August 13

Yesterday sure was energetic. Will something good happen today? I'll go in the details of yesterday's events just for you. Are you thrilled? I sure was. I was preoccupied with my journal, so yeah, that happened. Upon realizing I was already inside, my expression stiffened. I panicked, but I didn't lose my composure still. I thoroughly examined my surroundings. I already noticed this earlier, but it was darker in here. I stepped outside for a while.

Gwen had been looking around. She first went towards the worn-out wooden shelf. There were empty cans of sardines and beans. Next to it, there lay a broken mug. It was in one piece, but even in the dark, you can see it's cracks all over. It was glued together. In the lower levels, there lay dead rats. Gwen poked it with her stick, then the hidden cockroaches started crawling erratically. Stunned, she cringed. I went closer to see if she was fine.

"Boy, I was surprised!" She said.

I told her that she should be careful. We never know if there were poisonous spiders hidden in the dark.

"If there are, than that's something mysterious! I'd like to see them and add them in my list!"

Of course, right. Spiders are cool, after all.

"It looks like there's a light bulb up there." She looked up and poked the object above with a stick.

I went inside to examine it too. Clunk, clunk. Upon finding out that it was a light bulb, her lips curved upwards. She looked happy.

"Do you know the meaning of this?" She vigorously asks me.

Don't think of taking it and selling it. That belongs here. I asked her what she meant. She looked at me with a disappointed mien.

"It means we can examine this place better!"

"It does?"

"It does! Find the switch, Meis! This place looks ran down, but unless we try, we'll never know if it works!"

She sure is vigorous. Still reluctant, I went to look for the switch.

Switch. Switch. Switch.

Gwen searched near the broken TV right beside the shelf. The screen was cracked. Looked like someone kicked it at full strength. On my part, I searched the walls near the door. It was nowhere there. That's normally where it's placed, so I briefly stopped and turned towards her.

"There's nothing here."

"That so? Search outside then."

I had an expression which showed that I thought her idea was pathetic, but she didn't see it, as she was too busy searching for a switch that's obviously not there. Without anything to do, I stepped outside. I sat on a nearby stump to rest for a bit. As for Gwen, she moved on to the corner of the room. She was using her hands to examine things. It was dark, after all. Upon further inspection, she felt something stick to her hands. Curious, she turned towards the light in order to see what she caught. It was merely a spider web. Even so, her face brightened up. Her eyes darted around to search for me, so she could report her findings, but upon seeing me, she yelled.

"Meis! Don't slack off! Just find the switch!"

She went searching again, but on the other corner this time, behind the TV. Hearing her blaring shout, I stood up and turned around. Ah, I found it. It was near the door. Not inside, but out. I told her that I found it. Her expression brightened, then she stood at the upper center part of the room, in between the shelf and the TV, right below the light bulb.

"Press it!"

I went to where it was. It was roughly seventy centimeters to the right of the entrance. I pressed the switched. Nothing seemed to have happened. I got my book and opened. I wanted to write about this uninteresting turn of events. While heading inside, I was staring at a blank page, preoccupied about which words to use.

I entered.

Suddenly, my chest tightened. I felt nauseous. I could here eerie sounds, but I couldn't focus my attention to them right now. I was greatly stupefied, and that was no exaggeration. From my peripheral vision, I didn't want to believe it, but the walls were erratically changing colors. The wall color seemed to change to bright purple. There were dead black bits too. I didn't know if it was because of my dizziness, but the colors seemed to be fighting each other. They were constantly trying to out-power each other, seeking dominance over painting the wall. It was like war. It was chaotic. Because of the erratic movements of the wall's color, it made an illusion; it was as if the room was shaking. I felt like I was losing my balance. To top that, the air began to feel scarce. My lungs desperately tried to gasp for air. I took deep breaths and squelched, too deep that I felt aggravating pain. Even though I couldn't comprehend the situation, I attempted to flee.

A natural instinct.

I quickly turned my body and ran, but my face slammed into the door.

"There wasn't a door here before, so what's this blocking me?" I muttered out of shock.

Squelching louder than ever, I took a step back to examine what was in front of my person. Nothing. There was nothing. I beheld nothing, not even the sight of what was supposed to be 'outside'. It appeared completely hollow, but it was not. It didn't look solid at all. On second thought, maybe it was solid. It may have been solid. I was hindered from describing what it was either because it was beyond my vocabulary, or that it was beyond human comprehension.

For the first time, I heeded the haunting eerie sounds. I heard aggravating screeches. I managed to stop myself from staring at the 'door' and looked to my right. I looked to my left. If I were able to hypothesize something— anything, I would say that the chaotic movements of the colors were the cause the high toned screeches. I ducked and covered my ears, but it did nothing to the noise. I screamed to the top of my lungs in order to drown the sounds, but after a second, I realized the absurdity of my action. I couldn't breath anymore. The remaining oxygen had disappeared.

"I don't wanna die.", I thought to myself.

I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die.

I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I DON'T WANT TO DIE…

I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die, aren't I. I dropped my self on the floor. I pumped my lungs rapidly, trying very hard to inhale oxygen, despite the fact that there won't ever be any. I really am gonna die, suffocating in a strange situation that evaded logic and science. That's too bad, huh. I still wanted to experience the feeling of happiness and excitement while I lie in my bed, thinking of what kinds of things I'll be doing tomorrow. I still wanted her to teach me. I still wanted her to drag me around on a whim. I wanted to see her happy…

Gwen.

Gwen?

She was here with me, wasn't she. Even though there's no more hope, even if my attempts are desperately futile, if I tried to do something— anything, something will happen. Something should happen.

I can still save Gwen.

Having regained the tiniest bit of composure, I took the initiative to stand up no matter how hard and painful it was. I struggled to keep my balance. If I turned around now, pain will devour me, but if I didn't do anything, Gwen will die. I was in a dilemma between physical and emotional pain.

I didn't look anything heroic in the first place. Gwen might even be dead already. As this thought crossed my mind, my mind went black and I did everything in my power to turn around and face the truth. The little composure I had had disappeared like a bubble that popped.

There was a strange figure. It was situated in Gwen's supposed position. It was inhuman. It's body was enveloped by thick slimy black fluid, and what seemed like it's face was white. From it's mouth, a thinner fluid ran down. The being was intensely convulsing.

My heart felt heavy, I wanted to rip it right out. My lungs felt tense, I wanted to stab a hole in it. The more I stared at the monstrous creature, the more I was brought into delirium. I reached a point where I could see it, but could no longer describe nor comprehend it. I looked straight into it's eyes.

The being was staring dead straight at me.

Without warning, it began to move erratically. It moved violently. The room was shaking as if there was an earthquake. I struggled to keep my balance, and eventually fell. The light was turning on and off, blinking rapidly as the creature danced ferociously. It was growing larger as the seconds passed.

Hold on. From my perspective, it appeared like it was getting bigger, but in reality, it was only going closer towards me. It was not dancing either. That was how it transports itself from one place to another; that was how it walked. The lights went out for a couple of seconds, and when the lights went back on, the creature had gotten significantly closer. The lights began to rapidly blink ones again, only to go out for another couple of seconds.

I took this as an opportunity to escape. I crawled to my left as fast as possible. The lights went back on, and the creature was chewing the 'door'. If I did not crawl here, I would've been the one inside of it's mouth instead. The lights blinked once more. The creature was hopping, causing the room to shake. I hope it was not mad of having eaten a door instead of a person.

Speaking of which, I could now see the outside world. The 'door' no longer sealed the room. I was no longer confined. Air gushed inside, and I took heavy breaths. A spark of hope lit up my heart. I could escape. I could escape!

Suddenly, the lights went out, and everything went back to how it was. Looking outside, I could see tall trees and lush bushes. The clouds were sparsely scattered across the great sky. The birds were singing a song that inspired hope. Filled with hope, I stood and dashed outside.

I made it.

I was free! I no longer had to worry about being the breakfast of a being that I had no accurate way of describing. I was starting to feel dubious about the reality of what I had just experience; I almost dismissed it all as a mere dream or vision, but I remembered something. I turned around to look at the shanty, but I didn't see Gwen.

"Gwen!"

No response.

"Gwen!" I shout once more.

My heartbeat raced, and before I knew it, I was already running back to the shanty. Upon entering, I hastily darted my eyes around the room.

"Gwen, show yourself!"

I took a step.

"This isn't funny."

I took another step, then another, until I made it to the center.

"Gwen!" I shouted as loud as I could.

The lights went back on. The monstrous creature was now in front of me. My eyes were centimeters away from the surface of it's teeth, and I felt an excruciating pain somewhere in my body. I looked at where it was coming from, and strangely, it wasn't there. My right arm was chopped from my body. Blood gushed out. The pain was torturous.

Having lost so much blood after just a few seconds, I struggled to keep myself conscious. At this point, my memory was faint. All I could remember was a noise so chaotic, and a line that I will never forget; one that filled my soul with dread:

"YOU FOOL, GWEN IS ALREADY DEAD!"