Looking at the iron door, Bernard felt like his blood was boiling; first he had been teleported here by some monster spirit thing, second he had changed bodies for some unknowable reason, third he was now imprisoned... AGAIN! Both reasons were invalid and unfair! Grimacing, Bernard realised the shadows were slowly changing—becoming more active and alive; the endless hunger and malice emanating off of them was sickening.
The terrible stinging pain emanating from his chest allowed Bernard to have some clarity of mind. 'If I don't get out of here, I'll die, so...' Looking at the iron door, Bernard grit his teeth, already imagining what he was going to do.
Taking a deep breath, Bernard tried to stop shaking; a moment after that, he lunged at the door, raising his left arm up while clenching his hand into a fist, slamming it down onto the iron door, causing a cracking sound to echo out within the small jail.
Bernard scanned the door with a cold, calculative look. 'It shook. Although my hand feels terrible, and I probably broke a bone, it shook! There's still a chance to live!'
Smiling, Bernard decided to take a different approach this time. Raising his left shoulder, Bernard twisted his upper body slightly sideways while charging towards the door, slamming into it shoulder first with a deafening bang! Bernard's eye twitched from the pain, while his shaking got worse.
Bernard's eyes trembled as he saw the shadows had started clustering in one area, slowly moulding into a human-like shape. Gritting his teeth, he continued slamming into the door, waves of excruciating white-hot pain spreading throughout his body continually.
"LET ME OUT OF HERE... PLEASE!!" Bernard's tone was even more desperate this time—to a point that even the officer was almost convinced that some monster was really in there. In fact, Bernard slamming himself into the iron door warranted a medic to check on him. Sighing, the police officer got up and walked over to the door, pushing his key into it, opening it with a satisfying click.
The officer looked into the cell, his hands shaking in fear... Because he saw a tall, emaciated, shadow-like monster in the cell, it was still forming, which he sincerely appreciated. His eyes rapidly scanned the situation, and he made a logical decision, shouting for the kid, "COME OUT! I'LL LOCK THE CELL AND TRAP IT IN THERE!"
Bernard immediately sprinted out of the cell, ignoring his injuries. He looked at the officer with panic. The officer, seeing that Bernard was out, immediately closed the door, slamming it as quickly as he could before swiftly pushing the key into the lock, causing a satisfying clicking sound to resound out in the small police office.
Both stood there in the office, their eyes glued to the iron door, waiting to see if the monster would be able to break it down. After five minutes of agonising silence, a loud thud echoed out inside of the room, being accompanied by the iron door rattling.
The monster continued smashing itself against the door, causing a strange thudding sound to resound out every few minutes.
Bernard swiftly looked at the officer while trying to hide the worry and fear in his eyes. "Should we get away from this door? What if it doesn't hold?!"
The officer looked at Bernard for a few moments before saying in a cold and even manner, "If that thing can break down that door, then we're already dead. Running, at most, would give us a few more minutes at best."
Bernard's eyes betrayed his obvious shock; this random police officer was strangely calm.
Running his hair through his fingers for a few moments, Bernard decided to check the severity of his injuries. Sitting down on the hardwood floor, he first checked the wound given to him by that monster; it was still bleeding, albeit slightly less. The rest of the injuries were bruises, besides the fact his left hand's index finger had definitely broken.
'I'm just so tired...' Getting up, Bernard looked at the police officer, who hadn't done much besides look at the iron door for the last few minutes. "Do you have any bandages? That monster got me really badly; I'm afraid if I leave it, I might bleed out."
The officer looked at him with an odd expression before speaking evenly, "That monster was still forming when I opened the iron door; it was also a few metres away from you. It couldn't have attacked you."
Bernard's eyes flashed with realisation. 'Indeed! I was dreaming about being attacked, so the injury I have... Is there a second monster? Or maybe... this is also a dream? It can't be. How could I be in such a realistic dream?'
"Then there must be a second one." Bernard tried to stay calm after that realisation... But he couldn't help the fear that showed in his eyes, as he realised the monster had stopped charging against the iron door... As if it understood them.
It was then Bernard noticed something odd. The officer hadn't drawn his gun; either he had a very unreliable memory or there was a second possibility Bernard couldn't quite think of.
The officer, as if noticing Bernard's strange glances, pulled out his gun, raising it to the iron door. "I didn't draw it earlier because I was quite shocked; I'm sorry for putting your life at risk." The officer spoke in a genuinely apologetic tone while keeping his eyes focused on the door, which kept rattling every few minutes.
with the door holding, for now. Bernard had time to think, think about how he had killed a man, whatever a record of path is, about whoever or whatever the strange voice that announced it was, and a lot more.
Sighing, Bernard bit his lip—trying to use the pain to help him control his emotions. His face contorted into a terrible grimace as he decided to not think about the bald man's death.
'Record of path... Strange name, really, although it's a somewhat helpful one. ' After racking his brain for a few minutes, Bernard remembered what the word "record" meant; it meant the storage of information, like a record of the date or time.
'So it seems it's recording... This "Path"? Thinking about it, the strange voice seemed to coincide with... that.' Bernard sighed, realising that was basically all information he could gather from the name.
'That strange voice announced it... They are probably related; back then I panicked, thinking it was a monster or something, so I ran in fear. Thinking about it, it's quite strange that I've kept the injury sustained within the dream, but how can a dream influence reality?' Putting his hand on his chin, Bernard suddenly turned to the right, after hearing a floorboard creak a few meters to the right.
To his bewilderment, there was another monster there; it towered above Bernard and the officer, its body looked emaciated and frail, its arms like sticks, and at the end of its arms were two sets of sharp, reddish-black claws. Its head looked like a human's, except its eyes were completely black and emanated a boundless hunger. Instantly, its mouth opened, causing a strange clicking sound to resound out in the room as it charged towards Bernard.