20-year-old Jake Hudson wakes every morning to a bleak and
sombre reality. He wakes alone, and goes to bed alone. Commuting to work in a
dead end job to be worked to his wits and sent home again later that evening. Day
in. Day out. One morning, on the walk to his bus stop to work, his life changes
forever.
Before arriving at the bus stop, Jake crosses one of the few roads that
allow him to get there. As he steps out onto the road, Jake suddenly gets
struck down by a hit and run driver, cutting to black just in the knick of time
as tyre screeches fill the air.
As his vision returns, a figure stands towering over Jake, who is lying
on the floor. Dressed in all black robes, a pale woman stands above him, her
lips stained red from lipstick. She reaches out and helps Jake from the road.
After cleaning himself up and checking for any signs of injury, the character
is revealed to be a woman by the name of “Ezra Eil” (later revealed to be Ezraeil),
who says that she’s here to help him. Jake, being confused by this, thanks
Ezraeil for her help but assures her that he is fine and not in need of any
help. He leaves her behind and travels home to rest.
Whilst at home, Jake tosses and turns, unable to sleep. He slowly rises
from bed and walks downstairs to the kitchen, enveloped in darkness. He flicks
on a lamp and drags his corpse-like body to a cabinet, where he pulls out a
small bag of marijuana - a part that seems almost essential to him in the way
of getting a decent night’s sleep. He removes several buds and crushes them up
to create a joint, in the hopes it’ll soothe his insomnia. However, he is sent
wheezing at the first drag, an unusual occurrence for the 20 year old. After
his cough had subsided, Jake lays slumped in one of the armchairs, unmoving but
awake. A digital clock in the room begins counting up quickly, despite Jake appearing
frozen in place. 11PM. 12PM. 1PM.
Jake jolts upright from his slumber, hearing a crash from the kitchen.
As he gasps for a lungful of air, he creeps into the kitchen slowly. Two
children’s laughs are heard as their feet patter through the house quickly, the
second shadowing its leader’s. Jake follows to investigate, leading him to the
dining room. On the floor, two young children sit, rolling a ball to each other;
giggling as they do so. Panicked, Jake asks what they are doing in his house
and how they got in, never given an answer. Instead, the boys turn their heads
at him and ask what he’s doing in their house, and that their dad will be very
mad if he finds out. Jake’s mind is sent into a frenzy of questions and pure
fear. Who are these children? Is this their house? Why will their father be
mad? His mind in overdrive, Jake drops to the floor, fading to black.
Waking sharply again, this time to the sound of his alarm clock, he
pushes himself to his feet, questioning “what the hell happened last night” and
why he had awoken on the floor, his apartment empty. Ignoring the events of
last night to be the happenings of a vivid nightmare, Jake continues his
habitual morning routine. Making coffee, preparing and eating an omelette,
brushing his teeth, his hair and then getting dressed – all before leaving the
door for another run-of-the-mill day at work.
Upon arrival, Jake walks through the sea of filled cubicles whilst
greeting colleagues (to be completely ignored) and almost bumped into on
several occasions. Jake sits down and gets his head into the work. Over time,
he loses his focus and instead eavesdrops on a conversation between three
co-workers who were talking of rumours that someone had “left” – one even
stating that they “didn’t know he even worked with them”. He then realises his
lack of attention and returns to working until the day comes to an end.
Outside of work, stands Ezraeil, whom he approaches to ask why she was
here. Ezraeil dodges the question and asks how he is, to which he informs her of
his experience the night before. Reminding himself of the experience, he
decides that he should see a doctor for any help he can have in explaining last
night’s happenings. Ezraeil nods and walks off without saying a word.
The scene crossfades into one of Jake in the Doctors office. A large
gold plaque covers one of the walls, talking of the conversion and
refurbishment from the old Victorian era building that used to be the Doctors
office, into the new one. Jake spots this and thinks nothing of it, before
attempting to get the attention of a receptionist, without any luck. He marches
over and sees a Doctor who isn’t tending to anyone within the waiting room.
Jake introduces himself and asks for a consultation. The Doctor (Dr. Kevin
Hewett) leads him into the room where Jake tells him of the previous nights’
events. The Doctor knows not the problem and prescribes him some antiquated medication
used to treat anxiety. Which; we find later on, does nothing for Jake, so he
quits the course.
Due to his nightmares and anxieties haunting him, he becomes exhausted,
breaking down in front of Ezraeil. She instructs him to follow her, telling him
that everything will be okay.
She leads him to a hospital, Jake confused as to why he’d been shown
this. She silences him and leads him in, walking straight past all
receptionists without them batting an eyelid, adding to his confusion. Ezraeil
makes a bee-line for a specific door, standing in front of the window’s view
before turning to Jake and telling him that he’s “ready”.
She opens the door to reveal Jake, laying there in a hospital bed,
attached to various life support machines. Upon seeing this, Jake sobs
silently, observing the vessel on the bed before asking her what had happened.
She tells him that he’d been hit by a car, leaving him in a coma and that he’s
not going to make it. Jake, rather than crying, assures Ezraeil that he is
indeed ready, before kissing her and fading away into the white light, the
cardiac monitor slowing to a single, long beep.
