By Chance

Twenty One

Ari was walking to work. It was warmer than usual, and the streets were bustling with a high energy usually observed during big events or holidays, but today was neither of those. The amount of people passing by her so closely kept making her disoriented, and every time she looked up to gain her bearings it seemed like she might have gotten turned around. Everyone seemed so...tall, making it harder to for her to see out around her enough to check her surroundings, and more claustrophobic as they kept passing through and squeezing into her personal space.

Just as she felt a panic rising in her throat, everything slowed. The people barely moved, inching forward as though the matrix was buffering. She finally saw details in their faces, although all of them were strangers to her. Everyone had the same bank expression, as though they were completely void of emotion and just focused on reaching their intended destination. She was able to see men, women, old, young, and all body sizes and skin colors that one could imagine, but their faces were all the same expressionless mask. While the disorienting movement had stopped her from overflowing with anxiousness, seeing their faces like this replaced it with a feeling of dread.

Suddenly, through the crowd, she saw a flash of red moving between the people. Startled, she tried to use the shield of the bodies around her to squeeze down and become unnoticeable while still peeking between them at whatever was coming toward her. It seemed to move too fast, like it was to her left one second and then to the right a flash later. She couldn't even get a good glimpse of was it was, human or animal, it was moving around and changing too quickly. Ari looked to the people around her, hoping they would see it, or her, or anything, but they continued to look straight ahead void of any acknowledgment of anything around them. Ari dipped lower and lower, nearly kneeling, fear threatening to consume her.

She looked up, trying to see the thing again, and saw a man standing in the middle of the crowd, looking straight at her. He wore a bright red suit, tightly hugging his small frame, accented by a light gold shirt that was unbuttoned past the center of his chest. His dark brown curls flowed back from his face in a stylish undercut, matching a neatly-groomed mustache and goatee. She could see the depth of the blue of his eyes, even as far away as she still was, and they stood out sharply from his skin that was a a deep golden brown. He smiled as he continued to approach, and it was equal parts frightening and inviting. Pictures of a seductive devil came to mind, the type that lures you in only to destroy your mind, and Ari wasn't surprised to be struck with a mixture of wanting to befriend and avoid him. Regardless of which she intended to choose, she wasn't able to move anyway. Her muscles felt locked down, or buried under sand, and her attempts to stand or run or both seemed as slowed as the people around her.

With a wink, he disappeared from 50 yards away and reappeared to stand right in front of her. Ari jumped and tried to back away, but her movement was still bogged down. As he leaned down toward her, he offered his hand, and Ari balked at the thought of taking it.

"Come now," he grinned, showing perfectly straight teeth in a startling shade of white, "Let's not be touchy, Ariyana. I don't bite." He winked again, "Well, I mean, not unless you ask."

Ari didn't want to take his hand, fearing where he would take her, but the world she was currently in was terror anyway. She pushed her hand toward him through the gel of existence surrounding her. He let her struggle for a few long seconds, before finally bending forward and snatching her hand from the air.

Instantly, she felt as though the fog had lifted. Though all of the robot-like masses still moved at a mere snail's pace, she could now move freely without weight or hindrance. She stood up quickly, slightly jumping as she readjusted to not having to put in the extra effort, and stood in front of the man with her face stuck in a surprised 'O.'