My horse is surprisingly a good swimmer. We're on an island because of this little good boy! And we didn't even get injured at all. Looking at the perfect blue sky fills me with happiness, although I know that nobody else except me can see this amazing color.
This is a pretty small island with a few coconut trees and two people in the back who look friendly enough, maybe. There are only those two and some other people on other islands but I saw somebody just disappear so I don't know how to feel about how this place works. Maybe they're just entities disguised as humans.
I get off my horse and slowly walk to them. I need to make this quick because my legs might give out again. Observing from far away, they are both grown men with tattoos on their arms, and they are very fit. Maybe they're from prison because they have an orange jumpsuit on their waist.
They turn around faster than I expect and immediately move their arms to do something. I react faster, pulling out my pocket revolver (I have guns everywhere) and shooting one of their arms off and a jaw. They get on a saw while the guy with the now-gone arm screams in pain.
"AHHHH GOD IT HURTS!" He screams I slowly walk to them, spinning my gun, even doing a gun trick, which landed… on his leg, paralyzing him. The man screaming is a Mexican, maybe with bald hair and tattoos everywhere. I crouch down to his level.
"Well, whatever you were doing, you shouldn't have." I say, observing him. I turn my head to see his partner, a white man who has hair and has his orange jumpsuit on instead of around his waist.
"Who are you guys?" I say, walking to the guy with his jaw hanging by a thread, bleeding out. He is just screaming and not answering so I pick him up and march to the edge where his buddy is at and drop him there. "Look, you'll answer my question or your buddy will perish in the waters. You're obviously from some sort of prison so I don't feel any guilt at all." I say demanding.
"WE'RE JUST WANDERERS! WE GOT TO THE BACKROOMS NOCLIPPING RANDOMLY IN PRISON. I'M SORRY!" He says, tears forming in his eyes, and drops his head down to the ground, getting in a fetal position.
"You were going to point something at me. What was it?" I say. I place my foot on the jawless guy and roll him around. He isn't looking yet but I'm sure he will soon.
"It was watches. With watches you can strap on in this hellhole, you can send people to their last day alive!" he says muffled. I see in the water a stopwatch that looks like you can wear it. I jump in the water and see a bunch of other clocks floating under and I swim back up to retrieve the watch.
I strap it on and point it at the armless man. Nothing. "Huh, that's odd." I say. "You lied to me…" I say darkly. I'm really going to make him pay. "YOU FORWARD THE DIAL! YOU FORWARD THE DIAL!" He says he is not moving but he is crying a lot. It's obvious from the cracks in his voice.
"What if I rewind?"
"I DON'T KNOW."
Useless.
I point it at him and forward the dial as instructed—gone. I look around and see his corpse floating in the water and there's a bullet in my head. "Ah so I killed him." I say out loud for the jawless man to hear. He'd be lonely so it'd be better for me to give him the same treatment.
I point the watch and push the dial forward and gone. I look around and see him floating next to the other guy, dead. "I killed them both?" I say to myself quietly. What a shocker—I didn't know I had that much malice in me. "Tyler! I finally found you." I froze. It's Kai.
"Oh hey, Kai. And quick question: do you know about this level?" I ask. The corpse either need to float away or I block Kai's way because his trust for me will die and he's a useful tool even if he's an asshole. This is level 3. Three bunches of clocks that do different things inhabit this level. Let me break it down:
Analog clocks lead to either level 2 or level 4, and right now the only way to get to level 4.
Digital clocks send you to a void.
Watches—when the dial is put forward at somebody, it sends them to their last day alive. Nobody knows what happens if you reverse the wheel, though.
Grandfather clocks either turn you into an old man or a young baby so don't touch them." Kai said, smiling. He sure loves giving out info.
I look around and see an analog clock in front of me. No, this can't be it; it must be like when an author is too tired to actually write his story and decides to make it easy. Wait, yes, that must be it!
But nonetheless I jump on it and I land on concrete and eat shit. I was able to see color until now; everything has been dimmed and I feel stuff dripping off my eyes and it vanishes. I decide to do a quick prayer to thank God. Maybe it's because I think the angel gave me the ability to see color. Even for that short time, I want to be thankful. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't; I don't know. All I want is to be the person I once was.
Looking around, there is a river in the middle and a bridge connects 2 roads. There are buildings on my side and the other side that look advanced. I feel like I'm going to cry. The helplessness I feel is immense; I don't know what to feel now. Seeing this, the silence makes noise.
I feel nothing is good for me now; all hope has faded into a shady grey, and I just didn't realize that until now. I slowly walk around feeling like I'm about to fall. I hear a voice yell out to me. It's Kai on the other side. He waves and runs over to the bridge and to me. I just look at him with empty eyes and he notices.
"Tyler, are you okay?" He asks concerned.
"I'm fine." I say sighing and walking along.
"You know I'm being serious about this, that we'll die. This is the last stable level; the rest of the levels are just hell, where our soul will be obliterated. This hasn't been recorded because once you realize it, it's too late. You have no hope in the shady gray. It just doesn't exist. It is nothing; it is nothing; it is nothing but your imagination. And you're bound to die; you will die in this place. This place is our grave; we will be destroyed, we will be erased and nobody will remember us." He breaks down crying on the ground but I just look at him with teary eyes and walk away because he's right.
I don't even have my horse. I left him accidentally. No, he followed my scent; he's here now trying to cheer me on. But I don't feel it. I just keep walking. My backpack gets mogged by some facelings but I don't care.
I'll never know who I once was.
I won't know the truth.
I'll die.
I'll die.
I'll die.
I'll die.
I'll die and nobody will care for me; nobody will notice, and bettors will just be disappointed. This shady gray was hell. It was mental hell, where you think you have hope but it's taken.
Fall into the shady gray, fall into the shady gray.
I fall. It's like level 2, but it's just my body being destroyed but it's not. It's my hope. I just walk and keep walking. I see pitch blackness and nothing. I keep walking and see a fire burning. I stand still. I look down feeling numbness and my soul drifting away more and more. How is this being recorded? Does the world watch this, hearing my screams?
There is nothing left for me. Nothing. But I still walk. I keep walking even though there's nothing left. I walk out of the fire and see Dove. Dove is there arm missing and there is my horse and Kai. I pick Kai up and notice a monster trying to eat Dove.
I pull out my gun and shoot his arm off and grab him. I have lost all hope but I can't stop. I keep moving forward and going beyond. I will make it. I will make it…