Chapter Text
The sound of raindrops hit the window, as the sky above was covered in grey rain clouds. Inside the house was a bedroom, with a desk inside. On top of it, laid a book with a picture on it. A door opened across from the bedroom, as a figure walked in. They closed the door and went over to their desk. With a flip of a finger, they switched the lamp on and sat down. They put their shaky hand on the book, as they opened it. With their other hand, they opened a drawer and pulled out a pen. They let out a few coughs, and breathed heavily afterwards. They sighed, knowing that this would be the last time they ever wrote in this book.
"...One last time... One... Last... Shot..."
Darkness...
That's all I could really see. From left, to right, and up to down. I could see nothing but a void of darkness in every direction. Right away, I could tell this was a dream. But it was unlike any I have had. Most times, I just pass out and wake up with nothing happening. I didn't think much about it as I tried to pinch myself awake. But I found no such luck. I frowned as I began to walk around in the dark. It felt like nothing was changing. I walked for about five minutes, just hoping something would happen to wake me up. Or... was I awake already? I shook that thought away. It was stupid to consider this not being a dream.
But before I could stop, thinking I could just wait until I woke up, I saw a light in the distance. Hope entered my heart as I started to jog towards it. A way out, perhaps? To my utter disappointment, it was not. Once I reached the light, I found it coming from a screen. A screen of an old white desktop computer. I had never seen one in person, so it was interesting to see how... detailed (and primitive) it was. There were computer icons with no names, so I couldn't even figure out what to click. Or if I even wanted to click on anything. If dreams had meanings, I wasn't understanding it mine.
"Uh... Hello? Is anyone using this?" I said, looking around for someone to respond.
I felt stupid asking that, but the computer clearly had to have been powered up by something. Unsurprisingly, no one responded... or so I thought. As I let out a sigh of frustration, I heard a little ding noise come from behind me. I turned around to face the computer, and saw a window had opened. I leaned in to see what it was.
[...You found me.]
[...Why?]
I stared hard at the screen with deep confusion.
"Who is speak- er, typing to me right now?"
[...That does not matter. You're already too late. Not much of the world remains.]
I stared hard at the words, unsure how to process that.
[This will be apparent once you go outside.]
"Outside of what? What are you talking about?"
[...Please let me finish.]
I frown but follow the order. I was still very annoyed with how confusing this all is, so it can't blame me for wanting to ask questions.
[This place was never worth saving....]
[Do you still want to try?]
"Try what exactly? I'm not exactly working with a lot of information here, pal."
[...]
No response came. I groaned and decided to go along with it. Maybe this will speed things along and then I'll wake up before the interesting part of the dream happens.
"Sure. Why not?”
[Then, remember this. Your actions here will affect Niko...]
What the hell was that supposed to mean? And who the hell is "Niko"?
[Your "mission" is to help Niko leave. And most importantly...]
Suddenly, the computer disappeared, as light started to fill the void.
[You only have One Shot, Mason.]
[....]
[Wait...how are you...?]
I didn't read the rest, as I felt my body getting heavy. Before I knew it, the light filled my vision... and I lost consciousness.
I awoke with a start, clutching my chest as I did my best to calm down. I felt around my body, making sure I was unharmed. Once I did, I laid back down, rubbing my hand along my forehead, groaning. I start to remember the rough night at work I had experienced. Angry customers, lack of stock in items, and closing late. Truly, what could best described as, a shitty night. I let out a sigh, looking at the ceiling. But then something dawned on me.
"Wait... when did I fall asleep on my couch?"
"...Hello?"
I was startled by a sudden voice, and I reached around the couch, hoping I would find an item of mine. An item that was very important for my survival. To my relief, I did. My glasses. I used my shirt to wipe off any dust it had gained and put them on. I then looked around to see who the stranger was. To say I had no idea what I was looking at, would be an understatement. Before me stood what looked like a small child. Their appearance was what caught my attention. A hat with cat ears, big bright yellow eyes, brown skin (or fur?), blue hair, a blue scarf, a very large baggy overcoat or sweater of some kind, and some greyish purple leggings.
What stood in front of me was definitely a child. But human? That was definitely up for debate. A part of me wanted to reach out and pet the adorable creature. I quickly stepped on that idea due to how awkward that would be for a first time greeting.
I did not notice how long I was staring until the child said something.
"Um... Are... Are you OK?"
They looked at me with an expression of concern, as I shook my head a bit to get my bearings.
"Um... yeah I'm good." I proceeded to uncover myself from the blankets, as I sat up from the couch. My shirt, pants, socks, and shoes were all on me. Same from when I went to sleep after work. I then looked around the room, as it dawned upon me. This was not my couch. It wasn't even my living room. This is not my house. It all started coming back a bit, but the last thing I remembered was falling asleep at my computer... right?
"Hey Kid. Do you know where I am?" I asked, hoping this strange looking child could fill me in.
"N-No. I was hoping you would know."
I looked at the child with a concerned look.
"I woke up in the other room. The last thing I remember was falling asleep in my bedroom. Next thing I know, I woke up here." The child looked down sadly.
"I-I... I don't even know where 'here' is" The child was starting to look scared. This was all still very confusing to me. One minute, I'm at my computer, relaxing after a stressful day at work, and now...?
"Well, it seems me and you are in the same boat then. Cause I don't live here either." The child looked down, like I had just dashed their hopes.
"Oh..."
They looked like they were close to crying. I sighed as I mentally kicked myself for not being a bit more tactful. I stood up from the couch and kneeled in front of them. I then gently placed a hand on their shoulder. To my relief they did not feel frightened by me doing so.
"Hey, hey. Don't worry, kid. I may not know what's going on, but if you and I are in the same situation... then maybe we can help each other out."
The child wiped away a tear that threatened to fall from their eyes as they looked up at me. "W-What do you mean?"
"Well, we're both lost. And we both woke up here. There must be a reason for that. And if there's a reason, that means someone out there knows why we're here. So, we gotta find them and get some answers."
The child looked at me with a hopeful expression. "...'We?' You mean... You wanna help me get home?"
I looked at them, as I saw them eagerly waiting on my next words. It was a bit cute to be honest.
"I mean, why wouldn't I?"
The child wrapped their arms around my stomach, squeezing me tightly. "Thank you!"
I chuckle, as I pat their back. I wasn't sure if hugging back would be weird so I didn't.
"First things first though. We have to figure out how to get out of here."
The child nodded as I stood back up, taking in the sight of the room.
"You have a name, kid?"
"My name is Niko."
I froze in place for a brief second. "Niko". Just like the computer said. I decided to hide that thought away for right now, and continue.
"...Cool name, kid."
They gave me a warm smile. "And what's your name?"
"Huh? Oh right. My name's Mason. Nice to meet you, Niko."
"So what should we do now, Mr. Mason?"
I chuckled. Something about them calling me "Mr" was amusing to me.
"Well, we should probably find our way out of this place. Doesn't seem like we won't get anywhere staying here."
Me and Niko soon after began to examine the rooms that were available, seeing if we could find our way out. I did not find much, as I was too preoccupied in my own thoughts. I could not, for the life of me, understand why I was here. The feeling of this just being a dream had started to fade a bit, as everything continued. Not fully, but the concern was still there.
More and more questions of how and why I am here kept repeating in my mind, as I became frustrated. I put those thoughts away for now. I need to be here for this kid. The quicker this is over, the quicker my brain might finally listen to me and wake the hell up.
I looked in the fridge, where a bottle of alcohol was. It looked pretty old, and I could only imagine how bad it tasted. I grabbed it out, figuring it could maybe have some use. After a bit of searching around, Niko and I met near the couch to discuss what we found.
"Well, there wasn't much in the kitchen. Found some alcohol and that's it."
Niko looked at the drink with an expression of disgust. "Blegh. My mama says that's a nasty drink."
I chuckled as I continued. "Find anything useful? Or even a way out?"
Niko shook their head, then lifted up a stick. "I found this in the bathroom. Fell off a dead plant."
"OK. So we got a stick, and some alcohol. Hmm." I take a quick look around before continuing. "It is actually pretty dark here. If we had a lighter, we could probably make a torch or something."
"Or maybe we could light the fireplace?" Niko then pointed over to the chimney behind me. I was surprised I missed it.
"Good idea, kid." I pet their head as they smiles. "Just need to find some way to light it."
As if the world was answering our problem, the broken TV let out a little spark. Me and Niko looked at it, back at each other, and shrugged. As Niko held the stick still, I covered the top with the alcohol. I am not someone who enjoys the taste of alcohol, so the smell of the old booze made me and Niko cringe.
"Alright. All good to use."
Niko nodded and headed towards the TV. As they were about to light it, I had a moment of clarity, and quickly pulled them away before they lit it.
"W-Woah! What's wrong?"
"Maybe you should let me do this, kid. The last thing I want is for you to burn yourself."
Niko looked confused then realized why I reacted. "Oh. That actually makes sense. Mama doesn't like when I'm around fire either."
I looked at them, a bit curious as to that statement. "What do you mean?"
Niko, looked away, a bit embarrassed. "Well... maybe I'll tell you about it later."
I shrugged. I wasn't going to pressure them to tell me a story they weren't comfortable with. I held the stick out to the TV, as a spark ignited the tip of it, bursting into a blue flame. The color left me a bit awestruck before I moved it to the fireplace, lighting it ablaze. I left the stick inside, as a kindle of some kind.
Niko stared at the flames in wonder. "Wooooah. I've never seen a blue flame like this before. It looks so pretty!"
"Well I can definitely say we're somewhere out of the ordinary. Unless those sticks are made of a special gas or something, that's not natural."
Niko looked up at me, a bit confused. "Wait, so you don't live here? I mean, around here."
I shook my head. "No. At least... I don't think I do. I don't know of any plants on Earth that turn blue when on fire. So, we're definitely not in my city."
Niko's eyes the lit up at my statement. "You live in a city?"
"Well... Not a typical city like New York or Chicago. It's more like a bunch of buildings with a large population of people. More spread out and open unlike New York. "
"...What's 'New York'?"
I look down at them, a bit surprised by their statement. I then remembered what I was looking at. This kid isn't a human, so they can't be from Earth. Whatever scenario my dream wanted to show, I was getting genuinely confused by the plot it wanted to tell.
"It's a place back from where I come from. If we have time, I'll tell you about it."
Niko nodded, and turned around. "Hey. What's that?" Niko then pointed to a shiny piece of metal, before going to pick it up. He held up what seemed to be a key.
I looked at the two doors we examined when we searched. One didn't even have a doorknob, so that was out of the question. The other did, and was in fact, locked.
"Good eye, Niko. Maybe this is our ticket out of here."
Niko smiled and headed towards the door to the east, and unlocked it. As it opened, it let out a loud creaking moan, and revealed some stairs leading into a dark basement. Chills ran up my spine as we both stared down into the darkness below.
"Well... Better keep-"
I then felt my right leg shaking as Niko gripped on my pant leg, trembling from looking in.
"I... I don't know if we should go down there..."
I looked down at Niko, a bit concerned about how much they were shaking. "You scared of the dark?"
"N-No! It's just...", they trailed off, as they stared down the stairs, still shaking.
"Look bud, I don't like it either, but it seems to be our only way forward."
Niko looked down at the floor. They knew I was right, but it didn't make them any less scared.
I let out a sigh. I thought to myself. I can't have this kid freeze up right now. If what the computer said is true, they might be my only ticket out of here.
I then reached down and grabbed their hand. They looked up, a bit surprised by my brazen action.
"We'll take it slow. I'll be right here with you." I did my best to give a comforting smile.
Niko gave a soft smile back and slowly walked with me down the stairs.
While it was dark, we could thankfully make out the steps we had to take. No risk of falling and hurting ourselves. Very soon, we reached the bottom of the stairs, which led to a hallway. Niko and I looked around, still not seeing anything of note to draw our attention away from the dark. Until we saw the end.
"Hey. Do you see that?" Niko said, before pointing out an object laying on the floor ahead of us.
We both walked over to see what it was. An oversized lightbulb, laying on the ground, with no light coming from it. I let go of Niko's hand and picked it up. I wiped away any dust it had before examining. And I was right. It was just a regular plus-sized lightbulb.
"I can only imagine the size of flashlight this is supposed to be attached to. Right, kid?" I smirked, looking at Niko, who was just... staring at it.
"Uh, Niko? You OK there, buddy?"
"Can... Can I hold it?"
I examined Niko briefly, as they continued to just stare at the bulb. Almost as if it was the only important thing in the world right here and now. I shrugged and handed it over. As I did, the light bulb slowly started to light up. Before I could even say anything, the hallway was filled with light, as I tried to cover my eyes.
Once it had dimmed down, I looked back at Niko, who simply let out a gentle 'woah'.
"How... How did you...?"
"I... I don't know. It just seemed like the right thing to do."
I wanted to prod further, to see if this kid was more than they seemed. But my thoughts repeated a similar phrase. "It's a dream. Don't think about it too hard." I simply shrugged, and patted Niko's shoulder.
"Nice work, Kid. Got some light now, at least."
We headed back upstairs, the room being slightly more lit up from the lightbulb. Moving towards the other door, we got a better look at it thanks to the light. It appeared to have some kind of marking, or rather symbol, on its front. It matched the shape of a lightbulb. To be honest, it reminded me of those old movie tropes of a specific item needing to fit a specific keyhole to find the movie's plot convenient item.
Niko walked forward to the door, looking at it with me. Suddenly, the door marking lit up, as it began to slowly open. Light suddenly began to fill the room, as I began to lose sight of everything, including Niko. I reached out to try and shield Niko. But before I could do anything, everything became pitch white. My vision was all white, when suddenly...
"I don't how I would've gone through this without you, son."
I hit the floor.