Awakening (Redux)

Chapter 1: A New Life

The first few days I was awake, I felt lucid, drifting from my room to the security office or the cafeteria. Every little thing reminded me of my parents, like talking to my aunt and photos around my room. To get away from it all, I'd sit in my "office" and watch the cameras, scroll through social media and sip on a soda from the cafeteria. On one of my soda runs, I accidentally ran into one of the tenants, knocking her down.

    "Oh, I'm sorry." I apologized, leaning down and extending my hand.

    "You're just fine," she said, taking my hand and standing up. I could feel her eyes track down my body slowly, "I don't think I've seen you before...?"

    "Oh, erm, I'm the owner's nephew, Axel. Axel Stevens. I work as our "Tech Lead", if you have any problems with your wifi or devices, let me know." I chuckled, shaking her hand softly, silently praying I didn't look as nervous as I felt.

    "I'm Luna, and I will definitely let you know." She said, smiling and raising her eyebrows slightly, locking eyes with me.

    My cheeks flushed pink, I could feel it. She smiled wider and walked off, up the stairs toward her room. I finished my soda run, cursing myself for not asking for her apartment number as I entered my office. I sat down, watching the main lobby cameras and spacing out. Eventually, I fell asleep.

I appeared in a black room, illuminated on either side by white and red light. On the floor before me was a line. My feet began to pull me along without any hesitation, gaining speed. The lights grew brighter, the white light morphing into a halo, the red, a heart with black atriums. Suddenly, I was falling, as though I'd tripped over a stick and into a canyon. A horrid pit filled my stomach as I plummeted faster and faster, crossing my arms over my face to shield myself from the inevitable crash. A sudden ripping sensation tore through my back, and I screamed in agony. I found myself surrounded by a whirl of black and white feathers, assaulting my eyes temporarily like tv static. Then all the same they were gone and I was flying down the line again.

A sudden banging woke me, pushing myself to my door in my chair. I opened it and there stood a very panicked tenant. Several others were filling into the lobby rapidly. Her eyes kept darting to the stairs then back to me. I'd met her when touring the building with my aunt.

'

"Amber, Amber, calm down, what's wrong?" I asked, standing up and offering her the chair.

She sat down, taking a stuttering breath before speaking,

"T-there's an orc, th-third floor, it just broke in!"

I took off up the stairs, determined to do my job. Having no knowledge of what I was going to face, I steeled my nerves and prepared to see my parents again. Tenants came flooding down from the second and first floor, gathering in the lobby. As I reached the first floor, the orc's heavy breathing became audible. Its lumbering footfalls occasionally gained speed. This would immediately be followed by the sound of splintering wood. I began running up the steps. The orc's stench became noticeable on the second floor. As I rounded the corner to run up the final flight of steps, I found where the orc had breached the building. A massive hole was in the wall, sunlight pouring onto the rubble that covered the steps. That's when it happened. The orc slammed into another door, and I heard a scream. Taking a few steps back, I ran at the rubble. Suddenly, it felt like my body was on autopilot. I launched off the first few rocks, up to a portion of the wall that still stood, pushing myself off it and landing on the third floor. I didn't have time to process any of what happened, as I felt my legs take off down the floor toward the orc.

The first thing I was greeted with was its awful breath. As I neared the room, it must've heard my footsteps. It roared at me, tilting its head. The stench of it made me gag, stopping me. I glared right back at it, examining its hulking figure. Easily seven feet tall, its oil black eyes blinked slowly. Thick gray skin covered its body, covered in scars. Its large tusks protruded from its bottom jaw, crudely sharpened into deadly points. It wore no armor and held no weapons, but clearly, these creatures don't need weapons to be forces of nature. It suddenly took off down the hall toward me, roaring. I challenged it with a charge of my own. As our bodies clashed, the ground below me cracked slightly before I was thrown backward, slamming into the railing at the top of the third-floor stairwell. The orc's large frame launched into the air as my vision went red. The orc slammed into the railing just after I rolled right. It roared in pain, one of its tusks lay on the floor. It glared at me, thick blackish-red blood dripping from the broken tusk's stump. Charging at me again, it was able to pin my shirt. The fabric tore as I felt my body get ripped from the shirt, thrown at and slamming against the wall. My head was spinning as the orc lumbered back over toward me. Glancing left, I saw the orc's broken tusk. I leaned over for it and quickly tossed it to my right hand as the orc's fists reared back to crush my body. Launching myself up, I drove the tusk into the side of the orc's skull. It roared in pain and stumbled back, more of its blood pouring from its skull. I ran into its side and tipped it off balance. It fell off the 3rd floor, its body slamming onto the pile of rubble 15 feet below. I stared at its chest as it slowly stopped heaving. Panting and bruised, I made my way down to the room the scream came from.