RESURGENCE

CHAPTER 6 & Conrad's diary

CHAPTER SIX

 Although the sky was clear, the day felt dull, and it seemed as if the sun had moved away from the earth and looked half of its usual size. Stuart felt thirsty. He looked around only to realize that he had no clue as to where he was and how he got there. Stuart was sitting on the ground under a Sycamore tree. The ground looked barren without an inch of grass on it. The bark of the tree felt hard against his back and, despite his desire to get up and explore the surroundings, Stuart could only sit still. 

In the distance he saw the outline of a woman slowly walking toward him. As she got closer, he noticed her feet were bare. She was wearing a one-piece, silk, black, dress which showed a glimpse of her shapely thighs with each step she took. The gentle breeze blew her reddish-brown hair back and made the dress hug her body to reveal her beautiful curves. A million sensations ran through his body as he sat entranced by her and wished to get up and walk toward her, but his body disobeyed his mind. She stopped at about ten feet away from him. He felt thirsty again.

He wanted to call out her name, but his voice bounced off the recesses of his mind and failed to reach his lips. As he looked into Michelle’s sea-green eyes, he heard the wind whisper in his ear, “Save me!” The black dress she wore stretched, as if it had a mind of its own, and wrapped around her like a snake. She was covered from head to toe in the black cloth which tightened with each passing second. He could hear the ripping of her flesh and the cracking sound the bones made as the black cloth turned red. He got up, turned, and ran with steps larger than he imagined he could ever take. The wind blew in the opposite direction and slowed him down. He must have ran about half a mile when he saw the ocean resting peacefully in the distance. He looked back over his shoulder. The tree looked small and distant. There was no sign of Michelle or the cloth. He stopped, dropped to his knees, and gasped for air. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, and before it could return to its normal pulse, he heard the low growling sound coming from the sea. He looked up to see the peaceful and serene ocean turn angry. The swell got bigger by the second, and it seemed like an earthquake had gone off the coast. A monstrous wave, about a hundred feet high, rushed toward the beach. Stuart stood spellbound as the tsunami made its way to swallow him.

Stuart's mobile phone rang to break his dream. It was half past nine in the morning. An unknown number flashed on the screen, and he answered the call more out of impulse than desire.

“Hi, am I speaking to Stuart Lincoln?” asked a woman.

“Yup, that's me,” said Stuart. He looked around his room to find some water as his head throbbed with pain. 

“Hey, this is Michelle Anderson.”

Stuart couldn't breathe. He looked around to see where he was. I’m in my room and this ain’t a dream, he thought. 

“I came to your lab yesterday for the experiment.”

“Oh yeah, hey, Michelle. How are you?”

“I’m good, how about you?”

“Not too bad.”

“I called because I want to discuss the experiment. Last night, I was examining the corpse back at the hospital and noticed something fascinating.”

“Maybe we can discuss this over dinner?” asked Stuart.

Stuart heard her pause for a second, and she said, “Sounds good.”

“Meridian at six?” he asked.

“Sure.”

“See you then. Bye.”