The piercing scream shattered the silence, startling Arshen and causing him to take a step back. His hands reflexively covered his ears, but the sound seemed to pierce directly into his head. He stared at the remnants of the burning painting on the floor. The woman's head was still intact, but her face had transformed into something horrifying.
"No... this can't be!" Arshen muttered, his voice trembling. "What is this? Is this real?!"
The painting continued to burn, the flames licking at the melting red cloth, revealing a face covered in thousands of squirming white maggots. The woman's mouth opened wide, emitting a scream that sent shivers down Arshen's spine.
"HAAAAAA!!"
Arshen pressed his hands harder against his ears, his eyes wide. "Aaahhh!!, Stop it!" he shouted, his voice almost drowned out by the scream. "Why this is too real, What should I do."
He didn't have time to think further. From the maggots, white snakes began to crawl out, their eyes glowing red like embers. They hissed, their forked tongues flicking out, as if sensing their prey—Arshen.
"No... no... this is crazy!" Arshen backed away, his hands grabbing a bedsheet from the nearby bed. "This must be an illusion! I must think that all of this is just a dream illusion..."
With a quick motion, he threw the bedsheet at the approaching snakes. The sheet wrapped around some of them, but others continued to crawl out, seemingly endless.
Arshen ran to the window, trying to open it, but it wouldn't budge. He turned around, looking at the still-open door. "No other choice!"
He ran to the door in a panic.
Bang!
He slammed the door shut, his body leaning against it, trying to hold back the snakes that were pressing from the other side.
"No... this is imposible," he murmured, his breath ragged. "What's happening here? Is this really the real world? But..."
His voice trailed off, and he stared blankly ahead, no time to ponder. From the corridor, the sound of hissing began to grow louder. His eyes widened. White snakes were crawling out of the paintings on the walls, one by one, like an endless wave.
"No! No, this is only just a dream. This must be a dream!" Arshen laughed nervously, but his voice sounded hollow. "If this is a dream, I just need to wake up. I just need to wake up!"
But the snakes kept coming closer, their eyes glowing red, their tongues flicking out like small daggers ready to slice through flesh. Arshen felt cold sweat dripping down his temples. His mind was in chaos, logic and survival instincts battling inside his head.
"If I die here, I'll wake up, right?" he whispered to himself. He stood up from his sitting position and stared at the thousands of snakes slowly advancing toward him.
With a sudden movement, he grabbed a candle from the wall and looked around. His eyes landed on a collection of swords displayed on the wall. He grabbed the sword, feeling its weight in his hand.
He then casually glanced at an unlit oil lamp and, with the candle in his hand, lit the lamp and held it tightly.
"Aaaahh!"
I guess I have no choice. Good thing I learned how to use a sword at the circus. He thought calmly.
Like a moth drawn to a flame, The snakes in front of him charged at him quickly, he raised the sword high in his right hand without any particular stance.
He pressed the tips of his leather-clad toes against the floor and lunged forward, the sword ready to slash in his hand.
Slashh—.
The snakes hissed as their bodies were struck, writhing, but their eyes continued to stare like crazy predator who doesn't want to let go of his prey.
Seeing that the road was open, he ran, but—One by one, the snakes kept coming, forming a mass of snakes that filled the corridor. Like a ball of white wool, hissing and writhing.
"Hehaha!!, This strange feeling is coming back, a conflicting sensation that keeps making me feel ticklish and crazy..., but at the same time, I also feel like I have to think as rationally as possible."
Ignoring the strange feeling, Arshen threw the oil lamp at the flammable objects around him like a Molotov cocktail. The snakes trying to approach him avoided the red flames that engulfed the walls and burning furniture.
Arshen grinned and started chuckling.
"Haha, that seems like they afraid of fire."
Tak...
Realizing the snakes' weakness, while being chased by the mass of snakes, Arshen slowly grabbed another oil lamp from the wall and threw it in all directions. Red flames began to consume everything, from the floor to the ceiling, quickly burning the paintings and other flammable objects.
The row of paintings on the wall began to melt, revealing the face of the woman from before, now grotesque with thousands of white maggots that continued to spew out white snakes, accompanied by screams that now sounded louder and more painful.
"HAAAAAA!!!"
Arshen covered his ears again, but the sound was nothing compared to what he had heard before. He kept running, chased by the echoes of screams bouncing off the walls.
Tap...
He reached the central room, where the giant clock or statue stood. He tried to open the exit door, but it was locked tight. "S*HIT!" Arshen cursed, then ran again, the flames and snakes still chasing him.
Suddenly, his eyes fell on the giant clock. The clock that resembles statue of a woman in a black dress with a veil covering her face and a black disk with clock hands inside it. As Arshen stared, the clock hands on the black disk began to move.
The fire, the air, and the thousand masive snake who chasing him has stopped, It felt like he had been transported to a different world with the same view.
The hands of the statue pointed to six and twelve, and slowly the statue's head lifted as if coming to life.
Krek...
The statue stepped forward, its right hand holding the disk against its chest, raised and pointed at Arshen. "You will not leave," a hoarse voice came from the statue's mouth, the voice sounded trembling and echoing, as if from the depth.
Thump...
Arshen jumped back, his heart pounding. "Who are you!" he swallowed a gulp of saliva and continued. "Are you the one who trapped me here? What is your purpose?"
He raised his sword cautiously.
The statue stopped moving and adjusted its gaze to Arshen, who was sweating profusely, seemingly anxious and scared but also very alert.
"Truly, truly fitting—" it said softly with a faint smile on its face. "What do you mean?" asked Arshen, taking another step back.
"Arshen..." His voice sounded warm, but it echoed and sounded like he was panting." You are destined by fate—"
Slowly, the statue began to crack, accompanied by the clock hands on the disk spinning rapidly, then slowly spinning backward.
Hearing those words, Arshen suddenly became aware of something.
Huh..., what could it be...?
His eyebrows twitched, and his temples furrowed, and he asked hesitantly.
"You!, you know who I am?, who are you!?"
"Whoever you are! Tell me something, what does all of this mean, what has happened to me, and why am I here, tell me!!"
The statue closed its mouth and remained silent for a moment before continuing.
"I don't have much time now, but for now, you must go through it alone, good..." Its words were cut off. "No, perhaps—I know you are confused now, but for you..., i know you can do it."
With countless questions swirling in his head, his curiosity became unbearable. But before he could ask anything, a cracking sound began to be heard.
Krak...
The statue crumbled, starting from the halted mass of white snakes, the red flames on the walls, and all the furniture and the entire room around Arshen began to shatter, like broken shards of glass.
Darkness began to spread, and a point of light slowly emerged, waking Arshen from his sleep.
The streets seemed normal at that moment, only feeling very quiet, with only one or two people passing by.
The gray clouds loomed high in the sky, and two crows flew past Arshen, who was panting as if he had just woken from a nightmare.