Alex leaned back into the couch, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. "I don't know, man. Gabriel's been acting weird for weeks. Ever since that night at his home."
Ryan nodded in agreement. "And then there's the whole thing with Annet Lee and the crystal ball. That was some crazy stuff."
Alex shook his head. "I don't know what to believe, Ryan. Part of me thinks Gabriel's just messing with us, but another part...I don't know, it's like something's off."
Ryan leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "You think Gabriel's telling the truth? That he's really seeing and experiencing all this weird stuff?"
Alex shrugged. "I don't know. He's not giving us much to go on. Just those screams and...and whatever happened tonight."
The two friends sat in silence for a moment, lost in their own thoughts. Then Ryan spoke up.
"We need to talk to Gabriel, get him to open up to us. Maybe there's something we can do to help him."
Alex nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we can't just sit back and do nothing. We have to try and figure out what's going on."
As they sat there, trying to come up with a plan, Gabriel's screams echoed from the bedroom, making them both jump.
Gabriel stood in the courtroom, the lady in blue robes lifeless on the floor. He walked down the hundred steps, his eyes fixed on the man lying at the bottom. The man's fair skin was smeared with blood, his black hair matted and splattered across his face. A long moustache framed his lips, now frozen in death.
He wore royal attire, brown with intricate golden handwork, now stained with blood. A sword pierced his back, and a crown, partially broken, lay on the steps beside him. Gabriel's gaze lingered on the crown, its broken pieces glinting in the dim light.
The scene was eerie, the silence oppressive. Gabriel felt a shiver run down his spine as he took in the gruesome sight. Who was this man? And what had led to his brutal murder?
As Gabriel ventured deeper, he entered a long corridor with high windows and a red pathway. The corridor led to another, this one featuring a stone-studded floor, white flowers along the sides, and pink curtains with golden embroidery hanging from the ceiling.
A pair of white marble stairs led to a complex adorned with beautiful sculptures on white marble and wood. However, the beauty was marred by the splatters of blood everywhere.
In the center of the large room, a girl stood facing a long mirror. Her long brown hair cascaded down her back, reaching the bottom of her legs. She hummed a haunting tune, her fingers running through her hair with an unsettling gentleness.
The air was heavy with the smell of blood, but the girl seemed oblivious to it. A bowl near her dressing desk was filled with an assortment of ornaments, including a heavily handworked diadem labeled "Princess Sophia."
Gabriel's gaze wandered around the room, taking in the eerie scene. Suddenly, the girl's eyes met his in the mirror. Her piercing blue gaze sent shivers down Gabriel's spine, and he turned to flee the room as fast as he could, desperate to escape those unsettling eyes.
As Gabriel wandered through the castle, he couldn't shake the feeling of desolation and death that lingered in the air. Despite the evidence of bloodshed and violence, he sensed that the palace had once been a place of joy and happiness.
But now, the atmosphere was growing darker by the minute. Gabriel could see strange, glowing shapes floating around him, their ethereal forms seeming to seep from the very walls themselves. These apparitions had no legs, their bodies and heads composed of pure white light that tapered off into nothingness just below the abdomen.
As the glowing shapes drifted away, the light around Gabriel began to fade, plunging the palace into an inky blackness. He stumbled through the darkness, disoriented and afraid, his mind reeling with the possibility that he had finally lost his grip on reality.
Everywhere he looked, Gabriel saw strange, shifting forms. Metal frames morphed into cats, and other objects transformed into an endless array of bizarre and fantastical creatures: cacti, elephants, pin cushions, snakes, and even donuts. The creatures seemed to be moving in tandem with the receding light beings, as if they were all connected in some way.
Gabriel's breath came in short gasps as he struggled to comprehend the surreal landscape unfolding around him. Was he dreaming? Had he finally succumbed to madness? Or was this some kind of twisted reality?