Glenn’s senses spiraled into a blissful void. He felt comfortable, as if he had just woken up from a really good night of sleep.

  His vision was hazy, the world around him a complete blur. A hand extended towards him, urging him to grasp it. Glenn tried to shake the appendage, but he was impossibly slow. His body felt ethereal, completely disconnected. The hand’s insistence grew more pronounced, its urgency palpable.

  Glenn forced his eyes open.

  The hand hung from strips of flesh, each thread fidgeting of its own volition like the tentacles of the late Father Albenas.

  Oh, shit. I’m not shaking that! His eyes widened madly as the hand retracted swiftly, as if acknowledging his unspoken refusal. The palm opened, and a mouth appeared within, smiling wickedly. ‘It’ moistened its red lips with a fleshy tongue before smacking them.

  “What the fuck?” Glenn blurted out.

  The wicked mouth spoke in a dry tone, “Huh. What are you?”

  Glenn’s heart raced. No, he didn’t hear wrong. The thing talked with a human voice that had a slight echo. It had an otherworldly feeling—as if it shouldn’t belong to this world.

  And it spoke to him.

  “Hey? You got hearing issues or something?” The mouth said mockingly, startling Glenn once again.

  He shook his head. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I heard you. Wow.”

  The mouth faded, and the hand made a fist, thrusting it into the air victoriously. Glenn would have probably found the movement humorous had it not been for the bloody sinew holding it like strings of a puppet.

  His heartbeat was loud, but it wasn’t louder than the syrupy sounds coming from his surroundings. The thick stench of iron and rotten meat made him want to puke, but he was certain doing so would sign his death sentence.

  He followed the sinew’s trail but could only spy a squirming mess of crimson and darkness. It moved like slithering snakes, worming their way through—

  “Ugh!” Glenn coughed as a sudden pang of pain shot through his head. Sweat drenched his back as he averted his eyes away from the swirling void.

  The headache calmed gradually, but the threat of another battle loomed in Glenn’s mind. If there was one positive of that pain, it was that it woke Glenn up. Fully alert, he took in the strangeness of his surroundings.

  He was trapped in a scarlet chamber composed of oozing flesh and coagulated blood. The dungeon pulsated rhythmically, mirroring the cadence of the white crystal—like a heart.

  A metallic tang in the air made his stomach churn. Glancing down, he realized he was sitting on the beating tendons. He instinctively jumped away but fell into a gore-slicked wall.

  “Am I… in the crystal…?” he slowly inquired.

  “Sigh… Yes, well observed.” The mouth reappeared, grimacing distastefully.

  Shit, I spoke out loud. That hand is certainly not a normal being. But then, nothing is normal in this world.

  “In this world…?” The hand echoed, sending a chill down his spine. “Oh, and yeah. Don’t bother thinking since I can hear all of you.”

  The mouth grinned wickedly and moistened its lips as it hovered closer to Glenn’s face.

  “Be it your racing heart or thoughts, they are all mine to read. So, rid yourself of your pitiful escape plans, and let’s converse normally—like normal beings.” The hand emphasized the last word.

  “What the fuck?”

  The hand froze for a second before exploding in laughter. “Hahaha, yes. That’s the very question I wanted to pose. Maybe you can read minds too. An interesting coincidence, don’t you say?”

  He shook his head. Reading minds? What? Of course I can’t! This is fucked.

  “I agree,” the hand said with an honest tone. “But hey, at least you’re not dead!”

  “I’m not?”

  The hand made a thumbs down gesture, earning a sneer out of Glenn. This situation was so unbelievable—so illogical he could only laugh.

  “Anyway, did your parents not teach you manners?”

  “What?”

  “Shouldn’t you ask my name? Or at least knock before barging in my c- …room?” The tongue hissed with a veneer of authority. Glenn gulped.

  “Who are you?” he asked, obeying the underlying order of the entity. He’d rather play the game than die.

  “Good choice. But who’s asking? I did not invite you in, so I believe presenting yourself would be the proper thing, right?”

  “My name is Glenn, and… My last name is of no importance anymore, I suppose.” Anger took over Glenn as he asked sarcastically, “May I know your name?”

  The hand’s grin grew from thumb to pinkie, its peerless white teeth gleaming.

  “Finally some manners.” It laughed before moistening its lips again. “You can address me as Diamanes. Not exactly my real name, but it’d be unfortunate if your brain imploded by hearing it, right?”

  Glenn disregarded the latter part of the sentence and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “It’s a… pleasure to meet you, Diamanes. Uhm, wh- What are you?”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “I’m a hand,” Diamanes replied simply, unperturbed.

  Glenn blinked, momentarily dumbfounded. “Okay…? Care to elaborate on whose hand?”

  “Don’t feel like it,” retorted the hand, positioning itself inches from Glenn’s face. He held his breath, wondering what he was supposed to do. The hand’s fleshy tongue passed over its teeth, its grin growing maliciously.

  “Enough. I have a few questions of my own,” Diamanes declared, his words ringing with an ominous weight.

  Glenn opened his mouth, but his jaws clenched shut as a sudden pressure bore down on his shoulders, nailing him to the blood-drenched floor. The headache returned with greater intensity, like an ancient being raging in his mind. A forbidden horror that threatened the base of his sanity, pushing him to the very brink of madness.

  Glenn gasped, his hands reaching helplessly for his throat in a desperate attempt to clear it. He gritted his teeth, feeling his consciousness mere inches from slipping away. The lack of oxygen made his sight blurry, but Glenn still fought. He knew death was worse than whatever this was. This was painful, more painful than that damned spear or ghoul from earlier, but he couldn’t give up.

  “Impressive. See, that’s why I have to ask— what the hell are you? You can’t be human, or else you’d already be groveling to my feet. Metaphorical ones, you know.” Diamanes’ voice washed over him with a sudden relief, the pressure disappearing like a mirage.

  Glenn coughed, wheezing with each breath of rancid air. Rancid air was better than no air after all.

  Diamanes seemed satisfied to have proved his point, as evidenced by the dirty, crooked finger he pointed at Glenn. The entity almost appeared like an excited child showing a frightened frog to its parents. Only, there were no parents, and the frog was Glenn.

  “Now, humor me and explain yourself. What kind of abomination are you?” Diamanes hovered away, leaving Glenn some space to breathe.

  He rubbed his throat with furrowed brows, tears welling up in his eyes. “The hell do you mean?”

  Annoyed, Diamanes smacked its lips. “I mean it very literally. Are you a Fallen One? Or… Perhaps something different altogether—a sort of aberration?”

  Glenn squinted at the floating hand. What even were those choices? Where was the ‘human’ box to tick?

  An aberration… Maybe coming from Earth or another world counts…? Wait. Shit! Glenn barely finished his thought when Diamanes groaned in puzzlement.

  It cracked its fingers in a disturbing motion before caressing an imaginary chin. “Uh. Interesting. See, last time I checked, humans shouldn’t be able to touch the crystal, or they’ll die. And you’re from another world…”

  Glenn clenched his eyes shut, trying to empty his mind.

  “Don’t bother. The harder you try to hide it, the easier it’ll be for me. Earth, you say? Hmm… So you are a Fallen One then?”

  “Maybe?” Glenn suspected as much when he read Jefferson’s diary, but… Something didn’t add up. He arrived before the Moon Rift, and the journal said nothing about mysterious powers.

  “For now, you are. I’m too lazy to understand the specifics.” Diamanes decided, before adding, “Only Fallen Ones can enter this place, after all.”

  Glenn rubbed his chin. Perhaps it was wise to mirror the entity and accept the simplest answer. Until he encountered a very old and very powerful being, he wasn’t going to get a satisfactory explanation.

  What mattered was learning why he ended up in this world. If someone was the cause, he needed to talk to them. A violent talk, if possible. That culprit better have had a very, very good reason for ruining my peaceful life.

  “Sigh… What should I do with you then? I feel like killing you would be a waste, as you certainly are a unique kind of being…” Diamanes wondered aloud, successfully drawing Glenn’s attention.

  “Perhaps… it could work, since… Hehe, yeah. Technically, he could…” The hand hung at eye level with Glenn. The palm opened towards his face, and the mouth formed a contemptuous rictus.

  “I have a proposition for you, Glenn.” The hand spoke in a suave tone.

  He got the distinct impression that something was wrapping itself around his body, slowly slithering like a snake. He wanted to fight back, but how? What could he even do? He looked at the demon, hoping he wouldn’t have to wager his soul.

  “As you guessed, I’m not a normal being…” Diamanes trailed off, grinning. “Shake my hand, and I’ll give you power beyond your imagination—”

  Glenn sneered, interrupting the entity. Diamanes froze in shock, unable to believe his victim. Glenn knew it was over for him, but he simply couldn’t contain himself. It was possibly the fatigue or the screws that were loosened from his multiple encounters with death that freed his inhibitions.

  “Power? Why the hell would I want power?” Before the entity replied, he added, “Can you bring me back to Earth? To my world, away from this nightmare?”

  Diamanes shut its mouth, pondering silently. Glenn gritted his teeth and resigned himself.

  Whatever I said about living earlier? Bullshit. Why should I even struggle in this hell if there’s no hope of escape? Am I supposed to abandon my sister? How? And what guarantee is there that dying won’t take me home?

  “I’m… not sure how to deliver you to your world. But…” Diamanes’ grin grew wide again. “What I do know is that death won’t free you. This land will take your soul and never give it back. And you’ll lose all chances of seeing your kin.”

  Glenn held his breath, staring haggardly at the inhumane entity.

  “What’s certain, though, is that if you accept my proposal, I’ll be an invaluable ally. Even if I don’t know the way out personally, I can guarantee it exists. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here,” Diamanes swore with a wild, diabolical laugh.

  Glenn felt the knot tighten around his neck, and yet… Now he could see it. Passage out of this hell—the path to return to his sister and his peaceful life. But… Did he really want to shake hands with a shady entity?

  Was he selling his soul to the devil?

  Diamanes sighed impatiently. “Why do you even bother contemplating the question?”

  Glenn’s headache returned like a tidal wave. He yelped in pain as his mind filled with countless screams of horror.

  “There are two choices available to you, Glenn.”

  Holding his head in his hands, Glenn could barely hear the demon. A drum beat in the background at the same tempo as his heart. Only, the sound grew louder and faster with each pulse.

  “The first choice I can give you is death. A dirty, painful death that will pursue you even in whatever lies beyond.”

  The screeches intensified, and Glenn’s eardrums exploded. His right eye burst, and blood flowed from every orifice. As his end drew closer, Glenn thought about Lina— his friends, his past… and that damned bastard.

  What did I do to deserve this? Could I have done anything differently?

  “The second choice, you agree to my proposition. And I become a part of you.”

  Diamanes’ voice distorted like a skipping vinyl record. Glenn coughed out the blood accumulating in his throat, the screams in his ears becoming his own.

  “You have… five full seconds to make your decision. How generous of me, right?”

  Glenn watched in horror with his remaining eye as the demon’s mouth grew wider and wider, encompassing Glenn’s whole body. Saliva dripped into large pools, flowing onto the fleshy floor like a fountain. Even in this ridiculous state, Diamanes maintained his greedy, voracious grin.

  The pain made Glenn lose his grasp on reality.

  “Three seconds,” Diamanes chuckled. “Ticktock.”

  The seconds passed, as long as days, and the last thing Glenn heard was that thumping sound, the damned demon counting to zero.

  “One. Make your choice!” Diamanes shouted hysterically.

  Glenn hissed one last breath. Diamanes’ laugh accompanied him down the hatch to the abyss of his mind.

  “It’s a deal!”

  we don't like that very much around here. Nevertheless, I ask you to please give the rest of the story a chance. I've never invested so much of my life as in this story, and I dream of making a living from it.