"Are you trapped in A Dark Place too?"
What?
I just stare at him blankly, not really sure what to say or do. A dark place? What the fuck is a dark place? Is this guy crazy? Did I just run into a sexy, crazy man?
"Excuse me?" I say.
"A Dark Place. We're in A Dark Place."
I looked around. Yeah it was pretty dark in this forest, but it wasn't that dark, I wouldn't exactly say that this would be a defining feature.
"I guess so..."
"No, not like, the forest. I'm talking about this place we're trapped in. This infinite loop of torture. You get knocked out, you wake up in a dangerous situation, you get knocked out you wake up in a dangerous situation, over and over and over. It's excruciating!"
He looks really frustrated. "That's been happening to you too?" I ask.
"Yes! For god knows how long. This is first time I've ever met another living person though. You are living right?"
I look down at myself and tug at my shirt "I think so. At least I was the last time I checked."
He chuckles "So you are in A Dark Place then."
"Dude, you keep saying that like I should know what that is. What is 'A Dark Place'?"
"Oh, right. You probably don't know." He rubs the back of his neck and looks at the ground.
"Well," he begins, "A Dark Place is where we are now. This world of never ending madness. We as humans get a glimpse of it every time we sleep, every time we pass out, even when we simply close our eyes, we see it."
I hang onto his every word, soaking it all in.
"And you and I, have been taken by the Darkness. It has trapped us in our own minds. In the real world, we're in a coma, stuck between the reality we know and this one. The Darkness is like a parasite, it feeds and thrives off of our souls. Without us, it doesn't exist. We give it a little of our energy every time we sleep and close our eyes. But it gets greedy and impatient. It wants more. It wants everything. So every once in a while, it takes what it wants. It takes a person, and traps them for good. Traps them here, and tortures them for its own sick amusement."
I stare at him, eyes wide, mind racing. What the actual hell is he talking about? Darkness, coma, trapping, this is all too much!
"It's a lot to take in, I know and there's so much more too it. But that's the gist of it."
I turn around trying to process my thoughts. This is crazy, this is fucking crazy!
"Hey," he calls out, "A-Are you ok?"
"Uh... yeah no, I'm... I'm fine." I turn back around to face him.
"So uh," I begin, "Are we like, trapped here... forever?"
"Well, I'm not sure. I mean, a lot of people wake up from comas. So I assume we have a fairly good chance at getting out of here, though I don't know how."
A wave of awkward silence washes over the both of us. I've never heard a silence so loud.
I nod "Ok then... so... what now?"
"Um..." he looks around "What's your name?" he smiles.
"M-my name's Vincent."
"Nice to meet you Vincent, I'm Aaron." he holds a hand out for me shake.
I nervously reach my hand out, and he grabs it before I get to his hand. He shakes my hand firmly and aggressively, but in a friendly way. I blush a little at the contact.
He lets go off my hand "So" he sits down "Tell me about yourself."
I look at him with a confused expression on my face "W-what? We're in the middle of a fake rainforest trapped in an alternate... dimension, universe, reality thingy, and you want me to tell you about myself?"
"Yeah." he smiles.
"Wh-" He takes my hand and yanks me down so that we're both on the ground now, face to face.
"Ok..." I begin.
"Well, my name is Vincent Park, I'm 19 years old and I'm from Philadelphia, PA. I'm a second year college student at Drexel University and I have a teacup yorkie named Nipsy."
"Why the name Nipsy?" he asks.
"Well... she's a bit of a bitter." I laugh.
He smiles and then motions for me to continue.
"I have a 12 year old little brother named Kai, and a 22 year old sister named Brielle. My mom raised us alone after my dad... uh... passed..." I go silent.
I haven't thought about my dad in years, he was never a great father. Always out late at clubs and bars, he would make my mom do all the work raising us and if he was there he was drunk, I never liked him. What made me think about him at a time like this?
Aaron looks at me with sad eyes, the same way everyone did when he first died. "I'm so sorry." He says.
I look up at him, "No uh, it's okay. W-why don't you tell me about yourself some now? I've talked about myself for too long." I force a smile.
"Yeah of course. Well, my name is Aaron Mendes, I'm 24 years old and I've lived in Tacoma, WA with my aunt since I was 5 years old, before that I lived in Brazil with my parents. I'm an only child and I moved out right after high school. I have four hairless cats named Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Lala, and Po. I ne-"
"Woah, woah, woah. Stop right there. We are not just gonna skip over what you just said. Red flag, red fucking flag."
He laughs "What?"
I stare at him, eyes wide, mouth agape. "One is normal, two is okay, three is a little weird, but four?? That's insane. Not to mention that you named them after the Teletubbies! And that they're all hairless!"
"I really like cats, I thought the names were funny, and I'm allergic to pet hair! I have my reasons, don't you go judging me." He crosses his arms jokingly.
I raise my hands in defeat "Okay, okay... weirdo."
We both laugh and he says "May I continue?"
"Proceed." I say with a nod.
"Like I was saying, I never went to college and instead worked as a construction worker. That's what I still am today. I really like my job. I just love watching as whatever my co-workers and I are building grow and develop, and I just the love feeling of looking at the finishing product. It's just so refreshing to me."
I smile at his words "That's nice."
"Yeah, it is."
We smile at each other for a second, and we sit in a comfortable silence. That's when I remember where we are, and my entire mood is ruined.
"Shit."
A/N That was a nice little change in pace huh? I haven't written this story in a while, but I'm feeling a sudden wave of inspiration, so I'll put it to good use. :)
