Street lights, failing to compete against the night sky, are lined up along the corner of a narrow, run-down road. There are a few houses behind them, looking as beat up as the rest of this place.

It's quiet, enough that I can hear my heart pounding against my chest at the rate of lightning.

I look at my shaking hands, using one of them to pinch the skin on my arm. It seems silly, though; thinking that I can pinch myself and wake up from a dream. After everything I've been through, I should know everything I'm going through is real.

That gorgeous, creepy lady in the wall must have transported me here. Either that, or I've died and this is the afterworld. If the second, I must have done terrible things in my life to end up here.

Making my way down the road, watching out for pieces of glass and holes deep enough for me to fall in, I hear whispers and see a young girl peeking out of a window.

When the girl notices me, she backs away and draws her curtains closed. It only occurs to me now that there might be people living in these houses.

Unsure of where to go, I make my way to the door the little girl hides behind. After one knock, I pull my hand away, afraid I'll break the white, cardboard-like material.

No one comes to the door, and I'm not brave enough to enter without permission. Instead, I press an ear against it, trying to listen for the people inside.

I jump back when loud coughs and wheezing suddenly fill my ear. I hear cries, too.

Backing away from this house does no good, because it starts to sound like the entire neighbour is sick and heartbroken, with coughing, wheezing and crying coming from every corner.

I run further down the street, hoping to find a place to escape to or a place to stay for the night. Being exposed like this makes me uneasy.

I spot a tree; one showing more life than the rest of the people and plants in this area. Its leaves are a bright shade of green, growing on all of the many branches and going high into the air.

I walk towards the tree, feeling it might bring a little luck to me. However, when my finger grazes the brown bark, everything changes. The tree begins to wither, its leaves falling off one by one and drying up.

Before I turn away, I spot a mark engraved into the tree, furrowing my eyebrows at how familiar the mark looks.

My eyes widen as I take it in; running my fingers over the stick figure of a child holding an adult's hand, with the letter 'A' above the child and 'P' above the adult.

Out of the many things my grandpa and I did when I was younger, scribbling into a tree was one of my favourites.

I round the tree, trying to see if the rest of my drawing are here, and they are. I see a small heart, an attempt at a cat, and the symbol of a flame.

This doesn't make sense. All these drawings happened in Phoenix; a city I used to live in before moving with Grandpa Peter to the City of Vessels.

I look behind me, actually taking my time to look at everything; every house, corner and plant. It doesn't take me long to realise where this place is; Phoenix. A place I have many childhood memories from.

However, everything is different. Everything here is dull and broken, no more alive than the tree I now stand in front of. I shake my head, wondering what happened to this place and why I have been sent here.

Edesere's words ring in my ear, but I can't seem to figure out what she meant.

"Witness the chaos to come, should you not break apart," she said.

I freeze when the scene changes in front of me. The number of houses reduce, with its bricks falling apart and onto the ground. The amount of people increase, all coughing and covered with unknown lumps.

Before my eyes can get used to the layout, the scene changes again. This time, there are no houses, and there are very few people. Most of them cry, and the rest look so broken it hurts me.

The one thing that stays the same is the tree, still dead but keeping the marks I drew on them when I was younger. As if to remind me that I'm still in some version of Phoenix.

I jump when I hear a beeping sound, looking at my wrist to find a black watch around it.

"3005," I say, checking the year on the watch. That's too far ahead in the future.

Suddenly, Nova's scream is the only thing I can hear. I look to the left of me, seeing her surrounded by a hundred bodies; all babies. They don't move, and the women around them cry with a sort of pain I hope I never experience.

I run to Nova, wanting to hold her. However, I bump into some invisible wall and fall back. She notices me, hitting against the wall to try and reach me. Unfortunately, our efforts don't amount to much.

"Amora!" She cries. "I want to go, Amora! Please!"

The sound of crashing waves takes my attention away from Nova, and I look to the other side of me to find Luca trapped in them, drowning in the angry waters.

"Amora!" Luca calls out. "Nova!"

It doesn't take long before that scene changes, and he is being blown away by harsh winds, with dust almost covering his figure.

I'd run to Luca, but I have a feeling some wall will stop me once again.

"Amora!"

I turn to Nova, placing my hand against the wall to try and comfort her. It doesn't work, and she's pulled away from me by the crying women.

"Hang on, Nova! Hang on!" I wish I could do more for her. "It's all fake, okay. It's a test."

She nods her head, still scared but trying to calm down. Maybe knowing this isn't real will help.

"It's a test!" I scream loud enough for Luca to hear me.

When I start to feel bad for having it easy, my body starts to itch. I look down at my hand to find a swollen mark on it, one that looks like those the people here have.

I scratch against these marks, getting worried when they start turning red.

"It's all fa—" A coughing fit interrupts me, so I think it's best to keep my chants in my mind.

I gasp, trying to breathe when it feels like air is being sucked out of me. My chest feels tight, and my heart races against it.

My whole body starts to hurt, as if something is biting my skin and burning me. I curl into a ball as tears start filling my eyes.

Although it's fake, it all feels so real. I want out, but I see that things I want can't come so easily to me.

Instead, I'm left in this crouched position, crying in pain and waiting for everything to stop hurting.

~•~