Project Genesis

Chapter 1 ~ Ais and the Reoccurring Dream

Today I woke up.

I believed this was a good start for my 21st birthday. When I remembered the terror that was my nightmare last night, I proved myself wrong.

As is with many birthdays, I woke up this morning thinking I would feel different. Maybe I believed I would wake up bright and early and revel in the idea of being able to drink legally.

But no. No, today, I woke up from a dream I will never forget. One I wish I never had. I don't ever have nightmares, but this...this goes beyond a nightmare, really. It's hellish for me.

Him. He showed up again. He said it again. The words. I heard it so clearly, with such acuteness and clarity, I woke up believing someone was in my room.

There wasn't, of course. But I know for certain it was the same man I dreamt of when I was 9. I haven't seen him in my dreams since then, but when I heard his voice last night, I could almost see his thick white beard. His mustache, his eyes that were somehow more blue than the sky.

I vividly remember how old he had seemed. He had wrinkles that were so deep, they probably held secrets. Despite looking like he was old enough to be dead, he seemed perfectly healthy.

I remember the dream even better than I remember the man. I was 9 at the time.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a chair. My hands folded themselves in my lap in concern that I were to be scolded for not sitting properly. My back stiffened at the sight of my surroundings. The room is dark, with but a single lightbulb dangling above my head, tied to the darkness above with only a thin, fraying rope. I cannot tell how large the room is. As strange as it is, it almost felt as though it didn't have walls.

I freeze as I hear soft thuds resonate through the room. The familiar sound of feet terrifies my nine year old self as she tries to escape yet suddenly can't move. A pale face emerged from the cold blackness of the never ending room. He has eyes so blue that they seem to be the only thing with color in here. Shadows etch his deep wrinkles and make him look older than he may be. His hair is white and wispy and his clothes show no relevant style. He wears a thin black trenchcoat with a broach pinned in the center of his chest. His pants were black, too and he had polished black shoes. Everything but his eyes, hair, and chrome hat were black.

His lips twitch up at the corners of his mouth.
"What do you remember? Your name is...Aislynn, is it? Don't even try to fool me. I've waited all too many decades to see what you would become," he says harshly.

I tried to move but I couldn't even blink. Tears clouded my vision and my heart pounded in my chest like a machine gun. He steps closer. The overwhelming smell of mint hits my nose as his breath fans my face.

"Ah. Suddenly you don't want to talk, eh? I suppose we'll just have to take...more serious measures," he says.

His hand reached into the pocket of his black trenchcoat.
The cold barrel of a gun was pressed to my temple. Time seemed to stop.

"Let's talk about what you know about Project Genesis, shall we?"

And that was it. When I woke up that day, I screamed. I cried and screamed and panicked but to no avail.

I wish I could forget, but it's back. The words, the man, the fear. It's all coming back.

•••••

In my dream last night, there was nothing. There was endless darkness that muffled my senses. The air was so thick I felt as though I was trying to breathe water. I didn't even see the old man.

I shut my eyes with the belief that the action would block out the fear that had my heart at the pit of my stomach. When I try to breathe, the air gets caught in my lungs.

It's so dark in here that I almost can't tell if my eyes are open or closed anymore.

Someone takes a breath. The noise seems to come from all around me with no discernable location. I shiver.

"You couldn't possibly have forgotten, could you, Aislynn? She's waiting for you to figure it out.

Project Genesis.

We're all waiting for you," he rasps, his voice seeming too thick even for his own mouth.

My eyes snapped open and I jumped out of my bed.

•••••

As I hit the 3rd floor on the elevator, I breathe shakily. My hands folded themselves as the dream from last night plays on repeat.

A headache hits me like a bullet and I fall to the floor. It courses through my body from inside and out. Invisible fire laps at my skin and my body shakes as I scream. The drumming of my heart is still somehow louder than my screams. I fall to the carpeted floor. As my eyes fall shut, I see it.

A map.

Perfectly drawn.

I open my eyes and it's gone. When I shut them, it comes back. Notes are scrawled on the left corner of it.

Aislynn Vale
- 21 years old
- address: °°°°°°°°°°, °°°°°°, °°°°°°°°, California, United States of America
- SSN: °°°°°°°°
-knowledge: unknown
- past: unknown
- future: classified

The map has a circle around my address in the center. My apartment building is labeled as a starting point and the end point is... a gas station.

Distance: 712 miles. End location: Jacksonville, Oregon.

The headache seeps away as I reach the first floor of my apartment building. I try not to blink. Every time I do, I see it. My body trembles as I step out and push past a burly man who grumbles at me. In the lobby, people hold small conversation before leaving the building or going back to their rooms. Everyone's eyes are on me, I know it. They must be. When I check, they aren't looking, but the paranoia runs through my bloodstream.

I run out of the building and down the street and try not to blink.

I stop breathing, blinking, thinking. Everything stops as I am consumed by the overwhelming panic that surges through me.

The map, the man, Project Genesis . I just want to be left alone. I don't know anything.

Without knowledge of it, I somehow brought myself to the park. People glance at me as I pass them, confusion written on their face, wondering why they just saw me looking as though I was running for my life. Some look for the chaser, confused even more as they find none. I slump against a tree and cry.

My shirt becomes damp with tears. When my shirt becomes soaked, a puddle forms beneath me. It gets larger, larger, larger. It covers the whole ground of the park and gets larger still and sweeps me up and drowns me and I try to swim away but

I can't I can't I can't.

Everything is dark again and I am swallowed whole.

•••••

This chapter is a little shorter than I anticipated it to be, but this seemed to be a good stopping point. The next chapter will be longer since this was only the beginning.

Thank you for reading chapter one! Tell me if you liked it and if you would like to read more about Aislynn and Project Genesis.

Until next time,
CN~