"Doors are a strong source of noise" she replied.
"Where here. You will be staying here for the time being" she bowed and walked away.
"My room huh... more like dorm." he said staring at the two beds by the left and right side of his– which laid in the centre.
It was strange. His bed along with the others, were the regular bed sizes and shapes. Yet again, Daniel couldn't get used to the massive hall which was supposedly his dorm.
"Haaaa~"
"My mind and memories have not been stable"
Daniel breathed a sigh and sluggishly walked up to the bed in the centre. Throwing his tired body on the bed, he said.
"It's not like there's anything I can do about it" he stared up at the towering and distant ceiling.
"How awkward. What exactly is wrong with me?" he looked in silence.
"There's no need thinking about it. Not like I'll remember anything"
Daniel tried to think but gave up. Knowing how fuzzy and difficult to handle his mind had just become.
"Maybe, a little nap won't hurt" Daniel said, yawning.
Just as he was about to doze off, the system appeared with a new message.
[Fate calls for your JUDGEMENT]
And another sprang up from beneath it.
[Prepare for a Revelation!]
"Fate calls for your judgement? This thing never stops with the strange messages"
In a fraction of a second, an irresistible sleep struck Daniel. About to drift in, Daniel sprang up from the bed in an attempt to fight it off.
Everywhere fell silent. Then Daniel gradually opened his eyes.
"Huh??" He blinked.
The next instant, he was outside.
"What?! What just happened?" Daniel blinked his emerald green pupils several times before darting them around. He turned to see if the status window was still on. Sadly, it was gone. This caused him to panic a little.
"I'm.... outside." Daniel stared at his palms upon realising he wasn't in the dorm.
"No.." his eyes trembled.
"Where am I." Daniel turned around, only to find himself standing at the centre of a field in the midst of distant trees. A cool breeze swept through the area sending a chill down his spine.
Daniel flinched and carefully turned around upon hearing the cry of a little boy. He widened his eyes and trembled in horror, as he looked at the scene before him.
There, a little boy with white cut hair. Probably around the age of eight, before a grown lady lying in a red pool. The boy continued to mutter softly in a sobbing, sorrow driven tone.
"Mum stand up. You said we were going to go"
"Mum stand up. You promised we are going to leave "
Daniel wrapped his palm around his mouth. Holding himself from giving in to the instant nausea that struck him, once he set his eyes on the horrifying sight before him.
"Urgh! Is that?....a corpse?!" Daniel muttered behind his palmed mouth.
The little boy of course, was talking to a corpse. The full grown lady lying in a supposedly red pond, was the kid's mother and she was lying in her own blood. This disgusting and strange sight, caused Daniel to react as he did.
The boy immediately stopped crying and remained silent for a while. Seeing this as an opportunity, Daniel tried to approach him but was instantly stopped by the boy's strange behaviour.
"Hmhm" the boy chuckled softly. Then burst into laughter."Ahahaha!"
Daniel stood frozen. Shocked on why a kid would put up such an act in a very severe and dire situation. But that thought was instantly erased as the boy turned around and stared at him in an expression that spoke totally opposite of his actions just a moment ago.
The little boy whom was covered in blood, had blood-red pupils and his eyes were filled with spider veins and dripped tears– that rolled down his cheek.
The little boy was smiling. But not the type of smile of a sane person. The little boy smiled out of depression and insanity that must have built up over time. Daniel could vividly see the suffering he felt from an unbreakable fate and inevitable destiny. Daniel for the first time in his life was finally rendered powerless in such a situation. What could he do? A psycho kid that seems to be suffering from something unfathomable, was staring at him. Immediately thoughts started to swirl in Daniel's mind:
"What should I do?"
"How can I help him?"
"What does he want from me?"
Continued to bug him. But there was something even more disturbing that questioned Daniel's mind.
"More importantly, why's he staring at me... like that?"
The boy bent his head sideways a grinn spreading across his face, he said to daniel.
"what could I do? If I didn't do as they told me. I COULD HAVE DIED"
Daniel froze as he deeply questioned his mind. "Is that....THE VOICE OF A CHILD?"
He panicked and fell to the ground in fear. It was already strange that he found himself in such a sinister situation, but the fact that the kid talked like an evil spirit– frightened him more. Questioning his judgement with such a depraved, demonic voice inflicted so much fear in a teenager like Daniel.
The voice was horrifying indeed, like so many vengeful and agonising souls were saying the same words at the same time.
To worsen things, the creepy voice said to Daniel in a louder more vicious and heavier tone:
"If it were you..... WOULD YOU KILL YOUR MOTHER TO SAVE YOURSELF?"
This question, broke Daniel's mind to pieces. The voice remained silent. Then after not hearing a response from him, the boy bounced up and lunged at Daniel like an undead craving human flesh. It screamed at the top of its hideous voice.
"ANSWER!! MEEEEEEE!!!"
As expected, Daniel crawled backwards and yelled at the top of his voice as well.
His scream plunging him back to reality as he Shut up from his bed. Intense sweat, rapidly rolling down his face and body. Daniel panted heavily.
His sudden scream of course, caused the people of the house to run into his dorm. The lady that escorted him to his room, grabbed a napkin and began cleaning the sweat off his face. The oldest among them, wearing a bucket hat and old styled boots with similar jumpsuits as Daniel, walked up to him and asked.
"Are you alright?"
"Your scream pierced the silence of the village and instantly caused an uproar"
Daniel remained silent for a while, trying to regain himself. After a few minutes, a thought said to him.
"He's right. I really did cause an uproar"
Daniel brooded over the trans and still remained silent for a while. He stared at his hands and muttered gently. Low enough for only his ears to hear.
"could it be because... I was selected without bearing the mark of a divinity?"
Daniel clenched his teeth and frowned, his face about to break down in tears. Growing impatient for the delayed reply, the old man said to Daniel. "Pardon. Are you alright?"
"Right! This guy was here.." a thought said to Daniel.
"Haha..so even if this situation... there are people that still care about me" Daniel concluded his thoughts and smiled softly at them with a drop of tear clinging gently at both ends of his eyes.
"I'm alright" he said.
"Is that so" the old man said to him.
"Please let us know again if anything is bothering you" he smiled back at the young boy in distress.
Daniel was relieved and felt an unusual warmth he hadn't embraced in years, for that sheer moment with them. But little did he know, that his vicious scream that alerted the villagers would bring about the attention of different entities than the villagers that made him feel at home, by the time the sun was down.