TW: Gore, psychological horror, violence, dissociation
It was an eerie experience,
A feeling un-felt before;
There was something going on,
That caused me to be weary;
A sense of nausea,
And an even more deeper sense of paranoia-
As I looked at my hands,
And they were covered in blood…!
Someone’s life was taken—
Snatched away by my hands;
On looking at my fingers,
Red was within the cuticles and stuck under my nails…
I looked left and right,
There was nothing,
Nobody was there,
Not even a single sign of blood spilled—
But,
I found a few droplets on the floor as I kept my hand on my knees as I sat on my butt…
I tried to lock my head within them to escape what was happening around me,
as I looked far left,
I recognized the dimly lit bulb a few meters away…
I got up through this sense of nausea and tried to walk in that direction,
On the way towards it—
I saw what seemed like the torso of someone,
And from it I could see,
A part of the small intestine,
Curly and looped,
Covered in red, looking pale white…
Within a fraction of a second,
I threw up,
As I ran past the horrors that my eyes witnessed;
I saw a corpse hung like an animal’s about to be butchered,
Another one from which skin was removed and looked like it was waiting to be processed…!
It felt like it was moving moments before; as remnants of steam were visible from it;
On looking in the other direction I saw,
A butcher covered in what looked like a black kitchen apron,
Infront of me he chopped another person’s hand and it fell right infront of my feet,
And a few specs of blood hit my face,
Jokingly he apologised and picked it up,
Covering the body,
Or what seemed like a cubicle workplace using curtains,
With number
“336”…
On reaching the light,
I saw,
A single paper board with a sign,
"IF THIS FEELS ODD,
OR IT FEELS LIKE YOU SAW SOMETHING YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE,
RING THE BELL,
SOMEONE WILL BE THERE TO HELP YOU SHORTLY…"
Before pressing the button,
I saw people,
Who didn’t have any work….!?
They looked at me like they struck gold,
Before I could press the button,
Which was roughed up,
Hinting at something that was excessively used,
I stared through my peripherals,
What I saw—
I saw the same,
Ear-to-ear smile,
Realizing,
What would become of me,
If I were to press that button,
maybe I would be someone with whom all of this would happen…?
So, in that fraction of a second I made up my mind…!
I just turned around went to my cabin and left after cleaning up,
And just exited the hallway,
The last number that I saw in that room hinted at the number “999”…
Before I could exit,
I signed a form,
A Form that said,
I saw nothing,
I did nothing,
And,
I don’t know what happened,
As I exited the door,
Remnants of what I did were slowly creeping in…!
A continuous stream of blood heading to the center of the room,
going down the drain, maybe it was powering someone or something;
The specks of blood hitting my face,
And those eyes—
The eyes from the torso staring at my soul,
As I kept my mouth shut and ran home;
I rubbed my face and cleaned off all the blood,
Until the water ran clean down the drain,
I wiped the mirror and in it I saw,
A face that I recognized…
Same as the torso,
Same as the person who chopped off the hand,
Same as the faces who were looking at me from afar,
As I sat there contemplating it all,
What was that I saw…?
Who were they…?
Who am I…?
Why was I on the ground…?
Why was I chopping someone’s hand off…?
Why was I staring at myself before pressing that button…?
Who am I…?
As I stared into the cabinet and took out a bottle,
And poured a heavy drink to forget everything;
Even after a few,
I was still on the edge,
As I picked up this pen and pad,
I faced a bigger problem…!
I faced something that was even worse,
Worst thing to ever witness with my own eyes,
But,
The reality kicked in,
As I saw…
I saw,
A pre-written note,
Describing exactly the same,
Repeated countless times,
No matter how many pages I turned,
Everything I saw,
Repeated with gruesome details,
And I left the pad;
I looked into my drawer and found a packet on which was written,
"WHEN YOU NEED TO FORGET THINGS,
TAKE ONE,
WITH WATER,
BUT I KNOW YOU WOULDN'T HAVE ANY,
SO TAKE IT WITH A SMALL WATER BOTTLE IN THE LOWER DRAWER…"
A small bottle was placed in the bottom drawer,
As I took a pill,
And a swig of water,
It took me out the very next instant…
On waking up the next day,
And finding a written note on the bedside lamp which I missed,
“Place a small water bottle in the lower drawer,
And never tell anyone about anything…!”
“Repeat the cycle if necessary…”
On staring at something I couldn’t recognise anymore,
I went to the bathroom, washed my face,
Placing a water bottle in the lower drawer,
As ordered by the note,
And got ready for work,
The next day…
The dream ended abruptly and I found myself waking up at 3:25 AM with cold sweats and my AC going steady at 24 C for the timer I set for two hours…!
A dream within a dream that I saw and felt like I was trapped…!
Waakiye 