Stargazer Pt.4 (Bonus Chapter)

Yamin started heading for the café. Along her walk, she noticed a very distinct quietness.

People were walking around as usual, but many of them were poorly dressed for the snow. Some wore pajamas, others didn’t even have shoes.

The temperature was dropping fast, but few seemed worried.

Yamin on the other hand had a small heating pad hidden under her jacket that kept her nice a warm. A common item for school girls to keep their appearance and stay toasty. But as much as she was prepared, this sudden onset of winter could easily overwhelm her current clothing.

The ankle deep snow was climbing, even the roads were getting blanketed over. All it would have taken to clear it away was to have a fire mage heat the ground, causing it to evaporate. But as it continued to pile and pile, it was clear nobody was coming.

She finally arrived, but the café door was stuck. Try as she might, she couldn’t get it to budge.

“What the heck is…” she looked through the window to notice someone leaning on the door. “Huh?”

With all the banging and shouting she did, she couldn’t get this person to react to her. If he was ignoring her for some reason, she couldn’t figure out why.

“Oh, come on…what the heck.”

SCREEE!

REEECH!

Sounds of tires screeching against the pavement ripped across the road. Yamin turned quickly to see a car sliding straight for her.

“Ahhh!”

She dove just in time to avoid getting hit.

CRASH!

The car was forcibly stopped by the layer of bricks. The café wall came crumbling down over the front of the car.

Yamin was too panicked to rise from the pile of snow. It took all her will power to simply turn and see what happened.

Her hands clung tightly to her neckless shaped like a shield. Quiet prayers filled her mouth.

Inside the car was just a single man. The airbag had inflated, but he still took a minor injury to the head. He didn’t seem conscious.

For a moment she wasn’t sure if she could help him. She hesitated, but eventually decided to try and pull him out.

“Oh my God!” she tugged on the door with all her might, but she wasn’t strong enough to get it open. “It’s locked.”

She quickly retracted her words, because the door was in fact not locked. A small bolt in front of the window confirmed this. The car was too damaged to give her access to the inside.

How did this happened, she wondered. Of all the things to transpire on this strange day, it seemed like this was a nightmare she had yet to awaken from.

“Help! Someone help! Please!”

But no one came.

People who were out on the streets just continued walking along as if nothing was happening. Could this have been the bystander effect on full display?

With all the strength of her lungs, she tore deep within to pull the most feminine scream she could muster. “Help!”

But still, no one came.

“Oh come on!”

Her last resort was to grab an object to pry the door open. She tried a wooden board, but it was too thick. She tried a fiberglass rod, but it bent. Finally she tried a small garden shovel. It only did a little good before the metal end came apart from the wood.

That door was a strong enemy. Nothing she tried seemed to get it open.

“Help!” she called out again. “Someone’s dying in there!”

Blood was dripping fast down the man’s forehead, but nobody seemed to care.

What was even stranger was that the café patrons and workers didn’t react at all. Whatever they were doing, it clearly worked as a major distraction.

She climbed over the car to get inside the building, but was shocked to find the person who had been leaning against the door was sound asleep. Not just him though. Everyone in the building was sleeping. Some had their faces in coffee or food, which Yamin was quick to remove them from.

The situation only got worse from there. She noticed people outside and across the river walkway were on the ground. Either they had been killed in some freak accident that happened when she turned away, or they were sleeping too. The latter came true.

“What is this…?” she panicked.

Yamin needed to find help. She ran into town, hoping to find anyone who might give these people aid.

~☆☆☆~

The roads were just getting worse with snow. A few melted dips in the piles appeared every few meters, but the water pooling up looked very sludgy and gross. Black worms could even be seen swimming in the muck. Yamin avoided stepping in there.

But kids behind her seemed care free, since one stomped right in and was coated in the sludge water.

“Splash splash!” the child cheered, stomping around and splashing the black liquid on his friend.

“Hey, that’s cold!” his friend said.

Yamin was horrified to see them turn dirty and get covered in ugly worms. But they didn’t seem to mind.

She could tell when other people had stepped in the water as well, since their legs would be covered in slime.

“Holy crap. Does anyone else see this?”

Around a corner was a huge pond of black water. An intersection had been completely devoured, replaced by a few feet deep of the awful stuff.

A woman in business attire was walking up behind her.

“This is horrible!” the woman announced.

Finally, another person could see this.

“Isn’t it? I don’t understand what’s going on!” Yamin cried.

“I can’t believe they’re doing construction here again! You know what? I’m just going to walk right through it. I’ll show that mayor where my tax money’s going.”

Her feet dipped into the sludge like she didn’t even realize it was there. Slowly as she walked forward it climbed higher and higher until the woman was neck deep. Then her head dipped under the sludge, disappearing completely.

The woman was gone.

“It’s the end of the world…” Yamin mumbled with a fearful tone. “Oh my God…oh my God.”

The pool of sludge that the woman had unwarily dipped into began to ripple. The horrible worm infested blackness splashed violently until spindly hands inched out from down under the sludge.

“Nope! Nope! Nope!” Yamin fled, heading now to the cathedral at the center of town.