KONG'S BOREDOM

Kong's Boredom (Final)

Kong Awakes

Kong awoke with a violent gasp, his body drenched in sweat. He shot up, clutching his chest, feeling phantom pains where the arrows had pierced his body. His heart pounded like a war drum in his ears, his breaths ragged and uneven. He blinked rapidly, his eyes adjusting to the dim light of his quarters.

"It was... a dream?" he muttered, his voice trembling with both relief and confusion. He looked around the room-it was exactly as he had left it. The stone walls, the flickering candlelight, the scent of cold metal from his scattered gear. Everything seemed normal, yet something felt... off.

He rose from his bed and stumbled toward a small basin of water, splashing his face to ground himself. As he wiped his face, his reflection in the water rippled and distorted, but it wasn't his face that looked back at him. It was the face of the knight he had killed-the one whose head he had punched clean off. The headless body was suddenly there, standing behind him in the reflection, reaching out.

Kong whipped around, knife in hand, but there was nothing there. Just empty air. His breath quickened, his eyes darting around the room. Shadows seemed to stretch and shift unnaturally, as if they had a life of their own.

His mind raced. "It was just a dream," he insisted to himself, but his voice lacked conviction.

He turned back to the basin, but instead of water, it was filled with blood-thick, dark, and pooling over the edges. His own reflection, now half-decayed, stared back at him, grinning.

A knock came at his door, and Kong spun around, knife still raised. The door creaked open, and there stood Queen Mary, her face pale and eyes wide with concern. "Kong, are you okay? You've been screaming," she said softly.

He stared at her, his mind unable to reconcile what was happening. "Mary... I just had the worst-"

Before he could finish, she stepped into the room, and the door slammed shut behind her. Her face shifted, her features twisting into Elizabeth's, and then back to Mary's again. Kong stumbled backward, his hand gripping the edge of the table to steady himself. He blinked, and Mary's face was normal again, concerned and gentle.

"Kong, what's wrong?" she asked, stepping closer.

Kong shook his head. "I... I don't know. Something's not right. I'm awake, but... it doesn't feel like it."

Mary's expression softened. "Maybe you should rest. You've been through a lot lately."

He nodded slowly, still trying to process what was happening. "Yeah... maybe I should."

She turned to leave, and as she did, her shadow stretched unnaturally across the wall, morphing into the shape of a monstrous, horned figure. Kong's eyes widened, and he lunged for his gun-but it wasn't there. His gear was missing.

"Mary, wait!" he shouted, but she was already gone. The room grew colder, and the walls seemed to pulse and close in on him.

Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed in his mind. "Did you really think you could escape this?" It was Elizabeth's voice, dripping with malice.

Kong's head throbbed with pain, and he collapsed to his knees. His vision blurred, and he saw flashes of his own death again-arrows piercing his flesh, knights cutting him down, Elizabeth watching with a wicked smile. But then it shifted-he saw himself, not as Kong, but as one of the knights stabbing a sword into his own heart.

The scene shifted again, and he was standing in the courtyard, covered in blood, surrounded by the corpses of everyone he had ever known. Mary, Elizabeth, the knights... even himself, multiple versions, all dead at his feet. And they were all staring at him with lifeless eyes.