I was expecting to see the same black nothingness but was instead meet with a pair of black shades.
The boy in front of me had a purple mohawk and a piercing near his eyebrow.
I blinked a few times and scrunched my eye brows together. I know this boy. If only I could breath maybe I'd be able to actually think about it. I squeezed my eyes shut as my chest became tighter, begging for oxygen.
"Hey, Eiji? You okay?"
No! I'm clearly not fine!
I felt as his hand landed on my shoulder and it was as if the tremendous weight on my chest vanished. I sucked in a deep breath of fresh air and coughed.
The boy gently helped me into a sitting position and slightly patted my back in what I could only assume was comfort. Once my coughing fit was over I looked over at the boy and gave him a small smile, ignoring the fact that his hand was still on my back. Whatever he did, I was grateful for. I could finally breath.
"Thank you."
He grinned and with his other hand slapped my shoulder.
"Of course! I couldn't just leave my friend dieing on the floor there now could I?"
My small smile vanished. So he's a friend of mine. Great, I don't rember him at all. I sighed and looked down at my hands.
"I'm sorry for troubling you there. I have no idea what happened. It was like one second I was feeling great and the next I just...couldn't breath." I flinched at my statement. What I said literally sounded crazy.
He hummed in response and looked off into space as if thinking. After a couple seconds of complete silence I felt awkward. I slightly shifted on the floor, unsure of what to do next. His hand was still on my back. It was weird but at the same time felt oddly comforting. Just as I was about to speak out he beat me to it.
"Well first off, there's no need for sorrys. Was it your fault that you were literally suffocating? No. So no sweat okay? Second off, the reason why you couldn't breath was because you were getting to close to waking up."
I looked up from my hands and stared at him in confusion. Is this guy okay?
Alright I know I shouldn't be judging, especially after I literally just said that I couldn't breath one second and I could the next. But saying that I was close to waking up when I'm clearly awake, is a whole new level of weird.
"Uh... what do you mean I was getting close to, uh, waking up? Last time I checked I'm still awake right now." I awkwardly chuckled, trying to lighten up the uncomfortable mood.
He sighed and placed a hand on his forehead "It's" he paused for a second "hard to explain, but let's just say that this place isn't really...real."
"What?" This was getting weirder by the second.
"You, right now, aren't actually physically here."
I looked down at myself. Nope I'm definitely physically here but it looks like this guy isn't mentally here.
Is he messing with me? I looked at him in concern and he gave me a sheepish smile.
"I know this sounds crazy but just let me finish. Okay?" He had a genuine and sympathetic look on his face and I just couldn't deny him.
I gave him a nod.
He sighed in relief "Good. Well, right now you're just a little puppet that Dino is using in the real world and you, the one sitting here, is your soul. And you know that sound you've been hearing?" He pasused for a moment "It's basically the key to getting out of here and regaining control of your body."
At that I stood up trying my best to not completely freak out. The boys hand on my back quickly slithered to my wrist. He looked up at me in concern and slight frustration.
"I'm not done yet Eiji."
I couldn't understand what he was saying the only thing that was on my mind was that this guy knows Dino.
I pulled on his grip fear sinking in.
"W-who are you? How do you know about,"I gulped "about Dino?" Are you working for him? Look I don't know what you guys want from me or Ash okay! Just leave us alone!"
With a sudden surge of energy I yanked my hand out of his iron like grip but quickly regreted it as all the air left my lungs. I couldn't even take a step before my legs locked and I plummeted to the ground.
That same pressure in my chest came back and it felt like a giant of a man was sitting on it. Slowly squeezing me to death. I shuddered and instinctively called for Ash but the sound that came out was a choked sob.
"Eiji! Damnit just let me finish."
He squatted down and laid a gentle hand on my shoulder.
I gasped as air came rushing back into my lungs.
"W-What the hell." I looked up at him in fear. Is he the reason why I can't breath?
"Look I already told you. You're way to close to waking up so the drug is trying to knock you out okay?"
Drug? What drug?!
The boy could clearly see the confusion and anxiety etched on my face.
"Eiji when you were kidnapped by Dino they" he paused for a second, as if what he was about to say next pained him. "They drugged you Eiji. And right now, because of that drug, you're being controlled, as we speak, out in the real world. But in here, this world, the closer you walk to the key the stronger that drug will fight against you. The closer you get to the key here the closer you are to regaining control and the drugs purpose is to not let that happen. It doesn't want you to come back to your right mind."
I looked at him incredulously. Does he really think I'm buying all of this?
So what he's telling me is that I'm somehow being controlled because of some drug that Dino gave me and that the only way to regain control is by finding some key? And to make things worse the closer I get to the key, to "freedom", the harder the drug "fights" me.
Wait.
The closer I got to the sound of Ash the more I felt tired and sluggish until eventually I couldn't breath. So me feeling that way was because of the drug and maybe Ash is the key?
I shook my head. Stupid. That can't be true. This isn't some fantasy world. There's no way that I'm not awake and that some drug is "fighting"against me.
I looked back up at the boy and he had a hopeful expression on his face.
All I know for sure is that when he touches me I can actually breathe and that for some reason he knows more about what happened to me when I was with Dino then I do myself.
I looked him in the eyes, just past his shades. The eyes are the windows to ones soul is a saying I remember and when I looked at him I could see nothing but sincere honesty and kindness mixed with sadness. Something was nagging at the back of my mind and I couldn't help the question that left my lips.
"Um, I don't mean to be rude but, who are you and how do I know I can I trust you?"
He frowned "Ouch that hurts Eiji. But I guess you wouldn't know who I was with the whole amnesia thing. Anyway, my name is, well, it's Shorter." He said as he gave me a wide grin.
Huh. Shorter.
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Heyooooo. Hope y'all enjoyed it! I'm pretty sure I made a crap ton of grammar mistakes so my bad
😗✌️
Anywayyyyy see ya in the next one!
