Putrid Curse
After a couple of hours had passed, the sun had already set with the moon having taken its place, and just as the neighborhood had calmed down, Noah had also had time to make sense of what had happened.
Or at least, that's what he had tried to do.
Now sitting at his desk with his laptop on and a notebook with notes beside it, both indicated that the young man had not been sitting still.
The first thing Noah had done was to write down everything that happened to him in the notebook next to him, afraid of forgetting any details, going so far as to even doodle the monsters he saw as well as write down the symbols on his arm.
With that done, the second thing he tried to do was to look for information, something that would help him understand how it was possible that a dream could have hurt him... or if it hadn't been a dream at all.
Unfortunately, in this task he was not very successful, finding information that was inaccurate, or simply not finding it at all.
Instead, what he found were topics that leaned more towards the mystical and esoteric than the medical.
It was in that way that he ended up on a peculiar forum reading about astral projection, a supposed method where the consciousness was separated from the body so that it could travel the astral plane.
Reading that, Noah couldn't help but feel uncomfortable because he was really considering what could have happened to him.
But finally, after a few minutes of reflection, Noah concluded that although similar, what had happened to him was not this.
This was due to two main reasons, the first and most obvious being the wounds on his body, starting with the cut he had on his ankle and the bloody wounds on his lower lip, not to mention the words on his arm that not only hurt, but also contained true information.
As for the second, it was because Noah himself, the more he remembered those events, the more he felt inside that it had not been a dream.
That in reality, he had lived it all with his own flesh.
Of course, there was a way to confirm this that was obvious if he thought about it, but it didn't turn out as he had hoped.
Trying various ways, Noah had tried to trigger any kind of reaction from the words on his arm, either by touching it or by doing what had helped him deal with the monster in the kitchen earlier, praying.
However, nothing had the effect he wanted, and try as he might, his arm remained completely clean while his head remained silent.
In that way, somewhat disappointed but still eager to discover the truth, the hours passed, and despite wanting to continue investigating, his body gave in to exhaustion.
----
The next morning, Noah awoke as usual, though feeling more warm than usual, which he ignored for the moment as he had more important things to do.
Rising from his bed, the young man was about to sit back down at his desk to continue his little investigation.
Sniff
However, before he could do so, a pleasant aroma reached his nose.
It was a fragrance he recognized well, the product of finely chopped garlic being fried and seasoned together with a bitter but pungent spice that made his stomach immediately feel hungry.
Undoubtedly, something delicious was being prepared in the kitchen, which also indicated that his grandmother was visiting.
As to why Noah was sure of this, it was because he was perfectly aware that his mother couldn't cook if it meant her life.
At that moment, an idea crossed his mind.
In the midst of his investigation yesterday, Noah had reached a point where he realized that if he wanted to clear his doubts to any great extent, he had to get to the origin of the things that happened yesterday.
So far, he had considered the possibility of astral travel, but also in the same forum he was reviewing, he had found information that while not having to do with dreams, also applied to his situation.
A mirror reality.
A place that, as its name indicated, might seem identical at first, but whose interior, depending on which source Noah read, changed drastically.
Another striking part of this reality was that, again, depending on the source, one entered with one's own body or by making use of an astral body.
Although discovering this did not confirm anything and only put more options on the table, it made him feel that he was getting closer to discovering the truth of his previous trip.
Letting out a sigh, Noah rubbed the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes, "Haa, I was hoping that finding information wouldn't be easy, but this is confusing on top of that!
Apparently, doing so much research had become tedious even for the young man, so thinking he had made good progress in that aspect of his investigation, he decided to shift his focus. Specifically, towards the origin of his "trip", that which had caused him to appear in that other place.
Now to rule out these options, Noah had had a couple of ideas, with the one that seemed most reasonable to him being to retrace his steps.
That is, to remember everything he had done before he woke up in the other world.
Thinking about this, it wasn't hard for him to identify the key point.
As much as he would like to think that the one who was special was him, that was unlikely, after all, he had gone his whole life without experiencing anything like it.
With that being the case, then what was different yesterday?
Simple, the metal mirror.
From the moment Noah laid his gaze upon said object, he could already feel how special it was, as if a mystical and captivating air surrounded it, the very reason he had decided to bring it to his room in the first place.
What was more, from the moment he woke up, every time he looked into the mirror, he felt as if it was looking back at him. It was an incredibly faint sensation that Noah had ignored until now, but it was there.
"..."
Staring at the mirror from his bed, the young man couldn't help but think about how strange everything was. It was as if after yesterday, he had begun to perceive things that he couldn't before and now seemed clear to him.
Suddenly, Noah, feeling his mind begin to wander in a strange direction, quickly got up from his bed, "...Ack!"
No sooner had he set foot on the floor, however, than his face twisted in pain, leading him to look down at his left ankle.
The bandages were still in place, but something had changed, that now the bandages were dirty beyond belief.
This would be normal considering the size of the wound, which quietly measured the same as his index finger, but something was clearly wrong.
What seemed to have stained the bandages was not blood, but a liquid so black that it had almost completely overshadowed the original white of the bandages.
Tap tap tap tap
Concerned about this, Noah immediately got up, gritting his teeth to walk, and headed for the bathroom.
There, it didn't take him long to remove his bandages, revealing a small scene of horror.
From his wound, there was now not a single trace of blood, but it had all been replaced by a viscous black liquid emanating from the wound.
What was more, not only did the wound not seem to have improved at all, but it now looked much worse, with his skin around the wound showing cracks.
Seeing this, Noah couldn't help but panic as a memory triggered by those cracks popped into his head. The skin of the misshapen monster in the kitchen, cracked to the point where it looked like it would break with just a touch.
"What the hell..." The young man asked, rather than expecting an answer, to express his confusion.
Still, an answer was not long in coming to him, arriving in the form of a sharp pain in his left arm.
__________________________
[Warning: The "Host" is under the effects of [Putrid Curse]. Until the connection with the responsible entity is severed, the condition will only worsen].
__________________________
"Now you appear?!"
Again, the words on his arm had given him information he needed at this moment, which although they had made him stop being confused, made him immediately worried.
He was about to leave the bathroom and head to his grandmother, who was a nurse, but before he could do so, the message on his arm changed.
__________________________
[Warning: The [Putrid Curse] is highly contagious. Copious use of hot water is recommended to mitigate the effects temporarily].
__________________________
Feeling a mixture of anger and helplessness, the young man sighed and then ripped off the rest of the bandage and put his leg in the bathtub, where he turned on the faucet and made the water as hot as it could get.
He had no choice but to heed the words of his arm, after all, it was the only source of information he could rely on about.
"Argh!"
The water so hot it was steaming then made contact with Noah's open wound, the burning water fighting against the black liquid to occupy the inside of the wound, all being things the young man felt.
Gritting his teeth to the point where they ached, Noah just kept enduring this method of cleansing in hopes that it would work, otherwise... he wouldn't know what he would do.
After a couple of minutes, Noah could no longer feel his leg, something that was worrisome but easily overshadowed by the fact that now his wound didn't have the black fluid inside.
Although the flesh inside was still a sickly gray color, this had managed to reassure the young man, at least for the time being.
After tossing his soiled bandages into the trash can and replacing them with fresh ones, the young man then proceeded to wash his face, even wetting his hair in hopes of further refreshing himself.
"COME!"
"!"
Suddenly, Noah turned as quickly as he could when he heard a voice behind him, a slow, raspy, unpleasant voice that seemed to come from a throat about to break.
When he did, however, he saw nothing but the bathroom wall.
Now with his guard up, the young man began to examine his surroundings in search of what had made that noise, but no matter how hard he looked, he found nothing.
What did happen however, was that another message came through, one that made his gaze turn grim.
__________________________
[Warning: The [Putrid Infection] has become stronger.]
__________________________
Returning to wash his face, although Noah now seemed to have calmed down, the reality was that the message and the voice had indeed managed to throw his thoughts back into chaos.
----
Tap tap tap tap
After a couple of minutes, the sound of Noah coming down the stairs alerted the people in the kitchen, who turned to greet him.
Sitting at the table, reading the newspaper with a cup in her hand, was a not so much older and smaller version of Noah's mother, Aina.
Across from her was her daughter, Estrid, who was serving three plates of food of what Noah recognized as one of his favorite foods, some "painted noodles."
Normally he would be glad of this fact, but at this moment, he was in no mood for it.
"Good morning, did you sleep well?" his grandmother asked, not taking her eyes off her newspaper.
"Eat a little and then I'll help you change your bandage, if it's gotten worse then you need to be taken to the doctor, I wouldn't want you to get infected with something weird." His mother added.
Seeing his family showing their concern for him filled Noah with contrasting feelings.
On the one hand he felt safe and relieved, as these people had cared for him since he had a sense of reason, causing Noah to develop the feeling that when they were around, everything was okay.
But on the other hand, he was worried and afraid, worried about what had been happening to him, and afraid that whatever was happening to him would begin to affect his family.
"Good morning."
With those words, the young man sat down at the table, making conversation with both his mother and grandmother, assuring them that all was well with him.
Just like that, as the hot food filled his stomach and the conversation progressed, a certain sudden comment caught Noah's attention.
"Oh right, your mother mentioned that you moved the old metal mirror, looks like someone finally likes it." With this simple comment, a new topic of conversation arose at the table.
"Grandma, do you know about the mirror?!"
Having risen from his chair with wide eyes, Noah had surprised his grandmother with his shocked expression.