CHAPTER 32: *STRAIGHT*

Alex then slapped both his cheeks and made the decision to follow the direction of the voice. "And it's not like he has any reason to kill me, even if he wanted to, there are much easier ways to go about it."

Perhaps because Alex decided to follow the thoughts, they returned, and were even more persistent than before this time.

*STRAIGHT*

*STRAIGHT*

*STRAIGHT*

He took one step forward. "Instructor Cross could probably even kill me out in the middle of a street with a million witnesses around if he wanted to, and nothing will happen to him since he's a First Tier."

*STRAIGHT*

*STRAIGHT*

*STRAIGHT*

Alex took another step.

"So in the end there is no need for an elaborate ruse like this."

He quickened his pace and continued talking to himself. "I'm right aren't I? There is no way that I'm making a mistake and this is actually a trap."

*STRAIGHT*

Suddenly a thought occurred to Alex which made him stop, and think hard.

'What if the voice wasn't actually Instructor Cross's own? Based on all that I've seen and experienced, it's not so far-fetched that this place can read my memories,' Alex touched his rib where he had felt the stabbing pain earlier. 'And if I'm right and it could actually do it, then maybe it could also mimic Instructor Cross's voice.'

This sobering thought made the persistent 'STRAIGHT' thought in his head fade into the background.

'Should I ignore the thoughts after all? In the end I only have one life, and I'd hate for it to end here.' Alex took a step back and slightly turned.

'Wait,' Alex suddenly paused just as he was turning. 'What if this is what it actually wants me to do? If it can actually read my mind then it knows that the best way to confuse and distract me is to make me doubt everything.'

Alex's mind was a muddled mess at this point and he just stood frozen while trying to make up his mind. 'What's the best thing to do?'

Alex looked in the direction the thoughts had urged him to go in, then in the next second turned and looked where he had come from. 'In moments of doubt the best thing to do is what I normally wouldn't do, so..'

*STRAIGHT*

Alex turned and looked where the thoughts told him to go. 'I'll listen to the voice in my head.'

He proceeded to walk deeper into the void.

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"Two hundred and ten thousand four hundred and eight sheep, two hundred and ten thousand thousand four hundred and nine sheep, two hundred and ten thousand four hundred and ten sheep."

*STRAIGHT*

Alex sighed and continued his march toward nowhere.

"Two hundred and ten thousand eight hundred...wait, was it eight hundred or five hundred?"

Alex thought for a moment before he swore.

"Shit not again," He squeezed his eyes shut and counted to ten before opening them. "Isn't this the tenth time I've lost count?"

*STRAIGHT*

"Whatever, I don't have it in me to start all over again." Alex forced his tired body to move even though it took a lot of effort, and continued walking.

Alex had long since lost track of when he had started walking.

But soon after he had started walking, he got a feeling that the darkness was in a strange way becoming more and more alive with each step forward he took.

It wasn't only that the darkness became more alive, it also felt like it was slowing his thoughts, hampering his body's movement, and was pressing in on him, which made him feel like he was moving in water.

In fact the only thing it didn't do was further restrict his senses. Alex could still barely see in front of himself, and his sense of touch and hearing were also poor, but he could use them somewhat.

At first he thought that it was the solitude that was getting to him so he ignored his suspicions, but the feeling only got stronger and soon he had to admit to himself that something strange was going on.

Thoughts like this were depressing, so as Alex tramped on he tried to focus on the positive so as not to lose hope.

"At least I can smell the air of the sea more clearly now."

He would have given up his march a long time ago, but he noticed an exciting development after walking for what felt like days; he could finally smell the fresh and salty air of the sea again.

He had taken this as a sign of progress, and that progress is what had steeled his resolve to continue forward.

*STRAIGHT*

Alex almost swore as the thought came to his mind, but he gritted his teeth and squeezed his hands so hard that his nails almost drew blood.

"I'm tired of these stupid 'STRAIGHT', thoughts, but I'm also tired of speaking out loud," Alex muttered to himself, as he unclenched his hands.

*DRIP, DRIP, DRIP*

Alex could faintly hear the sound of his blood from his hand dripping onto the ground but he ignored it.

"But if I don't hear my thoughts out loud, I fear I'll go insane from hearing those unwelcome thoughts."

As he plodded along he started thinking of ways to keep himself busy, and he eventually settled on reflection. "Now that I think about it, is it that I couldn't speak earlier, or that I couldn't hear?"

"My theory is that this place stripped me of my senses, but speaking isn't a sense," Alex ignored the strain and raised his hand to his chin. "So maybe I was actually speaking but just couldn't hear it."

In the end Alex had no way of knowing if he was right or wrong until he left here, so he pushed the thought to the side and continued his endless trudge forward.

"Well, what should I occupy myself with now?"

*RUMBLE*

While Alex was thinking, the feeling of hunger that he had been suppressing for days suddenly gnawed at him, which distracted Alex for a moment.

And being distracted proved to be a mistake, which is what Alex learned in the next second.

*THUMP*

Suddenly, Alex found himself lying on the ground with sand on his face and dust in his mouth.

"Wait, what's going on?" Alex tried to pick himself off the sand, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to summon the energy to get up.

"Have I finally run out of energy?" Alex chuckled then rolled onto his back. "It sure took a long time."

Alex could feel the cool, grainy and powdery sand on his arms as he lay there, and absentmindedly, he rubbed it between his fingers.

"If someone had told me that I would die while lying on sand, while stuck in a lightless void, and having lost the majority of my senses, I would have called the person a filthy liar."

Alex sighed and slowly began closing his eyes. "But life is funny that way. Maybe in my next life I'll die in a more fulfilling way than this."

Just before his eyes shut, probably for the last time, he saw the darkness recede and a door appear from within it.

And as his consciousness faded, the thought in his mind changed and became something he didn't think he would ever hear.

*HERE*

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-

-

*UP*

'What's that?' Thought Alex in confusion as he tried to push past a fog clouding his mind.

*UP*

The voice sounded once again but it sounded more insistent this time.

Alex slowly pulled himself out of the fog and opened his eyes after a few seconds.

'What happened?' Thought Alex as he looked all around himself through hazy eyes.

His brain hadn't fully come back alive, so his thought process was a mess and he couldn't understand or comprehend what his eyes were seeing.

*UP*

The voice was getting louder and more forceful, which broke the hazy Alex's mind was in.

'What type of noise is this?' Thought Alex as he clenched his teeth, and tried to stop himself from smashing his head against the ground. 'I can't even think straight with how loud the voice is.'

'Shit,' thought Alex in frustration. 'It's even louder than the thoughts that were crowding up space in my head earlie...'

Suddenly Alex remembered what had happened before he passed out, which helped to clear the last remaining confusion he was feeling.

Now that his memory had come back, Alex was now more cautious and gazed around himself to gather his bearings.

'The darkness isn't around me anymore!' Thought Alex in disbelief. 'I can see almost as well as I normally can.'

Alex tried to stand up, but soon realized that he still couldn't force his body up.

'That's still the same as when I passed out.' Thought Alex with a sigh, but he quickly buried his disappointment and continued his observation of the space around himself.

A few minutes later he stopped to gather his thoughts.

'So it's not that the darkness has gone, it only receded. I also seem to be lying on sand, but with how it's chilling to the touch and black in color, I'm pretty sure that it's no ordinary sand.'

Alex sighed and tried to keep a calm exterior, but in reality, his mind was in disarray.

"Now," said Alex after taking a few seconds to gather himself.

He then strained his neck to look at the door that was behind him. "What is that?"