[amanda784]

Xavier did not have any recollection of the moments leading to him waking up now. He had no idea where he was or how he had gotten there. Worse still, Xavier found himself unable to open his eyes due to the bright light from the sun. Every time he tried all he saw was blinding white. He winced in pain and tried to rub the burning sensation from his eyes. Still, when he opened them he was unable to see. He pushed his hands into the dirt and stood up on shaky legs.

[amanda784]

Suddenly, a thought slammed into him like a speeding train. What if he was blind? What if it was not darkness that people saw after losing sight. What if this blinding white was his own new blindness.

“Is anyone there?” He asked into the nothingness.

No one replied. Questions swirled in his head, but they went unanswered.

[amanda784]

It took a lot of effort, but Xavier managed to stumble around. Eventually, his vision began to clear a little. As he looked around he realized he had wandered into a darkened alleyway. It was still much brighter than it should have been. The blinding whiteness had not completely left his eyes. Instead it was as if someone dimmed the light just a bit.

[amanda784]

As he walked towards the road away from the alleyway it was as if someone began turning up the light again. Xavier was not able to see in the light of the sun. Light had become like darkness to him, rendering him blind.

Instead of attempting to walk blindly, he found a spot behind a dumpster where he had completely clear vision. The darkness of it should have been too much for him to see. His eyes should have at least taken some time to adjust to it, but instead he felt relief and saw clearly immediately.

[amanda784]

Xavier began examining himself for injuries. He immediately became worried at the sight of himself. He was covered in scars and bruises. Strangely enough, he felt no pain. The thought crossed his mind that he may be paralyzed. He definitely had injuries that would have made that a possibility, but he was able to move his arms and legs. Something strange had happened to Xavier and he didn’t remember any of it.

[amanda784]

The last thing Xavier remembered was being at a party. Things were going well. Xavier was the popular type. He was laid back and easy to talk to. As a result, he had many friends. Xavier could walk into a room full of strangers and walk out five minutes later with a handful of new friends. His charisma made him easy to like. His memory cut out in the middle of the party. He had no memory of when he left or even how. He had no memory of what had caused the many scrapes and bruises that covered his body.

[amanda784]

Someone who was at the party would be sure to know what happened to him. He would meet up with and find out, but not until the sun set or clouds filled the sky. Xavier continuously tried to ease himself into the light, but was unable to do so without being blinded. He didn’t have the option to leave his spot. The sun did not allow for it. As anxious as he was to find the truth, it would have to wait.

[amanda784]

Minutes passed like hours. Just at the moment when Xavier thought the sun was forever pasted in the sky, it began to set. Xavier moved from his spot behind the dumpster into the now clear alleyway. When he left the alleyway, his vision became blurred. The light from the setting sun made buildings look more like fuzzy blobs to him. Still, he was able to see enough to get his bearings. He could see well enough to keep himself from walking into anyone.

[amanda784]

Before long, the sun had set enough to the point where Xavier could see clearly. The moment it happened Xavier inhaled fast. Or at least, he tried to. He should have felt a rush of air into his lungs, but he did not. He should have felt his heart pounding at what he saw, but it did not. Xavier was standing in the middle of absolute wreckage and he physically was unable to react. All around him stood crumbled buildings. Large cracks filled the roads. Bits of rubble and debris laid everywhere.

[amanda784]

Xavier wondered how he had gotten here and who had taken him. He figured it was possible that he had decided to go visit this wreckage of a place. It was like him to go on spur of the moment adventures. He thought perhaps he had fallen or something had fallen on him rendering his memory gone. Still there should have been others around. Xavier would not have gone on an adventure alone. So if he had gone on an adventure, where were the others now?

[amanda784]

That idea faded away when Xavier recognized a piece of metal laying in the rubble. On it was the house numbers of the party he had been at last night. He would have written it off as a coincidence had it not been the same ugly red color as the one that was on the once beautiful home. Now, there was no home. Only the foundation remained and even that was covered in cracks.

[amanda784]

Xavier dropped to the ground, his knees digging into the dirt. He should have felt pain or at the very least bled, but he did not. Something was wrong here. All the building had vanished in the time that Xavier had no memory of. Even worse, something was wrong with Xavier. He felt no pain. He could feel the texture of the dirt beneath his knees, but the jagged rocks underneath him did not feel pain. He put a hand over his chest and felt no beat. He opened his mouth to take in air, but did not feel his lungs inflate.

[amanda784]

His hands should have been shaking, but instead were steady as he felt for a pulse. There was none. He was dead.

Xavier assumed he was now a ghost. Clearly he had died in some awful way. Now he was doomed to haunt the rubble. Still, he had imagined that all ghosts were the angry poltergeist type. At least, all the ones who died in some horrible way should have been. Xavier did not feel angry. Instead, he felt terribly sad.

[amanda784]

Another odd aspect of his now dead life was that he could feel. He picked up a piece of rubble and could feel the texture and weight in his hands. He could feel, but he could not feel pain.

He thought perhaps he was just more hurt then he knew. Perhaps his heartbeat had just slowed to the point he could no longer feel a pulse. Perhaps he was in shock and that’s why he did not feel pain. Something told him that if that were true, then he would not be conscious right now.

[amanda784]

“Hey! We’ve got a live one!” a voice shouted. “We need a medic!”

A light flashed in Xavier’s direction, blinding him.

“I’m not so sure of either of those things,” muttered Xavier.

In a matter of minutes things had gone from too quiet to too loud. Even worse, it had become too bright. As people gathered around him, bandaging him up and yelling different things to each other he had become blind again. Each person carried a flashlight too bright for his sensitive eyes.