Ultimate Despair

Shivering, I placed my hands against my gaping mouth and silently stepped back. My eyes widened as I watched what unfolded before me. I couldn't believe what I was currently seeing. It was beyond my wildest dreams.

I found myself in a cavernous place, surrounded by women with unusual features and bodies. They looked like monsters, half humans and half animals, resembling hybrid creatures from ancient myths and forgotten fairytales.

They were all around. Most of them were occupied with bathing us. I found myself in a wide lake with azure waters and enchanting surrounding landscapes. Somewhere, a lyre was creating soft and gentle music that made me dizzy.

"Let's pick up the pace," said someone nearby with an inky tail. She was holding a metallic orb in her left hand. My heart skipped a beat. Her hands resembled tiger's paws, and even her skin and ears were alike. 

In my confusion and nervousness, I belatedly realized that someone was approaching me. She had dark wings, folded at the moment but surely marvelous when finally opened—resembling the fine feathers of crows. Unlike others, her skin had a grayish tint. As she neared me, she carried a piece of textile with an odd color.

So scared, I leaped back into the rippling waters of the lake, swimming away from her. Unfortunately, I collided with someone during my attempt of escaping. A scream escaped me as I gazed upon her face—an elf. Her ears were pinkish and pointy, cheeks glittering subtly with gold, and her skin glowing. She simply smiled with jolly eyes. Glancing around, I realized there were more monsters than my fingers and toes could ever count.

"No," I warned, my teeth gritted with fury this time. "Don't you dare come near me." Panicking, I looked helplessly around, trying to make sense of everything. I searched for a way out, but it didn't matter anymore—they already surrounded me.

This was just a dream, I told myself—a very long and vivid dream. Nothing else. This was not real. Nothing like this truly existed. Everyone was but an illusion. All of this was purely impossible.

I firmly closed my eyes, reconciling with darkness. I counted to ten, slowly, deliberately. When I flicked my eyes open, I was still in this place, at this moment, surrounded by these odd creatures.

My chest tightened for an unknown reason, and I couldn't breathe properly. "Where," I wondered, "in the depths of ultimate despair, am I?"

They were so close, and I closed my eyes once more, hopeful. I hurt myself by pinching my cheeks. The pain lingered for a long unbearable while. My renewed sight was greeted with the same scenery. After all, I was still here.

A lady with four delicate arms approached me. I shrieked, stepping backward, causing the water to make violent ripples. Hastily, I moved to the nearest corner and exited the water. Without a second glance, I ran for my life, almost slipping on my dampened shirt. Fortunately, I regained my balance. All of them curiously looked at me, and in that moment, shame and embarrassment filled my senses.

As I ran listlessly to the unknown, a woman with four hooves chased me, accompanied by an owllike creature overhead, casting a shadow on my face. I ran faster down the narrowing passage, the quickest I ever had. Fear fueled me, and I could almost hear my heart's destructive beats under my ears.

I pushed everyone along the way—curious, shocked, and even the scared ones. I didn't care anymore, couldn't care less. Searching for an exit, I spotted a huge wooden door nearby. I sprinted toward it, pushing it open with my bare hands. I was fortunate enough that it was unlocked. Once inside, I closed the heavy door and stood against it, recovering my lost breaths.

It was like a rebirth, my successful attempt at breaking free. I was filled with hope—hope for a return to normalcy, hope for a better future, hope for a wonderful life with Elizabeth, Uncle Thomas, and Auntie Sarah.

However, that hope shattered completely when, before me, I saw numerous creatures drinking on a circular table filled with half-empty bottles, bizarre foods, and cigarette ashes.

The enclosure was filled with gray smoke, and everything seemed darkened. The noises were unbearable—from thin glasses to guttural laughter. Everyone was carrying various lethal tools.

They were all far from normal, akin to the creatures I had escaped from, only manly this time. One of them caught my attention, standing before the others, resembling a bull with a ring on his large nose. In one hand, he wielded a rugged knife, engaged in a serious conversation with a seated giant, occupying at least three seats of space. The giant, too, had horns, and his tail swayed like grass. He held a sword as long as his arms.

Their piercing eyes soon fixated on me, and I nearly lost composure. Not a single blink from any of them, just a collective, puzzled gaze. Silence dominated, halting movements, and I felt my ability to sustain life slipping away. Their grins were terrifying, to say the least, as if they were sudden apparitions scrutinizing my entire being. The man with a monkey-like face walked toward me, smiling, his golden teeth flashing light, causing my muscles to quiver.

I held my breath, torn between retreating or facing what lay ahead head-on. Monsters, creatures, beings more terrifying than my darkest reality filled my field of vision. The smiles, the stares—I could no longer think rationally.

The wooden door burst open, and I instinctively flew to a shadowy corner. Damn. They had already caught up to me. Without further interrogation and hesitation, the female centaur grabbed my elbow and pulled me back towards my former sanctuary.

I struggled to reclaim my strength, but she was overpowering against my weakened arms. "Let me go," I begged, drowning in tears. "Please, I don't want to be here. I want to go home. Bring me home."

She did not say anything as if she had not heard me after all.

My attempt bordered on insanity—kicking my feet, banging my head, and pulling myself out. The immense pressure of my jaw, fueled by anger, had numbed my teeth. But everything was to no avail. More peculiar arms held me in place. It seemed the others had caught up too. I had nothing else to do, nothing else I could do, but surrender myself completely. So I did.

"Please just... kill me instead," I said at last.