Despair

Adam stared at the beast with four horns garbed in a pure-white robe. His eyes betrayed a hint of malice as he took a step forward.

The beast wore an amused smile.

"What do you plan to do?"

Adam didn't respond and kept walking forward. His fists were balled up, and rage oozed from every pore in his body.

In his crazed state, he muttered in a terrifyingly low tone, "If you're the cause of these unwanted powers, maybe I should just kill you here and now."

The beast heard him clearly. "Hold on, you're not listening. I didn't do this to you– it's quite ironic, considering who forced such a cruel fate on you."

By now, Adam was just a few steps away from the beast-like figure. He swung his right arm as hard as he could, connecting it with the monster's face.

His skin tore and he bled immediately.

The beast with four horns said in a pitiful tone, "The longer you stay here, the more susceptible you are to danger in the real world. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your dear sister, would you?"

"Damn you!" Adam yelled, unwilling to listen to reason.

He kept slamming his fists against the beast, eventually, he slumped to the ground and began to sob.

"I don't want this…"

The four-horned beast looked down at him. It said in a melancholic tone, "There are many in the cosmos who would slaughter for the power you possess. Yet here you are, a complete disgrace."

Adam's mouth hung open and his eyes flickered with a hint of surprise as he looked up at the beast.

The beast snickered.

"Oh? Did you think I was going to give you words of encouragement or something? Pfft, I couldn't care less. The only distasteful thing is you allowing a poor soul to perish because you refuse to snap out of this sorry state."

Adam slowly closed his mouth.

Lyra was still in the real world– and there was a giant alien creature trying to exterminate humans. Not only that, but he had seen her death during one of these weird "dreams".

"How do I leave? How do I wake up?"

The beast sighed and said, "It would be wiser to understand where you are right now, but since you have very limited time, and your anchors aren't present…" the beast paused and flashed a devious grin.

"Killing yourself."

Adam rose and looked around. He looked at a knife that had appeared on the ground at some point in time and picked it up.

With his eyes now carrying a douse of determination, he silently drove the knife into his own head.

"No hesitation?" The beast's devious grin widened immediately, surprise obvious in his voice. "Haha! What if it had been a lie? You'd go that far to save your sister?"

As the "dream" shattered, the beast's echoing voice filled Adam's mind, "I guess lunacy can be helpful at certain moments."

…

"Adam!"

The teenager jerked awake and looked around in a fluster. He was back in the real world, and Lyra was in front of him, concern etched on her face.

"What happened?" She asked immediately he opened his eyes. "You suddenly stopped running and your eyes closed shut– they wouldn't open no matter how much I tapped you! I was so worried!"

"It's fine, I'm fine now…" Adam resisted the urge to vomit, as the feeling that came with dying–albeit an illusion–left a dreadful mark on his brain.

"Come on, we're almost there–"

Just as he had uttered those words, he froze in his tracks. An abominable terror crept up his body and he slowly turned to look around. Lyra was the same.

Behind, and hovering in the air, was a creature covered in dense black goo. It had a foul stench that inflicted great trauma and the urge to rip out one's brains.

"Ah!" Lyra fell to the ground, clutching her head in pain.

Adam, although feeling the same mental pain, managed to withstand it. He looked up at the alien-like creature that had a devious grin and a bad premonition grabbed him by the throat.

"Wait, no!"

The humanoid alien had raised his hand. The black goo contorted and solidified into gleaming black daggers.

"Rejoice, for you have had the privilege to die at my hands." The alien said and lowered the arm, raining the daggers on the boy.

"No!" Adam's scream drowned every other noise in Ajax Sector.

…

Huff.. Huff…

His vision was blurry. Every sound only came in inaudible echoes. He could hear his own heartbeat as though it was right next to his ear.

What–

His hands were outstretched, poised to protect himself and the lady behind him. He had jumped in front of Lyra, almost at the same time the daggers began to descend.

"Adam–"

He heard a weak voice from behind him.

Adam, his heart rapidly beating faster, slowly turned around. The strong smell of blood bombarded his senses before his eyes could process what he was seeing.

The image of a lady, with fair skin, wavy blonde hair and the most dazzling eyes. However, right between those eyes was a dagger as black as night.

Her body was arched backwards, only held up by the large dagger that went through her heart and stuck fast to the ground. Her shoulder bore a gaping hole, and her abdomen was covered in similarly black daggers.

Blood poured.

"A-Adam…"

The boy reached to touch her, but his hand passed through her body. With his vision blurry and his breath heavy, he glanced at his arms. They shifted between an ethereal and corporeal state.

Then, he raised his gaze once more and looked at her increasingly pale face.

The lady coughed when she tried to speak, and blood trickled down her mouth.

"I'm s-sorry…" She managed to say. "I shouldn't h-have burdened you. I'm sorry.. I love… I love you…"

Her eyes slowly lost any trace of life.

At that moment, Adam lost all hope. He lost the drive to live, he lost the strength to speak. He suddenly felt himself detached from every single emotion.

He just stood there, staring at the mutilated corpse of his sister.