Promise

Why am I here again? Oh! Right. I came here in hopes of becoming a peculiar. But instead of doing just that, I'm here drinking with a stunning woman. Well, at least she's got a weird sense of humor.

"Right? Imagine working yourself to death only to find out that all the hard work and effort you've poured in for years are all useless. Heh! Isn't it like, I was being punished for loving my family way too much? Like, I'm being punished for relying on one person way too much? Right, Iksha?" I told her. But she only laughed. Too much that she was tearing up.

"Of course. Of course. I understand how you feel so much, Sean. When you didn't even wish to exist in the first place, but here we are. But the irony is we didn't want to exist but we didn't want to die either. Though I tried killing myself before, I just won't die. Ha! It's funny how many of your kind wished to become an immortal yet here I am, wishing nothing but to cease existing." she said.

It's funny how we're laughing as we insult ourselves. Am I a masochist perhaps? I hope not.

I don't know how long we've been drinking already. But for some reason, I felt like I was being liberated, being freed. As though the heavy weight in my chest since the day I found myself in this strange world was lifted. For the first time, I was able to speak my heart out.

All the things I couldn't tell my father. My regret for ever knowing Karl. Things I didn't do when I had the chance. And most importantly, my regret for killing myself.

I might have been a tad talkative tonight. A little too much I would say.

And then it hit me. How'd she know I'm Sean? She's been calling me by my real name since the moment I arrived here. And as if a bucket filled with iced water was poured all over me when I realized that I've spoken way too much. How stupid.

"Why'd you suddenly stop talking, Sean? Come on! I still want to hear a lot of things from you."

"Who are you?" I asked. And at that moment, I clearly felt it inside me. Something like a thin thread snapped. And the surroundings instantly changed. From a room with pastel-colored smoke hovering around and elegant furniture and draperies into a small room. So small that it's almost claustrophobic.

The gray walls are dirty and riddled with graffiti. Incomprehensible words and sentences were written in reddish-brown ink almost in the color of rust. Wait! Were they blood?

I jerked my head to the woman in front of me but I was surprised. So surprised that I stumbled backward. She's no longer the stunning woman I spoke with earlier. She's skin and bones. She's got dark circles, chapped lips, and very dry skin. But most of all, she's got legs now instead of tentacles and her hands were riddled with wounds. Some of her nails were about to fall off as she clutched the hem of her dirty white dress. No, it looked more like a hospital gown than a dress.

"W-Why? How and… Just a little more. Just a little more and you won't be able to leave this place. Just a little more and — and I would have been free again. So why?" she said in an almost deranged state as both her hands supported her head while shaking it side to side. "What? Why don't you say anything? I'm hideous, aren't I? So unsightly that you can't even find the right words to say. What now, Sean? Speak! Say something. Anything —" And she sobbed.

Honestly, there were so many things going on in my head at that moment that in the end, I couldn't bring myself to speak. Would have been nice if I find myself lying on the bed back in the apartment the next time I blink. But that's too convenient to happen.

"Was everything a lie?" I finally asked. "Was everything you said about yourself a lie?"

She stopped mumbling and put her hands down. She bit her chapped lips and they started bleeding before looking at me in the eyes again through her greasy blue hair. "Were you like them too, Sean? Were you like them too who won't believe anything I say? Or were you gonna leave me too just like them and let me starve for months just because I won't die? Tell me, Sean. Are you gonna be like that douchebag of a man who promised to free me but didn't? Huh?"

"N-No? And please, Iksha. Calm down." I told her as she began walking toward me. The room was so small that she was already by my front with just a few steps.

"Or are you just like those men who came to find me only because they wish to become powerful? Are you perhaps here to become a peculiar as those men liked to call it?" she asked. But I'm certain she already knew the answer even if I didn't say anything. "Ha! What a fool! Some were desperate but some just wanted it to show off. They didn't even know the consequence. Very well, Sean. I shall turn you into one if you wish but only if you can promise me one thing."

"W-What is it?" It's as though the time stopped and everything around me turned into slow motion. All my attention was on her as she smiled at me. Not a kind one.

"Learn the history of this damned place." she said.

"Excuse me?"

"Promise that whatever happens, you will do everything in your power to learn the history of this place. Am I clear?"

"I—I will try. But what if I can't? Like, what if it's lost? Or there's no record left anywhere?"

"That's impossible. Those greedy bastards won't allow that to happen."

"Is there a time limit?" I asked to make sure.

"No. But I'd rather you learn it sooner. And when you do, I will ask you something when the time comes."

If it's only learning the history of this place then it's not that hard. It's not something that would draw attention to myself either. And there's no time limit either!

"Uhm… Last question. What will happen if I don't fullfill the promise?"

"You will die," she said without any hesitation.