Stage 1: Bliss
Posted by kluckmeister on April 6, 2012 · 4 Comments
A white wall stands opposite a row of large glass windows through which the sun shines as bright as a fluorescent light. A small door can be seen at the end of the hallway, so far away it appears miniature. Silence permeates the air as the view moves slowly towards the door. Without warning, a woman bursts through and sprints towards the point of view. She is wearing a bright red cocktail dress that fits tightly around her athletic frame. In her right hand she carries a small pistol, on her feet she wears no shoes. Muffle sounds of gunfire reverberate from behind the door as it closes. Just before it latches a man throws the door open and races after the woman. Despite wearing the remnants of what was once a fine suit, the man moves as quickly as sprinter and as swiftly as a fox. As he runs he reaches into his pocket and produces a full magazine which he slips into the empty pistol held in his right hand. The woman rounds the corner and stops, pressing her back tightly against the wall. The man can be seen in the background running towards her. The woman catches her breath, raises her pistol to her chest, and turns the corner, extending her arms and firing as she moves. The man dives and slides across the floor as the door swings open behind him. Two masked men dressed in matching black outfits enter through the doorway only to be gunned down by the woman. The man pivots as he slides, aims his gun at the door and watches as it closes on the body of one of the men. He turns and looks back at the woman, they meet eyes for a second as he regains his footing. He runs to her and they continue out of view.
The two race through a maze of white hallways, never stopping for a second to decide which way to go. “How many?” yells the woman as they run. “I don’t know,” the man replies. As the two turn the next corner a door swings open and a masked gunman steps out in front of the man. With no time to react, the man plows into the gunman and brings him to the ground. A second gunman enters the hall through the doorway and takes aim at the man. Three gunshots are heard and the gunman falls as the woman rushes past his collapsing body. She comes to a stop next to the man who has the first gunman pinned to the ground and is unleashing a barrage of punches directly into his mask. The woman grabs the man’s arm and the barrage comes to an abrupt end. The man rips off the gunman’s mask in a fit of rage and holds his body up against the wall. “Where are they?” the man yells. The gunman is badly bruised and bleeding from multiple cuts on his face. The man slams him against the wall. “I said where are they?!” the man yells again. The gunman smiles and drops his head. The man steps back, pulls out his gun and aims it at the gunman. The gunman slowly lifts his head and murmurs, “they are the least of your proble…” the man fires and shoots the gunman in the head.
The man looks back at the woman as a single gunshot rips through the wall near the open door and hits her in the chest. She collapses in pain as the man whirls around and fires five shots through the wall. He quickly jumps through the door into the small room on the other side and sees the body of a third gunman. He returns to the woman and picks her up, she is struggling to breath and her eyes are rolling around in her head. The man carries her into the small room and shuts the door. “Dammit… goddammit,” he sputters as he rips off part of his shirt and presses it against the wound. The woman coughs as the man stares at her helplessly for a few moments. The woman gains control and looks up at him one last time and whispers, “no.” The man looks confused and turns back towards the door only to find himself staring straight down the barrel of a gun. A loud gunshot sounds and the view goes black…
-
A woman’s voice penetrates the darkness. “There are now five stages of the human lifecycle, most of which humans experience without knowing. The first stage was created as one of peacefulness and bliss. Humans are left to their own devices and live as they please. Obsessed with their own existence, the majority are unaware of the complexities of true life, and therefore remain ignorant until the stage is complete. Upon completion the stage resets and the experience begins anew. Very few humans make it past this stage… you, however, are different.”
The woman’s voice continues in a slightly more serious tone. “There are those who reject this stage, presumeably because they can feel beyond the veil that we have created, and thirst for truth. It is unproductive to return these… misfits to the stage as their probability of acceptance remains quite low. Therefore we are forced to give you what you desire. Unfortunately what you desire is far beyond anything your feeble mind can imagine.”
As the woman pauses a faint heartbeat can be heard. The view remains dark.
“The knowledge that you have so longed for can be found here in the second stage… truth.”
To be continued…
