Chapter 2 – The City Of Neon [Part 3]

  I didn't know if following these beings was the best option, but we also couldn't stand still. We were lucky, they took us straight to the Heart. As I face the crowd I have a strange feeling, I feel as if I am slowly dissolving, when I look at my body, I realize that it is transparent, becoming increasingly more and more translucent. Jo?o and Henrique still haven't realized the state of our bodies, it's best to let them know.

  – Henrique, Jo?o, I don't know if you've noticed, but our bodies... are... strange. – I say, drawing the attention of the others, they turn to me, and then look at their bodies.

  – Really, this can't be good. – Says Jo?o, as gruff as ever.

  – What does this mean? Why is this happening? Just now that we have found the center of this city! What will happen when we disappear? Where will we go? Why… – says Henrique, starting a scandal.

  – Henrique, we get it! It's not good, but all we can do is hurry up and find this guide. He must be somewhere in this crowd. – Says Jo?o, putting an end to Henrique's irritating questions.

  – We better try to go to the heart... – I start to tell them my plan, however, growls interrupt me.

  We all turn our attention to the pigs; strangely, they seem to have returned to their most primitive state. The crowd of pigs are standing on all fours, grunting incessantly at the Heart. The noise of their grunts comes together, and turns into a guttural sound, like that of a monster. Overwhelmed by this horrible sound, my colleagues and I covered our ears and watched the strange animal ritual.

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  The Heart's Glow intensifies as the grunts become louder and louder. Little by little, its light becomes living tissue, and the tissue itself transforms into a replica of the human heart, a mass of pulsating flesh that follows the orchestra of grunts played by the pigs.

  The blood begins to drip from this pulsating mass of muscle. Before long, the drips become light streams, and consequently jets of blood begin to gush out of the cracks in the heart.

  Abruptly, the pigs stop grunting. From all directions, the animals begin to shout in harmony: "Swill! Swill! Feed us!" As they sing this picturesque song, they leap towards the lake of blood that has formed around the heart. A mysterious gravitational force pulls the pigs towards the floating lake, and there they feed. What the fuck? This doesn't make any sense!

  When the animals have finished consuming their swill, they return to the interior of the city, fortunately, ignoring our small group.

  Little by little, everyone feeds, until all the blood is consumed. Every pig that had eaten managed to regain its composure and became like us, humans, again.

  When the last pig leaves the city center, we start to head towards the Crimson Heart, which has turned pale and returned to its light composition. I notice that its reddish-gray glow is slowly intensifying, but this is such a slow process that it would take months to complete. I just hope that in that time, we will have made it back to our world.

  As we approached the pale Heart, we see a figure sitting on what could be considered a street below it.

  – That's probably the guide we're looking for! – I say, pointing to the figure.

  – Well, he's the only one... of them... who hasn't left. – Says Jo?o, straining his eyes.

  – What are you waiting for, let's go! – Says Henrique, who has already started walking towards the guide.

  As we have no options, we just follow the path that will probably lead us to the mysterious being, after all, we can't stand still, we must reach this guide as quickly as possible.