Awakening in the sun

Ethan awoke in his bed, the sunlight filtering through the thin curtains and casting dappled shadows on his face, almost blinding him.

"Why does this keep happening?" A random thought flashed through Ethan's mind.

What did it mean? He shook his head, trying to clear the fog in his brain. His head throbbed with pain, as if it were about to explode. What's happening? Why am I at home? Shouldn't I be in Hastings?

Hastings is a small town in the south of England, not far from London where he is located.

Wait, why would I be there?

Ethan's thoughts were a jumble, with fragments of memory bursting like fireworks in his mind, then quickly fading away. He tried to grasp these fleeting pieces, but they always seemed to slip away just as he almost caught them, leaving more confusion and questions.

He tried to sit up abruptly, but his body felt unexpectedly heavy, as if invisible lead weights were pressing down on him. This sudden loss of control made him roll off the bed unsteadily.

"Damn it!" Ethan cursed under his breath. Thankfully, the room was silent; his roommate must have already left, sparing him the embarrassment of being seen in this sorry state.

Struggling to get up from the floor, Ethan noticed a full-length mirror in front of him. It was his usual aid for dressing, with a brass frame that looked a bit cheap but had a clean and smooth mirror surface.

But what caught his attention was the reflection of his head in the mirror. The bloody sight answered his question about the splitting headache.

His head was a complete mess! His hair had vanished, and his scalp was covered in horrific wounds, seemingly extending to the back of his head. Blood and bits of bone were mixed in the deep cuts, making it unbelievable that he was still alive.

But what surprised him even more was the wound healing at a visible rate.

Broken skull bones were reassembling at an inconceivable angle, followed by rapid growth of flesh and skin on his scalp. He could even feel his head starting to itch as it healed.

This is impossible! How could a human body have such regenerative abilities? Have I become a vampire? But I was just in the sun.

Could it be that I died and came back to life? Is this the source of all the contradictory information in my mind?

Ethan watched in shock as his skin gradually closed, and his hair began to grow back at a visible rate, soon looking as if nothing had happened.

Even the bloodstains on his face seemed to evaporate away.

It was like a dream.

"No, this can't be right. Let me think this through." With the headache subsiding, he regained the ability to think rationally.

"My head's a mess…" he murmured, frowning deeply. Ethan started to try and sort through the chaos and fleeting information.

"I'm here in this rented room in London, that's for sure. I was supposed to go to that old house in the suburbs this afternoon to clean up, see if there's anything to sell." Ethan decided to put aside the bizarre information for now and focus on organizing the normal timeline.

"Right, I've got a cleaning crew coming at 2 PM," Ethan reminded himself, a friend had recommended them, and the whole room's deep cleaning was just for £100. Although £100 was a considerable amount, enough for two to three weeks of living in London, the market price for cleaning such an old house typically exceeded £300.

It was now 10:30 AM, so he decided to head out soon. As the pieces of the puzzle became clearer, Ethan stood up and looked out the window.

The streets were bustling with people, everything appeared so normal... except for the sunlight, which seemed a bit too glaring.

Ethan's gaze was blurry, and he felt an indescribable sense of oddity — was this feeling due to the unfamiliarity of the outside world or the confusion within himself? Unable to determine, he half-closed the blinds and started pacing around the room.

"And what about these chaotic pieces of information? But if I try to sort them out, they all seem contradictory... Why should I be at the Hastings dock, ready to set off? Where was I going?" Ethan felt baffled, knowing only that Hastings was a small town south of London, a place he had never visited.

He also recalled many inexplicable and eerie images of bloodshed, which he dared not dwell on too deeply.

"Let it be, I'll first check out the old house."

Ethan casually took some food from his roommate's stash in the fridge and then left the apartment.

Living in the eastern part of London, a well-known impoverished area, was affordable, and there was even a small garden.

Next to the garden stood a shovel, usually used by his roommate for gardening.

"Take it with you." An inexplicable thought emerged in Ethan's mind.

As if his body was moving on its own, his hand naturally reached for the shovel.

"What am I thinking?" Ethan found the scene both eerie and amusing. Why would he need a big shovel? He tossed it aside without much thought.

"Take it anyway, it might be useful." The bizarre idea lingered in his mind like a ghost. Recalling the weird resurrection scene, Ethan decided to trust his instincts, no matter how absurd it might seem to others.

He picked up the shovel, finding it surprisingly comfortable in his grip, like an old friend, familiar and reliable.

Walking through the streets of East London toward the station, Ethan was used to the rhythm of life and the various characters on these streets. The old buildings, covered in graffiti, seemed to tell the history and stories of the area.

On his way to the suburbs, Ethan's emotions remained complex. He tried to focus on the upcoming cleaning of the old house, but the jumbled fragments in his mind kept surfacing, disturbing his thoughts. He began to wonder if these strange memories were connected to the old house. Maybe there were clues there that could explain everything.

Nothing unusual happened on his way, and Ethan arrived smoothly at the gate of the old house.

"I really look like a lunatic right now," Ethan thought with self-deprecation.

Arriving at the house, the weather had turned cloudy, creating a somber atmosphere with the dilapidated building. The house seemed eerie, with broken windows and overgrown weeds at the entrance.

Ethan checked the time; it was just past 1 PM, still time before the cleaners arrived. He took a deep breath, knocked on the old wooden door with the shovel, and cautiously pushed it open.

Inside, the house was covered in dust and cobwebs, clearly uninhabited for a long time. Indeed, this was the case. The house had been left by a distant relative who had moved away, leaving it behind. Had it not been for a letter with keys arriving a few days ago, informing him the house was now his and mentioning something about his grandfather, Ethan would have thought it a prank.

Considering the strange headache and chaotic memories from this morning, Ethan couldn't help but wonder if there was something in this house that could explain his condition.

Ethan began to search around the house, hoping to find something valuable or at least some clues to explain his peculiar memories. The house was filled with a musty smell, old furniture, and miscellaneous items were scattered around, evoking thoughts of past times and stories.

But it seemed there was nothing of value.

Just as Ethan was about to give up and leave, suddenly a chill ran down his spine! An unusual noise broke the silence of the old house.

A shadow darted out from a corner!

The shadow charged directly at Ethan! Its speed was like an arrow, but fortunately, Ethan was on guard and managed to block it with a shovel.

The moment the shadow collided with the shovel, a metallic clang sounded, and the force made Ethan step back.

"What the hell is that? Ouch!" Ethan's palms were numbing. Although it was 2 p.m., and the sun was high, the lighting inside the house was not good. So, Ethan turned on the flashlight on his phone.

After the unsuccessful attack, the shadow stopped there as if ready to strike again.

Ethan took another step back and took a closer look. The shadow seemed to be a... fox?

But the appearance of this fox was somewhat horrifying, making Ethan gasp in shock. Half of its face and body were left with only bones, and the fleshed side had unusual tentacles twisting in the air.

This terrifying creature moved again, startling Ethan, who instinctively swung the shovel in his hand a couple of times.

This action seemed to deter the fox from advancing, as it only stayed put, hissing. It seemed to sense the threat from Ethan's shovel.

"AHAA!" Ethan suddenly raised the shovel and shouted again, trying to appear very intimidating—based on experience, this was very effective with wild animals, similar to a cat puffing up its fur.

But this eerie fox merely stepped back, seemingly unafraid. Under the illumination of Ethan's flashlight, its lone eye gleamed with cunning and greed, filling Ethan with dread. This creature... it had intelligence.

However, it seemed to have no intention of confronting Ethan directly, or perhaps the standoff had lasted too long. After a moment's hesitation, the bizarre fox suddenly turned around and swiftly burrowed into a small hole in the corner of the wall.

Ethan's heart raced as he clutched the shovel and stepped forward, carefully observing the direction in which the fox had fled.

After waiting for half a minute, ensuring that there were no more movements, Ethan made another round to find the room behind the wall.