The Watch – Part 252:

(Amy’s perspective)

After walking on slippery mud for minutes on end, when you eventually reach concrete, there is that moment when you have to adjust to the hard surface. Sometimes you have to stop walking to make sure that you have regained your balance so that you can continue walking, but sometimes, you keep walking, and usually, when you have to adjust, there is that slight step to the left or right as your top half decides to lean in a direction other than the one you’re walking in. Your legs have to find their strength once more after not having to work so hard on the soft surface of a muddy field. But you never fall over. It only lasts for a second, maybe not even that, and then you’re perfectly able to carry on walking as if nothing happened.

But when you wake up after travelling from one universe to another via the Void, your body is in a state of shock, and therefore, you struggle to adjust to the soft surface, let along the concrete, of which your weak legs can’t handle that momentary lapse of balance and you fall to the ground once more. And because it is concrete, when your hands slam against it, it doesn’t cave and cushion your fall, instead it stays in one place, and your hand caves, and if you are unlucky, there may be a number of stones littering the ground beneath your hands. When you hand slams against the ground and your hand is the one that caves, the stones pierce your skin, stabbing the palms of your hands, cutting them. Sometimes the stones may stay in your hand, preventing the blood to drip out, but if they are too heavy and didn’t pierce in the right angle, they will fall out, and the blood is allowed to escape.

Your knee caps are sensitive, and can render you unable to walk properly for a couple of hours afterwards, you have to limp instead, so if you fall wrong, there is that possibility of your knees slamming against the concrete, sending that strong pulse of intense pain to your brain. That red-hot pain momentarily renders your paralysed as your brain can’t do anything except process it, but when it has fully handled it, it reopens the gates to let in all the other messages, including the intense pain from your hands.

Once you’re down, you don’t move for a couple of seconds. You lay there wondering what happened. Then, when you’ve figured it out, you start to sort out the mess you’re in and begin the journey back to your feet. The problem you have then is that your knees are unwilling to comply because although they may not hurt as much stationary, the moment you move them, they start to protest. The moment they shout at you to stop, you do so. But you know that you can’t remain laying on the floor forever, so you must push yourself back up to your feet, and so although it is painful and your knees do whatever they can to prevent you from doing so, you eventually stand up.

But now comes the tricky part. Walking. You know how to walk. You’ve been doing it for years. Do you remember actually being taught how to walk? Well, you may have been too young to remember that, but those people that tell you the story of how you first began to walk, they never say that you were given lessons, you just got up and walked. The shock that you receive from falling to the ground renders you unable to walk, and you don’t know why. Is it because you know that you are going to fall over again due to knees not wanting to move, or is it because you’ve simply forgotten? Well, of course it’s because you are in pain. You can’t walk normally any more, you have to do the other thing. Limp.

You place the leg that doesn’t hurt as much, if not at all, down on the ground and you step forward, but then you have to put the leg that does hurt on the ground. You must do that if you want to walk forward. You start doing so, but it hurts so much, so as quickly as you can, you transition from one to the other. Then you take another step, and then another, until you’ve built up a nice momentum to carry yourself forward, until it becomes natural to you, until your knee doesn’t hurt as much.

Usually, when you walk, you are heading towards a destination, be it somewhere else or back where you started, but you always know where you are going. But if you find yourself somewhere unfamiliar, you don’t have a destination in mind. All you can do is walk forward and hope for the best that you will get somewhere that is familiar. But when you are limping, and you’ve built up a momentum, all you want to do is get to that destination, so that you can stop and rest there for a couple of hours before having to endure another painful walk to another destination. But when you are walking, and you don’t have a destination in mind, your natural instinct is to stop where you are and figure where you need to go from there, but when you are limping and you don’t have a destination in mind, the last thing you want is to stop, because if you do, you may fall back down to the ground, and if you do that, you would cause even more damage to your body, and if you do that, you may not be getting back up for a while afterwards. You have to keep moving, yet you don’t know where you are going. So you continue walking anyway. You have to figure out where to go whilst continuing forward, even though you may turn in the wrong direction.

I said that I would try and find shelter, be it a bus stop or under a bridge where I would wait until the rain either eases or stops completely, but I can’t find any such places. All I can do is continue walking forward in the pouring rain, with cuts on my hands and injured knees.

All I can do is continue walking forward.

‘Are you alright, dear,’ someone said behind me. I stop walking, but before I lose my balance once more, I start turning around.

‘You look like you’ve been through the wars,’ an old lady said sympathetically. She had a curved back, making her appear shorter than she actually was. She was wearing a long rain coat complete with a clear waterproof bonnet covering her curly white hair. Behind her, she was pulling a trolley that appeared to be stuffed with everyday items, including a box of cereal, a cabbage, and a carton of milk. If I had to hazard a guess at her age, I would say she was in her early eighties.

‘Is there anything I can do help you, dear,’ she said with soft and gentle voice.

‘I’m looking for shelter,’ I answered.

‘Don’t you have a home to go to?’ she asked curiously.

‘I’m lost,’ I said bluntly.

‘Oh, you poor dear,’ she said, placing her hand on her chest from shock. ‘You are going to catch your death of cold out here, and look at you, you’re all covered in mud. Come with me, I’ll take you back to mine. There, you can wash up and have a change of clothes. Once you’re fully rested, we can find your way back home.’

‘Thank you,’ I said.

‘Please, don’t thank me. I’m just doing what any good citizen would do,’ and she continue her journey home with me limping closely behind.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 251:

(Amy’s perspective)

My eyes snap open and I sit up quickly, gasping for air and trying to figure out which way is up. For a moment, the world is spinning violently, making me queasy. But the moment my senses start to settle down, I start calming down and the world comes to a complete standstill, except I can feel the world falling through space. I can feel it spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and then it stops. A heartbeat passes. I wait for that moment when I’m flung sideways along with the rest of the world, but nothing. I’m sitting still. The world didn’t stop suddenly, I did.

After my lungs have finished pumping enough oxygen around my system to keep me from passing out again, the rest of my senses start to come back to me. The sound of the world around me deafens me before quietens down to the point where I can barely hear it anymore over the sound of dripping water. And that one drip of water multiples into many drips, and they multiply again and again, until they become uncountable. And then my final two senses kick in. Water splashes onto my cheeks, followed by another drop, and then another, and then they fall onto my arm, and then onto my other arm and then my legs and then, a freezing cold sensation ran down my neck and down my back, waking me up further.

I look around and see that my trousers and shoes are caked in mud where they have been resting in a deep puddle. The next thing feel is blades of grass poking through the gaps between my fingers. I look down and I find that my hands are also drenched in muddy water.

My hair falls down into my eyes. When I move it out of the way, I find that it is also drenched. I accidentally bush my muddy hand above my eyebrow and I could feel the sticky mud clinging onto my skin, trying to drip down into my eyes.

And then the sky boomed. There was a bright flash of light. It was then that I realised that I had been laying in a thunder storm in the middle of a field for an unknown amount of time. I start shivering as the cold raindrops force their way down my back.

The longer I sat here, the colder I became. My hands and feet stung the longer they stayed in the rapidly freezing water. Lifting them out of the water, it was a sudden relief. The cold air felt hot, which somehow started to warm up my body. I kept them in one position for too long a time, and they rapidly went cold once more, giving my body the shivers once more, this time, so much worse than before. I needed to get to find shelter as soon as I can. Then, when the storm passes, I will be able to find my friends, Sebastian and Tom. They have to be here somewhere. I looked around and saw a deserted field, complete with a few trees here and there, but when I looked behind me, I found that I was only feet away from civilisation. That was lucky.

I attempt to stand up. The first time I try, I immediately lose my balance and I fall backwards into the deep puddle. Water splashed over me, shooting thick mud into my face, my hair and my clothes. I sat there, contemplating what on earth is wrong with me before I tried again. This time, after clambering out of the puddle, the slippery mud made it difficult to find my balance, but eventually I was standing on my own two feet once more. But the moment that I took a step forward, I lost it again and I went knee first into the mud. I put my hands out in front of me and they prevented me from face-planting the mud, but it did mean that my hands were now completely covered in mud. Pulling them out, I pushed myself up and my knees popped out of the two wholes they made themselves with a watery squelching sound.

Once again, I push myself back to my feet, and remain standing there until I was sure that I wasn’t going to fall down again. But, the longer I stood there, the more my feet sunk into the mud. I was noticed before they sunk too far. Luckily, when I pulled them out, my shoes came with me, but I knew that they had sunk low enough to render them useless for a few days as they slowly dried and the mud flaked off.

Closing my eyes, concentrating on what needed to be done, I lifted one foot up and followed through with the first step, and then I did another, and another, and another until I built up enough momentum to keep walking forward. I knew that if I stopped I would fall back down again. Civilisation was only moments away. All I needed was to find a bus shelter or a bridge to stand under until the storm passes. Once then, I would be able to focus on finding my friends and getting a change of clothes.

It’s a shame that I don’t have my phone with me so that I would be able to call someone to come and get me. Then again, I actually have no idea where I am. At first I thought that I was in the field where the concert was, but the closer I came to the houses, the more I started to realise that I didn’t recognise any of the houses, and last time I checked, there wasn’t an apartment block near the field either. That can only mean that I am indeed in a completely different place. Great, that’s all that I need. Well, at least I am finally out of that hell I like to call that glass box.

I’ll figure something out.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 250:

(Tom’s perspective)

Dr Amanda steps away entering my peripheral vision, but then disappears completely. I don’t move my head to see what she is doing. I know what she is doing. She is preparing to break me further. I need to tell her that I am going to tell her everything. If I don’t, I will only be subjecting myself to unnecessary beatings. What does it matter if I am, though? She knows when to stop. I’ll tell her then. I just don’t care anymore.

She re-enters my peripheral vision, and then she resumes her place in front of me, holding something in her hands. It isn’t a hammer, but it’s something that I don’t want to find out, but I am going to anyway.

I attempt to get her attention, but I have no voice. I didn’t realise that I had given up that much. I try and say something, anything, but all that comes out is a raspy, light breath that amounted to inaudible sounds.

I’m so tired, weak, defeated. I’ve never felt this way before in my entire life. Why am I even caring about all of that? This is my life from now on, and if I don’t say anything, things will only get worse.

Dr Amanda says something. For the first time in what felt like a long time, I can hear her say every word. ‘Are you ready to talk?’ she asks, giving me one last chance to say something.

I do everything that I could to nod my head, to say yes, to do anything that indicated that I was ready to talk, but nothing.

‘Shame,’ she said blandly. ‘I’ll say it for the third time, just in case you didn’t understand it the first two times, everyone has a breaking point. All I have to do is fine yours.’ I have a breaking point. You’ve found mine. Please stop this. I beg of you please stop this. I’ll do anything, say whatever you want, just please don’t do this.

But those are only weak thoughts in my head. I didn’t say any of those words. And even if I did, then they would have been too quiet for her to hear or understand.

‘This,’ she said, holding up something. I didn’t get a chance to see what it was, but her description was all that I needed, ‘is a clamp. All I have to do is slip this over one of your fingers and slowly but surely wind it up, until it clamps over your fingers, and tighter it gets until it breaks.’ And then she attached it to my ring finger. I could feel the cold metal pressing against the bones, and then she started to turn the handle. Immediately, the clamp started shutting up, slowly crushing my fingers, sending immense pain shooting up my arm. And tighter still, until, even with my weak ears, I could hear a crushing sound. Please stop. I’m ready to tell you everything you want to know. Please stop. Please.

But she continued to tighten the clamp. The pain became unbearable. Tears started rolling down my cheeks, and yet she continued, turning and turning and turning and turning, until… that one, sickening snap. My entire hand went numb. She loosened the clamp. I could feel the blood rushing towards my finger, swelling it up, trying to repair the damage as soon as possible. Then, she placed it over my other ring finger, and started to copy her actions.

And then…

‘What the…?’

‘How did you…?’

‘Stand back, or I’ll shoot.’

Three of her people shouting at a complete stranger who had apparently appeared out of nowhere. Could that be? Has he finally arrived to come and rescue me? He’s finally here. Please be him. Please be him. Please be him.

‘I said stand back or I’ll shoot,’ one of the guards ordered again, and then there was the sound of three people yelling as they were tackled to the ground, beaten with ease. Then, silence.

Dr Amanda knew that something wasn’t quite right. She looked at the door, then at me, her expression deadly.

‘Is this the person who you were talking about? Your friend,’ she said that as if it was the most offensive word on the planet, ‘Sebastian has come to rescue you. You really think he can defeat me. He doesn’t know who he is messing with.’

No, you don’t know who you are messing with. There’s no part of me who’s questioning whether this is a dream or not. I know this isn’t. Sebastian is the type of person who doesn’t appear in dreams. He is as real as it gets. And he is someone who Dr Amanda should step aside for. She will regret it if she gets in his way.

‘You tell me everything that I want to know and you won’t see your friend die a painful, slowly death, with you watching every second of it until the light in his eyes slowly fade away…’

‘Oh, do shut up,’ a familiar voice ordered from the other side of the room. His voice gave me the motivation to lift up my head, and his appearance made me smile. There he was, in all his glory, wearing an incredible suit, and standing with more confidence than I’ve ever seen him have. He was angry. I could feel the power radiating from him. Dr Amanda noticed him standing there.

‘You stay away from him or I will kill him.’ I never thought she could say anything with emotion, but it appears Sebastian’s appearance can make her have some. He stepped forward, not a care in the world, directly towards me, hell-bent on getting me out of here.

‘Stand back. You dare mess with me.’ The closer he came, the more I could see it in his eyes that he has seen more than he’s fair share of stuff.

Dr Amanda picked up a gun and fired it without hesitating. I don’t know where the bullet went, but Sebastian stopped in his tracks. He looked at her and advanced towards her. He didn’t say anything, he just walked up to her, and flicked her on the end, knocking her out. She slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Sebastian then turned back towards me and stood before me.

‘Come on,’ he said softly, sympathetically, as if all this was his fault, ‘let’s get you home.’

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 249:

(Tom’s perspective)

I tried. I swear I tried. I did everything that I could. But it just wasn’t enough. I’ve failed. And now I’m back in the room, tied up. Dr Amanda’s standing before me, with her arms crossed, talking. But I’m not paying attention. I can see her mouth moving, but all I can hear is my own thoughts, screaming at me, describing what I could have done better. There are so many scenarios flickering before my eyes, showing me so many ways that I could have escape them, yet I failed to follow them all. I should have pre-planned it. I should have thought more about what to do next, but I didn’t, and now I am going to pay for it.

I thought that I would be here because I gave a run for their money, but I didn’t get very far at all. I was too weak, tired, my head was too full that I struggled to process the next second before it had already passed and they were on me, capturing me, dragging me back here. It was as if I made no effort at all.

I swear I did. I tried my hardest. I pushed myself further than I ever pushed myself before, but it just wasn’t enough. I failed. And now I am going to go to hell and back once more. Dr Amanda is going to push me until breaking point, expect me to scream the information she wants. I can’t do that. I refuse to do that. I will not let her win. I’ve already failed, I don’t want to fail again.

But is it all worth it. I don’t care anymore. I can’t be bothered to care anymore. I didn’t do what I knew I could do and I failed. I let myself down. I should have done it when I had the chance and now that opportunity is gone. I will never get that back. What is done is done. I have failed.

I thought I was going to win. I thought I was going to get out of here. I thought I was going to triumph over those that beaten me, pushed me, tortured me, but I went the wrong way. I knew I shouldn’t have gone down there. I knew I should have followed my instincts and turned back, and turned left instead of right, but instead I carried on down the wrong route, and I ended up exactly where I didn’t want to be. Failure.

I was as optimistic as any one person could have been in that situation. That excitement of knowing that the exit is only moments away, metres away, but to then fall back down to the bottom, being dragged all the way back down to where I started, possibly further, hurts more than anything Dr Amanda can throw at me.

I might as well give up here and now. Who am I kidding, I have given up. I can feel my body going numb with uncaringness, my brain is slowly going quiet with vacancy. There’s nothing left for me except to stay here and let Dr Amanda do what needs to be done, except I will only be making things worse for me because I won’t talk. I don’t know what else she can do to me without killing me, but I know that whatever it is, it will be worse than death. I don’t want that. Why would anyone want that?

I tried. I swear I tried. I did everything that I could. But it just wasn’t enough. I’ve failed. I wish I could go back and chance what I did back there. I would do anything to not be here after making the stupidest decision of my life. I should have gone left, not right, but I did anyway. Why? Because I’m an idiot. I deserve to be here. I’ve failed.

Dr Amanda’s still standing in front of me, talking to me, but I’m not hearing a single work she’s saying. I don’t care for her words. Whatever she’s saying is irrelevant because it’s not as if she’s telling me a set of instructions. There’s nothing for me to do. That’s it. The end. I’ve failed.

I did so much, though. I really did try so hard to make it all work. The moment that I arrived in this world, I did everything that I could to try and get by, only if it lasted for a couple of days, and I did exactly that. I met Tim, who did nothing but help me, and I cannot be more grateful for that, but I don’t know if he’s a dream or not. I tried so hard, and go so far, but in the end, it’s completely and utterly pointless.

Every decision that I’ve ever made has led me to this point. If I knew that I was going to end up here, I would have chucked in the towel there and then. What would be the point in trying if I was only to end up here anyway? A failure. A complete and utter failure, devoid of any senses, and of any rational thought.

I can feel my mind shattering. I can feel the doors closing, the windows being boarded up, and the curtains closing. My body’s going numb. I’m starting to shake due to lack of blood circulating through my body. It’s all just sitting there, not bothering to move, because I’m not bothering to care anymore. It’s the end. I’ve failed.

I tried. I swear I tried. I did everything that I could. But it just wasn’t enough. I’ve failed.

I tried. I swear I tried. I did everything that I could. But it just wasn’t enough. I’ve failed.

I tired. I swear I tried. I did everything that I could. But it just wasn’t enough. I’ve failed.

I tried. I swear I tried. I did everything that I could. But it just wasn’t enough. I’ve failed.

And now I’m back in this room. Dr Amanda is talking to me, but all I’m hearing are my own thoughts.

I guess there really is only one thing left to do.

As much as I will hate myself for it, but who cares anyway because I already hate myself. I have reached my breaking point.

I will tell her what she needs to know.

She has won.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 248:

(Tom’s perspective)

How do I get out of here? That’s the question that I need to answer as soon as before someone comes to collect me to take me back to that room where Dr Amanda will do what is necessary to try and make me talk. From the looks of this cell, there is no way I can break out of here, so I should swipe that idea from my mind right now. The only option I can think of is to make a move when someone comes to collect me.

That means I need prepare for any opportunity. How strong is the person? What equipment does he have? Where are any of the exits when I eventually get away from him? Will he call for backup? Those are all but some of the questions that I need to answer before I do anything, and answering even one of them is going to be tricky.

I really don’t think this is the best time to say that I’ll just make it up as I go along and hope for the best, because that can lead me to the worst possible outcome. Then again, so can a well-thought out plan if it doesn’t go as planned. If a well-thought out plan hits a pump along the way, it is high time to start making it up as you go along to try and get the plan back on track or to complete it altogether. If I go in without a plan, maybe not having that pressure of worrying whether it is going to go right or not would actually help me think clearer, or maybe not having a plan at all would result in me making a horrific mistake. The last thing I want to happen is for me to end up in a worse position than I already am, if there is ever such a position.

I don’t know a single thing about this place to know where any of the exits are. At this rate I’ll be running around like a headless chicken, darting here and there in the hope that I don’t meet anyone coming the opposite way, which is bound to happen because they know this place like the back of their hand – I can only presume because they work here – and then Dr Amanda can make a statement about how I tried to escape, failed and may even try harder to make me talk. OK, the last part I can’t be sure on, but that is a possible outcome, the more I think about it.

I have no idea how strong the person who is coming to collect me is. What are the chances of Dr Amanda coming to collect me herself? I doubt it considering she had one of her people take me back to my cell after she had finished with me, and I can only make an educated guess that they would have to be somewhat strong enough to handle certain situations, especially when prisoners try and make their grand escape. And as weak as I am, all they would have to do is perform one good tackle and I’ll be done for the pin, then I’ll be back in that room, tied up and…

And as for what equipment they will have, does it really matter? Whether it is a gun, or a baton, or a set of handcuffs, I can be sure that they will be used against me and I do not want to be on the receiving end of them, especially a gun.

I don’t want to go back there, but I’m afraid that I might end up there anyway, attempt or no attempt at breaking out of here. I might just have to accept what’s going to happen and let it happen. I might suffer from it, but, looking at it darkly, the longer I don’t talk for the longer she’ll keep me alive for. The only problem with that is she will push me further and further towards my breaking point each and every time she tries to get the information out of me. I don’t know when my breaking point is, and at this point, I’m too afraid to ask.

I don’t want to give up, yet I’m afraid that may be the only thing I have left to do. No matter what happens from here on, there is one thing that I will never allow to happen: Telling Dr Amanda what I know. I will not let her win. She does not deserve to win. She deserves to have what happened to me happen to her. That may be a bit strong… actually, is it? I think it would make me just as bad as her if I want the same thing to happen to her, but I refuse to let her win. I don’t care what I have to do to make that happen, but she will not win. How many times do I have to tell myself that before I can convince myself not to give up? I never said that I would give up, I was only contemplating giving up trying to escape, not giving up altogether. This is getting a bit confusing now.

I’ve lived my entire life just making it up as I go along, why should this be any different. I was then going to say that it was because I was making it up as I go along that I ended up here, but that cannot be further from the truth.

I think I should just go ahead and do it. Make it up as I go along. I don’t need to know what the worst that can happen is. How many times have I failed at doing something by planning it? I actually can’t answer that because I haven’t been keeping track, but I can say that it has been a lot, but how many times have I succeeded in doing something by making it up as I go along? I can’t answer that either, but again, I know that it has been a lot. That’s all I need to motivate me to just get on and do it.

‘Alright, you,’ a voice came from the other side of the door, ‘Dr Amanda wants to see you again.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 247:

(Tom’s perspective)

I’m just sitting here. At least I’ve gotten this far. All I need to do now is one final push and then I’ll be golden, then I can relax for as long as I can before things start up again. My hands are shaking uncontrollably, but that does mean they are not broken, which is a good thing if I do say so myself, and my legs and feet are pulsating rapidly now, but that just means the blood is flowing, I think. I don’t know, I just want to get moving again so I’m not sitting here… I was going to say all day, but for all I know it could very well be all night. I haven’t seen or felt any sunlight in a long time.

I wouldn’t mind stepping outside for a few moments, just to get some fresh air in my system and some sunlight beaming on to my skin, allowing my cells to absorb as much vitamin D as possible. I shouldn’t think about the outside world whilst I’m stuck in here because I’m only going to make myself worse, and I don’t think I want that to happen.

I haven’t thought about Sebastian ever since I got here, nor have I about Amy, but I still believe that Sebastian is coming to get me and that Amy is OK. I do wonder where Amy went when we split. What Universe she went to? I may have already asked this question before, I simply cannot remember nor do I care frankly, because these thoughts are my painkillers, but what are the chances of Amy ending up in the same world as I am in now. If she is, where is she? What is she doing? But if she isn’t in the same world, and she is in a far off universe, and in which case I hope that she is OK. She is a survivor. I can imagine that she would have felt more or less the same feelings and realisations as I did about discovering she is in another universe. Or maybe Amy is having fun. Maybe her universe is the best place to be right now. All I can do is guess. It’s impossible to decide upon a definitive answer.

I wonder what Sebastian is doing right now. What is he doing to help himself find us, how many universes he’s been to in search for us, how many people he’s met, how many different worlds he’s been to? I know that he’s only doing that because of the wrong reasons, but if any other contexts, that would be an immense adventure. The greatest adventure even. Maybe I could persuade him to take me to some of those places he visited. Or maybe I would like to do nothing except crash on the sofa for months on end, sleeping. Travelling across the many universes, meeting new people, discovering new worlds, learning new rules and cultures is extremely tempting and fun to think about because there are so many possibilities, when I get back home, all I wouldn’t mind doing is staying in one place for a while. I would like to stay in my home universe for a period of time, and spent time with Alex.

I wonder what Alex is doing right now. Is she wondering where I am? Is she missing me, or does she not care less where I’ve gone to? I can’t say, but all I know is the moment that I set foot back home, I will be going straight up to Alex and giving her the biggest hug ever. All I want to do is say that I am sorry for abandoning her and then, if she wants, I will explain everything there and then about what happened, about Sebastian and the watch, about the life she’s unintentionally gotten herself into, and then I will wait for her response, and I will respect whatever she deems is necessary. If she wishes to leave me to never darken my door again, then I will go with her.

I know what I will be leaving behind, but I cannot bare to see the back of Alex. Am I getting desperate? I hope I’m not, but I can’t be too sure. When I get a chance, I need to sit down and really think about what I want to do next.

Maybe Sebastian would be able to help me with deciding, as well as Amy. I know they’ll say something that will help me. They always do. But then again, all they’ll be able to say is advice, not definitive answers. Those will have to be made by me and me alone, which is OK, but may take a few days for me to build them.

But I can’t do any of that if I’m stuck in here. I’ve had enough. I need to get out of here and now, but I’m still in so much pain. What is it with all my buts? I shouldn’t be constantly generating so many counterarguments, I should just do it and get on with it. But what if it backfires? I won’t know if it will if I don’t do anything. That’s a good answer, I might use that if someone use asks that question. I would like to see them get out of that one.

Come on, then, let’s get us off the ground and sitting on that bed. Once there, I can form some sort of a plan to get out of here. How am I going…. That question doesn’t matter until I’ve gotten myself off this ground.

Come on, then, up we get. This is going to hurt, but hey, no pain no gain right. I think that phrase comes with many inaccuracies, but it’s the best phrase I have at this point in time, so I shall honour its code and get myself off this ground.

I should do it quickly and in one movement, that way I won’t stop midway and cause any unnecessary pain.

On a count of three.

One. Two. Three.

Ow.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 246:

(Tom’s perspective)

I don’t know how long I’ve been laying here, but I do know it has been long enough for some feeling to come back in my hands and feet, and they sting with pain. They started pulsating as the nerves slowly recovered, and the pain only but increased. At least I can treat this as a good sign, because it means my body is slowly getting better, all I have to do is lie here until the pain goes away, but I doubt I will get that chance. All I can do is help my body recover as best as it can. How I am going to do that, I think I have an idea.

The longer I lay here completely still, the longer it will take for my feet and hands to get better, so that means that the more I move, the more my blood is able to circulate through my body, carrying the nutrients my body needs to get better. That’s the theory anyway. However, the moment I move, the more the pain increases. That’s a bad theory.

I don’t know what I am going to do, if anything, from this point onwards. If I look at the reality and weight my odds, then there is more of a chance that things will go badly for me instead of going right.

I may not be capable of standing up for myself, and the fall back down will be even harder. If I start to fight back, my body may give way immediately, but I do not want to hand myself over again. I do not want to be strung up again and beaten until I break, and I most certainly will not allow myself to give her what she wants. I’ve said so before and I will say it again if it helps: I will not give her the victory; she will not win.

Does she believe she already has? Even though I do have to admit that I know hardly anything about her, I can have some confidence in saying that she does not come across as the type of person who jumps to conclusions.

I reckon she is merely waiting for me to recover until I am ready for another round, and she will continue to do so until I break. If I do attempt to fight back, I will need to know a bit more about her for the last thing I want to do is jump to any conclusions myself and ruin this whole operation, if you can call this an operation. I think it’s more closely representing a ‘thing’ at the moment with no valid title. When I eventually form a plan, I can then give it a valid title, if I ever get around to it, which may be never because I’ll be too busy thinking about what needs to be done and what needs doing, but I think I’m getting a bit too ahead of myself. I need to calm down and focus on recovering, and I won’t do that any time soon if all I’m doing is thinking about this, that and the other and not the more important things, which is getting better.

At least I can say with certainty that my thoughts haven’t been beaten to their absolute limit. They are dulling the pain slightly, but only by a minute amount. I doubt proper painkillers would be able to make this pain go away. Well, actually, painkillers don’t actually kill the pain, they only release a specific paracetamol which locates and blocks the signal from the nerves to the pain, preventing you from feeling it, but the nerves are still tender and pulsating, which means all those people you see in adverts who are playing tennis or running or even picking up their children with ease, could very much be causing themselves even more pain because they are pushing their already injured nerves even more than they can handle, so when the painkillers wear off, their pain will be even more unbearable, leading them to take more pills, and that is the first step towards addiction.

I’m not saying that everyone will fall foul of the pills, but Dr. House can be used as an example for why I don’t like taking painkillers. A decent amount of rest here and there with an appropriate amount of exercise to keep the muscles and nerves from stiffening as they recover is the best medicine. I read that on a science website a couple of years ago, and I’ve stuck to it ever since, and I am not going to give up on it now. I have no choice but to do so, so I had better make the most of the best way and get better as soon as I can.

I do need to move at some point. I will make myself feel so much worse if I stay here. I need to sit up and once I’m up, I will then think of what needs to be done then.

I am proud of myself for not giving in. It does prove that there is so much more about me. I don’t know if that determination was already there, but whatever the reason as to how I found it, I’m glad I did. As strange as it sounds – and I’m probably only saying this to keep my thoughts active –  if there’s one thing I can take away from this, that would be determination, strength and will power. If I look on the bright side, the only way is up from here on. If I put what I’ve learnt to good use, I may be able to stand some chance against Dr. Amanda.

OK, I need to move now. This is probably going to hurt like crazy, but the more I move, the better the pain will ease. Here I go, on a count of three. One. Two. Three.

I slid my legs across the ground, stretching them out, and boy did it hurt. I winched with every inch they moved, but as soon as they came to a stop, the pain did die down a satisfying amount. I will need to roll over if I am to move the other leg. I braced myself for another dose of pain as I breathed in, counted to three and rolled over, and in one slow movement, I stretched out my other leg as well.

I’m now laying on my back. All I need to do now is sit up. This is the part where I may grunt loudly as I force my muscles to move when they don’t want to. I took a couple deep breaths, bracing myself once more. I counted to three like the other two times, and heaved upwards.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 245:

(Tom’s perspective)

I collapsed to the floor, broken and exhausted, and numb. The ground was so soft, my eyelids were so heavy, and my limbs were flaccid, disturbed, and helpless. My head was pounding, and my heart was beating so fast it was hurting my chest even more, and my breathing was thin. I just wanted to lay here forever.

But, the reason why I was in this state, was because I never gave up what I knew. I was not going to let Dr. Amanda win. She knew that I wasn’t going to give up easily, and I knew she could have kept going, but I have to be alive to tell her what she wants, so she finally released my bonds and let me go back to my cell.

‘I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t have a limit,’ she threatened. ‘I’m impressed you lasted this long,’ and that was all she said before she left the room, letting one of her people drag me back here.

I can’t take any more of this, but I know I will have to soon. Throughout the entire time I was there, after each and every attack she made against my body, I contemplated telling her everything, just giving up and revealing what I knew, but that voice in the back of my head stayed strong. I didn’t know how long I could last, but paradoxically, I knew that there was always one more in me. I knew I could take one more, and then another, and then another. I was never going to let her win.

I think my fingers and wrists are broken, maybe even shattered, and I can feel my legs swelling up. I’m sweating, covered in water, and blood. But laying here, not moving, couldn’t be better. Laying here means that I can recover, which means I will be able to take so much more that she has plans for. I will never give up. But maybe I will, just to make her stop. If I tell her everything, it will all stop, I will be able to recover without worrying when she’s going to come back for another round. I can just lay here forever…

They say that every decision that you ever make in your life leads you somewhere. I remember sitting at my computer one day, browsing aimlessly because there was simply nothing to do, when suddenly I found myself reading something that stated that every decision that I have ever made has led me to reading that, and that got me thinking. Of course it did. But then, it wasn’t me who decided to get the computer, it was someone else, my parents to be precise: They brought it for me for my sixteenth birthday when I had left high school because they had a discussion about needing peace and quiet to complete any assignments that I get when I start college. So, was it really me who made all the decisions? Well, the answer is still yes, because it was me who decided to sit at the computer on that day, browsing on that website at that specific time when the post went live to read it.

But even then, a lot of factors had to be put in place for me to read that post. The person who created and, or uploaded it decided to do it then and on that website. If it weren’t for him, then I wouldn’t have done so. So, who made the ultimate decision there? Did he decide to do what he did so that I could read the post, or did I decide to browse on that website so that he could upload that post? Who can say?

But what I do know is that a lot of decisions and a lot of factors has to be made and put in place in a specific order for me to end up laying on this floor. Sebastian had to receive the watch, Amy had to fall in love with him to be sitting at the dining room table with us reading that day’s newspaper which had the advertisement for the concert in, and once we’re at the concert, the four meteorites had to appear out of nowhere, forcing Sebastian to make a quick decision to take us to another universe, where Zaylor had to be on standby to take us and hold us in his laboratory, and then Amy and I had to suddenly find ourselves in another universe. My decisions in all of that is when I decided to go to the concert, decided to go back and say that I was sorry for storming out on Sebastian after I found out about the watch, and decided to be his friend the first moment I met him way back in pre-school.

If we never became friends, none of this would have happened. The question I’m asking myself is: Am I regretting being friends with Sebastian? No, of course not. When Sebastian and I became friends on that day, none of us knew what was going to happen. I can only assume that a lot of factors had to be put in place for Sebastian to find the watch sitting in his living room, so is all of this the fault of the person who sent The Watch to Sebastian? And if Zaylor had decided to create his own laboratory, we wouldn’t have been trapped in it when we arrived. So is it all his fault?

Or am I lying here because I am about to make a decision that will lead to something so much better than anything I could have imagined – for lack of a better phrase, am I supposed to be pulled through the hedge backwards to get there. I don’t know. Not even Sebastian who can see the future whenever he wants knows of what is going to happen.

I’m lying here because I am, and that’s it. There was nothing that I could have done to prevent it, and there is nothing that I can do to prevent what will happen in the future. Call that destiny. Call it fate. Call it whatever you want, I’m laying here because I am. Nothing more, nothing less.

           

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 244:

(Tom’s perspective)

I was pulled out of my sleep when someone splashed a bucket of freezing cold water all over my face, forcing its way up my nose and into my mouth, causing me to cough and open my eyes. That’s when I found myself dangling with my arms strung up above me with ropes.

After regaining my breath back, Dr Amanda stepped forward.

‘Being immune to those chemicals is a bit of an inconvenience. It appears we have to find other ways to get those answers from you,’ she said blankly. I remained silent. There was nothing I wanted to say.

She continued, ‘we only asked a fraction of the questions we want answered, and I’ve got as long as it takes. I understand that you are waiting for someone to come and collect you, but you don’t know when he is arriving, which means I don’t know when he is arriving,’ she stepped to the right of me, just out of my main vision and into my peripheral. I turned my head to see what she was doing, and I watched as she picked up a hammer and twirled it around her hands before setting it back down again next door to a few other devices. She was clearly threatening me with what will happen if I don’t talk. ‘Which means,’ she concluded, ‘I had better act quickly. Now, if I am going to act quickly, that may mean you will hate this so much more than you would have if I was allowed to work at my normal speed, so you had better talk now or…’ and that was all she needed to say. I knew what she meant.

‘You really think torture is the best solution,’ I said as strong as I could.

‘I’ve already explained that you didn’t want to… let’s say participate in our first plans, so you really give us no choice in what we must do. If you are going to be this awkward with everything that I say, you really are not going to like this.

‘How do you know that this won’t work either?’ I asked.

‘Well, now that you’ve mentioned it, we don’t, but like before, we tried it.’ What can I say to make her change her mind? I really don’t want her to do this, but I don’t want to talk either. I know that I didn’t care less whether I did or not before, but how can I be sure that it wasn’t the chemicals making that decision for me.

‘What will you do if I agree to tell you everything I have?’ I asked in a desperate voice.

‘We have to believe you first,’ she said.

‘So even if I agree to tell you everything, you’re still going to go through with this to make sure that I wasn’t lying. That’s disturbing, even for you.’

She stepped forward. ‘You know nothing of me to make that statement. You dare try and get inside my head with your words. You may say that you will give me what I want, but those words could mean nothing just to make us untie you. You haven’t asked me whether we’re going to let you go once you have given us what we want.’

‘I don’t have to. I already know that answer,’ I said.

She just smiled, ‘then give us what we want.’ Now she is trying to be clever. She’s trying to make me think that I will be let go after I’ve given her all the answers, but I know that she won’t. I don’t know how long I can keep this talking going before she starts. I can tell that she is trying to wait until I’ve ran out of things to say before she gets bored.

‘Now, your friend. You said that he would only be dangerous if we got in his way. Does he know how dangerous we can be if he gets in our way?’

Oh, she has no idea. But, there is one thing that doesn’t add up.

‘How do you know what I said if I said all that stuff in a dream?’ I asked. Again, she smiled.

‘We have our ways,’ she answered vaguely. ‘This is a secret organisation; we have access to certain pieces of technology that so many people dream about having. I am really intrigued as to what technology you have over in your universe, that is, if you are telling the truth about being in another universe. For all I know, you could be making all of this up to grab as much attention as you can, hence the procedures.’

‘You can’t be serious that I am making this all up. You have advanced technology way beyond anything the general public has but you don’t have the basic lie detector tests?’

‘The results came back inconclusive, if you must know.’

‘And when did you do this test.’

‘Again, we have our ways.’

‘Then why don’t you do it the simplest way then. Would the results be inconclusive then?’

‘Nice try, Tom, nice try, but I am not untying you until I have what I want.’ She truly is demonic. I thought Zaylor was mad, but she takes the biscuit and eats it, as well as the cake. I can’t believe she got people working for her. They must be either brainwashed somehow or just as insane. In a twisted way, I hope that she isn’t the one that is administering the strikes, because, if she is just as brainwashed as her employees, then it is no fault of her own, but if she is doing this all herself, then there may be no hope for her recovery.

‘You appear to be a little vacant, are you getting bored?’ she asked, walking back over to the table where the equipment laid.

‘All I am going to say,’ I said, wanting to make sure that I said this correctly with no stumbles, ‘is when he arrives and sees what you did to me, there is no place, no time, no universe where he won’t be able to find you.’ That was a bit of a lie, but it did make her respond in silence.

‘Then we shall begin,’ she said, picking up the hammer once more.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)