Shadows

*Beep beep beep* an annoying alarm whined.

A boy, rudely awoken by the sound, groaned. 'Ugh... Just five more minutes...'

'...'

'This already happened!!!' he jolted awake.

He found himself in a familiar dark room, resting on a soft comfortable bed. Warm sun beams squeezed their way through the blinds of a window to the boy's side.

'I'm... back?' he looked around in confusion.

He tossed aside the blankets covering him and headed for the window.

He gently pushed the window blinds out of the way, causing a cascade of brilliant light to pour in.

'So bright...' he squinted his eyes.

The boy took in the serene scenery with melancholy, until he gazed at the sky.

'I-it- How is it back?!' he regarded the anomaly with terror, goosebumps appearing on his skin.

An endless orange aurora danced in the sky. It enclosed the swollen sun like a cage, showing its dominance over the life giver.

The boy stumbled back, shaking. 'I-I need to get out of here!' he dashed for the door behind him.

He pulled the door open as if he were trying to rip it apart from its hinges. Beyond was a single long tight pitch-black hallway. With no hesitation the boy entered.

At the very end he saw a glow coming from a circular object. As he got closer he saw an ominous iron maiden standing at the very end, its head was the source of light.

The boy stopped dead as the thick oval doors of the iron maiden creaked open. Within the metallic object's oval body was an endless swirling dark void.

Before he could take a step back, countless translucent blue tentacles shot out of the void. They wrapped around him and dragged him in.

A thousand needles poked and prodded the boy a million times as he was pulled closer and closer in. After being completely devoured by the void, the bulky doors slammed shut.

The boy couldn't breath, he drowned in the wet darkness. He struggled and tried to swim away but the void was endless and viscous.

Eventually he saw a speck of light. Like a moth, he scraped his way towards it. As he got closer, he could see a bright landscape from above. More desperate than ever, he dug towards it as fast as he could. When his vision was fully enveloped by the sight, he was pushed in towards it, the void trying to vomit him out. He emerged above the vegetation's canopy and then dropped to the ground.

He got up, and was surrounded by an alien scenery. Silver trees shot up from the ground covered in cyan bumps encircled by moss. Specks of orange particles were peppered all over the plants. The specks of orange glowed and lightly pulsed, the rest of the world looked gray and dull in comparison to their lively vibrance.

The particles vibrated and rearranged, the world melting and bending to their will. The plants wilted and disintegrated, their mass changed into new forms at the particles' direction.

Blurry monstrous creatures emerged from the orange primordial soup. They were colorless with fuzzy features. The boy couldn't clearly see them, his focus couldn't escape the mystique of the orange particles. All he knew was that they were deadly and charging towards him.

The boy ran in fear, the formless wave of death looming right behind. The mass of creatures twisted and shuffled with the orange particles floating between them. Features, shapes and characteristics were lodged off some creatures and stitched onto others. Body parts were ripped apart, rearranged, recombined and improved. New species were birthed on the spot, each better than the last. All was mediated by the orange specks pulsating like a heartbeat.

The boy tripped. He fell on the squeaky ground.

He turned and saw the tsunami of monsters right beside him. They unzipped their disfigured maws, their eyes locked on the boy.

The boy guarded himself out of lack of options, seemingly accepting his fate.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

The ground quaked from the violent fireballs that rained down on the flood of formless flesh. Violent inferno disintegrated both monsters and orange flakes alike. Explosions poured down until all creatures were reduced to ash and dust.

The boy uncurled and observed in awe as a pale outline of an angel radiating pure white light descended down towards him. A benevolent smile formed on the angel's face as it extended a hand to the boy. Confused, he took the hand.

As soon as the two made contact, the angel's smile melted away. A shadowy wide malicious grin with savage teeth replaced the once sweet smile. Fur burst up from the angel's body, its back bent and it grew a long slim tail.

Upon seeing the transformation, the boy tried to pull back his arm, but failed. The angel had an ironclad grip over the boy's wrist, no matter how hard he struggled he couldn't break free.

The angel grasped the boy's neck with its other hand and dragged him away into the sky. As the two sped towards the center of the world, the boy lost his vision.

***

When the boy opened his eyes again, he was still being hauled by the false angel that was now slowing down. Looking around, he saw a blank nothingness interrupted by four ivory pillars stretching infinitely far into the sky.

The evil angel began to land. They inched closer to the weakly reflective translucent ground. Once they got close enough, the twisted angel tossed the boy down to the floor. He landed with a thud that made his whole body ache.

Crawling on his elbows, he saw the tailed angel prostrate itself before a towering monument framed by the four pillars. Atop the monument, a giant mechanical contraption reminiscent of a clock was displayed. The mechanism gushed with orange liquid that streamed down like a fountain. A volcanic eruption of the same orange liquid occurred on a regular rhythm. Some of the liquid evaporated and floated away in the form of tiny orange particles. The whole structure looked divine, missing only a chorus to sing its praises.

To the sides of the monument were rows of billions upon billions of orange human-sized eggs bathing in the ocean formed by the expulsions of the device atop. Right at the base stood a congregation of people clad in pure robes, encircled and praying. Their faces were blank with no discernible features present.

A few seconds later, the gathering dissolved to the sides, revealing the object they previously shrouded. Electronic components, mechanical parts, shattered glass, a piercing pained red glow and grey metallic panels accented with pale green were disseminated above a stone slab lifted off the wet ground.

In unison the assembly pointed their blank stare at the boy. Terrified, he squirmed away crawling as fast as his injuries allowed.

As if signaled by the group, the grotesque angel arose and marched for the boy. It grabbed him by the collar and dragged him towards the altar. The boy struggled, punched, bit and everything else he could to escape the unfazed angel. He tried to scream, yell or at least speak, but no sound left his mouth.

The congregation scurried aside, making way for the marching angel. With one hand, the angel tossed the boy onto the altar. He wiggled and jerked as screws and springs dug into his flesh and tightly bound him to the slab.

The horde of people wearing white robes gathered around the bloody altar, lowered their heads, closed their nonexistent eyes and began to pray. In tandem, the angel gazed up at the contraption, murmured and looked down on the shaking boy.

The angel clenched its right hand and...

*Crunch*

Crushed its own wrist. It then twisted its palm around until it could be ripped off and thrown aside. Clawing with the other hand, the maddened angel scraped off the flesh from its bone. When its radius and ulna were clean, it began to chew on them, sharpening the bones into two rough blades shaped like shears.

The dark sky above was now filled with countless pulsating orange specks. The eruptions of the monument got faster and more violent. The congregation shivered in anticipation.

The angel lifted its right hand with spasming mussels and jabbed it deep into the boy's side as it said something incomprehensible.

*Squirt*

The boy gargled blood. He spat the crimson out, but kept choking on it. His stab wound leaked flesh and blood like a waterfall.

The angel stabbed again on the same spot right on the boy's liver. It once again said something that he couldn't make out.

The third stab, he finally heard it: "-ke up!"

Duncan jolted awake in cold sweat, scaring Angelo who was beside him.

"Wah!" Angelo exclaimed. "Are you okay?! You looked like you were in pain..." worried, he got closer.

"Y-yea... I just... had a bad dream." Duncan breathed heavily.

[I am shocked to hear that you have dreams and aspirations, pitiful creator. But not so to find out that they are bad.]