A cold air woke Johan up. The breath on his ear and the whispering were the next sensation which shook him into near-immediate consciousness. His heart beat rapidly when he heard the words. His vision was blocked though, all he could see was darkness.

‘.…Are you awake…I helped…helped you.’ came the voice.

When he moved his hands to remove the blindfold Johan found them bound behind him. The cold sensation came again and he felt that his shirt, tie and jacket had been removed from his chest leaving his upper body full exposed. Moving his fingers they touched a rough stone floor, cool to the touch.

His head ached. Badly. Drugs likely, he’d been moved to a different location or a corner of the same car park. The voice that whispered to him was unfamiliar though. Trying to remember any further details only increased the pain inside his brain. No hunger or thirst yet, his body felt completely fresh. Odd, but not his immediate priority to work out.

The business card shown the word dungeon but he hoped that this wasn’t part of the nightmare experience. Either this was a cross between a torture or pleasure chamber but he wanted no part of it.

Johan had seen enough movies to have an idea of how to deal with the situation. Don't scream or threaten, don't lose your temper and add a bit of humour.

‘.….I don’t know the safeword. Can you let me go? Please?’

A sound that was meant to be laughter but from a damaged or distorted throat came out as the unknown voice responded.

‘Awake. Yes….quiet. We need to be quiet. I’m a friend. Keep quiet. They will listen for us. For you. Yes. My name...you...don’t know my name. Good. I like that. No Master. Yes.’ came the voice.

His back was off the floor due to the binding on his hands, rope or another type of fabric material. Not metal, too smooth for that with a slippery sensation around his wrists. Loose enough to move but strong enough to stop him pulling it apart with his hands. More likely a place where he had absolutely no interest.

‘Can you take off my blindfold at least?’ suggested Johan, struggling to lift his back off the floor to move into a sitting position. His stomach although not heavily muscled lacked fat, due to a daily exercise routine and mainly healthy diet.

A roughened hand touched his skin gently pushing him down with a large amount of strength behind it. When he tried harder the hand responded in turn until Johan was being pushed harder against the ground making hands bend.

‘You’re hurting me. I don’t know what situation is going on with you the secretary of the Human Resources Director or if this whole situation has been an elaborate joke but I’d had enough of it. YOU HEAR ME! I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF IT! TAKE MY BLINDFOLD OFF, UNTIE MY HANDS AND GIVE ME MY SHIRT BACK!’

His mouth was nearly immediately blocked off as he felt the hand wrap itself around the flesh on his face, softer and pliable it smelled faintly of roses. The palm of the hand flexed as he felt flesh stretch and cover his mouth sealing at the edges.

‘Sh…shh…no. Be quiet. Or I make you stay quiet. They will hear and find us. Too soon. Too soon. Not Master. No name. Don’t have my name. I like it.’ said the unknown voice.

All he could do was try and nod his head to agree with the crazy person.

‘Wait…I need to…wait. Quiet. We need to be quiet. They are listening. Always listening.’ said the voice.

Johan waited, with his hands tied back and his mouth and eyes closed off there wasn’t a great else he could do. Aside from kicking his feet and legs but if they connected with the unknown figure then he could cause a bigger issue.

Needing something to do, Johan began to stretch out his legs a little. His feet were covered and so were his legs, he could feel the clothing on his lower body. Moving he legs his mind was more secure in the situation.

Having his mouth entirely closed off was uncomfortable and so was his position but he was able to flex his legs and feet.

‘They’re gone for now. Gone. I’m so sorry that you’re here. But I can help you. Yes. Yes. I can do you a great favour. Do not say my name.’ said the voice.

The hand over his mouth was removed and Johan took in several deep breaths, trying his best to keep his breathing shallow to avoid noise. Losing his temper in this situation would only make it worse but lying here and taking it wasn’t going to improve it either.

Questions. If he could talk and get answers.

‘A favour.’ asked Johan, keeping his voice closer to a whisper.

‘Yes. You don’t want to be caught by his creatures. No. Nonono. I don’t want to fight. No. Nonononono. Fighting is so boring. I’m bored. Not Master I’m bored. I want to float. Float up. Yes. Yesyes. Float!’

‘Take off my blindfold and then release me and we can talk. I can’t help you unless you help me out first. A little give and take goes a long way.’ said Johan.

The voice only increased in speed ‘You need to listen to me. They have taken over. Only all their creatures control this place now. All of them won. They won the competition and decided to stay, then they broke it. Broke everything. You are safe for now. But if you are infected by the madness then…BOOM!’

Johan knew it was better to agree with a crazy person. At least on a surface level. To give into the delusion was the worst choice regardless of their situation. All he knew was that this individual was clearly unstable and….his shoulder. He had a knife in his shoulder.

There was no immediate pain. Uncomfortable but no pain. His body was in shock. Clearly or the side-effect of the dosage used to knock him unconscious was numbing his body.

‘I’m listening but I need an answer please. I was hurt, a knife was in my shoulder. Did you remove it?’

‘No…the Player-Gods automate the system so it healed you when you arrived. Your knife is here. Next to you. You. Next. Damaged but you will need it. Yes. Yes. And your eye. No eye. No idea. Not Master has no idea. Yes eye. Eye Eye.’ said the voice.

‘Thank you for healing me. Do you have a name? I’m Johan. I’m new here and need some help. I’d like it if you leave the knife alone, it was a gift from a friend. A close friend of mine who would be extremely sad if I lost it. He gave it to me to keep it safe.’

The fact that it was a crazed man who had threatened him into reading the words on a business card and the knife getting stuck his shoulder when he’d grappled with the man as a last resort didn’t bear mentioning. Unless this figure happened to be the same person who suffered from a severe personality disorder.

Disguising voices was usually harder than most people thought, and being unable to use his sight made it a little easier to focus on this particular voice. This one sounded damaged in a way, like a person who’d had an operation on their throat. Or they’d been breathing

With no immediate response from the voice Johan carried on talking.

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‘My shirt, I’m cold, can you give me something to cover me chest? I don’t want to get sick on this floor. Your hand is appreciated but it’s not exactly covering me up enough. Do you have a spare shirt or a jacket? Even a sack will do. Or cloth.’ said Johan.

A rough fabric draped over Johan's bare skin. The hand remained firmly on his chest effectively pinning him to the ground. He’d made a start at least, a single request of his was met. He’d need to show his thanks.

‘I’d shake your hands but as you can see mine are pinned behind my back.’ said Johan, keeping his voice calm and level as he humanly could.

‘I offer you support. I can give you another favour, do you want to receive an action from the just and merciful? Ma-Master Not Master.’

Rather than agreeing, Johan did the one thing that non-verbal communication is considered essential. He moved his face into the form of a smile. A friendly one, at least as much he was able. It could have been taken as an insult for all he knew, it all depended on the mental stability of this individual.

‘Yes. Yes. You understand my actions despite your silence. Your face shows happiness. Nod your head if you agree, I promise you will feel no pain. None not Master. Float. I want to float.’ said the damaged voice.

Pain. The voice promised no pain. According to it a system had healed his wound, if he’d been able to verify the injury to his shoulder or even touch a bandage he would have been reassured. Better to be cautious for a little bit longer. All he needed was two things, remove the blindfold and untie his hands. There was only so much information that he could gain from hearing the voice.

Johan chose to keep the smile on his face, this time showing some of his teeth but refused to nod his head. He needed to tread a little carefully.

‘Well…you’ve been so kind so far. But I’d like to clarify a little. The covering does feel warm, I appreciate it. Again, I’m Johan, do you have a name you’d like me to call you? Or a title?’

‘I will kill. You. You will never become one of their creatures, never to be recycled or trapped in this place. My name? I…I forgot. They changed me. Took their turns trying to change me so many, many times. I..I don’t know. This body is not mine. Not mine. I’m helping you. Why aren’t you letting me help you? WHY AREN’T YOU LETTING ME HELP YOU? I WANT TO LEAVE! NOT MASTER CAN’T LET ME LEAVE THIS PLACE!’

The smile faltering on his face, Johan found himself being shouted at. Worse the voice had imitated his tone when he had been shouting. Unstable meant unpredictable. Soothing was the answer.

‘Of course you’ve helped me so much already by giving me such kind company. I appreciate your efforts, never mind names, they’re stupid things anyway. Not important between friends. We are friends aren’t we?’

‘I….I’ve been alone for too long. They leave, they always leave me. Then they die or worse. Always. I’m sorry. Forgive my actions. Float. Your eyeball. I like your new eyeball. Juicy. Fat.’

The muscles on his face beginning to cramp Johan did his best to keep a smile on his face, not too much teeth he stretched his legs around a bit. Pins and needles were forming in his hands as the restricted blood flow began to have an effect.

There were times to talk and times to listen. He needed to keep his mouth shut no matter what, let the damaged person vent and they’d calm down eventually. This he knew well from personal experience., the matter of how far they’d deteriorated was another matter.

‘Listen to me. This is important, no matter whatever you do, you must never look in a mirror in this place. Ever. Oh, you want to know why? It’s because you’re so ugly that you would break them and then I would never see my true beauty ever again. The truth is a hard place to live in but I manage. Yes, I’ve been by myself for a long, long, long, long, time, time, time, time. How did you guess? Guess, guess, guess. Ugly not master.’ said the voice.

The fact that Johan hadn’t even muttered a single word somehow made the situation worse. The mental instability of the individual was even worse if they were filling in his part of the conversation, even the words that he’d spoken earlier might have come across as white noise. He stopped moving his legs and tensed his body. Smile stick fixed on his face, Johan continued to listen.

‘The worst part about being by yourself for such a long time is when your hallucinations begin to feel real. You can touch, taste and smell them. Then you begin to imagine that they take on a life of their own, like you Isaac. You’re my most vivid one yet. This is why I need to protect you from the false gods. I like you too much for you to die just yet. I’m bored. Bored. Boooring.’

The coldness of the room Johan was in didn’t do anything to stop the sweat building on his back or on his forehead. The situation was deteriorating he knew, if his captor had referred to him with another name. He needed to reassert control and re-establish his own identity, or he could pretend to be this ‘Isaac.’ Chances were though that it would backfire on him.

The best solution to dealing with someone suffering from hallucinations or a psychotic break was not to buy into their reality. It could potentially buy him time but this wasn’t your normal situation and he was effectively tied up and blinded at the mercy of a freak. A complete freak.

‘They did this to us, all of us. They corrupted and took broken pieces and broke them even more. But you can fix it. Yes. Yes. Reset or destroy, but do not become a god. Never. Bad gods. Stinky gods! They locked me up. But also set me free.’ whispered the voice.

‘My name is Johan. Johan Wolff. I was brought here against my will after reading a business card and getting a knife in my shoulder. I don’t know your name but you’re a good person. Please, let me go. Untie my hands, take off my blindfold and walk out. I promise I won’t become a god. I’m just a man. A normal ordinary man called Johan with anger management issues. And no shirt but the covering you gave me helps. I won’t talk about you. Free me and I’ll walk away, you won’t hear from me again.’

‘.…then I will follow another plan. Jo-han Wolff not master. I will cut the ropes that bind you. This will leave you free for his creatures to find you, but you will have freedom. Do not move. Do not touch your blindfold. You will remove it only when I have left this room. Are we c-c-clear?’ said the voice.

The hand on his chest released the gentle pressure that had been stopping him from sitting up and went under his back and lifted him up. Johan felt one strong hand reach behind him and release the ties. The rough cloth covering on his chest fell onto not the floor with part of it covering his knees.

Next, his hands were held down, and the binds that held him were released. The blindfold on Johan’s face was left alone as a clattering sound broke the silence as an object had been dropped. The Kris knife. It’d been here the entire time and he’d been unaware of it. He’d pick it up as soon as possible, any weapon would be better than nothing.

Or it was another random piece of random metal. He’d need to see it in person to identity it properly. No point in risking cutting himself when he was still temporarily blinded.

Tentatively Johan reached up and touched his shoulder and upper body. He had to force himself to not touch the blindfold, dealing with a dangerously unstable individual he needed to follow some established rules. Further communication was necessary. There was no wound on his shoulder. Not a single mark or any sensation of pain, he reached around the area to make sure that he wasn't mistaken but there was nothing.

Either Johan had hallucinated being hurt or he'd been unconscious long enough for his wound to full heal. He needed visual clues as soon as possible. That and a weapon and a safe place to secure himself, he'd not felt hungry or thirsty nor felt the aching pain of an IV drop removed.

‘I’m not touching the blindfold. Not until you’ve left the room. Thank you for helping me. I’m glad that you know my name is Johan, perhaps next time you can tell me yours.’

He shook his hands a few times to get some feeling in them before he reached out onto the floor and pushed himself up into a cross legged sitting position. He often preferred this pose and it would help him control his racing heartbeat.

‘Stay there for now. When you hear the voice of the system then you’ll know when it’s safe to remove your blindfold. Good luck and remember my kindness would have been better. Welcome to your worst nightmare. My name. My name is He-. No. Master knows my name. You are a not. Not master. B-b-b-bye bye little fly! I’m going to float away.’ came the voice.

Johan heard a heavy body movement off the ground and a door or gate opening before it lightly closed judging from the clicking sound. He knew better than to move my body just yet or try to remove his blindfold.

The strength of the hand that pushed him down earlier was more than he could muster up to fight back against. Johan decided to take slow breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth, still sitting in his cross-leg position.

He'd wait just a little longer, even though by this point he wanted to keep screaming. The pain inside his chest had been building slowly again since he took the knife to his shoulder.

Touching his body he was wearing the same clothing he had worn on the way to work this morning, trousers, socks, shoes, even underwear. His crossed legs were beginning to ache as he rubbed his hands through his hair and scalp, his hair hadn’t been cut or grown.

He knew it was unlikely that he’d been unconscious for long enough then. Hours at the most to take him to his present location. He’d need to find out more details including why they left him fully clothed with one exception.

Just no shirt. As soon as his hands reached towards the blindfold to remove it and take stock of his situations the voice called out again. A breath on the back of his neck chilled him. The same voice but clearer this time. More precise.

‘You’re doing a good, yes such a good job. Remember to wait for the system messages before taking off that blindfold. Believe me, you don’t want to look at me. Not yet anyway. Welcome to Beneath Nightmare Dungeon. Player. Call me when you need me. M-m-m-aster.'

This time a cloth covered his mouth and he involuntary took in a deep breath of a damp, fruit like smell and Johan passed out once again before he could react.