The pressure in his mind was the first thing Torro felt. It was as if a massive boulder was trying to crush his skull but there was a resistance that held it together. As he pried his eyes open, he could only find darkness staring back at him.
His body was still flat against the floor, and his muscles were paralysed.
Fear quickly gripped his heart.
He tried moving his fingers but to no avail. His heart now is racing and he had difficulty breathing. The panic and anxiety in his heart skyrocketed.
"What's going on?!"
Why couldn't he move his body? Why was there just darkness?
Suddenly, he heard the laughter of children, followed by taunting voices calling out words like 'freak', 'loser', 'unwanted trash'. It echoed through the darkness and his mind.
He soon heard laughter again, but this time the voices were by a group that was much older. A scene then flashed before him; it was when he was 15, being shoved against a fence and cowering. He was being harassed by a group of individuals at school that had elite statuses. Children of families that had a name in various industries.
"Come on Torro, why the sad face?" one of them snidely remarked, ridicule painted all over their features.
Torro stared at the scene floating above him with confusion.
The scene continued playing in front of him, showing him a recollection of his past, of how he lived every day quivering in fear, how he had to switch jobs due to unfair work ethics by his superiors or was fired because of his bullies' harassment and of how no one stood out for him in school or at work. It showed how he'd go back to his uncle's apartment to find him passed out drunk on the couch with trash and lottery tickets littered everywhere. Again, showed how loansharks would bang on his door dead in the night while his uncle was out gambling throughout the night, and finally, how his uncle had been poisoned by alcohol and left him with debt from an organisation that took lives when left unpaid.
As Torro watched this scene above him, his pupils constricted and had long come to a realisation that he hasn't actually woken up. He was probably still unconscious in the library and this was his mind seeking refuge in his subconscious.
"How ironic," he laughed in disdain.
His subconscious was supposed to be a safe haven for his mind, but how could it show him memories that were happy, when there were none?
Soon the scene came to an end, and he has left with darkness again. Strangely, Torro felt peaceful. It was a long time since he'd been able to just lie down and not do anything. He slowly closed his eyes and sighed. He felt strange and let out a mirthless laugh. He was absolutely sure that he was still unconscious but he could feel the weight of his body and the pressure in his mind. More so he could feel the floor was cold and it spread through his entire body.
Just as he was about to concede to his fate of not waking up, he felt a jolt of heat in his chest. It didn't hurt, but it was uncomfortable. Suddenly, he felt the jolt again, this time it was stronger and it felt like he was being jabbed by someone. He suddenly felt a rising pain, like his chest was tightening and it was getting harder and harder to bear.
Just as he was about to relax as the pain receded he felt the jolt again but this time he felt like electricity was passing through him and the pain spread all throughout his body. It was so painful that he could only shut his eyes in despair.
When the pain receded, he could hear a faint voice saying, "we've got a pulse!"
Torro groaned in confusion, before completely losing consciousness.
.
.
.
The smell of disinfectant was the first thing he noticed when he regained his senses, followed by the beeping of a machine, his body felt like it was made out of Iron, stiff and heavy.
His throat was so dry and parched it was uncomfortable for him to even swallow.
He struggled to pry his eyes open, his eyes were still blurry and his surroundings were too bright for him to fully open his eyes.
After some time, his vision adjusted and he found himself to be in a private room with an IV drip attached to him and a machine that monitored his heart. He assumed that he must've been warded in a hospital and sighed in relief.
Pursing his lips, he struggled as he tried to position himself sitting upright, his body filled with fatigue.
'What the hell happened,' Torro thought as he frowned and massaged his forehead.
Moments later, he heard sharp footsteps followed by a rattle of the door sliding open.
"I see you're awake."
A man that seem to be in his 40s had a cold and sharp appearance, had his salt and peppered hair slicked back with gold rectangular glasses propped on the bridge of his nose, wearing a white coat with an ID badge clipped to its pocket.
Though his appearance played a role in how one would perceive him to be stern, what actually made people straighten their backs was the aura he poured from his body. It felt cold and ruthless.
Torro wrinkled his brows slightly as he wasn't so sure if he was in the hospital now. Public health servants don't typically have an aura this strong.
Moreover, when the door slid open, he saw a glimpse of two agents guarding the door outside and but couldn't make out if they were from the Association or if they were mercenaries.
"Your vitals are stable and we've done a full body scan to check if there were any internal bleedings or fractures. But it seems you've escaped unscathed. We'll be keeping you here a few more days for observations, in the meanwhile if you feel any pain or discomfort please feel free to ring the bell at the edge of your bedside table. A nurse will come to check up on you." The gentlemen who he'd assumed to be a doctor, spoke briskly and in an indifferent manner.
Cautious, Torro gulped and croaked, "where is 'here', exactly? Also, who are you?"
The doctor paused reading through the information tablet that was held in his hand and glanced up at Torro.
"That's a strange question, isn't it? You should know you're in the hospital."
"B-but, you're not a normal doctor. A-and there are agents outside." Torro murmured softly, his back, breaking out into cold sweat.
He felt that he just mentioned something he shouldn't have when he saw a shift in the doctor's gaze.
"Yes, well, that happens when you're the only being found alive at Vortex site unscathed. You'll know more information when the comes, but for now, you can relax the men outside are from the Association."
As soon as he heard the men outside were from the Association, the relief he felt was almost instantaneous.
"H-how long have I been out? Why does the Association want to talk to me?" Torro asked nervously.
The doctor was looking down at the tablet when Torro asked the question so he thought that he was too soft and was about to repeat when the doctor suddenly lifted his head and looked at him.
"I'm just here to check on your condition, not to answer any of your curiosity. Someone else will come in later to check on you. Maybe they can answer your questions."
The doctor then swiftly turned around and walked out. Leaving Torro alone in the room, anxious and slightly embarrassed.
Only then did he realise how thirsty he was and he struggled stretching out from his bed and poured himself a cup from the jug that was left at the bedside table for him.
As he was about to set down his jug on the bedside table, he heard footsteps entering his room again, this time heavier and sturdier.
Tilting his head around slightly to look over, he hadn't realise that his position of placing the jug back onto the table was slightly off-balance which caused it to tip over and fall of the table.
Just as he was about the clumsily reach out to catch the falling object, it suspended in the air right in front of the guest who just entered his room.
"Well, I'll be damned. This brat's a Riser."
Freaked out his mind, while looking back and forth between the jug and the 6'2 giant, old man that was dressed to the T in his room, he began stuttering not really comprehending the situation.
Suddenly, a wave of extreme lethargy washed over him and he collapsed awkwardly on the bed, but not before hearing the shattering of the jug and the old man's words.
"Ah hell, now I gotta wait for him to wake up again."