'Painful'
'How painful!'
'Wh-What is this pain?'
The sound asleep Bittu, woke up to an extortionate amount of raw pain.
It felt like he had been repeatedly, stabbed by a knife, just enough to draw blood till death.
No.
It felt more like his muscles were cut specifically, so that he wouldn't be able to move a single aspect of his body.
Badump–!
Suddenly, amidst his thoughts, a slight weak sound echoed in his ears.
'.....?'
Badump–!
'Is that...my heartbeat?'
Badump–!
"Aarrgghh"
Badump–!
"Aaaarrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhh!"
Suddenly, a strange feeling of burning alive enveloped his being. Hoarse cries of agony, and fear escaped from his lips.
'Wh-what's going on?'
Out of no where, precisely, after thirty seconds, an otherworldly feeling of adrenaline embraced him as if he was in grave danger.
Simultaneously, his eyes flared open and light, immediately entered his sight.
Huff–!
Huff–!
Bittu took deep breaths with his hands holding his heart which felt as if it was on the verge of bursting apart.
As his eyes absorbed the bright rays of light, the world around him seemed hazy. He swallowed his saliva and greedily inhaled oxygen to calm down, all while ignoring the sweat across his entire body.
"What just happened?"
With slight dread, apprehension and pain still visible in his eyes, he looked around.
...It was an unfamiliar setting. Nothing like he had ever seen before.
'No, wait.'
'This is...'
The broken wooden barrels and boxes all around.
The damaged bed in the right. Broken glass frame hanging close to the bed just like the pieces of books that were scattered right next to it. The small wooden room, like a cabin. The atmosphere that felt damp, humid and cool yet strangely suffocating.
Similarly, the sound of flowing water and the slightly decaying wood that gave off a salty feel.
And the only source of light emitted by the holes in the wooden wall which emitted a soft, subdued glow, casting an eerie light across the room.
...This was it.
He was here… once again
'.....'
His gaze dimmed, his face emotionless. His shoulders dropped along with the strength that left his hands. His face fell as if he had no choice but to accept his accursed fate...
Creak–!
"...!"
The sudden noise jolted his being. His body tensed.
"Wh-Who's there?"
'Is someone else also present in this room?'
He slowly turned around, cautious, and wholly conscious of his surrounding. However, what he saw made him frown.
"...A mirror?"
'Why is a mirror placed here? Where did the door go?'
His frown deepened.
He didn't understand why and how a mirror was placed here instead of the locked door which kept him imprisoned in this room whenever he was here.
'Are there people outside this room? But no one spoke when I asked for help the previous times. What's going on?'
Even the door did not seem as if it was opened at all so, how come?
Clink!
While he was lost in thoughts, suddenly a strangely pleasant and hypnotic sound echoed in his ears.
His eyes instinctively moved towards the source of sound and he froze.
The seemingly normal mirror was anything but normal.
An extremely disturbing, gruesome and bloody sight was portrayed in the mirror.
A frail-looking young man with pale skin and dark circles under his eyes appeared before his eyes.
It was his reflection. Strangely though, it almost felt alive.
However!
Unlike him, his reflection had messy hair, tattered clothes and several cuts all across his body.
The most nauseous of them all was the nasty cut stretching from his left chest to his stomach, blood flowing out of it like water.
Several of his ribs could almost be seen in there with naked eyes. But that wasn't all...
His left leg and left forearm were missing. Blood dripping out of them like a waterfall, almost as if they have been forcefully torn off in the most brutal way possible
"... ARGG..."
Looking at the mirror, suddenly he felt his vision blur. The pain that felt ethereal for a while now once again assaulted his being.
"UUUHHHHHHAAAAA"
His eyes began to blur. His ears began ringing. Several areas in his body began tingling weirdly. He did not understand the hell was going on. The pain rapidly increased with breath-neck speed. He felt like he was about to burst inside out unable to handle this pain.
Suddenly, at this moment of crisis, instinctively his hands clenched into a fist and he punched the mysterious mirror with all the strength he could muster.
Bam!
However, to his horror. The mirror didn't break. It didn't even dent, not even a crack.
'No... No...No...No...It can't be. It can't be.'
'Am I going to die? Am I going to die?'
'I don't want to die.'
'I don't want to die.'
He began punching the mirror with all his strength ignoring the pain, the blood flowing out of his bloodied hand, his bones that seemed to be on the verge of breaking apart. This crazy situation pushed him into a crazed state.
However, no matter how much he hit it. The mirror didn't break.
Soon, whatever will he could summon slipped from his hand like an eel. No matter how much he tried, he still lost his focus however, even at this moment his hands didn't stop punching the mirror.
....
Clink–!
Suddenly, a faint whisper entered his ears. Simultaneously, his vision cleared.
'...Darkness?'
Suddenly, an unnatural and ethereal voice echoed in his ear.
'Wh-What happened to my voice? And Why is it so dark in here? How did I even get in here?'
The horror in his eyes began to rise with each passing moment. Everything felt abnormal.
He looked all around but only found one colour; black.
No matter how far his gaze went, nothing except it entered his eyes.
The sky was black, "The Sun" was black, the clouds were black, even the boat he was in was nothing but... Black.
Suddenly, his eyes constricted. He glanced below.
Goosebumps, spread all over his body. His heart on the verge of going overdrive because his eyes saw absolutely nothing.
His hands moved swiftly to touch around his body.
Huff-!
Huff-!
Getting the response that he should normally get or rather, the response he normally felt, he slowly calmed down. However, fear has already seeped deep into his bones.
'What in the absolute hell? It scared me to death.'
Huff-!
'And Why the hell can't I even see my body?'
Clink-!
"Wh-What was that?"
Suddenly, a sound echoed in his ears in the absolute silence of the darkness. Instinctively, his body moved backwards with cautiousness. The uncertainty of whatever was happening had made him paranoid.
But!
"Wha...!"
Suddenly, he felt his foot land of a slippery surface. Before he could even understand what was going on. He lost control of his body.
He fell.
'Aaaa!'
A surge of coldness enveloped his being. He shivered. The water that he fell in was unnaturally cold.
The coldness seemed to swep even into his spine and bones.
Instinctively, his hands and legs moved to swim. But, to his horror, no matter what he did, he didn't float up.
Instead, the more he struggled, the quicker he fell deeper.
'Help!'
"Awukkk!"
'Help!'
'Someone, please help me.'
"Ukkkkk!"
"Hel–"
Amongst his struggle, he began chocking on the bone-chilling water. His desperate and horror-filled eyes, looked all around for help but, no one was to be found.
His eyelids gradually fell and closed.
However, instead of the expected embrace of death what held him was a dreamscape; more accurately a nightmare.
....
(Rapid breathing.)
Bittu suddenly woke up. His heart racing. His eyes blurred. His body sweaty. He looked around with anxiousness.
However, as the loud chatter of children, the laughter of an old couple, and the sound of traffic entered his ears. His heart slowly calmed down.
'...I am back.'
He took deep breaths for a while, while drying his sweaty face with his head leaned on the window glass.
He looked at the setting sun outside the window as the slightly cool air of the start of autumn hit his skin, calming him further.
'It has increased even more after I visited that place.'
'Why wouldn't it just go away? Why hunt me like a ghost for such a–'
'No, I need to calm down. Calm down. I can't lose my mind. I need to stop thinking about it.'
He didn't want to think much about the dream since, it was something that he was familiar with. Though, this time there were a lot of changes, he still didn't wanna think about it...
Because, the more he thought, the longer he had that dream that night. So, he would rather not at all.
After a while, his bus stop arrived. He got off. His shoulders were still low just like his head.
While he was walking suddenly, he heard someone calling to him.
"Excuse me, Can I ask for some help? Can you please lend me your phone? I want to make a call. Its quite urgent."
He raised his head to see that a man similar to his age was looking at him anxiously. Without thinking much, he gave his old phone to the man.
"Thank you. Thank you very much."
Bittu ignored the man and continued to be lost in his thoughts while looking at the gradually rising moon.
After a while, the man thanked him continuously as he returned his phone. He appeared relieved, as he raised his hand to take his mobile but suddenly before he could grab his mobile...
"Wait a second. I forgot to delete that number. Please don't mind."
"...", Bittu was speechless at the man's words. Did he seem like someone who would call back to check who this guy called? Was he this unreliable?
"Alright done. Once again, thank you."
He didn't say anything and started walking towards his home. He didn't want to waste his time on someone who didn't truly appreciate his help.
Furthermore, it was already late. He needed to get home soon or else it won't end well for him.