Shades of Dull Chapter 2- Enter Dull Stage Right

Chapter 2- Enter Dull Stage Right1

Most people believe that horrifying situations only occur in movies.  I mean, running into a seemingly out of place, paranormally frightening situation just doesn’t happen to normal people… right?2

Well I suppose I’m just abnormal then.  I must be stuck in some sort of dimension where my stupidity and sins have been used against me.  Either that or… I’ve lost my sanity.  I pray it’s the latter of the two, because believe me, going crazy would be a blessing in comparison to being tormented within the dullness of that world…3

I bet I’ve got you confused, don’t I?  I bet you’re thinking, “What the hell…”4

I’m sorry… It just… sorta happens… ya know?5

Anyway!  I’ll start from the beginning.  Not the very VERY beginning, but from what set everything in motion.6

I may sound a bit cliché here, but that day had started out like any normal day, one where you wake up feeling refreshed and like everything is going to go smoothly.  7

…Yeah…  I had been tricked by my false beliefs…  My arrogance… My bitter views to those who couldn’t hold their own…  All of it brought about the punishment of that day.8

I began noticing that something was wrong at the end of my school day.  I had actually been in health class when it happened.  I remember the period was close to ending… about seven or ten minutes until the bell rang, and a boy walked into the room… smoking a joint.  He was one of my classmates, but… I’m not going to name names just in case he somehow finds out about me saying this.  I don’t wanna make anyone angry… ya know?9

But… but there was something horribly off about him.  I know this’ll sound crazy, but all his physical features had become faded… Not just faded, but dulled into shades of gray, brown, and green.  I mean everything on him had become those colors: his hair, his skin, his clothes.  And his eyes… They had been so beautiful before hand, but they appeared almost soulless.  It was as if the joint had sucked everything out of him, leaving nothing but a dried skin.10

What was even more disturbing was that he was one of the top students in my grade.  He was one of those well behaved boys who strived to be his best… and he had suddenly become a worn down pot head over night?  Is that even possible?11

No one else in the room seemed to notice him, or really even care for that matter.  Maybe it was because he just stood a few feet from the doorway, his body swaying from side to side from the added weight of slouched shoulders.12

I would have made one of my usual snide remarks about drugs and how pathetic it was to use them… but I was too caught up in being beyond disgusted and shocked by his appearance.  Never before had I thought it possible for someone to look like that.13

The bell rang and as expected, everyone got up to shuffle out of the room, no one paying any heed to the boy.  Everyone exited until all that was left was the boy and myself.  14

I sort of timidly stood beside my desk, wanting to go, but the awkwardness of my position held me back.  All I could do was stare at him, hoping that color would rush back into him and he would automatically spring back to normal.  Well… It didn’t happen…15

But why did I suddenly care?  Weren’t people like him worth nothing in my eyes?  And above all, why, when I searched his lifeless eyes, did I have a sinking feeling that something in my life had or would change drastically?16

These questions harassed me then, and though partially answered, have not ceased to pester me now.17

A realization then refreshed itself in my mind… there was nothing I could do for him… With that very thought, all concern I felt for him was swiftly brushed aside, and I became self centered and overly judgmental again.18

His distraction had become an inconvenience to me, so I dispassionately passed him by without a second thought and continued out the door.  However, though I had hurdled over one seemingly unreal obstacle, I was faced with a second one even more disturbing than the first.19

It clung to the walls.  It became another limb to those shambling aimlessly down the filth of a hallway.  It had even managed to make an impression on the lights, dimming them in its favor.  Sitting on everything but myself were the same browns, grays, and greens that had settled upon the boy.  Color had become an outlaw, making me a criminal.20

I know!  It doesn’t seem possible.  I often ask myself how all color could have been drained from my surroundings.  Sure, it was possible that I could have gone color blind, but that doesn’t explain the way everyone around me carried themselves.21

There was nothing to any of them.  They all appeared as if their lack of color had become cumbersome.  A drawn out sliding sound cursed from beneath the feet of those who shuffled about, the feet themselves seemingly weighing too much to lift.  The corroded lockers and chipped away, concrete walls aided in propping the limp bodies of others, while those who could neither reach the wall nor find enough muscle endurance to bear their own weight lay crumpled on the floor, their eyes hollow and fixated on some invisible object.  Some of the fallen moved their desiccated lips in a rhythmic murmur, the importance of their words displayed by the drowning of their voices beneath the waves of aimless ambling.22

My own voice had been stifled by the crusty air that forced itself into me.  I could feel it slithering into my lungs, clawing at the lining, seeping into my blood and polluting my body.  It was filthy in all ways imaginable, and it left my throat dry and scratchy.23

With eyes snapped open, my temples felt ready to split.  Blood force feed my brain with oxygen in order to give it fuel to comprehend my situation.  Green.  Grey.  Brown.  That’s all my eyes could see.24

More difficult than I thought it would be, I reluctantly pushed my body into the hall, an inner part of me latching onto the door frame, as if I would find some sense, some hope from it.  The further I wandered into unfamiliar territory, the more I began to question things.25

What is going on?  Is this real?  Am I dreaming?  Having a nightmare?  Did I lose my mind?  When will this end? …  Will it end?26

How I managed to do it, I don’t know, but through my confusion, I made it home.  In all honesty, I can’t even recall which direction I went when I entered the hall.  It was as if the colors, or lack there of, swirled into fog, and cleared, leaving me in the doorway of my home.  As the fog dissipated in my mind, so did the grays, greens, and browns.  Everything was back to normal, so to speak.27

I inhaled deeply, my lungs adoring the sweetness of clean air, my mind relieved of the stress of potential madness.  I was okay.  I was back in my own world.  I was back to my usual ways.28

What had happened prior to that moment was no longer a concern to me.  Things looked alright.  Nothing had happened… But why did my throat still burn.29

I began to cough, and suddenly couldn’t stop.  Panic surged up me with each hack.  I was doubled over, and God did it hurt. Had the dirt buried itself within my body, waiting for the perfect moment to resurrect itself?30

The word water screamed itself in my head repeatedly.  I crawled through the house to the kitchen to get to the refrigerator, but there was nothing in it.  Desperate, I lurched for the faucet, but nothing poured from the spout.31

I was terrified.  My chest felt like it was going to give into the explosion with every cough.  The room spun, my knees buckled, but I would not give in.32

There was one last place to find water.  My basement refrigerator.  Getting down the steps would be an obstacle, but it had to be attempted.33

Using the wall for support, I slid down the steps.  It seemed to take an eternity, the coughing showing no mercy to my chest, but I finally made it to the bottom.  I  slapped at the light switch until light flickered on, then immediately threw myself onto my hands and knees, and dragged myself towards the fridge.34

When I reached the middle of the basement, the coughing suddenly stopped.  The pain dissolved, and I was able to stand up.  My lungs still heaved from the shock of things, and I stayed in one spot, afraid that the slightest movement would call for another horrid cough attack.35

In my stillness, I allowed my eyes to scan the room.  Something could possibly lurk in the darkness of my basement, waiting to catch me off guard.36

But nothing lurked.  Nothing hid itself from me.  Instead, it grinned and called out a jeering hello from within the depths of itself.37

A mysterious hole had breached the basement wall, attracting attention to itself by releasing foul, frigid air.  Distant moans and screams drifted from it, sparking a terrified curiosity within me.38

Then something else within me came to life…39

I realized I was greatly out numbered by an epidemic that had stripped the town to mere pigments.  Though I neither consciously accepted nor disobeyed the disease, it labeled me as being its enemy.  Claiming victim after victim, I sensed it glowering at me as it jabbed its fouled finger at my body.  But it could find no place, and its lack of patience became an incendiary for its rage towards me.  40

It despised the fortress I had long ago built around myself, yet through its animosity, it managed to adore me.  You see, its lust to make me apart of its world fueled and possibly hastened its spreading.  41

This beastly illness was no immaculate conception.  I believe it was born from the weaknesses I had once harbored and had eventually disowned.  It was a gambit, clever enough to know that crawling back to me would only result in me spitting in its face.  So it demanded I absorb it and depend upon it once more.  42

I was the neglectful mother to evil…43