Evangeline In Borderland: Book 1

LARS' NIGHTMARE ARC

Previously: Eventually, Lars realized staying in this god-forsaken room was probably the worst tactical move, and forced himself to make haste towards his old base.

We Continue...

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Lars was grieving and traveling through the streets of Sacramento before he arrived at his home base. Eventually, he arrived here, shriveled, and deteriorated. Nothing seems to have changed. The same alleyways. The same houses.

 All of it was still there. Just not his friends. Why was he so hung up over this? He asked himself, pacing around the neighborhood as he tried wiping his tears away in an act of futility. This angst was only going to make things worse.. but it's not like there was anything he could do... right?

 Eventually, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the small alley base he used to share with Julian. God... those were the days. Even if it has been, what, a few months? He tried to remember, crawling under the blanket, which was musty with rain and dirtied with time. Although no chip bags remained, he saw a bit of granola bar laying on the floor. 

He smiled. Julian was always like that...

                                      With that, he fell asleep. And began to dream.

Take my hand.. off to never-ever-land...

The morning had come, the sun shining over him. For some reason, the ambiance around the neighborhood was bustling. He could hear Kin and Dylan discussing behind the walls of the house, and.. perhaps, more importantly, he could hear Julian yelling in his ear. "YOOOO BRO! It's 9 AM! You can't keep sleeping in like this!" "J-Julian?" 

"Dude.. today's a special day, Larry. Gameday, dude. We got this in the BAG!" Once this sentence was uttered, he felt a deep pit in the middle of his stomach. A game day? This soon? One had just.. but.. no... NO... NO... Lars tried to keep steady, as he let Julian continue. 

"I mean, we already cleared what? Three games together? WE. GOT. THIS." He momentarily paused, his expression faltering. "Lars... Lars? Why are you crying, dude? It's just one game." Lars tries to speak but realizes his mouth is somehow glued shut. On further inspection, he realizes that there is no mouth there. 

His vision began to darken, with the sun turning to a soft sunset. "Are you okay dude? Dude.. dude.. please. What's wrong?" The sunset seemed to move at light speed, with the night sky hanging over them in a matter of seconds. A single streetlight began to flicker over them, giving the illusion of light. He looked up towards the nearest billboard.. it started to flicker as well.

 He was running out of time. "Lars! .. Lars.. tell me, please.." He ran to Lars and began to grab at his shirt collar, his voice distorting. "Tell me what's wrong.. Dude.. please.." Lars finds himself completely paralyzed, unable to move.. or do anything else, other than begin to tear up.

 He tries to scream. He cannot. Hearing the cock of a pistol from a distance, he began to panic, he felt as if he could get no air, suffocating. "WHAT THE FUCK IS IT? LARS... LARRY! DUDE—" A bang was heard. In a blink, Julian was splayed on the floor, face-up, a bullet in his forehead. 

The scene was bloody, with the strung corpses of everyone he had met before spread tens of meters away. His vision began to blur to the color red as the dream continued to persist, hearing the whispers of anyone and everyone.

                                  What was once a facsimile of Julian was now a husk. He was gone.

 He tried to keep himself calm, but he failed to restore his senses.

                             What was once a facsimile of Dylan was now a husk. He was gone.               

    He falls over, feeling a pain in his stomach. Clutching his abdomen out of instinct, he felt a warm liquid around it. Regaining movement in his hands, he looked at them, seeing blood and guts.

                             What was once a facsimile of Kin was now a husk. They were gone.

  The walls began to slowly close around him, the whispers growing into shouts and screams, as he is crushed by the alleyway he once lived in. The entire neighborhood seemed to fold into itself, if not the entire city. 

                                    Ivon. Kazuya. David. Evan. They would die. They would die. All of them. And you would kill them. It will be your fault, Lars. IT WILL BE YOUR FAULT, LARS. Enter light, exit light.

  Lars awoke, covered in a cold sweat and hyperventilating. His mind was paralyzed as he sat, staring at the now-empty street. Abandoned, alone. Maybe it was better that way. Maybe it was better to be alone.

 Every friend he had met would die.. and it was his fault, He'd fall asleep again, he'd panic again.. and in a night.. they'd be gone right? If he got invested.. god knows what would happen... He finds himself unable to make himself eat. Even forcing a leftover granola bar in his mouth wouldn't do. It seemed as if he had already begun to give up. He spent an hour, tasting the granola bar as it soaked between his teeth, before giving up and lying down, and going back to sleep.

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Fact About Lars: He lost all of his friends when they went on a game without him. He was only able to know they died through the sole survivor of the game.