Blurred

Chapter One

  A voice yelled something from a distance, an echoed, strange yell like it came from a cave. It yelled again, louder this time, as if coming closer but still far away. I strained to hear what it was saying, but couldn't make it out.

The voice started to sound warped and strange. Suddenly, the air seemed to change, like the direction shifted with my breath. Something like static grew louder with the yelling. The path in front of me shimmered and glowed, flickering light and then dark and again.
Everything blurred. There was a buzzing sound, so loud, too loud. I closed my eyes so tight I thought they might've bled.

Then there was silence. Slowly, like the sun creeping towards the horizon, sound seeped back into my ears. First crickets chirped, then there was the distance sound of footsteps on dead leaves, like in a forest. I rubbed my eyes, then opened them and stumbled. Trees basked in moonlight we're in front of me, but the moonlight had an eery green tint to it.

I turned in a slow circle, trees surrounded me. I looked up to see an abnormally large moon bathed in a green glow. There were no stars, only the darkness beyond.

Someone screamed. A shrill, icy scream that cut through the air like glass. It was followed by a young boy's voice. "Stop! No, please!" His voice cracked as he said it. Hope seemed to be sucked from his voice violently and painfully.
"I'll do whatever you want, I promise!" Whoever was yelling was close now. He sounded exasperated, like he had been running for hours and was about to give up.

The voice was now directly behind me, I whipped around to see a boy about twelve with complete terror in his eyes as he frantically looked for something. His light hair was a mess and his clothes covered in dirt. He suddenly stopped moving, so completely, one would think he had never moved before. His eyes were glassy and distant, unmoving.

I took a step forward, preparing to ask the boy who he was running from and why he was standing there like that, when he collapsed. He crumpled to the ground soundlessly, like a marionette who's strings were suddenly cut.

I ran forward, hoping he would still be alive. A loud buzzing vibrated through my ears, then a sharp, screeching sound threatened to burst my eardrums. The world froze, then was dark. A light blazed in front of me and I jumped to the side. A car swerved past me, honking.

I blinked the black spots out of my vision as sunlight unwelcomely ripped through my eyes. I lay in the grass beside the path I was just walking on a minute ago.
My head spun. "What was that?"