The bitter wind howled through bare branches as he trudged through knee-deep snow, each step more laborious than the last. Something felt wrong - the cold bit into his flesh, yet carried an artificial quality he couldn't quite place.
"What is this place?" he muttered, his cracked lips bleeding at the movement. "I was… I was in my bed, wasn't I? Saying goodnight to someone…" The memory slipped away like smoke through his frozen fingers, now blackened by frostbite.
The storm intensified, driving needles of ice into his face. His bones rattled within his flesh, a private symphony of torment. Through the swirling white, a structure materialized - a wooden house, its windows glowing with warm, inviting light. Relief flooded his numb body as he stumbled forward, pounding on the door with dead arms that left smears of blood on the weathered wood.
The door creaked open. A small figure stood in the threshold, its features obscured by the storm's fury. "Well!" it exclaimed, voice laced with unsettling familiarity. "You came in time again."
From somewhere inside, another voice called out cheerfully, "Don't stay there! Please, come in!"
"Thank you," he gasped, disturbed by their strange welcome yet desperate for warmth. "I was suffering out there."
They led him to a bed, their movements quiet and precise. As consciousness slipped away, he felt at peace - until he awoke to nightmare.
His naked body was bound in the room's center, ropes embedded with tiny nails that grew like thorns, piercing deeper with each breath. His screams echoed off walls that seemed to drink in his terror. The figures danced around him, singing cheerful melodies that clashed horribly with their actions as they brandished long, gleaming knives.
They carved into his abdomen with surgical precision, his consciousness refusing to fade as they planted black seeds in his open flesh. Hot liquid poured over the wounds, and the seeds began to stir. Roots burrowed through his organs while dark flowers bloomed from his flesh, feeding on his essence as he howled in agony.
Through tears of blood, he watched his tormentors lift his ruined body, carrying him back into the frozen wasteland. As they threw him into the snow, understanding dawned with horrible clarity.
The darkness had consumed him long ago. The pleasure of sin had made him believe escape was possible. But this - this was his symphony of torment, his eternal punishment.
In the distance, through the mist of this hellish night, a man walked through the snow, sensing the strangeness of the place…