V-3_C-1

  As I laid on the cold ground and rolled between sides to hopefully get comfortable enough to sleep, moments later a breeze of cold air as ominous and horrifying as the first time I heard it, he whispered-

  "Sleep good because you w?ll not get to sleep aga?~n, not anyt?me soo~n"

  A cold almost freezing feeling seeped to my core, no matter how many times I hear Ciphr's whispers I never get used to it, almost like it gets more terrifying every time.

  Yet the meaning behind his words isn't less terrifying not even a little, what will happen? I am not sure what to expect yet I have a feeling that it's not any safer than Cerberus.

  Well, with Cerberus I really did get lucky, but do I have enough luck for whatever is coming next.

  After few hours of sleep I was brought back awake by an invisible feeling of dread, I woke up with an accelerating breathing and after a second took a look around.

  Nothing unusual, but it was darker than it should be... I felt like I've seen this before.

  I stood up and carefully looked around and even looked at the trees, then I looked up and noticed it the black circle with a dim white outline.

  A "Moon eclipse" !!

  But wait!? What!! It shouldn't happen yet! The book made it clear that it only happens at full moon and absent moon, it is yet to be absent the moon is still a crescent.

  I started sweating, I couldn't understand what was happening.

  But then I remembered that I had something more important to care about now, to fear.

  If I remember correctly the creatures I've killed since the last moon were a long-eared assassin an invisible octopus a bunch of parasites an infant Cerberus and a Cerberus, which meant that they will... fuse together making a more horrifying abomination, it's truly a nightmare to just imagine what that thing will be, just the idea of an invisible Cerberus is terrifying enough...

  After panicking for a few seconds I took the knife and opened the mysterious book, after opening the right page I saw... the same thing, shit.

  This means that this book is not accurate, that's a problem...

  I remembered a line Ciphr said about not trusting this book, but.. *sigh*.

  My breathing isn't slowing down, I threw the book and held the knife tightly, if am correct then the dwellers of the moon have the ability to know where I am as ridiculous as that is and as terrifying, what's more terrifying is the idea of a faster invisible Cerberus, with those abilities, am doomed.

  Still unlike stealthy predators like Tigers Cerberus lack the stealth ability, it is easy to hear the sound of his footsteps... as long as he is running that is.

  I have to think of a way to survive the invisible enemy, wait if no other entity or creature exist here except the dwellers of the moon then what about the haunted mansion? Maybe I'm onto something here, I might have to run to it but before that I'll test something. I said-

  "Ciphr, are you there?"

  After few moments of silence I heard his whispers, blending with the sounds of the forest itself just as I used to it, his whispers seemed like a camouflage but still as terrifying as the first time I heard it, he whispered-

  "Obv?ously, but you are on your own... he ?s watch?ng~"

  He!? *Tsk* shit.

  This is not new from Cerberus but this is not Cerberus so I must not expect him to act the same.

  I took a deep breath, glanced around hoping to spot him but as I thought I can't see him, especially with the dimmer light.

  I will go back through the same route that I crossed twice... 'it's almost sarcastic'.

  Now I must go before he gets too close, I turned to the specific direction and started running as fast as I could.

  Through the woods, I remembered something and that is that unlike my old "weak useless legs" i miss them though, those legs somehow don't get tired even an injury to them doesn't hurt that much, moreover it's not easy to stop them from working... somehow.

  As I kept running through the woods I got an idea, my biggest problem with this moon dweller is that he is invisible which meant as long as I get rid of this ability of him then I have a greater chance at dealing with him, still it's a faster Cerberus and God knows how strong this one is, if I remember correctly a deer and a rabbit fused to make a terrifying monster that I struggled to kill.

  As I kept running and running through the woods and after about an hour I reached the spot where a few days ago I saw a bunch of dead animals walking like they are fine.

  I looked to an empty spot on the ground and there it was, the same small statue...

  After getting closer to it my chest felt a weird sensation, but I ignored it and continued running, after few moments I reached the cliff...

  __________

  3_C-2

  As I saw the vast woods flowing down from the horizon and covering the vast ground, some unrecognizable silhouettes in the distance silhouettes of what looks like massive objects can be seen yet not grasped.

  Still I couldn't gaze for more than a second, still the fact that I didn't hear nor feal the presence of the Dweller meant that he isn't rushing, he can only hide his presence and the sound of his footsteps when he walks slow or dash through the air.

  Running towards the mansion might be for more reasons than one but one of them might be the thrill of the moment when I realized what type of Dweller I'll have to deal with the idea just came to mind.

  I could try to find a way to deal with him... like a plan or something, but most my ideas won't work.

  As I was running down the cliff from the side which is less tilted, as I did I kept thinking about the possibilities, the target is to deal with his invisibility a plan like covering him with any material won't work since clothes disappeared as well, and any complex plan is a death sentence because they take a long time to set up, additionally... *sigh*, it won't work either.

  I have to rethink many things, mostly the moon eclipse thing, it's weird and seems out of place, I've seen and faced multiple weird things in these woods but the moon eclipse is way too different.. it and Ciphr, both are weird almost similar.. in a way.

  According to the book the moon eclipse is supposed to happen two days from now not today, so why would it lie? Or is it even a lie, in a way it seemed more like ignorance instead.. yet many things about the book seemed wrong.

  In the first moon eclipse I faced a deer fused with a rabbit but, that's not all it's stronger even, so how strong will Cerberus be?

  I'll face him at the lake actually, I have an idea I'll try one that doesn't need a setup.

  After crossing the wide river, I was getting closer to the lake with my speed I'll only need a few minutes to an hour time.

  On the other hand I also want to understand the moon eclipse's world a bit more, it's like a different world entirely but how? And what else is deferent.. many questions and I really want answers, unfortunately this place hates to answer anything.

  As I got closer to the lake a specific question was the most unanswered: what is these woods? Is it a different world, Or is it a different place?

  The wall that surrounded these woods and separating them from the city is actually recent, there was even some people going missing in the woods, but adding these points will just make answering the question that much harder, they disprove any theory i have.

  Giving up, I'll just concentrate on two questions with the first and most important being is how to kill the Dweller of the moon, then the second which is what is this world by that I mean the world of the moon eclipse.

  There is a possible benefit to the moon eclipse it is simply to explore, it is too dangerous to explore outside the moon world, thus if the Dweller I have to deal with is weak then I could easily explore.

  This is actually why I want to go to the mansion both to explore the limits of the moon world and more over to explore the mansion since spirits seem to disappeared.

  This is one of the weaknesses I got the moment I opened my eyes in the moon eclipse, my hand is now back to normal.. which means my only weapon is the rugged knife, and that the spirit isn't here.

  Am almost there only a couple of minutes and I'm there, for now I'll rehearse the plan which will rely on the water, after dragging him there I'll find a way to deal with him, I just hope his octopus side doesn't give him the ability to breathe under water.

  Such many problems, after a few moments of running as fast as a car(≈100km/h) finally I am in front of the lake.

  This lake as plain as usual but this time it's more gray and lifeless.

  Surrounded by sand it wasn't the best for swimming, I walked towards the lake and slowly stepped into the cold water, last time I was here I was captured by the octopus and was about to die, this time I'll try to drag something here to die... hopefully.

  It's ironic but I like the idea.

  As I was half covered with water I kept waiting for the Cerberus abomination, it's weird to wait for the monster to come to you in fact I didn't care about exploring the moon world anymore, as fear started rising through my veins.

  A few moments went by and nothing happened, I expected that much though but... a moment later a splash of water on the edge of the lake.

  __________

  3_C-3

  Within the swaying waves moving the surface of the lake a splash of water disturbed the edge of the lake in surprise, I on the other hand even though I expected it still I got surprised when it happened, it's time to hunt.

  Diving under water I used my fast legs to swirl through water like a fish, even though those legs aren't built for water still they work.

  Going beneath the water was quite easy the only hindrance was my clothes, as I got closer to the edge of the lake I held my knife tightly.

  The second I heard a disturbance in the depth of the water I swam faster towards that direction from underneath.

  It was weird, Cerberus is acting unnaturally careless this behavior might be because it's not Cerberus, yet is that all why.

  I got closer and closer, then the invisible disturbance suddenly dove down as if trying to intentionally face me.

  I didn't have much time under water thus i must be quick, I slashed through the spot which now I realized that it was out of place, a spot with no water in it.

  The second my knife went through it in a second my knife was planted deep into a solid flesh, but that was dumb from me to do, because the Dweller of the moon took it and tossed it to the solid shore probably with his jaw, what's worse is that he was the closest to the shore.

  Now I am quite stuck here, the disturbance took a second then lunged towards me while diving deeper under water.

  When that happened I got shocked and since it's body is invisible I was a second too late to dodge.

  Red color started flowing through the lake, after injuring me his momentum got him deeper into the lake.

  The bright side to this injury is that I got closer to the shore now.

  After using all my power to hurry through the resisting water, now I broke through the surface, even though my injury didn't heal yet I kept rushing towards my knife.

  As the Dweller realized what happened he rushing back towards the shore, hoping to catch on to the human first.

  As the Dweller broke through the surface flying through the air, a human who was laying flat on the ground with a knife tightly held in his hand lunged upward with it hoping to hit something vital.

  What I had is an element of surprise and the ability to have the first move, as I sunk my knife into the invisible flesh again this time it got stuck in something solid like bones, thus I couldn't make a long cut then retrieved the knife.

  I then rolled away from the invisible Dweller and tightened my grip onto the knife, after a second of utter silence I immediately recognized what is about to happen and jumped towards the water.

  And as I thought I was barely in time to avoid his incredibly fast dash, the only reason why I managed to dodge it is because I jumped befor the attack, otherwise I have no hope of dodging such a fast attack let alone one that is invisible.

  When I got into the water I realized that got another cut this time in my hand, blood flowing through the water along side me.

  I managed somehow to injure the Dweller twice as well and that's good but am using everything i have, I might need a change of plan if I really want to make sure to kill him or to survive.

  A land fight is out of the question it's just too impossible, and an underwater fight isn't going too well either, and he probably heals fast too.

  I need a better arena... the haunted mansion appeared in my mind, I have to admit it is perfect for a human and it's the worst nightmare for a monster.

  Well now I have a good excuse to go there, but first I'll do one last attack before I run off the lake.

  As the Dweller dived into the water, I was actually behind it, resting on the floor of the lake near the edge, and now I lunged upward with my knife.

  Unlike the other times this time I wanted to make a deep bloody injury, as well as hurt one of his legs, to be able to reach the mansion safely.

  And as such I implanted my knife deep into the first leg my knife blindly got a hold of, and then I immediately took it off and swam off before he gets his revenge.

  The second I broke through the water surface my leg was grabbing by sharp claws, piercing my head the pain was enough to topple me over yet I forced my leg off the claws, it's not a good idea as more crippling pain rushed through my core, the pain itself was like nails biting my leg, yet because of the gem in my chest I was able to use my leg despite injuries, and I ran off.

  The pain on the other hand was soaking my very being, it felt like thousands of small worms were eating through my flesh threatening my sanity, even though this isn't the first time I had to deal with such extreme pain yet still...

  And the Dweller obviously didn't stop chasing me but I guess I have an advantage because of the gem.

  Soon I'll reach the mansion, just wait you bastard.

  __________

  3_C-4

  With more than three injuries even with the gem in my chest, pain was dragging me back chaining me to the ground, it was hard to see hard to breathe and hard to even run, yet I ran and ran and ran and r...

  Through the woods minute after minute for hours to come, my injuries healed slowly, with the gem I was able to run with a torn leg somehow.

  I was getting closer to the mansion, my hope is to get inside the it and there I could play as many tricks as I want, like burning him again or back stap him or other possible traps i could use.

  As I ran through the woods I passed through the spot where I saw a dead human for the first time, it was surprising and scary especially when I saw that terrible vision... actually it was a great vision in it's own way.

  I ran away from him once and now I run away twice, how horrible.

  After twenty or so minutes, that's just how long time I felt this took, I was finally there.

  In front of me is a vast empty land with no trees nor bushes and nothing at all, it was big enough for an entire hospital at least or two.

  The ground on the other hand was covered with dust exactly as I remember it, the dust seemed to still have the marks of my footsteps from long ago.

  After a second I looked deep into the distance, and I saw... nothing, there is no mansion, my eyes widened in horror.

  I could think of only one explanation and that that's the mansion is an entity... well that's just obvious at this point, still it's not easy to accept that.

  What now? What can I do, the damn Dweller is coming, 'shit shit shit' .

  I looked around and tightened my grip on the knife, I am not sure what's worse to fight in an empty grounds or to fight within the woods, either option is deadly.

  With the Dweller being stronger than Cerberus and me being weaker at the moment, more over I lack options preparations and weapons, at the moment all odds are against me yet I must find a way, a solution.

  Sweat kept forming on my skin slowly accumulating and drops slid down my face, my breathing got faster and I was tense, I also took a few steps back getting deeper into the empty grounds and away from the woods.

  As I expected a few more moments and he came, I just felt his presence closer and a moment after that I heard the sound of a broken stick.

  This version of Cerberus is careless as it seems, maybe too careless.

  I acted as if I didn't notice, instead I kept naturally looking around, a second later he dashed forward attacking me head to head.

  I obviously couldn't see him which meant that I was obviously a second too late to avoid or dodge the attack, Cerberus bit into my shoulder and my blood flew outward.

  His teeth tore through my flesh easily and reached my solid bones, the pain was indescribable burning my flesh like burning paper, I screamed in agony.

  I know he probably aimed for my neck but I was a slippery fish to catch, as he attacked I moved my head away by just predicting the direction of the attack, and now as his fangs are stuck in my flesh I tensed and pierced his chest with my knife, and with contracting all my muscles I forced the knife to move across his chest making the cut as long across his flesh as possible.

  When I did that the Dweller let go of my shoulder and took multiple steps away, the bastard is probably bleeding, maybe bleeding even more than a normal Cerberus would bleed, but that's mere speculations.

  Soon the results of this fight will be determined, Cerberus was very hard to kill I injured him burned him and pierced his chest to kill the damn cockroach, and now I am facing a stronger one.

  Instead of waiting for the next attack I Instead fought through the pain, and I considerated on the presence of the Dweller, the second I found him I lunged towards him full force, the second I felt the slightest movement from the ground underneath Cerberus I twisted my body hoping to avoid his possible attack.

  The end of my shirt got torn with his claws, and the second I fell to the ground I rushed to pierce his flesh again to hopefully tear him more.

  And a second later my knife slid through his flesh obstructed only by bones bones that I forced my knife to break and go through.

  As I did this his body moved both away from the knife and to face me with his claws, but I already made deep injuries to the bastard...

  A second later my vision started to be blurry and dim slowly going away, my control over my muscles went weaker and weaker making my body sway, and the pain that was subsided by the gem and my dopamine is now back full force.

  I fell to the ground twitching with death-like-throws agony didn't allow me to even scream, I just lost way too much blood and the injury is too deep in my shoulder as if a piece of my flesh is gone.

  A few seconds later I lost consciousness...

  __________

  3_C-5

  Silence covered the world darkness wrapped it like a present, all my senses disappeared and even my swirling thoughts slowly stopped and diminished.

  A cold sensation engulfed my body and freezing radiance ignited in my chest, Silence was the only thing that I could think about.

  Anyone who stays here will surely go mad, it was utter nothingness...

  ***

  A monster soaked with pain, pain that bites into every cut and every Crack in his flesh and bones, the Dweller was twisting like a fish out of water or like a bird on fire.

  He never thought that this damn human will be able to cut through his chest for the second time he was absolutely furious, in fact this is why he still exists.

  Moon dwellers are fueled by hatred and revenge so sometimes they could even leave their target with mere injuries then disappear, if their fury subsides that is.

  But this is Cerberus dominating the dwellers mind, not by intelligence nor power but by fury and hatred, the reason why, despite his half opened chest he still exist is hatred.

  But there is another reason why he still exists and that that's his target still exist.

  The Dweller was in pain but he stood up forcing his ethereal body to move forward he swayed weakly, he looked in the direction of the human and saw him.

  The human body swayed and slowly descending to the earth falling Unconscious, his blood painted the ground red.

  His shoulder was half gone as if smashed by a projectile, the blood extended to the shape of a small tree.

  His body was motionless, yet not dead somehow.

  The Dweller ignited with hatred he felt injustice, how is he not dead?

  He moved forward as his claws caressed the dust on the ground, his invisible blood was slowly turning visible.

  The blood of the Dweller covered a wide area not something anyone would expect from a Cerberus body, but this wasn't exactly his body.

  He moved forward slowly reaching the human body, he opened his jaw ready to eat.

  ***

  Silence extended through the horizon of my mind and slowly extinguishing every candle that used to keep light in the sanity of my mind.

  My body was growing colder and colder, for the first time I felt death I was sure of it, am dying...

  A "time" passed unnoticed by me, then fire ignited in my chest it wasn't burning flames but instead it was burning pain, churning my flesh and burning it.

  I thought- "hehe~ugh-shit, is that the gem trying to turn me into a walking corpse?"

  Thousands of sharp roots grew under my skin and throughout my tissues, it felt like needles were shooting in every direction twisting and turning and even increased in numbers swarming my very core.

  I couldn't see hear and I couldn't scream, as I was devoured by the gem, but this time there is no warm voice giving me another chance or another life, maybe when I survived the Cerberus infant attack dying, that it was a one time pass or a gift.

  I tried to move my body I wanted to hold my chest, yet I couldn't, it was like being eaten while being paralyzed.

  ***

  As the Dweller found his chance to devour the paralyzed human, he lunged with his bare teeth to bite the human's neck off...

  And he did, taking a bite out off of it and swallowing it, it wasn't going to feed his hunger yet his hunger was diminishing by mere revenge, truly a luxurious taste only for the most lucky.

  Yet... the moon eclipse didn't stop which meant that this dead body is somehow alive!

  Fury reignited in the core of the abominable beast but before he could go for another bite

  In a fraction of a second his head was smashed with a rock, disoriented the beast took a second to realize what happened, before he could his head was kicked.

  Invisible blood spilled down his head.

  He looked and saw it the corpse stood up his head twisted resting in a weird angle almost as if unable to lift the weight of his head up, with blood covering hid torn clothes and with neck torn off and a smashed shoulder, his flesh was clearly seen, he looked terrible and horrifying, the gem in his chest glowed red.

  Cerberus shivered with fear blinked, the corpse then attacked this time biting the neck of the Dweller.

  The Dweller was shook and finally attacked the human corpse.

  The human let go then moved so fast, he got around the Dweller and grabbed his tail which still has a head at the end of the tail, even though the Dweller was invisible the corpse seemed to be able to see him clearly.

  With one strong pull the Dweller lost his tail, Cerberus twitched in pain then turned around hoping to catch the human but he was too slow.

  The human was underneath him already, the human corpse pushed both hands into the chest of the bleeding Dweller and torn his rib off with one hand, then immediately pushed the other through the chest reaching his heart.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Cerberus lunged backwards with all his might giving himself only few more seconds of life.

  He was weak blooded and without a tail with even some broken bones,

  they were two corpses facing each other but one of them has an advantage.

  As Cerberus attack hoping to do as much damage as possible in his last seconds, the human had a rock grabbed behind his back, the second Cerberus got close enough his head was smashed, but this time it was different, Cerberus fell dead.

  His head was smashed open, and the invisible monster turned visible, the guts of his smashed head were clear to the eye.

  Slowly the ethereal body engulfed in smocky black fire, hid body turned to dust then to smoke and then disappeared.

  The human stood motionless like a real corpse, as the veil of the moon eclipse disappeared something went back to it's rightful place.

  The right hand of the human turned deformed and became an abomination of multiple claws in many wrong places, many eyes and many protrudings out of place, and the skin turned scaly with some small black feathers but many of these feathers had no hair.

  .

  .

  .

  Under the moon light, a gem glowed red, an abomination of a human stood motionless.

  The unrotting corpse...

  __________

  3_C-6

  In this darkness only pain can be felt, engulfed in silence and void unable to sense anything, he can't see he can't hear or feel anything, except for a burning pain growing inside his body.

  He couldn't move his hands nor clench his body to ease the pain even for a little, it was torture unlike any other.

  He screamed within the confines of his mind hoping for salvation, yet heard no response, he started to lose hope as his body burned with agonizing pain.

  Even the strongest minds won't handle such torture for too long yet he still exists, fighting for another second of existence even though he could let go and let his mind fall.

  Fueled by mere willpower he kept screaming in pain.

  For seconds after seconds for minutes after minutes for hours after hours, but time was meaningless to him he couldn't feel nor sense time.

  And then within the darkness a calm sound echoed into the infinite void-

  "You will ?rrive soon"

  I flinched in disbelief, who or.. what is that? I couldn't concentrate on it due to pain...

  I took a minute then responded-

  'Who.. who are you?... are you Ciphr?'

  Those words did not come out of my mouth but instead came out of my mind.

  heavy silence downed on the space but a few seconds later I got a response-

  "Ciphr? Pfft-heh?h?-h?, Ciphr h?s no ?uthority here, you ?re in my l?nd where I ?m supreme"

  His voice was calm and heavy and somehow reassuring, but where are we then, 'his land?' What land is that?

  As if listening to me, he responded-

  "I think you hum?ns c?ll it.. limpo, ?s long ?s your body is ?live your soul will never be ?llowed into the underworld"

  'Underworld? Am I going to the underworld? And is this really how limpo looks like?'

  After a moment he replied-

  "Yes"

  Is that all he has to say?

  In any case I must find a way out, 'hey can you help me out'

  A second later he replied-

  "I c?n, but I will not help you, there is ? sensitive order in which things run, I c?n not s?crifice th?t"

  'What!? ... alright well, at least is there a way around it, does the rules give me something like a backdoor?'

  A few seconds of silence, then a few more seconds, then he replied-

  "... yes, but it won't be for free"

  '...what's the price'

  A second later he replied-

  "Nightm?res will be dr?wn to you"

  'Nightmares?'

  ... no reply

  'Ok ok, I'll pay the price just help me out'

  -"?lright then, let's begin"

  ________________________

  [Vol3: Ne? moon- part two]

  In front of the white granite wall which was covered with cracks scribbles and dirt.

  a young boy who doesn't look older than seventeen stood motionless as he stared at the wall with a frown, today he plans to do something crazy.

  He blinked then turned away, after a few moments of walking he now was in front of an old house that looked unclean in comparison to the few houses surrounding it and was smaller.

  He opened the door with the sound of creaking wood that echoed in the empty house, byet he ignored it and closed the door behind him, going up the stairs that led to the second floor.

  This house was old and hasn't been cleaned in a long time, it was empty off of most of its furnitures.

  The only reason why it wasn't too dirty was because there ware no family of people that play around the house, it was empty with only dust piling around.

  As the young boy opened the door in the second floor he was met with a messy room, it was filled with papers and images that made it looks like a detective's office or a crazy person's room.

  He got closer to the wall that was covered with images of a forest and sighed.

  He said to himself-

  'Father... I'll find you, I know.. I know that you are still alive.

  Ever since they built that wall... the cops stopped searching for missing people, and stoped searching for you.

  How disgusting.

  I know that it's dangerous yet, I'll go today'

  He talked to himself like this multiple times every day in the past but today he dragged it a little longer, trying to avoid what he has to do next.

  Eventually he went and took a larg bag that contained many things that are important for survival, and before he walked out of the room he looked back one last time.

  .

  .

  .

  Standing in front of the white flat surface of the wall he blinked, it won't be easy to get through the wall but he already prepared his tools.

  As the young boy descended from the other side with a robe, he jerked the robe to get it off the wall's top edge, it fell swiftly to the ground.

  He turned around and his eyes widened, in front of him is a wide landscape of woods and trees yet...

  It looked eerily off and uncanny, the young boy was yet to find out what actually was wrong.

  He looked back at the wall and took a board pen out of his bag, a second later he wrote something on the wall and ran to the woods.

  He wrote- "Nuah was here" his writing wasn't the best but it held deep emotions.

  He wrote it as a symbol of what he thew behind... 'a meaningless thing'

  As he walked through the eerie woods he kept turning his head around and around, he couldn't stay calm not with all this weird feelings as if thousands of eyes are watching him, it felt as if the trees themselves had eyes.

  He noticed something else, the shadows of the trees acted eerily unnatural.

  He often get lost in time gazing at a specific shadow hoping to catch it doing the wrong movement.

  In the end he ignored all of that and kept walking.

  Eventually he saw a strange thing in the distance, it was a ragged old house, a small one.

  Slowly Nuah approached the house and finally stood in front of it, it looked both new and old at the same time, it looked okay but also off.

  He drew a breath and entered the house, his eyes widened.

  In front of him is a small room, the only room with a bed in the middle, the room has several bird skulls littered around the corners, and on the wall hanging a bag a knife a bow and some arrows.

  Beside the bed is a shelf with an old book on top of it...

  __________

  3_C-7

  After a few minutes of inspection nuah found nothing, nothing that can help him find his father.

  The old house was rather neat as dirty as it was, and the book was weirdly empty.

  He walked around the old house multiple times, a small glass window an unscathed floor and weird writing ubove the bed that said- "don't trust the book"

  Nothing that he searched for, after a few more rounds around the house he gave up got out then left.

  He didn't go in a specific direction he mostly just went as far from the wall as he could.

  Walking through the ominous woods his feeling of dread increased, yet the young boy ignored it, he kept saying to himself that he is just scared, that this feeling is fake, Somehow this calmed him.

  After walking for a while nuah saw an unexpected thing...

  He saw a play ground, one for kids to play around and spend their time.

  It looked old with many broken parts, for a while he stared at it he then walked towards it, the young boy felt an eerie feeling, one thar he can't dismiss.

  He was suspicious of it, it didn't make sense for a play ground to be here, so why is this one?

  He stood in front of a medium sized slide, he thought for a second then climbed up the ladder, then he slid down.

  As he was going down the rusty slide he felt sorrow clench his heart, when he was at the bottom he stood up and left it, ignoring the suspicious play ground.

  Getting back into the woods was no fun but he didn't want to stay in the play ground anymore, he never had memories in a play ground, yet the young boy wished.

  As Nuah walked through the woods for a few minutes he saw something that terrified him, in front of him stood the same play ground... only one thing is different, this one has no slide.

  His eyes widened in disbelief he looked around multiple times, he tried to check if he is hallucinating.. yet he wasn't.

  He walked slowly towards the uncanny play ground, slowly and carefully, after a few seconds he was again on the play ground.

  It wasn't normal, Nuah felt unease he kept turning his head around and around, in fear and worry.

  He kept saying to himself, 'why? What is this? Where is he? Is this real, am I dead?'

  He sat on the swing to calm his nerves, he kept thinking and thinking but to no result.

  After swinging for a few seconds he then stoop up and left in a hurry, he was almost running, in fear.

  A few more minutes of running he then saw it again, the play ground stood empty and shallow in the middle of the gloomy woods...

  He drew a deep breath, fear and terror finally downed on him heavier than he can handle.

  He stood motionless, shook.

  Then.. he walked to the play ground with sweat soaking his face.

  This playground has no slid and.. no swing, Nuah looked around unable to believe it, what is going on?

  He looked around and around, he tried to inspect the play ground and each and every angle and corner of it hoping for an explanation, yet he found nothing.

  He ran away, this time he played not.

  After a few minutes he.. saw the damn play ground again, and as he expected it didn't lose any other ride, it seems to change only when he play with one of them.

  Thus he played in every game on the play ground, he wanted to see what will happen if he played everything.

  As he ran through the woods... stood in front of him, an empty place, devoid of its monuments, it looked like a square on the ground nothing more.

  Slowly Nuah walked towards the empty play ground, he did not know what's going to happen yet he expected the worst

  He was trembling as he walked towards the empty stage his body tensed in fear, when his foot stepped on the empty ground, he saw something...

  He saw blood, in front of him the empty stage is not empty anymore, the swing the slid and all the other games of the play ground re appeared out of nowhere.

  But, on each and every one of them.. corpses, dead bodies of kids that were either tied to the metal or wrapped around it with their broken and torn limbs.

  Their blood flowed down fresh, puddles of blood covered the play ground, tainting it.

  His heart stopped in terror, he was speechless, his fingers trembling in fear.

  As he turned around to run away he heard the sound of every dead child screams- "don't go, play with us"

  Their screaming sounded as if their vocal cords were torn off, speaking merely with their lungs.

  Nuah flinched then ran away, but this time is different, when he got out of the stage his eyes widened, he re entered the stage from the other side, by force.

  This stage is imprisoning him, and when he tried to exit, the stage just teleported him to the other side.

  Unable to contain his fear, the young boy screamed from the depth of his lungs, yet no reply to his cries.

  The sound of the broken kids resounded- "if you don't want to play with us then... we, we, we will play with.. you"

  !

  ______

  3_C-8

  'So... tell me how can I leave this place may you?'

  In this empty void a calm voice responded-

  "Heh?h?, it won't be simple nor e?sy, let me tell you th?t.

  ?t le?st not for you, th?t is"

  Shit...'just say it already'

  After a few more seconds a response finally cut through the silence-

  "Let me expl?in first the pl?ce.

  You see, limpo isn't ? physic?l pl?ce ?t ?ll, even though it sep?r?tes the over-world from the under-world, in re?lity limpo is ?n ?bstr?ct world, me?ning th?t only concepts could exist in, or go through it"

  ...the what!??

  'No no, wait I got it.. I think.'

  A few long seconds past then the voice talked again with a disappointed tone-

  "You know how in human religions when ? person dies their soul goes to he?ven... well, in he?ven they get ? new body"

  ...'I think I get that part quite easily'

  - "Good, now, here there is ? world for the living ?nd ? world for the de?d, sep?r?ting them is limpo, a conceptu?l world.

  Souls ?re concepts ?s will, ? concept th?t represent your consciousness"

  ...'Okay so... that's why my soul is here?'

  - "Correct. So b?sic?lly, limpo is ? sep?r?tion between two worlds where physic?l things exist, but no physic?l thing c?n go through limpo, but souls c?n go through it"

  '... But souls could exist outside of limpo?'

  -"Yes"

  '...Wait let's get back to the important topic, I want to leave limpo:'

  After a second of silence, the voice talked again-

  "Well... now th?t you know the geogr?phy of it, let's t?lk about the three sh?ckles.

  The first one keeps souls well p?ck?ged for the delivery to the underworld, think of it like ? coffin.

  The second sh?ckle is the g?te of limpo, go through it ?nd you'll be in the overworld."

  ...'well what about the third one'

  After a few seconds of silence he answered-

  "Well, th?t sh?ckle is the one th?t will stop you from t?king b?ck your body, it's not easy to possess your body ?g?in, let ?lone finding it in the first pl?ce"

  -'Wait, so I have to find it first?'

  -"Yes, of course...

  Th?t is if your body still is ?live, I did s?y th?t you ?re not ?llowed into the underworld ?s long ?s you h?ve ? living body, but I ?lso s?id th?t you will ?rrive soon(to the underworld).

  The underworld will t?ke wh?t belongs to the underworld, ?nd your body will die by force, even your little gem won't help you"

  What!?!! ...shit

  -'So, you are saying that I don't have a lot of time left?'

  ..."not ex?ctly, your body should h?ve been de?d ?lre?dy long ?go, which me?ns th?t there is something else keeping you ?live, BY FORCE"

  -'Something? Not the gem?'

  -"...Well, ye?h"

  ...'let's just get it over with, how can I break through the coffin?'

  After a silence for several seconds, the calm voice answered-

  "I h?ve the keys, the keys for the three sh?ckles in f?ct, but ?fter I open the coffin, you'll be on your own, you will h?ve to de?l with the shrouds of limpo, c?ll them gu?rds if you will"

  ...'how hard.. is it to deal with them?'

  After a heavy silence fell, he spoke again-

  "Well.. enough to m?ke me ?dvice you not to fight them, you must find the g?te ?nd le?ve limpo ?s soon ?s the coffin opens.

  Not just th?t, you must not look at them ?t ?ll, don't listen to them either"

  -'WHAT!? how am I supposed to do this'

  -"if you look ?t them for more th?n a second, or try to comprehend how they look like, your br?in will fry on the spot, and since you ?re just ? soul... Your soul will burn.

  Those gu?rdi?ns ?re built to be incomprehensible, they ?re like ? rip in re?lity te?ring through your mind like ? piece of p?per"

  ....!!!!

  -'Shit of fuck, fucking, you are scaring me shirtless, the fuck... FUCK'

  -"Hey hey, you'll be fine"

  -'How can I find the gate while freckin blindfolded, you... *Tsk*,

  Silence fell again, with no response for seconds and seconds, then his calm voice came back again-

  "So you ?re giving up, I guess I won't open the coffin then"

  -'..no no, open this damn coffin... fu-...'

  -"Heh?h?-h?, ?lright then be re?dy"

  The darkness of the coffin was unbearable and the silence was terrible, he preferred anything but to stay there...

  A feeling of an instant cold water being dropped on his body, that is how opening the coffin felt to him, the unbelievable warmth rushed through the frozen dead veins.

  Light reigniting in his eyes, he opened them expecting to see a world of monsters or a fantasy world, since this is a world of concepts yet what he saw was disappointing and eerie at the same time...

  ______

  3_C-9

  The play ground was bloody gloomy and horrible, even the sky looked almost red and radiated darkness.

  Multiple dead kids were tied to the metal structures, tied using their own flesh and broken limbs.

  Their bones can be easily seen, their blood flowed down endlessly as if there were no source to the horrible blood streams.

  They smiled darkly with broken teeth, they either had bloodied eyes or had no eyes.

  Their vocal cords were either damaged or completely torn off.

  The scene was too horrifying too terrible for a young boy to see, let alone seeing those same corpses speak.

  His face was pale, his skin wasn't able to make sweat, his hands trembled in the harrowing scene.

  Then the little dead kids forcefully torn off their limbs to get free from the tied situation they were in, their limbs got torn in a bloody and a dirty mess, yet they only giggled as they got free.

  Falling on the solid ground the little corpses stood on their bare bones because their feet were still tied to the metal rodes, they had no hands either which also got torn off and left behind.

  With many horrifying giggles, the tiny bloody horrors started running towards the young pale boy.

  At that moment, he flinched and without thinking, ran away to the opposite direction.

  Finding himself in the other corner of the play ground, he saw the little horrors turn back to him and run towards him again.

  He flinched and chose to run around the edge of the play ground instead.

  The little corpses ran with no logic or intelligence, just an intense desire to catch the young boy.

  The scenery was painted with black and red, and the air full of the smell of dead flesh.

  The young boy kept dodging the flood of corpses moving towards him, he has to find a solution.

  After running and running, then he even had to get on top of the slide to get away from them.

  But as he was on top of the slide he saw something, he blinked, he didn't have a long time to think, so he jumped down and kept running.

  What he saw on the metal structure of the slide, printed on one of the grips, the letter (I) but he suspected that it actually was the number (1).

  As he ran, he got on the swing and searched for another marking, and he was lucky because he didn't have to search for long, there on the metal rode thar held the swinging seats, two lines were drawn.

  It was easy to understand, it was too straightforward, he just had to play the same games in the same order, that's what he understood.

  Despite the horrors he had hope somehow, but the corpses already caught up to him, he couldn't swing on it.

  Thus after that he ran away from the swarm of little corpses, and went around the edge of the play ground, a few seconds later he saw the slide.

  As the corpses of kids followed him with terrifying giggles, the young boy jumped up the slide and slid swiftly down.

  And jumped running towards the swing, he jumped on the swing and swayed on it only once, the flood of corpses already caught up, thus he jumped off the swing.

  Unfortunately he had to do a full rotation before he goes for the third game, so after a few seconds he has already done that rotation.

  The young boy ran with all his might, his breathing was already terribly heavy, and he was soaking in sweat.

  Yet he pushed through it.

  .

  .

  .

  After a few minutes and a few rotation around the play ground, he went for the last ride, then when he did something happened.

  He immediately looked at the flood of little horrors, his eyes widened as he saw them stop moving, and then the little corpses fell to the ground and started evaporating like dust.

  He smiled as he saw them disappeared, his heart was about to stop in terror when he saw them, and another time when he heard them talk, and another one when they ran towards him.

  But now he was finally safe.

  He blinked and found himself in the middle of the woods, he looked around to make sure.

  The playground really disappeared into nothingness, as it appeared out of nowhere.

  He stood up and started swaying as he walked into a specific direction.

  He was going back... towards the old house that is in the middle of the woods.

  ________

  3_C-10

  When he opened his eyes he saw an infinite expanse of darkness, it was the dark void.

  Through the void runs thousands upon thousands of white strings parallel to each other, going in the same direction, vast distance between each and every one of them.

  Under his feet he saw a white path that looked like it was just a soil road.

  The road of dirt looked out of place in this dark void, in fact it looks like someone took soil from the overworld and made a road out of it.

  The road was long almost having no end.

  Under his feet he saw chains with their shackles which were opened, so that's the coffin?

  Anyhow, I looked to his side my eyes widened, in front of him a horse... his body however made of only bones, literally the horse had no flesh.

  The shackles were chained and somehow connected to his tail.

  The horse turned his skull towards me that's when I had to blink multiple times.

  His skull was shattered to the front yet the debris were frozen in space around the skull, connected to it with an invisible power, thus the debris followed the skull to whichever direction it goes.

  When the skull turned to face me, I flinched and blinked twice, as I tried to comprehend what I was seeing... my vision blurred a little, the debris seemed like it was edited into the image, almost unnatural, they were arranged in a spiral pattern.

  I felt a little dizzy.. but I easily understood what I was seeing, however that changed when I got a glimpse of what was inside the skull.. I fell to the ground, then immediately started running away in the opposite direction of the skeletal horse...

  What was inside the skull of the horse made my eyes burn with intense heat, my brain felt heavy in the fraction of a second when I saw that.. thing!

  It was a really stark image, the second my brain tried to comprehend the details thousands of spirals and spiral patterns blurred the image, it was in just a fraction of a second more complex than a Fractal.

  It was overdriving my ability to comprehend...

  Thus I must not look at it, at all... but this probably was not a limpo shroud, I guess it was just a pet or something, just to take me to the underworld.

  As I ran through the dusty road I noticed something, there in the distance throughout the void, small and unnoticeable black dots were flying through the darkness.

  The black dots were darker than the void yet still unnoticeable, unless when those dots go in front of a white string-like road that's when I noticed them.

  Some of them were bigger than others mostly because they were closer, and some of them are getting closer and closer as if heading towards me!!

  'Shit'

  I ran as fast as I can but then I noticed that I was slow, I looked down and saw that I am running with my old human legs!! which.. in someway makes sense, but it's still surprising..

  'Crap' I have to run faster and strain my.. my soul even more, but can I go faster than those shrouds?

  I looked away from the shrouds and directly down in front of me at the road, I must never look at them a second and I might get permanent brain damage if not soul damage.

  As I ran through the stark white road I realized how easily human legs get tired, that's a problem with how close those shrouds probably got, I have not much time in my disposal...

  My breathing was already strained, and my legs already staggering.. what worse, something crashed down at the soil road! A cloud of dust formed, that's most likely a shroud.

  I hurriedly closed my eyes before the dust cleared, I had to move around it though.

  With my eyes closes as I ran around the shroud, I heard an unrecognizable sounds, that seemed incoherent and unpredictably chaotic, they were way more chaotic than white-noise with some monstrous mumbles and horrifying voices, but I forced myself to considerate on not falling off the road, and if I keep listening to the noise I might go crazy..

  I forced myself to run as fast as I could, and after some distance I opened my eyes for a second to check if I was on the road.

  A second later another shroud fell on the road, covered with a cloud of dust I closed my eyes immediately then ran around it.

  I had to open my eyes multiple times to make sure not to fall off the road, and also concentrate away from the maddening noise.

  After running and running my body kept getting more and more tired, it was hard to force my legs to keep running... wait! Why would souls get tired anyways??

  It doesn't make sense, human legs or not, still?! That didn't make sense.

  Is it possible that seeing... maybe when I saw my human legs I convinced myself that I'll get tired and.. somehow that made my soul manifest it!!

  None of that make sense, why would I get tired??

  'Shit' I'll try to convince myself that I'll never get tired, then maybe.. i don't know.

  I'll see if I was right.

  As I ran I tried to convince myself that I'm not tired, but after running for a while I realized that it didn't work.

  Then as I took another step I.. I remembered the time when I ran with the beast legs, I never got tired at that time.

  As I ran and ran and ran, I opened my eyes another time to make sure that I didn't fall off the edge of the road, that's when I realized that I wasn't tired any more!!!

  'Hell yeah'

  I can't believe that it worked!

  In any case...

  In front of...

  Far away in the distance...

  The door.

  The road, and all the other roads are connected to a wall that seems infinitely massive, stretching to the end of the void.

  With so many doors.

  But covering the wall, something that I couldn't see clearly from that far...

  _______

  3_C-11

  A pale young boy was traumatized that day, the scene he saw was just too horrible and almost broke him.

  But he stood up and walked forward.

  Even in his current state he still had a reason to go forward, a reason to move.

  His face was pale his eyes were dark and empty, but most importantly he kept going forward.

  As the young boy dwelled through the ominous woods he thought to himself, maybe what he saw was not real or maybe he was hallucinating.. he ignored the thought and walked forward.

  The tree branches made a dark melody that expanded throughout the vast forest and.. something showed up in front of him, his eyes widened in terror.

  There in front of him stood a massive locust, almost the size of a car !

  He couldn't move, he looked at the creature with a horrified expression, but the creature paid him no attention.

  Then a second later the creature spread his transparent wings and then disappeared into the sky in a fraction of a second.

  Nuah was terrified, a few moments later he swallowed his fear and took a deep breath, and walked forward.

  After multiple minutes he finally stood in front of the old house, he was utterly tired.

  He opened the door and stared at the dusty old house, after a second he closed the door behind him then went to sleep.

  .

  .

  .

  The next day Nuah woke up weakly and tiredly, after a few seconds he turned his head to the side and stared at the suspiciously empty book.

  He held the book in his two hands and raised it ubove his face.

  Shocked, he coughed as he saw one of the pages not empty!?

  He looked at it for a few seconds, what terrified him the most to the point of coughing was seeing the same playground image.

  Page title: [Infant's delusion]

  Underneath the title were a lot of talk on how to avoid getting cursed, how to get out of it as well.

  Nothing he didn't already know, but there is one new information-

  " Cursed with delusion if you ever play.

  Running away useless, the curse never sway.

  You'll be a servent of his, hunting his prey."

  Obviously seeing a page in the book appears out of nowhere was already shocking, seeing the page talk about the horrible playground he went through is horrifying, and now the book is saying that he's cursed!!?

  His face was already pale, yet now is contorted with an expression of confusion and fear.

  The young boy closed the ominous book then laid it flat on the shelf.

  He lingered for a while thinking about many things, he kept moving around and turning on the bed, he struggled to sleep but in the end his thoughts were the thing that took him to sleep.

  .

  .

  .

  The young boy woke up with a closed nose, how unfortunate, he stood off the bed tiredly.

  Nuah felt like the air was a little heavier today, anyhow he ate something that he already packed in his bag, the boy then prepared to head out.

  As he was going to leave Nuah saw a knife and a bow hanging on the wall.. the knife looked rather sharp, almost like a weapon which intrigued him to take it.

  After putting the sharp knife into his bag in a way in which he could take it out in an instant, he then went to the door.

  He noticed his breathing getting heavier as he stood in front of the door, he then opened the door !?

  In front of him stood a man...

  Nuah's eyes widened.

  "What !? Father??"

  ***

  In the dark void of Limpo a young man ran through the white road with all his might, horrors rained down like shooting stars falling obstacles in front of his path, every collision shook the delicate road.

  Yet all that young man did was closing his eyes and he then runs around those shrouds.

  He had to blink his eyes open every now and then to make sure not to fall off the edge.

  Many shrouds tried to stand in his way, many collided with the road but he kept running passing through one shroud after another.

  Their voices were slowly driving him to madness yet he kept holding to at least on thought, that was his way to keep his sanity it's to just think of one thing, one goal, only one.

  His goal was clear in front of him every time he opened his eyes, it was to cross the gate, for now that all he needed to think about.

  Those horrible sound though, they are damaging him but rather slowly, and unnoticeably.

  He kept running and running until he finally was close to the gate...

  As I opened my eyes another time I was shocked, there in front of me the gate was rather clear that i could see all it's details carvings and texture.

  Also I finally could see what was on the gigantic wall that looked endless, my eyes widened.

  On it, an infinite number of skeletons were hanging on spears most are not human skeletons, they were hanging on the spears that were protruding from the black marble of the massive wall.

  My eyes twitched and blinked in horror, the scene was just shocking it looked almost like a painting.

  For some reason the closer I get to the gate the less shrouds collide with the road, the safety didn't make sense.

  But then my face paled, as many of those skeletons started convulsing and twitching.

  And then ghostly glow radiated off of their white bones, a second later spirits appeared out of nowhere almost forming from the skeletons themselves.

  Those spirits had the form of the creatures of the skeletons, they started going down from one spear to another, many different monsters were racing to reach the gate and to block my way.

  I kept running and with no shrouds blocking my way I was going quicker.

  But as I was twenty meters away from the gate, two ghosts already stood in my way, they lunged towards me at that instant.

  Having no choice I used all my power to jump over the animal-like monsters.

  But many more fell down as I got to be five meters away from the gate, a lot of ghosts fell on me, they strained my movements...

  Then in front of me the dirt itself was protruding, a skeleton was forming slowly, my eyes widened as I saw a horse skeleton forming in front of my eyes !

  'Shit'

  But then the gate opened...

  ________

  3_C-12

  As the massive gate rang open, a chain formed from thin air then the chain connected itself to the tail of the skeletal horse, on the other end of the chain appeared from the light, a humanoid figure strained with shackles.

  His hands were shackled, his legs as well and a big circular metal shackle covered his eyes as well as his ears.

  The human looked pale with only light fabric covering him, his mouth was stitched with a string forcefully.

  Then the horse slammed the ground with his front hooves almost as if saying 'get out of my way'

  And somehow the ghosts that strained me let go, then they formed two lines on the two sides of the white road.

  The horse moved forward ignoring my presence, thus I had to get out of the horse's way.

  At the same time I took my golden chance and lunged forward with a smile covering my face.

  As I ran with all my might something crashed with the dirt road, making a cloud of dust.

  'A shroud ?!'

  Indeed, but I couldn't go around it this time, what's worse is that my eyes were still open.

  As soon as I laid my eyes on the shroud, I hurriedly closed my eyes.

  And with that I ran through the shroud, full speed and went through the door...

  ***

  The ghosts stared at the gate for a while, then they left lazily.

  In the dark void and empty silence of limpo, a voice inside someone's head talked-

  "Did !.. Did th?t dumb?ss just w?lk through the body of th?t d?mn shroud !!

  Shit... is he fine??"

  ***

  Through blinding light and after a few minutes, I opened my eyes and finally... I could see the overworld.

  I looked around me and realized that I was in front of the old house!

  That's weird, why would I appear here?

  Yeah yeah there is no reason right? I should appear somewhere else, right?

  Yeah yeah

  By the way, was it okay to go through a shroud?

  Nah.. am fin? am really fine, yeah fine. Obviously, yes yes.. pffft, hehe hahaha.

  My head started hurting a little, but then the pain was gone.

  As I thought... I thought... thought...

  AAH, what's wrong with my memory?

  Anyhow... oh right, I am a spirit now, so I must... hmm what am I supposed to... Ughh.

  I grabbed my head with both my hands, I was feeling a growing pain that is burning inside my damn head.

  'Shit'

  I looked around and noticed something, there was a blood stain on the ground... after a second of thought.

  Again I grabbed my head as it ached me.

  Okay okay, I admit it I probably have some brain da... ehh~ what was I saying?

  Probably not important, so~ let's investigate the blood stain then.

  Looking around I was staring at unrelated things most of the time, and I even forgot what I was doing multiple times...

  After a while of crazily going around I saw someone in the distance, someone was cleaning his hand by the river... beside him, laid on the ground surrounded with blood, another person who is.. probably dead.

  I floated through the air towards the suspicious person, then I stood (floated) in front of him and I saw his face.

  It was a young boy with a frown dominating his expression, and radiating sorrow.

  Beside him laid an old man... he was dead, but he didn't look very human...

  The young boy lifted his head then fell back, his eyes widened then he said-

  "Eh!... what are you?"

  Huh! What does he mean by that? I am clearly a h-... what!? What am I?

  I shaked my head, did I forget, what did I even forget?

  I looked at my hand then I said to him with an involuntary smile-

  "Hmm what do you think?"

  He stared at me for a second almost as if taking offense, he then said-

  "... Obviously a damn ghost"

  ...ghost? What does.. that word even mean? My head ached again, after a second, I replied-

  "In that case I am a ghost" with a smile.

  He looked at me then said-

  "... Why are you here? Why are you talking to me?"

  I scratched my head then replied-

  "I don't know, I was just curious since there is a dead body by your side"

  He frowned then replied-

  "He... tried to kill me, that's all"

  -"Good reason" with a smile.

  He stared at me for a second then he stood up, he thought for a second then said-

  "What's your name"

  For some reason my head went blank unable to even recall it.

  Did I... even had a name?

  After a long pause I replied-

  "I don't have.. a name, call me whatever"

  He replied with confusion-

  "Eh, how do you not have a- *sigh* whatever.

  you are odd, that's odd... you know what, that'll be your name 'Odd' do you like it?"

  Odd is an odd name... perfect

  -"why not, that one is fine"

  As we walked away from the house, after a while of chatting I found out the reason why he came here, and then he mentioned something odd.

  -"As I told you, that organization say they'll go into the forest and find my father, but I know for a fact that they didn't even try"

  With confusion I said-

  "Organization? ...do they have a black uniform"

  He stared at me for a second then said- "yes"

  -"I've seen them in the forest... dead"

  His eyes widened and his face lost a little bit of color for a few seconds, he then collected himself and just said- "ah... okay"

  He ignored the new information and we both kept walking deep into the forest.

  I feel like am forgetting something important... something related to the black-uniformed group...

  My head ached again, thus I just let it go.

  After walking through the woods I recognized the surroundings but, that was too late, in the next second I heard the sound of footsteps, a very very fast thing is targeting us...

  ________

  3_C-13

  In the empty silence of the night standing alone, surrounded by grey ground with no tree nearby.

  A man.. a corpse laid on the ground motionless, his head angled in a very inhumane way.

  Blood covered most of his flesh and he looked long dead, a red glow radiated from a solid gem in his chest it seemed almost screaming for salvation.

  Instead of healing the broken body, the gem chose to let it die, after all this gem can animate dead bodies easily... even though a living body is always better.

  The reason why the gem chose not to save him was simply because to save his life the gem will end up broken to pieces...

  For the gem the choice was automatic none the less.

  But his death I'd troubling, not to the gem but to the other resident of this broken body.

  His right hand which became deformed and disfigured with an unsightly shape, shivered.

  Then the multiple eyes claws and feathers, traveled across his hand and after a second it reached the chest.

  The spirit of the deformed bird stoped for a second and then the deformations disappeared, as if the human never had that spirit in the first place.

  A second later his blood dried on his wound, and the wounds started radiating a faint glow.

  A crack appeared on the bright red gem.

  The flesh reassembled itself and reform the broken and torn tissues.

  Another much more pronounced crack stained the bright ominous gem.

  And more and more flesh was being put back together, the broken body was slowly being fixed, while the gem was becoming more broken by force.

  After three hours, the human body was alive again while the gem was broken...

  The spirit of the abominable bird did not go back to the hand, yet it lingered for a while then...

  ***

  If am correct those footsteps don't belong to a long-eared assassin, but to my.. my, my-ugh

  My body, yeah yeah, my body yeah.

  But something was moving that body...

  Hearing those footsteps from a specific direction, then they disappear and appear in another spot, 'shit' I looked at the young boy then said-

  "hey bo-" interrupted by seeing blood pouring down his chest, a hand with sharp claws at the finger tips were already through the stomach.

  The boy fell to the ground, screaming in agony and convulsing in pain, he hurriedly put his hands on his open wound but the bleeding did not stop.

  I turned to the standing body, I immediately possessed my body...

  When I did it felt like I was inside a cage as if this body did not belong to me, then the bird spirit started exerting force trying to push me out.

  The body spammed as if in turmoil, the fight between those two spirits is tearing the body apart.

  But after a few seconds the body stopped moving, then he stood up and blinked a couple of times! He looked at his hands then smiled.

  - "ugh finally, yess"

  But ther was something bad happening besides him...

  ***

  After the body was fully healed, the spirit of the bird moved around the body but then went back to the chest...

  A second later the broken dark lusterles gem started sparkling, a second later the broken piece were put back together and the gem glowed with a bluish dim light.

  Then a shiver ran through the entire body, a second later the body stated rising weakly.

  The body slowly stood up as it swayed left and right, and finally was up, then the body tried to take a step forward but lost it balance quickly...

  ... A few minutes have passed and now the body was walking through the woods, it was going in a specific direction.

  A few minutes later the body was running, hurriedly trying to reach it's destination as soon as possible...

  The spirit was heading back to the old house... were it used to stay...

  ***

  I turned to my side then saw something horrible and terrifying...

  As the young boy convulsed in his death throws.

  Chains appeared from nothing, they looked familiar...

  Then the chains connected themselves to the body, then a spirit risen up separating from the dying body.

  Connected to the chains, his spirit was slowly being wrapped with those chains.

  My face paled as I saw that in front of me, but for some reason I didn't feel fear, only sorrow.. it was odd.

  Then the chains disappeared again, along side the human...

  A second later something appeared in front of the nearly dead body, but what appeared made me close my eyes instinctively.

  It was a limpo shroud?!!

  I couldn't believe it, 'what the h?ll is that fucker doing here? ... shit'

  With him noise accompanied, and as maddening as I remember them...

  A second later the noise disappeared...

  I opened my eyes and saw nothing but the body, which now.. looked fine!!...

  (End of V-3)