Nighter: A Town In The Middle Of Nowhere - Second Edition

Chapter 2 - Out Of The Underground

"24 Tasksonn Place, Nighter" the note read. He'd found a small package in the corner of the train station, with only an address and a name on it. He picked it up out of curiosity. It didn't seem the train was going to arrive for a while, for whatever unknown reason he wanted the train for, so he may as well give himself something to do. He looked at the package he held in his hands, and adjusted his glasses. Why even was there a package there, and why was he still waiting for the train, he asked himself. He had a gut feeling he should go and deliver the package, since he did know the painful disappointing feeling of not receiving a package on time. He was a package delivery boy when he was younger, which was a great job to have compared to being shoved up people's chimneys. He was a frail child, and clearly didn't have enough strength to climb, so he got the job of walking all around town to deliver package, from one side to the other, to build his strength. The 'package delivery gods' probably just wanted to give him something to do, he thought. The station was quiet, and the only sound to be heard were small droplets falling onto the floor of the endless shadow of the tunnel. No train to be seen. He placed the package in his old messenger bag, which he used to hold letters and packages in as well as other things you would normally keep in a messenger bag, pulled out his cap, and left for the surface. The one thing he didn't consider was that he had no idea where on earth he was, or where the package needed to be delivered to. He climbed up the stairs to the upper section of the station, and out through the tallish glass doors. He was speechless as he found he was in a beautiful, futuristic city. Unearthly, even. The calming night sky, over the roofs of the strips of shops, was outstanding. He'd seen a night sky before, he'd seen stars and other planets before, but nothing compared to what he had just laid his eyes on. He drew his eyes away from the breathtaking sight of the endless void, took a deep breath in, and walked into the scattered crowd of people, towards a destination he didn't know. His mind bursted with thoughts, emotions and questions, but the one thing he wasn't thinking of at the time was where he needed to go. He decided to follow wherever his skinny, weak legs took him.

Leo's ears were filled with the meaningless chattering of the shoppers surrounding him. He was traveling on a strong gut feeling, a natural instinct even. He weaved in and out of people, traveling along the streets of what seemed to be a marketplace. His eyes were drawn to the shops to the sides of him, filled with shelves upon shelves of brightly coloured items of unknown use to him. There were people standing outside of the shops, with large signs hanging from their necks, shouting words into the small masses of people walking past. They would be waving around items, or flyers, and would have colourful clothing on, making them easy to pick out from the crowd. The waves of bright colours and flashes in the corners of his eyes, from neon lights and signs to the actual products and packaging themselves, radiating from the many shops was almost blinding. There was so much technology Leo had never seen before, almost magical with what the packaging stated their purpose was. His mind was overloaded with images and thoughts he would never had experienced in his hometown, and had trouble processing all the commotion taking place around him, making him a little light headed. He tried to calm down, get his mind back in sync with the world around him. He took a deep breath, later followed by a strong exhale and a rub of his eyes. The marketplace was outstandingly booming with colour, light, and sound, and Leo just couldn't get his head around them. He was used to a few strips of fireplace lit homes, the soft orange light just visible through the thick curtains, which was like a small lone candle in a huge pitch black room compared to the sight his eyes were taking in. He could only just see the end of the marketplace, leading onto a silent street, through the many bodies of the shoppers and passerbys. He weaved and pushed though the crowd at a faster rate, now knowing his first destination. He held on tight to his messenger bag, and pulled his cabby hat tighter down on his dirt and soot ridden, jet black hair. His eyes were only focusing on the empty space he wanted to be in, causing him to be unaware of the obstacle he was about to run into.

He ran straight into a stiff, thin, fur covered object. A tail? He fell down onto the ground, face pounding onto the purple paving. His glasses fell onto the floor, his eyesight now blurry. He could see a shadow hovering above his bruised face. He quickly rolled over and sat up, frantically patting the ground to find his glasses. He picked them up off the bricks and brushed off the dirt, placing them back onto his face and pushing the rim to position them correctly. He stood back up and went to go apologise to the person, soon realising that that person was the one the tail connected to. His mind was going into overdrive, with too many thoughts to process again. He knew he was in a place beyond Earth. "I-I'm so sorry, sir," he muttered in shock, 'I-I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Oh! That's ok, dearie," the person answered in a calming but slightly sexual voice, "But I'll let you know I am a woman."

"O-Oh! I do apologise, m-my lady!" Leo replied.

"No, it's fine. I get my gender mistaken a lot. I'm used to it by now."

The lady snickered and went back to what she was doing. Dumbfounded and in shock, Leo gathered up his belongings that had fallen out of his bag, put his cap back on his head, and headed back off to the non-crowded area. He looked back at the person he'd run into, thoughts slowly going back to normal. He noticed the tail again, then noticed the person had two, fluffy, cat like ears on the top of their head. She had short, brown hair which parted up in the middle, and had been tied into a short pony tail at the back. Maybe she was just dressing up, Leo thought, followed by another thought that used profanity and the term 'furries' even though he had never heard of furries before. She was also wearing an old scrappy navy hoodie and a backpack which looked like it was filled to it's maximum capacity with very heavy items. Her face was also oddly masculine. 'I must forget about what just happened and concentrate on the package, The lady was probably just dressing up.' he told himself, blocking out the rest of the questions in his mind. He turned his attention to the members of the crowd surrounding him, and realised the oddity of the people. Herds of humanoid figures with horns, spikes, tails, wings and other limbs and attachments coming from areas all around their bodies, each person different from the last. He finally reached the end of the crowd, and continued following his instinctive route to deliver the package, trying to tell himself to ignore everything he just witnessed to keep his sanity.

- — -

He followed the path made up only from instinct and luck, eventually leading him to the doorstep of a rundown and trashed, but still habitable, single storey bungalow, in a suburban area of houses that looked so identically perfect it was creepy. The other houses on the street had immaculate red grass lawns, and many exotic and strange plants and trees neatly arranged in beds of magenta soil, and the houses themselves were painted with the most varied and brightest colours. He couldn't help but notice the person, asleep, leaned against the wall next to the door of his destination, as his brain told him the person was familiar, but he couldn't recall any memories including this beautiful being. The person had a half shaved head and a brightly coloured fringe, with a variety of piercings all over their face. He counted ten. She also had a sort of collar around their neck with a pendant connected. Her face was beautiful and different, nothing like the ladies in his area. Leo was mesmerised by her alternative appearance and the grace of her face, even though her sleeping expression wasn't the most dainty one. He stepped over her perfect body and kept her out of sight, for he had a more important task to do first. He stopped himself from thinking about her, and why she was sleeping out here in the first place, and focused exclusively on the task at hand.