After Midnight (Prologue)

Rough copy. Will eventually be scripted and formed into a video game. The premise will be added later as I go forward.

          Stephen Bailey is a preacher at Hands of God Methodist in New Haven Michigan. For months he suffers from a form of clinical depression and begins to take medication. He begins to see and notice a lot of things going on in the church that he doesn't agree with. He tries to go to the head minister and eventually filing complaints with the united Methodist church district office. His complaints fall short every time. He is undercut almost every way by those he considered friends. For years he knew these people, now they look at him like a stranger. Rumors start spreading that he is cheating on his wife, even rumors that he is molesting boys which eventually leads to his dis-fellowship from the church. In his time away he is taunted by his fellow churchgoers out in public and completely disregarded by his wife who is threatening to leave him. He begins drinking. taking too much of his medication. Spending too much time alone. After about a year away from the church, he starts writing a book about his experiences. Once it is finished, he tries to publish it,but nobody will touch it considering his history with the church and the ongoing problems with the catholic priests. One night, after a particularly heavy night of drinking, he decides to kill himself. the next morning he buys a gun. A small one, a little .22. Cheap. Resourceful. It'll get the job done. He even knows where he will do it. There is a wonderfully quiet harbor down in the south side near the industrial complex. A lot of loud machinery 24/7. that coupled with the sound of the waves on the rocks will be enough to hide the gunshot.

          So he gets in his car early one morning, carefully wraps the .22 in a towel and sets it down on the passenger seat. He then heads out for the harbor. Everything is as planned. He parks the car in an empty lot about fifty yards away and walks to the rocky shoreline. There is a low-hanging fog. The waves crash in and out, white sea froth bubbling in between the jagged rocks. The sound of heavy machinery fills the air, a constant whir and clanging that would normally drive someone insane for long periods of time. It's no wonder the workers in that plant spend off time at the local watering hole. Anyways, back to business. Everything is as planned. Stephen carefully unwraps the gun, letting the towel fall away into a receding wave. he watches it as it is grabbed and sucked under. He wonders if that is what will happen to his body. He pulls the magazine, checks inside. A row of neat golden bullets. Perfect. he clicks the magazine back, c***s the gun with his thumb, he almost feels the bullet being loaded into the chamber. He lifts the muzzle to his head. Just before he pulls the trigger, he hears the sound of gulls in the background, somewhere in the omnipresent gray mist. He wonders if the sound will carry him off. Without another thought, Stephen pulls the trigger. Immediately, the world goes black.

          And then, it comes back. In a rush of sounds, maddening sounds. The world is a contorted and jumbled mess of images and lights, bright and nonsensical. It goes away and comes back several times. Each instantaneous and quick, like the world was a juxtaposition of scenes cut right in the middle. Some were thoughts, himself as a priest. His younger self. A boy playing in the street. A bundle of balloons floating into the sky. An overwhelming feeling of sadness and loss. Darkness again. Mix of emotions: Love, happiness, sorrow. Finally, after an insurmountable and indefinable amount of time, Stephen opens his eyes. He looks around. He is in a small, closet sized room, walls the color of diluted urine, ugly vomit-green drapes cover the single window. He turns his head, a flare of pain burns along the left side of his neck and trickles down his arm. He can't move. He sees what looks like a metal coat rack with plastic bags filled with clear liquid. After a delirious moment he sees that it's an IV drip. He reads the slightly blurred words, Saline, Potassium, Sodium. Electrolytic solution.

Author's Note

This is a rough draft, intended for editing. Give feedback but understand that this is basically a summary and backstory for a video game I am writing for and collaborating on.