Shejin slowly opened his eyes but it was dark.The darkness felt like it was occluded, like there is something blocking the light
He tried to look around however that was proving a lot difficult and he was getting a little flustered. It felt laborious to move his neck so as to coordinate his head which should be painful but is not.
That being the case one thing he could feel vividly is his heartbeat that was thumping so much like he had been running for a long time or he had been horribly scared by something.
Thanks to this arrthyma that felt like the aftermath of a horror show, a strong urge to regurgitate was bred but the pathway of regurgitation felt very hot like if he were to throw up, he would only throw up molten metal
Despite these symptoms of fear ,he wasn't not in anyway scared at all. He has absolutely no reason to be like that. If anything he is very much confused. By his state of body and state of position.
His head and legs felt like they are hanging off something and his entire weight is placed on his stomach. He can't tell for sure but it does incredibly feel like there is just too much pressure on his abdomen and a pressure imbalance at his head
Admist trying to logically analyze the situation, the skin over his stomach was shook by a foreign movement. That movement was a quick shudder, sort of a twitch or spasm or muscle jerk.
The motion managed to travel through his clothes ,that must mean it was distinctively propagated.
A horse neighed and that was litmus test he needed.
With the way things are unfolding, at this there is no denying that he could be laying on its back with his abdomen. Though he is to some degree skeptical as he can't feel the warmth of the stallion s body nor can he smell its body, there is nothing else that he can use to contradict this
Just then , he felt a seperntine pressure pattern along a huge potion of his wrists. Immediately after SheJin felt himself get peeled off the horse and land on the ground like a heavy bag of sand. He deduced that whatever caused him to fall over had probably pulled on his wrists .
Though it feels like he fell from a great distance , he can't say he felt pain but he definitely felt the impact on his entire body.. .
What on earth is going on?
" Don't swallow it", someone dictated to him , calmly..His voice was not clear and it was quite like he is speaking from a far away place . Sort of like he was speaking outside a container and SheJin was inside it, then his voice travelled through the walls of the vessel.
SheJin was even more confused. Whoever this person is , it was probably them who that carried him on a horse. The last SheJin checked no one lived anywhere near the cabin let alone domestic animals like horses. So how on earth is what is happening possibly happening?
"After all that you are bound to feel like this",he commented.
' What? ' SheJin was confused. How can painting possibly get him in a rage? The last thing he remembers is picking up wood and having a migraine. Whatever happened afterwards is not clear . Has this person possibly mistaken him for someone else? SheJin would never hurt a fly.
He wanted to ask the identity of the man but there was definitely something in his mouth that was limiting vocal freedom plus he felt like he would throw up any instant , let alone if he begun talking.
As he was still on the ground, the serpentine pressure was activated once more.His wrists gained autonomy because for some reason they went into the air and managed to pull the rest of his body with them.
He guessed that this serpent must be a rope. And the voice that spoke must be heading it. And he was right.
He got pulled making him ,stand up unexpectedly. The strength that pulled was multiplied the one that had yanked him off the horse. If anything he was sure that this person had sub-humane strength or maybe just that SheJin was periodically getting weak..
He got dragged and dragged with his independence limited..
The previous episode of falling had a little effect on him because SheJin was feeling a bit dizzy and the nausea was becoming a little bit more stronger than a few moments ago.It felt like it was stirred up. And now walking or being forced to walk made things worse
"Stairs",called the voice dragging the rope
Before he could act on those words, SheJin tripped over the first stair. He fell and supported himself on his hands. As his hands were now his pivot, that should have hurt but it don't. He must have landed on soft stairs or his hands have cotton layers
He raised and clutched both his fists to feel them. It was restricted for him to bend his knuckles so indeed he had perceived right. The area from his knuckles and below was wrapped. He can't tell how long the wrappings go but they are probably long..
The man might have got impatient that SheJin was not elevating quickly because he yanked on the rope once before aggressively pulling it ,making SheJin climb the rest of the five stairs promptly.
Hearing the sole of the boots touch a wooden floorboard which didn't creak as much as the stairs, he guessed that the stairs might be over. Maybe they were standing on the veranda or something of the sort.
Simultaneously a wooden door was opened. The man continued pulling the rope and SheJin followed like a lost goat..
They stepped into a something more light deprived because the cloth around his head, without a warning became pitch black.The light intensity had suddenly declined as it was not as bright as it was a moment ago.
He moved his head from side to side for some weird reason as he was trying to spot things through the cloth of the thing on his head, which was obviously hard .
Before he could make sense of everything, the back of his knees got kicked making him fall to the ground
He hit the ground hard but like before it didn't hurt. SheJin doesn't want to believe he has knee protectors like his hands or that probably the cloth on his knuckles runs all the way to his knees.
Anyway as he bid farewell to his stability , the man yanked on the rope so SheJin didn't fall all the way to the ground and his hands remained suspended on the hair.
Seconds later he heard the door behind him close and he turned to look at who could have done that.
His reflexes are still slow because before he could completely turn ,the cloth was then lifted off his face.
The external light quickly rushed into his eyes and he managed to make out his environment. He was kneeling in an old shack.
The shack was constructed of sand or mud from the ground up. A rooftop was obviously added to the place but it is no longer as effective and considerable as hospitable because there were several huge holes through the hatch grass that showed the dark blue sky .The roof woodwork which supported the grass ,as of now was very poor and appear to be eroded by the inevitable elements of nature.
There were pillars around the places but they seemed to be getting weaker as the hands of time pass one another. Be that as it may, these pillars are still usable because they managed to hold this place up.
As for what should have been windows, there were at least two such structures on the adjacent walls to SheJin s left and right. It is quite obvious that this place was not meant for human hospitality because these windows are too small for any basic uses.
Anyway on the three pillars equally spaced across the place, two lanterns were placed on each pillar for illumination purposes but for some reason, the lanterns were not lit.
SheJin noticed that he was positioned directly confront of the door and was facing a something or rather a someone seated on a chair while another was standing right next to him holding the rope. However it was difficult to see them , only their contours were visible.
"You are very difficult to track. Despite the reward I offered to you so many times, you refused to listen to me. It is not like am asking for the impossible...",the raspy voice said.
SheJin was confused and he thought the man hiding in the dark was confused as well.
"Destroy the man who is to free havoc into this world. That is all I ask of you",he kept talking before he paused to take a breath. He seemed very tired , sort of like the old men who were in the same ward as his Grandfather. AhMun had said that bad lungs was what was making talking difficult but SheJin s grandfather had horrible lungs too yet he didn't have speech difficulty like this.
"If you can do that for me , I will grant you any wish you want and the clue to the antidote",the voice spoke
" We both know this country has its seen its fair share of selfish, prejudiced people doing as they want ,when they want , causing futures to crumble and lives to be lost.So please seek it in yourself to fulfill this last mission before you go. " He paused once more to grasp for breathe.
"Let me remind you that, the relief is temporary. When the numbing fades, your body will begin to rot. And you know ,just like us , no matter what you do, you can't go back when you are decayed",the voice next to SheJin replied. He sounded more energetic than the one in front of SheJin. He must be a lot younger than the man in the chair
The last sentence broke SheJin from his character analysis. Decay!! What does he mean by that??
SheJin has been falling and raising off things.And no matter the size of the impact he had not once felt an inkling of pain. So his lack of pain sensation was that he was numbed. What!!
A large plume of smoke that engulfed the whole roomcomplimented his confusion .The smoke was a shade darker than milk but still impossible to see through because of the opacity and lack of light in the room.
The smoke was very quick to consume the room and when that happened, the rope that held SheJin s wrists became a little loose.
Gratefully SheJin managed to shield his nose and eyes with his hands. He began to cough as he accidentally inhaled some of the smoke.The corrosive smoke burned as it went down his trachea and almost made him teary..
He yanked at the rope he thought was being held but it turns out it actually wasn't.
As he got free , he immediately got on his feet and ran to the door, which he kicked open and ran outside..
He bolted down the stairs and he stood in the open air then started to peel off the bandage over his mouth and nose.
The second his mouth was free, he spit out the blood he didn't notice had collected in his buccal . This is perhaps what was making him incapable of talking.
Naturally this should be a sign that something hurts but then again, he must really be under numbing .
He stood outside and watched as the smoke exited the room and lauched towards the moonles sky that was jam-packed with stars..
SheJin caught his breath and he looked at the shack.
There are no other exit points in that place.Those two people must be chocking ..
It felt awfully suspicious but why were they not trying to escape...
SheJin looked at the horse that was standing calmy.
He gawked back at the house and he waited until the smoke cleared. While he did that, he tried to free his hands from the rope. He struggled for close to a two minutes but he finally managed to untie it. His wrists were even red from agressive turning and twisting.
After he was sure that the poison fume had indeed depleted, he walked to the shack to clear his curiosity which was getting the most of him dreadfully.
He climbed over the stairs one by one carefully to avoid making a sound. He peaked into the shack and was bewildered.
There were two bodies lying lifelessly on the floor