Finding Finn Reed

XVI

I woke up on rough pavement to a scorching heat. When I stood up, I noticed I wasn't home anymore, I was in another city. Nobody was around, and the sun was blazing down on everything. As I began to walk around, my body ached with an immense amount of pain. Every single inch of my body was in pain. I looked around my arms, and noticed something horrifying; etches. My entire body was covered in fresh, red etches. It looked like I had been cut open and stitched back together. The etches stung with every step I took, so I decided to sit down on an abandoned bench. As I sat down, I began to look around at my surroundings. Everything seemed unreal, the city I was in felt like a dream. I kept questioning myself on how I ended up here, and how I ended up with all of the painful etches. I closed my eyes, and tried to remember what happened. Things were momentarily blurry, but then everything hit me all at once. Atticus and I had gotten into an argument of some sort, and I began to panic. I remember my skin crawling and burning, bright lights, light headed and then... nothing. I woke up to a foreign city. The only thing on my mind now, was finding out where I was, and if there was anybody else in the city.

Regardless of the sharp pains, I stood up and began to roam the city. It felt strange that the sun was out, but it wasn't all that surreal considering I've had the chance to actually experience the warmth of the sun. What didn't make sense to me however, was the fact that the sun appeared red rather than yellow, and the moon was also out. It was a mix of red and sharp blue hues that casted a vibrant luminescence. The buildings were also a bit strange. As I walked through the empty streets, I noticed how the buildings were all shaped in geometric patterns, and how they would change form as I passed by them. This town was definitely made up. The question was how did I do this?

I noticed how the city was completely alone, nobody to be found. I began to call out for people. "Is anybody here? Anybody at all? Where am I?" I shouted. But there wasn't a reply, only the echoes of my voice that bounced through the city. Suddenly, as I turned into a corner, I saw a shadow which appeared to be someone. My eyes opened up with eagerness, and I painfully ran towards the shadow. As I made my way closer and closer towards the shadow, the figure was clear; it was Atticus all bruised up. "Atticus? What's going on?" I quickly asked. Atticus didn't look too happy however, in fact, he looked infuriated and tired. "What's going on? That's the first thing you ask?" he raised his voice and clenched his fists. "This is serious Atticus, what happened?" "What happened, is that you fucked up. You wanna know why?" he asked as he walked around impatiently. I was confused on everything that was going on, all I needed to know was why I was here, in some made up city. "On second thought, I'd rather wander the city on my own and find someone else" I said in a meek tone. I began to walk away when Atticus called for me. "Wait," he said, "Look, I'm sorry alright? We aren't exactly in the best situation right now." I slowly turned around and faced him. "How's about you explain this to me without any threats or rude comments?" I sarcastically asked. Atticus took a deep breath, and nodded. I proceeded to follow him to an abandoned fountain where we both sat down.

"Where should I start?" he asked, lowering his voice back to normal. "How's about explaining the cuts on my body?" I replied. Atticus looked all around my body, and examined the fresh wounds. He waited a while to respond, it almost looked like he was afraid to tell me. "They're etches," he said, "And they're all over your body." "Why do I have them?" I asked as I looked down at my etched hands. "Beats me, It's probably because you exerted so much energy, your body just decided it was time" he replied. Atticus observed my body once more, and his face shifted to an almost sickened expression. He looked away, and continued to talk. "You had so much built up energy, you must have created a rip in the fragments." "How big of a rip, exactly?" I curiously asked. "Big enough to create your own damn universe" he said, his eyes still reverted towards my direction. "I'm not following," I said, "What exactly happened?" "What happened, was you decided to play god, and created one of your parallel universes. It just so happened we ended up in this abstract city of yours" Atticus said. All of Atticus's explanations were hard to take in all at once. The fact that he kept calling me a god didn't help. I wasn't ready to accept the fact that I made all of this.

I decided to shift topics in order to gather my thoughts in a more clear manner. "How do we leave?" I asked as I slowly stood up. Atticus took notice in my movements, and finally looked at me, his face still in disgust. "I don't know, this is your universe. It's up to you" he replied as he stood up with me. I took a deep breath, and began to walk forward. Despite all that's happened, there was still something that bothered me. I stopped walking momentarily, and faced Atticus. "Couple questions," I began to ask, "Why do you enjoy messing with people?" Atticus looked down, almost ashamed, and said, "It's fun." I let out a rude chuckle, "I guess that explains why you're all alone." Atticus was quick to react to my comment, and quickly raised his voice, "That's not true! Why don't you keep your assumptions to yourself." I rolled my eyes, and looked up at Atticus. His face had went from pale to bright red in a matter of seconds. I noticed how his body tensed up, and how his hands were shaking. I had unsettled him. "Whatever you say," I said, "What about my etches?" "Yeah, what about them?" Atticus bitterly asked. "Do they disgust you?" I asked, flashing my hands in front of his face. Atticus laughed, and began to walk ahead of me. "Yeah, they do, so quit flashing it like that" he said as he continued to walk. I shrugged his comments off, and walked with him.

We had no idea where we were walking, or what we were planning on doing. Walking around the city had awed me in ways I never thought possible. The vibrant patterns that glistened from the sky, the beautifully arranged geometric buildings, and the floors which appeared to be shining like diamonds; it took my breath away. Part of me was impressed that I was able to create such a thing. Perhaps the idea of being a god wasn't so farfetched after all. All of the things I saw throughout the city had all put a smile on my face. I began to forget about the pains in my body, and I started to focus more on my surroundings. "What're you so happy about?" Atticus turned to me. "I just like what I see" I replied as I looked around the cities architecture. Atticus said nothing afterwards, and kept walking forward.

We walked for what seemed like hours. It was hard to tell time, since the sun and the moon were both out. It seemed like the city expanded with every step we took. And with every new step, there was something new to observe. I saw amazing things, such as buildings that floated upside down, and grass that shifted colors. The clouds above synchronized with graceful movements. Part of me didn't want to leave. It felt peaceful, I felt safe. Aside from Atticus's rudeness, the city was great.

"We've been walking for hours," Atticus said, "At least I think so." We decided to take a break at a nearby park. Upon entering the park, I noticed the abstract appeals. All of the trees were transparent, and all of the flowers floated with the wind. Atticus and I sat down on the colorful grass, and took a break from walking. "You really have a creative mind" Atticus said as he looked around the park. I sighed in agreement, I wasn't even aware of all this capability I had. I recalled meeting Atticus, and how he told me about the capabilities I wasn't even fully aware of.

"Sometimes I wonder" I said. Atticus looked me with a questionable face. "About?" he asked. "What I'm capable of doing," I said, "If I can create whatever I want just like that... Do you think I can destroy it just as easily?" Atticus's face shifted to concerned. He looked up at the vibrant sky and said, "Don't get any ideas, I don't think it's a good idea to abuse your abilities like that." I thought about it for a while. Despite how right Atticus sounded, I couldn't help but wonder what else I was truly capable of. If I was really capable of so many things, then saving Finn should have been easy. But it wasn't, and according to Atticus, it never will be. Thinking about my pathetic failures had put me down. I looked down and sighed. "I guess you're right," I said, "It can be overwhelming is all." "What do you mean?" Atticus asked. "It's not important, let's just rest for now." Atticus shrugged in an awkward agreement, and continued to look around.

I had dozed off for a while. It felt nice to just relax and not have to worry about anything. The simple fact that I was able to sleep comfortably was enough proof to convince me that I was doing it right. I had woken up to Atticus violently shaking me. "Hey, wake the hell up!" he shouted. In a groggy state of confusion, I slowly sat up. "Why would you do that?" I irritatingly asked. "I saw something" he quickly replied. "Of course you did, new shit appears every minute in this city." "Yeah I guess you're right," he said, "Oh but wait, does your 'city' create people? Because if that's the case, then go back to sleep." Suddenly, it was as though my entire body shot back to its usual tense feeling. "Wait, you saw somebody?" I asked. "Yeah, some sketchy shadows over there" Atticus pointed north, towards a couple buildings. "Who do think it is? And how is that possible?" I asked as I quickly stood up. Atticus stood up with me, and focused his attention towards the buildings. "Beats me," he replied, "But I wanna know."