The man was lost in the madness of night. A barrage of thoughts were crashing upon the walls of his mind like the attack of a hundred battering rams. He could hear the broken stone of his stricken defenses as they skittered and bounced across the ground.

Tick-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-tick....

The pulverized chunks of rock were peeling away like skin from his fortress. Any moment his blood and soul would spill upon the ground outside the safety of his commanding and safe walls. What should I do? He thought, as he placed his hand upon the cold inner stones. They were still strong, but would they last?

boomm!! booOM!! boOOOOOM!! More thoughts came, each one more powerful than the last. Tick-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-tick.... The cracked stone debris ricocheted off the ground outside. The walls grew thinner with each bludgeoning from the invisible enemy. Who was outside? The man searched all of the variables for an answer, but none came. Whatever was beyond the wall, had not given an identity.

"WHO ARE YOU?!?!?" The man's voice seemed to tear like the sail of an old ship, trapped in a gale. Veins of anguish bulged from his temples and neck, as he clenched his fists at his sides. His head was raised, and his face was crimson, matching the bloodied, red vessels of his maddened eyes. His desperate howl seemed to reach no one. The enemy outside continued, without response.

booOM! boOOOOM!! booOOOOOMMM!!! Tick-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-tick....

"WHO ARE YOU!?!?!?"

The man screamed, louder through the torn sails of his voice. Why would they not answer? Why did they draw nigh? He began to beat his clenched fists against the inside of the cold stone wall. How long would the walls hold. "Come on!! Don't FAIL ME!!!" He pleaded, pathetically with the lifeless barrier. His anger was slowly churning the milk of his anger, to a thick and frothy bucket of dread. His stomach turned as he fell to his knees, panting. His skin was slick with a dirty sweat as it glisten beneath the resonant moon.

He felt smothered, and his courage was yielding to a more perilous and vulnerable emotion; FEAR. If they would just give him an answer, some form of reply, then he would not be so, afraid. Not knowing was a dark abyss, and he felt as though this enemy could take his very soul. It was silent for a moment, and he froze, listening for the response. Had they heard him? Would they answer???

booOM! boOOOOM!! booOOOOOMMM!!! Tick-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-tick....

The sound of the unknown pierced his heart like a hot dagger. He felt the fear, like the searing pain of a bolt of lighting as his heart slammed against the inside of his rib-cage. A large crack, that had been forming in the wall before him, grew much larger. Jagged shillings of stone fell from it like pieces from a jigsaw puzzle, as he clawed at the failing wall out of spite. He ripped his nails from his hands and blood began to drip down to his wrists as his raised hands appeared to clutch something, non-existence above him. He was gasping for air, and tears ran down from his wide and terrified eyes.

WHO AARREEE YOOOUUU!!?!??

He pleaded with the unknown entity with increasing desperation, as the rocks and pieces of the wall rained down upon his face. He sputtered and spit out chunks, his chest convulsing with terror. What was this hell?

booOM! boOOOOM!! booOOOOOMMM!!! Tick-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-tick....

More cracks in the wall. It was failing...

WHOO ARREEE YOOOOUU!?!?!????

booOOM!! boOOOOMM!!! BOOOOOMMM!!!!!!!

...Tick-tick-tick-a-tick-a-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-a-tick...

WHOOOOOOO.......?!!???!??....

What now? ....Silence... The man was in silence... There was not a sound, or was there?? The faint sound, some sort of tapping?? There was no more darkness. Light hit his frontal cortex and seared new images into his thoughts.... ...or were they ....new??

This place, looked familiar to him. He was no longer upon his knees, behind the wall of his fortress. The man was now in a small room and he was not alone. There was another man, sitting before him. He was surrounded by a perfectly rectangular wooden trim. It was fitted onto the portal from which he was looking directly back, into his eyes.

So, familiar... The man thought, as he peered uneasily through the glass at the other man. Their eyes were locked.

Who, are you? He whispered, to the man within the glass.

The faint sound was still tapping, quietly from the object that sat before him.

Tick-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-a-tick-tick-tick....

It was the sound of the other man's fingers, as they slapped upon the keys of his laptop...

-Original story by Jonathan Caleb Williams @badseedalchemist

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