(Day 4): Liminal Plane

"Bang!" A distant sound echoes out to me, a muzzle flash to accompany it. I feel the air reverberate around me. It all seems to happen in slow motion. The bullet flies towards me as I turn, enroute straight for the flesh protecting my heart. I close my eyes, and take a deep, final breath in. I hear the bullet impact something soft. My vision flickers. The dark Abyss of the beyond calls me, welcomes me. But then something odd happens. With my eyes still closed, the sounds around me begin going echoed and distant. A faint purple glow materialises before my eyes. I open my eyelids. The world begins to waver like heat above a fire. I look down at my hands, they have turned a vibrant yet diminished purple colour. They begin to fade away like a match burning all its fuel, slowly flickering out of existence. Within a matter of seconds, all I can see of my arms are fuzzy purple outlines that resemble light TV static, except coloured purple. Small, dark flashes of purple light begin to spread with my movement, creating small fuzzy outlines of my body that hang in the air for a few seconds, before dissipating into nothingness. The rest of my body slowly starts to disappear too, as the waves of purple light and vibrations spread through my body from my arms. Then comes the pain. Waves of shear, unyielding pain radiate throughout me. In this instant, I wish I could end it all.

The substance begins to crawl up my neck in tendrils, creating a cold tingling effect as it spreads. It creeps over my jaw and covers my mouth. I try to breathe in, but I find that I can't. It feels like cement is in my lungs, stopping all movement and preventing air from entering or escaping. I start panicking. I close my eyes again and I feel the waves of pain wash all over me again now. I fall onto my knees and scream, the pain contorting my body and forcing me to the ground. I scream, and scream, and scream. My scream comes out as echoes that radiate across the field. I scream until my throat feels like it has been dissolved from the pure pressure of me forcing air out, and my lungs are empty. The substance crawls over my ears, and I begin to hear hoarse whispery echoes around me. The noises. I make out voices like Mia and Vick's, though all echoey and faint. Then just as quickly as all the pain started, it stopped. I fall over onto my back, landing with a dull thump. Slowly, I open my eyes, expecting to be greeted by the bright sun, or worse the cold embrace voided darkness known as death. What I see is closer to the latter. The sky has turned a dark grey, closer to black than anything. Purple flashes appear in the sky, like the northern lights but more chaotic. I sit up. Everything I hear around me is diminished and echoey, with a constant, yet faint vibration sound like a buzz in my ears, like TV static. The rest of the landscape is a faint purple and blackish colour. It all appears to be vibrating back and forth, slightly. Like trees swaying in the wind. Sometimes the world appears clear, but other times it becomes opaque and reduced. It kind of reminds me of what happens when you slightly cross your eyes.

I stand up and look around. I see figures all around me in two groups. The first is hiding in the forest line near our base. I make those ones out to be my friends. Yet they are all represented as hollow black figures, like a void in the world. Vick, Mia, and Arctic's blurry purple-and-black bodies are all outlined in a vivid red colouration, but Louie is highlighted in a faint yellowish colour. And Angel has the outline of bright orange. The second group is near the other side of the meadow, close to the lake. Their group contains about eight people. They outnumber us, considerable. Only then do I put two and two together, and I realise that I am standing square in the middle of a battlefield. I need to help them! I approach the closest person to me, Vick. I reach out to him, attempting to touch him and ground myself back in the real world, but my arm goes straight through him. Vick looks over in my direction, and I wave to try and get his attention.

I see him questioningly mouth the word 'Aiden?' He just shrugs, turning back to the battlefield. Vick has grabbed my fallen sniper-rifle off the floor – which I didn't even realise had been stripped from my back until now – and is peaking around the side of a tree, firing off shot after shot with it. He isn't doing very well. I glance down now, my clothes thankfully stayed with me, and so did the dagger and pistol attached to my hip. Then why didn't the rifle stay with me? I glance back up at the battlefield once more. Mia is dual wielding hand cannons, ducking cover behind a felled and rotting tree log. Angel is peeking her head out the tree line, constantly moving around, and using a semi-automatic rifle to fire off a couple of shots before retreating into the bush line. Louie is taking people down using his laser hands. Screams radiate from both sides of the battle in a dull echoing mass that gives me a killer headache. Two of the enemies have already dropped. One of them is covered in burn marks, and the other has multiple bullet wounds to the head. Both bodies are leaking a gloopy, hot red liquid onto the grass. From inside this place, the blood is one of the only normal coloured things. Streaks of blood cover the floor, in intricate patterns. Small puddles are strewn around the terrain. Our side has taken some casualties as well. Angel has been hit in the arm, slowly dripping droplets of blood into the forestry. Though, even now, she is repairing it. Vick has developed a wound in the shoulder, and Mia has a burn mark stretching up the length of her leg. A flicker of anger sparks to life inside me: Louie needs to learn how to control his lasers, but then again, I am the person stuck in… another dimension? The underworld? I don't know where I am. A sharp pain forms in the base of my skull, before it slowly spreads up and down my spine in waves of tingling. My eyes roll up in my sockets, as a loud ringing noise pierces through my eardrums. A series of images and words flood through my consciousness. The Abyss… Source of Vaplyx Crystal… Very radioactive… Alternate dimension… My eyes come back into focus; the pain dying down as the images cease flooding my brain. What… Just happened? I think fearfully inside my head. So it's a dimension… called the Abyss? Not at all creepy…

Out of the corner of my eye I see one of the enemies stalking their way across into the treeline. He begins snaking his way through the forest. I look over at my friends. None of them appear to have noticed. Except for Arctic. Having seen the adversary, he joins in with the battle. I watch him go, and then I notice something else. Another figure, circling my friends from behind them. How did Arctic not smell them? My face hardens with determination and anger as I begin walking towards this hidden adversary, then stop myself. Wait a second, how on earth am I supposed to help my allies if I'm still stuck in this place? An idea passes over me. I quickly duck into cover behind a large jutting rock. I test something, reach my hand out to touch the rough surface. Just as expected, my arm goes straight through the face of it. How am I standing on the floor then? Oh well, what works, works. The corners of my mouth curl upwards in a devilish grin. I close my eyes, focusing inwards on myself, searching my mind for something. I visualise my consciousness in front of me, visualising a large, blank, foggy expanse. Inside it I find collections of memories. I still can't determine if they belong to me or, or if they are all just lies. Lies that my mind made up in a series of failed attempts to comfort me, and fake that I had a life before whatever this is. I push them aside, continuing my search. I find nothing but empty space and memories… but then I see it. In the far corner of my mind, is the access to my power. A shimmering rift like a cut in the fabric of my mind. It pulsates, ripples and shimmers with a thrum of vibrating, powerful energy. Tendrils of purple and black smoke emerge from it, curling upwards in small columns of gas. Slowly, I walk inside over to it, reaching my hand out in front of me. My hand brushes against the cold surface, and instantly I hear the sounds around me harden, becoming increasingly more audible. I open my eyes, being greeted by a normal skyline, and green grass. I am back in the real world! I smile with victory. I enter back into my mind, not closing my eyes this time. I stick my hand inside the figurative rift. The crystal in my arm vibrates, sending a tingling sensation flesh around it. The patch of skin immediately next to it begins dissipating with ripples of purple static. I know what I must do. Letting myself phase completely, I brace myself for a torrent of pain to sweep through me once more. Instead, I am pleasantly surprised when all I feel is the equivalent of a vaccination. I merely wince slightly. I run over to the treeline while still in 'the Abyss.' I spot him, still stalking his way through the tree line. From his belt, he snatches up what appears to be an automatic pistol. My eyes widen.

The others still don't notice. Arctic is nowhere in sight. This is down to me.

I run at him, as fast as I can. There is a tree in between us, but I'm not about to let that stop me. Slightly regretting my decision, I dive straight through the tree and outstretch my arm, trying to grasp onto him. I feel some fabric close in my hand, so I yank on it as hard as I can.

"Argh!" I hear the boy yell out. I hit the ground with my hands and roll forward to stop myself from faceplanting. The purple world has returned to its normal state. I push myself to my feet, turn around to see what I have done. The boy is sprawled face down on the ground, eating dirt. He stands up and turns to face me, a clear look of confusion and surprise on his face. But as quick as it formed, it fades as he raises his gun and points it at my face. I just smile, an unconcerned, free smile. Feeling strangely in control for some reason. His finger tightens on the trigger, and a piece of hot lead flies forwards to me. I instinctively reach out, touching the dark corner of my mind. I feel my stomach ripple and tingle, sparkling flashes of purple light shooting off me as the substance crawls up my skin. The bullet whizzes straight through me, a slight tingling sensation growing from the point it entered. I start to walk towards him, my smile growing impossibly wider. His expression hardens, and I watch his face transform in front of me. Like flicking through the pages of a magazine, his expression turns from anger, to shock, then fear. His finger tightens harder on the trigger, and a hail of lead sprays from the muzzle of his firearm. I phase, watching the bullets pass straight through me like a ghost. They drill into the soil behind me, harmless and useless. The hellfire of lead ceases, and I reach out and grab his neck. The world returns to normal. The gun slips from his grasp. His fear reflects in his eyes as he realises his fate is sealed. In a single fluent motion, I reach down to my hip and un-sheath my dagger. Looking my prey dead in the eyes, I smash his head backwards against the tree, plunging my sharpened blade deep into the centre of his chest. He lets out an aggravating gargled scream and slides sideways onto the ground. A vivid red sludge is left on the overgrowth next to him, painted all over where he fell. Blood pumps out of his chest, staining his clothing red as blood begins to seep into the soil beneath him.

The plants are eating well tonight. I slump down a bit in my stance, exhaustion taking over. Wow, that drained a lot of my strength. I begin panting slightly, my energy level dropping suddenly as the adrenaline drains from my system. I study the face of my prey. He has grey eyes, choppy brown hair, and a pale skin tone. He has the same blood type as me, I think, AB negative. Then I frown. Wait a second, how do I know that? I squint, inspecting his face. I know this guy! My vision swirls, leaving behind the dense forest and crime scene. My eyes flicker, my consciousness separates from my mind as I fall backwards into the cold embrace of a past memory.