I am... your guide!

The same day... minutes after eight.

A mansion located in a different part of the city...

In a wide room inside the mansion which has a first-class luxurious and sparkling interior feature, a king-sized bed with a silver sheet and pillow casings was placed beside a row of a cabinets and a far end closet. A modern chandelier could be seen dangling over the bed with a plush silver grey carpet laid on the floor. A lengthy mirror was mounted on the wall near the closet and glittering silver colors was distributed all over the room.

On the king-sized bed, a couple could be seen sleeping peacefully with intertwined bodies underneath the sheet. Signs of an intense activity from the night before was made obvious as naked parts from the chest region to the facial parts of the couple were revealed from the sheet, with two robes being displayed on the carpet.

Suddenly, the man, who had his arms wrapped around the woman's body, opened his eyes. On a closer look, something was noticed. His eyeballs revealed something incredulous, really impossible if unseen... the layers had turned black. Plain black, without leaving a trace of white at all.

His lips curved, opening up a bit, like he was gasping for air... not different from a possessed expression. Instantly, his body began shaking vigorously, attracting the sleeping woman in his arms as she immediately woke up.

The woman blinked her drowsy eyes, becoming totally conscious. The man's vibrating body made her shift her gaze up to his face. Terror instantly flashed in her eyes as she noticed the darkened eyeballs of the man. She shrieked in fright, forcing her body out of the man's arms as she collapsed to the floor; the back of her head having an impact with a loud thud. Luckily, she avoided hitting her head too hard as the soft carpet consumed most of the hit.

She was in total disbelief. Was she hallucinating? Plain black eyeballs? Fear began mounting up in her system, her mind in disarray as she thought of it. She looked at his body which was shaking vigorously a moment ago on the bed and felt messed up... This was her fiancé, right?

Using part of the bed sheet which had dropped on the floor when she fell off the bed, she covered the front part of her body, leaving the back bare, as she stood up in fear. Quickly, she casted her gaze on the man's eyes, maybe her eyes hadn't seen well at first...

Watching such unbelievable scenario happening under her eyes, her mind went blank as seconds ticked by. If she thought she was hallucinating a while ago, now she wasn't. This should be called unreal— No, unimaginable. The man's eyes were wide open, revealing plain black eyeballs!

A mind suppressing aura immediately filled up the room, leaving a deadly cold atmosphere. The man suddenly started shaking again, and his mouth opened wide as he began gasping for air before his whole body went numb, leaving him lifeless. Without wasting any more time in the room, the woman grabbed her robe on the floor to cover her naked body before dashing out the room to alert the others.

.....

Two hours later;

The woman could be seen sitting restlessly in front of a private ward inside the hospital, hours after rushing the man here with the aid of the housekeepers. The hospital staffs passed by each time in quick steps as they made their rounds in the other wards.

Dressed in a black T-shirt and jean pants, she looked a bit odd with her appearance looking slightly unkempt due to the abrupt rush she had to go through earlier. Agitatedly, she bit on her right thumb as she thought about what had happened this morning to the man inside the ward. Her mind was so troubled that even the strong smell of antiseptic couldn't be discerned. She looked like she was waiting for something... or maybe someone.

"Trisha!"

She looked up just as she heard a call from someone. A not-too-young tall man, dressed in a navy blue patterned jacket over a dark grey collared shirt and a light grey pants, walked over to her with the taps of his pair of leather loafers resounding on the hard floor. His coffee brown hair was curled up on his chiseled smooth-shaven face, which harbored a set of deep brown eyes. The man had almost the same appearance as her fiancé — apparently he was her fiancé's elder brother.

"Jacob!" She immediately stood up and embraced the man, feeling quite relaxed thereafter.

After some seconds, the man pulled her out of the embrace and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I got your call... what's wrong with John?"

"I don't know..." she sniffed, "I just woke up this morning... your brother, he was shaking vigorously— and his eyes..." Her voice began breaking.

"Calm down Trisha," The man consoled her. "Tell me what happened,"

She nodded her head. "His eyes..." she tried remembering, "...they were black. Deep black.... I was scared Jacob,"

The man's eyes narrowed as he shot a look of confusion. "His eyes? Deep black? I don't understand,"

"Jacob... I saw them with my eyes. His eyeballs, both of them, they were both black. Everything was utterly dark in his eyes. There wasn't even a trace of white in them. I was scared to death, thinking he had been possessed or something,"

"What?" the man uttered in disbelief.

Just then, the door to the ward opened with a creaking sound, and out came a male doctor with two nurses behind him. The man and woman quickly turned their attention to the health personnel.

"Dr Martin..." the man called out to the doctor, stretching his hand forth for a handshake.

"President Ruben, good to see you." the doctor accepted the handshake while replying.

"How is my brother doing?" the man immediately questioned after.

"Uhm... we managed to stabilize him, so he's likely to regain consciousness anytime soon. Truthfully, we couldn't pinpoint the exact reason behind his sudden loss of consciousness but I can assure you that he will be fine," the doctor explained.

The man immediately sighed in relief, "Thank you doctor. When can we check on him?"

"Maybe in the next one hour, and that is after we run another test on him. I'll be leaving now," The doctor took a step to leave but was immediately stopped by the woman.

"Wait, doctor. I have a question,"

"Okay?"

"Do you have any idea about darkened eyeballs?" she inquired.

The doctor looked confused. "Darkened eyeballs?" he reiterated the woman's statement. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I understand what you're saying. Can you lay more emphasis on what you mean?"

The lady shook her head immediately. "It's nothing, thank you," she told him.

.....

Opening his eyes, he looked around. His pale body was lying on a hard ground and was covered in a steam of mist which was temporarily blinding his sight from seeing beyond the present.

He had to ask himself something; where was he?

Why was he only in a pair of pants? His shirt, wasn't it supposed to be on him?

He stood up to his feet and raised up his right hand to maybe clear the mist threatening his eyesight. He didn't even have an idea of where he was, but he was calm. Calm enough to not feel scared. But on a quick note, he realized he's supposed to be at his company or something. Instantly, he shouted: "Anybody here?"

As soon as he said that, out of nowhere, a voice came out indefinitely.

"Hello John,"

He felt a chill in his bones as he heard the voice which sounded so domineering. He began to feel a bit scared. The voice he just heard was one that could suppress anyone, if not anything. He pinpointed the voice's location to his front and with a bit of confidence, he let out, "Who are you?"

"I am Rasmus." the voice came out again, this time sounding from different directions. Mysterious!, he thought. But, Rasmus? Who's that?

"Where am I? And what are you? Show yourself!" He quickly let out to satisfy his curiosity.

"Welcome to the pathway dividing the balance of your world. I am... your guide!"

As soon as those words came out, the mist suddenly disappeared, revealing a mysterious being standing in front of him.