"Is anybody here?" Neal's cry pierced the eerie silence, frustration oozing from every syllable as he grappled with the uncertainty of his surroundings.

After narrowly escaping the clutches of savage beasts, relief turned to dread as he found himself engulfed in a shapeless void, where darkness swallowed him whole, leaving him struggling to discern even his own form.

"Hello!" He shouted in a pant, his voice filled with desperation.

Suddenly, under his feet came hands, scrambling for his legs as their razor-sharp claws clung to his feet, tearing his skin; sludge liquid crawled down his feet; the metallic tang of blood hung heavy in the air, assaulting his senses with a sickening wave of nausea and dread.

Terrified by the beast still chasing after him, Neal screamed; his scream reverberated off the walls of the void, a primal cry of anguish and fear.

A pattern of footsteps shattered the oppressive silence, and a light emanated from Neal's right and left sides. It was like a ray of light from an unknown street light, granting Neal a fleeting sense of direction in the formless void.

Before and behind him, darkness loomed, an oppressive force threatening to swallow him whole. But to his left and right, light beckoned, promising refuge from the encroaching shadows. Neal felt adrift, suspended between realms, lost in a space between light and dark.

In the upper left corner, Neal saw a grand old-fashioned clock. He watched the minute hand ticking with furrowed brows, wondering why the clock was there and its purpose.

When the clock ticked twelve, it chimed, and people in black began to run out of darkness before Neal. Vehicles materialized from Neal's left side and whizzed down the right side.

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The vehicles screeched to a halt and swung their door open to accept the frantic passengers. The drivers watched with poker faces as these people fought for seats, and after the seats got occupied, they zoomed off.

Neal watched with confusion, wondering why these people were scrambling and fighting for seats and where the drivers were taking them.

As if hearing his thoughts, a fat, short man walked to him and said, "Today is the last day for them all, including you."

"Including me? What does that mean?" Neal frowned.

"The vehicles are their lifesaver, driving them back to life. This place means between life and death. Those vehicles," the man pointed at them, "will be the ones to drive the people back to life. If you fail to get into one of them before there's none left, an abyss will open immediately after the last vehicle leaves and swallow every living left on this surface."

"But I'm searching for Darcy, my wife. I can't leave without her," Neal pleaded, desperation creeping into his voice.

Crossing his hands behind his back, the fat man laughed. "You're in a dangerous land when different illusions take place."

"You mean... she's not really my wife, Darcy?" Neal's voice trembled with uncertainty.

"I'm the watchman here." He grinned and patted Neal's shoulder before walking away.

"Wait!" Neal's voice echoed, his heart pounding with fear. "You haven't answered my question!"

About to run after him, Neal found his legs held in place as if bound by invisible chains.