Ignoring the foul smell to the best of his ability, Cassian focused on the black substance, trying to understand exactly what he was looking at.
At first, nothing happened. But as seconds passed, Cassian felt drawn to it, as if the black substance was calling him. It was a call he could barely resist, yet to him, it felt normal—which was, by all accounts, anything but.
Staring at it, he felt he could slowly see beyond the blackness, could perceive it for what it was. Yet he didn't know, nor could he explain, what he was looking at. A sudden gust of wind sprang the saloon doors open, slamming them against the walls and snapping Cassian out of his trance.
To his horror, he found himself no longer standing outside the saloon, but inside it, his boots planted on the black substance.
Immediately, he started breathing harder, feeling not only scared, but wrong. Something was terribly wrong with this place.
He slowly moved backward as if trying not to disturb the substance, pushed the doors open with his body, and stepped out.
The moment both feet were on the street, Cassian ran to the middle of the main road, horrified.
"Fuck… This ain't Kansas, is it? Hahaha."
He laughed nervously at his own joke, trying to force himself to feel better.
It took him a couple of moments to regain his composure. When he did, another revelation struck him. Before he had walked to the saloon, the sun was shining brightly as if it were noon. But now it had dimmed, and by the looks of it, it would disappear completely in a couple of hours, along with the silver one.
Cassian was getting overwhelmed by everything, barely holding himself together.
The temperature had also dropped. Luckily, Cassian was dressed warmly due to his job. He sat right where he was and pulled out a much-needed cigarette to calm his nerves. He would figure out his next move later. Until then, he would keep his mind clear of unnecessary thoughts.
Cassian stared at the sky in complete silence, enjoying his cigarette. For the next four or five minutes, he ignored everything that had happened and focused on the view. Having two suns was certainly weird, but he couldn't deny its beauty.
When he finished his cigarette, he had calmed down considerably. Now he felt confident enough to plan his next steps.
For starters, he needed shelter—not really a problem, considering he was alone in an abandoned town. Another important thing was water and food, of which he had none. Yet to his surprise, he wasn't hungry or thirsty.
Yet.
He rose from the ground and started searching for a water source: a pump or a well. It didn't take long to find one on the main road, next to what appeared to be a post office or some kind of government building.
He walked up to it and started pumping, yet no matter how long he worked the handle, no water came. Just as he was about to give up and search for another pump—hoping a town of this size would have more than one—he heard and felt the mechanism react.
Then water began pouring out. It was brown, but it was still water. Hopefully, when the pipes cleared, so would the water.
It took some time for the flow to clear. Even then, when Cassian took a sip, it had a metallic taste, probably from rust.
Now with a water source secured, Cassian looked over at the residential buildings. There were old wooden houses and some concrete apartments.
He started with the houses closest to the pump, hoping to find one near his water source. To his disappointment, every house he checked contained the black substance. Cassian did not feel comfortable looking at it, much less sleeping close to it.
The government building was similar to the saloon, its floor mostly covered in the black substance. Cassian guessed it had been a post office.
A terrifying thought popped into his head while he searched—one he couldn't shake, no matter how hard he tried.
Looking at a couple of black spots in another house, he couldn't help but give voice to his thoughts.
"Are these… people?"
Each house had one or more of them, while public places like the saloon and post office were full of them. The exception was the general store.
His reasoning made no sense, which was exactly what gave it credibility. Nothing in this place made sense to begin with.
Standing in front of another door, he started kicking it, just as he had with the others. On the fifth kick, the door finally gave in and swung open.
Cassian stepped inside and looked around, searching for any black spots. After scanning each room and finding nothing, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He had found shelter just as the two suns were disappearing. He even found a couple of glass bottles, perfect for storing water—and that's what he did.
Having filled the bottles, Cassian blocked the broken entrance door with furniture from the house, achieving a small sense of security.
He took a seat in a big, comfortable armchair facing the window. The view wasn't great, but it was certainly better than staring at a wall. He sat there wondering about tomorrow and what he would do.
By now, he had accepted that he had either been transported to this place or had died and this was his hell. Both options were equally strange.
Finally relaxed, he felt fatigue slowly consuming him, the chair embracing his body. He wasn't really tired, but his mind could only comprehend so much… weirdness.
His thoughts returned to the saloon and how staring at the black substance had made him feel. The allure of it, as if the substance were something he needed—a part of him that was missing. Strangely, it was the only moment since arriving that he had felt hungry.
Or, more exactly, a hunger.
Gradually, his eyelids grew heavy, slowly drifting toward sleep, when he barely heard something in the distance.
"HELLO."
I'm fucking losing it, Cassian thought.
"ANYONE?? HELP!!"
His eyes sprang open, and he shot up from his seat.