Somnia

Chapter One

I'm only a few more steps away from the top when it happens.

It starts with a single CRACK as a crucial piece of wood splinters somewhere between the board I'm standing on and the floor. The stairs drop out from under me. Adrenaline fills my system and I make a last second decision—perhaps a stupid one. Instead of bracing myself for impact, I reach up for the second floor. My fingers find a grip, and I end up swinging freely where the stairs used to be. I laugh, glad that this dusty old mansion has given me a small taste of adventure after all. Now if only I can pull myself up the rest of the way.

My glorious moment of triumph and adventure is short-lived. Too late to catch myself, my fingers slip and I fall backwards onto the mangled steps lying on the floor below. I arch my back after impact, writhing in agony.

"Ow..." Due to my lack of breath it's the only sound that I can muster. The pain shooting through my back is hot and maddening. I stay where I am and wait for the pain to go away. It always does. I can't explain it. Ever since everyone in my town disappeared, I've never been able to stay hurt for long. That was when I stopped eating and sleeping, too. It's as though those rules of life no longer apply to me.

The pain subsides and I'm able to walk around as though it never happened. Now I'm more determined to make it to that second floor even if it kills me.

I change tactics. Instead of rebuilding the staircase—an even more difficult task now that they have collapsed completely—I nail chunks of the boards directly to the wall, creating a sort of stepladder. I don't know how long this takes me. When you have all the time in the world, time no longer matters. Placing my hands and feet carefully so that I don't accidentally rip the boards from the wall, I climb up. The upstairs looks exactly like the downstairs; dusty and falling apart.

Something on the wall in the hallway catches my eye. I pull my sleeve over my hand and rub the smooth, flat surface to get rid of the dust. It's a mirror. There's a small chip at one corner of it, but overall the condition isn't bad. I stare at the face looking back at me—my face. I didn't know anyone could look as empty as they felt. I make a few movements, testing the ability of the mirror's reflectiveness. Then I speak, and the realization of my solitude hits me. My reflection moves faithfully with me, but the voice coming from the boy in the mirror is mine.

I touch the mirror, my reflection doing the same. The surface is hard and cold, much like the look in my dark eyes. I didn't always look this way, gruff and tired. I suppose the years of being trapped here in this lifeless town has stolen something from me.

I know that I am completely alone in this town. It doesn't take a brilliant mind to understand that from the abandoned homes and the utter silence in the streets. But now, seeing myself alone in the mirror, I can feel the solitude.

Time to move on.

The first room I explore is a bedroom. Decidedly a girl's room.

"A little obsessed with pink, aren't we?" I smirk and move my fingers in a pattern across the dust on the pink dresser that has sunken halfway into the pink carpeted floor. Every step I take is carefully placed. Just because there's carpet doesn't mean there's still solid floor underneath.

Aside from the furniture and the utter pinkness, there isn't a single indication that a real person once lived here. This is the same everywhere I explore. No clothes, no pictures, no toys, nothing of personal belonging exists anymore except for the things I keep hidden from whatever mysterious force has been taking them away.

I abandon the world of pink and enter the next bedroom. This one is larger than the last room, plainly decorated, with remnants of blue and gray hues. One of the floorboards pops up when I step on the end of it. I kick it aside with little interest.