"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man." - Nietzsche.
***
It's often said that reality as we humans perceive it might just be only a fraction of the truth our meagre senses could perceive.
Right about now, this statement had never rang more true in Adam's mind.
As seconds passed, Adam's head began throbbing harshly; he panted while breathing out in laboured gasps.
Even so, he didn't dare make any loud noises for the fear of catching those... entity's attention.
He kept trembling slightly while leaning on the pillar in front.
'Why... just why is this happening to me of all the other people in the world?!'
In his frantically buzzing mind, there was a petulant sense of being wronged; at the same time, an unbridled sense of terror wrapped his soul in a haze, trying to clutch and claw at his consciousness.
The reality of the situation was flipped on its head the moment he confirmed the unnatural entity's presence. This wasn't a transmigration as he had hoped in some recesses of his mind, but a completely different scenario, which was more jarring and freakish than even his worst outcomes.
Being a teen, his mind was more accepting and adaptable to the situation compared to others. He'd watched his fair share of dramas and webtoons and knew that transmigration was an unlikely probability. But even then, compared to the present, it was a far better alternative.
Dispelling these thoughts, Adam kept glancing at the two figures through his mobile.
And right at that moment, something about the figures changed abruptly.
The dark, hazy figure behind the window opened its maw and leaned forward, its teeth pointed like a razor's edge; the other figure tried backing off, but without faltering, the dark figure leapt forward and caught its head in a vice.
The white figure started struggling, but unfortunately, its struggles didn't last long.
The dark entity had caught it, akin to a python strangling its prey. Gradually, the darker haze had entirely engulfed the white one.
After a few seconds of stillness, the foggy entity became transparent and then faded out of view.
This occurrence had again made Adam shell-shocked; if not for his entire body being tense as a stone statue, he would've probably piss himself.
He staggered back and continued until his back touched the wall behind him.
His pupils were dilated to the extreme, and he shivered continuously. He opened his parched mouth and whispered.
"gasp!... gasp!... I need... I need to hide!"
At that moment, he was showing signs of a panic attack, and he knew that he needed to calm down.
He slowly opened the door right next to him and entered with shaky legs. There, he found a large closet and, without delay, entered it while shutting it closed.
Taking deep breaths, he tried to forget what he had just seen, but it was easier said than done.
He was still agitated by what had occurred just before and couldn't calm down.
To steady his mind, he began thinking about how exactly he'd gotten himself into this mess, at least to distract himself.
'I... got out of my apartment and was going to the subway to meet those two buffons. On my way, I took the shorter path through that silent alley and then...'
His brows were knit tightly in frustration as he continued to remember, while a headache kept creeping inside his brain.
Just as he was about to give up, his clouded mind cleared, and he remembered brief flashes and buzzing sounds right after that.
It was like a flashbang had gone off in his head, and he clearly remembered everything.
'But that can't be right! How could that be possible?!. Even if it was possible, how did I get in this dammed place?'
Even remembering what had happened to him before, he still had no clue how he'd get here.
Eventually, the frustration in his mind boiled over, and he bit down on his tongue fiercely.
The slight metallic tang of his blood anchored him back, and the pain helped him steady himself.
'Even so... I need to make sense of this situation and get the fu*k out of here.'
Being resolved, he checked his mobile and turned the video recording off while keeping the flash on. Rewatching the tape, the blurry figures were clearly visible.
'That is the nail in the coffin right there, I ain't stepping a foot out of this closet till morning arrives. I have no intentions of mingling with those things.'
Adam then glanced at the time; it was a quarter to two right then, and his battery gauge had been lowered to a little more than thirty percent.
He breathed out a tired breath and slumped comfortably inside the closet. The closet was old, but didn't have any holes in it, and he could lie in it without any worry of the cold winds.
After adjusting his posture slightly, he placed a hand down to make some wiggle room, but his hand slipped, and he smacked his head into its door.
A muffled 'thud' rang in the room, and he rubbed his head lightly while taking a look down below at the culprit.
His hand slipped on a piece of parchment lying on the cabinet floor, he picked it up at examined it clearly. It was very old with rough edges and a darkened hue to it.
Turning it around, he saw some scribbles in a crooked handwriting written on it, which read -
"When the Devil's hour draws near,
The veil between dream and waking shall be torn asunder.
The lost and wicked wander beneath the moon's cold flame,
hungering for the souls of the pure.
Hear now, wanderer from the far-off realm:
Thy salvation lies only in the ending of all things.
By thine own hand must thy fate be sealed,
else thou shalt fade into the ageless land
of the moon's eternal light, where no time moves, and no memory remains.
Freedom lieth in the end — not in time."
With a pensive expression on his face, he mumbled in a low tone.
"What the f*ck is this going on about?"
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[A/N]
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