Demonophobia

Consciousness slowly appeared in a hazy haze, as if rising from a deep sleep. I felt that something was wrong. Darkness surrounded me, and only a barely discernible light, like a flame, illuminated the contours of my strange new world. My body turned out to be weightless, and I realized that I was unable to move. All the feelings were somehow muffled, as if I was in an underwater world full of heaviness and cold. Trying to remember how I got here led to only a painful emptiness. In the distance, a soft moan could be heard, like the wind rushing through a dead forest. I turned around, trying to see the source of this pathetic sound. The landscape was eerie–distorted shadows, flickering points of light, and something that resembled dying embers. My gaze fell on silhouettes wandering in the distance. Their faces were disfigured by suffering, their eyes were dead and empty. They were souls trapped in this hell. I felt something shrink inside me, realizing that I had become a part of this world, where the corrupting glow of souls torments them forever. Every step forward was like trying to break through a thick fog of despair. It was getting darker around me, and my inner world was filled with anxiety. An unknown pain overwhelmed me, and I realized that this was not just physical suffering, but also a mental trauma that penetrated to the very depths of my being. Apparently I am truly immortal in this world full of dangers. But on the other hand, the feeling of death is not pleasant. We need to move forward, but we need to go carefully. A gray fog tightly enveloped the surroundings, absorbing every step, as if the voices of thousands of tortured souls were whispering in the winds. I found myself in this place, which cannot be called either life or death. The walk in hell had begun, and my feet were digging hard into the lifeless earth. The landscape was monotonous and mercilessly dead. The black trees, bent under the weight of their oppressive existence, stretched upward like the bones of forgotten bodies. Light was not just absent here, darkness penetrated into every trembling shadow, as if begging to forget about the last rays of hope. The sounds were dead, but there were whispers of suffering in the darkness. The echo of past torments, it is impossible to tear out of memory, as well as from this hellish landscape. I walked as if the route had been planned in advance, and everything around me was just an illusion of time, isolated from the outside world. The black streams flowed slowly, distorting the reflections in the cold water. Like glass, they reflected the darkness of my soul. With each step, as if plunging into the depths of his own emptiness. Silhouettes could be seen in the distance, unsightly and distorted. They were slowly approaching, ending on the half-sung notes of an ominous symphony. Faces that had lost all resemblance to human features reached out to me, creating a whirlwind of pain and loss. I felt them pulling me into their darkness, but fear paralyzed my thoughts. Everything was plunged into cold and ruthless emptiness. I was looking for a way out, but even the stars here could not break through the darkness. My soul, as if lost in a labyrinth of timeless darkness, was slowly fading away. The walk in hell continued like an eternity in the close embrace of darkness. In this atmospheric nightmare, I became a shadow of myself, forgotten in a world where even the reflection of my suffering lost its meaning. Suddenly I realized that I had relaxed, and the absence of any obstacles began to alarm me. You need to take a short break and think about your plan. It seems that in that cave not far from me it is quiet and you can rest. Sitting on the floor of the crimson cave, I began to slowly doze off. But then I realized that the cave was illuminated by something and I was curious where exactly the light source was. However, curiosity in such a place is not the best quality. Although, the fact of formal immortality gives me hope that I will still be able to get out. After carefully searching the nooks and crannies of the room, I found a strange yellowish crystal, it felt warm to the touch and pulsed faintly. Turning it over in my hands, I decided to put it in my pocket might come in handy. And yet, what is shining so actively here? Okay, it's time to get out of here. I tried to find a way out, but it was nowhere to be seen. In a panic, I began to inspect the surroundings. Meanwhile, the cave was getting warmer and warmer. Less than a minute later, the heat became completely unbearable, being on a hot floor even in shoes became impossible. The clothes began to melt and stick to the skin, which was now covered with blisters and began to fall off in shreds, exposing the meat and skeleton. It was already impossible to breathe, and my eyes had lost the ability to see. The only thing I could feel now was the smell of burnt meat mixed with unbearable pain. I fell into a rapidly evaporating puddle of my own bodily juices and tried to cry and feel something. I opened my eyes. The cold met me again, and the hum of the once quiet wind already seemed deafening. - Problems? – a quiet voice asked me…