An old beat-up car turned a corner, headlights illuminating the dark moonlit road. Inside the vehicle, frustration was boiling inside Alex; his fist clenched the wheel tightly, his knuckles white as he gritted his teeth.
"GAAAH FUCKING SMUG BASTARD!"
His angry shout of frustration fills the car as he attempts to stay as calm as possible and navigate the dark midnight roads carefully. Glancing in the rearview, making eye contact with himself, he groaned a bit as he tried to relax. His eyes had bags under them, and he looked exhausted. 'I look like shit.' He brought his eyes back to the road as he drove his head filled with fury. 'Making me stay till midnight, it's ridiculous! While they can just go home and relax, I'm busting my ass.' He let out a large huff of frustration. 'I can't quit another job. I only had this one for 2 months. I can't leave another one; the bills are stacking up.' He grumbled and tried to clear his head as he focused on the road.
'Boss left two hours early, and I have to work a double shift. It's absurd.' No matter what he did, he couldn't shake away the frustrated thoughts in his head. The manager's face entered his mind, the smug look on their face as they told him they were gonna head out early and that Alex had to stay behind till the store closes. How they always seemed to be so demeaning to him, it made his blood boil. He was ready to get home, but the thought of going back to that place in just another 5 hours made him furious. He gritted his teeth and refrained from screaming his frustrations into the empty car yet again.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted something, a brief, bright light. slamming the brakes, and looking over, he saw a car for a split second before he felt a sickening jerk sideways and then nothing.
Alex opened his eyes, groaning slightly as he tried to move; his body wasn't responding; he couldn't move; all he saw was a streetlight above him as he grunted in pain. 'What I-I was hit? I can't feel my... anything. I can't feel anything!' He wants to panic and shout for help, but all he sees is the streetlight above him and red and blue pulsing lights reflecting off it. He felt so cold and so tired now; he felt himself sinking, almost drifting.
'Is this? Is this it? Is this how I go? I haven't done anything! I just worked dead-end job after dead-end job. I quit a job every few months after the people in charge pissed me off! I can't go yet; I haven't done anything!'
Anger filled him at his empty, useless life he was leaving behind. He felt anger, but this time not at anyone but at his own rotten luck and life. He couldn't accomplish a single thing; he lived in poverty, working useless jobs for people who treated him like trash, and then he just dies.'I refuse; it can't end this way. I need to get up!' Alex strained and tried to move, but he had lost all feeling; he couldn't even open his eyes at this point.
'No! Not yet!' He continued to try and get up to fight through it, but he felt tired, exhausted even. He was sinking again, drifting slowly, his head hazy and tired. He wanted to let go, but a part of him kept a tight hold; a small, bitter part of him was still clawing to stay awake.
As the last bits of his anger and resentment were growing quiet and he experienced the briefest moments of peace; he felt like someone, or something, locked its gaze onto him. A falling sensation filled him and he was dropped into a pool of boiling hot pain. He felt anger seeping into him, digging through his body, a hot, scorching fury that burned his insides. The pain was intense; he felt like the world was nothing but wrath and fury that this boiling pool that swallowed him was going to tear him apart. He tried to scream to move to do anything, but he couldn't sense anything except scorching pain and the feeling that anger itself was swallowing him whole. The boiling heat seared him inside and out, and he felt himself fading into oblivion.
When Alex could next think the burning was gone, he could feel himself only falling, and then he felt a collision as he jerked to a halt. 'Was that hell? Is this hell? I-I can feel something, my arm, my neck!' Slowly he could feel pins and needles moving across his body as he felt his limbs come alive. The first thing he could feel was pain on all his body, but especially his neck. He could feel an icy cold stabbing sensation in his jugular and an intense thirst. He tried to open his eyes, and when he did, he had to blink away blindness as his vision was filled with glittering white lights that filled the darkness. His eyes adjusted, and he could see some kind of cavern, and his nose was hit by a wall of some sweet, alluring scent. There were crystals jutting out of the walls, ceiling, and floor, all of various sizes, but every one emitted a soft white light, providing minimal illumination. Amazement filled Alex for a brief moment, but it was interrupted by the piercing pain in his neck. Giving a gurgled groan, he shifted on the gravel floor, grunting in pain. His body wasn't hurting anymore; the only pain he felt was the intense stabbing pain in his neck and an intense thirst, making him feel like he hadn't drank in days. He slowly pushed off the floor, and he tried to yell in pain, but all that came out was a gurgled bloody groan. As he pushed off the floor, he felt something finally leave his neck. Suddenly panic alarms rang in his head. He felt intense danger just behind him, and he rolled to the side onto his back, his panicked eyes searching for danger.
"NO! Fuck! Stop moving! Decklan I'm sorry. I'll help you rest in peace."
The voice came from a middle-aged man. He was standing over where Alex just was his face distraught, and he looked at Alex with intense sadness. In his hand was a bloody pickaxe, the tip buried just where Alex's head was not a moment before. Next to the pickaxe was one of the white glowing crystals. It was jutting from the ground, growing in a jagged formation, and it was coated with blood, Alex's blood. Reaching up, Alex felt his neck where the crystal was just lodged, and he could feel the hole knitting slowly back together in real time. It was closing, and the use of his throat was coming back even if he felt a thirst like he had never felt before. Alex coughed and spit out blood as the man wretched his pickaxe from the gravel and took weak, limping steps towards Alex.
"I'm sorry you had to come back. I'll put you to rest, buddy." The sadness in his voice was evident as he raised the pickaxe over his head. Alarm bells rang in Alex's head again as his eyes widened with fear, and he tried to dodge to the side again as the pickaxe swung down and buried itself into his shoulder.
"GAAAH MPFH!" Alex let out a strangled yell. His throat felt tight and thirsty; he was dripping blood from his mouth still as he struggled to form any sounds, let alone words. The metal tip of the pickaxe was lodged in his shoulder, and pain radiates off the wound. A savory scent assaulted his senses as the man stood over him. Alex let out an involuntary growl as he tried to reach up and grab the pickaxe by the head tugging at it. He tried to push it off him, but the man showed a bit of surprise and pushed back, pushing the pickaxe head deeper into Alex's flesh.
"AAAH FUCK!" Alex cried out in pain as the metal dug deeper and the man's eyes widened in shock. His grip loosened slightly, and he looked intensely confused. "Did you speak? D-Decklan, b-but your neck and all the blood." The man sounded confused as he spoke. Alex's throat felt dry, like he hadn't drank in weeks. He felt thirsty, hungry, and desperate. He could smell something, a strong, sweet, seductive smell that filled his nose. His gums ached as his mouth started to water, his pupils dilated, and his hunger took over. He reached out and grabbed at the smell, dragging it closer, and he greedily bit down. A sweet, savory, indescribable juice burst forth and filled his mouth. His hunger and thirst flared, and he drank desperately. The smell tried to squirm away. Alex felt blows hit his head and side, but he ignored it, his hand gripping like a vice as the resistance slowly faded away and the flowing juice sated him.