Black Plague

Chapter 2

Jessie opened his eyes and was met with the clear night sky. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and his vision blurred. His mouth felt dry, tasting like metal. He opened and closed his mouth trying to get rid of the taste, he lifted his head and looked around. He was surprised, he sat on a metal bench in the middle of a suburban neighborhood.

"Where am I?" Jessie asked as he sat up. He felt his head pound.

He grabbed his head and took a look around his surroundings. He was standing across a house with new blue paint and the more Jessie looked at the house the more familiar it became. He turned around quickly to see an open park lit only with a single lamppost. It flickered and illuminated a freshly painted mural against the park restrooms. It had a familiar signature and Jessie knew where he was.

"I'm in California." Jessie said as he removed his head from his hand "How did I get here?" Blue and red lights suddenly started to flash against the metal bench in front of him. He turned around and took a step back. He felt the cold metal pressed against his skin and a chill ran down his spine.

There were police at the house now, completely frozen in place. As if completely struck in time.Jessie stared at them slack jawed, they were like statues. He waited for them to move only for his skin to crawl the longer he stare at at them.

How did they get here, just a second ago this street was empty?

Building up his nerve he took a step forward, starting to moving across the street. He felt a drop of something wet fall on him as he reached the middle of the street and held out his hand feeling more land on his palm. He looked up and gasped as he saw rain suspended over him like stars in the night sky, each one reflecting the light of the police cars. He took a step back and watched as they receded back into the sky as if someone had tied strings to each drop and was pulling them up. They further back he walked the more they disappeared into the sky, until eventually he felt the cold metal of the bench touch the back of his leg once again.

"What the hell?" Jessie said as he sat back down on the bench and starred at the lights. They flashed lighting up the faces of the unmoving police officers, Revealing a blurred mess of nothing.

"They don't move and they don't have faces either. What the hell is this?"

Jessie said as he stared at the house, sighing he stood back up and took a step forward looking towards the sky. As he walked he watched as droplets of water seemingly appeared from thin air, as he reached the middle of the road he felt another drop touch his shoulder. He looked down at the police and noticed they all had changed positions. He walked forward and watched as one taped off the area, faceless as she continued to cordon off the house with the yellow tape.

"The closer I get to the house, the more everything moves." Jessie said aloud. He reached the edge of the sidewalk and stood in front of one of the officers. He bent down and peered under the brim of their hat, curious to see if anything had changed. He sighed and waved his hand in front of the faceless head hoping for a reaction. Nothing changed.

This is nightmare fuel, can't believe I'm so calm for this.

He stood upright and stepped on the sidewalk grabbing the hat of the officer. As he adjusted the hat on his head he walked towards the door, moving past statues and ducking under tape. He took a step as he reached the stairs of the home and felt himself standing in something wet.

What is this?

He shivered and looked down to his feet, he was standing in a puddle. He gasped and fell on his behind.

There's no way.

He crawled to the puddle and looked at his reflection. He was much smaller than before, and his face looked younger. Years younger.