Chapter 18. Banquet
I let my consciousness drift as the warm stream of water cascaded down my body. The steam blurred the edges of the bathroom, turning everything into a hazy blur, as if the world itself had softened around me.
Slowly, unknowingly, I began to fall asleep. My mind wandered into the realm of thoughts, slipping deeper into the void.
At first, there was serenity. A calming nothingness surrounded me, vast and infinite. There were no sounds, no sights—only a profound stillness that blanketed everything in peace.
It felt like I belonged there, nestled within the quiet folds of nonexistence. A part of me yearned to stay in that eternal calm.
But then it came.
A tremendous burst—an eruption of presence. 'Something' forced its way into my sanctuary of peace, like a violent flame tearing through the fabric of silence. It brought with it creation, sound, light, motion. Everything that I had learned to loathe in that perfect, peaceful void.
Hatred filled me. Raw, unfiltered, and overpowering. A primal urge to destroy surged within me—to annihilate that 'something' and reclaim my stillness.
Without warning, my fist lashed out in a fury of instinct.
BAM!
My knuckles slammed against the bathroom wall with a deafening crack. The marble surface fractured violently, a deep spiderweb of cracks spreading out from the point of impact. Blood trickled from my fist, hot and bright crimson, staining the pristine tiles.
It snapped me out of my trance.