1 Realization

It was a February evening. The joyful laughter and banter of the people going about their business were mingling effortlessly with the crispy winter air of the city of Paris. Adam was on the bus returning to his hotel room after a day of touring the historically important places of the city.

He was on his phone surfing through the tour guide, checking out places he could go sightseeing the next day. He had been a history enthusiast since childhood. But his enthusiasm stemmed from reading mangas, manhwas, comics, etc. He was fascinated by the way those books depicted the times of the past. Soon this grew out to be a passion that he wholeheartedly worked towards.

He had toured all over the world, traveling to places that held historical significance. He had visited the ruins of Central America, seen the remains of ancient civilizations of India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China. He had seen the grandiose structures of Greece, which was known as the cradle of European civilization. And now he was in Paris, France. The place where the first spark of change from monarchy to democracy was ignited. He was just getting back from visiting the catacombs that were situated beneath the city.

[A few hours ago]

While roaming around the accessible parts of the catacombs he heard from the guide, " Do you know Mr. Willson, The Catacombs are situated right under the city, so because of its hollow structure, there is a possibility that some parts of the city might sink and open up a sinkhole. So the workers have to constantly look for weak spots and reinforce them."

"Eeeh that must be hard" Adam replied

" Hee, it sure is. And the deeper they go, the creepier it gets" the guide sighed

"But not all parts of the catacombs are accessible, so what do they do from the inaccessible ones?"

" Well, that's one of the reasons why they are trying to unravel the deeper parts, but, don't worry. The Catacombs were made with the finest architecture of their times, so it will not go down that easily."

Although the guide reassured him, Adam was still concerned. He was quite pessimistic from his childhood and the trait was acting up again.

Blaming his paranoia, he threw the subject to the back of his mind and continued enjoying the tour. But, the feeling was still there, he was feeling something was wrong but couldn't quite wrap his head around it.

[Back to the present]

Adam had completely forgotten about the shady feeling and was now surfing the internet looking for some amusing news.

{A ten-year-old with 40 kg muscle mass! You can also have similar gains! Just follow this routine and see the change yourself!}

" What kind of bullcrap is this? are they serious?..."

Instead of coming across amusing news, he caught a scam and a ridiculous scam at that.

He turned off the phone and stared out the bus. The streets were glittering with light. Everybody was walking around with clothes that kept them warm, clearly a sign of the wintery weather. He had his enjoyment for the day and was tired enough to jump to sleep the minute he returned to his room. He wondered what was there for dinner, at least he would have to eat something before he went to sleep, the tastier the meal, the better.

Suddenly, he felt the urge to throw up, the kind of urge you would feel when you are falling.

'Falling.....?'

Thinking something was wrong he looked out of the window, there was nothing..... no, calling it nothing would be wrong, there was darkness, pitch, abysslike darkness.

And that was the last thing he saw..... or felt? before everything went off. His five senses were turning off, but his sixth sense was screaming at him that he was in danger, he knew he was in danger, but with even that, he felt he was losing his grip. The last thing he knew, even the darkness was dissipating into something that he couldn't explain. He didn't know it was possible. At that moment a shivering thought crept up his mind, he had a faint realization...

....he was dead.