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It was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon when the Fire Brigade had given the all-clear for everyone to go back inside. Mark had become a pariah and was left standing outside on his own. Others were gossiping about him, but non daring to speak to him about what had happened. After everyone had evacuated the building, he frantically sprayed air freshener everywhere, but even this did little to dissipate the stench. The Fire Brigade went inside wearing gas masks and treated the whole area like it had been a chemical warfare zone. Mark had got quite a few dirty looks over the last two hours, but he still did not know why everyone was reacting so strangely. Perhaps he was immune to the odour! Or was it something else! He had worked out by now it was defiantly the herbal tea he had drank in the morning and would have to speak with Doctor Chow about the side effects, but now Mark had another problem. Does he live with the flatulence from hell or go back to having his OCD! After the all-clear had been given, Mark went back to his office. The elation he had felt in the morning had now gone, and he was left feeling depressed. He did not need Millie to tell him the date tonight was off, the dirty look she gave him on the way back in told him everything. Even getting in the lift was a sign that things were never going to be the same again. As Mark got in, no one else followed. He was alone once more, but this time it was not of his choosing, others had decided he was now an outcast.
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At his desk, Mark slumped forward. The morning had taken so much out of him he felt exhausted, and it was doubtful he would get any interruptions today. He folded his arms and rested his head on them, just wanting to take a nap, again, it was never something he would have dreamt of doing, but like everything today, he just did not care. After a few minutes, Mark was sound asleep, but now he was dreaming, and this dream he was never going to forget! As the hours ticked by, Mark continued to sleep, and not even when the afternoon turned into night did, he wake, he was so far into a deep sleep.
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As Mark drifted off into the deepest of sleeps, he felt his body drift into the air above his desk. He was now looking down at himself, feeling free, awake, and yet separated from his body. No longer did he feel restrained by his body but felt like he could float around unfettered by the constrains of his human form. He felt himself waft through his office wall and was now looking down at the street below, but it neither felt odd, or strange. His body continued to drift along, beginning to pick up pace and was soon travelling through the air at a speed so fast that the streets were passing him by so quickly they became a blur. The countryside also whizzed by, and he was soon over the ocean, flying so fast he could not make out the waves below. It was not long before the colour of blue changed to the green of land, and as Mark slowed down, he could now see he was drifting over a vast jungle. It was so large he could no longer see anything below but a sea of green and as he continued to slow, he could now make out individual trees. As he almost came to a stop, he felt himself being lowered to the ground and as the trees neared, he could reach out and touch their leaves.
A few seconds later, he touched down on the ground and was now faced with a wall of green on all sides. He could walk freely again, and as he stood in this strange place, he now wondered what he was doing here.
“HELLO. Is anyone there?” Mark shouted, but no reply came.
He began to walk towards the trees ahead but could only see more trees beyond. Why am I dreaming about being in a jungle Mark wondered, as he struggled his way forward? The jungle seemed never-ending, and it felt claustrophobic, oppressive even. Unlike before when he left his body, he now felt different, like all those senses that had been muted were now back. He could feel the texture of the leaves, and as he rubbed his hand through them, he also felt pain, as a leaf with a serrated edge cut into his hand. He retracted it, then looked at the perfectly cut line across the palm of his hand, blood slowly beginning to seep out the wound. Mark clenched it shut, then began to try to push on through the dense jungle foliage. It felt like it was an impossible task as the jungle felt like it was trying to consume him, but as he continued, a small clearing appeared. Relieved, Mark entered the small clearing. It was circular with just the same wall of green surrounding it but was suddenly aware that this was not a good place to be. As he pushed himself out of the foliage, he was now standing on piles of skeletons. He did not need to be told they were human, as many still had their clothing still on. He looked down at the different clothes, some being from centuries ago, others looking more modern. Whatever had been happening here, it had been going on for thousands of years, and Mark now felt something different again. He was being watched. He did not know how, because there was no one else inside the circle, but his inner sense told him he was. He looked round, trying to see who was there, but all he could see was the same wall of green. Mark tried to see through the sea of green but could not see anything but greenery. He looked back to where he had come out of the trees, but the gap had now gone. He was not even sure which direction he had come in and was now beginning to feel something he was familiar with. Panic. Mark rushed forward, preferring the isolation of the jungle than being in this strange place, but a strange sound froze him to the spot. Someone must be behind him now, and something was now telling him to run, but he could not. Mark was frozen stiff and whatever was now behind him, he did not want to know. All he wanted to do was run from this place, but he knew he could not. An inner compulsion was now driving him, and he knew he had no choice but to look at who was there. Slowly, Mark turned around. A few yards in front of him was a shadow in the form of a person. It was hard to say if was a man or woman as it only had a human outline, and no features. The shadow was quivering, as if it were trying to communicate something, but Mark was mesmerised by the shadow. No dream before had he seen such a strange thing, and never had he felt so scared. The shadow did not exude anything good, instead, he could feel its malevolence. It covered his whole body like a second skin, and it was beginning to stifle the very air he was breathing as it encompassed his whole body. Mark tried to step back, but this time it was not his mind telling him he could not move, he was stuck to this very stop. Trying to close his eyes was impossible as the shadow wanted him to look. He was trapped, and a part of this weird ritual, Mark having no idea he was the main attraction.
Glints of light began to thrash around the shadow. It seemed like a laser show to Mark as the lines of light whizzed through the air, but then everything changed as one of the rays of pure white light passed by his arm. Still, unable to move, Mark was screaming out in pain inside his mind having felt his arm hit the ground, then rest against his ankle. He struggled to try to move, but nothing was happening. The second ray of light took his other arm and now blood was pouring out of both stumps that were a few seconds ago, where his arms once were. The pain was unbearable, but then he saw something much worse. Several rays of pure white light appeared and started spiralling round the shadow. In that final second of his life, Mark felt his head detach from his body and watched as the ground was suddenly coming closer. His brain registered the fall as it hit the ground, but Mark felt not more pain. In those last few seconds, he watched his body being sliced apart as the rays of light cut through him like his body was nothing more than air. As his life energy ebbed away, Marks mind drifted away as well. Everything was going gradually darker, like he was being shrouded in a cloud of blackness, and all Mark could think of before the cloud finally encompassed his whole being... “It's just a dream. It's just a bad dream.” He told himself, as the blackness become a whole.