Chapter Two

The throaty rumble of an engine could be heard from inside a rusty shed. Almost as loud was the groan from Dave in the car. Having finished the fries and accompanying shake there was a decision to be made. It had already been decided in essence, but as with all decisions that carry weight it isn’t always easy to follow through.

Several minutes passed, perhaps simply to finish digesting, and then action was taken.

A sigh. A grunt. Then the shifting of gears. Leaning back and staring at the grey felt roof, one last thought to be given to the world from behind wrinkled brows.

“ I wonder if you still shit in heaven”.…

…

It wasn’t really the last thought, but more the one that had the effort of being spoken out loud. It had been 10 minutes. Eyes fluttering, sleep was finally taking hold. An owl outside softly hoote!! BOOOM MUTHERFUKER!!!! CRACK!WHIP!!

An enormous pressure wave ripped them from their seat and skull-hit-roof in a twist of fate akin to Juliet’s love of Romeo. It ended with pain and blood. Consciousness roused and literally bloody eyed awake they took in the scenery. Still in their car. Engine had stopped running at some point. But there was light coming through the windows and not shed walls. Feeling a bit off kilter, thorough kneading of their eyes was carried out, with a few tears because their head still friggin hurt and there was blood.

Cracking open baggy eyes brought a sight to sore eyes.

Nothing…..

Just nothing… Literally.

Black expanse on the bottom and lilac sky overhead.

“ Oh my god. Really?” Dave exclaimed looking around a tad frantically with a bit of hysteria.

“ Just cut me a break ya big cunt in the sky. What is this shit.”

Unbuckling a seatbelt, slamming open a door had feet on new ground in two seconds tops. Luckily that ground wasn’t an infinite black void as might have first thought but a deep black glossy material, like enamel coated granite. This was quickly taken in, processed and shat into the back of their brain as new information came in that came from looking two feet further away on the ground. The black expanse didn't stretch featureless forever into the distance. In fact, from what their brain could process it seemed to stretch forever downward at a right angle. Quite a bit like a wall. A wall with a gap between it and the next wall of a mile and filled with black vines. Vines that writhed.

The foremost thought at the moment was one more step and “ Holy shit. Fuck Fuck FUCK. oh my god” they would have fallen straight into it in their angry starting to rant state. Quickly taking two steps back started to work on fixing that thought. Quickly glancing about and then some hurried steps brought them to the other side of their vehicle. Making a snap decision they took another look around the ground, then the sky and stepped off. Within 5 minutes an interesting, perhaps grim picture became apparent. Where they currently stood was on a platform about the size of a baseball pitch. Branching off from it were 4 pathways 2 metres in width, with walls downwards an unknowable depth, and continued off into the distance running parallel to other walls until they branched off.

The first first impression of a seamless black expanse seemed to be wrong. An optical illusion caused by the absolute similarity of the structure. Though there were some outliers. The black masses that jostled in the spaces inbetween. And in the centre of the platform a small circular basin the size of a basketball covered with a grainy looking texture.

Scouting completed Dave made one more lap just to get a feel for how confused they felt and then hopped back into their car through the passenger side. Locking eyes in the rear mirror with their self for a moment they quickly let their face fall into open palms and screamed. Because they were still confused, and probably. Most likely. Concussed.

Meanwhile the spattering of blood from their head that had fallen on the surface disappeared at once in a flash of neon blue, the spots where it fell undulating outwards in tiny black ribbons as if seeking more.