Talent Awakening: I Awakened With The Rewind System

Stepping into the darkness, the room was still as desolate as ever.

The stained windows.

The air still thick with the same-old suffocating frost.

I exhaled heavily.

Calming my rapidly beating heart.

I comforted myself as I walked at a rapid pace.

Not too fast and not too slow.

The mantra guided my trembling feet forward, the only anchor against the irrational urge to flee.

Every shadow

Every flicker of movement in my peripheral vision felt like a predator closing in.

Then,

A flash.

Sudden and blinding.

It erupted ahead of me, forcing out a gasp from my throat.

My chest tightened, air eluding me as I gasped for breath.

"Huff-Huff-"

Panic surged through me.

What the fuck was that?

I whispered into the void, my voice trembling, barely audible over the frantic pouding of my heart. My hands clenched into fists, nails biting into flesh in a futile attempt to regain control of myself.

The silence shattered.

Creak!

A door creaked- a sound that echoed like a groan of something ancient.

Ba-dump!

Ba-dump!

The thumping of my heart became a violent rythm. My body quakes as the eerie green light ahead grew brighter, illuminating the contours of the room.

Suddenly,

The chills intensified.

It wasn't the natural chill of winter, but something more.

An unnatural presence that seeped into my skin, freezing the blood in my veins.

My breath came in ragged gasps,

"Huff-Huff."

A struggle against the icy grip that clutched onto my chest.

My lungs burned and froze simultaneously- a grotesque contradiction that sent tears streaking down my cheeks. My knees buckled, palms scraping against the rough cobblestones as I struggled to breathe.

"This is it."

A bitter smile adorned my lips.

The thought clawing its way into my mind.

Death,

Cold and unrelenting,

Loomed over me, once again.

But,

Just as the final flicker of consciousness began to slip away, the torment relented.

Air rushed into my lungs, and I gasped as though surfacing from a drowning abyss.

Glancing around me.

I tried to find a logical explanation to the flames recession but all I received was the cold whooshing sound of air writhing against my skin.

My gaze turned towards the light-

Was it hope...or a trap?

Tok-

My footsteps echoed faintly, the sound swallowed by the stifling silence.

The door lining the corridor seemed to shudder in response, their creaks reverberating into my ears.

Creak-

Creak!

Still,

Tok-

I pressed on.

And with a wary gaze,

I took deep and heavy steps as I slowly approached the source of light.

The source of light revelead itseld as a flickering green flame suspended in darkness.

A whisper of recognition stirred within me.

'I've seen this before... but where?'

The thought crept to my mind as I stood rigid on the spot.

Not daring to move an inch further.

The flame flickered, danced, and writhled in the presence of the endless darkness.

The endless shadows staying far away from its domain.

The flame seemed to be docile, calm even.

Yet I felt t-his strange sense of fear.

A strange familiarity which I couldn't really place my hands on.

Forcing down my unease.

I took a hesitant step closer.

And then,

The flicker became a shape- no shapes.

They emerged from the fire like phantoms, their form shifting into something monstrous.

Before I could react, the darkness lunged.

It swallowed me whole.

Immediately followed by a suffocating wave that extinguished all source of light.

My senses dulled, replaced by a searing pain that exploded in my mind.

Tentacles- illusory yet horrifyingly real- pierced my flesh, drilling through skin, muscle and bone. They invaded every part of my body, coursing through my veins like molten magma.

I screamed,

Aaaaarghhh!!

The sound torn from my throat as my body writhed against the unyielding agony.

Tears mixed with blood as I clawed at the cold floor.

At my hair,

Eyes.

Doing everything I could to stop the pain,

...To stop the illusory tentacles moving through my body.

Yet... nothing.

Nothing I did worked!

It all proved futile.

Every movement only amplified the torment.

Amplifying the pain.

Finally,

I could feel myself breaking.

My mind fracturing under the weight of it all.

The world blurred and the pain became everything.

It was all I could feel.

And then...

Staring at the dark litless void above me.

Nothing.

Darkness consumed me entirely, a void that felt devoid of even pain.

My breaths came in shadow gasps, my body trembling as exhaustion took over me.

A faint sense of reprieve took over me.

But I knew this reprieve was but a lie.

The cycle would begin anew.

It always did.

Tears stained my cheeks, born of despair so profound, it left me in a hollow state.

Losing all sense of life, sound, and existence- itself.

I could feel the tendrils tightening their grip, dragging me deeper into the endless nightmare.

Broken.

I whispered into the abyss, my voice hoarse, and broken.

"Please... let it stop. Just let it end."

I begged.

Yet,

I knew the truth.

This wasn't the end.

It was but the beginning.

The beginning of something darker, more terrifying than I could comprehend.

And if I didn't find a way to escape, I would be consumed entirely.

The thought lodged itself into my mind, etching itself into the depths of my psyche.

I have to find a way to get out of this time loop.

As the darkness claimed me once more.

I have to.

I clung to that single thread of resolve.

It was fragile and fray, but it was all I could offer.

All I could muster.

And,

Perhaps, just perhaps,

It would be enough.