Opposite Omens | Phan

Chapter 4 - Nightmare

Dan gasped deeply, shooting up from his spot on the ground and looking around wildly. Where had he gone? What happened? Where was Phil?

His surroundings now coming into a blurry sort of focus, the man began to calm himself down slightly. Deep breaths. He slowly checked every part of his body for wounds, finding none. Was everything just a dream? But if it was just a dream all along, then why did it seem so real?

The entirety of the surrounding area was covered in trees, beams of pale sunlight coming down through the gaps in the overbrush. Small animals ran past him with glee, bringing a sort of overall calmness to the entire area. Dan took another deep breath, laying back down on the grass and closing his eyes, his curly hair falling over his closed eyelids. For the first time in his life, he felt completely calm.

But then his mind began to race. Where was the city? How did he get here? The last thing he remembered was being out in the street, standing by the streetside. He didn't remember feeling anything, just the sight of his entire world going black, even sounds seeming to be distant in that moment. A scream and a screech. The last bits of memory he had before everything went blank.

Was this it then? Was this heaven? It wasn't really what he imagined it to be. He envisioned someplace distant and up in the clouds, somewhere beyond even the brightest of imaginations. He had always joked that he would end up in hell, and after a while, he started to believe it. But deep down inside Dan knew he was a good person, or at least better than a good amount of others, and that thought by itself gave him peace. Maybe he really did make it here. He could finally rest.

But what about Phil? Dan furrowed his eyebrows in worry, his mind beginning to run faster and faster. Would he really never be able to see his best friend again? Suddenly his breaths became unsteady, almost as if his entire world was collapsing around him. What about his YouTube channel? Did they notice his disappearance? How long had he been out? Would he ever be back? Was he...

dead?

Suddenly Dan shot up from his position, almost like waking up from a nightmare. The once peaceful landscape was now significantly darker, the light only coming from a single source: a tree. The tree was shining a bright shade of white on a dark landscape, swirls of grey flying around it in a seemingly random pattern. The sight would have been almost beautiful if he hadn't realised the coincidence; the vision before him was the exact same one he had seen for years on his arm. His tattoo.

The image appeared a lot less ominous in person than it did on such a small scale, the very aura drawing him towards it. The curly haired man slowly fumbled towards it until he could nearly touch the trunk, the swirls dancing around him like wind on a cold autumn's day. The bark of the tree seemed to glow and shimmer, but only slightly, leaving him dazed. But then he saw something else. Or rather, someone.

There, beside the trunk to it's right, was a faint figure. The silhouette was tall, around his height, but slightly shorter. The coloring of the person before him was a pale yellow, radiating a sort of happiness and sunshine that this world had seemed to have forgotten. It was only then when the realisation hit him.

That figure was Phil.

Dan reached out to him, trying to find his hand. Tears had started to fall without him realising as he got closer and closer to it, his vision getting even more blurry. All he wanted was to see his friend again. But then suddenly, as he grabbed again desperately for his friend's outstretched hand, his vision went dark again. He was panicking. He was dead. He was dead. He was dead.

Only then, did he wake up.

~

Phil hadn't slept since it had happened. In the waiting room of the hospital he sat, waiting for someone to tell him he could go in to see his friend. He had seen it happen. He walked out his front door, only to be met with the sight of Dan standing on a curve. Phil had seen it coming. He had started to run. But despite it all, Dan just stood still, completely oblivious to what was happening around him. Phil was screaming, tears falling from his eyes as he tried to stop the inevitable. But he was too late. He watched as his friend flew across the pavement, Phil approaching him with wobbly knees. He saw the life drain from his eyes as he was taken away into the ambulance, convincing the paramedics to let him ride in it with him. And lastly, he saw as he was taken into emergency care, leaving him to wait. And there he still sat.