The world was a void, a suffocating abyss where shadows clung to every surface like a disease. David awoke in the darkest place, his breath catching in his throat as the air pressed against his chest, thick with the scent of decay and something metallic blood. His heart thundered, a primal rhythm that echoed in the oppressive silence of the house he once called home. The normalcy of his original timeline, the golden days of laughter and warmth, felt like a distant dream, shredded by the jagged edges of this new reality. His powers those electric currents of strength that once coursed through his veins were gone, leaving him hollow, a shell stumbling through a nightmare.
The floorboards creaked beneath his weight as he moved through the house, each step a reluctant descent into the unknown. The walls, once adorned with family portraits and the soft glow of familiarity, were now smeared with streaks of crimson, as if the house itself bled. The air grew colder, the darkness thicker, wrapping around him like a shroud. His pulse quickened, a drumbeat of dread, as he turned a corner and found himself face-to-face with a mirror. But it wasn't his reflection staring back.
A child stood there, no older than ten, his small frame draped in tattered clothes soaked in blood. His eyesDavid's eyes, but younger, sharper, glinting with a malice that sent a shiver down David's spinelocked onto him. In the child's hand, a knife glistened, its blade slick with fresh gore. David's breath hitched as he stepped closer, the floor groaning underfoot. "Who are you, kid?" he whispered, his voice trembling, though he already knew the answer. The child's lips curled into a smile, too wide, too knowing. "Welcome, my future," the boy said, his voice a chilling echo of David's own, laced with a darkness that seemed to seep from the very walls.
David's gaze drifted past the child, and his heart stopped. Behind the boy, the room opened into a grotesque tableau of carnage. His mother, father, sister Daisy, and Ruby his beloved Rubylay sprawled across the floor, their lifeless eyes staring into eternity. Their bodies were broken, twisted, as if some malevolent force had torn through them with gleeful abandon. Blood pooled beneath them, a scarlet lake reflecting the dim light. But that wasn't the worst of it. Beyond them, a mountain of corpses loomed, each one a version of David himselfhundreds, thousands, their faces frozen in expressions of agony and betrayal. The sheer scale of the slaughter was incomprehensible, a monument to madness that stretched into the shadows.
"You shouldn't have seen this, my future," the child David said, his voice dripping with a sickening sweetness. David's knees buckled, his mind reeling. "What… what happened here?" he stammered, his voice barely audible over the pounding in his ears. The child tilted his head, his smile widening, revealing teeth stained red. "This timeline… it's all gone to hell, hasn't it? Everyone fighting, clawing, killing to be the original David, to claim the happy life we were promised. But they forgot this is all a lie." His words glitched, the air around him shimmering as if reality itself were fracturing. David's stomach churned. "What do you mean? Who did this?" he demanded, stepping closer, his fists clenched.
The child's eyes gleamed with a knowing glint. "Clever man, aren't you? You know it's all a sham. We lost Ruby, Daisy, everyone. We've been living in a fake world, a twisted dream. And me?" He laughed, a sound that clawed at David's sanity. "I just… cleaned it up." The room began to dissolve, the walls melting into a swirling void of black and red. David lunged forward, desperation clawing at his chest. "Tell me! What do I need to know?" he shouted, but the child only smiled, his voice a whisper that cut through the chaos. "I killed them all."
The world shattered.
David jolted awake, gasping, his body drenched in sweat. The air was different now cleaner, softer, tinged with the scent of blooming flowers. He was in a bed, the sheets crisp and white, the room bathed in a golden glow that felt almost holy. His hair, once dark and unruly, now shimmered like spun gold, catching the sunlight streaming through the window. This was the golden timeline, a place of peace, of happiness lie so perfect it made his skin crawl. He stumbled to his feet, his mind a storm of confusion and dread. The child's words echoed in his skull, relentless, a mantra of horror: I killed them all.
He wandered to the balcony, his bare feet cold against the polished wood. Outside, the world was a vision of serenity children laughed in the streets, couples strolled hand in hand, and the sky was a flawless blue. But David felt none of it. His heart was a hollow drum, each beat a reminder of the blood-soaked vision he'd just escaped. Why would heany version of him kill Ruby, Daisy, his family? The question gnawed at him, a parasite burrowing into his soul. He leaned against the railing, his hands trembling, and stared into the distance, searching for answers in the idyllic facade.
The child's voice haunted him, a specter that refused to fade. I killed them all. The words were a blade, slicing through his thoughts, leaving jagged wounds of doubt and fear. He turned back to the room, his gaze falling on the bed where he'd woken. It was too perfect, too pristine, as if it belonged to someone else. He sank onto the mattress, his head in his hands, trying to piece together the fragments of his shattered reality. The child's cryptic warning, the mountain of dead Davids, the blood on Ruby's lifeless face it was too much, too real, too impossible.
And then, the world shook.
The golden light flickered, replaced by a sickly gray haze. The walls trembled, the air filled with the anguished cries of a thousand voices. David leapt to his feet, his heart racing as the room dissolved into chaos. The screams grew louder, a cacophony of pain and despair that clawed at his ears. He stumbled forward, his vision blurring, and in a flash, the golden timeline was gone.
He stood alone in the darkest place, a void where light dared not tread. The ground beneath him was slick with blood, the air heavy with the stench of death. Before him, a scene unfolded a vision, a memory, a future he couldn't comprehend. He saw himself, another David, his hands wrapped around Ruby's throat. Her eyes, wide with betrayal, glistened with tears as she choked out, "Why, Master?" Her voice was a broken whisper, each word a dagger to David's heart. Blood seeped from her lips, her body crumpling to the ground as the other David released her, his face a mask of cold resolve.
The David who watched this horror froze, his breath caught in his throat. The other David turned, his eyes locking onto him with an intensity that burned. "This was because of you," he said, his voice low and venomous. "For the peace." The word hung in the air, heavy with meaning David couldn't grasp. Ruby's lifeless body lay between them, her blood pooling like a dark mirror reflecting their shared guilt. David's legs gave out, and he fell to his knees, his hands reaching for her, but she was gone, dissolved into the void.
Silence descended, thick and suffocating. David's mind was a battlefield, torn between grief, rage, and confusion. The other David's words echoed, merging with the child's chilling confession: I killed them all. But why? What peace could justify such slaughter? The darkness pressed closer, whispering secrets he wasn't ready to hear. The ground beneath him cracked, fissures glowing with an eerie red light, as if the world itself were bleeding.
He staggered to his feet, his chest heaving. The void pulsed, alive with malevolent energy, and he felt it something watching, something ancient and cruel, orchestrating this nightmare. The mountain of dead Davids loomed in his mind, their faces a gallery of torment. Each one had fought, had killed, to claim the title of the original David, to escape this hell and find the golden timeline. But it was a lie, a cruel illusion spun by a force he couldn't name.
A scream tore from his throat, raw and primal, as he stumbled through the void. The air grew heavier, the shadows twisting into grotesque shapes hands reaching, eyes staring, mouths open in silent agony. He ran, his footsteps echoing in the endless dark, until he tripped and fell into a pool of blood. It was warm, sticky, clinging to his skin like a second flesh. He scrambled back, his hands shaking, and saw ita mirror, floating in the void, its surface rippling like liquid obsidian.
He approached, drawn by some morbid compulsion. His reflection stared back, but it wasn't him. It was the child David, blood dripping from his knife, his smile a crescent of madness. "You can't run from it," the child whispered, his voice echoing inside David's skull. "You'll understand when the time comes. You'll kill them all too."
The mirror shattered, and David screamed as the fragments sliced through the air, each one reflecting a different horror Ruby's dying breath, Daisy's lifeless eyes, the mountain of corpses growing higher, higher, until it blotted out the sky. The void collapsed, and he was falling, falling into nothingness, his mind fracturing under the weight of what he'd seen.
He awoke again, back in the golden timeline, the sunlight mocking him with its warmth. His chest heaved, his body trembling, as he stumbled to the balcony once more. The world outside was still perfect, still serene, but it felt like a prison now, a gilded cage hiding the truth. He clutched the railing, his knuckles white, and stared at the happy faces below. They didn't know. They couldn't know. But he did the darkness, the blood, the endless cycle of death and betrayal.
David sank to the floor, his back against the wall, and wept. The child's words burned in his mind: I killed them all. He didn't understand, not yet, but the truth was coming, a tidal wave of horror that would drown him. The golden timeline flickered, a glitch in the facade, and he knew deep in his bones that the darkest place was waiting for him, just beyond the light.