Tale Of The Machine by Michael Wolf at Inkitt

Chapter 1 ×- Silence.

My head lay against the window, rain tapped the glass quietly in the dark.

"It's 12 and I'm STILL awake?"

I think with a sigh. In the dim light of the moon I glanced to the nearby shelf. It held the weight of over a dozen notebooks. I flexed my hands, stretched, and closed my eyes. I rested my head on the window and closed my eyes inhaling slowly and sighing. I stood up and peeled my shirt off, noting the smell of smoke hadn't left yet. I dropped it beside the frameless mattress on the floor. I nudged my chair towards the desk beside my notebook shelf. In the dim light and cramped space, I lowered myself to the mattress and curled up on its bare surface. I'd pushed the blankets and pillows aside. Sprawled out and restless I closed my eyes again.

"Sleep is a nightmare..."

I took a deep breath realizing that the rain had stopped. Silence fell like a blanket over the tiny dark space I knew as mine.

"Won't be long now. It'll be those dreams again. I already know, it's one of those nights."

My ears started ringing and I curled into ball on the bare mattress.

"I'm not going to cry tonight. This week was bad enough. Besides I'll wake up with the blood in my eyes again. I hate that shit."

Slowly I felt myself slipping into it. That warm heartfelt silence called sleep.

I looked up at it. The turning swirling mass of metal. I could see gears and cogs, steam rolled out of smokestacks and from between sliding sheets of metal. I couldn't hear anything, but if it was real I'd be deaf right now, so it made sense. The spherical machine floated in nothingness ahead of me. It has to be massive, and really really far away, but I can't tell how big or how far away it is. It's like looking at the moon, or like those pictures from school or TV showing other planets. Only its like the size of a galaxy. No, this thing is infinitely bigger. I can...

FEEL

it's crushing mass. The damn thing's massive. I don't see how it's not swallowing me. And it all

moves

. Colorful lights shown through the inner parts. There must be entire universes inside it.

What is that thing...

I was instantly sitting up with my gun pointed at the door. A man in a suit stood there with my door open. "Morning, Kyle." I narrowed my gaze at his face. I didn't recognize him. I clicked the safety off. "Who are you, why are you here, and how do you know my name?" I demand. He tilted to one side and smiled. "That would be a mistake, Kyle. You know me. It has been many years science we've spoken. However..." He stood up strait. I lowered my finger to the trigger. "What the he'll are you talking about?! Who are you?!" I demand. His smile faded. "It is not time yet." He mutters quietly. Nothing he's said has made any sense yet. I don't know this man. The gun doesn't seem to faze him. "Are you afraid of something, Kyle." I caught the look in his eye and my heart sank. "Oh there it is." His face contorted into a sneer. A hushed roaring sound filled the room. Like hell was flowing into the room very slowly. His eyes simmered with a supernatural look. "Don't forget me Kyle. I wouldn't like that. I wouldn't like that at all." His toothy smile was freaking me out. I lifted my gun. "Get out! Get the fuck away from me!" I shout. He lived his foot and stepped forward. I pulled the trigger. The sound made me flinch, but I recovered quickly and rose from the bed. "Now now, that's no way to treat an old friend Kyle." He laughed. He hadn't moved an inch. He still stood there smiling at me with those teeth. I didn't see any wound in him. No holes in the walls. I hadnt missed. He held out a hand and opened it. An undamaged bullet head lay in his palm. "What the hell..." I gasped. "You don't remember?" He wasn't smiling anymore. "Who are you?" He looked at the bullet. "I was your friend once. I'm not sure what's happened." He said. I lowered my gun. He held the bullet out to me. "Why are you here Kyle?" He looked down, seemingly asking himself. "You need to go. I don't know you or anything... this is all so weird." I almost stammer. "Very well. I will go. But when you do remember me, surely you will know how to find me." He nodded at his hand. I locked eyes with the unnamed intruder and held my hand out. The bullet dropped into my palm and he was gone. I looked around and back down the the bullet in my hand. "This has to be a dream..."

I sat up in bed with a hand on the gun beside me. I laughed shortly. Then I noticed the feeling of something cold in my other hand. "No" I looked down to my hand. Unfolding my fingers I glimpsed the shine of metal in my hand. The bullet was there. "Impossible" I whispered.