Waking up

Alex slowly opened his eyes with blurry and disorienting vision, blinking several times and moving his palm over his eyes to massage them. He kept his fingers on his face, covering his eyes, nose, and mouth.

He remained in that position without moving or uttering any word, only the sound of constant breathing echoing.

"I wish all of that is just a dream."

Slowly moving his palm away, eager to witness his room, but the reality it crushed his hope.

Instead of familiarity with white rough, he saw grey painted ceilings, and a white fan continuously rotating, giving him comfort.

"Ah!" Helpless breathing escaped from his mouth with the gurgling sound of his stomach.

"I am hungry."

He slowly stood up, sitting straight back. Then, reaching for the phone nearby, he grabbed it to see the time.

He pushed the power button, eager to see the time and learn more about the supernatural.

The mention of the supernatural fueled his memories, and the content he had absorbed before sleeping surged in his mind.

_I do remember reading about Invocar, but there were a lot of unfamiliar words like Auspicious Time, sacrificial ingredients, spirit body, ritual ground. I can understand the theme roughly, but oh boy, I can't just delude myself into believing that my assumptions are right._

While thinking this, parallel to that, he also tried to turn on the mobile. After failure after failure, he determined that the phone was dead.

He then searched for power, finding the charging pod beside his bed.

He quickly placed the phone to power up, and a charging bar appeared with a marking.

1%...

Time 3:00 AM...

*Gurgle* his stomach again screamed, asking him to give something to consume.

"Guess I'll eat." Moving up from bed and then standing for a while, he approached the door, opening it up, and the familiar stairs greeted him. Descending at the end, he moved his gaze left and right.

On the right side, he saw the dining table; on the left, he saw the kitchen.

Marching toward his destination, the unfamiliar kitchen greeted him. There was no wall toward the dining table; he could see the hallway and the end of the stairs he just walked by.

A refrigerator caught his attention; he hurriedly approached it and opened the door.

A chilly cool wave of air welcomed him, sending a freezing sensation through his being.

First, grabbing a water bottle, he drank it eagerly. As the water descended from his neck, his senses started to clear, and the previous sleepiness dimmed. A new storm of energy surged within. He grabbed some fries and a bottle of soda, walking toward his room.

Step, step, step...

When he reached the stairs, a soft murmur and a strong metallic smell shrouded his senses.

Sniff.

Sniff,

_ what's that? It's coming from that way._ He followed the smell that led him to the other side of the stairwell, in front of a door.

This place was the origin of the murmur and smell.

Crunch first, munching on fries, and drinking a mouthful of soda.

He carefully opened the door.

"What the hell..."

This was the basement, but that is not the shocking aspect. The real problem was the sight he witnessed.

The basement was dark and gloomy, devoid of natural shine, lit only by the dim glow of candlelight, with a carved symbol of white powder carved meticulously on the ground.

Shilla Raser's sister sat within this weird symbol. She occupied a triangle enclosed in a circle, the edged lines meandering like a sort of flare used to paint the symbol.

At the last, outside was the edge of a square-shaped boundary containing something placed in every corner of the square.

That something was four pieces of meat tainted by Colorfull blood.

No, they were not meat at first; they looked like it, but in reality, they were organ-like silver eyed black, heart and a fucking skull containing brains...

"What are you willing to sacrifice?" the blond man, whom Alex recognized as Thomsam, said to Shilla.

"As a main ingredient, the Essence of the unborn child, its mother's eyes,As a catalyst, its father's heart and sibling's limb."

_What the heck did I just hear? Did I hear them correctly? The essence of the unborn child is the mother's eyes and the father's heart, and sibling's limb. Wait.._

The words were like a catalyst, kick-starting his heart, the rapid beat pumping blood as if it were the last opportunity he had to showcase what it is capable of.

Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub.

The beating sound mingled with the breathing.

When he observed closely, Shilla grabbed the knife from Thomson's.

"Be careful."

Shilla placed the knife on her palm and nodded toward her brother.

Slashed without any hesitation, she stabbed almost like cutting veggies.

Drops of blood surged through her injured hand, and she made a cup shape containing every drop.

Extending the hand, she flipped it, causing the blood droplets to fall on the edge of the white powdery line of the square.

Tip...

The first drop... then the second, third....

The crimson droplets pulsed heavily, almost like gaining life.

And it did; the blood started to move on the white lines, converting the light texture into fiery red.

The blood drops moved, surging like a fiery flood, absorbing every milky particle.

Beads of sweat started to birth from Alex's temples; his mouth hung open as his shallow breathing echoed in the surroundings.

Even the sound of popping bubbles could be heard from the soda can.

The air around him thickened, the particles charged with a cool temperature setting his nerves on fire. Goosebumps erupted on his entire body.

Gulp. He swallowed his saliva, carrying a metallic taste with a bitter flavor, like a thorn stuck in his neck.

"Where am I?" Alex's mind raced, multiple thoughts colliding with each other, birthing a chaotic whirlpool in his psyche.

He couldn't believe what he witnessed: the widening of his eyes and the involuntary clenching of his fists covey his shock.

The ever-surging red in milky white gave a supernatural but terror-inducing thought in his mind.

Finally, after painting every drop of white in red, the blood-red fluid stopped.

Concentrated on the inner triangle...

Swish, swish, swish..

With those, a purple mist birthed, covering Shilla's figure, shrouding her in a translucent view.

The vision started to clear as Shilla revealed with a gloomy look.

"Don't worry, Raser is still remaining."

"Call him; it's his time for sacrifice."

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