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{Inside The Projection} Read new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire
Thud-thud-thud!
Jasmine was utterly confused about what was happening.
“M-M-Malik!”
One moment she was hugged by him right before the cave.
“What is going on?!
The next, she was on his shoulder as he ran with the speed of ten horses.
“What are you doing?!”
“…”
He didn’t answer. His focus on something else entirely.
His legs moved on their own, pounding against the dirt with all their strength.
And though rough, he made sure Jasmine wasn’t about to fall off any time soon.
He had her glued to his right shoulder like she was some kind of priceless relic.
His arms ached, lungs burned like a forge, but he didn’t stop.
“Malik, put me down!”
Not even when she cried for him to do so.
“I w-won’t run away, j-just put me down!”
She began to smack his back with her little fists.
“E-Even if it’s you, I won’t allow you to do anything!”
She wasn’t pulling her punches either—though still, he barely felt anything.
“I w-won’t okay?! I really won’t!”
Her screams were laced with anger and fear.
In another time, another circumstance, hearing that would’ve hurt him deeply, but now?
All he could focus on was that memory from… before.
That black eye.
That CURSED black eye.
Her twisting and writhing body.
The black veins tearing across her skin.
Her voice—raw, pleading—telling him to kill her.
The blade in his hands, and how he hadn’t done it.
Too many goddamn nightmares to count.
They all bled together, and somehow, this…
This mess right here was their ugly grand finale.
Whatever this was.
“Do… do whatever you want with me, then.”
Jasmine’s mutter was sudden, cold, and resigned.
She wasn’t swinging at him anymore.
Instead, her body went limp, dead weight in his arms.
That hit Malik, right in the gut, for a second.
Just a second.
Then he shoved it down.
Buried it.
Kept moving.
No time for her breakdown.
No time for guilt, sympathy, or anything remotely human.
He didn’t even let himself think about it.
Couldn’t afford to.
Depravity didn’t allow it.
Eventually, his legs began to scream, threatening to give out.
But Malik didn’t give a damn.
He kept going.
Even as his knees buckled.
Even as his lungs felt like they were about to burst.
He pushed forward, one dragging step at a time.
Farther than last time.
Way farther.
He didn’t care where he was headed—he just knew he couldn’t stay there.
Couldn’t risk… it happening again.
Sure, the cave was far behind him now, but it still felt too close.
Like if he stopped, it would drag him back.
So he didn’t stop.
Not until his legs finally betrayed him, crumpling under the dying light.
Malik hit the ground hard, collapsing into a small clearing.
Jasmine slipped from his shoulder and landed awkwardly next to him with a soft thud.
“Shit…”
That mutter was all he managed.
No energy left to apologize, to move, or even to glance at her.
He just stayed there.
On his knees.
Hands dug into the dirt.
Mimicking a drowning man clawing for air.
Sweat poured down his face, soaking his clothes.
If it was only that, he would’ve easily managed, having gone through worse.
But his vision wasn’t doing so well too.
It spun like he was stuck on a carousel from Hell for a few hundred years.
‘I’m done.’
The thought was loud in his head, echoing like a bell.
He wanted to collapse fully.
To just let the earth swallow him up.
But there was no rest for men like him.
Just when he began to catch his breath…
‘Please.’
Malik turned to look at Jasmine.
And that was when he saw it.
What he so dreaded.
Her right eye…
It was black.
Not fully, for whatever reason, but it didn’t matter.
A dark stain had started creeping into her iris, like ink spilling in water.
Jasmine’s Fall had begun.
‘…Why?’
His stomach dropped.
Time slowed to a crawl.
No words, no thoughts, just raw panic.
His body, acting on instinct alone, dragged itself toward her.
She was sitting up now, clutching her head like it was splitting open, soft groans escaping her lips.
“Jasmine…”
His voice was hoarse, barely a whisper.
The little girl glanced up at him.
And then she saw the look on his face.
Her brow furrowed.
“What—?”
Before she could finish, his hand shot to his belt, drawing his dagger from its sheath.
The blade gleamed, the edge sharp enough to cut through his own hesitation.
“What are you—?”
Jasmine’s words cut off when he raised the blade to his own neck.
Her eyes widened in horror.
“MALIK, NO—!”
The dagger bit into his skin, cold steel meeting flesh, and then…
Darkness.
Blink.
Rewind. Again.
The world unraveled.
Time twisted and bent around him like threads being pulled loose.
He saw it all play out in reverse—his hands pulling the blade away, his body rising to its feet, the look of panic in Jasmine’s eyes fading to confusion.
And then Malik was back.
Standing at the edge of the cave.
Just like last time.
The weight of what just happened—or what had unhappened—crashed into him all at once.
He stumbled, nearly falling, but he caught himself, his chest heaving like he’d been running for hours.
Malik took a beat, then looked up at Jasmine.
She stood there with a puzzled expression, normal.
Whole.
The faintest hint of black creeping into her eye was gone.
Malik turned to Safira.
“Don’t ask.”
He didn’t have the energy to explain.
“We’re leaving. Now.”
Her eyebrows shot up.
“Leaving? What are you talking about? We just got here—”
“I said we’re leaving!”
He screamed louder than intended, but he didn’t care.
“We can’t stay here. It’s not safe.”
Jasmine was still staring at him, her arms wrapped around herself like she was cold.
“Malik… what’s going on? Why are you acting like this?”
He couldn’t meet her eyes.
“I can’t explain it right now. Just… trust me. Please.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
For a moment, no one said anything. Just a long silence.
Then, finally, Jasmine nodded.
“O-Okay.”
Reluctantly, Safira did the same, though clearly less than thrilled.
“Sure… it’d be better for us to memorize a little more anyways.”
Thankful for her flimsy excuse, Malik didn’t push or rouse them.
Just turned south, away from the cave, and started walking.
The pace he set was calm.
Not too fast, not too slow.
He was careful, oh so careful, not to do anything that might stress Jasmine out.
It was ridiculous, of course, picking at straws, but he couldn’t help himself.
He clung to the hope, however irrational, that keeping her calm might just change the outcome.
The three of them walked in near-total silence for hours, maybe five, maybe more.
Time blurred together.
Safira kept herself busy with her Scroll, occasionally shooting curious glances at the other two.
Meanwhile, Jasmine…
Jasmine just looked tired.
Exhaustion weighed her down like chains, her shoulders sagging.
Every so often she stumbled, and every time she did, Malik’s heart jumped into his throat.
He noticed her every wince… every struggle.
It was only of course that he did.
The man simply couldn’t stop himself from checking on her.
Over and over, his eyes darted to her, his paranoia growing with each passing minute.
His mind churned with worry, with fear, with the haunting memory of that creeping blackness.
And then, when the light began to dim, he saw it.
Her right eye.
That same black stain, bleeding into her iris like ink spilling across parchment.
It was faint, just a small shadow of what it had been, but it was there.
Malik froze mid-step.
His blood turned to ice.
No.
Not again…
Not again!
His whole world was crumbling before him, and he could not do anything about it.
Questions like why or how didn’t bother to register in his mind.
Without thinking, without hesitation, he drew his dagger.
Jasmine turned to him, startled.
“M-Malik, what are you—?”
He didn’t hear the end of her stumbling words.
The blade sliced through his throat; darkness claimed him.
Blink.
He was back.
The edge of the cave.
The same “checkpoint.”
This time, he didn’t hesitate.
He didn’t stop to hug Jasmine.
Didn’t stop to explain.
He scooped her up, turned, and ran.
“M-M-M-Malik, stop!”
“…”
“W-What’s wrong with you?!”
Jasmine’s screams returned, as did her punches.
“T-Teach! Where are you going?!”
Safira followed, or at least tried to, shouting questions.
But he blocked them out, not bothering to look back.
This time, he wasn’t just running from the cave.
He was running from everything.
From fate itself.
Fate wasn’t so easy to escape, though.
Hours passed in a blink and Malik’s legs eventually gave out.
He dropped to his knees, the ground scraping through his pants.
His whole body shook—not from exhaustion, not from the hundreds of miles he’d run, but from the sheer weight of everything crashing down around him.
Malik let Jasmine slip from his shoulder.
She softly fell to the ground… still breathing.
That made it worse.
So much worse.
Her right eye—completely black.
The darkness spilled out in jagged lines that crawled across her face like vines.
Malik couldn’t even process it.
His heart felt like it was shattering again, piece by piece.
Each breath he took was like swallowing shards of glass.
Every thought was a thorn, digging deeper and deeper into his soul.
The pain was immense, unbearable.
And yet—
It wasn’t like before.
Not a single tear.
No outburst, not even a tremor of sound.
His whole body was just… cold.
Empty.
A hollow void where his emotions should have been.
It was as if the very essence of who he was had been sucked out, leaving nothing but a shell that could do nothing but stare at her.
That was all he did for what felt like years.
She was all that he could see.
And then, all of a sudden…
His world spoke.
He heard them.
The words.
Agonizing.
Familiar.
“Kill… me.”