When the white flash finally dissipates from his vision, Adam eyes adjusted in the wooden ceiling above him after opening them, its incandescent red bulbs shines dimly on him, questioning himself of where he had landed himself into this time as he hadn't forgot about the explosive blow he received in his conversation with that thing.
He is used to handling his psychological issues but when a very demonic representation copy of himself take its physical form in front of his very own eyes, it scares him to a point that he was too terrified to do anything else but just hold on for dear life. Adam couldn't even tell if he had gone mad from all the mental stress he had been putting himself through.
There is one thing, this isn't the last time he is going to encounter with it, no doubt about that. Many other opportunities in the future where his force to face it once again and another chance to turn things around for him. Because of this, he needs to be mentally prepared for any possible outcome and eventuality that might occur next time, requiring him to have higher awareness in every situations around him.
Sighing exhaustively from the sudden turn of events in being dead to having encounter his demons then questioning himself if he is really dead to meeting this unknown invader in his mind, a real headache of what he is experiencing. Nevertheless, he knew he had to move forward from this, putting aside these doubts and removing any question that may arise on the future.
"Life is so difficult," Adam says quietly under his breath, laying comfortably on the bed that he wasn't even aware it exist until now, "where the hell am I anyway?" Question that came across his mind right now, "did I really died or something?" A pessimistic thought crosses his mind of the possibility in having meet his end by this unfortunate event.
"Ah, my dear Adam," mysterious feminine voice spoke from the corner of this room, "that is answer we both want, isn't it?" Her sudden announced jolted his attention to the source, turning his at the side to see an attractive woman with rather green silk dress that exposed most of her body, short green hair and red sharp horns over her head.
The bedroom was more luxurious and spacious he would have expected to be, its wall covered in maroon wallpaper with portraits of abstract art decorating the entirety of it, having lit candles illuminating the atmosphere around them. A single door was located at the far end of the room, appearing to be wooden while its knob was shaped into a paw print design. The floor was made out of hardwood with various chairs and tables scattered around.
There were also two windows located on opposite ends of the room, each with its curtains pulled up, revealing vague new world outside he haven't seen before as the visible night sky was endless, decorated with no stars or sign of moon which he finds it strange and even more eerie.
In addition to that, there were some oddities such as paintings with deformed faces or objects that didn't seem to belong in this world. Overall, it felt off to him as if he is in a dream but was conscious of everything going on around him.
However, it doesn't matter anywhere as he speedily get out of the bed and run to the other corner of this room where he stood near the window with his back leaning on the wall behind him, ready to escape through the glass if the situation would go south from the sudden appearance of being in new place and suspicious stranger that doesn't look human at all despite how stunning she may appear.
"Is that how you treat your host after giving you helping hand?" said the mysterious woman with a slightly offended look on her face, "a mere thanks would be fine, but do show some gratitude some time," smile crept across her face while she stood there in her spot, not moving an inch despite Adam standing only a couple of feet away from her.
"Who are you?" Is the only question he asks in his cautious state, making it clear that he doesn't trust this woman and isn't about to go along with what she has planned for him. To his surprise, she simply chuckled at his response, amused by his questioning, resulting him to frown from this action.
"I am Meridiana, a beautiful succubus that would like to have pleasant company," replied with a friendly tone, bowing at him with one hand on her chest, still keeping eye contact with Adam. This caused him to panic from learning what she has truly been all along and continues to tremble from fear until he couldn't control his own body from shaking.
"Demon," dreaded Adam, backing away slowly further away to the point of being in the middle of the room and staring at her in horror, showing his utmost fear towards her, "your one of those things, aren't you?" The thought of having to encounter with these monstrosities didn't cross his mind before this moment and now it has become a reality.
Adam has bad history with them, how they had nearly gotten him killed after being mentally or physically tortured more than once, having to find new way to survive each time and eventually learn in getting them off his back. Most of all, this freak is succubus that takes pleasure in ruining the lives of others, reminding him of his accursed mother.
Instead of showing her true colors, she tilted her head with display of shock and offense from his comment, "I'm not going to kill or torture you! I'm different," she tries to convince him otherwise, observing his trembling body that seems to indicate that he is still afraid of her despite her best efforts of calming him down.
"How can I trust you?" Asked Adam, slightly calming down. His fully convinced that she would turn against him at any moment and end up ruining his life like the vile mother she ended trusting with. He understand all demons are evil and tricksters, regardless of their appearance and has no reason to believe her words at all, especially from someone who pretend to be innocent.
She was sadden by his lack of trust in her but didn't blame him for thinking so, there were no guarantee for him to know if she is telling the truth, the only thing she can do is have him judge her, "you are psychologist, the world's best know-it-all with remarkable wisdom and insight. Able to also solve even the toughest case. That is who I am speaking to, the man before me?" Meridiana paused for a moment as she stared directly into his eyes before continuing on with her explanation.
Squinting his eyes in suspicion, "what is your game?" He asked while furrowing his brows in confusion. Knowing better than to take a demon's words without questioning them first, there has to be some ulterior motive behind her words that would ruin his life or worse, kill him and throw his corpse away like trash.
Nodding her head, "look into my eyes and make your own judgment," she gave him an assuring smile before deeply staring at his direction, allowing Adam to study carefully from the subtle changes in her facial expressions that may indicate the truth from the lie. As seconds go by, he started to observe every single detail on her face and tried to decipher any possible hints of a lie that might have been hidden within the sincerity of her expression.
Having degree in psychology, Adam is considered a professional psychologist and expert of human mind altogether, which means he is able to analyze a person's emotion and facial expressions to make proper judgements of their true nature or intent. The eyes are what is the most important detail to person.
The eyes tell him so much about them from showing their actual feelings, how they act towards others or the intent behind them. Their eyes could show honesty or dishonesty, smugness or seriousness, confidence or shyness, sweetness or irritation, kindness or aversion and so on. In addition, he is good judge of character, capable of knowing whether or not someone is lying in few seconds just by looking at their eyes.
After complying her request, he cannot believe what he had just witnessed. She was telling the truth, despite knowing she is in fact demon; there was no malicious intent nor hidden meaning behind her words as they were spoken with sincerity, showing no deceitfulness. It was almost as if Merdiana had told him the truth from the start but omitted a few facts in between.
So the only logical thing he can do from this revelation was to freeze in his spot, unable to process the current situation he was currently in while his mind began to wander in an endless void of possibilities and scenarios. Letting out a heavy and defeated sigh, "fine, what do you want from me?" His body calmed down, releasing all the tension that once built up after reading her intentions.
Bowing her head slightly while giving him a comforting smile, "all I ask is for you to hear me out until the end," the friendly succubus then approached to table before sitting on the chair,motioning him to take a seat next to her, "now, take a seat and relax." This sudden movement caused Adam to tense up for moment before finally complying.
With caution steps, he walked towards the table, intending to sitting at the opposite direction of her instead in going to the seat where she requested, not completely trusting her yet. What made him falter after sitting in front of her was when she looked at him with pained expression and shook her head to signal him to sit on the same side with her. It was clear she didn't want him to be far from her for some reason and didn't like it when he denied her.
"You can't be always afraid of someone like me, especially when they are woman," Merdiana said, noticing his distress. Giving him an empathic look, she added, "not every female out there is going to hurt you like—" As if on cue, Adam quickly interrupted her from saying the mention of his adopted mother.
"STOP!" His whole body begin to shake again, grinding his with fear and sweat forming on his forehead, "just stop talking about her! Just don't mention her name! I don't want to hear about her!" If there is any other being that Adam feared the most in this world, it is his adopted mother, whose abusive personality he couldn't forget even forget.
Adam placed his hands over his fragile ears, not wanting to even hear another word about her, too terrified of hearing another name of that woman who ruined his entire life. There is no way I will ever forget her, he thought. He has tried everything to remove her memory from his brain but failed every time, leaving him in constant paranoia of women he had never met.
"Please..." infinity stream of tears came down from his ears, looking down at the table from having to even remember the name of that freak, "please, don't say another word about her!" Breathing heavily, almost to the point of losing his composure from nervousness. Adam tried to regain his balance before calming himself down from feeling faint.
It took several minutes before Adam could compose himself again and stop shaking while taking deep breaths, struggling to do so as he was still unable to forget the face of that nightmare woman who tormented him day and night in his childhood.
Just seeing his distressed state made the succubus almost felt crying at this point, wanting to help him somehow before saying, "I'm sorry." Having no idea what else to say to make him feel better, she just gave him a sympathetic look as if she understood his pain, holding strong grudge against Lilith since her ascension through her virtues acts.
Before they could continue the conversation, the whole room begin to mysterious shake violently, adding maddening growl in resemblance of wolf ready to pounce on its prey. And seeing this, she know there is not alot of time before they are consumed by that beast, "Adam, I have to leave but before we depart—" the growl continued to grew louder, pausing her for moment, "find me in the red light district at—"
She couldn't finished her sentence when the very fabric of reality begin to melt rapidly, forcing her to bring Adam from his near death state, "close your eyes!" Merdiana ordered with hurry, wanting to sent him home before the beast consumed them both.
"Hey, wait a—"
"Do it!"
With her desperate plea, Adam quickly closed his eyes, where the sounds around him began to turn distant with the darkness returning back to his vision, lopping to great abyss of pure silence with nothing but anticipation of what's to come.