Chapitre 3: Not on Earth Anymore

David woke up again by sunlight directly falling on his face. As he opened his eyes, he felt that his head would split open at any moment. He closed his eye again as he was having this terrible headache. While lying on the bed he started thinking about the crazy dream that he had just now. He saw that he was in someone else's body. And he was living by the beach in a mud house. It was a very crazy dream.

Finally, after lying on the bed for a few moments and then he opened his eyes, it was then he saw a very familiar ceiling in front of his eyes. The ceiling in front of him was very similar to the one that he saw in his dream. While lying he looked around him and saw that he was in a hut made from mud just like the one that he saw in his dream…

He then remembered the bulky boy stabbing him in the neck. To check the wound on his neck he moved his hands and tried feeling the area where the boy stabbed him. But surprisingly he was fine. He could not feel any sort of wound on his neck. Confused whether it was a dream or not, David got up. After all, he had bigger fish to fry…

David got up and looked around. Everything in this hut was similar to what he saw in his dream. Looking at the familiar hut, he started panicking a little bit. He then got up and went towards the mirror of the hut. As he got in front of the mirror, he was greeted with the same face as he saw in his dream. Looking at his face, David was getting more and more confused and a little bit paranoid.

He pinched himself to see whether he could feel pain. And sure enough, he could feel pain. This confirmed the fact that this was not a dream. But for some reason, he couldn't understand what the hell was happening to him. He then once grabbed some of the clothes that he saw hanging by side of the room.

After he got dressed, David went outside through the door. And he was once again greeted with a very familiar beach out in front of the hut. He looked at the scenery and started remembering things that he saw in his dream. And sure enough, everything and everywhere his eyes went, give him a sense of deja vu.

David looked at the scenery for a minute or two. He didn't understand what was happening to him. But it was then he heard a very familiar voice from his back….

"What in the name of Ouroboros…" someone said from behind. David turned around and saw a child slumped on the ground. He remembers this child. David remembers that this boy's name is Gori. And he is the one that came with that bulky boy and tried to kill him in his dream.

David then started to feel like everything was happening in the same sequence as he had seen in his dream. Seeing this he started to think…

'Did I travel back in time?' David thought.

"How… are yo… alive?" the child spoke in some foreign language. This child spoke in the same way that he saw in his dream. Hearing the sentence from the boy's mouth, David started to think that maybe he did travel back in time. If he indeed was traveled back in time, then the bulky boy that previously killed him would be coming from the back of the hut any moment now. And sure enough…

"Gori did you burn the body?" came another voice. The bulky boy came from the back of his hut. As the bulky boy came in front of David, he was shocked to see him alive exactly like before. Immediately, the bulky boy took out a knife from his back and pointed it at David.

Seeing that everything was happening the same as before, David started to think that he had gone mad…

Just like before, David tried convincing the bulky boy to let go of the knife. And just like before he didn't listen. And then the bulky boy lunged towards David with a knife in his hands. Just like before David swiftly took care of the bulky boy by dislocating his shoulder just like before.

Just as David dislocated the shoulder of the bulky boy, the boy named Gori tried to tackle him from behind. Remembering that part, David jumped sideways before Gori could tackle him. Because of this Gori landed on sand with his face down. David then swiftly got up and saw that the bulky boy was also getting up. David didn't want to be killed again, thus he lunged toward the bulky boy again.

David then jumped in the air and gave the bulky boy a roundhouse kick on his face. This made the bulky boy immediately lose consciousness. After that, David turned toward the boy named Gori. David saw that Gori was on the sand and was fearfully looking at him. Seeing his body posture, David understood that this boy had lost the will to fight. So David picked up the knife that he was stabbed with previously and started walking away from those two boys.

***

As David walked further away from the hut, he found himself walking amongst a network of very small alleys. Those alleys had huts that were made just like the one that he came from. David saw that there was no sewer system in this place, as well as roads were also very not well made.

Seeing this he started speculating that maybe he is in a very poor country. Most of the people that he came across had brown color skin and were malnourished. Seeing this, he started speculating that he might be in Africa.

While navigating through a tight network of alleyways, David soon found himself in what looked like a very hustling and bustling market. Seeing the market, David smiled as the market was considered a good place to gather information. So he started walking with the flow of the people and went deeper into the market.

As he went deeper, he started to get the feeling that he may be on an alien planet. The fishes that were being sold there as well as other items being sold in the market looked very alien to him. He was not a big fan of seafood, yet still, he ate it from time to time. And he had never seen fish like the ones being sold here before in his whole life…

He then started speculating that maybe he was kidnapped by some psychopath surgeon to practice some illegal surgery. But then he had no answer as to why he knew a foreign language that he had never spoken or heard before. David then started to think that maybe he was drugged or something. That would explain the crazy things that he was seeing.

Maybe he has taken LSD or something similar. While thinking about his situation, David started to remember that the last thing he remembers is that he was on the bridge when someone attacked America. Then he found himself in a brightly lit room with that lady. Then he was here.

David was having a very hard time understanding what was happening to him. But he knew that first and foremost he should visit Indian Embassy and get someone to pick him up. His face may have changed but he remembers all of his credentials. That would be enough to identify him…

As he was contemplating his next move, he started to walk slowly. But as he was walking suddenly someone smacked him on the back of his head…

SMACK

David turned around to meet face to face with a muscular man. He was bald and was glaring at David with a murderous glare…

"What the fuck are you doing here Solaris? Gupalo is waiting for minutes for a brat like you. If you don't want to die a dog's death, go meet him now." The man said while glaring at David…

***

When David got smacked on the back of his face, he started getting angry. It seemed to him that everyone had a beef to pick with him. Just about anyone was either trying to kill him or beat him. He was David Gonsalves for godsakes. If it wasn't for the job in the intelligence agency, he would have become a General in the military. He is a powerful and influential man. So he started to get angrier because of the situation he was in…

But it was then David realized one crucial piece of information that he didn't notice before. And that information was the fact that everyone seems to be calling him Solaris. Those two boys and this man in front of him referred to him as Solaris. But how can this be possible?

David started to think that maybe the face that he has right now, belongs to someone named Solaris. Does it mean that someone was able to graft the face of a person on another person's face….

"So, what the hell are you doing here?" The man asked.

"Ah… I was hungry." David sarcastically. But in the next moment…

SMACK

The muscular man punched David in the face. That punch got connected directly to his nose. The impact was so powerful that blood started flowing through his nose. The upper portion of David's nose also got a huge cut from the punch.

David fell to the ground while clutching his nose. His nose was hurting like hell. Then that muscular man bend down and pulled him up to his feet. As David got up, that muscular man then glared at David once again and said…

"If it wasn't for your aptitude in magical arts, I would have killed you a long time ago, you vile Siberian Pup. This time I broke your nose. Cross me or talk back to me again and you will be found yourself lying six feet underground." The man said.

David wanted to beat the crap of this man. But he stopped himself as he was in no condition to fight right now. As well as David had already spotted that a decent amount of men were following this man. Seeing them he realized that he couldn't do anything to this man. If he acts rashly, then he would be signing his death warrant.

"Take him to Gupalo." The man said while pushing David toward one of his men. The man nodded and then started pushing him ahead.

Few men also started following David's lead. One of the men of the baldy's group handed David a cloth to stop the bleeding. David took the cloth and put it on his nose. Although the cloth that the man gave him, was very dirty. But still, David appreciated the gesture.

***

David accompanied 5 lackeys of the baldy as they escorted him through the market. These men led David, out of the market and deeper into the alleyways.

The alleys that David and those men entered were in very condition. They were way more worse than the alleys on the beachside. While walking David saw many rotting corpses of birds and small animals lying by the side of the alley. There was a smell of urine in the air. The place was damp and quiet that David was being creeped out just by walking through them.

The alleys led their group deeper into the slums. As they got deeper into the slums David noticed that several people in these parts were carrying weapons with them. These people were carrying mostly useless weapons like a long machete, spears, wooden clubs, etc. Those weapons made David assume that maybe there is more to these slums than what meets the eye.

Looking at the security of the slums, he started to get a feeling that he may be walking in the territory of some Mafia boss or something. He was amazed that he hadn't seen any people with guns yet, but the blunt weapons that these people were carrying were enough proof to him that this is a very dangerous place for an unarmed guy like him.

Eventually while walking their group started through alleys which could be considered the red light district of those slums. Those alleys had men and women alike offering their services. They all were standing wearing revealing clothes outside their respective huts. All of them were tempting every passerby to come on in.

While heading further in David also spotted some men and women lying in an empty alleyway stoned out of their minds…

Eventually, after a lot of walking, their group finally came across a very very big warehouse. The surprising part was the fact that the warehouse was built deep in a congested place like this slum.

The security around the warehouse was also top-notch. David saw many guards that looked well-fed and were posted in various spots around the warehouse.

Looking at the big warehouse made of tin sheets, David understood that this must be the base of operation of the big boss of this slum. It was evident from the sheer size of the warehouse, that this place is a factory of some sort.

David was then escorted inside the warehouse. As he got inside, he saw that several people were working under the tin roof of the warehouse. Almost all of the workers were working on big pots and were stirring different colored liquids. Seeing those big pots, he started to realize that this may be the place where some shady drugs are made. In other words, the big boss of this slum was a drug lord…

David then took a good look at different ingredients and the process required to make the drug. After glancing at the process, he was not able to determine what was being prepared here…

When David and his group went deeper into the warehouse, they started witnessing many disturbing things. Some people were being tortured by tying them up by a pole and then whipping them. While some people were locked in small cages like animals.

While witnessing the horrific thing being conducted out in open, David was thinking about whether he could do something to help these people. But it was then someone called him from the front…

"SOLARIS! My boy!" Someone said. The voice of this person sounded as though the person had stuffed too many Oreos in their mouth. And now they are trying to speak with their mouth full. David then looked in the direction of the voice, and as soon as he saw the person that called out to him, the color of his face vanished.

He saw that the creature that called out to him was a bipedal being. It looked like something straight out of science fiction. The being that was standing in front of them had a green color skin. His whole body was covered in green scales, similar to that of a fish. That being had big yellow color eyes with no nose. He had big white teeth like that of a shark. David could see some cuts on the neck of the being that looked like gills.

As David saw the appearance of that being, he understood that something is very wrong here. That creature doesn't look like an inhabitant of Earth.