Not under control von VideoGameCrack (Mein NaNoWriMo-Projekt für 2010 - mit täglichen Updates!) ================================================================================ Kapitel 24: Day Twenty-Four --------------------------- It was time to tell Gerald the truth. He would find it out sooner or later anyway, so he decided to make it as short as possible. He ran to the bar, hoping to find Gerald there, as he knew that Gerald was spending a lot of his time there when he visited the novel. And he was lucky, as he found Gerald sitting right beside the window. Gerald turned randomly around, spotting Frank and rushing outside, making the chair he was just sitting on fall over. „What are you doing here?“, Gerald asked just as he rushed through the door. „Please don't tell me that you're going to attack me again!“ „It's nothing like that“, Frank replied, sweeping Gerald's sorrows away. „At least not for now.“ Gerald couldn't believe what he just said: „Scuse me?“ „There's something I need to tell you from Helena.“ „Are you now trying to be her second man so she can still screw with other people's minds when she can't?“ „She can't do anything at all anymore“, Frank told him. „She shot herself next to my office.“ „She did?“ „I was even trying to stop her.“ Just as he said that, Gerald hit him in the face. „Are you insane?“, he yelled. „Do you even know what she did to you and all of us?“ „I know all of it“, said Frank, getting up again. „But that's not the point right now.“ „So what were you going to tell me then?“ Frank sighed. „You're not gonna like it.“ „How can I judge that if I don't know what you're talking about.“ Frank remained silent for a while. It seemed like he was going to tell it to Gerald, but something stopped him. „So?“, Gerald tried to get the answer out of him. Frank was almost impossible to hear as he was pretty quiet. „...part of a novel.“ „Excuse me, could you repeat that? I haven't heard the beginning.“ „You're part of a novel, Gerald.“ „...so? Of course I'm in a novel right now!“ „You knew it?“ „Well, where was I supposed to be, then? I couldn't leave my novel for days!“ Frank sank his head. „That was not what I was talking about, Gerald.“ Gerald froze in place. The realisation just hit him like a brick. His face became paler and paler and his eyes were wide open, with the terror of reality finally striking him. „You can't be serious!“, Gerald said in dispair. „That must be all some sort of plan by Helena! She was the one who told you this, didn't she?“ „No, it was Sebastian. He showed me the nothingness surrounding your world.“ „But... it can't be true... it must be some sort of cruel joke of yours!“ Frank shook his head. „...she must be using you against me! It's the only way it makes sense!“ „Please, Gerald, I wouldn't tell you a lie that drastic-“ „Shut up!“ Gerald escaped back to his world with the ritual sentence, leaving Frank standing alone on the street. Vincent rushed out, confronting him. „What have you done to him?“, Vincent asked. „I mean, why did he just returned again?“ „...he needs to confront himself with the truth with his own eyes, or else he wouldn't believe me.“ Of course he didn't believe him. That sounded way too ridicilous. Helena must have manipulated him, and she probably faked her death too. But what purpose would it have to her, except the usual „playing with other people's mind“ thing? Why would she even go this far, if it was sufficant to just talk to him to have good results? He needed to talk to Catherine about this. As he booted up his computer and made himself a cup of black tea, he looked out of his window. No nothing to be seen from out here. „What made him think that this is fiction as well? Maybe he mistook something for the nothing... But why did he tell me that Sebastian told him about it?“ His tea was ready, and so he went to the computer to write Catherine a message. „It's me again“, Gerald wrote. „Got some time to talk?“ The reply followed quickly: „Sure. What's the deal?“ „One of my characters broke out of the novel and tried to tell me that I am living in some story too! Silly, isn't it?“ And then he waited. Normally, she replied very quickly, but this time, it took long. Very long. Just as if she waited for him to forget what he just asked. The minutes were gliding away while he was checking every few seconds if she wrote back, only to find no new messages there. After an hour passed, he got fed up with it and wrote her another message: „Are you still there, Catherine?“ It was like she was waiting for this. The next reply followed quickly: „You see, he's actually right about it. The world we live in is in fact not real.“ „Is this some sort of prank?“ Gerald felt like everything was having a conspiracy against him. Why did they all want him to believe that? „Gerald, I can understand that you don't want to accept it, but I can assure you that this is the truth.“ He didn't really read what she wrote him, as the shock was just too deep. His hands were shaking nervously and his eyes were wide open. „Why didn't I know that, Catherine? How could it escape my eyes for so long?“ „It's actually very simple“, she wrote. „The characters are only made aware of the existence of the nothing if somebody else is pointing it out to them.“ „And what if I'm standing right above it if somebody mentions it?“ „That won't happen“, she replied. „You won't even think about walking somewhere where you could fall down if somebody mentions it. It's because your body doesn't evne recognize that something could be there.“ „...that was confusing.“ „Well, I was never good at explaning things. Sorry about that.“ „But... if you knew about it, and my friend as well, why haven't I even noticed it?“ „It's because you're the main character of the story. And considering the apparent focus on the story – that is, discovering that you're not real – it probably would have taken away a lot of suspense from the entire thing.“ „And is there something else that I should know, or was that everything?“ Once again, it took her a while to reply. Gerald wondered if he should write her another message again, but she answered soon enough: „There is one thing that may interest you, even though I think it won't be very helpful to you.“ „Tell me anyway, Catherine. What is it?“ And again, she didn't reply immediately, as if something was stopping her. But she eventually responded: „The thing is that I don't have a physical body.“ „...you don't? Does that mean you exist in cyberspace in some sorts or how do I have to understand that?“ „Actually, I don't have an actual location at all. The only reason I exist is so the author can make you talk to someone else who has made experiences with the ritual, or in my case, faked them.“ „He sucks at these things, doesn't he? I mean, making any kind of sense?“ „I can't tell you the answer. I never met him personally, and I probably never will.“ „Mmh, too bad. I wonder what's he's up to now...“ „Maybe it's better the way it is. Who knows how crazy his world is going to be in our eyes. I have no idea how much of what happens in our world resembles his reality.“ „Like you said, who knows.“ „Can I help you with something else, or was that everything for now?“ „No, I think you've given me enough information for now. I'm gonna visit my friend now to talk to him about a few things. He'll probably knows more about the entire situation.“ „I see. Okay, hope to read something from you again.“ He turned the computer off and went away to get his stuff. So it was indeed true: He was stuck in a novel. Something told him that it wouldn't end there, though: There was something coming up. Something that's going to change his entire situation. He put his jacket on and went out on the street. Maybe he was able to find the nothing himself, though he didn't know why he was still trying to find it as he got clear evidence already that all of this is just fiction. Maybe he just wanted to make sure that it wasn't indeed some sort of irredeemable prank. Without looking out for the cars, he stepped on the road and walked towards the end. Maybe he could reach the nothing that way, as he didn't remember ever coming here. He kept moving forward, as he felt that fewer houses were standing to his sides, until they disappered completely. There was only him and the street, that started to disapper as well. But it took long, because no matter how far he walks, the street didn't want to end. But he could feel that the street wasn't going to keep up with him for any longer. The author must stop at some point, or the entire thing was completely pointless. And then he stopped. It was like Catherine told him: He couldn't progress any further because there was no reason to do so anymore. He opened his eyes and saw it: The nothing, only three centimeters away from his toes. How he couldn't find it earlier was beyond him. He sat down on the ground, staring out there, though he didn't know why. The nothing here was no different from the nothing in his novel. And yet, it felt so different, though he couldn't point his finger at it. And so he sat there, without any motion, his mouth hidden with his crossed arms and with sleepy, and yet very aware eyes. Who knows how far away he sat on the street from everything else behind him. He had no idea how long it took him to get here, but he couldn't take his eyes from it. It should have terrified him, and yet it was somewhat calming as well. It was creepy, and yet inviting. And the more he thought about it, the less sense it made to him. But he knew that it couldn't have been any other way. Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)