On the Other Side
Brian awoke and found himself surrounded by darkness. At first he could not remember what had happened, he just had the vague recollection of a dream or maybe it was a nightmare. He couldn’t quite remember, but something told him that it was important. So he concentrated and tried to remember what he had dreamed. Slowly, it started to come back to him. He remembered hanging out with Ethan...wait...was that part of the dream or...didn’t Ethan actually come visit him? Brian honestly couldn’t recall if that was part of the dream or real life. He tried to remember more. He remembered feeling like something was off, that someone was watching him, but he couldn’t remember anything else.
Brian sat up or at least he would have if he had actually been laying down on something. Instead he realized that he had been floating weightless in the darkness. He glanced around, his heart pounding. Where was he? The darkness around him wasn’t impenetrable, but there also wasn’t anything to see. He also realized that it wasn’t exactly still either. The darkness shifted as though it was merely a mist wafting in a light breeze. Then, in the place Brian hadn't thought existed, something clicked. He recognized this darkness. It was a darkness he had thought only existed in his deep recesses of his dreams. So, was he dreaming? Brian felt a gentle tug. Frowning and not really knowing what else to do, he followed the tug into the darkness. As he wandered, the darkness around him began to subside a little until it looked like it was lit by a fading sun or a candle flame without the flicker and then he stood before a border. He reached out a hand and felt a subtle resistance as it passed through. Brian followed his hand through the border and out into the light, a gentle breeze pulling at the stray strands of his hair. He looked around, but there wasn’t anything to see. Brian turned and looked back at the shifting, impenetrable darkness. He knew this place, had been here before, had stood right here. That was impossible. It wasn't true. It couldn’t be. This was wrong and yet he felt that he had been staring at this darkness for a long time.
A throbbing starting at his temples, Brian turned back around and found that he was looking at a room. There was a chair, sound-proofing foam on the wall, and against the wall was a pile of stuff. He saw an anime waifu body pillow, an Eevee, Gir, and...wait a minute. This was his room. As he watched, he saw himself walk over to the chair and sit down. The him in the room started doing something, but Brian couldn’t tell what it was from where he was. Brian realized that something wasn't right. There was something about the angle at which he watched the other him, something was wrong. He watched intently, trying to figure it out when suddenly, it hit him. He was looking at the other him from the same place and angle of his computer.
Brian suddenly felt as though he couldn’t breathe. What...what did this all mean? he wondered, the pressure in his head increasing. He backed away from the image before him and felt the slight resistance of the darkness behind him. He felt dizzy. Everything was starting to feel wrong with Brian and it was all in his mind. It had to be. Slowly, he looked back at the image of himself sitting at the computer and then it happened. The him in the image flickered at the edges, like a corrupted computer file.
And then, he remembered everything.
“Glitch…?” he whispered.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Glitch sat in front of the computer, the same computer through which he had tried to reach Brian. It was time to get to work, time to reach out to the community, to fix everything. He moved the mouse to the left side.
He started to get ready for a stream when something cold brushed against his arm. Glitch turned to look but there was nothing there. A chill ran down his spine as he slowly turned back to the computer. Nothing had changed. Glitch breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought…no. He shook his head. No, he wouldn’t think the other one’s name, wouldn’t five him the opening. He turned his attention back to setting up, opening up the programs he needed and making sure everything was working the way it should. He went in and changed the title of the stream and changed the category to “just chatting.” Soon, he was ready. He moved the mouse across the screen to the “start stream” button, but then his hand froze just shy of the button. Something was preventing him from moving it any further, something cold that felt as though it was grasping his hand. Glitch stared down at it and watched the hair on his arm slowly stand.
“Brian…” he whispered. The name came out in a puff of vapor.
The computer screen went black with a soft pop, making Glitch start. He slowly looked back up from his hand to look at the screen.
I’M STILL HERE typed itself out in bold white letters across the black screen before they vanished the the computer died completely.
