Where am I? I look around frantically, but all I can see is pure white. I feel as though I’m lost in the middle of a blank sheet of paper awaiting a creator to give it life. I continue to search, hoping to find some form of life. There! I see a flock of crows. They’re just standing there, frozen in time. Some have their beaks open in the midst of squawking but it is impossible for it to be heard. Others are scratching their wing. All are a stationary, in a state of paralysis. I attempt freeing them of this freeze by flailing my arms but they won’t move either. I open my mouth to shout but I can’t make a noise. I try to move my legs but they won’t budge. I too am frozen in time. I listen for anything audible, straining my ears. There is a constant, soft rumbling type of noise. It sounds as though my head is immersed in water.

Total whiteness. Absolute nothingness. Out of nowhere, hundreds of clocks spawn up and swarm around me. Not one is the same as another. They begin orbiting around me, slowly at first. All of them have the same time. 15 seconds to midnight…five, the clocks gain speed…four…three, the clocks speed up again…two, faster…one, just a blur…DONG!

The clocks shatter like glass and I see the crows fly away. I can just barely make out a white crow leading the flock. I didn’t even see it before because it is just as white as this dimension I’m in. I try to move with no success. Then I notice a grandfather clock floating a few feet away from me. The hour hand and minute hands are still, but the second hand continues to move. I don’t think anything of it until a minute passes and the two hands didn’t move. I think the clock is broken but realize the second hand would’ve stopped as well. Despite my knowing it’s impossible, I accept this as a thirteenth hour.

I sense something behind me. It’s like when you’re in a haunted house and you think somebody or something is following you. I try to turn but again I am bound by the chains of time. Whatever is behind me is walking closer. I can feel my back grow colder as it nears me. Something black flashes past me. It’s just a blur. Now it stands before me. It’s a silhouette. I can’t tell who it is. He has a human form, that’s good…but who is he?

“I’m afraid you’ll never find out, actually, no, I fear nothing. If you ever discover my identity, you won’t be able to cope with the despair. My apologies, Abel Crowe, but I will kill you,” he says with false sorrow. His voice is frightening and it echoes in my mind. What does he mean?

“Abel, wake up! Wake up, Abel!”