In an underground basement that reeked of dust and old regrets, a teenager was cleaning things covered with years of untouched dust. Cardboard boxes were stacked one on top of another like jenga tower.
Old rusty metal rods were just dumped in the corner beside an old bicycle with no chain, that had been falling apart against the wall for years, of thick dust.
He held the duster broom like a spear, walked toward the edges of the basement, and began cleaning the ceiling.
"Fucking cobwebs… everywhere," he grumbled, squinting at the ceiling. "Why the hell does Mom pick right now to make me do this shit?"
He smirked despite himself. "Next time I'm locking the damn door before I dig into my treasure."
He stand on his toes swiping at the ceiling, when something tiny and leggy landed on his neck.
"Ow shit!…"
He freaked out and felt the spider crawling to his neck, and jumped back so hard that he almost fell, flailing the broom like a madman.
*Whack*
His wild swings hit the boxes. The stack wobbled once, then collapsed. Something from it nailed him on the forehead.
*BAM!*
"Ouch… aghh…"
*cough-cough*
When the dust settled, the old books followed with a soft thud, dropping and spreading across the floor
"Ah… fuck. Of course why not."
He set the box upright again and began grabbing the fallen books, just stacking them back inside.
That's when he noticed a book with strange designs. He wiped it with his right hand and saw some gold patterns resembling chakras and other strange lines.
Some of the books were half-torn. Some were shredded and crumpled with wrinkles. But this book was almost new, as if somebody had just bought it yesterday.
He opened it.
The first page was blank, and the paper was thick. Not like normal paper with thin sheets.
He turned the page, narrowing his eyes.
"What is wrong with these letters…?" he mumbled under his breath.
Strange red letters were written in some kind of cipher language that he couldn't understand. His fingers brushed the surface of the page, hoping for any sort of clue but found nothing.
He flipped another page.
More strange letters and drawn arrows, pointing to the right corner of the page where a neat thumb shaped mark outlined in red colour.
He tried decoding the arrows and letters like a detective, squinting at the letters, but couldn't find anything.
The only thing he understood was the arrows pointing to the edge where a thumbprint was drawn in red, with strange letters written above.
Curiously, he placed his right thumb against the illustration.
Nothing happened.
Then out of nowhere, he felt a sharp needle poking his thumb. He yanked his hand back, but his finger wouldn't come, as if it had been glued down with an epoxy resin.
His thumb wasn't coming out.
His thumb isn't coming out..
He panicked and shook his hand, but the pain just got worse like thousands of needles stabbing it continuously.
"Ahh!… fuck!" He freaked out.
Pain exploded in his hand. Panic rose from his chest. He tried to tear the page, but nothing happened. The paper just sat there, stubborn as ever.
Desperate with no options left, no sharp objects no hope, he placed his left foot on top of the book and yanked his finger, hard as he could.
*yank*
It came off.
"Finally…" he muttered catching his breath.
But what he saw after that made him speechless.
The skin of his thumb was still stuck to the page. Before he could think of anything, the book suddenly snapped shut.
*DHAB*
His heart pound hard in his chest. Blood dripping from his thumb as he ran for the stairs. But halfway up, he tripped.
*BANG*
He screamed out loud in pain, like tom from Tom and Jerry toon.
"Ahhhhhhhh!!"
His broke his nose, fingers trembled near his nostril, eyes closed. He couldn't feel his legs anymore. Still, he tried crawling toward the exit, for a few steps until he couldn't feel them as well.
"Help!… Help!… Mom!! Dad!!" he yelled, voice loud and cracking.
No answers from outside. The basement door stayed shut.
A moment later things started getting, little weirder.
His legs moved upright on their own, standing him up as if someone else was controlling his body. Panic hit hard. He whipped his head left and right, at least he still had control over that.
His body walked towards the south corner of the basement, opposite from the broom, and picked up a rusty metal rod, and set it down in front of him.
He tried to scream, shout for help again, but nothing came out. His mouth just wasn't listening to him anymore.
'What on earth is happening to me? I can't feel my body nor can i speak,' he screamed the words inside his mind but nothing came out.
He watched himself helplessly, as his feet dragged him closer to the corner. A rusty metal rod pointed upright, his gaze locked on it.
His jaw opened against his will, and he couldn't do anything.
'W-wait… why is there a rod placed right in front of me?' his breath hitched in fear. 'Am i going to die…? No no no… wait wait wait… my browser history...'
*whoosh*
Then his body lunged forward, his mouth slammed down on the sharp tip of the rod. Driving it through his nuchal ridge, and killing him instantly.
Then nothing. Just darkness.
…
He opened his eyes, staring straight up. His body was half covered in blood pool. Right in front of him was a light source blurred with dense fog, and a path stretched out made of skeleton skulls.
He stood up and examined his body, half transparent and naked.
He walked without any questions, moving like someone already dead, following the only path leading to the light.
Minutes passed.
He reached the end, and saw a small mountain of skeleton bones. Above, on top of it was a book.
He climbed upward, and stared at the book. It was kinda similar to the one he had touched before dying, but this time it had different patterns and symbols.
He grabbed it, with both hands and lifted it up.
Slowly darkness washed over him, once more.
…
He woke up blinking slow, eyes staring on the wooden ceiling. He felt pain in his arms a bit, but honestly, the rest of him felt oddly at peace. White warm blanket covered his body, face resting on a white pillow.
"What is this place… am I dreaming or something?" he murmured in confusion.
He lifted his hands. They felt off somehow and glanced to the left side.
A book sat right there beside him.
"Aaaaa!" He screamed loudly and kicked the book off, making it fall on the corner of the bed.
*Thud*
A moment later he heard footsteps coming closer from outside. His eyes locked on the door. Suddenly, a busty woman burst inside, slamming the door behind her.
"Is everything okay…?!"