[center][h2]Caelum Harrington[/h2][/center]
The guy with the phone answered with some enthusiasm, and Caelum was struck by how effortless such meaningless conversation with a stranger could be. Probably because he hadn’t gone and screwed up that initial good will people tended to have towards those they didn’t know yet. “Yes, very strange,” he replied quietly, with his mind half elsewhere. He didn’t know what else to say about the warm air – he honestly hadn’t noticed it, but didn’t want to kneel down beside the other student to check. It’d be too awkward for one, and he didn’t want to chance his clean trousers getting muddy, or something.

Just as he had that thought, the person who’d ruined his previous set of clothing – which he hadn’t even yet taken to the dry cleaners, damn him – appeared behind him. He turned towards her when she issued something between a greeting and a mousy squeak of fear. Caelum blinked, bewildered, but carefully returned the greeting with an, “Afternoon.” He had no idea why out of all times, the girl was afraid now, when she’d been so apathetic and calm earlier.

Perhaps, the reason for her fear was the man who appeared next. He was large, obviously on the run from something based on his threatening words. Whether he was just some crazed junky or a genuine criminal, Caelum couldn’t tell, but he was spooked in either case. He considered departing and calling the police, but then, what if the man prevented any witnesses from leaving? He didn’t look in the state to do so, given that he’d collapsed, but…Caelum shifted, uncomfortable and hesitant. He eyed the others, to see what they did, but whether they stayed because they’d taken him seriously or because they hadn’t done so at all, he couldn’t tell. So, he remained as well, throwing the occasional wary glance at the fallen man.

Several others arrived as well, though Caelum recognized only a couple. A teaching assistant from university, and the jacket-man he’d encountered earlier. He noticed that the youth had a jacket that looked exactly as his previous one did, though this one was clean. He had to have had two of the same model in his possession, because there was no way he’d gotten the one from before cleaned so quickly. Frowning, Caelum turned away from him, not keen to chance further interaction. It didn’t matter that he too could see the cracks and that he’d been worried for his sanity; they were two strangers who had already formed a mutual dislike for each other, and whatever else happened, that was unlikely to change.

Of course, he couldn’t have possibly known that ‘whatever else’ would just so happen to be a disaster. As the cracks begun widening with ominous creaking and snapping, Caelum had the brief thought that he’d foolishly tempted fate, and he would now pay for it. Though he turned to run away, a sudden fatigue overtook him. His mind was hazy, and his body would not obey him. Then, the world shifted, and he fell alongside the others.

[hr][hr]
When he came to, he was lying on his side, bruised, and night had fallen. Confused, he stood up, clutching at his sore ribs, looked around – and this was when the terror set in. The surroundings were vaguely reminiscent of earth; the docks, nearby buildings, and the cityscape were familiar if you squinted, but the absurdist details all over truly made it an alien sight. The sea was a writhing mass of iridescent tar, the distant buildings were crumbling and being sucked into vortexes of debris which then rushed back to another part of the city in arcs of unimaginable destruction – and perhaps re-construction, for all he knew.

He tore his gaze away from the scenery, because he had the feeling if he stood staring at it, his sanity might start to unravel – if it hadn’t already. Instead, he studied the large jail which stood where the university building should have been. Inexplicably there were also a cathedral and a courthouse among the other buildings on the prison yard. 

Caelum didn’t know what to make of that, either, so examined the people who’d been transported here. All of them had gathered at the pier, so presumably those were the people who’d seen the cracks…But no, why was he thinking of this as if made sense, as if there was some logical sequence of events to follow? How could he possibly claim that this was real? It was much more likely that he was delusional, and had imagined this all…But why then, did it feel as real as anything else?

He shifted on his feet, noticing the pink splashed – but they disappeared as soon as he’d made them without consequence. Maybe he’d go like that too. Here one moment, gone the next. Maybe he was already gone, yet unaware of it. Locked up in some psych ward, mumbling incomprehensibly as he wandered the figments of his own imagination. Didn’t they say though that those delusional weren’t aware of it in the middle of an episode? If so, then what did his realization that this didn’t match the reality he knew mean?

Frustrated, Caelum scrubbed at his eyes. “This can’t be real,” he murmured, but he wasn’t convinced. Maybe that’s what he should be afraid of – that he was starting to have an inkling of belief? But then, he knew that if he doubted the existence of whatever this was, he wouldn’t nor couldn’t act. Just like two others had said, he wanted out of here, but it didn’t look like just thinking would get him anywhere.

When the guy who’d filmed the cracks asked if everyone was alright, Caelum couldn’t help but laugh, and it was a hysterical sound. “Okay?” he questioned, in disbelief. “Physically fine, I think, but otherwise…” he trailed off, shaking his head as he smiled wryly. He’d not been entirely truthful, as the ache in his side reminded him, but considering everything, that was decidedly inconsequential.