New part!Finally..
7:41 AMIt was far, far too early for Dylan.
He was a late sleeper, one of those people who could stay awake to any hour of the night with ease, but always had trouble getting up in the morning no matter what time he went to sleep the night before.
He yawned grumpily and pushed open the front door of the apartment building, steping out into the cool morning air and squinting at the brightness of the newly risen sun.
Dylan adjusted the straps of his rucksack for comfort and walked down the path onto the road, heading for work. It was a quiet morning, a few birds sang to each other through the camouflage of green foliage, and every now and then he heard a car roar by in the distance, but no other sounds at all. He could see up Alburn road all the way past the construction site to Main street, and as far as he could tell, there wasn't a single other person or vehicle at all. Dylan frowned, that was very odd. Probably just a coincidence though, and after all it was pretty early.
A cool breeze blew his untidy hair slightly and bent the untrimmed grass of several lawns as Dylan trekked on. He could ear a car alarm buzzing somewhere about a block away, and wished someone would turn it off. He hated car alarms. He passed the Alburn road Quick-Easy Mart, and noticed it was dark inside. No sign of life. It usually opened really early, so it was a surprise to see it still closed. Dylan knew one of the clerks who worked there full time really well. John-Paul, who went by JP. Nice guy, and one of Dylan’s closest mates. He was lazy as hell and a bit of a slob though. Many a night had been passed at Dylan’s apartment with JP, drinking and eating pizza and playing video games until the sun came up.
Something rustled in a heavy green bush between two cream coloured houses, enough to have been caused by more than just the wind. Dylan stopped, and eyed the bush suspiciously. He once again became horribly aware of how quiet and still the morning is, he still hadn't seen a single other person on the streets yet.
The bush shook again and suddenly an orange tabby cat jumped out, meowing at Dylan in a lazy attention-seeking tone. Dylan almost laughed for being so paranoid. He bent down and scratched one orange furry ear, and then continued his walk.
He passed the construction site, an ugly thorn sticking up in the road. The manhole was still open, surrounded by baricades, but no sign of any construction crew. It'll probably take the city months just to fix a pipe or whatever they're doing there, as usual. He felt for the houses lining the construction area, must be noisy. He glanced up at the windows of one wood-paneled three story home and noticed one of the windows was smashed outwards.
Dylan stopped and turned around suddenly. Was that a scream he just heard? It was very faint, but it definitely sounded like someone screaming. He squinted down the road and saw someone standing, right in the middle of the road. Not moving, just standing there, just outside where his apartment building was. Why were they just standing there? Maybe they dropped something.
Dylan was starting to get a little freaked out. All the houses around him were deathly silent, not filled with their usual morning bustle of showers and conversation. He turned back to the sidewalk leading up to Main street, his heart starting to beat just a little faster. Was that another scream he just heard, or was he imagining things? Maybe it was just a bird. Like the first noise. Had to be, why would someone be screaming?
A car zoomed past in front of him on Main street with a roar of the engine. Way to fast for the speed limit on the road. Dylan glanced up and saw that the lights were red, that car just ran a red light. Then there was a sound like glass smashing from somewhere out of sight, making Dylan jump a little. He whipped his head around, searching for where the sound came from, but everything was still and quiet again.
He was starting to think going to work today would be a
bad idea.
Nevertheless, he continued towards work, turning onto Main street. Besides being in an older part of the city, this street was usually pretty busy even at 8 in the morning. Again, the street was pretty much empty. He did see a few people just up the road on Main however, two or three people kneeling down in the road. Maybe there had been an accident on the street? They'd closed of the roads? He was going that way anyway so he'd see when he got there.
He passed by a white old looking house and noticed the door was wide open, creaking slowly in the slight breeze. Something red was smeared all over the door and path...
THUMP!Something hit Dylan from behind. He fell foward onto the sidewalk, landing hard on his hands letting out an annoyed 'oof!'. Looking up he saw a girl in black pants running as fast as she could up the street, without even looking back. She crossed and dissapeared down a small alley. Dylan pushed himself up off the ground, noticed his palms were grazed. He took a look behind him but didn't see what she could have been running from. The street was completely devoid of life in that direction as far as he could see, just a few cars parked along the gutter.
What the hell was going on today? Something was seriously wrong in this city. Should he go home? What would his excuse be for not going into work?
Sorry i didn't come in to work, it was quiet out and someone ran past me, and i got scared and went home.No, he'd go to work. He crossed over the deserted road and continued on, keeping a sharp eye out for odd goings on.
Just a heads up guys, the story is posted in FULL in my blog, so if you want to read it over from start to finish without all the comments, it's there, and it'll be updated to add each new part as it comes.
i want it to be a surprise
