Chapter 1
My fingers trembled as I tried in vain to insert the key into the keyhole,
while my phone in my coat pocket vibrated incessantly with madness.
It wasn't just a ring; it was digital screams from "Mr. Louis,"
that manager who thinks that the collapse of his small,
dilapidated office budget means the bankruptcy of the global stock market.
I held my breath as I ran toward the station, my heart thumping against my chest like an angry drum.
I reached the bus at the last moment, only for the crowd to push me inside as if I were a mere piece of scrap.
There wasn't even space for a deep breath; I gripped the cold metal pole tightly, feeling its roughness pierce my palm.
The air was heavy, sticky, and saturated with the pungent smell of sweat that attacked my sinuses without mercy.
I felt nausea rising from my stomach to my throat, so I closed my eyes, trying to detach my mind from my body crammed among the perspiring bodies.
And suddenly... the silence of the routine was shattered by a terrifying metallic scream.
The ground shook beneath my feet, and gravity lost its meaning.
I was thrown so violently that my shoulder bone collided with something hard, and screams erupted,
tearing my eardrums before the sound of shattering glass overwhelmed them.
I felt the heat of bodies sticking to me in utter chaos,
and a massive pressure squeezing my lungs, preventing me from screaming.
Then, in a fleeting flash, everything went silent.
The sounds died out, the heat cooled, and a pitch-black darkness swallowed me until I no longer felt even the weight of my body.
My eyelids parted slowly, but the darkness was so thick that I felt pressure on my eyes.
I remained still for seconds, my lungs drawing in terrifyingly fresh air, cold as ice.
"Is this the grave?"
I whispered in my mind,
while my fingers moved tentatively, touching a smooth, cold,
and silky texture that I had never known in my old wooden bed.
I pushed the cover off me and stood up with a movement that was unexpectedly swift and powerful,
as if my body possessed an engine I wasn't used to driving.
I felt along the wall searching for the light switch, and as soon as I pressed it, the light exploded to drown the room in a charcoal brilliance.
It was a vast space, furnished with polished black furniture that reflected the light like mirrors.
"Did I die and enter heaven?"
I moved with wide strides, feeling an unfamiliar weight in my bones and a firmness in every step I took on the cold marble.
Suddenly, I froze in my tracks.
In the large mirror that centered the wall, there was a stranger staring at me.
I opened my mouth to scream,
but the voice that came out was not my usual shrill scream;
it was a deep, rough roar that violently shook my vocal cords.
"My God.. I am a man!"
I took a step back, but my reflection in the mirror did the same.
A tall man, with pitch-black hair waving madly over his forehead, and green eyes shining with a sharp glow under thick eyebrows.
I approached slowly, my hands trembling as they stroked the features of my face;
the jaw was sharp as a blade, and the skin was rough with dominant masculine features.
My hands slid to the shirt buttons, opening them with a hysterical movement so the fabric fell back,
revealing a broad chest and six-pack abdominal muscles carved as precisely as those I had only seen in Greek sculptures.
It was a perfect body.. but it wasn't mine.
With ragged breaths and hands that were still trembling,
I pulled back the edge of the pants slightly, and time stopped completely.
My limbs stiffened, and I felt a sudden coldness coursing through my spine.
I screamed again, a scream that this time was not just terror, but a shock that shook the corners of the room.
Suddenly, the door burst open violently.
A slender man,
his gray hair pulled back with precision, wearing a flawless black butler's suit.
He was panting, his calm features turned into a worry mixed with respect as he bowed his head slightly:
"Master Adrian! What is wrong? Has the nightmare haunted you again?"