The Reverter

A Rogue Wave

I regained consciousness and jolted up. My heart was beating fast as I gasped for air. Each and every breath felt like a hammer to my chest.

Flashes of that man's horridly angry face came to my mind. Just thinking about it was absurdly terrifying.

But was I dead? Where was I?

I looked around to find myself surrounded by debris. It looked like buildings were leveled by an earthquake. To my left, a lone wall rose for two stories with window openings (without any glass) that let the moonlight stream in. Sharp cylindrical iron rods protruded out of broken concrete slabs all around. Glass pieces were scattered everywhere. Debris had piled up high, and I couldn't see what was ahead. The holes for windows only showed more rubble. I needed to get to higher ground. I needed to get to the top of the pile.

I slowly got up, careful to not place my hands on a glass piece, and tried to find a way up the debris.

This had to be that dream world. The world in which everything is connected…but how?

My breathing rate had returned to normal along with my heart rate.

So far I have been tossed and turned around in this dream world. And the only way to escape is to wake up in our world.

But I was either dead in our world or was in a coma. And also time either doesn't exist in this world or works differently in this world. Because I remember having spent hours in this dream world while not even a second passed in our world. For example, Akriti's house where we decided to start our channel.

Oh, what good did that do.

Climbing the concrete hill was arduous, but I reached the top. I looked around to understand where I was, but everywhere I looked, a city in rubles I saw. But there was a road down the hill — free of all destruction. so I decided to climb down and start walking forward.

Walking down the road I shouted, "Is anyone here? Can anybody hear me?"

But of course…there would have been no one here.

The horrifying red flesh-like sky, Akriti and Rohit's crying faces and that demon on earth's vicious smile came to my mind again.

And then I stopped walking.

Anger seethed through my blood but at the same time, I wanted to cry. The sweet face of my mom and the jolly, laughing face of my father broke me like a. So I gave in and screamed in a guttural voice as tears streamed down my face.

I had had enough of this.

"Listen! I know you can hear me!"

"Leave my friends alone! Leave my world alone! Come fight me!"

But soon all anger faded and only a pitiful sorrow remained. I broke down to my knees and began to wail.

How the heck was I supposed to save this world? What the heck is so special about me? How am I supposed to fight this monster before me?

My friends were probably being questioned along with my parents and their parents. Even if my friends told the truth no one would believe them. I should have just kept quiet about my time traveling bullcrap and just lived my remaining life peacefully.

Then I heard a bell ring.

I rose up and looked into the direction of the sound.

"Hello?"

The bell rang again.

"Is anyone there?"

Ting.

And I started running in that direction. It didn't seem too far.