5. THE ALLEY

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That female voice, to which Colin had clearly heard call his name within his own home on two separate occasions now, may just have a reason to it as to why it is connected to a de ja vu feeling which had accompanied it on each of those two evenings. On this particular evening, however, Colin did not feel like going anywhere to clear his head other than to his bed. Feeling as tired as he did Colin seriously needed sleep.

A moment soon came when he would find himself standing in an unfamiliar corridor; just how he got to this corridor, he had no idea. The corridor, as it soon became obviously clear, was one within a hospital. Colin felt himself being drawn to one ward in particular; a room to his right where a woman extremely familiar to him was sitting up in her bed, the first bed to Colin's left, and this lady was caressing a crying newborn child.

'There, there little man' spoke the woman as she cradled her newborn, 'mommy has you.'

The woman looked up and acknowledged Colin's presence.

'You have come a long way since I first held you like this my son.'

'Mom?'

'I am and always have been, so proud of you.'

Before Colin could have a chance to say or do anything else, he would feel a spinning sensation which would last for close to fifteen seconds, a fifteen second period after which he would awake in his own bed feeling tired and disorientated. He couldn't help but call out a 'no' for he knew what he had only just experienced was something more than a dream and just how he would love to have stayed in that moment a while longer is something beyond that of which he could put into words.

***

Felix Anderson looked through several black sacks of trash that had been left up against a wall. It may be early in the evening by such time Felix came to be where he is, but it was quite dark already and quite cold too. He was hoping to find something that he could use to keep himself somewhat warm through the night that was about to come. Felix would take his findings and would soon come across an alleyway.

He briefly thought about spending the night within the pitch-black surroundings of that alleyway. If anything, such a place could or would provide some sort of shelter from the piercing coldness of a fairly strong breeze, but still, spending a night down there? He'd probably be safer out in the open.

There was something strange and unusual about this particular alley that made Felix feel more than a little uneasy, and this is besides the fact of how dark that alleyway looks to be. What the exact strangeness is, was something he could not quite put his finger on, but he could feel it within him like a strong sense of dread pulling right at him, offering a warning to stay away.

The thoughts of possibly spending a night in such a place would soon evaporate, and that is if he had those thought for any real length of time, for the uncomfortable feeling would make it so difficult for Felix to do anything more than just look into the darkness. He most definitely felt that he would more than likely be safer out in a wide-open space being in the company of the cold breeze rather than being with whatever he may find if he were to venture down that alley.

Having made the decision to move on, Felix would soon turn his attention back towards that dark alley. The sound of something being knocked over had him looking back into that darkness though no matter how hard he looked he would not be able to see anything at all. Another sound would hold Felix's attention and make him feel all the more uneasy for he was sure that a voice, a loud whisper had called his name.

'Hello. Is there someone down there?'

'Felix ...'

The whisper seemed so much louder this second time. Felix looked to his left then looked to his right, nothing in particular caught his attention so for some reason or another he decided to enter that alley. He knows better than to do this, but something compelled him on. The alley did indeed provide shelter from that freezing cold breeze, though unfortunately for Felix, he would not be sheltered from what awaited him. And he certainly would not get to leave the alley in the same manner as he entered it.

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