The Drafted Reality and Dreams

CHAPTER 29: CLARENCE

The man is currently not here, as he left a few minutes ago. I sighed heavily, not having the strength to stay awake. Wait, he isn't here. I looked at cuffs before I started to pull at them. And of course they didn't budge. I soon noticed that there was a key on the nightstand. What a dumbass, I thought, chuckling. I started to reach for the key but couldn't get it. I soon gave up trying to get the key. I stared at the ceiling, I sighed once again.
"You really gave up on life, huh?" A voice said. I lifted my head and saw myself.
"What the hell?" I said, squinting my eyes.
"What? Can't I be your conscious?" She said
"Uh—well.." I said, "Whatever, I am seeing things. I'm going crazy." I told myself.
"Well you know, he put the key there on purpose. He knows you can't get it." She said.
I rolled my eyes, staring at the wall.
I went to look back at the ceiling but she was on top of me. "Do you want to live or not?" She raised her eyebrow.
"I-I do want to live but there's not much for me to do." I soon said.
"You can try pulling your one hand out of the cuff." She suggested, looking at my right hand.
"Uhm right, not happening." I said, looking away from her.
"It's worth the try and besides, an animal would do anything to get out of their cage."
I look at my right hand, taking a deep breath before forcing my hand out of the cuff. I screamed in pain, my hand slowly getting out of the cuffs. My hand was soon free, but with consequences. Around my wrist there was a red mark along with some purple marks.
"Shit that hurts!" I yelled.
"Now get the key and uncuff yourself." She soon said. I used the key on all the cuffs. I soon sat on the side of the bed, rubbing my right hand as the pain was becoming unbearable.
"Now what?" I said, looking back up but my "conscious" was no longer around. I guess I'm back on my own, I thought. I got off the bed and looked around the room to see if there was anything that I could take with me.
I soon found a screwdriver—whose tip was covered in blood. I guess I really wasn't the only one here, since the blood explains that much. I put the screwdriver in my back pocket, looking for anything else. There was a mini fridge at the end of the bed. I looked inside and found nothing but water bottles and ice, that was starting to melt, in a little bag. I took the bag and wrapped it with a blood covered rag. I put it on my wrist hoping it helps with the swelling.
I started to explore the abandoned building—it was a mansion, but some parts of the house were destroyed almost like there was a fire that started here. I walked down the long hallway, there were broken vases and burnt paintings that were now on the ground. The whole place was edgy, but whoever lived here beforehand was obviously rich and had power. It's a pity that a serial killer camps here.
I soon found a staircase that leads to the first floor. I walked down the staircase slowly and carefully. Parts of the staircase were burnt and not as sturdy. Once I reached the bottom of the stairs, there was a funky smell coming from part of the house. The smell eventually led me to the back of the house. There was a door that led to the backyard of the mansion—it was cracked open. I grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. I stepped outside and the backyard was more like a garden. There was a path that went straight through bushes upon bushes of dead roses.
I walked down the path and was soon in front of a grand tree. The tree was surprisingly healthy, the leaves were fresh and had a rich green color. While I was admiring the tree, I noticed a rope hanging from the tree—it was a noose. It wasn't in the best condition, the rope looked torn and gross. I guess there's a dark past that even the house can longer tell. I turned around and looked at the mansion. Half of the mansion has collapsed, the whole place was covered in vines as Mother Nature was taking back the land that was originally hers.
The current condition of the mansion gives me chills. I guess even a house can go through torture. I sighed, a tear suddenly ran down my cheek. I wiped the tear and sniffled. What's wrong with me? I asked myself. I sat down on one of the stones that surrounded the tree.
I looked down at my wrist, removing the wrapped bag of ice. The bruising worsened, I unwrapped the bag and the ice was now liquid, leaking at one of the bottom corners. I tossed the rag and put the bag above my mouth to get as much water as possible. I eventually sucked on the corner to get more water and of course the water tasted gross and wasn't very refreshing.
I eventually tossed the bag and looked back at the mansion once more. This time there was a slight difference to the house. There was a light in one of the rooms, and if I had to guess which room it would be the one that I was in—cuffed to the bed. A silhouette soon appeared in front of the window, it was the man. I had a feeling that he was looking at me the whole time he was standing there.
I started to feel uneasy and eventually got off the stone. The man soon walked away from the window. I figured he was gonna come after me. I started to panic looking for a place to hide. I eventually saw another path that led to a greenhouse. I ran down the path and went inside of the greenhouse.
The greenhouse was destroyed, glass displayed on the ground and dead plants acted as decoration. I went into one of the corners and crouched down. The spot wasn't the best but surely wasn't the worst. There was a large hole that leads into the woods in the corner that I'm hiding at so I would have the option to keep moving.
After a couple of minutes, the man was nowhere to be seen. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I was seeing things. Maybe—maybe he left. I thought about it for a couple of seconds before getting out of my hiding spot. I went to the entrance of the greenhouse and tried to see if the man was really anywhere to be seen. He was nowhere in the back. I soon left the greenhouse entirely and slowly walked down the path. And of course I was still looking for him.
Once I was back at the tree I didn't see him anywhere. My muscles relaxed as I sighed in relief. I smiled softly thinking that I was alone at the place until I was knocked down onto the ground.
I touched my head and saw blood on my hand. I looked up and saw the man holding a brick. Tears rose in my eye sockets, now flowing down my cheek like a river. I scooched away from him slowly while shaking my head.
"Fear." He said, "Or, are you sad? Did it hurt that much?" He asked as he walked closer to me slowly.
"You're fucked up." I said, my throat feeling tight.
He tilted his head to the side, "Get the fuck away from me!" I yelled at him, crying harder than from before.
"Anger?" He said, crouching down in front of me. He grabbed my foot and pulled me closer to him. I screamed at him, not being able to look at him.
"What's wrong? I can't help you if you don't tell me." He said, grabbing my shoulder and squeezing it.
"I'm..I'm s-scared!" I said, my vision was blurred with salty tears.
He smiled softly, caressing my head. "There there." He said, patting my head, "Everything will be over soon, you'll see." He kept caressing my head as I cried.
Maybe, just maybe I'm meant to go through this hell. Maybe I'm meant to be punished for being greedy. Maybe I don't deserve to be happy.
Just maybe...