It was nighttime in Vancouver, and it did nothing to hinder the life, roads were still just as busy, people filled sidewalks like ants, while crackheads fulfilled their holy duty of crack-heading. And far away from the hustle bustle of downtown, on a hill track in the northwest of the city, Prabh trudged along on trembling legs.
As he descended, his foot slipped on a puddle, a remnant of yesterday's rain, and he smacked into a tree. Thankfully, he didn't hit his face.
"Ugh, this is just perfect," he muttered, his voice hoarse. "Nothing beats a few broken bones in dark after god reject your appointment."
Pushing himself away from the tree, he sat down on a nearby log. He had been walking for about an hour, according to his phone. He had woken up around 10 PM, and it was past 11 now with still two-thirds of the walk ahead of him by the looks of the map. He has already deleted his suicide note, thank God it didn't go through because of network, The last thing he needed was to explain that embarrassing detail to Baj. But no worries, there are different problems to worry about for now.
"Alright, Prabh," he said to himself, taking a deep breath. "You drank poison; a wobbly walk down a hill is nothing compared to that."
With that little bit of motivation, he pushed himself up and started walking again. The hill was steep, and the descent took longer than usual. Normally, it would take him about two hours, but tonight it stretched into three grueling hours. The terrain was treacherous in the dark, with roots and rocks conspiring to trip him at every step. His legs burned with the effort, and he had to stop frequently to catch his breath.
"I should really consider getting in shape," he grumbled, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Mountain climbing is well above my body's pay rate." His empty stomach didn't help much either.
By the time he reached the bottom of the hill, it was 1 AM. Prabh sighed, realizing there were no buses at this hour. He pulled out his phone and called for an Uber. As he waited, he noticed several missed messages from his friend, but he chose to ignore them for now. His thoughts kept returning to the bizarre dream-like experience with Onwenhka and Eamon. Despite its bizarre nature, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was real.
"Maybe the nicotine overdose wasn't fatal," he mused, staring at the dark forest. "Or maybe I threw it up as vomit." He wrinkled his nose at his vomit-stained clothes, which he must have soiled after passing out.
The Uber arrived, and Prabh climbed in, sinking into the seat with a groan. The ride home took another hour, with the driver making small talk that Prabh answered with vague replies. His mind was too preoccupied to engage in conversation. He kept replaying the events in his head, trying to make sense of them.
When he finally reached his home, it was close to 2 AM. He entered quietly, not wanting to wake his roommate, and headed straight to the bathroom. The hot shower felt heavenly on his tired muscles. He scrubbed away the grime and sweat, trying to wash away the memory of the night's trek and the smell of vomit. As he dried himself and climbed out of the shower, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He froze, his heart pounding.
"What the…?" he whispered, leaning closer to the mirror. His right eye had changed color. What was once dark brown now had a light blue sclera, with a dark black iris outlined in blue.
"This can't be real," he muttered, gripping the edge of the sink. "It was just a dream. It has to be."
But the reflection told a different story. He stood there, staring at his altered eye, feeling a wave of panic rising within him. He took several deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.
"Okay, Prabh. Get a grip. You can figure this out," he said, trying to sound reassuring.
He quickly finished drying himself and got dressed. After walking all day with no food and vomiting the little he had eaten in the morning, he was ravenous. He decided to reserve thinking part for later and walked into the kitchen. There was no leftover in the fridge, so he decided to make some pasta. The act of cooking helped calm his nerves a bit, giving him something mundane to focus on.
As he ate, he thought about the supposed dream he had, which was proving to be more than just a dream. If this wasn't a dream, if it was all real, then he was in so much trouble. Onwenhka had a piece of his soul, and he was caught in a nightmarish cycle. His only hope was to either pull a op anime mc ark from his ass or find some dumbledore type granny wizards.
Ahh, it was making his head hurt. Rubbing his temples, he glanced at the clock; it was already past 3 AM. He was feeling extremely sleepy, but he didn't want to face another nightmare just yet, so he made himself the strongest coffee he could.
He sat in the living room, scrolling on his phone, trying to distract himself. Slowly, morning crept up, heralded by the chirping of birds. The door to his friend's room opened, and Jaggi walked out, dressed in a sleeveless shirt and underwear. He was taller than Prabh by two inches, standing at 6 feet. His body was average, not too muscular but still lean from working in construction for a year. His face was round, marked with red acne scars on his cheeks and forehead.
"Good morn—what the hell? Is your eye blue? Are you cosplaying as a Fremen or something?" Of course, the first thing he noticed was the eye.
"It's just a lens I bought yesterday; how does it look? Does it suit me?" Prabh blurted out the first thing that came to mind, hoping Jaggi wouldn't press further.
"Okay, it does look good. Gives you an anime mc look. Anyway, where have you been? I messaged you last night, and you didn't answer," Jaggi asked, sinking onto the seat opposite Prabh.
"Oh, I was at a club," Prabh replied, grabbing yet another cup of coffee. "I lost track of time, and it was pretty loud there, so I didn't hear the phone."
"You never went to a club before, and now suddenly you went there alone, without me," Jaggi said, his tone turning suspicious.
Prabh hesitated, trying to come up with a plausible story. "Oh, it was, um, an online friend. I recently met a guy online who invited me to hang out. It would have been weird to bring you along. Sorry."
Jaggi raised an eyebrow but didn't press further. "Ok, no need to apologize. Just, next time, let me know. I thought you'd fallen into a ditch or something."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Prabh said, forcing a smile. "I'll keep that in mind."
They talked for a bit longer, but Prabh's mind was elsewhere. He kept thinking about his eye and his seemingly bleak future. As soon as Jaggi left for work, Prabh went to the bathroom to check his reflection again. The eye was still the same, a stark reminder that it wasn't just a dream.
"I can't even die right. Why does it always have to happen to me?" he whispered to himself. "Did I piss off this country's god by coming here or something? Now I have to look for those stupid Binders. Ugh, fuck it."
Determined, he began planning his next steps. He had to learn more about this new reality, find out where the Binders were, and figure out how to defeat Onwenhka. But for now, he needed to stay awake and stay alert. That he couldn't do for much longer, as fatigue slowly crept up on him. As soon as he touched the bed, he dozed off. If this broken promise was any indication of how his future was going to be, then it was rather hopeless.