The Immaculate

Chapter 5

(Nick)

When everything comes back into focus, I see a dark alleyway leading to nowhere. A man is walking towards me in the alleyway. I can see that he has a gun aimed at my chest. Who is this guy? What should I do? The guy keeps moving closer and closer.

"Put your hands up or I'll shoot!" he yells, almost humanly, but I hear the robotics in his voice too.

I know he won't shoot so I stand there looking into his eyes unblinkingly. His eyes are void of life. It's kind of creepy. I wonder what he'll do to me. I stand there waiting for something to happen, but nothing does. We stand there. Then, he repeats his line, and we fall back into silence. After a few more seconds, I get bored knowing nothing will happen if we stand there, and I don't want to live in an endless loop. So, I turn and walk away.

As I walk, the scenery changes, and I am standing in a giant field of wildflowers. It is so beautiful. I want to stay here forever. That is when I hear a loud buzzing sound behind me. I turn and see a swarm of wasps flying toward me. If this place is anything like the last scenario, then all I have to do is walk away. Right?

I hope I'm right. I have never been stung by a bee, nevertheless a wasp, and their stingers look long. I am not afraid, but I mean, who likes being chased by a giant swarm of wasps with huge stingers. I hope I am not allergic to wasp stings. Slowly, I turn and walk away. I hear the buzzing coming closer. Please work. Please. It works, and the scenery changes once again. This time it looks like I'm in a courtroom. There is a small young girl in the center of the room.

"What's going on?" I ask, but there is no answer.

I hear the people surrounding her talking about blemishes or something. Do they want to cast this young girl out of The Immaculate? But she is so young. Small, cold, and terrified. She looks at me, but I can't catch her eye. They are big, like a cartoon. Still, for some odd reason, I feel the need to save her. From whatever fate was to be hers and whatever reason they were punishing her.

Then I hear the accusation, stealing. What would the girl steal? It's not like they leave a lot of things lying around here. Besides, everything you'd need; is provided already. I mean, they give you a house, a bed, clothes, meals, what more could you want?

The girl looks up at me, and this time I meet her gaze. She is just another fake person, just like the rest of them. All of this was supposed to confuse me. But I figured it out. Slowly, I turn and walk away. As I do, I hear her small voice scream out.

"Wait: Stop! Help me! Please! I didn't do it! Please, believe me!"

Then, the scene changes once more. This time, I am sitting in my apartment with a knife in my hands. Dominic and his guards are standing in front of me. When everything comes into focus.

I hear them asking me, "did you do this?"

"Did what?" I ask incredulously.

"Don't play dumb with us boy!" One of the guards shouts.

"I'm not! I don't know what you are talking about."

Then it occurs to me; this is just another scenario. All I have to do is turn and walk away.

As I stand, I hear Dominic say "Sit back down! Or I'll..." But it's too late. I already turned and started to walk away before he could finish.

I expect another scene to appear, but instead, the room comes back into focus. I see the man standing with his arms folded in front of him in front of me. He takes the monitors off and looks at me. No, he glares at me.