MIND GAMES: Guild Tryouts

Chapter 31

—The sky was pitch black, with the stars above being one of the few natural light sources around the area. Rain poured down from the storm clouds shrouding the starlight, covering up half of the full moon that glowed faintly in the distance.

Light poles lined up across the road that the rain painted wet below the cloud's wake, and a single car is situated on the road's pathway. It wasn't going anywhere, but it was there. A light orange glow starts to emerge from the vehicle, which was completely flipped onto its side. There were two passengers in the crash, but neither of them was present at this time.

Jay was still on the floor, trying to gain some of his energy to overcome the unbearable Debuffs that came with hitting his threshold, but the sudden change of scenery around him shocked him more than his debuffs did. In fact, the effects of his dizziness slowly nullify themselves as Jay looks around him more and more.

The car flipped over on its side on the monochrome road, and the glass spread across the scene next to the fire. Jay's seen this scene unfold too many times and always at his worst moments.

Looking at his own appearance, Jay wasn't wearing his blue zip-up hoodie anymore and had on his real-world appearance. His icy blue hair had turned back to its natural dark brown, and his red sports hoodie and black sweatpants contrasted his tennis shoes. He wasn't Jay anymore, but simply just Jayson now.

Jayson managed to get one of his legs up and tried to stand back up. On one knee, he pushes off the road below him as he tries to calm himself down.

'I can't... feel my Debuffs...' Jayson thinks, 'W-what is happening?'

This wasn't real, just like last time he had an episode at the hospital. He seemed to be going through some traumatic re-experienceness, but this was the first time it's ever happened to him in-game. The car's fire starts to grow at a rapid pace, and Jayson covers up the front of his face as he feels the wind begin to pick up around him.

A figure emerges from the wreck, with bright red lines emerging from every corner of their face and body. They had the look of Jayson's mother, but it definitely wasn't her. Jayson shuts his eyes once again and gets down on both knees in complete defeat.

'I-t thought I...' He thinks, 'I thought I could win!'

The rain picks up in velocity, although Jayson didn't even have the pleasure of feeling it. His clothes were soaked, but he didn't feel wet. He could hear footsteps ahead of him tread through the wet road as they approached him slowly, seemingly from the crash. Before even seeing who it was, Jayson hears them speak.

"Have you given up already?" The dark figure asks.

Jayson looks up at them with tears in his eyes. They still looked like his mother, with blank eyes and a strange expression. Jayson gathers up all of his strength, and through his blurry and dimmed vision, matches eyes with the figure. They still had bright red lines reaching down from their face down to their feet.

"No." He replies.

"Then why are you here?" the figure asks, "This is all in your head! Why'd you retreat here?"

In his head? Was this really Jayson's imagination or even his mind?

"W-what do you mean?" Jayson asks.

"This place exists as a memory, but you keep ending up here!" The figure says.

"B-but I don't mean to! I was in the middle of a fight—" Jayson starts to say but is cut off promptly by the strange figure.

"*Losing* fight!" the figure corrects Jayson.

"You'll never amount to anything!"

As the strange figure speaks, they start to amble around Jayson, leaving several after-images of themselves. Jayson starts to hear multiple voices around him, and some even say different things. Some of them Jayson only hears in his left ear, while some are only heard in his right. He covers both ears promptly as multiple voices call into his head.