'CHAOS'

  As I came out of shock, I realized that people unaffected by the blood rain were running frantically in every direction. The entire market area erupted with screams—some cried desperately beside their loved ones, especially children, while others fainted on the spot. Many simply tried to flee. Judging by the chaos, it wasn’t just this street; nearby areas were likely affected too.

  Suddenly, a wave of terror went through my body. It was not over. Something else was coming. Something absolutely destruc-

  BOOOM!! A very loud noise erupted throughout the entire of Markens Street. The noise was followed by heavy vibrations all around. Everything from a small pen to the ground were vibrating harmonically at very high frequencies, and to add there was a big black smoke coming out of the Office of the Science and Research Department of the state, which could be faintly seen from my spot due to its slight elevation. It was the same building where the alleged time machine was kept. All the nearby windows and street lamps began to break like a pile of dominoes, the pavements began to produce cracks on it. Truly horrifying. The vibrations stopped completely after a dozen of seconds which was a great relief or else it could've easily triggered an earthquake if it lasted just a bit longer. Was that thing the cause of all this?

  I charged straight through all the chaos towards the office. It would be a bit far by foot so amid all the chaos I grabbed a bicycle and swiftly made my way around the crowd. It was the worst disorder I had ever seen.

  When I reached the office—a large, now-deserted building— I was hoping to find someone downstairs but nobody was there. Some faint noise could still be heard upstairs so I quickly made my way up. The first floor was empty. The second floor was empty too, and so was the third floor. I went upto the fourth floor where the smoke seemed to be coming from and found the entrance to quite a big room which was very dark except one place. I could faintly see two people lying around unconscious around that place. I understood what that thing was. One of the parts of the 'Time Machine' was glowing brilliantly with some sparks coming out of it now and then. The smoke had somehow almost disappeared by now. I decided against going nearer to it.

  Just then, I heard some noise coming from upstairs and I rushed my way up hoping to find someone. There was one door which was closed. After trying to pull it for once, I knocked on it.

  "Who is it?!", a man cried from inside.

  "I am Vistone, Carey Vistone!"

  "Vistone who? The physicist?"

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  "Yes!"

  After a bit of time, a man of short stature opened the door. I noticed a number of people inside; all illuminated by the only very faint lamp kept at one end of the room. Electricity had gone in most of the parts of the building. They all looked scared.

  "What are you doing here, Carey?", a man from the back asked. It was Professor Turner.

  "Ah, well, I was nearby and after the rain I heard a loud noise and smoke coming out from here and so I came here."

  "Aren't you afraid?", he questioned.

  "Well, I..am quite but after Professor Aronian left, this case has become a part of my job too, so..."

  "Well, whatever. So, what will you do now? How bad is the condition outside?"

  "I am afraid its...quite bad"

  "Talsen was the first to rush off in the rain before us and he fell on the road a few metres from here. Did you see him?", another man asked.

  "I'm sorry but I didn't pay much attention to the surroundings," I paused a bit,"Well, "I am sorry for asking this at the moment but can anyone of you please tell what exactly happened here?", I asked in a soft voice.

  "Yes, sure why not. I was at the fourth floor when the incident happened, you see", a man whom I couldn't see much said from one corner of the room.

  "Thank you for doing so."

  "You see, Professor Oliver and Professor Jurel were the first to rush out of their offices at the fourth floor when we heard some strange noise coming out from the room. They called for the guard, opened the forbidden door and went inside a bit to check if everything was all right and then after that I don't know what happened inside but there was a loud noise, god knows from where, along with the smoke. Many of the people were at the other wing at that time so much chaos didn't occur here."

  "Hmm, I see. For now I believe it is better for our safety to first get out of the building and go to our respective homes and make sure things are all right there."

  "What about the professors downstairs?", the short statured man finally opened his mouth.

  "Well, we could possibly check them if they are fine and just lay them in the infirmary here because there is no way we could carry them out somewhere from this building now."

  "Ok.."

  "So, why don't we quickly finish this work as soon as possible? Let's go", Professor Turner led the way and others slowly followed. We carefully picked up the two professors and laid them down in the infirmary. Afterwards, we made our way down to the entrance and got out of the building. Rescue workers and volunteers had flooded the streets by now to pick up the pile of bodies . People, both young and old were searching for their loved ones who had gone out on this fateful night.

  Suddenly everything became black. There was a citywide blackout. Somebody put their hand over my shoulder. I was about to turn back when a voice came over.

  "See you soon, Carey Vistone'', was what this voice said.

  It took me a moment to place it.

  Halo Mistels.