William suddenly woke up and found himself inside a familiar house, he looked around just to confirm if the building was the one he had left years ago. As he walked through the house trying to revive all the memories that have been buried deep, he entered the living room and noticed someone sitting at the end of the sofa.
"Nostalgic, isn't it?" the person said without looking at William.
"Yeah, it makes me nauseous to see how identical every room is, It feels like everything is the same as when I just left here" William replied, walking to the opposite end of the sofa.
"You haven't changed a bit," the person laughed softly, then looked at William, resembling him but appearing a couple of years younger.
"So, what do you want? I know there's something you want to tell me," William asked without preamble, as the person stood and walked towards the dining table.
"I just want to ask you something," he paused, locking eyes with William, "What do you really want?"
William smiled at the question, "Isn't it clear? I just want to survive as long as I can."
"You know, for someone with such power and authority, you're quite weak. I know you're lonely. Tell me, who was the last person that truly mattered to you, if there was one?" he continued, playing with a knife on the table
William remained silent, his eyes locked onto the person. With a faint smile, he responded,
“Firstly, I don’t know who you are. I don’t know why I’m in my old house. To answer your earlier question, I don’t have someone particularly significant in my life.”
"Someone you love? Someone you cherish? Someone you'd be willing to die for? Or have you 'cleansed' them all?" he added, demonstrating the throat-slitting motion with the knife.
William thought for a moment, then lifted his head to the ceiling, "A person I love? If that's what you want to hear, I'll tell you. Even though I don't love them, I know that there are people who actually loves me, romantically or not. You want to say I have no friends? I do have some, not much, but I do. And I also think that this conversation is very boring and meaningless"
William stood up and walked out but stopped in front of the person, "And one more thing, stop talking as if you know everything about me."
"I do know everything about you, and more. Because..."
YOU ARE READING
Battle Within
Truyện NgắnWilliam finds himself in a surreal confrontation with a younger manifestation of his own emotions and struggles. As he navigates the familiar rooms of his past, a tense dialogue unfolds, revealing a profound internal conflict. The duality between pr...
