Shattered Glass

The Awakening

The first thing that hit the man when he opened his eyes was the feeling of weightlessness in his lower half. Even though he was terribly drowsy and didn't understand anything else, he was aware of the fact that his arms were resting on a slippery, cement surface, and that he had obviously been asleep for some time. His lower body was obviously suspended in water, which confused him, but his hair was dry and slightly crusty; therefore, he'd probably been swimming.

Which would explain where he was.

The man lifted his head, acutely aware of the darkness of the room and the difficulty it was taking for his eyes to adjust. His pale, freckled skin was slightly pruney, meaning that the water tap was probably still on and had been overflowing the edges of the pool. He felt exhausted; his body was tired, and he could feel the pain deep in his bones, but was confused as to why. Had he been swimming for that long?

The water rippled as he pulled himself from the cold pool, his body protesting the sudden movement. He groaned, feeling his legs scratch against the cement of the basin as he pulled himself onto moderately dry land. He ran his hands through his hair, taking in his surroundings and turning back towards the pool to survey the room.

The room was as dark as it was empty. The man could see the remnants of what had appeared to be a party, but nothing gave away what kind of party it was, or who had been there. He scanned the room, feeling a shiver run up his spine as he took in his surroundings. The room reminded him of something out of a horror film; the broken tapestries and scattered trash made the pool seem almost haunted. Dark, wilted flowers dotted the walls, and the man remarked that they had probably at one point been white. His eyes drifted to the pool, wondering where exactly he was.

Then a figure moved on the pool stairs.

The man squealed, scrambling backwards as the darkened figure sat up, groaning out and flexing its shoulders. He seemed just as confused as the first man; he stared about himself confusedly, his eyes locking onto the terrified man by the side of the pool and sticking there. The bright, blue glow from the man's eyes shone in the darkness as he looked around, his gaze eerily familiar to the first man.

"Who are you?" The first man asked, sitting up and moving forwards nervously. The man on the stairs looked up at him, confusion littering his gaze.

"I... I don't know. What about you?" He sighed.

"Me neither." Comforted by the knowledge that he and his counterpart were in the same circumstance, he stood up painfully and walked over to him, holding out his hand.

"Then... then what shall I call you?" The second man asked nervously, taking his outstretched hand and allowing himself to be pulled from the water.

"I do not know."

"Then we shall make names for ourselves. I will be Adrean. How about you?" The man cocked his head, thinking.

"You may call me Carson." Carson smiled lightly, watching Adrean brush himself off as he stood.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" asked Adrean, staring out one of the many windows into what appeared to be infinite darkness.

"No. I do not even know who I am. Our location is... a minor thing compared to my lack of self-knowledge." Adrean nodded, walking forwards on cautious feet.

"Do you know if we are alone?" Carson asked, his eyes trailing after Adrean's retreating form.

"Whatever do you mean?" asked Adrean, turning around curiously. He frowned, his bright blue eyes appearing to cast light around him.

"Are we the only living things here? I mean, do you think?" He could feel a shiver of what he assumed to have been terror rush up his spine.

"I suppose we should find out, if we truly wish to know." The man turned back around, sighing sadly.

"I wish I knew who I was, because then maybe I would understand why you are so familiar," Adrean breathed, looking at him again. Carson looked down.

"I understand. I feel the same way."

"So, I am familiar to you as well?"

"Yes. Even though I cannot see your face, your presence is comforting. I believe that we must have at one point been friends," Carson said.

"I cannot help but feeling the same," Adrean remarked, and although Carson could not see him, he could feel the man smile elatedly.

"However, there is something that I do not understand."

"Whatever could it be?" asked Carson, feeling the smile dip into a frown.

"I feel... I feel as though there should be someone else here. That there should be three of us." Carson rubbed his scalp, noticing the absence that unknowingly had been there since they arrived.

"So do I, now that you have mentioned it. What do you think it could be?"

"An answer." Adrean said cryptically, and Carson could tell he was grinning slightly.

"Come, we must search. It should not take us long; this room is fairly small," called Adrean, beckoning to Carson in the dark. He could see the way Adrean's hand sliced through the emptiness of the pool, but quickly set upon their task; searching for anyone else.

"I do not see anything," Adrean called a few moments later, having already searched the entire left side of the room.

"Neither do I—" started Carson, then he stopped.

"Wait." Adrean's head shot up and he rushed over to the other side of the pool to Carson.

"What have you found?"

"It appears to be a note, but I cannot read it, due to the lack of lighting."

"How do you know it is important?" Adrean asked.

"Nothing more than a gut feeling. However, I feel that we should at least read it before doing anything more. Although, I fear I will need a light, which we do not... I'm sorry, what is it?" Adrean's eyes had gone wide as he stared out at the window, his hands falling at his sides.

"I think that I may have just found your light." Carson frowned.

"I do not follow," he said, his eyes following Adrean's figure as he walked towards the window. He held out his hand, reaching for the solid black glass.

"It is not this dark outside. Do you know how I know?" Carson walked up behind him, glancing at the window.

"No. Please explain," Carson said, watching the man smile.

"It is ash, coating the inside of the window. Watch," Adrean reached up and swiped his hands across the glass. Then he gasped, his eyes widening in complete awe.

"What is it?" asked Carson, struggling to get a look, but the man was frozen in both impression and what appeared to be terror.

"Adrean, what--" The man finally moved, allowing Carson to get a good look outside the small window.

"This is not where we are from," Adrean said deeply, watching Carson freeze as he took in the landscape.

The land looked red, sand obviously blowing about in the night. The ground looked almost completely flat, a ridge of mountains the only range marring the landscape. He could see no signs of life; the entire terrain looked completely desolate, and just that would have confirmed the two's suspicions that they were not on their home planet of Earth, which they only knew by name. However, that was not all.

What truly struck them as alien was the sky. It was purple and dotted with innumerable stars, light pollution not having taken effect here. The constellations were foreign as well, no dippers or anything else as such.

But what truly frightened the pair were the two enormous, white moons that took up the majority of the sky, casting light even in the dark, empty night.