The Empty Town

When I woke up, my head was spinning. I was on my bed, but when I sat up, I realized how messy my room was. Everything was scattered on the floor. The picture frames I hung on my wall were shattered and all over the floor as well. I slowly got up from the bed, careful not to step on any shards of glass. 

I remembered nothing. 

I couldn't find any reasons for my room to be THAT messy. I wouldn't do those to my room, even when I'm mad. Did a robber break into my home? I frantically searched for my purse under the clutter and found it untouched at all. My cards, cash and ID card were still in there, so I was left confused, again. 

I walked out of my bedroom, finding similiar situations all around the house. Confused wasn't the exact word to express what I felt at the moment. 

It took a while for me to find my phone. I managed to find it under the clutter and quickly turned it on, just to find out that there was no signal, but something caught my eyes. 

A message from the government. A warning to be exact, about a blizzard. 

Out of the blue, everything came over to me. I remembered almost everything that happened. 

It was a normal day in winter but I realized that it was snowing more heavily than the few days before. I was driving home from work when I got the message. I recalled running into the house and locking all the doors and windows before rushing to my room to hide. 

I forgot my phone outside, but I was too afraid to go back out to get it. It would be my first blizzard since I had just moved to the town, and I knew how extremely unprepared I was. 

I knew the blizzard had started when the wind became louder; I could hear the whistling of the wind, and it terrified me. I tried hiding under the cover, doing so until it became dark and cold. The electricity was cut off. My landlord mentioned to me that it would be likely to happen, especially in the blizzard, but I seriously wasn't ready for it. 

Since there was no electricity, the heater was not able to function. The weather was extremely cold – it reached more than -15. Of course! I was in the middle of a wild blizzard after all, but I knew I had to get to the generator outside. I really didn't fancy dying of hypothermia since I was too chickened out to turn on the generator for the house backup source of power. 

Grabbing a flashlight, I toughened myself up and slowly walked out of the house. It was so scary, those few minutes I was outside. Finding the generator was a problem itself. Thankfully, I managed to find it and turn it on. 

I rushed back to the door, when something flew towards me. It was hard, and it hit me right on the head. It hurt. I locked the door, ran inside straight to my bedroom. I knew I was going to pass out from the harsh impact to the head, so I tried my best to get to safety, a.k.a my bed before I lose consciousness. To be honest, it didn't take long. 

I unlocked my phone, looking around. There were a few messages from my boyfriend, Rick, since I messaged him before the blizzard started about how scared I was. Adding to the messages, there were also a few missed calls from him. I figured out that it was the morning after, the clock showing 7 AM. It was still dark outside, which was abnormal, but I didn't question it further, as I didn't want to overload my head with thoughts and confusion. 

It was still Winter, hence it was still freezing cold, so I went to the bathroom to have a warm or hot bath to calm myself down, simultaneously keeping my body warm. I glanced at the bathroom mirror when I walked past it, stopping to look closely. I found drying blood on the side of my head, which explained why my head was spinning when I woke up. It was most likely caused by the hard object that hit my head directly the night before. I tried cleaning it the best I could with my insufficient amount of medication, sometimes wincing in pain.

I finished with the bath about an hour later, and the sky outside was still dark and dare I said, it was dead quiet. I was worried. 

I was contemplating on going to work or not because of the current situation when I heard distinct incoherent whisperings which later started to sound like whispers of my name. 

"Addison." 

I felt goosebumps going through my body. Who would whisper my name at 8:30 in the morning? The house felt stuffy out of the sudden, making me itch to leave the comfort of my house. I got myself dressed warmly before wasting any time and went outside. 

I was shocked with what I saw. 

It's my neighborhood, but at the same time it wasn't. Nobody, not even one person was in my line of sight. To say that I was scared was an understatement. If there's no person at all, who has been whispering? 

The houses in my neighborhood were empty. It looked like everyone had evacuated ages ago. Their houses looked dull, and the things left outside were mostly damaged, probably by the blizzard. I looked back at my house, when I realized it was exactly the same as the others. 

I ran back inside, looking around. My things looked different then, before I left the house. They looked old and dirty. Grimes covering every single surface of the house. 

Then, the whisperings started again. 

I was freaking out, but I managed to reassure myself before going out once more, calling out to the voices timidly. "Hello, who's there?" 

The voices stopped for a bit, before they started again, now speaking specifically to me. Calling out my name louder, saying "Help us! We're here." 

It was overwhelming when each one of the voices were directed towards me. "Stop!" I screamed, my palms went to cover my ears. I'm afraid I could go insane if I hear more of the voices. I started running towards the center of the town since it was the closest place I could think of, and I also could reach there easily by foot and probably get some help. My feet came to a halt as I set foot at the town. 

Empty. That's the word to describe it. 

I hate being alone. When I moved alone I had a hard time adapting. But suddenly at the moment I was engulfed by it. It wasn't pleasant. Not at all. "Help! Somebody! Anybody! Please come out!" I yelled out, as I felt my knees fall to the ground. I was still covering my ears, trying to shut out the voices as much as I could. 

It's my town, but at the same time it wasn't. It's an empty town. 

I didn't know what to do. I was helpless. No one could be reached and I was half-sure that I was stuck somewhere else. Like a different dimension. 

I continued yelling out, trying to find at least one person, or an alive being, but to no avail. The voices must've been following me around, or they must've come from every part of the town because I wasn't lying when I said they were everywhere. I was so distressed that when I arrived home again – a few hours of screaming and yelling all over the town passed – I passed out from exhaustion and mainly stress. I hoped it was all just a nasty night terror. 

I woke up hours later, and I realized my home was back to normal. The clutters and grimes everywhere were gone. Completely. As I rushingly got out of bed, I could hear ambient noises, like cars and chatters from the neighbors. It felt like someone had breathed life again to the town. Everything was, normal? 

But my outfit changed. I was wearing what I wore after the long bath that was supposed to calm me down. I immediately called Rick up and told him everything. Tears of terror fell to my cheeks as I spoke to him about how real it was, the voices, the neighborhood, and the empty town. 

Was it a dream? Hallucinations? Or was it a part of the reality that nobody sees but me? Did I enter another universe or dimension after all? Or did I see the possible outcome of the blizzard? 

Either way, I could never forget it. The images and experience would forever be burned in my memory.