It lurked through the halls, taking heavy steps towards me. I tried to hold in my breath. It crept closer and closer as each second passed. Tears started to leak from the corner of my eye. It blurred my vision. Blood was seeping through my hand, which was holding on to the side of my torso. I was losing my focus as a dark void took over my sight.
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I fell, only to wake up on my bed in cold sweat.
It was a nightmare. I looked down to see my shirt bleeding. The injury was there. It was not a dream, it was real. I felt a chill down my spine as I made the conclusion. I had to get up to clean my wound, but I was too scared. I didn't want to get up, but I didn't want to die. I was in a state of panic. I had to stop any more blood from leaving my body, but I was worried about that thing. I don't want to run into it again.
It was mortifying, when I looked into it I had the urge to scream and vomit at the same time. But I was to make no sound. Because I didn't want to die.
I feel my vision blacking out again. Maybe it was because of the blood loss. But I awoke in my bed again. Heaving as I try to catch my breath. I looked at my shirt again and it was bleeding from the left side of my torso. I felt a sense of deja vu. I was in a state of confusion, but was suddenly brought back to reality, or what seemed to be reality, as I felt the pain increasing with every breath I took. I started to lose consciousness, as I woke up again on my bed.
This time I tried getting out of bed, but I felt as if an unknown force was holding me down. I couldn't move. I was stuck in bed. I was going to die. I started to panic again. I didn't want to die. However, none of my muscles would budge. I was forced to remain still. The blood kept leaking. As if the faucet has been broken. It stained the white sheets of my bed. More and more. Then I fell.
And again I woke up on my bed. I knew I couldn't move. I knew I would bleed out. The empty darkness that filled my head was expected. I knew it was gonna happen.
It happened again and again and again and again. Same old, same old.
How many times has this been happening now? I think I was counting but I lost track after, what, 20 times? 30 times? This doesn't even feel like a sick joke anymore. This is real. And this reality is Cruel. What had I even done that was so bad? I don't remember. But why? Why is it that I don't remember my life before all this? My head hurts. I'm tired. I want this to end so badly. I can't remember anything except for that nightmare. However, considering the fact that I woke up with the same injury as in the nightmare, it most likely is real.
Alright it is real, but then why do I get the feeling that it's just an illusion my mind has made for me to go through. Am I missing something here? Anyhow, that's beside the point, for now I should just try to escape this hellish loop. Then, I passed out.
I woke up again, unfazed this time as I knew what was to happen next. I knew I was gonna bleed until I passed out, waking up again to do it all over again.
Wait, something is wrong.
The injury is now on the right. I look down to my torso. The left of my torso that had been bleeding out, now completely clean. This wasn't the same old. I instinctively clutched my reflected wound as I began looking around, searching for more differences. Soon, I blacked out again and awoke to a new start.
I noticed that the usual sensation of pain swelling at my torso had subsided. I regained a sense of hope that soon faded as I felt my head feel heavy with the constant thumping of my pulse rushing blood out of my frontal lobe. My eyes, unable to focus, wandered around the room. My vision was blurred, however, I could still make out some major differences in the room. The walls were a darker shade, the bed was now black, the lights were dim, and the most noticeable feature of the strange room was a moving shadow.
A shadow that seemed larger than the room itself, growing larger as it approached me. It looked as if it were trapped in the room, trying to escape the enclosed walls. I flailed around, trying to move. Trying to escape. I needed to get out of bed, but that invisible force from before stopped me the last time I tried.
Wait.
So much has already changed before, what if the barrier got lifted as one of the changes? I tried to jump off my bed, but instead I ended up banging my head against the barrier. Turns out it was still there, and I ended up making a fool of myself.
But did I? There is no one there to embarrass myself in front of, except for that monster.
The darkness that begins to fill my vision brings back my attention. I let it all happen, hoping that maybe the next time I wake up the barrier is gone.
There's no hope of escaping this loop anyway. As I finally lose consciousness once again, I sit back up in the same dull room with the shadow. However, this time the shadow is gone. I quickly try to lunge out of bed in an attempt to see whether the barrier has gone or not.
It's not.
"@$%!&*%*$^%!$&^%$" I hear from my left.
I retract my focus from the barrier and turn towards the noise. There stands a man. From the shoulder down he looks as normal as a man can look. But above that, is a morphed face. It's as if there are scribbles moving all over his face, like his face is censored. I attempted to speak but no sound came out. I reached out to him, pleading for him to help me. And help he does, once he snaps his finger I'm out of the loop. I'm finally out of that torturous cycle of bleeding till death over and over again.
However…
I'm in a cell.