The Turn of the Millennium

You wake up. It doesn't feel like you've been asleep for long. You check the alarm clock next to you and it reads 6:20 AM. That's about... you're not too sure actually. There was something about a fight last night that you got dragged into and that you immediately went to bed as soon as you got back home. Today is...the 31st of December. The final day before the year 2000 hits. You unplug your Nokia from the charger and check to see if you have any voicemails. Nothing yet, doubtful you'd get any at this time of night. Getting up bright and early for an important days sounds good on paper. Yet...you're not in the proper mood for the end of the millennium just yet. More sleep is needed. And regardless of the party plans for later, you can't do them half-awake. And so, you fall back asleep...

Now you wake up. Still haven't felt like you've slept for a while but regardless, you check your alarm. It's currently 9:21 AM. Well the day has to start eventually, right? You slink yourself out of bed and shuffle to the bathroom. Your feet feel more heavier than usual and your head feels cloudy and sore. Now that you're looking back to try and remember what happened, you drank a lot last night. Whether it was before or after the fight, you don't have a clue. But regardless you get yourself to the kitchen and brush your teeth. Your hair's a mess so you give it a couple of brushes before turning the radio on. It doesn't work. Pressing it on and off again doesn't do anything. You swore got some new batteries in the other day. It's no matter, don't need the radio on right now. Time to check the mail. You grab some slippers and throw on a dressing gown before stomping over to the front door. Business as usual, even on a day like this. Just need to open the door and

It's not budging. Absent-mindedly you just forgot to unlock the door. Sliding off the lock and sticking a key in to unlock you, you try to pull the door open. Still not budging. The door frame tends to stick a bit, it probably just needs a jiggle. Still not moving. Maybe more of a harsh jiggle? Still nothing. Confusion turns into annoyance. The winter weather must've gotten the door stuck or something. Whatever the case is, your stuck in your apartment. You eye the windows to see if that's a way out but in remembering that you're on the fifth floor, that's not an option. You grab your phone from the bedroom and see if you can call some help. Battery's run out. Didn't you put this on charge earlier? Wait no, you took it out earlier today to check some voicemails before you went to sleep right? It shouldn't have depleted all of the battery in just a couple of hours though right? You're not too sure. Whatever the case, you're stuck here. Well, may as well enjoy this until someone comes by.

Throwing yourself onto the couch with a bowl of popcorn, you turn on the TV to find something to watch. Price is Right is on CBS so you let the channel stay on that and watch some idiots do decently bad on the gameshow. You're pretty sure you put your phone back on charge so once the show is over, you'll give it a check to see if it's done or not. You find yourself eating your popcorn a lot more quickly than usual, you feel really hungry for some reason. Couldn't have been that long since you've had a meal right? Well maybe you just didn't eat something before you went to bed...maybe. Whatever's going on, you've already gone through the entire bowl. Heading to the fridge, the only thing you've got left is a packet of chorizo slices and butter. You'll make some sandwiches later then. Maybe after a quick nap? You are feeling pretty sluggish. Just a bit of rest to feel proper...

You wake up. Neck's stiff from sleeping on the couch but...no, you still feel tired and awful. You turn the TV back on and the time is 1:02PM. Really letting time slip by today. It's not as if you can do much else. Not when you're stuck here at least. Standing up, you head to the kitchen counter to make some chorizo sandwiches. Pretty uneventful, you slap up a decent meal and enjoy the sandwich. You ate through it a lot more quickly than the popcorn a few hours ago though. Now that you've noticed, you're awfully hungry. Too hungry if you're going to be honest. And thirsty too, your throat feels like it's in agony. You fill up a glass of water and chug it down. You feel the water to go through your system...and it feels awful. You can barely stand and walk, your vision is fading. You try to walk towards a seat

You wake up. Yet you still believe you're sleeping. You're still in a daze as you move your head up, vision still woozy. Any hopes you were asleep are dashed quickly as you feel your blood drip out of your head and onto the floor. You feel something's in your mouth so you spit it out. Pieces of your teeth come out. And blood. It's hard for you to breath. Every breath you take, you feel like something has cut you. The inside of your mouth isn't fairing any better, thick blood is oozing out of your mouth. You keep your head down because you don't want to choke on it. Head is still dripping blood. Can't think straight anymore. Head's still a mess. You crawl to the bedroom and get the phone out of the charger. It didn't charge. You crawl further to the bathroom and climb up to the mirror to get to first aid. You've got a heavy wound on your head. And your teeth are in pieces. You must've fallen straight onto the counter and then onto your mouth. No time to think on that. You grab a bandage and gauze and strap it over the wound. As for your cheeks, you slap a cool gauze onto both sides and then you let yourself onto the bed carefully. This isn't close to what you're meant to do but you don't have much else in terms of options. You're so dizzy...too tired...it's time to rest...

You wake up. You still feel awful from the fall but you feel as if you can walk more properly now. Getting off the bed, you see some dried blood on your pillow. Quite a lot of it. It's quite a wonder you're awake now...but that's not important. You put your phone back on the charger with a firm placement and then head to the kitchen to clean up the mess. Passing by the TV, you take note of the time being...you're not sure if the time says 12pm or 12am. Grabbing a paper towel and some cleaning spray, you pause by the spot you fell.

There's nothing there.

No blood is there. No pieces of teeth are there. That doesn't make any sense. None whatsoever, no one else could've gotten in here. And you definitely weren't dreaming that because of the bandage on your head. And it's still hard to breathe. It's...really hard to breathe. Your heart is pounding too. Something's wrong. Still can't breathe. Is this a heart attack? You sit down on the sofa and try to relax. The more you draw in breaths, the worse your lungs feel. This isn't a heart attack. It's a panic attack. You can't hear anything else aside from your ragged breathes and your heart pounding in your ears.

What's happening anymore?

You can't control yourself.

This isn't normal.

Something's wrong.

Something's

Before you can prepare yourself for it, you're vomiting blood. It comes out as a dribble at first but then it's spewing out of you. You can't breathe anymore. Something happened to your lungs. Why is it so hard to breathe...your heart is going into overdrive. You're in too much pain. Your eyelids are getting heavy...maybe you should sleep now. Someone will notice that something is wrong. They should notice. You've got friends that remember you...they'll get you. Just need to close your eyes...and sleep. Before you sleep and slump over, you take a note of the time on the calendar of the TV.

12:12PM, December 31st 1999.

You wake up. You can't move. Your body is slumped downwards. You can only see your shirt stained with the blood you threw up earlier. You've got your arms rested by your side. The Price is Right is playing. You try to go back to sleep.

You wake up. You still can't move. The blood is gone. Your arms are getting thinner. The Price is Right is playing again. You try to go back to sleep.

You wake up. Your arms are turning pale. The Price is Right is playing still.

You wake up. Your arms are beginning to turn green.

You wake up.