Autophagy

*RATTLE

Song Lei was pulled inside just as they were about to get swallowed by the darkness. As soon as the door was closed behind him, he collapsed to the ground. All the nervousness had gotten to him. He was left gasping for air as he looked at the person who pulled them in.

"Long time no see," he said with an awkward smile on his face. Room 1101 was Xu Chang's room. Although he wasn't that fond of her, they still had a good relationship. Because this was the safe room of the floor, Song Lei couldn't think of a safer place he could go to.

"Well well. Look at who came running to me in their time of need," Xu Chang said while twirling her blue hair. She walked back to the room and waited for Song Lei to carry Damien in. "What is happening outside?"

"I'm not sure..." Song Lei answered while carrying Damien into the room. The rattling noises from before were still there as if a horde of ghosts were probing the wall, trying to force their way in. Fortunately, the talisman wall was blocking them out. Song Lei laid Damien on the bed and sat down on the ground next to him. "There was some kind of darkness in the hallway. I couldn't identify it but as soon as Damien saw it, he froze up."

"Did his eyes glow yellow too?" Xu Chang asked with her arms crossed in front of her. Song Lei raised his head in awe and looked at her.

"Yes... How did you know?" He asked. Xu Chang seemed to know something that he didn't.

"That is Damien's ability," Xu Chang said. She sat on a chair and crossed her legs.

"Oh... Is his ability the reason that he is frozen right now?" Song Lei asked while looking at Damien. There was a deep shock in Damien's wide eyes. As far as Song Lei thought, Damien wasn't a person that would freeze up in front of danger.

"Nope. His ability is a sight enhancement ability," Xu Chang said. She sighed and started tapping her arm with her finger. "Whatever that darkness you couldn't identify was, Damien could identify it. What he saw must've seen something that has triggered something in his mind."

Song Lei put his hand on Damien's forehead to take his temperature. His body felt really cold. "So? What are we going to do," Song Lei asked nervously. Although he was still skeptical about it, Damien seemed to be a person he could trust in times of need. He didn't want to lose an important friend, especially in the New World. He turned his head back towards Xu Chang. "Do we have a way to make him go back to normal?"

"Waiting is always an option," Xu Chang said. "This isn't the first time something like this happened. No one knows what he has experienced back in the Old World. We just know that some things trigger these kinds of symptoms on Damien."

She got up from her chair and went to the kitchen. Song Lei, whose heart had been beating wildly, started calming down. He took a deep breath. He was really surprised that these people could change the way they acted so quickly. Normally, Xu Chang was a hyperactive and annoying person but now, she seemed to be calm and collected as opposed to normal. This seemed to be a skill people acquired after living in the New World for long enough.

Xu Chang came back from the kitchen carrying a tray. There were two cups of coffee on it.

"Put Damien under the blanket and make sure that he stays somewhat warm. We will have to leave in less than a day and he has to recover before that," Xu Chang said while giving one of the cups to Song Lei. He took the cup from her hands and took a sip. He wasn't used to drinking coffee as he usually didn't have the money to spend on it.

"How long does it usually take for him to recover?" Song Lei asked. He put the cup in his hand to a side and tucked Damien in. Damien's eyes were still wide open. This made him look very scary and uncomfortable so Song Lei closed them using his hand.

"It depends, it's usually never this severe but he should be fine after a few hours," she said. Song Lei sighed deeply and nodded. Now that he had the chance to, he took a proper look around the room.

'Uhh...' Song Lei had to stare for a long time to take in every bit of information. All the walls were filled with weird tools stuck on top of the talismans. Song Lei assumed that they were used for torture but couldn't be sure. The room's eerie blue lighting made the atmosphere even weirder.

"I'm scared to ask but... What are these tools used for?" Song Lei asked.

"Oh! Are you interested!? I've been gathering them for a long time and you're the first person to get interested," Xu Chang said excitedly like a child. She put her cup down and ran up to Song Lei. "They're my toys! I've never had the chance to test them out on someone. Do you want to try? Look! That one is called a pear of anguish and that one is called a..." Xu Chang started counting out weird names one after one.

'I shouldn't have asked...' Song Lei thought while facepalming hard. He sat down next to Damien and listened to Xu Chang talking about different kinds of medieval torture tools for more than an hour. Xu Chang finally stopped talking when Song Lei felt movement on the bed.

"He is waking up," Xu Chang said. Song Lei got up from the bed and looked at Damien who was having a severe seizure.

"Are you sure that is a sign of waking up?" Song Lei asked with a deep frown on his face. "Don't we have to help him or something?"

"Not really. Even though I haven't seen it for myself, I've heard that this has happened before," Xu Chang explained. Shortly after, just like she said, Damien suddenly stopped and opened his eyes. He was gasping for air as he jumped out of the bed.

"The darkness will consume us!" Damien shouted between his breaths.

"What...?"