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When he woke up he could only see harsh yellow light.
His chest rose and fell constantly without a second of respite, but the light refused to go away and it seemed to blind him even when he had his eyes closed. Trying to force himself to stand — or even just sit — was a struggle as it felt as if all of his bones were made of concrete and there was a giant beast sitting on his chest.
All of a sudden the room he was in started to feel as if it was shifting and tilting and he fell down and shamed against a wall that he didn’t know was there. Coughing up a spatter of blood on the floor- ground- whatever the deep red contrasted against the bright yellow harshly.
A horrible guttural, deeply unhuman laugh cried out at him from every corner of his senses, worming its way into his mind and through his body. Each new crescendo of the laugh sent spasms of pain that coursed throughout his nerves.
He felt as if he was on fire and freezing all at once, merging together and fighting to come out on top. All he felt was pain, and he desperately wished for the sweet release of unconsciousness, but it refused to come to him.
He knew that it would never leave him, and he became resigned to his fate as the thunderous laughs deafened his thoughts.
H̸̜̋ẽ̴̮l̵̗͒l̸̯̖͐͘o̴̘̪͒͘ ̷̰͉̐͊t̸̡̻̃h̷̢̒͝ë̸̺̠r̶̻͘ë̴̬́ ̸̰̊̈́ḱ̷̯̫i̴͔͚̽̃ẗ̶͙̺́͐t̴̗̿͠e̸̼͖͗n̷͔̿
The abrupt voice rocketed through his mind and for just a moment all of the pain disappeared. But when the voice returned, so did the horrible aches. He felt blood rising in his throat, threatening to choke him.
Maybe if he choked to death it would stop hurting.
i̴̜̍t̸̲̠̒̋ ̶̙̩̋w̵̢̯̃ȍ̴̭͍n̸͓̐̓t̴̻͋ ̷̢̝͛͗s̶̱͝t̷̨͔͐ǫ̷̮̔p̸͙̬̐̆ ̷̡́
̶͉̽̆n̶͇͇̆̚ő̵̲ẗ̷͖̮́̒ ̶͔̃͗u̷̹̳͛n̷̡̅t̷̼͙̒ḯ̵̗͛ḻ̶̞̎͗ ̸̭̯̌y̶̗̭͂̄o̸̱̍̎u̶͇̠͋ ̴̢͓̾ĝ̵̨̩̈́ị̸̋͠v̶̽͜ẹ̴͊ ̵̫̈́ì̶̬͉̍t̸̤͍́ ̶̖̄b̷̬̬a̶͔̾̽c̸̩͖̋̂k̷̔͜
“Give what back?” He called out through a momentary gap in the spasms, blood trickling down his chin and soaking into his shirt. Some part of him deep down knew what it wanted.
m̸͙̈́̈́ȳ̸̢ ̵̜̔̎b̸̩̋ǒ̷͖̘x̸͕̞ ̵̺̄͂k̷̗̝̈̿i̴̥̓̍t̵̼͌t̵̬̫̐ë̷̗̘́̃n̶̡̈́̂ͅ ̴̪͛
̵̖͗̕t̶̘̭̾͘h̶͓̘͑̈́e̵̺̘̋ ̷̣̑̐͜o̷̱̅̑n̶͓͎͆ę̶͕̆ ̷̖͍̐ẗ̴̰̋h̵̰͔͑̑ą̶̠͛̕t̸͔̤̿ ̵̧͙͂y̷̰͛̽ö̷̬́͘u̶̲̗̎̈́ ̸̠͆͒s̶̮̘̓t̷̖̟̾͊o̶̙͘l̷͍̍ḙ̸̹̂ ̸̯̕f̷̭̄̐r̷̙̣̉̃o̶̫̭͋m̷͈̣͑͐ ̵͇́͌m̸̟͑̿e̵͚͘
The box? The box. The box!
He remembered what it was talking about, that black and gold patterned box. The one he had swiped from the stall at the festival.
“It was an accident!” He tried to defend himself, but it was no use.
He knew that he had tossed that horrible box into the river and watched it float away. Away from him forever. Away from this thing forever.
And that thing in the room with him was angry .