CHAPTER 3, AWAKENING Of The RED EYES AFTER DESTRUCTION
Jay's eyes opened slowly, as if his body itself was reluctant to wake up.
For a few seconds, his vision was blurry. The world around him felt distant and quiet, like he had just surfaced from a very deep sleep.
The first thing he noticed was the ceiling above him.
White.
Familiar.
A faint crack running across one corner.
He stared at it silently.
Then the soft humming sound of the ceiling fan reached his ears.
Round and round it turned, pushing warm evening air through the room.
Jay blinked.
His mind felt heavy… foggy… as if something inside it had been shaken violently.
He slowly turned his head to the side.
The room came into view.
His room.
The same wooden desk near the wall.
A stack of books on top of it.
His school bag lying on the floor beside the chair.
The half-open window letting orange evening light slip inside.
Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
Jay frowned slightly.
A strange thought crossed his mind.
"Why am I… at home?"
The last thing he remembered clearly was being at school.
Lunch break had ended.
Students were walking back to their classes.
He had entered the classroom.
He remembered the girl standing beside her desk.
Trash scattered over her books.
The laughter of those boys.
Cruel voices echoing in the room.
Then—
Nothing.
Just darkness.
A complete gap in his memory.
Jay slowly pushed himself up from the bed.
The moment he sat up, a sharp pain pulsed through the side of his head.
He winced slightly.
"…Ah."
His fingers moved toward the pain instinctively.
When he touched the side of his head, he felt something rough.
Cloth.
A bandage.
Jay froze.
"What…?"
He quickly stood up and walked toward the small mirror hanging on the wall.
The wooden floor creaked faintly under his feet.
When he reached the mirror and looked at his reflection, his confusion deepened.
A white bandage was wrapped around the side of his head.
Not large, but clearly covering an injury.
Jay touched it again carefully.
The sting confirmed it.
He was definitely hurt.
But how?
"When did this happen?" he whispered.
His mind immediately began searching for answers.
He closed his eyes, trying to remember.
The classroom.
The girl.
The boys laughing.
One of them raising his hand.
After that—
Nothing.
No memory.
No image.
No sound.
It was as if someone had taken a piece of his memory and erased it completely.
Jay opened his eyes again, staring at himself in the mirror.
His expression looked normal.
No anger.
No fear.
Just confusion.
He slowly stepped away from the mirror and sat down on the edge of the bed.
The room felt unusually quiet.
Outside, faint sounds of the neighborhood drifted through the window.
Children playing somewhere down the street.
A motorcycle passing by.
Someone talking in the distance.
Ordinary sounds of an ordinary evening.
Yet Jay couldn't shake the strange feeling inside him.
Something had happened.
Something important.
But his mind refused to show it.
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Did I get into a fight…?" he muttered.
The idea felt strange.
Jay wasn't the type of person who fought.
He avoided conflict whenever possible.
Even when others insulted him, he usually stayed silent.
So the thought of him fighting someone didn't feel right.
But then again…
How else could he have gotten injured?
Jay ran a hand through his hair.
His head still felt slightly dizzy.
Fragments of something began to stir inside his mind.
Not full memories.
Just sensations.
A heavy feeling in the air.
A strange pressure.
The sound of something breaking.
Then darkness again.
Jay sighed and leaned back against the wall.
"Why can't I remember?"
He closed his eyes again.
This time something appeared.
Not a clear memory.
Just an image emerging slowly from the darkness of his mind.
He saw himself standing somewhere.
But it wasn't a real place.
There were no walls.
No floor.
No sky.
Just endless darkness stretching in every direction.
A cold, silent void.
Jay could see his own figure standing there.
Looking around.
Confused.
Lost.
And in front of him—
There was someone else.
Or something.
A shadow.
Tall.
Still.
Its shape was human… but indistinct.
The edges of its body blurred into the darkness around it.
Jay couldn't see its face.
He couldn't see its expression.
But he knew it was there.
Standing silently.
Watching him.
In that memory, Jay heard his own voice.
"Who are you?"
The words echoed through the empty space.
But the shadow didn't respond.
It didn't move.
It didn't speak.
It simply stood there.
Jay remembered asking again.
"Where am I?"
Still no answer.
The silence in that place felt heavy.
Almost suffocating.
Jay remembered taking a cautious step forward in that strange void.
"Are you… inside my mind?"
No reaction.
The shadow remained perfectly still.
Not even a slight movement.
Jay's frustration began to rise in that memory.
"Say something."
His voice had sounded sharper then.
Demanding.
But again—
Nothing.
The shadow did not reply.
It did not approach him.
It did not disappear.
It simply watched.
Jay could remember that feeling clearly.
Those silent eyes fixed on him.
Observing.
Waiting.
The longer the silence lasted, the stranger the atmosphere became.
It felt as if the shadow was studying him.
Not like an enemy.
Not like a friend.
But like something ancient observing something new.
Jay remembered asking one more time.
"Who are you?"
This time his voice carried impatience.
Even a little anger.
Yet the answer remained the same.
Silence.
Then suddenly—
The memory ended.
Like a light switching off.
Jay opened his eyes again.
He was back in his room.
Sitting on his bed.
Breathing slowly.
His heart was beating slightly faster now.
"That… felt real."
Too real to be a dream.
But also too strange to be reality.
Jay looked around the room again, grounding himself in the familiar surroundings.
The desk.
The books.
The window.
Everything was exactly where it should be.
Yet something inside him felt different.
As if a door had opened somewhere deep within his mind.
He couldn't see what was behind that door.
But he could feel its presence.
Jay stood up and walked toward the window.
The sky outside had darkened slightly.
The sun was sinking lower, painting the clouds orange and purple.
He rested his hand against the window frame and stared outside.
"Did I really… fight those guys?" he wondered quietly.
The thought didn't feel like his.
But the injury on his head was real.
Something had happened.
Something his mind was hiding from him.
Jay sighed softly.
"Maybe I'm just tired."
He stepped away from the window and lay down on the bed again.
His body still felt exhausted.
Slowly, his eyes began to close.
But deep inside his consciousness…
Far beyond his awareness…
In that endless dark space—
The shadow still stood there.
Silent.
Motionless.
Watching.
Waiting patiently for the moment Jay would return.