House of Death

Chapter 1

"Huh? I ... I'm sorry I can't..."

"I insist." The man insisted and before Raul could say anything else, the man was suddenly in front of him putting the necklace on him. "Raul, I don't just give anyone a gift. I'd really like it if you accept it graciously. And you must never take it off. Ever."

"Wait, how do you.. how do you know my name?" Raul asked cautiously. "Who are you?"

In response to the stranger merely gave him a sad smile as a single tear streamed down his gorgeous face.

"I'm so sorry. You are truly a generous soul filled with so much life. I hope you can forgive me one day."

"Huh? What are you saying?!" Raul asked in confusion.

That was until he blinked his eyes.

At first he was disoriented. His vision was blurry, everything was spinning and he could barely breathe. He didn't even know where he was.

Had it all been a dream? No. It can't have been. It felt all too real. So what was going on? How did he go from having a conversation with a hot stranger to this - what was this?

He tried to look around so he could understand what was going on. Nothing made sense. It seemed as if his world had completely flipped over. And why couldn't he move?

What's going on? He asked himself. I can't feel my legs. I can't feel anything. Why do I feel so cold?

When he tried to open his mouth to call out to anyone he found himself choking.

I can't breathe. Why can't I breathe?

He heard voices talking from near him but for some reason he couldn't even turn his head to look. He knew at that moment something was very wrong with him as the initial shock slowly disappeared and he began to experience excruciating pain.

"There's someone trapped under the seats!" He heard someone shout. "It looks like they're still alive."

Under the seats? He thought in confusion even though he could barely think with the pain that was coursing through his body. Are they talking about me?!

He heard footsteps move to where he was. He saw someone crouch down to his level. A firefighter.

"Oh god... can you hear me? Can you move?" The firefighter asked with a horrified expression as they stared down at him.

Raul tried to say something - anything - but his voice wouldn't work. His vision began to blur and he began to panic.

What's happening to me? Am I dying?!

"Hey ... look at me. It's okay. I'll get you out of here okay. Just stay with me. Stay with me." The firefighter continued softly as he tried to get through to him.

No matter how many times the firefighter said those words Raul only found himself being pulled into the darkness until there was nothing at all.

For a moment the darkness was all there was, enveloping him like a thick blanket. Even the pain disappeared. Then he heard a beeping sound. He felt warm. The numbness was gone.

His body felt a little exhausted but that was it. As he blinked away the sleep from his eyes, he took in the sterile white walls around him and realized that he was in a hospital. The beeping sound seemed to be coming from the heart monitor he was hooked on to.

"What the hell is going on?" He said weakly as he began to look around in confusion.

Everything was too confusing for him. It felt like a huge chunk of his memory was jumbled up. There was no way it could have all been real.