NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 4: Azariah Noah Aljanah [2]
"WHERE AM I?"
My sharp shout resonated through out the room, while grabbing my fractured rib, I sat on my knees and looked around.
"Where am I?"
The stinging pain in my ribs kept throbbing as the pain continued to assault my body.
My vision started to blur, and a desire to sleep washed over me.
"No." Biting my lower lip until blood started to gush out of it, I mumbled as I forced myself to remain awake.
"Urgh.."
Mustering all the strength I could, I tried to stand up with the support of the bed. My knees kept buckling as I struggled to support myself.
"Huff... huff..."
Again, my breath started to become shallow as my head spun around, I waked gasping for breath.
Crash...
"Urgh.."
I crashed into the table as I moved towards the side of the room that appeared to be a bathroom.
The items on the table fell down, and I heard the sound of glass scattering, but I chose to ignore all of it.
Limping with one hand grabbing my throbbing ribs, while I held the handle of the door with the other hand.
Click...
The door of the bathroom clicked open as I walked in with the support of the door frame.
My heartbeat started to increase as I felt sweat sticking to my body. With my blurry eyes, I looked around the bathroom.
Again, the bathroom was luxurious and perfectly cleaned, but my gaze soon fixed on the mirror hanging on the side.
Ignoring the throbbing pain of my ribs, I moved towards the mirror, and before I knew it, I stood in front of it.
"No,No,No,No!"
At first, I felt panic as I watched my own face in the mirror. Then came immediate denial.
Denial that all of this was just a trick of my mind, that this was all some kind of nightmare that I was living.
"Yeah, this had to be a nightmare." I held my head with both my hands as I mumbled.
Nightmares had always been a part of my life, so maybe this was just another nightmare.
"Hahahaha."
A hollow laugh echoed in the bathroom as I looked in the mirror.
"Who am I kidding? How can I see him in the mirror? This must be a nightmare." I mumbled, glaring at the mirror that showed the face of someone I hated.
"Argh..."
But as if the world wanted me to accept reality, the throbbing ache of my ribs returned, and I crouched down, grabbing them.
I had experienced thousands of nightmares within my life, and never once had I felt pain in them.
"Oh No! No! No!! No!!!"
I sat down on my knees, starting to mumble, which turned into screaming without me even noticing, as reality dawned on me.
A sense of emptiness filled within me as I struggled to understand what was happening.
"Wait!..huff...Wait!!...huff... WAIT!!"
I grabbed the side of the sink as I forcefully stood up, once again looking at the mirror.
Long purple hair that touched my neck, deep purple eyes that were bloodshot because of all the pain I was feeling, and a sickly appearance that felt like death was just a second away from me.
A face all too familiar to me.
A face that I saw countless times in the game that I used to play.
A face that always had a sinister and twisted smile in the game was staring back at me with a confused expression.
"This can't be happening! This can't be happening!"
I kept mumbling as I stared at the 'me' in the mirror.
"Why is he here?" As my mind started to think again, I once again felt intense confusion.
Why am I here?
What is actually happening?
Where is this place?
"ARHHH....WHAT IS HAPPENING!?"
Crash...
My fist collided with the mirror as the sharp and brittle sound of glass breaking apart echoed.
Tinkle...Tinkle...
The smaller pieces of glass bounced and rolled all over the floor.
"Huff...Huff..."
Drip..Drip...
Blood dripped from my now damaged hand as my ragged and hard breathing sounds echoed in the bathroom.
"Hahahahaha."
I laughed, a laugh that felt forced but genuine.
I was laughing at the situation and at my own behavior.
"Let's calm down, calm down."
I whispered as I lightly slapped my own face.
All I needed to do was think properly about it, and I would be able to find the solution for everything.
I just need to calm down.
Calm down.
"HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN!"
Baam...
Again, with a voice that didn't belong to me, I shouted at the top of my lungs as I slammed my fist on the sink.
Baam...
Again, I slammed my fist with both hands, the pain I was feeling only making me angrier as it proved that all I was feeling was real and there was no escaping it.
Baam...
Crash...Shatter...
I hit the sink so hard that it started to break apart, falling on the ground.
"Urgh...."
And just after a moment, an intense pain assaulted my brain as both my fists were now swollen with torn flesh and blood gushing out of them.
"Argh..."
Groaning in pain, I sat down over the shattered glass and broken sink.
Leaning against the closest wall, I touched my ribs, which had once again started to throb in pain.
"I want to see her." I mumbled as I felt an intense desire to see her again.
"Wait, her name?" Not even a second had passed, and I noticed that I couldn't remember her name.
Once again, panic overtook me as I felt I was forgetting the name of the woman that I loved.
"Memories, my memories." I shut my eyes tightly as I tried to remember my memories, those moments I spent with her.
But I made a mistake, because the memories I was searching for didn't belong to this mind.
Like a pin that had punctured a tightly packed balloon, memories that didn't belong to me started to assault my brain.
And just like that, the happy memories and the sad memories of Azariah Noah Aljanah overwhelmed my mind, and once again, my nightmare started anew.