teaching first aid and proper behavior duringaccidentskicked in.
First…wascaronfire?He shouldrunif it wasright?Because…there canbeexplosion…but…no, therewerenoflames…
next…shouldhecallforemergency?Or look for victims first?Ugh…why wasn''t he more cautious inschool, all theseyearsago?You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
But hisearsseemed a little better, and in thismoment Markcouldhearfewpeoplearound talking nervously.Hisheadstill hurt, and constant ringing sound in hisearswas irritating, but he coulddifferentiatewordslike: "accident" , "come fast" and "6th Ave." So emergency was already called… and thenextstep should be first aid, to the victims right?At leastheshouldcheckifhecouldhelpsomeone stop bleeding…therewerebodies…but surely not all were…d-dead…
Just fewstepswere enough tobringMark to closest person"body?"lyingdirectly next to thecrashed car.Theviewwas…farfrom pretty, butstudentclenched histeethandtriedtocheckthepulse…
Hisbrainnever actually managed toprocessthe giant flash oflight, that occurred right in thatmoment.
And then there was nothing.
***
Darkness…
Everywhere, as far as aneyecouldsee, there was nothing butdarkness.
How long he washere?
Day?Year?Minute?
Nothingness…
Therewasnolighthere, nor floor or walls…nothing excepts from him.
ActuallyMarkdoubtedthat there wasevenairhere.Or hisactualphysicalbody come tothinkof it.
Therewassimplynothing.
Nowait, that was incorrect…
Therewascertainlynolight, nothing "material" buttherewas…security.
As much as Mark had no idea where or what thisplacewas, hecouldnot help but feltsafelike…there wassimply nothing here, thatcouldharmhim…
Granted, that from what hecouldsee, there was nothing in thisplaceat all…but thepointstill stands right?
Don’tjudgehim.He just died okay?
“Yes…that much is rather clear.I’mdead.“Student…well now former studentcouldfeelthat his though got much clearerthan in last moments of hislife.
“come tothinkof it, I didn’t hear any sound of breaking before thiscarcrashed…andif Idiedin aninstant…explosion?But thecarwas noton…“At this point realizationhithim like ahammer“Terroristattack?!Ugh…yesobviouslythiswasterrorist attack…therewasnowaythat someone woulddrivesofastin the middle on thecity…and if the carexplodedwhenIwasrightnext to it then there wasnowaythatIwouldsurvive.Ugh, a hundredtimes cursed religious fanatics!Did they not care at all about innocentpeople?For all gods sake, there couldbechildrenhere,peoplethat werereturningto theirfamilies!Peoplethatjustwanted…toeat…a donut…ugh…stupid,stupid!What an utterly nonsensical death,Ishouldjustrun Ishouldguess…“
Tobefrank Markactuallyknew that he wastooharsh to himself–terrorist attack was certainly one of thepossibilitiesof such astrangeaccident, but definitely not the only one.Adrivercould– forexample–faint orgetaheart attack, or car brakescouldjustfail…
Grantedthat last case wouldn’t explained sheer speed, achieved byvehiclein themomentofaccident, but it is not like young physicistwasin the ideal position for drawing a properconclusion…
On thecontrarynowdespite his inside rumblings he felt unexpectedlycalm…too calm perhaps, for someone whojustdied.
“Isthis because I don’t haveaglandsresponsible foranger?”somehow he didn’tthinkthat…whatever his current formwas…Soul?Astral projection?Hadanequivalentof adrenaline.
“fine so again -I''mdead…canIdo something about it? -Obviouslynot,IamsurethatIwouldhearifpeoplecouldrisefromdead…Iwas not THAT of a shut-in…So thequestionis…what now?“
Justlike itwasasignal, or perhaps suchthough really was one?EverythingEVERYTHINGstarted toburn.
Theworldof,previously,darknesswasnowtheworldoffire, where wasnothingness,nowappeared flamesbeyondeverythingthat Mark hadevenseen,beyondeverythingthat he could ever imagine.
Theywerebeautiful,theywerepowerful,theywerelikeoceanof the flowing gold, concentrated, focused, giganticbeyondall scope, more than that - infinite.Theywerelikesea,likehurricane,likeearthquake,theywerewater,theywereearth,air,lightning,thunder, metal woodbronzegoldsilverblastflowersmell…
Theyweresafety.
Thisonethough,thisoneconfidence,that young soulfeelfrom themomentof hisappearancein thisweird afterlife didn’t change.Thissecurityseemed tobea certain metaphysical quality ofthisplace, and that didn’t change even after materialization ofthis…whateverthiswas, becausecallingTHAT afirewould be as adequate ascallingsun a firefly.
Thatsaid, thisembodimentof everything that fire couldbeindeed did nothurthim.
Oh, it was not, however, like it did nothing.Quite theopposite, Mark couldfeelchange instantly.
He began to disappear.