What I saw beyond the door wasn't what I was expecting, nothing could prepare me for the sight that unraveled in front my very own eyes.
Often times, results betray expectations.
A blank white space, stretching endlessly into the distance.
Although I'm not sure if it is infinite or if it's just an optical illusion due to the pure white colour.
And inside this blank white area, as far as I can see wasn't empty. It was filled with people, conversing with each other.
They're…normal?
These people or entities weren't the usual wriggling snakes I have seen up until now, they looked human.
But I'm not sure if they really are human.
I was not prepared and yet I entered without hesitation.
With a heavy step I entered through the door into the vast blankness of white.
The ''humans' were also vast but they weren't enough to crowd the white space, they were like dots on a white sheet of paper.
Each dot conversed with another, each one had a pair and sometimes a third wheeler and other times four and more.
They spoke to one another as humans would, their expressions, their gestures, body language and all seemed normal.
Curiosity piqued in my heart, after all
this was my second encounter with things that seemed human.
The first one was that priest, he was unnecessarily mysterious but thankfully kind and harmless.
He was harmless but I'm not so sure about those.
And as for these 'things', I'm not pretty sure how they would react to me.
Are they harmless?
The importance of my safety weighed more than my curiosity.
They're only harmful if they can manage to hurt me…
But I'm pretty sure every entity with malicious intent would be able to hurt me.
I don't know why I'm sure but I just am.
If they attacked me, it meant they had the confidence to harm me.
Otherwise they would just be plain stupid for trying to harm me but who am I to judge?
I slowly made my way towards a group of two while sneaking a glance behind my back where the door previously stood.
As usual…
It wasn't there anymore.
I brought my focus back to the group of two, my ears perked up at their conversation with extreme focus.
As I got closer and closer I gradually started to pick up their conversation and let's just say…it was confusing.
I got closer to them until I was just a few steps away.
The two didn't notice me, they just ignored me while continuing on with their conversation.
What are they even saying?
A reasonable doubt popped up in my head as I listened into the silence spoken by two.
Their tongues moved, their mouths opened and they spoke but no words came out.
Of course, something had to be weird.
The silent conversation stretched on, the two humans, one male and the other female didn't even glance at me while they continued on with their business.
I just stood there, spacing out for no particular reason as I listened into the silence.
Well, this is interesting I suppose…
It is interesting because a certain detail caught my eyes, a certain nasty detail.
Something that was enough to make a man with ophidiophobia commit suicide.
Don't they care about dental hygiene at all?
I stepped closer towards the blurry faced man in a business suit, my eyes focused on his conversing mouth.
I can't lie but that's disgusting.
I just stared at them, lost in thought as a sudden thought emerged.
My left arm shot out towards his throat, gripping it tightly as I pinned him on to the ground with one knee on his guts.
The blurry faced woman in purple didn't react, she just continued on speaking with the air.
And so did the man, his mouth still kept on speaking in silence despite my knee on his guts.
I brought my right arm towards his cheeks and gripped it tightly to force it to open.
Now be a good boy and open wide.
And just like any other good little boy he did and when he did so I mentally gagged.
Pitch black.
Everything, pitch black. His tongue, his teeth, the inside of his mouth, everything.
"Stick out your tongue, say 'aah'."
I commanded the man under my weight.
He didn't do it…he didn't listen.
Guess I have no choice then…
Time to take matters into my own hands, so, I abandoned his throat and reached for his tongue.
The tongue is the main focus.
You think I would do all this just cuz he had bad dental care? As if.
I took hold of his tip and tugged it out, it was surprisingly dry and the texture was pretty rough.
His tongue was pulled out and the little guy was revealed to my eyes.
Of course, it was a damned snake.
The forked tongue of lies.
I understand it now.
The ''lies', I understand what the lies are now.
The forked tongue wrapped around the human tongue, tightly constricted it like a python would do to its prey.
I let go and slowly stood up, towering over the man lying on the floor who was oblivious to the fact that I was standing over him.
The snakes are the lies.
Of course they are.
I turned towards the others, the other dots in vast blank whiteness, all far away and some close by.
I already had an assumption but this made 70% sure.
The other 30% was just paranoia at play, what if I was wrong? What if it was just a lie? What if I was just jumping to conclusions?
So what? It's not like I'm gonna die over a single failure.
Although I would be quite bitter about it and maybe a tad bit embarrassed.
Nothing else.
Anyways, back to what I was talking about.
Snakes, sometimes thought of as divine and sometimes the damned.
The serpent that doomed humanity was known as the deceiver after all.
And snakes seem to have an important role in this stage.
I slowly started to move, there wasn't any particular target for me right now, not anymore due to this discovery.
If my assumption is correct then that means, this space takes references from mythos and folklore too.
It's not just memories.
And…if the snakes are truly the lies then half of the goal has been achieved.
Five instructions and three explanations.
Let me do a rundown real quick.
Instruction number 1- Don't, don't touch any snakes.
Instruction number 2- Don't try to reason with logic, at least not with human logic.
Instruction number 3- Do what you're supposed to do, don't go looking for unnecessary trouble.
Instruction number 4- Don't indulge in it too much, everything is just an illusion, they're all just a lie.
Instruction number 5- Don't let the lies cloud the truths.
I know these are info dumps but just bear with me for a second.
Anyways, onto the explanations.
Explanation number 1- You don't need food, water or any other human needs, you can't get hurt except for some special circumstances, but you WON'T die.
Explanation number 2- This is real, this is your reality.
Explanation number 3- The truth shall be revealed soon.
…
Well, that was a bit too long.
I lowered my ink stained hands and slumped down my shoulders as I took slow and steady steps.
Anyways, the main focus is instruction number the fifth.
The lies, yes the damned lies, I know what they're now.
Or at least I think I do.
Now only the truth remains to be discovered.
And it seems like I need to protect the truths from the lies.
These people speak in silence, I assume the forked tongue wrapped around their tongues is the reason for it.
The lies silences the truth.
…
Anyways.
Let's just keep on walking.