"Where… where am I?"
The words slipped out of his lips in a faint, unsteady whisper as his head moved ever so slightly. His mouth parted slowly, as if even speaking required effort. His eyelids fluttered, heavy and reluctant, opening just enough for him to catch a blurred glimpse of the ceiling above him.
It didn't feel right.
That ceiling… it wasn't his.
Not his home. Not his room. Not his school. Not his classroom.
As his eyes struggled to focus, forcing themselves wider, he stared more carefully at the unfamiliar surface above. And then—suddenly—something inside him recoiled.
"Uh—"
His breath hitched. Then it quickened.
His chest rose and fell faster with each passing second, his breathing turning sharp, uneven. His eyes were locked upward now, wide open—unblinking, unmoving—fixed on the ceiling as if it held something dreadful. A quiet terror began to creep into them, slowly taking over… and that same fear started to spread across his face.
This… this can't be happening.
There was something about that ceiling—something that made it feel as though he knew where he was. And yet, the horror written all over his face told a different story. Wherever he was… it wasn't safe.
From somewhere far away, faint sounds began to echo toward him.
Strange sounds.
Unfamiliar.
The kind you hear and still can't understand—can't tell what they belong to, or where they're coming from.
The room itself was wrapped in darkness. Not complete darkness—but the kind that presses in on you. A dim, ghostly glow seeped in from outside lights, barely enough to outline anything clearly. Everything looked distant… distorted… uncertain.
Slowly, he turned his head to the other side—toward a window.
From there, Silas caught a glimpse of the outside.
But there was nothing.
Nothing at all…
Except walls.
Just walls, closing in from every direction.
Silas slowly swung his legs off the bed, his bare feet meeting the cold floor beneath him.
The chill struck instantly—sharp, biting—sending a shiver crawling up his spine. For a brief moment, his body stiffened at the contact, but he didn't pull back. Instead, he pushed himself up, rising to his feet.
Carefully… hesitantly… he took a step forward.
Then another.
The silence in the room seemed to deepen with each movement, wrapping around him like something alive. And as he began to walk, the things placed around him started to come into clearer view.
They were… strange.
Unnervingly strange.
Tall shelves lined the space, and resting upon them were large glass jars—some towering, some small enough to hold in both hands. At first, they were just shapes in the dim light… but as Silas drew closer, the truth inside them revealed itself.
Dead animals.
Preserved.
Their lifeless forms suspended in a murky, chemical-filled liquid, as if time had been forcibly halted around them. Their bodies were stiff, unnatural—caught between decay and display.
But that wasn't all.
His steps slowed.
Because beside them… were things far worse.
Dried human flesh.
Fragments of the human body—separated, stripped of identity, reduced to mere pieces. Arms… pieces of skin… unrecognizable remains that once belonged to someone.
And then—
Eyes.
Floating, staring blankly through the cloudy glass.
Heads.
Severed, hollow, silent.
Hearts.
Shriveled, yet preserved.
Brains—folded masses resting eerily still within their glass prisons.
Every single part that should have remained hidden within the human body… was here. Exposed. Collected. Stored.
All of them dried—yet not abandoned to rot. No, they had been handled with disturbing care. Each piece had been placed into large and small glass containers, submerged in a strange chemical that preserved them… protected them… refused to let them fully decay.
It was as if someone wanted to keep them exactly like this.
Forever.
Silas moved slowly along the shelves, his fingers brushing against the cold glass as he passed. The smooth surface sent a faint chill through his skin, but he didn't pull his hand away. Instead, he traced them lightly… absentmindedly… while his eyes studied each jar with unsettling focus, as if trying to understand what he was seeing—or perhaps forcing himself to believe it was real.
Then, while still walking, he turned his head.
The door.
It stood right ahead of him.
Without thinking, Silas shifted his direction toward it and began to walk.
One step.
Then another.
The distance wasn't much—just a few steps, nothing more. Close enough that he should have reached it within seconds.
But something was wrong.
Even as he kept walking… he wasn't getting any closer.
The door remained where it was—unchanged, distant… unreachable.
A faint unease tightened in his chest.
It already felt like something about this place was off… but this—this confirmed it.
Something was wrong.
Silas kept moving forward, his steps growing quicker, more urgent. But the door… it only seemed to drift further away, as if it were slipping from his reach.
A flicker of panic rose inside him.
He broke into a run.
His footsteps echoed louder now, sharper against the cold floor as he pushed himself faster—but it made no difference. The harder he tried, the further the door seemed to move.
It wasn't just distant anymore.
It felt impossibly far.
As if no matter how much he ran… he would never reach it.
His breath grew heavy.
His body strained.
And finally—exhausted—he came to an abrupt stop.
For a brief second, everything stilled.
Then—
Something changed.
The atmosphere of the room shifted.
It wasn't just a feeling—it was visible.
On his right side, the wall began to move.
Not violently. Not suddenly.
But slowly… eerily…
It started drifting away, as if being pulled back into nothingness. Inch by inch, the solid surface began to fade—losing form, dissolving into emptiness until it was no longer there at all.
Silas stared, frozen.
His mind struggled to grasp what was happening.
None of this made sense.
None of it was normal.
Confusion. Shock. Fear—everything collided inside him at once.
And then—
At the far end, where the wall had disappeared… he saw something.
People.
A few figures stood there, gathered together, doing something he couldn't fully make out. Their forms were unclear—but their presence was real.
And then came the sound.
Faint… strange… unsettling sounds drifted toward him.
The moment those voices reached his ears, something inside Silas shifted again.
Without thinking, he began to move toward them.
Slowly at first.
Then, with growing urgency.
As Silas moved closer, the figures ahead began to take shape.
They weren't shadows anymore.
They were people.
Standing together… talking.
As he approached, they turned slightly—just enough for him to see them clearly. They wore white coats. Doctor's coats. Clean… clinical… almost too spotless for a place like this.
Their voices echoed faintly in the hollow space around them.
"So, Doctor Michael… how is GEO Research Division going?"
The question came from one of the men standing beside him. His voice carried strangely in the emptiness, bouncing off invisible corners of the room. As the sound reached him, Silas instinctively stopped in his tracks.
GEO RESEARCH DIVISION…
The words struck him.
Hard.
A flicker of recognition passed through his mind.
"Oh—you mean Project Terra Bind?" the man—Doctor Michael—replied, almost casually. "Nothing special. Work is still ongoing… but so far, we haven't had any success."
There was a brief pause.
"Oh… then that must've caused quite a loss for you, hasn't it, Doctor Michael?"
"Loss?"
Doctor Michael let out a short, dismissive scoff.
"No. There's been no loss."
Silas frowned slightly, his gaze fixed on them, his body still unmoving.
"What do you mean? I don't understand… none of the test subjects failed?"
A faint, unsettling smile seemed to tug at Michael's expression.
"Of course they did. Fifteen test subjects have failed so far."
Silas's breath caught.
Fifteen.
"Then—"
"Ah… you wouldn't understand," Michael interrupted smoothly, glancing around before leaning slightly closer to the other doctor. "Come here. There's something important I'll tell you."
The other man stepped in, lowering his head to listen.
Michael's voice dropped—quieter now, more secretive.
"The Vice President is funding everything. Covering all the expenses. This project… it's extremely important to him."
Silas's heart began to pound.
"If this succeeds…" Michael continued, his tone almost laced with something darker, "he plans to have the experiment performed on someone from his own family… and make them its master."
A silence followed.
Heavy.
"Oh… I see," the other doctor said slowly, stepping back again, realization dawning on his face.
"Now you understand," Michael replied, straightening up. "You're a close friend, that's why I told you. Don't mention this to anyone."
Silas stood there, completely still.
Silent.
Listening.
Every word had reached him.
And the worst part—
He understood exactly who they were talking about.
The door creaked open.
A guard stepped inside, his movements stiff and disciplined as he approached Doctor Michael. Leaning in slightly, he whispered something into his ear—so low, so careful—that even standing this close, Silas couldn't catch a single word.
But whatever it was…
It changed something.
Doctor Michael's expression shifted—just slightly, but enough to notice.
"Bring him in."
His voice was calm. Certain. Like he had been expecting this moment.
The guard gave a small nod and immediately turned, walking back toward the door. The sound of his boots echoed faintly before fading as he stepped out.
Silas's attention remained fixed on them.
"Doctor Samuel," Michael spoke again, turning toward the other man, "I have something to attend to. We'll meet later."
"Yes, of course," Samuel replied smoothly. "I have some work myself—there's a project I need to look into. I'll take my leave as well."
"By all means," Michael said with a faint, polite gesture. "May both your path and your work be easy."
With that, Doctor Samuel turned and began walking toward the door, his figure slowly moving away.
And then—
Something strange began to happen.
As soon as Samuel started leaving, the surroundings… shifted.
Not abruptly.
But slowly.
Everything around Silas began to blur.
At first, it was subtle—like a thin veil falling over his vision. But within seconds, the edges of things softened, their shapes losing clarity. The room, the walls, the figures—
All of it was beginning to fade into a hazy distortion.
Silas didn't react.
Not outwardly.
As if something inside him had already accepted this.
He stepped forward.
Toward Doctor Michael.
But just like before—
The distance betrayed him.
No matter how much he moved ahead, the space between them didn't close. Instead, Michael seemed to drift further away… his figure growing fainter, less defined, slipping from reach.
And now—
Blurring as well.
No… not again.
A voice echoed inside Silas's mind.
I can't lose this time.
The thought came sharp. Urgent. Familiar.
As if—
As if he had seen this before.
As if this moment had already happened… somewhere… sometime.
His steps quickened, almost turning into a desperate attempt to reach him—but it was useless.
The world in front of him continued to dissolve.
The scene grew more and more unclear.
Until even the doctor's face—
Disappeared into the blur.
Clack!
The sharp sound of a door unlocking echoed through the silence.
Silas's head turned instantly.
The door swung open, and a group of people entered, dragging someone inside with force.
The person struggled wildly—fighting against their grip, twisting his body, trying to break free—but it was useless. They held him too tightly, too confidently, as if this was nothing new to them.
Silas took a step forward on instinct.
But then—
He stopped.
His movements slowed… and came to a complete halt.
Because he understood it now.
If he went any closer… it would all begin to disappear again.
The moment, the people, the scene—everything would blur, dissolve, and slip out of reach just like before.
So he stood still.
Watching from a distance.
The boy's desperate voice echoed through the room as he was dragged further inside… but Silas didn't move anymore.
"Let me go! Let me— go, you fucking bastards!"
He struggled violently, trying to break free from the grip of the men holding him.
"Whoa… Whoa, look who the Vice President sent today. I can't believe my eyes…"
"Bastards… let me go!"
Another voice cut through the chaos, filled with disbelief and excitement.
"I still can't believe, the Vice President went this far for this project… he's really doing everything he can to make it succeed. This time… I won't disappoint him."
Silas could see nothing clearly. Everything around him was blurred, fading into shapeless motion. But he could hear them—every word, every tone—cutting through the haze like distant echoes.
And that was enough for him to understand… something serious was happening.
Thoo
He spat directly onto the doctor's face.
To Be Continued....