Arrived back at the wooden house, just before the man opened the door, El for some reason, stopped his step. Originated from the side, he found out, there was a current of air briskly blowing out against the wall, creating a cryptic whisper that brushed against his skin, under the night with only part of the crescent moon visible in this period of darkness.


    Walking a few steps to the side, right on the dark alleyway between that wooden house and another concrete building, it was there. Wired barbed fences blocked the way to the deeper part of the alleyway, gleaming under the small bit of the yellow light from the lamp attached to a pole, dimly lit up the pathway around El.


    "What''s up, kid?"


    "Is that???" El raised a brief question while turning his head to the man who approached him.


    Putting his hand on top of El''s shoulder, the man explained it to El. "After that fence, is what people called the Downtrodden Region. Or much more known as, the underside."


    "You mean, those kids earlier?" without El realized, his voice quivering. It was as if, he had glimpsed upon the reflection under that absence of light, piercing through the shadows. Even without the man explaining it clearly, he somehow understood a section of the underlying connotation behind it.


    "Yes… let''s go…" the man invited El to come with him.


    After the man closed the door, concurrently – uncertainty, confusion, and the cold glimmer of hope resting inside El''s chest was quietly occluded. Much like the apparent excuses in his life living in the village, when he continuously resisted death itself.


    * * *


    Let himself fall on the bed, El let out a sigh. Whether it signified a heavy or a light one, he didn''t know. After a moment had passed gazing at the ceiling, he turned his face to the window where the curtain was still ajar.


    And he found…


    There was nothing. Only night remained.


    ''What is it that I was sad about? I wonder…'' his eyebrows knitted together. He then closed his eyes.


    After mulling over it again, and again, and again. Finally, he met an imaginary crossroad inside his mind, where it felt like his consciousness itself was pulled by a force to some unknown destination. The path was filled with flashing symbols and shapes, from triangles, circles, and squares – to unknown alphabets.


    His heart was beaten by then. His ear was humming with white noises interlapping between each other. Images flashed in his head. It was strings of chaotic pictures – flipping, alternating, shifting, colliding against one another. Myriads of emotions clashed together, along with his ear buzzing with whispers intermittently.


    Initially, everything was extremely unclear and vexing. However, suddenly, it all went silent. The images paused into a blurry scene where it was hard for El to discern anything. His heart subsequently calmed down. But his body was soaked in sweat.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    However, it wasn''t for long. He heard a young girl''s voice calling out to him, as the indistinct scene inside his mind seemed to shift slightly.


    "Hey. What''s your name?"


    "You mean me?"


    "Yeah, of course. Who else is here?"


    "Ummm, like you see on my shirt. It was C-013"


    "Kekekek, not that, silly. I mean your name. Your real name?"


    "I… I didn''t have one."


    "You – didn''t have one?"


    "Yes…"


    "Well. Sorry about that."


    "It''s fine…"


    *Bzzzztttt*


    Once again, white noises filled El''s entire mind. He tightly clenched his finger. His eyebrows frowning even harder. Eventually, the start of that conversation flowed back again. But this time. it wasn''t something like what El expected. It was a familiar voice to him, filled with breathy, scratchy sound.


    "I hope you die a terrible death. Your bones are crushed by the jaws of beasts. Your flesh is gnawed by maggots. Your eyeballs rotted while you were still alive. Your blood drained by Witches. Your skin is peeled by Shifters. Your brain is sucked by Devourers. I curse you... I curse you... I curse you… die, die, die, die, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!!!!"


    El abruptly opened his eyes, simultaneously inhaling a sharp breath. Propping himself up to sit on the bed, he gave himself a helpless smile.


    "What did I even expect? It always ends up like this," El stated bitterly, still panting from the mixed emotions, especially considering how he had listened to that grating man''s voice, cursing him in horrendous anger every single time he tried to dig deeper into his messy memories. Those sets of words were always different, but the factual message was always the same.


    Basically, it wanted him to die.


    Another worthy piece to note was that the unpleasant old man''s voice, which was likened to a steel rod scraping repeatedly on the flat surface of a mirror, was always successful in making his brain feel itchy. He really wanted to rub it, if only it were possible.


    *Knock knock knock*


    Suddenly, knocks reverberated inside the room. El subconsciously flinched on the spot.


    "Yes?" he asked out loud, pretending to be brave but still a bit scared nevertheless. Whether it was a ghost or not was yet to be disclosed. But surely for El, he was certain that it was the man who knocked on the door.


    And…


    There was no reply to El''s question.


    * * *


    *Gulp*


    By that time, El''s heart, which had barely managed to get out of its flighty mode, suddenly restarted itself giddily – roaring awake.


    Sharpening his ear to listen, El caught the sound of wind blowing from outside the window, getting stronger by the second. ''It seems it was getting close to rain.''


    Taking his focus back to the matters at hand, El''s ears caught the low creaking sound of faint heavy footsteps coming from outside the door, getting clearer and drawing closer to his room, accompanied closely by the grind of something heavy being dragged on the floorboard.


    *Krrriiieettt… Krrriiieeettt… Krrrriiieetttt…*


    *Ssssaassaaakkk*


    *Thud*


    It ended with a heavy object thumping against the ground, located right in front of the door of his room.


    *Gulp*


    Swallowing his saliva, a cold sweat timidly covered El''s back, caressing him with the realization that there was something terribly wrong with what he currently faced.


    "El, are you there? Open the door?"


    It was the man''s voice, undoubtedly. Yet, for some reason El couldn''t understand, he perceived that there was something odd about the voice, along with the presence behind the door.


    It was…


    Eerie.


    And especially today, his sense to vaguely catch on people''s emotions around him was still heightened. So, how was it possible that what he discerned radiating from the other side of the door was nothing like what a human could possibly emit?


    It was filled with…


    Malevolence and ice-cold grudges.


    * * *