Kieran entered his room, tossing his bag onto the floor and loosening his tie before turning on a nearby lamp, collapsing onto the bed, exhausted. The sun had left the sky, the once orange hues that came with it replaced by a deep, starry blue night.
Kieran laid up, slipping his shoes off, beginning to undress, changing into his sleepwear. As he finished, a sudden faint scratching noise came from the door. It creaked open, and a tiny black nose peeked through the crack.
Kieran chuckled, tossing his clothes into the bin as he walked over, opening the door fully, revealing a small, fluffy Pomeranian, staring up at him.
"Hey, Midnight…" he smiled.
The dog walked into the room, it's tiny claws clicking softly against the wooden tiles, making it's way to the bed, jumping up and curling into a ball, laying down.
Kieran laid next to him, gently stroking his soft black fur as he stared up at the ceiling, finally allowing himself to relax.
Today was weird... he thought to himself, reaching over to turn off the lamp. The room was swallowed by darkness as he closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep.
"Kieran…" a voice called out.
…
"…Kieran?" the voice repeated.
"The hell do you want, Reis?" Kieran mumbled groggily, lingering between sleep and wake.
But no reply came—only the soft, distant ringing of a bell. Midnight's ears perked up, and he began to bark.
"Ugh— what's wrong, Midnight?" Kieran asked, mildly irritated as he sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
He reached out, running a hand through Midnight's fur—when a sudden glow pouring through the window caught his attention.
"What is that...?" Kieran murmured, curiosity overtaking. He reached for the lamp, turning it back on and stepped out of bed, walking towards the window. Midnight's barking faded into soft whimpers as the lamp light flickered uneasily.
Kieran opened the window and looked up. His breath caught in his throat.
Across the sky stretched strange, glowing ripples of unnatural yellow light, swirling unnaturally like waves on a golden sea.
"Woah…" he whispered, eyes wide in disbelief. He reached for his phone, aiming to capture the surreal sight—but then, the bell rang again. It's chime this time clearer than before.
Kieran continued to stare at the sky, the lights flickering more aggressively as he started to lose himself in a trance. Midnight's whimpers pursued as he leapt from off of the bed, hiding under it.
His pupils then glowed, changing from black to a golden yellow, reflecting the skies that looked back down at him. He winced, stumbling back as a sharp pain shot through his head, followed by the cold sensation of blood coming out of his nose, dripping onto the floor.
"...A-ah." He mutters, opening the door, walking out into the hallway.
"Wah--- come on! What kind of shit was that?!" Reis shouts from downstairs, clearly invested into whatever game he was playing.
Kieran hurried down the hallway and into the bathroom. He bent down in front of the sink, belching as he opened his mouth like he was about to throw up.
But nothing came out.
Breathing heavily, he looked up—and froze.
His reflection stared back, his once dark brown hair now a stark industrial white, and his eyes glowed a piercing gold.
"AGH—!" he yelped, stumbling backward, the commotion catching Reis's attention.
"Yo, Kieran! The fuck are you doing up there!?" Reis shouted.
Kieran gasped for air, panting as he covered his mouth.
"What the fuck is happening?!" Kieran asked as his vision blurred, he slowly crept back towards the mirror, attempting to inspect himself, but as he did, he noticed a faint crack on the mirror, covering his face.
Kieran tilted his head slightly, but the crack followed him, staying on that same spot on his face, no matter how much he moved.
He slowly leaned into the mirror, turning the faucet on before he tried scrubbing the side of his face where the crack was, he then reached out to where the crack was on the mirror, his fingers nearly touching the cold glass.
When suddenly--reflection moved, no, it lunged out at him, its hand trying to reach right for him. Fingers scraping against the surface of the mirror as it fought against the freeing of itself from its cage. "--Shit!" Kieran shouted as he staggered backwards.
Before he could process what was happening, the tiled floor beneath him cracked, and split open as another version of himself rose from the ground. its body made of solid concrete, with glowing yellow eyes that locked onto Kieran.
Kieran could barely react as the stone version raised an enormous axe that took up majority of the space in the bathroom. The golem swung the axe down with immense force. Kieran threw himself to the side, the axe missing him by an inch, cleaving into the bathtub behind him with a loud crash.
From the wrecked bathtub another version of himself pulled back the shower curtains, yawning as if he had just woken up from a nap.
"Oh wow, this is really big bathroom, are we in a mansion?" He asked, stepping out of the tub, glancing over at the mirror Keiran, who pulled itself out into the real world.
"Uh--hey, careful, its wet." The apparition called out, still watching the mirror version as it tried to hop off the counter. It ended slipping on a small puddle that had formed on the floor, smashing its head against the sink before collapsing into a heap of shattered glass.
"Well, that's embarrassing." The variant said, turning his attention to the concrete golem, who was still pursuing the original Kieran.
It swung its axe, and at the last possible second near the toilet, Kieran dove under it as it struck the toilets tank, causing water to spray up from out of the bowl, materializing into another copy, shimmering, transparent, living water.
The water Kieran crashed into the golem, splashing both Kieran and the stone copy. The golems surface cracked and eroded as water coursed through it. Causing its yellow eyes to fade out as it crumbled into dust, its massive axe falling to the floor with a heavy thud, before dissolving as well.
Kieran gasped for air, his eyes darting around the room that now did not look anything like the bathroom of his home. The room was larger, resembling a public restroom, with stalls and cracked walls that leaked with overgrown vines, the atmosphere thick and humid, with a hint of decay.
Before he could gain his bearings, a low growling sound came from near a urinal that had a large tree growing from out of it, with rich vegetation surrounding the yellow eyes that pierced through the darkness.
Another version of then Kieran sprang out from the shadows, this one feral with wild hair and glowing eyes. It let out a loud roar that sounded like that of an animal as it pounced onto Kieran.
It raised its claws to strike him, before being suddenly punched away into rubble by the bathtub apparition from before, shaking his head as if being inconvenienced.
"Well, this isn't good," he muttered, looking down at Kieran, who was on the floor, trembling.
The room began to shift again, the walls contorting. The apparition groaned, throwing up his hands. "You've got to be kidding me! Dude, can you cut that shit out?!" he shouted at Kieran, annoyed.
"W-what's happening?!" Kieran shouted back.
The room turned into a battlefield, littered with ruins and covered in desolation. Standing atop a destroyed house amidst the scenery was another version of Kieran, this one drenched in blood and holding a glowing red sword. He looked at the with mild curiosity, tilting his head.
The tired apparition squinted at him. "Are you a good one or...?" he asked, giving a thumbs-up gesture. The blood soaked version nodded silently in response.
"Phew, that's good." The apparition said, turning to Kieran, then crouching down to his level. "Look, Kieran---er-- me? you need to calm the hell down. The more stressed you get, the worse this is going to get."
He gestured vaguely to the surrounding chaos. "It's like being on drugs or— oh, wait." He paused, glancing at the bloodied version of himself, who rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, we've never done drugs, have we?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Kieran panicked. "W-who are you? What's happening to me?!"
The apparition sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not good at explaining things but-----as of right now? A war. Countless other versions of you fighting for control over your body." He gave a short, humorless laugh.
"It's hell. But erm—this," He waved around to indicate the battleground around them, "Is the inside of your soul. Welcome to you."