Chapter 4 – Nightmare fuel

The first thing Matthew noticed when he woke up was the light. It was blinding, so powerful he immediately closed his eyelids again, doing his best to try and not yelp as the searing rays had probably blinded him forever. But then, his consciousness truly started to emerge and he heard various sounds he couldn’t place. He slowly opened his eyes again, readier for the light which pierced them again. He felt tears streaming on his cheeks but he refused to back down and after a few minutes, he was finally able to see where he was.

It was a hospital. A part of him as surprised; he had been half expecting to wake up in Heaven, and had been surprised, because with the life he had lived, he’d rather had pictured himself in Hell. But he was unable to really focus on that. His head was strangely light and his body equally unnaturally heavy. He frowned, but he couldn’t remember either how he had gotten here or he had been hurt. He tried to move around but realized that he had no control over his body. Fear started to settle in.

It became utter panic when he realized his body was particularly cold. Was he dying? Had he woke up here because it was his punishment for the wicked way he had lived his life? Instead of going gently in his sleep here, forced to feel his soul leaving his body to be thrown in the Pit? His breathing, weak as it was already, became rattled and he shivered, as more tears formed in his eyes. Suddenly, an enormous shadow fell over him and he met the eyes of a Small nurse, whose green eyes peered into his.

“Oh, you woke up!” she boomed, beaming at him. “Don’t worry, it’s a little too soon for you to be up, you’re in a terrible state, you poor thing” she continued, as she turned around and he saw from the corner of his vision her large hands playing with something.

“There, you should be able to get back to sleep. Thank God for your implant, it has saved your life! I hope you’ll have pleasant dream mister Doe” said another nurse, a Normal this time, as Matthew felt drowsiness returning like a wave, and even before she turned around, he was sleeping again.

Sadly, his dreams were far from pleasant. He couldn’t remember why or who was that being which pursued him, but he found himself in an empty city, very much like Gigantopia, feeling eyes on him, their malevolence so raw and powerful that he didn’t dare look over his shoulder. He was running as fast as he could, his breath was ragged and yet he felt as if he wasn’t moving at all! His fear did not abate when all went silent around him, far from it even. And then came a thunderous boom.

He didn’t need to turn around to know what it was. A foot. A foot larger than anything he had ever seen or even imagined. It had to dwarf even the Gigantics by a wide margin to make that sound. And after the thunder came the wind, a terrible rush of air. Matthew should have been blow to pieces; a part of him knew it, when he saw the buildings all around him start to collapse because of that monstrous shockwave. But he didn’t bulge an inch. It was no gift however, he was sure of it.

A name popped in his nightmare. Andrea. He didn’t know who she was right now. In this state of restless sleep he was in, Matthew just knew she was dangerous; no, deadly. If she caught up with him, she’d kill him. She had to believe he was gone already, that he was dead and thus that she had other peoples to pursue. In his dream, he didn’t even stop to consider why he felt like that. He just did and acted on it. He ran toward the nearest subway station. Better to be sealed down there forever than to be found.

But just then, he found himself unable to move. A freezing terror had descended upon him, and Matthew couldn’t even tell why. Things didn’t seem any different than they had been a second before. But now, he was stuck in place, as if he was in a tar pit. Tears made him blink but he couldn’t even wipe them out, as he realized it was his whole body which now refused to obey him. He gritted his teeth and with a herculean effort, he managed to lift one of his foot.

“Come on, come on, come on” he urged himself, trying to run – he felt that if the cloud which suddenly covered the sky split even for a moment, he’d be seen. “You have to take cover man, or you’ll die!”

Suddenly he was far from the city, in a gentle abode near the woods. It was home, he realized, and he relaxed. He knew he’d find his mother in the kitchen, cooking something delicious for him, ready to assuage all his childhood fear with her food, while his father would laugh with his deep, rich voice, and tell him to not be afraid of any creatures under his bed or monsters in the wood at night. Matthew felt a joy and contentment he hadn’t felt in more than two decades.

And then it was shattered by the loud booming he had heard in the city. It was there now, crushing the woods, reducing the hills to dust under its punishing weight, trampling toward him. He had put his parents in danger! He dashed, able to run freely now, but they were nowhere to be found; and yet he knew they were inside here, somewhere. He needed to see them, to tell them he was so, so sorry, because he knew there was no escaping the foot which was approaching, to obliterate him.

“Mom! Dad! Where are you!? Call to me, please!”

But just then the nightmare finally stopped and Matthew drifted to a deeper, dreamless, state of sleeping. He wouldn’t have been able to tell how long he had been like that, but something intruded on his consciousness far too quickly for his taste. Voices, he was hearing voices, and they seemed far too real to be ignored. Still, some form of instinct made him keep his eyes closed and his breathing as steady as possible. He had a bad feeling about them…

“We need to speak with him” grumbled a deep masculine voice. “We won’t even ask you to leave the place if you’re really that worried we’d rough up someone in a hospital.”

“That’s not the problem officer” replied a clear unnerved feminine voice, probably a nurse. “You have to understand that our patient was found in a critical condition! If it wasn’t for our state of the art technology, his implant and his surprising will to live, he’d be dead by now. I simply can’t allow in good conscience for him to be woken up and interrogated in any way, shape or form!”

“You do realize you’re helping and protecting someone suspected to be a dangerous delinquent, right?”

From the sound of it, they were both Normals, and Matthew was truly impressed by the nurse. She seemed so willing to defend him that he almost blew his cover just to thank her. He hadn’t been expecting such a dedication to his well-being when faced with a cop making grievous – if true – accusations about him. He wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have folded if the roles were reversed, sadly.

“We heal everyone here, for free. It’s part of what makes Gigantopia the greatest nation on Earth” boomed another voice, one far too loud and powerful to come from a Normal – Matthew suspected it was the Small nurse he had seen before. “No exception, and you know it.”

“Listen, we really just want to ask him some questions. You told it yourself, he was at the brink of death when he was brought to you” said a new feminine voice. “We need to know what’s happening, if we want to make sure things won’t blow up in all of our faces.”

Keeping his eyes closed and his face as expressionless as a sleeper took a lot of effort for Matthew. He at least wanted to be able to see who the cops were. Just so he’d knew if they’d be buyable or not. Of course, the fact that he had barely any money saved and stashed somewhere safe, even from Andrea, wouldn’t help him much. But he knew a lot of cops were corrupt, most of them probably, so he at least hoped he’d be able to wiggle out of whatever they wanted out of him.

“Listen” started the masculine voice, sounding a little less grumpy now, as if he was honestly pleading with the nurses. “You’re doing your job, I understand, and I know that perhaps you have had… less than stellar interactions with other cops. But I swear we won’t hurt him, or even threaten him.”

Not snickering was a supreme effort from Matthew, who still felt strangely light-headed, now that he thought about it. The implant and the painkillers he was under had to be seriously powerful to even allow him to think instead of being screaming in agony. Alas, they also afforded him the luxury to jog his memory back and consider how he had ended here. The female cop was right; things would probably blow up in all of their faces. After all, new players were in town, clearly.

Not that it concern me, he decided. Shameful as it was, he was fully intent on ditching town once he’d get healed enough to do so. He’d return to his parent’s home and he’d hole himself down Western Gigantopia, even if it meant a scarcer life than at the heart of the country. He was certain his parents would be elated to see him back. Even if it’d mean they had been right to try and prevent him from over going there, or that they’d ask hard to answer questions about his life here…

“You could say that” said the firm voice of the Small. “But it doesn’t change our position. Unless you have some official document, you won’t be allowed to bother a patient who needs calm, rest and a lot of medication if he ever hopes to get back to a relative normal life.

“A relative normal life?” said the female cop, picking up on a part which gave Matthew a cold sweat suddenly.

“That man suffered tremendous injuries, especially near his skull and there is no telling how his finer movements will be affected. It’s already nothing short of a miracle that his spine did not severe his nerves, with the way it was cracked and even broken in two places. Any additional strain, even involuntarily could result in permanent damage far greater than what he may already suffer.”

Matthew gasped. Mercifully, someone else talked at just the same time, just a word or two but enough to cover his little outburst. He did his best to remain calm. What were they saying? He could have life-long sequels? No, surely it wasn’t right and he hadn’t heard correctly. He couldn’t have survived Andrea’s punishment only to be left a… an infirm or something like that. He felt tears burning his eyes but did his best to hide them.

“Now, if you have nothing more to say, I’d thank you to leave” firmly stated the Small nurse. “We have other patients to attend to.”

“We wouldn’t –” started the two cops, but they were firmly cut off.

“I suspect you would. Now please, vacate our premises before I have to forcefully remove you.”

“Don’t you mean before you have to call security?” asked the guy cop, clearly surprised by the choice of words from the nurse.

“No. All the Small personnel is authorized and trained to remove undesirable Normal peoples pestering our staff and patients. Now, scram or I’ll have to force you out myself.”

The last few words had been spat more than told and Matthew smiled when he heard the cops scampering. He didn’t care if they were dirty or clean, both would be extremely problematic for him anyway! A sudden shadow loomed over him and he opened his eyes, to meet the green gaze of the same nurse who had send him to sleep. From her look, he realized she had know he had been awake for most of the discussion which had just occurred.

“How are you feeling?” she asked him, almost tenderly.

I’m fine, thank you planned to say Matthew but instead what came out of his mouth terrified him.

“A-a-a-I’m fi-i-i-i-ine” he started then stopped as fear gripped him – why was he stuttering? “Wha-a-a-a-at e-e-is Hap-p-p-pen-n-i-ing to-o me-e?” he almost cried out.

“That’s what I feared” sighed the nurse, her beautiful eyes now clouded by genuine sorrow and pity for him. “You had a severe concussion and you lost consciousness. In rare cases, even the implant can’t prevent neural damage from occurring, especially when… when it had all your other organs and bones to try and protect…” she explained almost tenderly. “Don’t worry, our best personnel will help you deal with it and…and any other sequels you may have. And you can ask for me anytime. Name’s Christina” she added as she walked away.

Matthew felt stunned. Had he only survived Andrea’s horrible punishment only to be left a cripple? It was so unfair! He had never wanted to end up in her gang anyway! Why was it happening to him? Because he was less of a bastard than the rest of her troop? For the first time in his life, he felt genuine hatred toward someone. Andrea would pay. He didn’t knew how he’d do it but he swore he’d make her fall, even if it was the last thing he did in his life!