*MADE IT TO THE FINALS OF ONC's SHORT LIST*
One makes, one nurtures and one extinguishes - thus, a balance is maintained on Tellus.
But what happens when the scales topple?
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
She awoke with a start; gasping as she looked around and tried to gather her bearings. She had dreamed. What it was about, she didn't have inkling of it but she felt as though she was in an untethered reality, hanging onto that fragment of colour she had dreamed of.
Blue with a bit of yellow, blanketed in black.
Albeit grateful for dreaming again, she felt more unsettled than usual. Her heart beating frantically. She had a feeling of something looming in the future, something dark.
Things were changing, the vibes of which were palpable in the air. She didn't think though that any of it would impact her in any manner – being invisible and all.
Little was she aware of what the future had in store for her because later she would wonder that if she had thought inversely, at the present moment, would the consequences have been any different than what was to come.
Customarily, Ati dragged herself out of the bed but there was something different about this day and that was grating on her nerves. A sense of foreboding is what she could feel in her bones. Even Waffle was behaving weirder than usual; not paying Ati any heed, he kept looking at the door as though super-glued in place.
She changed into her running gear and as soon as she was out of the room, Waffle began to growl and then whined.
"What's the matter, baby? Are you hungry?" She asked stroking his fur. He barked in response and Ati took it as a yes but even after she had fed him eggs, he didn't stop barking or yowling.
"You want to go out, don't you buddy?" she questioned and started towards the door. Waffle took her lower's hem in his mouth and began a futile effort of dragging her back to the room.
Now Ati was vexed, "what is with you today, you dumb dog? If you keep this up," she chastised, picking him up, "I will not give you anything to eat today." Then she opened the door.
There was something lying on her welcome mat, something bloody and gruesome. It stank like a pigsty.
Retching at the pungent odor and nauseated by what was happening, she shut the door as soon as she had opened it. Whatever had killed the unrecognizable thing must be around.
She gave a call to the security of her building and provided them an explanation of the entirety of the situation. She was shaken but Waffle, even more so. Ati realized, a chill tip-toeing down her spine, that her poor pup must have heard the gutting which is why he wasn't even wanting to leave the bed anymore.
The guards came, asked her a few questions and then left to check the surveillance cams. They sent for another team of people, probably some kind of forensic technicians, who put all the remnants of the bloody puddle in clear bags.
"We will be taking these to the lab for testing the blood and the remains. We will let you know about the results within two hours." A burly guy in a blue lab coat said to her, trying for a sympathetic smile.
Another guy, however, was looking around in a suspicious manner. When he stepped closer to Ati, she oddly felt at peace, a haze of calm and comfort took over her like she had never felt before.
He gave her a somber look, "until and unless it is a person from our team, although I will try it to be me, do not open your door for anyone and do not, under any circumstances, step out of your house today." She nodded to that, a lump in her throat as she felt immense gratitude towards this unknown man.
She tried to appear strong but her chin wobbled, "I hope it was only an animal." On hearing that, Waffle growled.
"Don't fret; believe and it will be okay." With that, he left. Ati wished she could have asked for his name but with zero friends, she had forgotten how to converse at all, other than making small talk and giving college presentations.
When she was alone, spending the hour felt like living in a small eternity by herself. Even the tiniest of shuffles scared the hell out of her.
With nothing better to do, she texted her professor that she wouldn't make it to the class due to illness and then, sat with Waffle and had her thoughts to keep her company.
Ati was feeling jittery and with not being able to go for a run, she felt even more anxious. Speaking of which, her thoughts - having a mind of their own - turned to that arrogant man she had met and she felt suffocated inside her own house.
I need a distraction, she murmured to herself.
Her wardrobe had been in a dire need of de-cluttering for a long time so, she picked Waffle up and walked inside her mess of a closet cubicle.
Starting from her footwear, she had only managed to put aside the ones she didn't need when she heard a knock at the door. It hadn't even been an hour yet, let alone be two.
They couldn't have come this early, could they?
At the door, she tapped for the doorbell camera to see who it was. No one. There was not a single person on the other side. Afraid now, she stepped back. There was a knock again and this time, the words of the kind technician from before played through her mind.
"Do not open your door. Do not step out of your house."
She went for the camera again.
This time, a hooded figure stood outside, staring right at the camera lens.
