Outside the window, thick, boundless fog swirled, obscuring the world beyond as if it had vanished altogether, leaving only a chaotic, dim light that somehow managed to seep into this house.
This uneasy silence was only broken by a faint, unclear illumination.
In his slightly messy single apartment, Dorian Oriel lay slumped at his desk, a long trail of debris strewn across its surface.
Slowly he turned around, opened his dark brown eyes, looked up, and let out a long sigh.
Dorian had a pale complexion, dark hair, and an angular face that wouldn't be out of place in a magazine; one could even describe him as "handsome" without any exaggeration. Yet, at this moment, he appeared haggard and worn. His hair was a tangled mess, his lips parched, and dark circles shadowed his eyes.
The cause of his dishevelled state was the bizarre predicament he found himself in.
The doors were locked, and so were the windows. Any attempts to pry them open had ended in futility. While the electricity hummed in the background, there was no way to connect with the outside world. It felt as if he was trapped inside an insurmountable bubble, isolated from the outside world. With no clue about how to escape, Dorian tried to break the walls, but nothing he did made the slightest dent.
Dorian glanced sideways, His gaze drifting to the windowsill where he had left the wrenches and hammers, remnants of his futile attempts over the past week to pry open the glass. Now, those tools felt like cruel reminders of his failures. It's like the walls are a box, and he is the mouse caught inside.
After a moment, Dorian's expression turned grave. It was said that there was no escape from this isolation, but that wasn't entirely accurate. There was indeed a way out; though it was a rather unwelcoming option.
His eyes fell on the lone door at the far end of the room. Made of cheap softwood and painted with a layer of peeling white paint, the door's handle was worn smooth from years of use and slightly warped with age. It was the only exit available to him, the sole pathway out of this confinement.
With a self-deprecating chuckle, Dorian regarded the situation. It felt like an absurd nightmare, where reality itself had turned upside down. A creeping sense of madness began to gnaw at him, making every moment feel surreal and uncomfortable.
As a college student with decent looks, a likeable personality, and a knack for keeping to himself, those few attributes could summarise Dorian Oriel well. If another sentence were to be added, it would be his penchant for reading web novels and fantasising about extraordinary situations. But to actually find himself caught in such a bizarre reality was undeniably jarring.
Yet, he had no time to dwell on this mysterious isolation. Dorian knew that time was running out; the so-called "choice" he thought he had was just an illusion. Simply put, his food rations were dwindling, and his bottled water was nearly gone. If he didn't venture through that door, even the last flicker of hope he had would fade away.
Maybe it wouldn't be so terrible. Perhaps the answers to this bizarre predicament awaited him on the other side, if he dared to step through.
Taking a long, heavy breath, Dorian rose and walked to the basin. He splashed water on his face. As he gazed into the mirror, he paused for a moment, reflecting on his thoughts.
"..."
His lips began to quiver slightly. Locking his penetrating gaze onto his own eyes, he whispered words filled with a raw urgency, "You are you. Nothing more, nothing less. Wherever you go, whoever you become, you will always be you. No matter what happens." Each syllable resonated within him, a clarion call against the insecurities that tugged at his spirit.
He splashed his face with water again and dried off with a towel.
Then, suddenly, he broke into an exaggerated smile, pointing at his reflection with both hands, as if acknowledging a third party, then gave a playful blink.
Just as quickly, the smile faded, replaced by a look of resolve.
He turned and approached the peculiar door.
A door that hadn't been there before.
A door that seemed to belong to another dimension entirely.
With steady, deliberate steps, Dorian made his way toward the door.
After reaching it, he paused, taking two deep breaths before grasping the doorknob. With a twist and an audible click, he pushed the door open to reveal a swirling, black mist behind the wooden barrier, like a curtain of undulating shadows obscuring whatever lay beyond.
With a bemused sigh, Dorian stepped forward.
His vision blurred as a tingling sensation enveloped his body. It felt as though he were passing through a dimensional barrier, and he could sense his thoughts becoming muddled while his heart raced wildly.
…
In what felt like an instant, he found himself standing on the rooftop of a dilapidated building, littered with debris and waste.
Though night had fallen, the crescent moon above bathed everything below in a ghostly light, casting long shadows over the ground.
Dorian took a few casual steps and peered down.
If it could be described in any sane manner, he would say the streets below were teeming with enormous worms, writhing and squirming around the ruins of the city, as if it were a vast nest of them!
Their squelching sounds sent an involuntary shiver down Dorian's spine.
He quickly looked away, exhaling deeply as he turned his attention back to himself.
Not much had changed. His hair had grown longer, now reaching shoulder length, and he was clothed in a dark garment that covered his entire body.
His face and height remained the same, but there was something else…
With hesitant movements, Dorian began to lower the fabric around his chest.
A neat arrangement of pale bones formed a cage within which a bright red, heart-shaped object pulsed vigorously, reflecting his current state of shock. Surrounding it were squirming, fleshy tendrils that emitted soft squelching sounds, all contained within a greyish, translucent membrane encasing his chest.
Tentatively, he reached out to touch the membrane. Applying slight pressure, he watched as a strange fluid squelched within, producing a disconcerting sound.
He sighed as he wrapped the dark cloth back around him.
As he shifted his gaze, he approached the railing of the rooftop and took a seat.
Before him, the door through which he had entered was slowly becoming translucent.
The gateway that had welcomed Dorian was now vanishing into the ether, its outline blurred and indistinct.
Yet, he felt no rush of panic.
This wasn't his first time stepping into the world beyond the door; he had learned that once he entered, the door would begin to fade, as if its sole purpose was to bring him here.
Determined to survive in this unfamiliar world, he kept his composure.
After nearly twenty seconds, the door vanished completely.
Dorian gazed at the spot where it had been for a few moments before tilting his head to the side.
A heavy silence hung in the air.
But before the stillness could take hold, the ground beneath him began to quiver violently.
Dorian dropped to his knees, gripping the railing tightly.
In an instant, the ground before him began to splinter, jagged fissures racing across the surface like lightning.
With a bone-shaking roar that echoed in the air, a colossal, worm-like creature erupted from the depths below, its massive form twisting and writhing violently!
Its massive body coiled upward into the sky, casting a monstrous shadow in the moonlight.
At that moment, a ghost of a smile slowly crept onto his face.