//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 : Close Call // Story: Welcome to my World // by Maxis122 //------------------------------// Welcome to my World - Chapter 3 : Close Call By Maxis122 Max rubbed his eyes and looked at the shape in the shadows. If this is what he thought it was then the world is nothing like it should be. The shape moved towards Max and began to come into the light. Then a shout from someone caused the shape to flinch and Max to look away. After looking and seeing some men running in his direction, he turned back to see the thing had gone. Max needed to get out or he would be in so much trouble. So then Max ran into the darkness and jumped onto the floor. He backed up under a truck and watched as the men ran into the building. Max looked back towards the entrance and kept on switching back to see the building entrance. All the men were now inside so Max stumbled onto his feet and ran for the entrance and didn’t look back. He was back onto the street and Max took a hard right so now he was back on track to his house. His house came into view and Max searched his pocket for his keys. He searched and searched but they were not there. The only thing that Max could think is “shit”. Max looked back to the place where he had come from and sighed with regret. His heart was racing and he was tired. He looked down at his watch and saw the time was 11:45. So he ran back to the entrance and looked at the building. The men were still inside so Max had some time to get his keys back. He crept over to the truck and crawled under it. Within a minute he found his keys but when he looked back to the building the men began to come out. One of them looked over to the truck that he was hiding under. He froze as he watched the man scan the truck and then approach it. Was this it? His first criminal act, could it be? The man was now right in front of the truck and he looked inside the cab. Then he opened the door to the truck and he got inside. Then the engine roared to life and the other vehicles began to move. Max started swearing under his breath and he crawled backwards. Then the truck began to move and it was turning at the same time. The wheel was coming towards Max and he couldn’t get out of the way. The noise of the engine covered Max’s voice so the driver couldn’t hear Max as he shouted. First a possible criminal act, then death? Max was lucky as the truck had stopped to let the other vans and cars get out. Then the truck slowly began to move and the wheel came closer to Max. Then all of a sudden Max felt something grab his leg and drag him from under the truck. The wheel just missed him and he was alive. The truck moved away and Max was left there on the ground. He was in shock and tears were in his eyes. But he was alive. Max turned onto his back and looked to his feet and there was nothing there. Whoever, or whatever saved him had gone and he was once again alone. Max put his hands to his face and continued to hyperventilate. He then released his hands from his head and regained control of himself. He got back to his feet and looked around at the immediate area. What had happened to him was a mystery but he was grateful for whatever saved him. “Thank you” he said before he began to walk back to his house. When he got back he went inside his house and went up the stairs. He kicked his shoes off as he ascended and he took his coat off. When he entered his bedroom he threw his coat onto the bed and he sat on it. He then stared into nothing and tried to think about what had just happened. Had he encounter a new species? Was there a military experiment on the loose? Whatever was going on Max was sure that he was now a part of it. Whether he liked it or not he was becoming part of something big. Max then looked to his window and stared into the darkness. He then stood up and walked over to his laptop and turned it on. He sat on the chair and watched the windows logo appear on the screen. His eyes were becoming heavy but he wanted to know something. When the computer had loaded he quickly opened the web browser and clicked on the news icon. Within a second the news page opened and Max examined it. There was nothing really important going on. Then again if this were a military thing then they would be quiet about it. Max searched down the page and looked at all the news that had been posted in his area. But there was nothing about a creature or anything strange on the news. Max rubbed his face and sighed. He then turned the laptop off and he threw himself onto the bed. He looked at the roof of his white room and slowly he closed his eyes. The thoughts of what had happened couldn’t escape his head. He couldn’t just drift off like he would normally. His head was buzzing and his ears began to ring. He sat up again and let his head rest in his hands. After a few seconds of this he went down stairs and put the kettle on. He got a mug out and placed a tea bag inside of it. Tea, the ultimate stress reliever. The kettle clicked and hot steam rose from the kettle. Max grabbed it and poured some water into the mug. He stirred the tea and then fished the teabag out. After putting some milk in he walked over to the window and took a sip. The darkness in front of him was large. It had little to offer but Max continued to stare into it. He closed his eyes and took another sip of his tea. His mind was coming back to him and he opened his eyes. He looked into the darkness again to see a disturbance. Blinking to get his vision clear he tried to think again. It was that thing again and it was meters from his window. It was standing on the grass and looking at him. Max was frozen once again and had no idea what to do. It had found him but why was it here. Max put the mug on the unit and walked over to the back door. He turned the key and looked into the darkness. This thing began to move towards him. Max could only watch as it slowly moved towards him and the light began to fall on this thing. Max’s pupils shrunk and his breath tensed. He tried to convince himself that he wasn’t seeing what he was seeing. It failed to work because he knew he wasn’t sleeping. He pinched himself and felt the pain. This was as real as anything would ever get. He couldn’t say anything, all he could do was watch and think.