Dying.

Although I believed I had already lost it all. The sense of feeling, the sense of taste, the sense of humor.

'Had I ever even had them?'

The thought dissolved into the rythmic pounding of my feet as I ran through the endless darkness.

I couldn't even feel my legs anymore.

Couldn't even see the path ahead.

Still,

I ran, driven by instinct more than reason.

When I finally stopped.

Panting.

"Huff-Huff."

The world around me was a blur of darkness.

I squinted, trying to focus through the haze clouding my vision.

Then-

...I saw them!

Crimson eyes flared in the dark.

Sinister writhing tentacles undulating in the air like eerie whispers.

My heart thundered:

Ba-dump!

Ba-dump!

And blood rushed to my head as a wave of primal terror gripped me.

In a blink, everything snapped into horrific clarity: Surrounding me were grotesque, otherworldly creatures.

Supernatural creatures!

Their bodies were dark, almost formless, yet I could make out dozens of hands jutting from their limbs, each baring jagged mouths that twisted into grotesque snarls.

Some stood on two legs that seemed barely human-like, gaping wounds spilling dark ichor. They leered at me with twisted grins, saliva dripping from their fanged maws- in what I deemed as… a-s anticipation.

My skin crawled.

The icy hand of fear dragging across my flesh.

I tried to scream.

Tried to run.

B-ut...my limbs refused to obey.

My feet were glued to the ground.

And my voice- it eluded my grasp.

For a second there…I... I could do absolutely nothing.

Then, in the periphery of my vision, a flash of light erupted. The world around me snapped into darkness as I hit the ground with a sickening thud.

Something warm trickled down my face.

I reached for my forehead, my fingers trembling as it inched closer.

And then- I felt it.

A gaping hole where my skull should've been.

My breath hitched all of a sudden.

My chest tightened.

And I started having difficulties in breathing.

"Huff! Huff!"

No

No...this can't be end.

I haven't gotten any answers.

My memories are still blank- still lost.

My family are still unknown.

Worse still-

I don't even know who I am.

Who am I?

Where do I come from?

Who are my parents?'

The questions clawed at my mind as my consciousness began to fade away.

The blurry faces of the supernatural creatures fading into an endless darkness.

Hot tears welled at the corner of my eyes, falling freely as the darkness swallowed me whole.

***

.

.

.

.

.

GASSPP!!!

I woke with a jolt, my breath caught in my throat.

My chest heaved up and down as my eyes darted wildly to my surroundings.

I was surrounded by darkness.

B-ut …it was familiar.

Strangely familiar.

Realization soon hit me.

The cobblestones beneath me.

The stifling silence.

The endless doors.

This is the same cursed house.

The same cursed house where everything began.

My mind fractured under the weight of recognition, various thoughts of disbelief and fear colliding within me.

I had died.

I was sure of it.

Yet here I was.

Alive.

Whole again.

My hands clutched my temples as a sharp pain lanced through my head.

Was I losing my mind?

It felt like the only logical explanation.

But deep down, I knew the truth.

This was no illusion

This wasn't a dream.

It was real.

All of it.

And the reality I had woken up to was worse than the worst of nightmares.

My body crumpled to the ground, exhaustion weighing heavily on my "broken" body.

My body folded under the weight of exhaustion. Sobs broke free from my chest, raw and unbidden.

I was tired.

I wanted to rest

To lie on a soft bed and forget about everything.

To feel warmth.

Comfort.

To be loved.

But no- my life had instead become a walking nightmare.

One which I couldn't seem to escape from.

B-ut why?

Why is life so cruel!

What have I done to deserve all this?

My scream tore through the silence, swallowed by the void.

And then- nothing,

Silence stretched on, broken only by the sound of my ragged breaths.

Soon,

My fingers curled into fists.

Realization sinking in.

Despair.

It wouldn't save me.

If I wanted to live.

If I was truly desperate for answers.

Then,

I rose to my feet, my body trembled but my will was unyielding as of this moment.

"I have to survive," I whispered into the void, "Survive today. And tomorrow. And the day after that."

***

I still felt the cold.

Still sensed those invisible eyes watching me.

But I forced myself to forget about them - I forced myself to push the fear aside and then, I took my first step.

Tok-

Each step felt heavier than the last, each breath a battle against the oppressive silence.

Tok-

Each step felt heavier as my mind battled against the illusions- because that's what they'd to be, right? An illusion. Some twisted trick of my mind.

It had to be.

But deep down, I knew better.

This was no dream, no illusion.

My fear was real.

The horror was real, and so was the pain.

Nevertheless, I can't allow them to define me.

I can't allow myself be consumed by them.

Yet despite all this- despite all I told myself.

I knew the main reason I was afraid of accepting this harsh reality was because of it… them.

Those cold pair of eyes.

I never hope to meet them again.

'Never again.

I could still vividly remember the dread I had felt, the cold feeling that had held onto my body.

I could remember everything with utmost clarity, and I definitely didn't want to go through that again.

Never again.

And just as resolve began to settle within me, the ground gave way beneath me.

***

The plunge into freezing water was sudden and brutal.

Gasping, I tried to stay afloat as I trashed violently in the dark sea.

But the water was not empty.

And my tantrums seemed to have attracted some really nasty things.

Massive creatures loomed in the endless darkness, their outlines just barely visible.

A blinding light erupted.

And panic surged through me.

I tried to move.

B-ut,

Fuck.

My body froze in place.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't even scream.

My eyes widened in shock as enormous fishes with jagged, bone-like heads pierced through my flesh. Pain tore through me as the creatures crowded me, blood pouring from my wounds.

The hole in my chest grew larger. My vision clouding as life drained from me.

Is this it?

Is this how I die again.

My thoughts were now fragmented as a cold numbness slowly spread through my limbs.

I could feel it.

I was slipping away.

But just as the last spark of life began to fade, something stirred deep inside me.

A violent force erupted forth from within me, and with a roar.

I unleashed some sort-of unseen power.

-The power of belief.

The monstrous fishes instantly vanished, the shadows retreating in an instant.

Panting.

I stood.

Trembling in the aftermath.

But relief was fleeting.

The air thickened, oppressive and eeriely suffocating.

An oppressive force descended.

"Huff-hah-hah."

Squeezing the breath from my lungs.

My internal organs twisted, agony rippling through me as the invisible eyes returned, their icy gaze locked onto me.

My blood felt like they w-ere boiling.

Evaporating drop by drop.

The pain was hellishly indescribable.

And every part of me screamed for it to stop, to run, to do anything to make it stop.

But I couldn't do any of that.

I had to stay focused.

I had to survive.

Amidst the terrifying pain that gripped me, I tried to maintain a raw, unrefined focus.

And slowly, after what felt like an eternity of torture- in an unending darkness.

I saw it.

The door.

The same cursed door.

I was now more convinced.

Likewise, I was sure of it.

Somehow, I had gone back in time.

I don't know how I was able to do that, but I wasn't about to waste this opportunity.

I would survive.

Grow stronger.

Learn everything this wretched and cursed land has got to offer.

And,

I will escape this nightmare.

No matter what it takes me.

I will.

With clenched hands and a burning resolve, I stepped through the door, leaving the crumbling house- and the past- behind.