(7) Daknophobia

May 14, 2010. Saturday, 11:21 PM, Hemptonburg City…

— Owen's room.

It wasn't that spacious, but it was enough to fit his bed frame, a closet, a desk for his PC, and a cabinet filled with his old consoles, diaries, doodles, and a sewing kit.

Owen slept quite like a bear during hibernation. There was no way anyone's going to wake him up unless one would go ahead and pour ice cold water on him and soak his entire bed. That would be rude.

Surely no one would do such a thing…

Right?

"..."

Owen's body was positioned upright with his arms and legs messily spread out while he snoozed.

The light from the barely closed window did not illuminate much of the room for a normal person to see anything.

He continued to sleep soundly until he felt a hand graze over his face. His face scrunched up reflexively.

The soft, graceful sensation started from his nose, to his left cheek, and to his lips.

To others, they may not see anything wrong with Owen. But to some who were strange enough to perceive her, they would catch sight of a six armed woman on top of Owen.

Not only that, water began to leak everywhere from her cracked porcelain skin, soaking the bed in its entirety.

"Hnghn!" Owen suddenly opened his eyes when he felt the water soak his body.

He saw the woman whose eyes he couldn't see due to her jet black hair shielding her eyes like a grand curtain. Her lips were moving. She seemed to sing a soundless tune.

Owen, with his best effort to ascertain the situation he was in, his eyes darted around his room, he couldn't move nor could he scream. His mind was thrown into a chaotic mix of confusion and weakness.

He looked into the corner of his room and saw that his alarm clock showed the time.

(11:22 PM)

Owen was able to spot two human skulls floating near the woman's head by her right, and a heart filled with bites on the left. Her back arms were gripping his arms tightly above his head while her two main arms played around with his face.

Her fingers were slender and long, and from her actions, they didn't display any ill intent. Instead showing the gesture of the loving touch of a mother with her cherished child. Owen could see large white feathers fanned out in the manner that peacocks would spread their own. The woman's clothing was nothing short of elegant.

Owen was naturally frightened. Even though she didn't look like she was hurting him in any way, the fact that he didn't know her true purpose was making his heart race with fear. Her cold pale body and the streaming water from her skin made him feel as if he was half submerged in a shallow river.

And to see a heart still pulsating near him was enough to send fear creeping through him. It was tolerable seeing imagery like that through the internet, but seeing them in real life isn't as easy to process.

The woman's body didn't feel soft or warm. It felt like a cold stone was placed on top of him.

Owen tried to struggle even more, but he couldn't do a single thing. If this was a nightmare, all he wished was for it to end.

But could nightmares be this vivid? Owen didn't know. And despite doing his best to think, he couldn't even formulate a single word in his thoughts. It seemed as if there was a wall preventing him from making a coherent thought.

The woman's hands moved. Her fingers appeared like snakes that slithered down his face and into his neck.

She stretched her finger out and touched his Adam's apple that sent a wave of pain that jolted his entire body.

"Hmrgh!" Owen's body wanted to convulse from the sharp sensation to no avail. The women continued to feel around his neck which tortured his mind and body nonstop. Each point of contact sent this wave of pain crashing towards his psyche.

It was truly agonizing. It felt like his skin was ripped apart from his neck towards his scalp and towards his entire body, stopping at his toes.

Suddenly, after the woman appeared like she found something, she stopped and looked at his neck. Despite what Owen felt, he didn't receive any injuries.

His eyes rolled around lifelessly after experiencing the painful touch of the woman.

Even after all of that, she was still singing a soundless tune.

And when Owen thought it was over, the woman stopped singing her tune. The face on her womb began to sing instead. Owen could feel the vibration of her voice in his legs.

The woman leaned closer to his neck and licked it. Her tongue, unlike her skin, was soft and fleshy. But even though it was slow and soft, the slicing pain it gave him was something no human could easily tolerate.

Owen's eyes widened as he still tried to scream.

She kept licking his neck slowly and carefully. But every time she moved her tongue, a thin layer of skin in his neck was torn off. Strings of saliva stretched out as her tongue retracted from the torn skin.

Not long after, blood began to seep out.

His Adam's apple twitched, his larynx moved rhythmically as he breathed. Only thin strands of flesh connected them at this point.

The blood trailing down his throat were like crimson flowers thinning down from the clean, pure water that leaked out of the woman's skin.

Then, before Owen could gain a sense of clarity, she began biting his exposed neck.

*Krrkk- Sccghhh….* A crisp sound could be heard as she dug her teeth in.

Owen wanted to faint. But he couldn't. There was something stopping him from losing his sanity, but it also forced him to experience the pain without anything to dampen it.

The woman kept biting and biting, she chewed off his throat, making squishing sounds as she did so. Then after chewing, she swallowed it.

Owen could see her throat move in a downward wave-like manner. She then showed a satisfied expression.

The woman leaned back once more and continued eating his Adam's apple specifically with the intention to hollow it all out.

And once it was all gone after eating all of it, she stopped and pulled her mouth back from his neck. She then straightened herself and looked at Owen lovingly.

Owen's mind tried to keep him from turning senile because of the pain. But at this point, he wanted to die after the torturous feeling kept lingering throughout his body.

His eyes wandered to her stomach and saw the upside-down face singing. Owen didn't have much strength to think at all. This wasn't intentional.

But he kept looking at her.

Even though it didn't serve a purpose.

.. At least he thought so.

Suddenly, the pain felt like it was being washed away. What replaced it was a feeling of security, calmness, comfort and peace. It soothed the pain he was experiencing like dirt being washed away by a fountain.

The woman noticed this. Despite her eyes being covered by her hair, she smiled warmly at Owen.

Her beautiful face slowly moved as she spoke a single word to him.

"... Listen."

"..."

Was it all a dream?

"AAAAGGH!" Owen sprung up from his bed and held his neck with both hands.

*Kuhh!* He coughed repeatedly, shaking off the horrendous condition he suffered earlier.

He looked around and saw nothing. His bed was completely dry, his neck wasn't hollowed out, and anything that happened earlier seemed to be just a dream.

"Hahh- Hah- What the…. What the f*** was that? What the actual f*** was that?!" Owen was still startled by the woman. His brain began to block out the pain he felt, preventing him from properly recalling it.

As he remembered what happened, he quickly got up from his bed and went to his cabinet to get a mirror.

Once he got it, he inspected his neck closely to see if anything happened to him.

But there wasn't a single trace of blood or any notable damages.

Seeing this, Owen sighed in relief. He put the mirror back and saw his alarm clock.

(5:20 AM)

"It's morning? Seriously…?" Owen opened his window and flipped the curtains away, which upon swinging them in, the sun blinded him momentarily.

"No way… It was nighttime earlier. I saw it, I'm sure I saw it.." Owen couldn't make sense of what just happened to him. It all occurred so quickly that he didn't have time to understand anything.

And while he sat down pondering the confusing situation he was just put through, he heard three knocks from his door.

*Knock, knock, knock!*

"Hey Owen, you alright in there? I heard something loud." Jazmine's voice could be heard behind the door.

Owen stood up and walked towards the door.

"So why did you scream? Did ya have a nightmare?" Jazmine looked at Owen's haggard appearance as he opened the door.

"Yep, very terrifying…."

He exhaled in exasperation.

"I hate it…" Owen didn't have the energy to smile or make a joke. He truly hated what he went through whether it was truly a dream or not.

Jazmine took a second glance at Owen. She didn't anticipate this kind of behavior from him.

As Owen walked downstairs, she thought to herself, "Must've been a really bad one…" She also noticed that he wasn't in the mood to bicker with her like usual, so it probably wasn't the best idea to mess with him.

And both of them didn't even notice that Owen's neck was flatter and it was missing the prominent protrusion.

— Downstairs…

Owen went to the kitchen to drink some water. He took an empty glass and poured some for himself.

As he drank, Annie was busy frying fish. She added some spices, vinegar, soy sauce, and some sliced bell peppers. The aroma filled the room, making one salivate from just the smell alone.

However, Owen didn't have any interest or the appetite for now. He sat down and relaxed to calm himself down.

Soon, Annie finished cooking and everyone began to eat breakfast.

But Owen, he stared at the fish on his plate. The fish had a golden brown color and the various spices could be seen sprinkled all around it. But he didn't feel like he wanted to eat it.

Pain tethering away from human tolerance wasn't such a simple thing that one can just simply walk it off.

Moving his eyes, Owen glanced at his parents and sisters eating the fish happily as they talked. He lifted his fork to eat along with them.

But for every bite that they took, Owen felt his body tremble. He began to see himself again under the woman's gaze as she ate his throat open.

"Nggghhh…." Owen put down his fork and stood up.

"I don't think I have the appetite." Owen then hurriedly went back to his room.

"?" Gordon looked at him strangely.

Silence filled the room as he walked away.

When he finally left, Isabella asked, "Do you know what happened to your brother? Is he alright?"

Jazmine stopped eating for a second and said, "He said that he had a nightmare or something.. I really have no clue why he's acting so weird."

Gordon remembered how lifeless Owen's eyes looked. He felt that there was something wrong that Owen wasn't telling them.

Isabella stood up and grabbed Owen's plate. "I'll go to him and see if I can talk about what's troubling him."

As Isabella left, Annie, Jazmine and Gordon stared at the door that she just went out of.

"I hope nothing bad happened… He was so happy yesterday, maybe it had to do with that company that gave him a job?" Annie recalled.

"Yeah, maybe that's the reason.." Jazmine ate a piece of the fish after speaking.

…

Isabella knocked on Owen's door.

"Sweetie, are you alright? I'm always here if you need anything.." Isabella leaned on the door with concern.

"Sweetie? Owen?" She knocked some more which caused the door to creak and open slightly.

Isabella saw that the door wasn't locked, a feeling of peculiarity was reflected on her eyes.

Isabella walked inside the room slowly. And when she did, she found him tucked in his bed.

Her expression was slightly relieved. She then placed Owen's plate on top of the cabinet and sat down next to him.

"Owen? You know… you can always talk to me if you're going through something." Isabella lightly tapped his shoulder.

"Even if I wouldn't understand it fully as much as you do, letting it all out to someone helps." She leaned her head closer to see if Owen responded, but there was no movement.

"Owen?" Isabella shook his body.

There was no response.

"Owen??" She flipped his body to the bed and saw that he didn't show any signs of consciousness.

Owen's eyes were wide open and all she could see were the eye whites. He was breathing, sure, but he wasn't moving at all.

Isabella's heart skipped a beat. She carried his upper body and held it closer to herself. "Owen! Oh god, what happened to you??"

As Isabella shouted, Gordon, Annie and Jazmine ran into the room.

"What's going on!?" Gordon scanned the area. Isabella was holding Owen in her arms as she cried. When he noticed that his irises almost faded into white, he was immediately alarmed.

This went the same way for Jazmine and Annie.

Annie covered her mouth in shock, she didn't know what's going on, but she prayed that it was nothing serious.

Annie pulled herself back and reached for her phone. "I'll call for an ambulance!"

"Please do…" Gordon nodded and went over to Owen to examine him closer. He saw that he was unresponsive, but he was alive.

With three slight slaps on Owen's cheek, Gordon tried to jolt him awake. "Son, can you hear me?"

But since it had no effect, Gordon stopped. He then placed his ear next to Owen's chest to listen to his heartbeat.

However, there wasn't anything wrong.

Annie had just finished talking with the dispatcher behind the line, "Yes, yes, thank you!" She then hung up and said, "Help is on the way. They told me to give Owen a comfortable area to rest and give him proper ventilation. She also warned me not to block his airways and monitor his vital signs like his breathing and heartbeat."

Jazmine stood rooted on her spot. She didn't know why this happened, but there was an underlying feeling of guilt under her expression.

She was asking herself hundreds of questions why she didn't notice anything wrong, would Owen be like this if she did something, and would this be something that would affect them for the long term?

Jazmine didn't know how to feel.

— Not too long after…

The paramedics got Owen into the ambulance and were on their way to the nearest hospital.

Soon, Owen's family arrived at the hospital as well.

Gordon and Isabella were currently talking to the doctor.

"Doctor, how's our son? Is he going to be fine?" Gordon asked the doctor.

The doctor named Nick Marsson replied, "It's hard to say… Currently, we're doing our best to keep his physical state stable and prevent any accidents from occuring along the way. But I can assure you both that we will do whatever it takes for your son to recover."

"Please… Do everything you can to help him… We're willing to pay any amount necessary." Isabella pleaded in front of Nick with teary eyes. She couldn't bear to see Owen like this any longer.

"About that, there's no need to worry about the costs because someone already paid for it." Nick showed a smile to raise them from their sorrow.

"What?? Who? Who did it? Please tell us who." Isabella was shocked. Who would help them in this time of need?

"The company Abyssal Confinement sends their regards." Nick took off his glasses as a strange glint flickered in his eyes.

— Inside the hospital room…

Annie sat next to Owen and held his hand. The complicated mechanical apparatuses beeped from time to time and some parts of the machinery blinked with light.

Jazmine sat next to Annie and was silently pondering something.

She glanced at Annie and spoke, breaking the silence. "You're wearing that hoodie. You seem to really like it." Jazmine pointed at the light blue hoodie Annie wore.

"It's something Owen gave me after all… He took the time to sew all these words together. He's very sweet when you think about it." Annie smiled as she recalled Owen as a kid giving her the hoodie.

"I just can't get my head around why this had to happen. Everything was okay since yesterday. Why did it have to go this badly now?" Jazmine stared at Owen's unconscious body.

Annie was also disheartened. "You know, I would be crying if this happened a few days ago…"

"Why is today different?" Annie's tone was unlike how she usually spoke. This caught Jazmine's attention.

"He kept pushing me to stop being so soft. He always reminded me that there would be someone who would help me when I needed it the most. Owen made me feel that I'm not that bad after all." Annie's posture sank down a little deeper.

"This makes me regret being such an annoyance to him these past days… I really should've been more of a model older sister that he can look up to, unlike what I am right now." Jazmine smiled self-deprecatingly.

Annie turned to look at Jazmine. "But, he does look up to you as an older sister. What do you mean?"

Jazmine was taken aback. "He does?"

"Yeah, he told me that even though you seem to mess with him the most, he found it nice that you would get out of your way just to interact with him. He said that it felt like your way of showing that you cared. Owen also mentioned to me once that you were the reason why his days weren't boring at all." said Annie.

Jazmine blinked twice. "W- wow, I didn't know that." She then held her cheek after she spoke.

Annie added, "In fact, he looks up to you because you're able to do many things he couldn't. He said that you were more approachable, charismatic, and successful. Owen also liked how you could easily establish connections with other people."

"He also appreciated you for always reminding him when it's lunch, for doing his chores from time to time, and giving him the most random and cool gifts during occasions and his birthday." Annie turned to look back at Owen once again.

"So don't say that you weren't a good older sister for him." Annie's voice slowly trailed off, but Jazmine could still hear it.

Unknowingly, tears began to stream down Jazmine's face. While wiping them off, she laughed with a quivering voice. "Gosh… what did I do in my past life to get a brother like you.."

— Outside…

As Isabella and Gordon discussed important matters, Ivan, Melvin and Rocky hurriedly ran towards them.

Isabella caught sight of them. She didn't recognize Ivan at first, but she remembered that he is Jazmine's boyfriend. He was significantly tanner than the two and he had a very ruffled hairstyle.

"Mister and Miss Ivory…?" Rocky slowed down in his tracks.

"Rocky?" Gordon's eyes focused on the two people behind Rocky and asked, "If you're going to ask about Owen's situation, he is safe."

Melvin nodded, "Sir, what happened to him? He was just fine yesterday."

"I recall that I haven't told anyone yet about this. Did Jazmine or Annie tell you?" Gordon looked at the three of them intently.

"It's Jazmine," Ivan was the one who spoke, "She told me sir. And once I heard the news, I decided to inform these two to come over immediately."

Ivan had close ties with Melvin, so he had no reason to hide this. Especially since Jazmine told him already.

Gordon sighed. "Alright then… It was unexpected, we truly didn't know what happened." As Gordon spoke, he suddenly felt his knees weaken.

"Sir!?" Rocky rushed forward at the same time as Isabella and helped him get up.

"I'm fine, I just didn't have time to eat.." Gordon rested his head on the wall.

Isabella knocked on Owen's hospital room and Annie peeked her head out. "What's up?"

Isabella grabbed her purse and took out her wallet. "Go buy something that your father can eat, here's 50$" She then passed Annie a bill.

"Got it." Annie took the bill and rushed as quickly as she could outside the hospital.

Isabella helped Gordon drink from a water bottle as they waited for Annie to return.

"Excuse me, can we see Owen for a while? It won't take long." Ivan asked Isabella as she took care of Gordon.

"Yes, go ahead.." Isabella nodded.

"Thank you." Ivan and the rest walked into the room.

As the door swung open, Jazmine turned around and saw Ivan. Her expression softened. She stood up and ran up to him. "You're here.."

"Of course.." Ivan held Jazmine in his arms. "I'm sorry for what happened to Owen.."

"We didn't get a warning.. it just happened." Jazmine looked dispirited just from her expression. "I assume you guys want some alone time with Owen, right?"

Melvin nodded. "Can we take a few minutes with him?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Jazmine walked out of the room.

"..."

Now that it was only the three of them, they walked towards Owen and sat down.

"Hey man, how's it going?"

Rocky leaned on his chair.

Right now, even though it wasn't that strange to feel this way, he felt really empty.

Ivan and Melvin sat down next to Rocky. Melvin sighed deeply and instead of sitting with his legs up like he usually does since he's the laid-back type of guy, he didn't out of respect.

The three of them sat there in silence.

It is painful seeing your dearest friend in this state.