Enjin

The air smelled of rust and dust. The silence of the place was so profound that even their own footsteps seemed an unwelcome interruption. Empty buildings, broken glass, signs corroded by acid rain. The kind of place where even the echoes seemed tired of existing.

Enjin walked aimlessly, with that carefree gait he had even when his mind was about to explode. The mission had been simple, easy: check the area, gather information, check if it was habitable, and return. But nothing at that moment was as easy as it sounded. First it was a shadow, then a voice. A barely audible murmur, as if someone were speaking from the depths of a dream. “Mom! I missed you. I don’t want to go to school anymore.”

The echo lengthened, twisted, mingling with a childish laugh that made him stop. He calmly turned his head, his bored expression unchanged. No one. “Must be the wind..” He muttered disinterestedly. But the wind didn't whisper his name. The flickering lights of a dead billboard bathed him in hues of red and purple. Enjin took a deep breath; the air was cleaner, more real, strange. Suddenly, his surroundings began to change: new, gleaming buildings, clear blue skies, green trees, flowers everywhere, and the once empty streets filled with people. Voices, laughter, life. His heart leapt, not from fear, but from a strange nostalgia.

"Mhm. It will be easy, of course." An illusion. A damn hallucination. He knew it, but he couldn't look away, but he noticed. In the imaginary crowd, someone was watching him. A silhouette, motionless, smiling, its lips moving quickly. “That purple light..” The voices intensified, stunning him, yet he didn't let his guard down. Not until he realized a voice was whispering in his ear.

“—It’s all in your head..” Followed by laughter, echoes, and all illusion vanished in a matter of seconds.