The Limbus

Ch. 3- Pain

"My backstory is that before this was happening, I was walking across the street. Then, I got a massive headache and passed out. When I woke up, you guys were there. I don't know how I got to the sidewalk, but it's weird." Matt explained slowly, trying to get us grasp what had happened to him.

Rose spoke next. "There's an office building about half a block from here. I was there in my office and then my chest started to hurt. I started to get light headed, then everything went dark, like I passed out too. When I woke up, no one was around, so I went out to my car, and then Alex showed up quickly after that." She looked to towards me, and Matt did the same.

"Well," I started. "Rose already knows what happened to me, but I was driving and my car got hit from behind. I don't know who or why, but they did it a few time and I veered off the road. When I hit a telephone pole, I blacked out. When I woke up, I was scratched up and my clothes were torn and ripped, but by the time I got back in town, they all vanished and healed without me even noticing."

"So," Matt pondered. "It sounds like all of us had a 'blackout' moment before we ended up here. Maybe that has something to do with it. The fact that you look OK from it shocks me, but me and Rose should be OK because we didn't have anything like that. Our watches froze when we came here, presumably at the time of arrival." He started to really get into this. I wondered if he was a cop or detective from how well he puts the pieces together. Maybe one of his parents are? "All of these things have to have some kind of connection."

Rose chimed in. "So my chest hurt before I got here, your head started to hurt, and Alex was in a crash. These are the connections." She had a serious look on her face, frustration being the main expression. She over-thought this so hard that I worried she would pop a blood vessel.

"Well let's go outside and get some fresh air. Matt's clock only has 10 minutes left on his, so we could come back before to see what happens." I said as I began walking out into the rest of the building. As I exited the room, I tripped on my shoelace and my head hit the side of a table.

"Oh my god!" Rose exclaimed as she ran towards me. Matt just stood there. He was giggling to himself, snickering while trying to hold it in and not look like a jerk. I lied there, motionless. Not from pain though, I felt nothing. Perhaps from shock, I'm not sure. I don't feel numb anywhere. Even when I felt the side of my head where I got hit there was still nothing.

"Jeez, where did you get hit? I'm not seeing any blood." Rose said as she inspected my hair, moving my hair around and running her fingers through it to see if there was any blood coming out.

"I actually don't feel any pain. No sting, no sharp pain, nothing." As I grabbed her hand and lowered it to make her stop, she stared into my eyes as disbelief was engulfing her eyes.

"What's up with you?" Rose genuinely pondered. She must really worry about me. "You were in a car crash, but look perfect. You just smashed your head onto a table corner and you didn't feel a thing. Do you just not feel pain?"

"I don't know, doesn't seem like it huh?" I responded. I looked at my arm and formed a fist. I threw my fist into my face as hard as I could, causing my body to fly back.

"What are you doing!" Rose shouted as I lied on the ground. She grabbed my shoulders and brought me up to a sit.

"Nothing." That's all I had to say for her to let go of me and back away a few steps. "I didn't even feel it. It was like I pressed my hand against me but no pain at all."

Matt walks over to me, saying something I never thought I would hear from someone. "Punch me. Hit me right here" He lifts up his chin and points to his throat.

"Obviously we don't feel pain here, so I just want you to uppercut me as hard as you can. Don't hold back a single ounce of pressure" Matt stands there, head up, motionless. He's serious about this.

"You sure man?" I worried for him. Maybe he was the crazy one.

"Just do it dude. If I feel pain I ain't gonna be mad." Matt said, still motionless.

"All riiiiight." I said as I stand up. I crouch down a small amount, getting my arm ready, and throw it upwards. As I connect, I feel my arm pushing up, lifting him up a few inches. He goes flying backwards, slamming into a wall near his back, he doesn't catch himself and falls face first into the ground. Rose stands there, hands covering her mouth and staring at him. She begins to walk over to him as he starts to get up.

"Woooow. He's right. There is absolutely no pain." Matt just stood there, wondering what to make of this. "There has to be a reason... Hey, maybe because of all the reasons we might be-" He is about to finish his statement when a loud beeping goes off. We all jumped and looked toward the sound. One of the clocks was at 0. Matt's clock. We looked over to him and at that moment, we were horrified. There was a large dark figure standing behind him, holding his shoulder. His eyes were completely black, and his skin began losing color and turning white. I ran over to him to get the person off of him, but when I got there I fazed right through the creature. Standing behind him, I went for Matt, but went through him as well.

"Guys, I know everything." Matt said, weakly. His voice was deep and raspy.

"This guy behind me, why we're here, what our actions beforehand have to do with it. Just think medically." Every word he spoke seemed to bring pain to his entire body, but pain isn't a thing here, right?

"I'll miss you guys, I wish I could have met you before this, before we-" A tear ran down his solid black eyes. A loud shriek rang through our ears. It... hurt. A lot. I covered my ears, and looked over to Rose. She was on the ground, on one knee. She was covering her ears and in tears from the pain. I ran over to her and held her tight. She let out a small gasp that I somehow heard over this drowning sound. Her eyes opened as I gripped her, and I looked back at Matt. He was slowly fading out, vanishing before our eyes. "I'll see you all later." Matt said as he disappeared. His final words fade out as the shriek ends, and it's all silent. I was still crouched down, gripping Rose. She was still crying. She looked horrified. Traumatized seemed like a better word though. I felt her grip tighten around me. It didn't hurt, so that rule must stand true again. But why then when that... thing... appeared did we have the capacity to hurt. I looked at Rose and she began to stop crying, but she kept looking at the ground and holding on to me. Another thought that was on my mind, what did Matt mean by his last words. He didn't say anything about goodbye, just see you later. He said he knows everything, so does that mean we are being taken to a different place after this. It doesn't seem good though from what we just saw.