1 When you stare into the Abyss...

I was falling.

Falling into Darkness.

All I could see was darkness.

I didn't know who I was or where I was. There was only a thick black haze to keep me company.

When I first grew conscious of my situation, I tried to remain calm. "Maybe it was a dream" I inwardly lampooned. "Albeit a strange one."

As I floated across the vast empty sea of ink, I tried to recollect any information I had about myself.

But there was nothing.

Panic slowly crept in. This dream, seemingly endless in nature. My memories which had vanished without a trace. It started to weigh on my mind.

I slowly grew frantic. Questions, bursting in and out of my brain until eventually, I started screaming.

"Why can't I remember who I am? What is this place? What's going on?!"

I didn't know what I was hoping for.

Maybe someone to hear my woes and respond back with all the right answers. Or some divine deity to come aid me from my pitiful plight.

All I got in response was the echoes of my own voice.

Time flew by in my new home.

Maybe it had been days, weeks, months… or maybe it had just been a few minutes.

Does time even exist in this place?

Darkness doesn't age after all

I tried to keep count in my head. Just something to stop the encroaching monster which called itself boredom.

A most pitiful attempt that was.

I wasn't sure if time stood still here, or if a human mind could possibly keep track of it with no muse to rely on.

But I knew one thing for sure

I was getting hungry.

Starvation is an insidious beast. It doesn't go in for the kill straight away, but toys with its prey.

it simply caressed me in the beginning. Infrequent hunger pangs struck but were bearable nonetheless.

but then it grew. Larger and larger till I felt a weakness strike my body. Energy slowly leaving as I became a husk of a man. The emptiness of my stomach made its presence known.

the pain, wrenching and immolating me with its torturous grasp.

While hunger had burrowed deep within my bones, thirst, I had managed to stave away.

Though water was nowhere to be seen in this desolate place, I had found a suitable replacement to bear the time.

I discovered it when I began to scratch my arms. "If this was merely a dream, I would feel no pain" my consciousness bellowed, so in order to confirm this, I did what had to be done.

And just like usual, I was wrong.

The pain was as real as it could be.

But through this discovery, I found my saving grace. Something to keep me alive for just maybe a little bit longer.

My blood.

I knew this red, liquid gold couldn't replace the effects of water. In fact it would lead to my death quicker, as the iron would lead to poisoning me.

But what choice did I have?

This would surely kill me quicker, but could I really survive the onslaught of both hunger and thirst?

I had made my choice, and regret could go die in a ditch.

What felt like a Millenia passed once more as I continued drifting upon the endless expanse.

Though throughout this time, a question plagued my mind.

Is insanity a product of the events, actions, or people we interact with, or is it merely a seed that resides inside us all? Merely laying dormant, till the right opportunity arrived...

I knew I was going mad

I had started pulling my hair long ago to pass the time. After enough strands laid between my fingers,l I finally noticed that it was dirt brown in color.

I had fell enough blood from my hands and arms to not even recognize its olive color anymore.

All that was left, was red.

My mind grew erratic and blood continuously dripped from my wounds. I grasp my hair once again and curled my body in terror.

"Please… Someone, please… HELP ME, PLEASE ANYONE. SAVE ME."

I shouted till my throat grew numb. My voice refused to leave its chambers.

I curled into a shell once more.

"someone… Save me"

And as I let out my dying last words, something happened.

A star started twinkling in the distance. Its white glow basked me in this eternal darkness.

Then another lit up. And another, and another, and another.

8 stars circled me in a rhythmic fashion.

Were they really there? Or was my mind making them up in order to feed my delusions?

"No"

A deep, empowering voice resounded from the bleak dark.

"They are as much real as you and I"

The voice was without a source. It was everywhere as it was also nowhere.

The stars started glowing brighter as each star shot a channel of light piercing the darkness above. They grew endlessly as if they wanted to destroy this very place itself.

Then, It revealed itself.

The light seemed to crack the darkness as chaotic white lines formed from the channels of light.

They looped and swirled till they formed the shape of a giant gate.

Golden in nature, the gate seemed to beseech the darkness, almost as if it was scared by it.

Intricate carvings adorned the gate in silver. It showed the 8 stars, pulsating at its border. Light from them leaked in a spiral fashion, converging to form a star in the middle

then, I slowly started floating upwards.

As I got closer to the gates, the imposing voice returned.

"Remember this well"

The gates slowly started opening

"You weren't chosen because you were special"

Glistening white light erupted from behind the gate.

"Nor were you chosen due to fate"

As the voice rambled on, my body got closer and closer to the gate. Its entrance was almost at the tips of my fingers, but as I looked down, something felt off.

"you were chosen… because you were needed"

The eternal darkness I called home seemed to be… stretching?. Its shape twisted as though you would twist a handkerchief. Its form churned and fragmented, as it suddenly lurched towards me.

The darkness was following me.

It slammed into me, wrapping its grasp around my body.

The Gate bellowed an inhumane cry as if pure poison had just entered its gullet and the white light shone brighter.

The darkness palpated, slowly shredding apart by the power of the gate... But it still hung on to me tightly.

Finally, as a single strand of darkness was left, curling itself on my palms, I entered the gate, and the doors fell shut.

I had finally, escaped the darkness.