Nightmare

Cloudy fogs were present in Lylie's mind. He was walking down the streets, greeting his neighbors as always. The flowers on Aunt Hannie's garden were struggling to bloom, and the children's laughter was pure and cheerful. But the longer he walked, the more distorted the world around him became. The shy flowers revealed their fangs, and the children's laughter turned into mumblings.

At first, he walked. Then, he walked faster. The world was crumbling rapidly, and the sky was falling, revealing the dark and profound secrets behind it. He started sprinting, running away from the children chasing him. It was as if their mouths were right next to his ears, transmitting indecipherable words into his head.

The longer he ran, the faster everything started crumbling. Everyone around him turned into withered bags of bones. The space beyond the sky was calling his name, as if summoning him. Dread was crawling into his mind. He panicked and tried opening a door, but it refused to budge no matter how hard he tried. He then ran behind the door, unaware that the door wasn't even connected to any building.

The mumblings turned into screams. Their voices were shrill and zealous. Lylie covered his ears, but the screams were still as clear as day. The small bags of bones were laughing cheerfully moments ago, but it looked like it happened a lifetime before. Their mouths were rapidly moving, and their skinny arms were swinging wildly towards his back.

Without any warning, a gap in the sky shattered, revealing a massive palm. For a moment, the palm looked around and saw Lylie. Unfit of its massive stature, it flung itself rapidly and hit Lylie's back. He was caught unaware and fell to the ground. He struggled to get up and looked to the front, only to see…a severed head with its hysterical expression, staring right back at him!

"Uwaa!!!"

Without any warning, He screamed. The chair he was sitting on shook. Chilling droplets of sweat were running through his back. His hands were clutched tightly. The horrifying dreamland was shattered, just like that.

He moved his hands and touched his chest, they were pumping rapidly. The frantic noise of breathing kept resounding in the room.

"I-I…What was that…?"

Still delirious, he tried to recall his dream again. The screams and mumblings felt unnecessarily vivid, and goosebumps appeared whenever he recalled those bags of bones. He grabbed the nearby cup and gulped its contents. The refreshing taste of water calmed him down a little.

An image of a mother holding her baby was exquisitely engraved to the wooden cup, making it pleasing to the eye. It must've cost quite some cash to make an engraving this detailed. Lylie stared at the engravings blankly, and then looked up while murmuring.

"…A headache?"

Lylie touched his forehead, only to reel back from the pain he felt. The sensation transmitted from his hands told him that there was a massive bump in the middle of his forehead.

"Ouch…"

The pain managed to bring him back to reality. He then realized that he was inside a room. Curiously, there was no entrance or exit visible anywhere. The only thing he could see inside the room was a table, a chair, a glass of water, and his reflection that was staring back at him from his left.

[-Hiss]

He focused on his reflection, the massive red bump on his forehead made him hiss. His somewhat childish face was ravaged by the massive red bump and his bloodshot eyes.

"Oh my god…" He stared at the reflection and held back the impulse to smash the mirror in front of him.

The sounds of footsteps rang inside the room. He inspected every corner of the room but was still unable to find any exit. The only thing he managed to find was a small green dot on the wall across the room. Eventually, he sat back in the chair and started caressing his bump lightly.

"Where the fuck am I?"

The last thing he remembered was being kissed by a root and smashing headfirst to the ground. But…

"…did all of that really happen?"

Floating, standing in the middle of an occultic meeting, shining eyes, kissing the floor. Did all of that even happen? What if all of it was merely a fleeting dream?

'No, I'm sure all of it happened.'

He kept caressing the bump. It was too much of a coincidence for a bump to appear there if he was dreaming. So, the green group of people must've brought him here intentionally.

'They went through the trouble of bringing me here. So, they should have something to speak with me, right?'

Lylie was anxious. The cultists and the green group of people were abnormal. He witnessed all of their eyes shining brilliantly in the dark. They were most likely enemies, and the green group of people that brought him here must have a motive in bringing him here.

There was nothing in the room to indicate the passing time, and he was starting to get weary of waiting. The only thing he could do to pass time was to think about what he had experienced today.

'Why was I in that room?'

'Why did their eyes glow?'

'Why did they bring me here?'

Lylie felt like he stayed there for more than a day already. But he knew that he has probably lost his sense of time. He was starting to give in to his sleepiness, when the walls around him shook violently. His drowsiness was swept away, and he looked around in panic.

"What's happening?!"

The shaking didn't last long, but spidery cracks started to form on the wall across him. Like a vine, they began to turn green and wriggle. They untangled themselves and revealed two silhouettes behind them.

The silhouettes in question walked in, revealing a man and a woman in a green uniform.

"Hello there."

The woman wore a smile on her face and gave out a gentle atmosphere. But the man didn't even greet Lylie and stood beside the woman. Lylie was still shocked by the phenomenon and gave out a forced smile.

"Hello, uh, officers?"

Upon hearing that, the woman widened her eyes slightly and started laughing. The man looked away, but one can still see that his shoulders were shaking slightly.

Lylie was bewildered and stared blankly at both of them. 'Did I say something funny?'

The woman wiped her tears.

"We're not officers, we are just a member of the church."

The woman said amiably and waved her hands. Under Lylie's shocked eyes, the floor started wriggling. Two wooden chairs rose from the ground. Both of them seemed unfazed and sat on the chair.

The woman fiddled with her hair, and the man's deep voice rang out.

"You bunch of cultists sure are bold."

His gray eyes stared coldly at him.

And with that, the interrogation started.