Paralyzed (Tboah!AlbeCale)

31) Cale drinks some water, but make it spicy (with a sprinkle of trauma)

"Yes, thank you again for your hospitality. We will most likely leave in two days after restocking supplies and getting some much needed rest, but we will make sure to stop by before our departure."

Alberu nodded again as the group of heroes each said their goodbyes and left the room. The second the soundproofed door clicked shut, he fell back onto the couch and closed his eyes, letting his head flop back.

"Haaaaaa. So much work..."

____

"Ugh..."

Gasp

Cale opened his eyes open and tried to move again. Like he thought, something was restraining his movement.

'What...?'

Tak.

Tak.

Tak.

He unconsciously held his breath, his heartbeat reaching new heights as he did so.

'So you're finally awake.'

Cale looked up. His whole body froze as he locked eyes with a vaguely familiar old man who was walking closer to where he was sitting. After each step, the skin which was supposed to be a face, peeled off a little bit more, revealing the bone underneath.

The amount of blood pouring from the head created an extremely large puddle beneath the old man, and crimson footprints left behind traces of where he walked. The left side of his face was completely peeled off by the time the old man was about seven paces away from Cale.

Cale struggled desperately at the bindings of his limbs and chest, but all it did was make the rope painfully dig into his skin. His breathing was completely scattered, and he felt like he could not suck in any air.

The room he was in was dark and cold, but the old man and the blood were extremely vivid and unnervingly loud. Every sound felt twice as extreme as it should have been. Every drip of blood made shivers shoot up Cale's spine.

Tak. Tak. Tak.

"Why are you trying to leave? Do you think I am ugly? Am I too repulsive? Disgusting?"

Tak.

Tak.

Cale felt like shouting, but no sound would come out. He could not breathe. He was suffocating. Why? Why was this happening? Where was he? What is going on?

In the next moment, the rope disappeared, and Cale was standing up while facing the old man. The peeling face was showing 80% bone now, with everything from the ears back not slipping off.

Cale still couldn't breathe, but at least he was free. Only now, he was stuck in place.

All he could do was silently stand there, watching as the old man walked closer and closer to him. Even after the skeleton eye sockets were revealed, the eyeballs still remained. Cale's fight or flight sense was attempting to activate, but it was also frozen in time.

Violent emotions overtook Cale's body with nowhere to expel them, and now the old man's face was completely gone. He was standing directly in front of Cale, with less than an arm's length distance between them.

"Why are you scared? You made me this way. You did this to me."

Cale barely heard him over the sound of his heartbeat and the ringing in his ears, but what he did hear made his whole body start to shake.