THE CHAINS AROUND ME
Aarav screams as he awakens.
Sweat runs down his forehead as he blinks at the ceiling, his chest racing.
One more dream.
No, a nightmare.
Even though his heart is still pounding, the visions are already vanishing, settling like stones in dark water in the depths of his memory.
flashes.
Deadlines were whispered on his laptop screen as it melted into a mouth.
Chains tightening, a hand squeezing his wrist, dragging him below.
From the corner of his room, someone was observing.
His breath trembles. He closes his eyes tightly and then opens them again.
"It's just stress… right?"
The darkness is broken by the illumination from his laptop screen. the sole light source. The only seemingly real thing in his room.
🔔 "New Chapter Deadline: 4 Hours Remaining."
His stomach rotates.
He neglected to write. Once more.
He grabs for the laptop and flips it open, his fingers shaking. His eyes are burned by the screen. He looks back to his draft, which is empty.
He swallows. His hands rest over the keyboard, feeling rigid.
"Come on. only one chapter.
But he has no thoughts.
His heart crashes on his skull.
Nothing.
Words cannot be found.
However, the alerts do.
🔔 "Your novel is dropping in rankings."
🔔 "Maintain daily updates or risk being removed from the trending list."
🔔 "Failure to meet your contract terms may result in penalties."
His spine is dragged by a sharp invisible claw.
He starts to breathe more rapidly.
He holds his hair in his hands.
He is not capable of failing.
His novel will die if he stops.
Furthermore, if his book fails—
He passes away.
His chest swells. His vision becomes blurry. He has to move his fingers, not because he wants to.
The identical whisper from his nightmares slides into his ears.
"Did you really think you could stop?"
The room's shadows change.
There's movement.
The screen of his laptop flickers. It's his reflection, and it smiles.
Not at him.
Toward the object behind him.
Aarav yells.
But the voice, choked and swallowed by the thick air, hardly escapes his throat.
His bones hit by his heart. His breath is irregular and jagged.
The figures remain stationary.
Simply stare.
Hollow, empty.
His laptop's screen shifts, flickering between the draft of his work and other content.
There's a problem.
To create a new sentence, words reorganize and twist.
"You belong to us now."
Aarav's heartbeat falters.
"No, no, this isn't real—this isn't real—"
The figurines move closer together.
The walls get more rigid. The darkness has life.
The keys on his laptop click by themselves
Tap, tap, tap.
A new story starts to come to light on its own.
He is stiff. He is unable to breathe.
Then—
His shoulder is touched by a bony, chilly hand.
Aarav slowly rotates.
A smooth, inhuman, featureless face shifts toward him.
And it whispers, in a voice of screams
"Write."
**He types with his fingers.
Not willingly.
Not willingly.
The invisible but crushing chains tighten around his wrists.
He fights it. tries to get away.
His hands are motionless.
**Tap, tap, tap.**
The screen bursts with words. Not what he said.
"This is not what I want. This is not what I desire."
However, the narrative **continues.**
The speed at which the pointer moves is **inhuman.**
Aarav coughs his chest. His eyes swim.
Things appear **closer.**
The laptop's light **distorts, flickers, and flares**
The screen's letters **react to him by twisting and rearranging. **
"You will write." ** ** "You will obey." "You will never leave."
His skin is **burned** by the chains.
He stutters his breath.
A fresh alert shows up.
🔔 ** "New Milestone Unlocked: 100 Consecutive Days of Updates!" **
Aarav's body shakes.
He has no memory of writing for that long.
He can't recall anything.
For what number of days?
What is the number of chapters?
Just how much of him remains?
His fingertips hurt. His bones are empty.
It flickers on the screen.
A message shows up.
He didn't write one.
"I'm almost there. Another chapter.
The chains get tighter.
Aarav looks. He parted his lips.
His ear is encircled by a whisper.
"Just one more."
Once more, his fingers move.