BLURRYFACE [DEMA DIARIES]

Chapter 2

Death inspires me like a dog
Inspires a rabbit.

Clancy stared at the river in front of him, flowing effortlessly. He watched as the small currents fought with each other, overlapping and overtaking. The boy was close enough to get a sniff of the freshwater. He couldn't remember getting to this place, he wasn't even sure if it was real, and yet he felt more relaxed than he had before.

He was sitting firmly on the river bank, his knees bent as his arms wrapped around them. He was wearing green cargo trousers and a camouflage raincoat with yellow tape wrapped around certain parts of his body: his knee, his right bicep and his left shoulder.

Birds flew above him, their song bringing a sense of peace to Clancy as he scanned his surroundings. The place felt all too familiar, and yet he knew he had never been here before. He put his hands on the grass at either side of him and straightened his legs out, taking in the fresh air and warm sun on his pale skin.

He looked up to the birds, squinting his left eye as he had not realised the sun was directly above him. They all flew systematically in a circle. Large birds, looking almost fully black from where Clancy was sitting. Their large wings flapped with ease, out of pure animal instinct. They moved all as one, slowly and lazily moving in circles, squawking every now and then.

Beyond the birds was a clear blue sky. The clearest sky he had seen in such a long time, and Clancy felt a longing in his bones. To an easier time. To a different place, world, body. Lost in thought, he hadn't heard the footsteps on the other side of the river, or noticed the birds deserting their stations.

What made Clancy snapback was the cold droplets splashing against his bare ankle. He looked up, startled, and the first thing he had noticed was that the disruptor was carrying a torch, and the second thing was the fact he was wearing the same clothes as him. The only difference was the placement of the yellow tape.

"You aren't supposed to be here yet." The stranger said to him calmly, looking down at him curiously. He wore a black hat and a yellow bandana wrapped around his neck. Feeling intimidated, Clancy rose to his feet before responding.

"Yeah, well, I am." He shrugged, beding forward as he brushed off his trousers.

"But you haven't even arrived there yet."

Clancy stood up straight and was surprised to see how tall this stranger was. He readjusted himself slightly to take up more room and ensured there was enough distance between the torch and him.

There seem to be some chaos going on in the background. People dressed similarly to them seemed to be running chaotically across the fields. In the distance, black smoke erupted from above the tree line. Clancy looked at the man in front of him, and his eyes dotted to the torch.

Taking a step back, arms raised in front of him, Clancy opened his lips. "Listen..." he said cautiously, frantically trying to plan an escape route.

Before he had gotten the chance to move, the torchbearer put his hand out and grabbed Clancy's head. He pushed it back. Clancy felt himself fall backwards, but could tell his body had not moved. He felt himself falling, through the ground and the soil, and suddenly, he had landed.

As Clancy landed on his back, his eyes shot open. His neck felt tight and his heart pounded against his chest. He wasn't sure where he was. Colours zoomed past him. A loud noise filled his head and sweat poured into his eye. He struggled to breath with the pressure around his neck.

Get your shit together. He tried to scream, but couldn't. Panic set in quickly. He raised his hands to his throat, but felt nothing there. His eyes dotted from place to place, hoping to spot something that might be familiar.

Nothing jumped out at Clancy. He knew he was in the back of a car, but that was the extent of his knowledge. It seemed to be bright outside. Trees melted together as they sped down the road. The exhaust gave enormous, loud grunts every time they accelerated forward.

Looking down, he noticed that his hands had turned black. He didn't remember painting them black, in fact he didn't remember anything at all. Panic set in for a second time. Where was he just before this? His mind was pulling blanks every time he tried to imagine where he was before waking up. He couldn't remember anything about his life.

Tears welled up in his eyes. He couldn't remember his name, his life, his bedroom. He struggled to even think of his family. He let out a frustrated scream, it came out like needles to his constricted throat. He could feel his veins bulge and his hands clenched so hard he had made his palm bleed from his nails. He tried to lift himself up, using all his force to lean back on to the car seat as he raised his hips forward.

Then suddenly, all at once, he stopped. He blinked and he was sitting in the backseat of the car again, hands resting on his lap. He felt a sense of calm, a feeling of safety. He blinked. Once, twice. Then made his eyes towards him.

Just above the head rest, he could see the top of a hooded figure. The cloak was a dark red, close to black. A hand disappeared from in between the driver and passenger seat. The hand was a frail, wrinkly hand. It looked almost as though it was decomposing, flakes of black falling from it as it coiled out of sight. Clancy blinked again.

None of this felt particularly off to him, sure it was strange, but nothing that caused him to react in any real manner. He stretched against the leather behind him, his seatbelt constricting him from doing his full movements. He rolled his neck around, it smelled of burnt wood in the car.

Hello Tyler. A voice greeted him in his head. Tylers mind was completely blank, unable to think of anything at this moment. The voice sounded dark, deep, rough. It sounded a little familiar to him, like a distant memory of a time that never mattered. You weren't meant to wake up yet.

The hand reappeared, making a gentle down gesture. Tyler closed his eyes and dreamt of nothing.