Aarav stood there, unmoved.
Music playing. Lights flashed. People laughed.
Everything was the same.
"Hello everyone..." The same voice. same word.
Aarav tried to calm himself. His mind agitated, the sound of the blast still echoed in his mind. His breaths were uneven.
'Relax…think…'
'What the fxck was even happening here?'
'Everything just blasted here. Right…'
His breathing was heavy–too heavy. He pressed his hand against his chest. He froze, even more than before. "What…?"
He pressed his chest desperately, trying to feel something.
No heartbeat.
His heart was still as stone.
"...My heart…" silence. "it's not beating…"
His finger slowly slipped from his chest. "No… I am alive… right."
"That's not possible."
He breathed heavily, trying to deny it. Air filled his lungs–he could feel it.
"I am breathing…"
He looked at the crowd of people.
"Then… What am I?"
Everything around him seemed to pause. The people felt distant, unreal.
"So this is what you meant, King Yama… pay your debt. Bullshit…"
His jaw clenched, making a faint chattering sound. His hands formed fists. He sank to the ground, everything around him distant.
After a moment, he looked around, his gaze sharpening.
His gaze fell on the bartender.
"Let's get out of this situation first…"
Aarav moved to the bar counter. The bartender stood still, unmoving.
Aarav ordered, "Hey, one drink."
The bartender didn't respond. No movement. No reaction.
Aarav frowned. "...Hey."
Silence.
For a few seconds, there was no movement. Then the bartender replied. "I am sorry, sir. I will do it now."
Aarav's eyes narrowed.
The response came too late, like someone had pressed a button. The bartender turned, picked up the glass, and placed it in front of Aarav.
"Please enjoy it, sir."
Same tone.
Same smile.
Aarav didn't touch the drink and just stared at him.
"Hey, what's your name?"
The bartender didn't respond and just smiled. After a moment, he returned to his previous state, like a puppet.
Aarav reached out and grabbed the bartender's wrist.
Cold.
Like touching something with no warmth.
The bartender didn't react. He just smiled at Aarav.
Aarav stumbled back.
"Who… are you?"
Silence.
The next second, Aarav felt as if countless eyes were watching him. He turned around and saw that every person there was staring at him, but now the lively scene from before had gone. The music stopped, the lights went out and the floor now looked like an abandoned place.
Everyone's body was rotten like a corpse and insects were crawling in it. Someone's limbs were missing, some can't be recognized anymore and they all were looking at him with their hollow eyes.
Aarav's body froze down there, his body covered in sweat. It was the first time in his life he had seen something like this. He felt as if was grabbed by something invisible that he couldn't escape.
'What's this?... stay away…stay away from me"
He couldn't even move his finger. 'Please move…move'
They all surrounded him from every side and an unrecognizable corpse or anything what it can be called stepped out from the crowd.
"Why…didn't you…drink? How… Can we start the party…that way…?"
His speech was broken and unrecognizable like a man and woman speaking at the same time.
That corpse slowly approached the bar counter. His body made a cracking sound with every step he took. He grabbed the glass of alcohol and moved to Aarav's side.
"Drink it…"
Aarav gulped hard and looked at everyone. Their faces were rotten, but he could still see a hint of anger in them. Seeing them he felt as if he was being pulled into play that he couldn't escape.
With the corner of his eye, he saw that the glass wasn't filled with alcohol, but blood.
Seeing that he wasn't drinking, everyone moved, surrounded him, and started to eat his body's flesh. He was struggling to escape but couldn't move. He felt it–the pain of being bitten by hundreds of people.
At the last second, he shouted.
"I will… I will drink it."
Everything became dark and the scene changed.
Now the bartender was smiling at Aarav, but it was not fake as before–it was a creepy smile.
He said, "Please enjoy your drink, sir."