WARNING: Chapter does contain a bit of gore.
At first, there was nothing.
And then, there was something.
I was standing there in a darkened room.
Four walls, a coat hanger, a door behind me and a door in front of me.
To my left, a full-body mirror.
To my right, stains of blood spelling blurred words.
The door behind me was composed of red oak with a metal doorknob: it would not open.
The door in front had a white wood frame with a glass middle, though there were patterns on the glass and the other side was thus only visible roughly.
I held a flashlight in my hand, though it only barely illuminated the room, which seemed... crooked.
No, the room wasn't crooked, the world was. Either gravity was pulling me wrong, or the entire place had a terrible inclination.
I approached the mirror and observed myself... I was wearing a black office suit. I extended my right hand to touch my reflection.
My heart accelerated and my hand numbed, this sensation was spreading across my arm. Meanwhile, my face was death cold. I tried to warm it with the use of my hands; i did this for a few seconds until I was warm. But then I got warmer, and warmer.
My face was burning, dare I say literally? Rubbing my face one more time, I noticed something strange with my hands: they were completely covered in blood. Dark, lamenting blood. ... Was it mine?
The reflection on the image changed, I now had the largest smile I had ever seen. Inside, I was crying, I was bawling; I was afflicted by an eternal pain, a suffocating agony! The being in front of me took pleasure in my suffering, yet it was not him who was responsible for it... No, it was me who was responsible. I had brought this upon myself, somehow.
I backed down and fell with my back against the wall opposing the mirror...
He was getting closer.
He was still smiling.
I was still dying.
He traverses the glass and kneels down in front of me, making a motion to look right towards the semi-transparent door. I get up and move towards it to get a better look.
On the other side, there is a man, his face is not clear at all, though. He is holding a light to his face with his left hand, and possesses a knife on his right hand. I look at him in the eyes, his barely visible blue eyes that stared into me.
He sees me. He really sees me, and so, he knows my entire life: my mistakes, my regrets, and my sins.
My capacity to breathe is gone, no more air enters my lungs. I try, but my efforts turn out futile; I can feel the carbon dioxide accumulate in my bloodstream as it is unable to be rejected from my body. The misery had been taken to a whole new level.
He takes three steps back and shines the candle to his right, revealing another person. A woman, her face is marked with multiple bruises and though her face is also unrecognizable, her eyes I can see crystal clear.
They plead to you, they beg for their salvation, for they are filled with the horror, the fear of death.
And I can do nothing.
He shoves her and she falls to her knees. My vision begins to obscure.
He places his knife on her throat.
I fade out.
There is a terrible thud.
I come back.
Surrounded by a vivid sanguine red, she lies there on the floor, lifeless; with her eyes staring into mine.
A tear is on each one.
The sounds distort. The lights mix. My heart freezes.
I grasp for air, I grasp for hope, I grasp for my life...!
But it evades me...
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