Unblinking and nearly mesmerised, those evil eyes gazed down at Atama, as though studying something delicate and brittle. Atama's heart pounded as he stared back, and what he saw made him gasp for air. The face of the creature was terrifying because it resembled a human's. It's too human. And that was what made it wrong.
Four jagged fangs, two curling upward, two downward, resembling the tusks of a devil, protruded from its mouth, its skin taut over sharp bones, its expression twisted. Unnaturally, they protruded past its lips, causing its mouth to clench into a continuous, gory snarl. Its breathing was slow. Deliberately.
A Monster it was, shrouding Atama like a cocoon, the devilish eyes piercing him into a numbed Atama, to a weakling. Each breath the creature exhales is hotter than the warmth of the sun he felt. His throat tightened, as though fear itself were choking him, while his mouth shook, trying to form a word, anything. Then, at last, it came loose.
He let out a scream. "Help… somebody!"
The creature moved as he screamed.
It reached out with terrifying speed, snagging Atama's arm and violently twisting it back. A flash of white-hot pain tore through his shoulder as the force jolted through his body. Everything slowed in that last instant. Time seemed to be breaking up into pieces as the world seemed to elongate. His scream reverberated around him, distorted and far away. Unblinking, the creature's eyes met his, seemingly relishing the terror on his face.
Within those moments, slowly, everything became black. Atama's body was heavy, but now it felt as light as a feather; it seemed to drift through the air, released to a swirling wind. The agonizing pain was gone; he sensed nothing, no pain, no feeling, and no thought. Just like that, he became nothing.
* * *
"Atama, wake up."
In the boundless darkness, I heard a faint echo of a man's voice. Fading. I, who has no body, felt a surge of force, like gravity pulling me down.
Where, where am I? Somebody hello…
In that thought process, I returned to myself, becoming filled; I felt something that I could control, a sensation of movement, but I couldn't grasp anything. Then, I fell. The feeling hit suddenly, as if the ground had vanished beneath me. I woke up, jumped from my bed, and collapsed to the floor.
Air stabbed at my lungs, each inhale jagged and raw. I pressed my palm hard against my chest, as if I could physically hold my frantic heart in place. No dice, still thundering, wild and out of control. Shadows from that nightmare. It didn't just vanish with the morning light. They stuck to my skin like sweat after a fever dream, clinging and cold. And those creatures' eyes felt like they'd been branded onto the inside of my skull. I tried blinking, but it didn't work. Those memories were burned into my eyes like an everlasting horror, and I felt the pain.
I sat up, sheets twisted around my legs like the nightmare had tried to drag my back under. The room looked normal, boring even, but I could still feel the echo of fear humming through my veins. Awake?
I walked through the living room. And walked over to the window and drew the curtain back. My hands were still trembling over what had happened in that dream.
Through the glass window, I see the world outside is shrouded in a dense, black darkness, silent and motionless. The night that stretched farther than it ought to. No street lights. Not a star. Only black.
"Kuk-kuruyuk!"
The sound of a chicken neighbour can be heard from a distance. At a glance, I look at the clock on the wall, which was ticking 04:49.
In that sullenness, my body crumpled, tumoring to the ground. My legs were buckling beneath me, and they were frightening. Tried to stand, but I couldn't force my strength and weight to be mighty. In those mere moments, I grasp tormenting pain in my chest, feel it, and experience a sensation burning through. Clinging to the walls, enduring the excruciating burning pain, I managed to stand; my mouth was withered, dry, and desperate for water.
I trudge hazily toward the kitchen, passing my parents' room. Opening those rusty box metals, where there's no breeze of cold air coming out of them. With haste, I take a plastic bottle, gulping it down until it is empty.
Within those moments, I calm myself for a bit, hearing chirping outside, and I reclaim my serenity to ease. And so, I drift toward my parents' room, and I notice the door is ajar. As my hand reached the doorknob, I pushed it slowly, leaning to try to peek inside.
A shimmering golden ray casts through the window, as a follicle of dust forms the path to a tiny star that has slowly risen to a new day. I look at them briefly, as my mother and father, pleasantly asleep. Moments like this, seeing them at peace, felt rare to me.
As I continued my school days, passing from day to week, a fiery scorcher suffocated me not long before; it was faint for a while, but it gradually knifed burning through my neck. My body came to a standstill, as if I could hardly move. Now I, who was sunk deep in my bed, paralyzed, can only gaze distantly at that dirty ceiling. The doctor couldn't diagnose what illness I've come upon, while my parents could only sit beside me. If I could speak right now to both of them, especially to my father.
"To you, Father, please forgive me for being feckless to you; I should listen to what word you gave to me all of that in my life, now I have become a burden to you, watching as your tired hands still carry the weight, just to support this family."
Once the tear that was leaking through my eyes flowed with the force of gravity as my vision became blurry. Mother wipes the trail of my tears with her gentle touch. And slowly closing my eyes to sleep. But I, afraid of that dream coming to haunt me again. I'm scared.
Until she was humming a lullaby song,
It brought back a memory of me as a child, resting on her lap and looking out from the small hut where we used to sleep towards the golden wheat fields, daydreaming. As I drifted deeper into slumber, that far-off, serene moment calmed me as wind breeze.
Then I fell into my deep slumber, where I couldn't see a lifeful light.
"Do not fret, my child, everything will be fine." I heard the voice of a man in the dark, that grumpy voice, the same voice that called me in a dream, but this time clearer. I recognize it somewhere, a long time ago.
I rouse from sleep and again look at that dry, dirty ceiling.
But that's what I felt first; now I can sense a daunting aura shrouding, seeping into the room. I feel what I felt before in that nightmare. An aura that was bloodthirsty for killing, a monster that tears my limbs into many pieces. That's presence is here.
All Fibers are pumping, screaming, forcing my entire body to wake.
Then I saw what I saw: the ceiling above me, filthy and cracked, now morphing its shape, a creature from that nightmare had come to me, doing its final hunt.
That creature descended its long, filthy hand to me, reaching, trying to strangle my throat.
"Help…, help, father." Despite my futile efforts to struggle, I was only able to mutter.
A mighty force slammed into me, pushing through, choking me; it wasn't just a strong grip, it was overwhelming pressure breaking my neck.
But then
"Help, where are you… I couldn't breathe, Mom…, Dad!!" Finally, those words tore from my throat, but it wasn't enough.
Screaming, the silence swallowed my scream. Struggled to move, to do anything, to stay alive. Then, through sheer will, both of my hands shot up. Grasped the monster's wrist. It was cold. Though it didn't matter, I want to survive, I want my father and mother not to be a burden because of me, I have to fight these cursed wretches.
Within that moment, I can finally utterly lift this wretch's hand, despite that it wasn't enough.
Despite the possibility in these darkest rooms, I, who am fighting to survive, am brutalizing all my strength into it.
Not long before, on the other side of the bedroom door, a radiant blue light was seeping through, creeping into my bedroom.
Thus, in that instant, all of the oppressive fear and dread… begin to fade. All feelings of apprehension waxed and cleansed my heart. It was more than just a glowing light.
It thrived
I gaze at that glimmering light, my eyes are fixed upon it, seeing the light becomes brighter, filling to overflowing, and then it explodes, fervently consuming the dark.
And I heard the voice once more through that dazzling brightness. The same rough, well-known voice.
"Atama," the old man said, "come and find me."