'Wait, so Graham is dead? Then that smell at his house was...'
Watching the scene in front of me, I felt a chill run down my spine. It was gruesome beyond belief, blood splattered everywhere, painting the floor a crimson shade of red.
I looked at the me in the scene; he was trembling, blood from Graham covering his face.
Soon, the scene shifted towards my home, where I stood next to my desk, scribbling something onto a notebook. As soon as I had finished writing what I needed to, I ran back out into the town.
Still covered in blood, I continued to run forward.
The more I ran, the more my surroundings shifted into that abandoned world. Behind me, the cloud of dark smoke chased closely.
'I see now, so that darkness that seemed to latch onto me earlier was due to that creature.'
Watching the memories of my past, I came to realize that the reason for my splitting headache was due to me subconsciously remembering the creature.
Similarly, I had also made my way towards Braveheart Bar, the same as the me in those memories.
I continued to watch as I managed to knock on the door before passing out on the doorstep. Interestingly enough, as soon as I passed out, the creature didn't close in any further—instead, it retreated.
'Maybe it has something to do with me losing my memories.'
From what I had seen, even after I woke up it still didn't attack me. But it appeared again when my memories started to return.
The world started to morph once again, showing me the history of my past.
From the time I first met Graham when I was still studying at the University. He was an engineering professor often loved by students; in particular, his popularity was only second to the Headmaster.
Though he wasn't directly my professor, we were quite close. I often spent time with him, helping with his projects while he acted as a test subject for me to perfect my people-reading skills.
One day, he unexpectedly resigned from his position, disappearing from the University, stating that he was going to work on a new project.
However, I knew the truth—he had gotten into an argument with the Headmaster. This also led me to confront the Headmaster, cursing him out.
I lost contact with Graham after that for a year, as I slowly stabilized my job as a psychiatrist.
Until one day, Graham mysteriously approached me, asking me to be his psychiatrist. He claimed to be suffering from nightmares due to the failure of his project, but I knew that wasn't true. Though I didn't know his true goal, it was clear that he was observing me.
While I tried to understand him, he also tried to understand me.
Soon, he proposed an offer—to assist him in contacting the supernatural. Though I was skeptical at first, in honor of our past friendship, I decided to help him, becoming his assistant for the ritual.
Even further back, I saw memories of my teen years. I saw myself growing from a boy into a man, my body becoming more defined, my hazel-brown hair slightly longer, my blue gaze sharper.
I watched as I ran through the streets while eating an apple.
I watched as I saw my mother supporting me all alone after my father had left us.
I watched as I studied every day to become independent—to not burden my mother.
These childhood memories flooded my mind, causing me to cry. Even though I currently did not have a physical body, tears flowing from my soul seemed to stream down.
'That is who I was...'
'No! That is who I am. Amon Civik!'
As I fully regained my lost memories—and something more—I felt an attractive force pulling me out of the abyss once again.
Not fighting it, I let myself be dragged back into my body, waking up from this dream.
***
'Argh, my head...'
Opening my eyes, I found myself lying in the middle of a room.
'What happened—'
My thoughts were cut short when I saw a tail made of bone shooting straight toward me.
Twisting my body, I barely managed to roll away to safety.
"Hey! The kid is awake!"
In front of me, I saw a large burly man use his revolver to shoot at the tail, causing it to retreat back into the darkness.
"Victor, grab the kid and bring him out back!"
Behind me, the bartender nodded and reached out his hand, helping me up.
Not wanting to die to the creature, I swiftly grabbed his hand. On my feet, I closely followed the bartender as we made our way through the dark fog.
'Well, this is one hell of a situation...'
Hearing gunshots in the background, I assumed that these people were well-equipped to deal with the creature, not feeling guilty about dumping it onto them.
"What is your name, sir?"
'Hmm?'
His politeness took me by surprise. Who would care about honorifics in a situation like this?
"Amon, my name is Amon Civik."
"Mr. Civik, may I ask how you got into this situation?"
"Well, a friend of mine summoned this creature to fulfill some sort of ritual. After the day you guys found me, I had lost my memories, hence the creature did not seek me out. Only earlier, when I regained my memories, did it start to attack me once again."
He nodded, then gripped the doorknob of the back door. Opening it, we exited the building, entering the darkness outside.
"Illuminate!"
He took out a charm from his pocket which shone brightly.
Now able to see, we ran away from the bar, passing many decayed buildings along the streets.
"By the way, Mr. Bartender—no, Mr. Victor?"
"Victor. Just call me Victor."
"Ok, Victor, where exactly are we? Why does the town look like a ghost town whenever that creature appears?"
'This happened twice already—it couldn't be a coincidence. It's definitely related to the creature.'
Besides this, I was also extremely interested in that charm Victor was holding. Though it wasn't the time to ask him about it right now.
"We are in a parallel world of sorts. People like us often refer to it as the Mirror World. It overlaps with the normal plane of existence, but it's mostly comprised of decaying buildings from ancient civilizations that used to live here—and spiritual creatures like the wraith that's chasing you."
"I see..."
'Interesting. Spiritual creatures, Mirror World, huh? It seems like my life is about to get much more exciting from now on, haha...'
I was both terrified and fascinated by this discovery. It was akin to finishing a novel only to find out it had a sequel—somewhat similar, yet different.
Once we were far enough from the bar, Victor reached into his pocket and took out a small rusted key.
He brought it towards the entrance of an alleyway, slowly pushing the key into the air. I watched with wide eyes as the key seemed to disappear, as if placed into an invisible keyhole.
"Click."
In a swift motion, Victor turned the key, causing the surrounding air to ripple, slowly forming a door.
"This key can create a door between the physical world and the Mirror World. Quickly, go in and get away from here as fast as possible."
Pushing the door open, I was just about to step back into my world, but I was suddenly jerked back.
Now, right in front of me, was a tail made of bone piercing the ground where I had just stood.
"Impossible! Bram and the rest wouldn't lose to a wraith—let alone this quickly. Unless... Mr. Civik, take the key and run as far as possible! Once you lose sight of us, repeat the same motions I did and enter the physical world!"
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine, just go!"
Following Victor's instructions, I took his key and bolted off.
'Dammit, I could swear that Graham only summoned one...'
Once again, I was running through these barren streets alone in the dark.
Behind me, Victor took out his revolver and started unloading on the wraith. The bullets bounced off the bone armor that covered it.
Wearing a serious expression, Victor ducked and rolled to the side, releasing all six empty bullet shells and replacing them.
This time, however, the bullets had special engravings running down their sides.
Dodging another strike from the wraith, Victor steadied his gaze and fired at its head.
"Screech!"
The wraith's crown broke apart from the impact of the bullet, revealing bright blue veins running across its face.
It being hurt only made it more enraged, charging toward Victor at a speed it hadn't displayed before.
Victor once again steadied his hand, firing at the wraith. Each bullet missed as the creature dove into the ground, disappearing beneath him.
Seeing this, he quickly reached into his coat, grabbing something as he jumped back. From the ground where he had just stood, the wraith burst out—the gap between it and Victor practically zero.
Just as Victor was about to be bitten, he raised his hand, extending out a white-colored charm.
"Purify!"
For a moment, the night sky of the Mirror World turned to day as the charm exploded, shining bright white light all around—scorching the wraith.