As Vince looked around, his sense of direction felt off, yet somehow, also perfectly sharp. All he could see were the two doors, both far away, their shapes outlined only in faint black and white.
Where the fuck am I? Vince's body tensed, his thoughts scrambling. He tried to move but couldn't. Something felt wrong, deeply wrong. Finally, pulling himself out of his spiraling thoughts, he managed to move, just barely. He lifted what he thought was his arm, but what appeared was only a faint silhouette, as if his brain was trying to fill in the missing image. He could feel that he was there and conscious, but nothing about it felt real.
Then Vince's eyes widened as things began to click together.
Sleep! I remember, back in the mansion, the voice told me to sleep!
A chill ran down his spine as he remembered the horrifying figure of the god. Everything around him now felt dulled, muted. But here, in this strange space, the horrific curse that clung to him seemed to be gone. No, it wasn't there at all.
He tried to speak.
"Hell, " Vince froze mid-word, his own voice echoing through the void. But the sound that came out wasn't his.
It was a female voice.
It sounded very familiar, so familiar it made his heart ache. He couldn't place it, but something deep inside him stirred. Testing it again, he spoke once more.
"Well, if I don't check the doors, I'll assume I can't leave."
The voice that echoed back still wasn't his.
Slowly, with effort and focus, Vince moved toward the two doors in the far distance of the void. The journey felt endless, the emptiness stretching on and on.
…
After what felt like more than thirty minutes, Vince finally reached them. Both doors remained the same, faint outlines of black and white.
Woosh!
Suddenly, the door on the left swung open. Inside, it looked… welcoming. Different colors bled through, the space beyond shifting with strange beauty.
"What the hell…" Vince whispered as he stepped closer.
Inside the door were multiple scenes, each one showing a version of him. Many looked bright and vibrant, others shadowed and grim. One showed him as a tall, noble knight. Another, as a witch. All of them seemed tied to different points in time, none anywhere near modern.
But one stood out.
This version of Vince looked entirely different. Unlike the others, he didn't feel a connection to him, yet at the same time, something about the figure felt unmistakably familiar. The man had scars running from his arms up to his face, the same gray eyes as Vince, but no hair, almost bald. He twitched slightly, wearing a ruined, filthy white tank top and torn blue jeans. He looked like a wreck, a man at his lowest.
Vince stood frozen, stunned by what he saw.
There's no way that's me, he thought, dumbfounded.
But besides that Vince, the door felt like it could have been nice, but to him, it was only hollow. Feeling uneasy, he still decided to move toward it, but then, suddenly, the other door opened.
WOOSH!
As the door opened, it felt dreamy. Unlike the first door, which showed what seemed like dreams, this one felt like a dream itself, as if he could be and do anything. Yet something about it felt unsettling, almost reaching for him. Inside was nothing, pure emptiness. No matter how hard Vince tried, his brain couldn't form an image of what it was.
He stood between the two, unable to choose.
Well, let's think about this. The one with everything dreamy feels hollow, while the hollow one feels dreamy. What is going on? Vince thought.
His "eyes" darted toward the hollow one, but in less than a second, his "body" was sucked in.
AHHH!
His female scream echoed across the void as his body was pulled away. Colors shifted wildly, the world twisting and reshaping. First, he saw someone falling, no, himself falling. He didn't have a body. It could only be his mind seeing all this.
Then, shapes appeared, tiny toy-like figures floating around him.
Toys? Vince thought. There were a few of them, each with strange little designs. Some looked like different jobs, one wore armor with a sword and shield, a warrior.
What does this have to do with anything? he thought as more figures appeared: a doctor, a farmer, a man holding a book. They all passed by one after another.
Then, everything went blank.
Vince froze, but he couldn't feel it.
His senses were gone. Hearing, touch, everything.
Chirp. Chirp.
Suddenly, he could hear birds. A cool breeze brushed against his skin.
When he opened his eyes, he stood frozen, terrified to move.
Vince was above Koburn.
"No…" he whispered, voice trembling as he stared wide-eyed. He was floating perfectly still, but something felt wrong. Looking toward the distance, his gaze fell on his old burned house.
It was there. Intact. Like it had never burned down.
He turned to look around, every building looked slightly different.
"W-W-Why…" he muttered, voice filled with regret and pain.
Vince wasn't looking at the Koburn he lived in now.
He was looking at the Koburn he last lived in, the one where he'd watched his boss die.
"Hello," said a sharp, subdued female voice from behind him.