Chapter 4 – The Reality Changers
THE SYCAMORE STOP
Danny continued sipping his drink as a sudden commotion from the restroom area caused his head to spin in that direction violently. Monique had crashed out of the ladies toilet with a panicked look in her eyes, and was running towards him.
“We’ve got to go” She screamed at Danny as she got to his table, pulling at his shirt hurriedly to try and drag him to his feet.
“Why? What's wrong?”
“It's following me, please trust me, we've got to go now!” She cried with a crazed look in her eyes.
He got to his feet just as there was a loud deafening crunch, and he turned to where Monique had run from to see something exploding out of the door. It was hard to make out its shape as it seemed to be swallowing all the shapes around it and making new designs from them, as it blended itself into some kind of creature. Danny didn't have to think too hard about what to do, it was obvious that they needed to get away from whatever this thing was. He couldn't quite believe his eyes, it could be just another symptom of whatever substance they were under the spell of, but it seemed so real to him that panic set in instantly. Monique was already near the exit and Danny sprinted as fast as he could around the tables and chairs that were blocking his route out. Other people began to scream and also clambered to get out. Danny was one of the last ones to escape and he started running towards Monique who had already covered quite a lot of distance ahead of him.
Those unlucky enough to not see the all-shaped entity or were just too close, got sucked into it, blue sparks grasping their fleshy bodies and dragging them into its vacuum. Many couldn't get out the bar, so just ran whichever way they could to escape the path of it, the shrieks and hysterical whimpers of unfortunate victims reverberating through the air, clattering and echoing from wall to wall. The lucky ones who managed to jump to one side and avoid it, watched in complete horror as the victims were dragged into the creature's grasp, seemingly absorbed within its multi-formed presence and whisked away with it, as it forged on towards the exit. It quickly disappeared through the door with a loud ear-piercing surreal static roar, the door never opening, the all-formed creature simply passing through it, as if it wasn't even there. Outside, the terrified people scattered in all directions, no one knew where this thing was going to go and by then it was every person for themselves. They darted in every direction, fanning out down every street around them.
Danny ran as fast he could to catch Monique and by the time he looked around, he could see the creature had emerged from the bar, and had advanced in their direction. He sprinted, each step an energetic leap forward, his legs bouncing him as far and quick as they could. He could see Monique ahead, but as he was getting closer, he saw she was trying to reach a cab that was parked at the side of the road, her arms wildly flailing in the air. He looked round to see that the creature had taken the contents of its surroundings and somehow managed to blend them into itself, what was this creature? He also noticed it was paying no attention to people it passed, unless they were directly in its path, in which case they would be thrown down in the formless stampede and swooped up into non-existence. The entity got faster and faster, Danny trying with all his might to move quicker, but his legs just wouldn't obey, he was going as fast as he could. The creature advanced further, faster and faster, closing the distance between them effortlessly as it started intermittently glowing with long blue glimmering strands. Danny mustered up all the energy he could to try and push himself further, but he just ended up stumbling and falling to the floor. He struck the side of a parked car with such force on his way down that it knocked him sideways and straight through a low-level fence, cutting his arm and head in the process. He coughed and spluttered as he tried to get back to his feet, then noticed that the creature had swiftly passed him, and was continuing down the street towards Monique.
“Monique, get out of here!” Danny shouted as loudly as he could, to which she turned around to see the creature bearing down on her.
Monique was almost at the taxi, a few more metres and she would be there, she really had no time to waste. She banged on the taxi window and the sleeping driver awoke with a start. Monique opened the back-passenger door and jumped in feverishly, the creature made of reality swooping closer.
“Drive, drive, drive” she screamed.
The cab driver looked in his rear-view mirror unimpressed at being shouted at like that.
“Listen Lady” he said, about to tell her to show some manners, when he suddenly saw something approaching them from behind, “What the fuck is that? Jeez”
So, his foot hit the pedal, he had forgotten about what he was about to say, he was only concerned with getting away from whatever the hell this thing behind them was.
“What in fucks name is that?” he asked her, completely bemused.
“I don't know; just get us out of here, please”
He increased the speed, noticing the creature keeping up, so he increased it some more.
“Damn it, if the police see me,
