Clyde struggled to open his heavy eyes. His eyelids seemed to be stuck with glue it took extra effort to open them.
He didn't know if this was because his body was still weak, or indeed because there was glue holding his eyelids together.
Whichever it was, it didn't matter now. Clyde was finally able to open his eyes and let light into them.
The first thing he saw was a white ceiling with several neon lights. Nuances like this usually exist in a hospital or treatment room.
Seeing that, Clyde was sure that he was being treated by somebody. The last time he remembered was when several people came and helped him before Rodney killed him.
He didn't remember much because he already lost consciousness at that time.
Maybe they are the ones currently taking care of him, somehow. Clyde couldn't be one hundred percent sure and he was just thinking random things.
He groaned, and tried to sit up but there were straps that prevented him from moving. Clyde frowned looking at all the straps.
In total, there are about eight straps that tie his chest, stomach, and legs. Not only that, as if the straps weren't strong enough, his wrists and ankles were also fitted with metal shackles.
However, there's something a little different about the metal shackle. There is a blue glow that keeps beating in a regular rhythm. It was as if the shackle was something alive.
Clyde dropped his head again. He felt he didn't have much energy to do anything with this much of a noose preventing him from moving.
Clyde didn't feel any pain in his chest or any other part of his body. All the wounds seemed to have disappeared.
But he couldn't get too excited just yet because maybe it was just the effect of the medicine or whatever was preventing him from feeling anything.
Clyde could only stay there for a few minutes, he didn't know how much time had passed. But thirty minutes had already passed so his time for waiting was over. However, he didn't know about that.
The door to the room was opened from the outside and a man entered. The man was wearing glasses and looked like someone who had just entered his teens. Not much different from Clyde.
He still didn't seem to notice that Clyde had woken up. So the bespectacled man just hummed as he walked to the corner of the room and took a blue orb from inside a metal box.
It was only when he walked towards Clyde that he realized that Clyde had opened his eyes. The bespectacled man let out a surprised gasp and almost dropped the orb he was holding.
But fortunately, he was still able to grab the orb in time before it fell.
"Y-You're awake," the man said.
"Who are you?" Clyde immediately replied to his words with a sharp question.
"Uhh...my name is James."
"Where am I?"
"You're in the Resistance's infirmary now."
Hearing the answer from the man named James, Clyde immediately frowned, surprised.
"Ah, you must be confused by now. I'll get Mr. Hyde."
James then ran out of the room at a run. While Clyde was still frowning because he was confused by everything that was happening.
'Resistance group? What is that? What are they resist against?'
Not long after, the door was opened again. James came with a big tall man with long hair. There was a bit of white on the man's temples, giving the impression that he might be at a much more mature age.
"Hi," said the man as he walked closer.
As he got closer Clyde could see the color of his eyes which were dim red like rubies in the dark.
Those eyes gave Clyde a familiar look. He stared at the man with scrutinizing eyes without trying to be subtle.
"I don't know if you remember me or not. But I saved you and your friends," said the man. "My name is Samuel. Samuel Hyde."
Finally, Clyde came to a realization. He remembered that the man was the one wearing that dark purple cloak.
Upon realizing that he was at the place of the person who saved him from his death, Clyde was able to put his head back in peace.
Even though he couldn't believe it, at least Clyde knew that the man had a purpose to save him. Therefore, he wouldn't hurt him for a while.
Samuel Hyde sat on the chair that was next to Clyde's bed. "How is your feeling?"
"I'm like a madman being held in an asylum," answered Clyde. He was sure that Samuel Hyde knew what he meant.
"Ah, well," said Samuel. "We had to tie you up. It was a precaution."
"What precautions?" Clyde asked with a confused look on his face.
"So that when you become a monster, you are not free and make a mess."
"Monster?!" Clyde looked in disbelief.
"Yeah," Samuel nodded briefly. "Here, if you die, you will turn into a terrible monster called Phantram."
Clyde paused to think about it.
'So I did almost die.'
If it wasn't for something texting him saying it had brought him to life, Clyde was sure he was dead by now. And became that monster named Phantram.
"But luckily, you're alive. And you seem fine." Samuel looked at Clyde from head to toe. "Are you still in pain?"
Clyde tried to concentrate to make sure of the condition of his body. He was relieved when he didn't feel any pain. Even his chest that he remembered had a hole in it seemed fine.
"No," Clyde replied.
Samuel turned to James who had been standing stiffly in silence. Then nodded his head at Clyde as a gesture.
James who knew what to do nodded. He walked over to the other side of the bed where Clyde was lying.
"I'll check on you," James said. Then took a small book from his coat pocket.
James held the book in one hand. While his other hand stretched out towards Clyde.
After a while, a thin white light appeared on James' palm. The sheet of the book he was holding also flipped by itself.
James withdrew his outstretched hand and read the pages of the book with a wrinkled forehead full of concentration. Occasionally he raises his dropping glasses while continuing to read.
"Hmm." James nodded as if approving. "He's in good condition, sir. I don't know how that's possible but his wounds are much better. Not completely healed though."
"A wound like that becomes better in a month? That is impressive," said Samuel.
Upon hearing what he said, Clyde glanced at him in shock and confusion.
"A month?!" Clyde said in disbelief.
"Yes. You've been asleep for a month."
Clyde almost screamed and said that it was impossible. However, when he recalled everything that had happened - fighting the Outer God to the point of killing it - and how he almost died from a stab to the chest that had most likely damaged his heart, a month's recovery time sounded reasonable.
Clyde calmed himself with a deep breath. Then ask a question. "What is this place?"
He wanted to hear more than something called a 'Resistance' group thing. And this man called Samuel Hyde seemed to be someone in a position of importance here, judging by how James hurriedly addressed him.
Samuel stood. "Since you don't look like you're going to die, at least soon, I'll be taking these straps off."
He then proceeded to release the straps on Clyde's body one by one. After everything was done, he and James helped Clyde into the wheelchair.
However, they did not remove the shackles on his legs and arms. Samuel hooked the shackle on the wheelchair.
"This is for security. I hope you're not offended," said Samuel. He didn't say that by security he meant security for this place, not Clyde's.
While Samuel pushed him out of the room, Clyde remained silent. He wasn't going to waste his time asking where the man was taking him. Because eventually, he will get there.
James disappeared behind the door when Samuel permitted him that it would be okay if he left them.
Not long after, they exited through a metal double door. Clyde frowned when he saw the sight of a dark sky filled with stars that seemed so close.
Then Clyde looked around him and found that he was now in the middle of town. The building behind him was a building with five floors.
The buildings in this city look as if they were taken from different times, then put together randomly to fill empty areas.
Clyde saw a building made of stone, a small medieval castle, a modern apartment building, a house from the 1800s, then a white and clean building that seemed to come out of a utopian film.
The sight made Clyde dizzy. He felt that he was in the middle of a dream he had when he had a fever.
"This is what this place is like. You must be confused by the whole thing, right?" said Samuel. "Don't worry. Your confusion is just begin."
~~~
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶