The 10th Circle - Abyss [Complete]

6. Engram: Thread (1)

Past the gates of the sun and the place of dreams, they soon reached the meadows of asphodel where the ghosts abide, the phantoms of men whose work is done.
The Odyssey - Homer

~ ~ ~

I woke up in the middle of the night and found the world shrouded in complete darkness. Not even the streetlamps on the campus grounds cast any light through our window, and I concluded that Moon must have shut the blinds at some point. I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness around me, but after what felt like a couple of minutes, I still could not see. I slowly sat up in bed and waved my hand in front my face – nothing.

Slowly and carefully, I got up from bed and reached out towards my desk and chair, but my hands only went through empty air. And my eyes still refused to adjust to the darkness that surrounded me. I could feel fear well up inside me, gripping my insides with a leaden touch. Something was not right. I had to turn on the light, even if that would mean waking up Moon, but in my rising panic I could not even find the light switch of my bedside lamp. I turned around and moved towards the bathroom – or what I thought was the direction of the bathroom, because instead, after two steps I walked right into a solid wall.

"Oh for fuck's sake!"

I cursed as I stumbled back, and in the process, tripped. With a scream of surprise I fell over backwards, hit my head on something and cried out in pain.

Suddenly, the light turned on. I remained blind – the darkness before my eyes had merely been replaced by glaring white and dancing specks of red and yellow. I groaned in pain and rubbed one hand over my eyes and the other over the back of my head.

"Oh my, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just hurt my head." I grumbled, squinting my eyes as they adjusted to the light. "What the hell did you leave in the hallway, M-"

Her name got stuck in my throat as I recognized the voice. It was not Moon's.

Finally, my vision cleared and adjusted to the light, but what I saw was still white. I was back in the white room, back in the prison. I was sitting on the floor, and on the far side of the white bed sat a girl with wavy auburn hair and a very confused look on her face. Bridge.

"Oh no. No. Nonononono." I shook my head in disbelief as I scrambled to my feet. "Why am I here? Why am I back here again? How is this possible?!"

The panic I felt caused my heart to pound painfully in my chest and constrict my throat. The girl had no answer for my question. She just stared back at me wordlessly, her face a reflection of my own confusion and fear.

This isn't right, I thought. It's not supposed to be like this. I'm not supposed to be here. I have to wake up.

Determined to force my way out of this dream, I pinched the back of my trembling hand. I dug my nails into my skin, until I couldn't bear the pain anymore. Nothing happened. With a cry of frustration I slammed my fist against the wall that I had walked into. Now both of my hands were aching. Along with the dull throbbing that originated from the back of my head, the pain pulsated through my body with each panicked heartbeat. But even that didn't manage to wake me up. It couldn't even overshadow the increasing sense of utter dread that welled up within me. The feeling was like a tide, as dark and evil as the water that had swallowed me and spat me out, over and over again, in my previous nightmare.

The world before my eyes began to blur, and darkness crept up from the corners of my vision. I stumbled back and sank down against the wall, eyes wide with horror as the memory hit me with full force.

"I don't want to be here. I don't want to go back... to that place," I whispered.

Cowering on the floor, I hugged my knees close to my body and buried my head, hoping that the white room around me would disappear again if I just didn't look at it. And it did. Instead, I could feel the water all around me again, black and inky in my eyes and mouth, filling my lungs and making it hard to breathe. My body began to shake uncontrollably, and hot tears carved searing paths down my cheeks.