THE RISE OF AN OMEGA-Chapter 69: waking nightmares

Marcel’s POV

"Isabella! Clara!" I called out but no one was answering.

Did they get up? Did they find a way to save themselves? One minute I was with them, and then the next minute, they had disappeared.

Both of them had been lying unconsciously right next to me; something had slashed them on their backs, but that wasn’t the most surprising and baffling thing of it all.

Initially, I was in a cave space filled with rocks, debris, sand and bricks, but where I stood was empty, quiet and lonely.

"What is this place" I muttered under my breath.

As I took a few steps ahead, an eerie wind crept on my skin. I tried calling out to Isabella and Clara, but none was answering.

Where could they have gone?

Or could something have picked them up? I wondered.

My footsteps resonated in the silence as I explored further into the abyss. What was formerly a cave of rock and sand had changed into something completely different—a realm that appeared to lie between reality and fantasy.

Isabella! "Clara!" My voice echoed back to me, warped and empty.

The atmosphere became chillier with every stride. I wrapped my arms around myself, rubbing them for warmth as I moved ahead. The shadows in front appeared to move and pulsate as though they were sentient beings. There was something off about this location—it seemed like the fundamental laws of nature had been put on hold.

As I strolled, the earth below my feet started to transform. The compacted soil transitioned to a texture that was softer, nearly cushion-like.

I stared downward, breathless. I was strolling on what seemed to be a ground of entwined fingers—human fingers—that bent slightly with every step I made.

"What on earth?" I tripped back, only to sense the "fingers" curl up, trying to catch my ankles. With a shout, I sprang ahead, sprinting now, eager to flee whatever monstrosity I had encountered.

In front, a soft glow emerged—welcoming and cosy. I dashed toward it, feeling a wave of relief. As I approached, the light transformed, shaping into a recognizable outline.

"Isabella?" I shouted, a sense of hope building within me.

The figure stopped, and I came to a sudden stop. It resembled Isabella, but something was dreadfully amiss.

Her face appeared to shift like water, features gliding and reshaping in a bizarre performance. Her eyes—typically a warm brown—appeared milky white, lacking pupils.

"Marcel," she exclaimed, her voice echoing from everywhere and nowhere simultaneously. "Why did you abandon us?"

Another figure appeared next to her—Clara, yet similarly warped, her body stretched unnaturally, limbs twisting at bizarre angles.

"You were meant to safeguard us," Clara’s tone sounded innocent, but it carried a hint of something old and sinister.

I stepped back. "I did not abandon you." You vanished. "I’ve been searching for you!"

The two women simultaneously tilted their heads, the action so fluid and synchronized that it felt unnatural. "We never went away, Marcel," they responded in unison. "We’ve been here all along, hoping for you to rescue us."

While they conversed, their skin started to shed in lengthy sections, uncovering not blood and tissue underneath, but a darkness—a chasm so profound it appeared to draw at my very being.

"This isn’t happening," I murmured, squeezing my eyes shut. "This cannot be true."

When I reopened my eyes, Isabella and Clara had disappeared. In their stead was a young child, facing away from me, dressed in a white dress that was soiled.

"Hi there?" I shouted softly. "Are you lost as well, little one?"

The kid remained silent but indicated something far away. I narrowed my eyes, attempting to see what was in front of me. It seemed to be an entrance, standing solitary in the void, not connected to any wall.

With reluctance, I went toward the child. "Is that the exit?" "Is that the place Isabella and Clara headed to?"

The kid nodded yet stayed quiet.

"Thanks," I replied, stepping aside from the child as I approached the door. There was something about the tiny figure that gave me chills, even though it appeared to be offering assistance.

As I approached the entrance, I heard a noise coming from behind me—the quick tapping of tiny footsteps. I turned just in time to spot the child racing toward me, face beaming in a smile that spread literally from ear to ear, showing off rows of sharp teeth.

With a scream of fear, I darted for the door, wrenching it open and hurling myself through it without glancing at what awaited.

I plummeted, spiralling through the shadows for what felt like forever before crashing forcefully onto the chilly, wet ground. Moaning, I forced myself onto my knees and surveyed the area.

I found myself in a hallway that extended infinitely in either direction, lit by wavering torches affixed to the stone walls. The walls appeared to throb faintly, resembling the rhythm of an enormous heart.

Isabella! "Clara!" I shouted once more, my voice more powerful now, driven by resolve instead of fear. "If you can hear me, produce a noise!"

In reply, a murmur emerged from the shadows ahead: "Marcel... assist us..."

It was Isabella’s voice—her true voice now, not the warped one from the apparition before.

I dashed forward, As I sprinted, the hallway appeared to stretch, with the exit perpetually remaining unattainable. After what seemed like hours of running, I halted, leaning forward with my hands on my knees, struggling to breathe. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"I can’t believe this," I whispered.

As if reacting to my statement, the corridor abruptly narrowed, with walls closing in until they were just inches from both sides of my shoulders. The ceiling came down until it was almost at the crown of my head.

I was seized by claustrophobia as the area kept getting smaller. I pushed my hands against the walls, attempting to restrain them, but it was futile. As the space grew unbearably cramped, the walls collapsed, disintegrating like sand.

I discovered myself in a large round room. At the centre was a stone altar, and on it rested Isabella and Clara, side by side, eyes shut as if in tranquil sleep. A sense of relief washed over me as I hurried toward them.

Isabella! Clara! "I discovered you!"

However, as I approached the altar, an entity emerged from the darkness—a huge serpent-like figure that wrapped around the altar’s base. Its scales shimmered damply in the faint light, and its head lifted to show not a snake’s visage, but a human face—my face, contorted into a look of wickedness.

"They belong to me now," the creature spoke using my voice. "Exactly how you will be."

I retreated. "What are you?" "What is this location?"

The being chuckled, the noise resonating across the room. "Don’t you remember your thoughts, Marcel?" "This is your terror—your anxiety made tangible."

"My bad dream?" I said again, perplexed.

"The collapse of the cave," the being clarified, moving around the altar. "A stone hit your head." Even now, your body rests shattered next to your companions. This—" it indicated with a gesture, "—displays the outcome when the mind struggles to face reality."

Images rushed into my thoughts—the echoing of the cave, the abrupt fall of stones and rubble, the intense ache from an impact to my head, followed by oblivion.

"Not at all," I said, shaking my head. "Isabella and Clara experienced pain, not I." "I noticed the cuts on their backs!"

"Did you?" the being inquired, its shape transforming, taking on a more human appearance, until it perfectly resembled me. "Or is that what you were afraid had occurred?" "Is your guilt appearing as visions?"

My confidence fluctuated. What if the being was correct? What if everything occurring was just within my fading mind?

"If this is my terror," I said deliberately, "then I can manage it." "I can rise."

The doppelgänger’s grin wavered. "It’s not so straightforward."

"I believe it is," I said, a fresh confidence bolstering my tone. I faced Isabella and Clara at the altar. "And they are going with me."

Shutting my eyes, I focused on the present—on the texture of the cave floor under me, the scent of dust and rock, and the sound of Isabella’s and Clara’s breaths.

The doppelgänger screamed in fury, rushing at me, but its shape was already vanishing, crumbling like mist in the breeze.

"This isn’t finished," it whispered as it disappeared. "The nightmare is constantly lurking..."

The room surrounding me started to flicker and warp. The altar featuring Isabella and Clara vanished, and shadows surged in from every direction.

Then, a sharp and persistent pain surged at the back of my head. I inhaled sharply, my eyes widening.

I was once again in the cave, resting on my side. Dust lingered in the air from the collapse, and close by, Isabella and Clara were awakening, moaning gently.

"Marcel?" Isabella’s voice was faint but genuine. "Are you all right?"

I raised myself gradually, grimacing at the pulsing in my skull. My hand pulled back covered in blood when I touched the area. "I believe that’s the case." "What do you both think?"

Clara sat up too, coughing. "I believe it’s just bruised." "What took place?"

"A section of the ceiling collapsed," I clarified, gazing at the new gap overhead. Sunlight poured in, lighting up our little section of the cave. "We must have been defeated."

Isabella crawled toward me, inspecting the injury on my head. "You’re losing quite a bit of blood." "We must take you out of this place."

I nodded, then grimaced at the discomfort the action created. "I experienced the oddest dream while I was unconscious," I remarked. "I found myself in this location... it felt as though all my fears had materialized."

"A terrible dream," Clara remarked, assisting Isabella in lifting me. "Considering the situation, it’s not unexpected."

"I think every one of us was trapped in one", Isabella said. Clara nodded her head in agreement.