Sleep State

Chapter 3

- Christian -

The soft lullaby of a rock song played in the background as he slowly drifted to the surface. A cool sensation pressed against his throbbing forehead that pulsated from his eyes all the way down to the base of his neck. The temporary remedy of the compression of his head against this unknown chilled object made him wanting to remain immobile, but his muscles urged him to move.

Peeling his forehead away and feeling the unsteady balance he gained from his movement, he moaned in misery. The ache of his predicament hurt so bad it made him want to hit his head against a wall hoping the two pains would cancel each other out. But it was no use. Whatever brought on his migraine of a headache was the least of his worries.

Alert and lost, he shifted in his seat attempting to piece the puzzle before him. A high-tech dashboard with every bell and whistle imaginable presented itself before him matched with the rich smell of fine leather upholstery. He was in a car, a luxurious one if at that, but how and when and why? The questions began to tumble around in his unsettled brain and he jerked taking in his surroundings.

How did he get here? Why was he in this car? Where the hell was he? Why couldn't he remember?

Trying to think long and hard about how he found himself occupying the driver seat of a car worth more than his life, his head began to hurt for a different reason.

It was rather odd his lack of memory. Had he been hit in the head so hard that memory loss had occurred? He quickly took in his surroundings once more to make sense of it all. The way the leather and interior of the vehicle felt beneath his fingertips felt right like he belonged. Yet, it was so foreign nonetheless.

He touched the tiny control screen and tapped the up arrow to increase the volume of the subtle music, but it remained at the controlled level it was set at. Frozen forever in a low decibel. Maybe it was a possible internal computer glitch? Or maybe it wasn't at all.

Continuing his observations, his eyes fell to the gear shift that read that it was in drive. Strange, since the car had no movement at all. Daring to take the risk of launching into the building only a few feet away from him, he placed his foot on the accelerator. Nothing. Not even the slightest bit of life. Something wasn't right.

He fell back in his seat as he ran his long fingers through his thick, copper colored hair and tensed his face. The reflection of the man who seemed every bit a mess stared back at him in the rearview mirror and he stroked the newly formed stumble on his face. The whites of his eyes appeared red and he shook his head wondering what the hell happened to him. None of this felt right. The world he was in felt off kilter and he didn't know to fix it.

Glancing back up at his rugged appearance once more, he caught sight of what looked to be another car. The impact of him spinning around so fast to view the parked car through the back window only made his head hurt worse and he cursed under his breath at the agonizing pain. The vehicle did not look occupied, but it left him curious and without a second thought he was unbuckling his seatbelt and stepping out into the realm of the unknown.

The skyscrapers casted their shadow onto the street as he shrunk beneath them. The careless whisper of utter silence echoed through his bones as he realized the music in the car had ceased. A shiver down his spine crawled and lingered leaving him cold and frightened. He felt like he was slowly falling over the edge into insanity and it tore him apart. He hated feeling like this. He hated not knowing anything at all. The anxiety that blossomed inside him could not be suppressed and he knew he was about to explode.

The mysterious car in the middle of the intersection that had grabbed his attention was no threat though. More so it was just another piece of the puzzle.