When The Night Calls

Chapter 1: The Last Thing He Remembered

The clock on the kitchen wall read 6:30 PM. The sky outside had already turned dark, the faint glow of streetlights casting long, ghostly shadows on the pavement.

Kai sat at the dining table, absently poking at his food with a fork. His mother had made curry and rice, but his appetite wasn't there. Instead, his mind was already on the movie he planned to watch later—something about a spy who could see ghosts. He had seen the trailer earlier, and the eerie music had stuck with him.

"You're not eating properly," his mother said, sitting across from him.

Kai sighed, shoveling a spoonful into his mouth just to satisfy her. "I'm eating," he muttered.

His mother gave him a look but didn't press further. After a few more bites, he placed his plate in the sink, wiped his hands, and stretched.

"I'm gonna watch my movie now," he announced.

His mother barely glanced at him. "Just don't stay up too late." Kai nodded, already heading to his room.

8:23 PM

Wrapped in his blanket, Kai sat cross-legged on his bed, the glow of his laptop screen illuminating his face. The movie had started twenty minutes ago, and the tension was building.

The main character—a secret agent cursed with the ability to see ghosts—was creeping through a dimly lit hallway. The camera panned, revealing a dark figure standing in the shadows, motionless, watching. The music grew ominous. Kai held his breath.

Then—a loud knock on the screen! The ghost lunged at the agent.

Kai flinched, nearly spilling his drink. "Damn," he muttered, heart racing.

He let out a breath, laughing at himself. "Okay, that got me."

But as he settled back, his eyes grew heavier. The room felt warmer, the movie's sound fading into background noise. His blinks became longer… slower… until finally, they didn't open again.

Everything went black.

The Awakening

A dull ache pulsed at the back of his head. The air was thick, unmoving. The warmth of his bed was gone, replaced by an unnatural coldness that settled deep into his bones.

Kai's eyes fluttered open. Darkness.

Not the kind of darkness where the lights are simply off, but something deeper. Endless. Hollow. A weight pressed against his chest as he tried to sit up. He wasn't on his bed anymore. He was lying in a bed—but it felt wrong. The sheets were coarse, the mattress too stiff, as if it hadn't been used in years.

A single dim light flickered above, barely illuminating the room. The walls were a muted shade of gray, cracked and peeling, as if the place had been abandoned long ago. He turned his head slowly—there was a door, slightly ajar, leading into more darkness.

His breath came shallow.

This isn't my house.

A sound. A whisper. Faint, just behind the door.

He froze.

Then, it came again. This time, closer.

A breathy, distorted voice, stretching his name into something unfamiliar.

"Kaaaaai…"

His stomach dropped.

Something was out there. And it knew his name.

Chapter 2: Trapped in The Abyss

Kai awoke with a jolt, his breath shallow and quick. The bed beneath him felt wrong, as if it had shifted. The soft warmth of his blanket was absent, replaced with a cold, unnerving chill that crept into his bones. His fingers brushed against the unfamiliar sheets, which felt scratchy and unfamiliar against his skin. He tried to push himself up, but the room around him was—wrong.

His surroundings were dark, far darker than his usual room. The shadows seemed to creep along the walls, like living things, moving in ways they shouldn't. There was no comforting hum of his room, no familiar sound of the night outside. There was only an eerie silence, thick and suffocating.

Panic started to rise in his chest.

Where am I?

He sat up, his heart pounding. His hands groped for anything familiar, but there was nothing. The air was thick, oppressive, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The bed creaked as he swung his legs over the side and stood. His feet touched the cold ground—stone, not wood, and it felt jagged against his soles. It was a stark contrast to the soft carpet he was used to.

Kai's breath caught in his throat. The walls of this room were dark, pitch black, stretching up into an endless void. There were no windows, no doors. The only source of light was a dim, flickering flame that hung in the corner, casting strange, elongated shadows across the room. It looked like a candle, but it flickered unnaturally, as if it had a life of its own.

This can't be real.

Kai pinched his arm, hard. The pain was sharp, confirming what he already suspected. This wasn't his room. This wasn't reality.

He was dreaming.

But this wasn't like any dream he'd ever had before. The air felt too real, the darkness too thick. It felt alive.

A soft whisper caught his ear, so faint at first that he thought it was his imagination. Then it came again, louder this time.

"Kai… it's time."

Kai whipped his head around, but there was no one there. The voice sounded distant, like it came from everywhere, yet nowhere at all. His eyes scanned the shadows, heart racing, but nothing moved.

Then, a loud thud echoed from somewhere beyond the walls. It was heavy, deliberate, and unmistakably real. Another thud followed, and then another. His blood ran cold.

Footsteps.

He wasn't alone.

The shadows shifted around him as though they had a mind of their own, twisting and pulling in strange, disorienting directions. Kai's legs started to tremble, his feet glued to the ground. He had to run, but his body wouldn't respond.

A low growl reverberated through the room, sending waves of terror through him. The temperature dropped, and he could see his breath puff out in front of him in small clouds. Something was coming—something with malice in its every step.

Kai spun around, searching for an escape. The walls seemed to close in, growing taller and more oppressive with every breath. His throat tightened as panic set in, the walls feeling like they were closing in on him. The shadows began to converge, inching closer, their dark tendrils brushing against his skin like invisible fingers.

"You can't escape, Kai," the voice taunted, now close, far too close.

The candlelight flickered again, and for a moment, Kai thought he saw something in the darkness—a figure, tall and menacing, watching him from the other side of the room.

No… no, this couldn't be real.

He couldn't think. The fear was overwhelming, but deep inside, he knew he had to do something— anything. His legs were shaking, but he forced himself to take a step forward. Then another. And another. His heart hammered in his chest as he stumbled through the thick darkness, the shadows following him, wrapping around him like chains.

With every step, the footsteps behind him grew louder. The growl, deep and guttural, reverberated through the room, shaking the very walls. Kai's breath came in short, frantic bursts as he ran, his mind racing.

But no matter how fast he moved, the shadows seemed to catch up. Every corner he turned, every direction he tried, the darkness swirled, surrounding him.

He was trapped.

The air grew heavier, the walls pressing in tighter. A scream rose in his throat, but it caught in his chest, choked by the suffocating fear.

No. No, no, no.

Suddenly, there was a shift—a change in the air. A crack, as if something was breaking, and the ground beneath him began to tremble. Kai stumbled, losing his footing as the floor cracked open beneath him.

A deep, abyssal hole appeared, growing wider with every heartbeat. His feet slid, his body falling forward, and the cold, dark emptiness beckoned.

But then—a sound, a voice.

"Kai."

The voice was familiar. His mother's voice.

It cut through the darkness like a beacon, and for a brief moment, Kai hesitated. But then, the darkness surged, the ground buckling beneath him as if it were alive, and the shadows reached for him. He had no choice. He had to jump.

With one final, desperate leap, Kai hurled himself into the abyss, the cold darkness swallowing him whole.

Chapter 3: The Depths of Fear

Kai's fall seemed endless. The void around him was thick, cold, and relentless, pulling him deeper into its grasp. His stomach churned with vertigo, the fear twisting in his chest. It felt as if his body was suspended in midair, yet there was no ground to hold onto, no horizon to cling to.

The only sound that accompanied his descent was his own ragged breathing, punctuated by the rhythmic pounding of his heart. His arms flailed, desperate to grab hold of something, but there was nothing—just the suffocating, empty air. He wanted to scream, but his mouth was dry, as though the darkness had stolen his voice.

The deeper he fell, the colder it became. The chill seeped into his bones, sapping the strength from his limbs. A sense of hopelessness gripped him, the reality of the situation settling in like a stone in his gut. Was this how it would end?

Suddenly, the sensation of falling stopped. Kai's body jerked, and he was thrown forward, landing on something soft. He gasped for air, his head spinning as he tried to make sense of what had just happened.

The ground beneath him felt different—solid, but yielding. He forced his eyes open, blinking against the blinding darkness. The air around him was thick with the smell of earth and decay. He could feel the weight of something unseen pressing down on him, but he couldn't see it.

The shadows swirled around him, too fast to catch, too erratic to track. The world felt… off, as if time itself had bent in strange, unnatural ways. Kai could sense that something was moving in the dark, something watching, waiting.

"You've made it this far," the voice came again, faint but unmistakable. It was a low, guttural sound, emanating from every corner of the room. The voice was not human, but something ancient and unsettling, filled with malice and mockery. "But how much further can you go, Kai?"

His blood ran cold. The voice… it sounded like it was speaking directly into his mind, crawling beneath his skin. His heart raced. He had to move. Had to find a way out.

But how? The very air itself felt like it was closing in on him, a pressure building with every breath he took.

Suddenly, the ground beneath him shifted. A tremor ran through the earth, and the darkness seemed to press in even closer. His hands trembled as he pushed himself to his feet, his legs unsteady, his muscles weak from the terror that gripped him.

Then, a low rumble echoed through the space, and Kai saw a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye. His breath caught in his throat. A shadow—a massive one—was creeping toward him. It was larger than anything he had ever seen, and its form was indistinct, constantly shifting, like an amalgamation of nightmares.

"It's coming for you," the voice whispered, closer now, a mere breath away. "Can you escape what's chasing you, Kai? Can you outrun your own fears?"

The shadow grew larger, filling the space with its dark presence. Kai turned and ran, his heart thundering in his chest, his feet pounding against the soft, shifting ground beneath him. The darkness seemed to move with him, like a living thing, wrapping around him with every step.

He didn't dare look back.

The world around him began to twist and distort, the shadows warping into grotesque shapes— figures, faces, all grinning at him with sharp teeth. They stretched and warped as if they were made of pure malice, and Kai could feel their cold gaze on him, their eyes boring into his soul.

He could hear them whispering his name. "Kai… Kai… Kai…"

The ground beneath him started to break apart, chunks of it falling away into the abyss below. He leapt over gaps, narrowly avoiding falling into the unknown, but every step felt heavier, slower. The shadows were gaining on him. He could feel their cold, clammy fingers brushing the back of his neck.

Panic surged through him, his breath coming in gasps. His muscles screamed in protest, his limbs growing weak from the strain.

Just when he thought he couldn't run anymore, a beam of light pierced the darkness, cutting through the night like a blade. It wasn't much, but it was enough. For a moment, Kai could see. The beam illuminated the path ahead, and in that brief flash of clarity, he spotted something—a door.

It was a faint outline in the darkness, but it was there. A way out.

"You can't escape," the voice sneered, "There is no escape from the darkness. Not for you, Kai."

Ignoring the voice, Kai pushed forward, his legs aching, his chest burning with exhaustion. He had to reach that door. It was his only chance.

As he neared the door, the shadows seemed to retreat, hesitating for a moment. The air grew colder, the oppressive weight of the darkness lifting slightly. But Kai didn't stop. He couldn't.

With one last surge of energy, he reached the door and flung it open, stepping through into the unknown.

But instead of finding freedom, he stumbled into—another room.

A vast chamber stretched before him, filled with shadows and strange, twisting shapes. The walls seemed to pulse with a faint, unnatural light. And standing in the center of the room, bathed in the eerie glow, was the creature that had been chasing him.

Its form was still shifting, but now, Kai could see its face—its twisted, grotesque face, full of sharp teeth and hollow eyes. It was massive, towering over him, and its grin stretched impossibly wide.

"You cannot escape," it said, its voice a low, rumbling growl.

Kai's heart sank as the creature took a step toward him, its massive claws scraping the ground.

Chapter 4: Facing The Darkness

The creature's massive clawed feet scraped against the stone floor with each heavy step. The air around Kai grew thick, pressing in on him from all sides as if the very atmosphere had turned against him. His breath quickened, the panic building inside him like a tidal wave, threatening to overwhelm him.

Kai's heart hammered in his chest, and his legs screamed in protest. He had to move. He had to escape. But the creature—its dark, hollow eyes locked onto him with an unblinking gaze—stared back, as though it could see right through him, right into his soul.

His mind raced. He had no weapons, no allies. Just him. Just his fear. "Why me?" he thought. "Why is this happening?"

A voice, a familiar whisper, cut through the chaos in his mind. It was a soft murmur, distant, yet so clear. "You have the power. You just have to find it."

The voice was different from the creature's. It wasn't dark or menacing. It was comforting, almost motherly in its tone. But who—who was speaking to him? Kai's eyes darted around, but the shadows swallowed every glimmer of light, and the creature kept closing in, its massive form blocking his way.

Kai stumbled backward, his feet slipping on the cold stone beneath him. "You can't run," the creature snarled, its voice dripping with malice. "You're mine now."

But the voice—the mysterious, comforting voice—spoke again. "You must face it. You must confront your fear."

Fear? It was fear that had brought him here in the first place. Fear that had driven him into this nightmarish chase. But now, something was different. A spark deep within him flickered, something he had never noticed before. Something ancient.

The room seemed to pulse around him. It wasn't just the creature that filled the space—it was the darkness itself, alive and feeding on his fear. But as the creature took another step forward, Kai felt it. A warmth, like a fire igniting in his chest. The darkness recoiled for a brief moment, as if startled.

"It's time," the voice said, clearer now. "You are stronger than this."

Kai's heart raced, but now it wasn't just fear. It was something else—something powerful. He reached deep inside himself, searching for that flicker of warmth. And then, as if a dam had broken, it exploded outward, filling him with strength.

The air around him grew warmer, brighter. The shadows recoiled once more, retreating from the force Kai was unleashing. His hands glowed with an ethereal light, as if he had tapped into something far greater than himself.

The creature hesitated. Its eyes widened for a moment before narrowing in fury. "What are you?" it snarled, its voice trembling with rage.

Kai took a step forward, his newfound power surging through him like electricity. His fear had been transformed into something else—something formidable. The creature, though massive and terrifying, was no longer an invincible force. It was simply a shadow, a reflection of his fear.

"I am not afraid of you anymore," Kai said, his voice steady, stronger than he had ever heard it.

The creature lunged at him, but Kai raised his hands, and in an instant, a barrier of pure light shot up between them, repelling the creature's attack. The beast howled in frustration, battering against the shield, but the light held firm.

The shadows were retreating now, and with them, the creature's form seemed to waver, flickering like a mirage. Kai's heart swelled with confidence. He was winning. The power that had once felt foreign to him was now his to command.

But as the creature faltered, it let out a final, earth-shaking roar. "You may have won this battle, Kai," it hissed. "But you can never escape the darkness. It will always find you."

With that, the creature vanished into the shadows, its form dissipating like smoke in the wind. The room fell silent. The air cleared. The oppressive weight that had hung over Kai was gone, replaced by an overwhelming sense of calm.

Kai stood still for a moment, his breath slow and measured as he tried to process what had just happened. He had faced the darkest part of himself—the fear that had consumed him—and emerged victorious. He wasn't just a victim of this nightmare anymore. He was its conqueror.

But the voice—he could still hear it, softly guiding him.

"You've done well, Kai. But this is not the end. You still have a long way to go."

Kai turned in the direction of the voice, but there was no one there. The darkness had retreated, and the room around him seemed to shift, becoming brighter, more solid. It wasn't the same place he had started from.

The walls were now made of smooth stone, bathed in a soft, golden glow. The air felt fresh, almost familiar. In the distance, he could see a faint light shining from a doorway.

Kai walked toward it, each step feeling more sure than the last. The terror that had gripped him before was gone, replaced by an undeniable strength within him. He could feel his power growing with each passing second, his confidence rising. He had faced his greatest fear and conquered it. Now, nothing could stand in his way.

But just before he reached the door, the room seemed to pulse again, and for a split second, Kai felt the overwhelming presence of something watching him. A shadow, far too large to ignore, loomed behind him. The door was so close now, but he had to be ready.

"You can escape this place," the voice whispered. "But you must first face what comes next."

Kai took a deep breath and turned to face the new challenge, knowing that whatever lay beyond this moment, he was ready.

Chapter 5: A Mother's Embrace

Kai stood frozen at the edge of the doorway, staring into the light that promised freedom, a way out of the nightmare that had held him captive for what felt like an eternity. But there was something pulling him back, something invisible yet undeniable. It wasn't fear—not anymore—but a deep, comforting warmth that had begun to flood his chest. It was different from the power he had wielded against the creature. This warmth was familiar. It was something he had known all his life but had forgotten in the chaos of his dreams.

He took a tentative step toward the light. But before he could take another, the shadows began to stir again, their presence swelling in the corners of the room. The darkness pressed closer, whispering into his ear, trying to draw him back into its cold, endless grasp.

"You cannot escape," it murmured. "There is no way out."

Kai's breath caught in his throat as the weight of the darkness pressed harder against him. His hands trembled, the power that had once surged so strongly within him now flickering and unstable. But just as the shadows seemed to close in, a voice, soft and warm, reached him. It was a voice he had not heard for so long, yet he recognized it instantly.

"Kai…"

He turned sharply, his heart skipping a beat. There, standing in the doorway, was the figure of his mother. Her presence was like a light unto the darkness, filling the room with a sense of peace he had never known. Her face, though faint, was bathed in a gentle glow that seemed to radiate from within her. She was there—she was here.

"Mom?" Kai whispered, his voice cracking with emotion.

Her eyes were filled with warmth and love, the kind of love that had always been a constant in his life. Even in his dreams, he could feel it—this undeniable connection. She smiled at him, her hands reaching out, beckoning him toward her.

"Come, Kai. Let me help you," she said softly.

The shadows recoiled as if repelled by her presence, their twisted forms writhing in frustration. They tried to reach for Kai, but the warmth from his mother kept them at bay, their dark tendrils shrinking in her light.

Kai's heart ached. He wanted to run to her, but something deep inside held him back. "But I don't know how to leave this place," he confessed, his voice barely more than a whisper. "The darkness… it won't let me go."

His mother's smile grew, gentle but knowing. "The darkness only holds power over you if you let it. You have the strength, Kai. You always have. But it's your love that will guide you. Not the power you wield, not the fear you face. It's love."

Her words sank deep into his soul, and in that moment, everything clicked. His power, his fear, everything he had fought against—it wasn't enough to free him. It was his love for his mother, the love that had always been a guiding force in his life, that would show him the way.

Kai's hands trembled, but he placed them over his chest, feeling the warmth that had begun to spread through him. It was his mother's love, the love that had always been there, even when he couldn't see it. It had never left him.

"Mom… I'm ready," he said, his voice steady now, filled with a new resolve.

His mother nodded, and as she did, the room seemed to dissolve around them. The shadows evaporated, leaving only the light—the light of love, the light of home. The glow grew brighter until it enveloped him completely, and Kai closed his eyes, allowing the warmth to wash over him.

When he opened them again, the nightmare had faded. The darkness was gone, and the light—his mother's love—had carried him through.

Kai's eyelids fluttered open, the familiar surroundings of his bedroom greeting him. The air was calm, the gentle hum of his nightlight casting soft shadows on the walls. His heart still raced, but the terror, the weight of the dream, was gone. He was safe. He was home.

But there, sitting beside him on his bed, was his mother. She had come to him in his dream, and now she was here, in the waking world, her hand gently resting on his.

"Kai, sweetheart, are you alright?" she asked, her voice filled with concern but laced with an undeniable warmth.

Kai looked up at her, his eyes brimming with tears. "I… I'm fine, Mom. I'm okay."

And for the first time in what felt like forever, Kai knew deep within his heart that he was. The love his mother had given him in the dream world, the love that had freed him from the darkness, was now real. It was here, in this world, surrounding him, keeping him safe.

His mother smiled softly, brushing a strand of hair away from his forehead. "You've always been strong, Kai. You just needed to remember."

Kai nodded, his breath finally evening out. The nightmare was over. The darkness had no power over him anymore.

As the light of the morning crept through the window, Kai settled back into his bed, feeling more at peace than he had in a long time. His mother stayed by his side, her presence a constant source of comfort.

And for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Kai let himself sleep peacefully.