SHORT STORY: GABSEN IN LONDON

^{Trigger warning: Death}

One day a young man named Gabsen was walking down a narrow cute street inmidst the city of London. He loved this one and had walked past the small visually pleasing shop, cafês and restaurants that were hidden in the narrow streets close to Oxford Circus.

Gabsen smelled the delicious bread from on of the bakeries mixed with the smell of the flowershop next to the street. It was a sunny day and Gabsen enjoyed every minute of it. He stopped to look at the sky as he closed his eyes and let the sun warm his face.

Closeby was a busy street and you could hear the people and traffic loudly mixing itself with the sound of the little nature that is still left in a city this big. He heard children laugh and dogs bark. The streets were full of life

Suddenly the noise completely stopped. Gabsen was enveloped in complete silence. It surprised him so much that he opened his eyes with a gasp. What he saw terrified him.

All the people on the street were gone. Even the noise from the busy main road was no longer there. ‚Where is everybody‘ he thought as goosebumps ran over his entire body. Gabsen did not understand what just happened. He looked around and saw no one.

The restaurants were empty and where children were playing moments ago was nothing but the heavy pressure of gravity.

Gabsen slowly began to walk onto Oxford street. It was a lovely saturday afternoon and usually it is packed full with people everywhere. Hundreds of tourists and thousands of commuters were passing this street on their way to do some shopping or go to work

Now there was nobody. Not a single soul set foot onto the dark concrete.
Naturally Gabsen screamed as loud as he could. ‚Maybe someone can hear me‘ he thought but the only response he got was his echo. So he continued his walk through the city.

‚Weird‘ he thought not quite grasping what happened ’should I just walk home and look for my flatmate?‘ Gabsen was only 30 mins by tube away from his home. As he thought about what to do, he walked slowly with his head down. The sun was still warm nevertheless everything has changed.

Passing a designer store he saw his reflection in the huge display windows. He looked tired and for the first time he noticed that there was something in his face. He came closer to the window adn realized that it was blood. Panic gripped Gabsen and he began to run.

He ran as fast as he could until he ran out of breath and had to slow down. His head was spinning. ‚What’s going on? Where is everyone?‘

Gabsen reached the closest tube station and was surprised. Noone was there, no workers, no passengers, no nothing.

At this point Gabsen was insanely scared. ‚Am I turning crazy?‘

He took the lift and was creeped out by the silence throughout the whole station. A small mouse crossed his path as he approched the platform  On a digital sign Gabsen saw the words „train approaching“ in orange letters.

He looked around as he got more and more nervous.
Suddenly he felt as if he wasn’t alone anymore. Gabsen began to be so scared that his eyes would tear up.

The sign was blank again and the silence made the station unbearable. ‚I have to get out of here‘ he thought.

Gabsen turned around to head upstairs again as he bumped into a girl. He screamed out of surpise and his eyes opened wide as he saw that the girls expression was completely dead.  She was just standing there staring at the wall without emotion and almost without life.

Gabsen took a few steps back and kept his eyes on the girl who didn’t move, nor speak.
Suddenly he fell. He fell backward onto the train track.

The ground hit hard and Gabsen felt a strong pain in his lower back. The fall echoed throughout the whole station and Gabsens vison became blurry.

He stood up climbing in pain on the plattform again. Gabsen looked for the girl but she was noowhere to be seen. Her expression still haunted him and his back hurt and his hand was bleeding.

Full of adrenaline he began running as fast as he could. Before he could reach the end of the last few steps the lights went out and Gabsen felt his fear as a sting in his heart. He took all if his energy and sprinted as fast as humanly possible. He went through the doors and what he saw shocked him.

It was the middle of the night outside. ‚How long have I been in here?‘
He felt so hopeless and irritated that tears fell down his cheeks.
In this moment he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. With shaky hands he answered the phone.

‚Hello?‘

„Gabsen?“

‚Who is this? What do you want from me? I don’t have time!‘ He said and was at the verge of hanging up.

„Don’t hang up!“ the voice from the phone screamed „There is something you need to do“

‚What are you talking about? Who are you?‘

„Do you see the blue skyscraper in front of you“ the mysterious voice asked.

Gabsen has never been this scared and confused. ‚….yes‘

„Go through exit 3, the door should be open. Take the stairs to your left. Go to floor 14. If you don’t do it, you will die. If you go to any other floor, you will die. Do you understand?“

Gabsen didn’t know what to answer. He didn’t understand anything that was happening.

‚I just want to go home‘ he said.

„You can’t“ the stranger answered and hung up.

Scared for his life and unsure about his next step Gabsen followed the instructions the stranger gave him. He headed for the blue building and opened the door.
The silence everywhere was freaking him out. Gabsen decided to slowly and quietly walk up the stairs. The stranger for sure awaited him at the lift, Gabsen thought.

After he climbed up 10 floors he had to take a break. He was so out of breath and not used to this much excercise that he almost threw up. After his breath got calmer again he heard something strange. At first it was very quiet but it became louder and louder. After a few moments he could clearly hear a voice saying „14th floor“

Gabsen felt as if the voice was coming closer towards him but he couldn’t see anybody. He jumped up and looked downstairs. Everything was black. Only the emergency lights lit up the staircase and you could see the moon through the ceiling window.

As the voice came closer and closer Gabsen started to take 2 stairs at a time and once almost tripped. He felt the pain in his back and blood tripping from his face.

Soon he arrived at floor 14 and the voice became so quiet again, that Gabsen almost didn’t hear it anymore. The hallway was dark and empty. He walked a few steps as he noticed that one of the doors was open.

Goosebumps covered Gabsens neck as the door screeched loudly. He entered a pitch-black room. „Take 2 steps forward“ a voice right next to Gabsens right ear said. He screamed in surprise and punched his fist into the direction of the voice.

There was nothing.

‚WHO IS HERE‘ Gabsen screamed with a very shaky voice ‚SHOW YOURSELF!’

He listened but could only hear the unbearable silence.

„Take 2 steps forward“ he heard another voice whispering into his left ear.

‚STOP THIS‘ Gabsen grabbed his head in his arms and screamed as loud as he could, hoping the voices would go away.
He took 2 steps forward and found himself standing in the door to the balcony.

„Isn’t that beautiful?“ a female voice that reminded him of his mother said.

Gabsen stepped onto the balcony and saw the stunning view across London.

‚Wow‘ he said to himself and suddenly felt very calm. ‚It IS beautiful‘ his eyes began to sparkle.

„You should take a few steps forward“ his father whispered into his ears.

„Listen to your father“ his grandma said.

„Your father is an asshole“ his aunt said.

„I am the only one who ever understood you Gabsen“ his dog said „just do what I tell you to“

At this point gabsen lost controll over his body. He just did as the voices told him to.
He took a step forward, holding onto the railing in front of him.

“Good“ his aunt said.

„Finally you do something right“ his father whispered.

„Now jump“ his mother demanded.

Gabsen held onto the railing more tight now. ‚Where am I‘ he asked himself.

„I love you“ he heard someone unfamiliar say.

Gabsen looked down. It was his dead girlfriend.

„You are safe now. I miss you“

He put his left leg over the railing.

„There you go son“ his mom said in a sad tone.

He put his right leg on the other side of the balcony as he felt a hand touching his.

There was noone yet he sensed as if there was. It made him feel very sad and he began to cry as he let go of the railing completely. He felt a hand trying to hold him but it was too weak. It was too late.

That day in a blue office building in London a young man commited suicide. The reasons are still unknown to this day.

An eye witness told the police „I tried to help him. I asked him about his family. His mother, father, aunt, grandpa and if he had a dog. He seemed in traunce. Nothing I said seemed to reach him. It was horrible to watch as his hand slipped out of mine while he fell. But the weirdest part? He smiled“