Chapter 7 - 6 : Fragmented Memories
The image reflected a young man of perhaps 15 or 16 years old. His skin, pale as the finest porcelain, and on that immaculate canvas burned two deep red eyes, with a liquid glow reminiscent of rubies soaked in fresh blood.
Her hair, silver and straight, flowed delicately down her shoulders. Her features were too fine: a slightly tapering jaw, thin lips of a faint color, a straight nose that enhanced the impossible balance of her face. There was something disturbingly androgynous about her appearance. An ambiguity that puzzled me.
When I looked at him intently, I was trapped, hypnotized. Like an insect paralyzed before the edge of a blade.
My heart skipped a beat and an icy sensation slid down my spine, nestling between my shoulder blades like claws.
My breathing became heavy, erratic, as if my lungs were burning inside, the air rushing in and out in short, sharp gusts. Drops of cold sweat soaked my forehead and began to descend slowly, drawing tortuous paths down my temples and neck.
I felt an irregular heartbeat in my chest. One that did not belong to me. My heart —my heart?— seemed to writhe, beating with a rhythm I didn’t recognize. As if someone squeezed it from within, yet I could not look away from that silhouette.
«When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.»
That phrase echoed strongly in my head. Invading my mind again and again.
"...The abyss will gaze into you."
The young man reflected seemed to fix his attention on me. It was not just a simple reflection returning my gaze, but something deeper, more visceral. His scarlet pupils seemed to dilate at that instant, and for a few moments I had the impression —just a fleeting impression.
«He was watching me.»
Crack.