Although I believed I had already lost it all. The sense of feeling, the sense of taste, the sense of humor.
'Had I ever even had them?'
The thought dissolved into the rythmic pounding of my feet as I ran through the endless darkness. I couldn't even feel my legs anymore. Couldn't even see the path ahead. Still, I ran, driven by instinct more than reason.
When I finally stopped.
...Panting.
The world around me was a blur of darkness. I squinted, trying to focus through the haze clouding my vision.
Then
...I saw them!
Crimson eyes flashing in the dark.
Sinister writhing tentacles undulating in the air like eerie whispers.
My heart slammed against my ribs, blood roaring in my ears as a wave of primal terror gripped me.
In a blink, everything snapped into horrific clarity: Surrounding me were grotesque, otherworldly creatures- supernatural creatures!
Their bodies were dark, almost formless, yet I could make out dozens of hands sprouting from their limbs, each lined with jagged, snarling mouths.
Some stood on two legs, gaping wounds in their abdomen oozing black blood. They leered at me with twisted grins, saliva dripping from their fanged maws- in what I deemed as… a-s anticipation.
My skin crawled, my body shaking with uncontrollable fear.
I tried to speak.
Tried to move.
B-ut...my limbs refused to obey. My terror-rooted feet were glued to the ground.
I… I could do absolutely nothing.
And before I knew it, a flash of light to my left, and that was all it took. My eyes blacked out, the world turning dark as I hit the ground with a sickening thud.
Something warm trickled down my face. My hand instinctively moved to my forehead, but when I touched it, there was a hole where my skull should've been!
My eyes widened in disbelief.
No...this couldn't be it.
I haven't gotten any answers.
My memories were still blank- still lost.
My family are still unknown.
Worse
'I don't even know who I am.'
…Who am I?
Where do I come from?
Who are my parents?'
The questions echoed in my mind as my consciousness slipped.
The blurry faces of the supernatural creatures fading into an endless darkness.
Tears welled at the corner of my eyes, falling freely as the darkness swallowed me whole.
***
GASSPP!!!
I awoke with a violent gasp, my breath caught in my throat.
My eyes were wide open as I glanced around in wild confusion.
An Endless Darkness surrounded me, b-ut …it was familiar.
Strangely familiar.
A sinking feeling gnawed at my stomach as I took in my surroundings.
Soon, I realized a bedazzling fact!
I was back.
The cobblestones beneath my feet. The eerie dark doors. The oppressive atmosphere, and the mind-wrenching silence.
T-his… This was the same cursed house where it all began.
My mind shattered into chaos, fragments of thoughts bouncing between fear and disbelief.
I had died. I was sure of it.
So why was I here, again?
How can I still be alive?
I was confused.
Perhaps even beyond confused.
...The pressure in my head intensified, and I clutched my temples tightly, as though i could hold my sanity together.
...Am I really losing my mind?
That seemed like the only logical explanation.
B-ut...everything felt so real.
And then, I laughed bitterly.
Maybe everything has just been some twisted hallucination. Maybe-
Just, maybe…'
Yet deep down. I knew this was real.
It was as real as it could ever get.
My heart hammered against the cold certainty settling in my bones.
As much as I wanted to deny it. As much as I wanted to escape from the truth, there was no turning away from it now.
Yet the fate of accepting this reality was almost worse than the horror itself.
My body crumpled to the ground, exhaustion weighing heavily on my "broken" body.
My hand raked through my hair as sobs broke from my chest.
I was tired.
I wanted to sleep
...To lie on a soft bed and forget about everything.
I wanted to be surrounded by warmth and comfort.
By people who love me.
But no- my life had instead become a walking nightmare.
One which I can't seem to escape from.
B-ut why? Why is life so unfair! What have I done to deserve all this?
What!
I screamed at the void below and the endless darkness beyond.
And then, silence stretched on.
Broken only by my ragged breaths.
Shadows danced at the edges of my vision, but I soon forced myself to calm down.
Sitting here in despair wouldn't change anything.
If I want to survive, I have to think.
No matter how impossible it all seems, I need to figure it all out.
How did I end up here?
Where did I come from?
And most importantly, how do i leave this goddamned place.
I clenched my fists, feeling a surge of determination coursing through me.
I rose to my feet, and my body trembled but my mind was resolute.
"And to do all that. First, I have to somehow find a way to survive."
"Survive today. And the day after. And… the day after that."
I took a deep breath, my voice barely a whisper in the endless darkness.
I still felt the cold. Still sensed those invisible eyes watching me. But I forced myself to forget about them - I forced myself to push the fear aside and then, I took my first step.
Each step felt heavier than the last, my mind battling against the illusions- because that's what they'd to be, right? An illusion. Some twisted trick of my mind.
It had to be.
But deep down, I knew better. This was no dream, no illusion.
My fear was real. The horror was real, and so was the pain.
Nevertheless, I can't allow them to define me.
I can't allow myself be consumed by them.
Yet despite all this- despite all I told myself.
I knew the main reason I was afraid of accepting this harsh reality was because of it… them.
Those cold pair of eyes.
I never hope to meet them again.
'...Never again.'
I could still remember that dread I had felt, the cold feeling that had held onto my body. The horror, and dread that had crept into my body.
I could remember everything with utmost clarity, and I definitely didn't want to go through that again.
Never again.
Just as I lost concentration for a split second. The ground vanished beneath me, plunging me into freezing water.
Gasping, I tried to stay afloat as I trashed violently in the dark sea. But the water was not empty. And my tantrums seemed to have attracted some really nasty things. Massive creatures loomed in the endless shadows, their outlines just barely visible.
A blinding flash of light ignited in the distance.
Panic surged through me.
B-ut my body froze in place.
Fuck. I couldn't move.
I couldn't even scream.
My eyes widened in horror as enormous fishes with jagged, bone-like heads pierced through my flesh. Pain tore through me as the creatures crowded me, blood pouring from my wounds.
The hole in my chest grew larger. My vision clouding as life drained from me.
Is this it?
Is this how I die- again.
My thoughts were now fragmented as a cold numbness slowly spread through my limbs.
I could feel it.
I was slipping away.
But just as the last spark of life began to fade, something stirred deep inside me.
A violent force erupted forth from within me, and with a roar.
I unleashed some sort-of unseen power.
-The power of belief.
The monstrous fishes instantly vanished, the shadows retreating in an instant.
Panting.
I stood. Trembling in the aftermath.
But relief didn't come.
Instead, the air thickened.
An oppressive force descended.
Squeezing the breath from my lungs. My internal organs twisted, agony rippling through me as the invisible eyes returned, their icy gaze locked onto me.
My blood felt like they w-ere boiling.
Evaporating drop by drop.
The pain was hellishly indescribable.
And every part of me screamed for it to stop, to run, to do anything to make it stop.
But I couldn't do any of that.
I had to stay focused.
I had to survive.
Amidst the terrifying pain that gripped me, I tried to maintain a raw, unrefined focus.
And slowly, after what felt like an eternity of torture in an unending darkness.
My eyes soon flared to life, and this time around.
I found myself before a door- the same door.
I was now more convinced.
Likewise, I was sure of it.
Somehow, I had gone back in time.
I don't know how I was even able to do that, but I wasn't about to waste the opportunity.
...I would grow stronger.
Learn everything this wretched and cursed land has got to offer.
And most importantly:
I will survive.
No matter what it takes me.
I will.
I felt a surge of adrenaline coursing through me.
And with clenched hands and hardened resolve, I dove through the door, the haunted house crumbling behind me as I left the past in ruins.
My eyes pierced through the darkness before me.
A cold sense of unease gnawed at me with each step I took.
Forcing down the unease slowly settling within me. I dashed forward, running far away from the direction I previously took.