Awakening

Chapter 2

"What the hell is that, magic!?" I exclaimed, trying to crawl away from the man, wanting to get as far away from him as possible. But I didn't get far as red chains suddenly bound me, lifting me into the air. The chains started to burn my skin, causing me to scream in pain.

"AAAHH!"

However, the man paid no mind to my screams as the red chains started to shimmer and the heat of the chains increased in temperature, causing my screams to increase in volume. The chains started to pull gray energy from my body into his own, which caused it to start to deform. His skin became a shifting canvas of pulsating veins, his limbs stretched and contorted unnaturally, and multiple glowing eyes appeared across his face. From his back sprouted twisted appendages, part-wing, part-tentacle, writhing with a sinister energy.

What is that?!

Not wanting to find out what was happening to the man, I tried to squirm out of the chains, but the more I tried to move, the tighter the chains got and the more gray energy it absorbed, causing his body to deform even more. Changing the color of his skin to a slight green color, another pair of wings burst from his back. Then a sudden bout of drowsiness washed over me, trying my best to stay awake but failing.

"S..stay….aw..awake…"

It was then my body gave out, and I passed out. Waking up, I was in a dark space. The space was similar to the one in my dream, but unlike the one in my dream, it didn't have the massive being that was in my dream. Instead, there was a massive pillar of gray flames? Energy? I couldn't really tell that looked similar to the energy the man was draining from me. I walked towards the pillar absentmindedly, a reason I honestly didn't know. For some reason, the pillar felt familiar but not at the same time. It was a weird feeling I couldn't quite place. The pillar was beckoning me to go to it and embrace it. I stood before the pillar where the feeling got strong, almost unbearable even.

I reached out towards the pillar, plunging my hand into the pillar. Then there was a flash of light, and I blacked out. Opening my eyes, I was back in the park, staring at the deformed human. But instead of seeing the deformed human body, I was seeing inside his body. His body was blacked out, and I could see three orbs?

One was white, one was red, and the last one was a dark gray nearing black. During this time, my body was moving on autopilot. My hand was raised as if reaching out toward the orbs that I was seeing, but I was aware that I was nowhere close to the man to do so. I reached toward the white orb, my hand around it and started crushing it, which caused the deformed man to roar in pain. The white orb in my grasp started cracking, causing the roars to increase in volume, and then the orb shattered, which caused a chain reaction as the other two orbs shattered as well.

It was after the orbs were destroyed the man's body started to disintegrate into nothing, which caused the chains that were binding me to disappear, causing me to fall to the ground. Panting, I forced myself to sit up, leaning against the destroyed park bench.

"What… the… hell was… that?" I managed to say, voice shaky.

I slowly stood up on wobbly legs, picked up my bag, then slowly limped my way back home, trying my best not to pass out from exhaustion. Making my way to my room and closing the door behind me, I threw my bag to the side, walked over to my bed, and passed out.

The next day.

I woke, groaning in pain as I sat up, my body sore.

"Mmm... I don't think I'm going to school today," I muttered to myself, holding my head.

The memories from last night came rushing back, and I couldn't help but shiver as if cold water was splashed on me. The burning sensation of those chains burning me did not feel good, and the drain of my strength wasn't fun. And then there was the thing in the dark space with that pillar of gray flames or energy—I still couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. Rubbing my temples, I struggled to make sense of it all. Was I going crazy? Was any of it real, or just some elaborate nightmare?

But then again, looking down at my uniform and seeing burns on it washed away any amount of doubt in my mind that what happened last night wasn't a dream. I sighed as I got up from my bed, my muscles protesting every movement. The events of the night had taken a toll on my body, leaving me feeling drained and weak. Maybe skipping school for a day wouldn't hurt.

I got up and walked to the bathroom. I caught sight of myself in the mirror. Dark circles under my eyes spoke of a restless night, and my skin seemed paler than usual.

"I look like a mess," I muttered to myself.

I splashed some cold water on my face in hopes of waking me up, not that it helped. I went down to eat some breakfast and told my parents that I wasn't going to school today. I went back to my room in to hope of getting some understanding of what was happening. I went back to my room and took a breath.

"Alright, I have to test something."

Chapter 2: End