I looked around, but the darkness hid everything. No sounds, no obvious signs that we could get out of here.
"But if this is captivity..." I began, not fully believing my words, "then who is holding us?"
Robert didn't answer right away. His gaze was deep, and he seemed to be trying to process what he had said. But instead of answering, he simply squeezed my shoulder.
"We can't be here of our own free will," he said finally, almost inaudibly. "And if someone is holding us, it means there's a reason for this. We have to figure out who or what it is."
His words cut into me like a knife into soft meat. We were captive, but not in the usual sense of the word. This was a different kind of captivity, not physical, but something else that filled us from the inside. We couldn't get out, couldn't get rid of this weight. And I realized that Robert was right: there was nothing left for us to do except figure out what was happening.
Silence hung in the air again.
"Let's go!" I said loudly, trying to break this frightening silence and force myself to act.
My words echoed through the void, as if they had not met a response.
Robert didn't move, his gaze still fixed on something in the darkness, as if he was waiting for something to happen, for something to explain all these strange feelings we were experiencing.
"This isn't a dream, is it?" he asked, and I felt his voice waver, almost inaudible, disappearing into the shadows.
He didn't move from his place, his body remained frozen like a rock, but there was an uncertainty in his words, an anxiety that couldn't be ignored.
I shook my head, as if that would bring any clarity. My hand clenched into a fist, and I tried to gather my thoughts again. We were still standing in this strange, dark world, not knowing what to do or where to go.
"There are no shared dreams," I answered, trying to be sure, but not feeling it inside.
I knew it was all real. It couldn't be a dream. But Robert continued to doubt, as if he was still searching for meaning.
"Let's go!" I repeated, trying again to make him move. My words now sounded like an order, like an attempt to make us move out of this immobility. But even in these words I did not feel decisive.
Robert finally stood up. His movements were slow, almost distant, as if his every action was detached from reality. He looked tired, as if he didn't know where to go. We both didn't know.
I stepped forward, cautiously, afraid that the ground beneath my feet would change shape again, that we might end up somewhere else again. I looked back, but there was nothing in the darkness to tell us the right direction. And yet I kept going, despite the feeling that we were getting lost, that we were losing every step.
Robert followed me, and though he said nothing, I knew he still couldn't figure out where we were. He couldn't figure out what was going on. We both just walked, step by step, in this strange, ominous world that didn't want to let us go.
"Anton, this is pointless. Let's go back," Robert said, his voice tired and growing alarm.
He stopped and looked at me, his eyes glittering in the dim light as if he were searching my gaze for understanding.
I looked away, feeling something heavy wrap around me, like I couldn't move, couldn't leave. But I couldn't just give in.
"Where?" I asked, knowing that the words sounded empty, as if we were both looking for a way out of a labyrinth that had no walls, no beginning and no end.
Robert turned to face me without moving.
"Where we came from. There's... a lake," his voice was quiet, but there was something in those words that made me feel like he was right.
Perhaps the only thing left to do was to go back to where it all began.
I stood there, hesitating to take a step, but suddenly I understood. We couldn't move forward because we didn't know where to go. There was no landmark in this emptiness, no point to aim for. The lake... yes, it was familiar. It was the place we could call the beginning, although we didn't understand why.
"Are you hungry?" I asked, trying to somehow get rid of this heavy silence, although I understood that it was not important now.
Robert lowered his head, pursed his lips and said:
"I'm dying of thirst, I can barely speak. I've had enough. Let's go back."
These words sounded like a final confession. I saw how he was shaking, how his body could no longer bear this weight. He was right - in this world where the air seemed to be impossible to breathe, where everything seemed unreal, we were both on the edge. And if this was the end, if this was unbearable, then all we could do was go back to where we came from.
I stepped towards him. Everything was covered in this strange silence that we could not break. And despite all the doubts, we went. Step by step, slowly returning to that place that at least seemed familiar to us, at least there was water there, a lake that once gave us comfort.
His face twisted and something wild appeared in his eyes. He screamed, his voice shaking with tension:
"Stop lecturing me! I know, I know, we must behave sensibly, I must be reasonable and careful..."
I felt something cold pierce me. The words came out with a fury I hadn't expected from Robert, but they didn't make me back down. I sighed and tried to speak calmly, despite the storm that was already beginning to rise in my chest.
"Don't waste your energy shouting," I interrupted, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "We have nothing to despair about yet; nothing bad has happened to us and..."
He didn't listen to me, his words were bursting out, and I realized that his irritation knew no bounds. His gaze became more and more desperate.
"Of course. Yes, I know, SHE cares about us. Please, let HER know that we cannot live without water and food. We will die here, and SHE will shine for us."
Robert ripped the words out with such force that I felt his desperation touch me like a fire that couldn't be put out. But I couldn't let myself break. I couldn't let us give in so easily.
"Robert!" I said, trying to bring back some of his common sense, although I wasn't sure it was possible.
There was something in his eyes that reminded me that there was fear behind that scream, not just rage. He was trapped, just like me. Both of us, in this strange darkness, surrounded by something incomprehensible, were afraid of one thing - that we would not be allowed to return. And this fear was stronger than anything we could have experienced.
I suppressed my anger, but I didn't know how to talk him into calming down. We were both on edge, and any wrong move could take us over the edge. Our strength was waning, and our faith was almost nonexistent. Everything seemed shaky and strange, as if we were standing on the brink of something we couldn't understand.
"We're not dying," I said firmly, though I didn't know how right I was in that statement. "We're just... waiting. You have to have faith, Robert. We're not here forever."
Robert suddenly fell silent. He stopped shouting, as if the words were stuck in his throat, and something like determination, but also pain, appeared on his face. He bit his trembling lips, as if trying to hold back everything that was raging inside, and without looking back, he walked on. His steps were quick, unwavering, and he seemed not to notice me, whether I was following him or not.
I froze in place, watching his back in confusion. A strange emptiness filled the space between us, like an abyss that we both lacked the words to bridge. I tried to understand what was going on in his head, why he had changed so abruptly. He, who had always been the one to stop and figure things out, and now... he seemed to have run away from everything that connected us, leaving no room for explanation.
I took a step, then another. I didn't know what exactly was making me move. The desire to support him? The fear of being alone in this emptiness? Or I just didn't want him to disappear without telling me what had happened? But Robert kept walking, his figure becoming an increasingly blurry spot in the darkness, his body moving with some strange, internal speed.
"Robert, wait!" I said, not daring to come too close.
My voice was weaker than I intended, but it reached his ears. He didn't stop, but I noticed his shoulders tense slightly, his fists clenched. He kept walking, but his steps were a little firmer now, as if he were struggling with himself.
I quickened my pace, not wanting to fall behind, and suddenly felt that if I didn't do it now, everything would get even worse. We couldn't stay alone in this silence. We had to decide something, otherwise we would be swallowed up by what surrounded us.
I couldn't control myself any longer. I felt myself being pulled towards him, as if something invisible was connecting us, and I hugged Robert, pressing him to me. In an instant, his body became mine, and I kissed him, hoping that this gesture, this connection, would help us find a way out of this strange, crazy situation. But as soon as my lips touched his, something in his eyes changed. He jerked, and some wild force flashed through his body.
"Stop!" I shouted, feeling my words go into the void. "Robert! Robert!"
I couldn't understand what was happening. Why was he reacting like that? Why didn't he want to listen to me? I rushed towards him, but before I could take a single step, he pulled away with such force that I lost my balance. My legs couldn't support the weight, and I fell to the ground.
He didn't stop, didn't look back, his steps were moving away, his figure was lost in the darkness, like a ghost. I lay there, feeling the cold wind embrace me, as he walked away, leaving me alone. My heart was beating fast, as if it was trying to break out. I couldn't understand what was happening to Robert. Why didn't he want to stay? Why didn't he respond to my words?
I rose to my feet, my pulse quickening with fear and anger. Why couldn't he just stop when I asked? Why couldn't his stupid pride give him the chance to listen for a little while?
"Robert!" I shouted again, but his answer was only silence, carrying his figure further and further away.
I stood in the darkness, as if in a fever, and lights swarmed before my eyes. Strange, unclear silhouettes flashed, and each of them seemed to be part of this crazy world in which I found myself. My teeth were clenched to the point of pain, and with all my might I tried to restrain myself, silently repeating: "Calm down... calm down..." But everything around me seemed too alive, too bright, and I could not shake the feeling that the world around me was about to collapse.
Lust. Lust for Robert, for Robert's eyes, Robert's lips, Robert's loins - the passion for his body was burning me from the inside. I couldn't even lick my lips, they were dry as sand, and kissing them was impossible.
My whole body felt like an empty shell, which was burning inside with an unbearable desire. I couldn't understand what was happening to him. Why did he leave like that, without looking back, without saying a word? Why did this invisible wall grow between us, not letting me take a step towards him, or do anything to be close to him again?
I took a step, then another, but the ground beneath my feet became soft, like a sandbox, and I lost my balance, falling to my knees. Unable to hold back any longer, I felt tears gathering involuntarily in the corners of my eyes, but I did not allow myself to let them go. I could not allow myself to be weak now, could not allow myself to be so vulnerable.
I needed to find him. I stood up again and ran, not knowing where or why, but driven by an inner voice that whispered to me that I couldn't leave him, that I couldn't just retreat. This flow, this thirst, was stronger than me, it drove me forward. I heard his voice in my head, as if he were next to me, and it made me speed up, even when my strength was waning.
"He couldn't leave forever," I thought, and that was the only thing that kept me going.
Suddenly, something barely discernible appeared in the depths of the darkness. My heart began to beat faster, I jumped up, not realizing my movements. A glowing, elongated figure was walking towards me, its radiance breaking through the thick darkness, as if breaking through an invisible wall between me and this silent horror around me.
I froze, tense as a taut string. But as the figure came closer, I realized: it was Robert. He was glowing like an angel, unnaturally and beautifully, but his face was calm, almost detached. He stopped a step away from me, his gaze wandering, as if he had just returned from some strange world to which I had no access.
"Robert?" I whispered, my voice breaking, but he didn't answer.
He looked around, his gaze sliding over the surrounding space, as if he was searching for something. I looked at him, feeling how everything inside me was burning. This light, this unreality... but I knew it was him, it was my Robert.
And then I understood. I understood what he wanted to say with his silence. That inspection, that absence of words - he was still with me. No matter what he had become, what had happened to us. He was back. And I no longer felt alone in that strange place.
I reached out, touching his shoulder, feeling the warmth where I expected it to be cold. The light from his skin illuminated my fingers, and I saw him looking at me again. His gaze was filled with something familiar, something alive, something that had always been between us.
"You're back," I said quietly.
Robert nodded slightly and suddenly spoke, his voice soft but confident:
"We are not alone."
I knelt before him, as if this whole moment demanded worship. The light from his body flowed softly down, making him even more unnatural, but at the same time familiar. I could not take my eyes off him. I was Romeo, desperate and full of love, and he was my Juliet, unattainable and beautiful, even in this strange, almost fantastic guise.
"Robert," I breathed out, looking up at him.
He leaned forward, his glowing face coming toward me. For a moment, I thought I could hear his heartbeat echoing around me. It was a sound that cut through everything-the silence, the darkness, my doubts.
"Anton," he said quietly, his voice filled with something elusively alien, but still his own. "You shouldn't…"
He didn't finish. His words trailed off, as if they were caught somewhere in mid-stride. I felt his fingers lightly touch my face, and the gesture pierced me to the core. Robert was there, he was here, and that was all that mattered.
"What shouldn't I do?" I asked, feeling a heaviness growing in my chest that I couldn't name.
"You mustn't give up," he finally exhaled, and something like pain flashed in his eyes. "We're still alive."
I rose to my feet, feeling a new spark ignite within me. If he was Juliet, it wasn't tragedy. It was something else. It was hope.
Robert walked silently, his glowing body a contrast to the dense darkness. He headed toward something ahead, where a strange glass sculpture gleamed. When I saw it, a chill went through me. It wasn't just a doll-it was her. Asia. Young, alive, like the day we met.
"Robert!" I called out to him, hurrying to catch up. "Wait!"
I grabbed his hand and haltingly explained what the figure was. In a few words, I told him how I had seen my wife reflected in that glass doll, as if time had turned back and returned her to the way I remembered her when we first met. Robert listened attentively, his eyes gleaming with a strange light, but there was a storm in them that was breaking out.
Without a word, he swung his leg and kicked the cold, dead thing. There was a loud crunch, but the doll remained standing, only swaying slightly. Robert froze, hunched over it, and for a moment he seemed alien to me. His shoulders were shaking, and his fists were clenched until they were white.
I didn't dare speak until he turned to me. His face... I gasped. He seemed to have aged decades. The wrinkles were deep, his gaze heavy, tired. This was not the Robert I knew. This was a man who had been broken by something.
"You must not love Asia," he said hoarsely, his voice almost breaking, "you must love me."
I didn't answer right away. The words seemed to hang in the air, echoing in my head. I felt something heavy tightening in my chest. Robert rarely spoke about his feelings so directly, usually hiding them behind sarcasm or rudeness. But now he was defenseless before me, as if he was standing not only before me, but also before his own truth.
"Robert..." I began, but the words got stuck in my throat.
"You always keep her between us," he interrupted, his voice sharper, his gaze heavy as lead. "Her image, her shadow... I can't fight the dead, Anton.
I kept quiet because I knew he was right. Asia was still a part of me, even after all these years. Remembering her was a pain, but also a comfort, something I could never let go of.
"It's not what you think," I exhaled, moving closer.
Robert turned away, but I touched his shoulder to stop him.
"Listen to me," I said firmly. "I'm not with you because I can't get her back. I'm with you because I want to be with you.
He turned slowly, his face still showing traces of pain, but a shadow of hope appeared in his eyes.
"Do you love me?" he asked quietly, as if he was afraid to hear the answer.
"Yes, Robert," I answered, looking him straight in the eyes. "I love you."
He didn't answer, but I felt the tension leave his body. His shoulders slumped, his gaze softened. He stepped closer, and we embraced, the silence around us dissolving in that embrace. I no longer felt the weight of the past, because I knew I had chosen it.
I looked at Robert as he stood hunched over, as if under the weight of an invisible weight. His face, usually firm and confident, was now pale, and his eyes seemed dull.