A few minutes later, in a completely unknown place, hollow, dripping sounds echoed. Anton felt a sharp pain in his head, as if it could split open at any moment. In that moment, countless scenes played in his mind, similar to those in movies. He wanted to wake up, but it was impossible to open his eyes, no matter what he tried.
As if in a dream, he could feel and see scenes rapidly and continuously transmitting in his head.
Sleep paralysis? A thought crossed Anton's mind as his consciousness continued to struggle to wake up. Finally, his left finger moved, feeling cold and damp to the touch. His right hand seemed to be pressed by a heavy object and had become somewhat numb.
In sleep paralysis, physical strength didn't matter at all. Dreams were mysterious to Anton, so he didn't exactly know how to act under the pressure of this unknown, dark entity. His initial guesses should be related to something that couldn't be seen or touched. By solving the first problem upon entering the mind of the dark entity, perhaps that problem could be addressed in a better way.
"I hope Rafael follows the instructions to the letter; my life depends on whether the hypotheses are correct."
"Hu..." Anton finally opened his eyes. He gasped loudly and only felt extreme fatigue. His throat felt dry, and his body was heavy. Apparently, he was lying in a huge puddle of water. Those were the first sensations his body felt as he slowly regained the sense of touch.
He felt like he had perceived something, so he raised his left hand to look. His palm had turned as red as blood, a shocking sight. This made Anton's gaze slow down as his heartbeats quickened.
His right hand still couldn't move. Therefore, he moved his head a bit and looked towards the back wall. There was a small, huddled figure there. Her tattered clothes were also stained with traces of blood, and her youthful face had tear stains along with bloodstains. This was a girl around five years old. As she slept, her body contracted continuously.
Anton quickly noticed a toy in the girl's hands, her trembling arms not letting go of the toy as if it were an amulet.
"This might be another victim. Are they the ones who are still alive? No, it seems that's not the case." Anton quickly made conjectures.
After that, Anton carefully turned to one side. He bent his arm with the elbow pointing to the ground as he sat up, allowing him to lean against a wall.
Anton, now seated, looked around. At that moment, his heart was pounding fiercely, and there was an intense, undulating pain.
Ignoring the pain in his body, Anton scrutinized the place with extreme attention. This new type of dark entity was beyond all predictions; there was no... No, there was no dark entity of this kind; dreaming of eliminating a non-physical dark entity would be a miracle.
With his careful observation, he found that somehow the place where he was seemed to be an endlessly long underground drainage tunnel.
The place he appeared in had a strange appearance, like long service tunnels with smaller pipes covering the walls. The lighting was minimal, and the temperature was unusually low, making the place unusually terrifying.
In the distance, Anton could see two frozen bodies lying horizontally on the ground. They had turned a dark purple color, and their blood dyed the floor red. There was no need to check to determine that they had obviously been dead for some time.
A memory surged in Anton's brain. A sharp sensation seized him, along with intense sorrow as well as tearing pain. It was as if he couldn't distinguish who he was.
Then he lowered his head and looked at the trembling girl, feeling an even more unbearable sensation—an itching feeling around his body.
Anton, with a clearer mind, could faintly feel what had happened to him. He lowered his head, looked at the floor, and saw the water moving in small amounts, as if it were a small river. The blood belonging to the corpses not far from Anton had reached where he was sitting, causing the blood to soak his body.
At that moment, the girl's eyelashes fluttered as she opened her eyes and screamed. "Sir... Did you come to save me?"
As if she had thought of something, the girl ran towards Anton's arms and began to cry loudly. Her tiny, trembling body clung tightly to him, but Anton didn't know how to act, so he forcefully hugged her. At this moment, his right hand was tightly wrapped around her neck, exerting a slight force to ensure that she couldn't resist if she suddenly became scared.
"Tell me, little girl, what is your name?" Anton asked with a soft and very friendly voice.
"I'm Sara." The little girl whispered softly, fearing that someone might hear.
Anton observed this small detail and quickly realized that something was wrong in this place. First of all, he somehow appeared in these strange pipes when he tried to enter the mind of the unconscious student. But judging by the place, neither the students nor Anton were the first to enter this place.
Therefore, his only information about that place might be the fear of those inside. There might be a dark entity hidden in the darkness. With his high level of experience, Anton had dealt with special monsters that were definitely strange.
"Is its body in the water, or is it hiding in the darkness? It will be sensitive to sound. No, I shouldn't immediately search for the dark entity without prior knowledge of this place."
None of what he had learned would work in this situation, so he had to employ the most basic survival methods.
"Sir, I'm scared..." Sara sobbed, and her body trembled. Her tiny hands held Anton tightly. As a result, Anton's concern subsided along with her sobs, and he exerted even more force to embrace her with more love and security than he could offer in this situation.
"Don't be afraid; I'm a policeman, so my duty is to protect the defenseless." Anton did his best to make his voice sound softer. "Now tell me, do you know where we are?"
However, the girl's next words were too loud for Anton's priorities.
"Sir, are Mom and Dad sleeping? Why are they bleeding? Can you wake them up?" Sara sobbed as she spoke. Her small hands pointed to the two corpses in the distance.
"Little one, your mom and dad are very tired; just let them sleep for a while, okay?" Anton lowered his head and spoke gently to the girl, doing his best to bring a smile. "Okay." Although Sara was still crying, she nodded obediently.
Anton then carried the girl up and stood up. His gaze inspected the surroundings. In this cramped place, the chances of escape were minuscule.
"Tell me, do you know this place?" Anton asked again.
"My mom said it was long and confusing rooms; we've been walking in different places for many days. My parents told me they couldn't go on and fell asleep." Little Sara spoke with a clear voice.
"Sir, we shouldn't make noise; those things could find us."
"What things?" Anton was much more interested.
"They're big monsters, but some of them are toys; all of them are very scary." Sara said, recalling what she had seen.
'Monsters? So there's more than one dark entity; it's not something I can handle alone. I need to check the wounds of this girl's parents to get information about the creatures in this place.' Anton thought to himself.
This simple room was only a little over 20 square meters, and the living room and kitchen were connected. Dust could be seen everywhere, and there was only a very small room in this house.
Anton stood up carefully and took off his jacket, placing it on the girl. The girl then looked at him. There seemed to be some fear in her eyes.
"Little one, rest here for a while. I have to check the place." Anton spoke gently. She nodded but still didn't let go of Anton's hand.
"You should sleep quickly. Everything will be fine when you wake up." Anton's other hand stroked the girl's hair and slid gently down her face, helping her close her eyes.
Sara was very obedient. She didn't argue. Anton stayed by her side for a while before withdrawing his hand slightly and covering her completely with his jacket.
After making sure Sara was asleep, Anton stood up and walked towards the corpses in the distance. Then, rummaging through his memories, he tried to figure out how to handle such a situation.