Her repetitive questioning was becoming increasingly irritating. The way she spoke, with her tone so light and cheerful, was a stark contrast to the seriousness of the situation. Her seemingly casual attitude towards my distress only served to irritate me further, and I struggled to keep my frustration in check.
"No response, huh..." she said, her voice trailing off slightly at the end, still with a jovial tone.
She fixed her eyes on mine, her obsidian gaze unrelenting. The wide grin on her face made it clear that she was aware of my attempt to avoid answering her question. I maintained my silence, refusing to give in.
At first, I was determined to not give her the satisfaction of a response. But as she continued to stare at me with that annoying grin, my resolve weakened. It was as if she knew exactly how to get under my skin and make me cave in. However, I decided not to give her the satisfaction of a response to her question, even though she seemed to know so much about me already.
I sighed. "What do you want from me?"
The black-haired girl tilted her head and looked at me with a curious expression. "What do I want? Well, that's simple," she said, her tone still jovial. "I want you to see the truth. The truth about yourself."
The truth about myself? How could she possibly know about that? I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, skeptical of her intentions. Her question seemed to imply that she knew more about me than I did, which made me feel uneasy.
"Who are you, really?" I asked, my voice filled with a mixture of skepticism and curiosity. "You seem familiar despite me not remembering who you are. And you seem to know a lot about me. Have we met before?"
As I spoke, the girl's expression shifted slightly, as if she was expecting my question. "Well, that's a tricky question," she said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Let's just say that I know more about you than you realize."
Her cryptic response only served to fuel my frustration. "That doesn't answer my question," I retorted, feeling a surge of anger rising in my chest. "Have we met before or not?"
With a smirk still playing on her lips, the girl cocked her head to the side, as if pondering my question. "Hmmm, have we met before?" she repeated, tapping her chin with her index finger. "You might say that we've met before, but not in the way you think."
"You're not making any sense," I said, my frustration starting to show. "Just answer my question."
The girl just grinned at me, still looking amused. "Maybe we have, maybe we haven't. It's not important, really. What's important is that you're here now, and we can talk about you. About your past, your present, and your future. Don't you want to know what your truth is, Leon?"
The question the black-haired girl posed had certainly hit a nerve. "What is my truth?" I couldn't help but ponder on her words, and my mind was now racing with questions that seemed to get deeper and more perplexing by the moment. I had a gnawing feeling that there was something significant about what she was saying, and that there was some hidden meaning behind it all. It was as if I was on the verge of a major discovery, but I just couldn't put my finger on what it was.
With a deep breath, I asked her, "Okay, so tell me. What is my truth?" I tried to keep my tone level, trying my best to remain composed and not let her playful demeanor get under my skin.
The mysterious black-haired girl paused for a moment, as if contemplating how to answer my question. Finally, she let out a giggle and said, "Well, that's what I'm here to help you figure out, silly!"
Her response only added to my growing frustration. Her tone, still jovial, seemed to mock my genuine desire to understand my own truth. It was as if she were playing a game with me, and I was just a pawn in her grand scheme.
"Well, Leon," she began, drawing out my name as if savoring the sound of it. "Your truth is that you are miserable. You are lost, confused, and unsure of what to do with your life. You feel like you don't have a purpose, and you don't see a way out of the darkness."
I felt a sense of defensiveness rising within me, and I asked her, "And what makes you think you know all of that?"
The girl just shrugged, still smiling that infuriating smile of hers. "I don't know, Leon. Call it a hunch, I guess. Or maybe it's just that I've seen this all before. People like you, I mean. Lost souls, wandering through life without any real direction. It's not uncommon, you know."
I couldn't fathom how she had the time and energy to talk to someone like me. Wasn't she busy with her own life? I wondered how many other people she had talked to like me, and how much she knew about their lives. Was she some kind of therapist, or just a random person who liked to play mind games with strangers? Yet, despite my doubts, she seemed to have an uncanny understanding of my situation. She called it a "hunch," but I couldn't shake the feeling that she knew more than she let on.
However, I couldn't help but think that what she said was something that anybody could know, and that it didn't really reveal anything specific about me or my truth. What she said was nothing new, just a common perception that people have about those who are lost and aimless.
Feeling somewhat let down, I posed a question to the girl, "So, is this all there is to my truth?" To be honest, her words had failed to impress me, as they merely echoed what I already knew about myself.
The girl chuckled, shaking her head. "No, no, Leon. This is just the beginning. The truth about yourself runs much deeper than what you remember or what you've been told. Calling it the tip of the iceberg still isn't enough. You're truth is much more profound and much more unknown than you might think."
It appeared that the truth about myself was more complex and intricate than what I had previously assumed.
The mysterious girl shifted her attention away from me and began to walk off, increasing the distance between us with each step. Her arms were positioned behind her back as she sauntered away, seemingly carefree. Suddenly, she turned on her heel, flashing me that familiar impish grin.
"Want to go deeper?" she asked, her voice dripping with playful curiosity.
Without warning, the air in front of me began to warp and twist, as if it were made of some kind of malleable material. A hairline fracture appeared in the otherwise seamless expanse, like a spiderweb crack that spread out from a single point.
The girl kept on speaking, her gaze fixed on me, and added, "I'm talking about going deeper to the core of your truth, not just scratching the surface." Her eyes, which were as dark as obsidian, seemed to bore into my soul, as if trying to extract something from within me.
"To the very core of your being, where everything resides—your failures, your mistakes, your insecurities, your fears, your darkest thoughts," she said, her expression changing from jovial to something more unsettling.
The air surrounding me seemed to crackle, as though it were made of brittle glass that was on the verge of shattering into a million pieces. This invisible barrier that had been trapping me in this dream was now breaking apart, revealing a path beyond that I had never been able to see before.
"Let's explore everything that has caused you to close yourself off from the outside world," the girl said, her voice steady and determined. Her eyes locked onto mine, unflinching in their intensity.
The invisible wall was slowly but surely breaking apart.
"Let's delve into the deepest parts of your being, into the very core of your soul, and explore everything that resides within you. Leave no stone unturned, no corner unexplored, and confront every emotion, thought, and feeling that exists within your body. Only by facing your innermost self can you truly understand your truth and find the answers you seek."
At last, after what seemed like an eternity, the invisible barrier that had held me captive had been shattered into countless shards.
Then, the girl's face appeared in front of mine, catching me off guard. She tiptoed closer and locked her gaze on mine, bringing her face so close to mine that our noses almost touched.
"The truth that you will uncover will be your own, and whether you choose to make changes or not is up to you."
The girl's voice returned to its light tone, as if her previous ominous tone had never existed. She looked at me expectantly, her dark eyes shining with curiosity.
"So, Leon, are you ready to delve deeper?" she asked, a playful lilt to her voice.