C22 (2/2)

”What do you mean? What's the matter with you? ”Don't scare me …” Lina panicked.

”Nothing …” ”Let's talk about it when we get back …”

I hung up and got into a taxi.

It was the same as Johnson's symptoms. Once I was asleep, I would fall into a nightmare, and my body would commit self-mutilation or suicide according to the dream.

My nightmare reflects what I feared the most in the bottom of my heart, and in Johnson's nightmare, I repeatedly experienced Maria's death.

I thought of the cot, the handcuffs, the bottle of pills I had seen in the darkroom at 601. Johnson must be afraid to sleep like me. So he got a lot of stimulant drugs to keep the nerve center excited and keep the sleepiness in check.

But medicine can only delay sleep time, after all, people still have to sleep.

Therefore, Johnson handcuffed the wall of the secret room to prevent his body from going around uncontrollably in his dreams.

However, no matter how meticulous one's mind was, there would always be a time where everything would be different. The side effects of sleeplessness are extensive brain damage, when people begin to develop hallucinations, mental weakness, and anxiety, they are more likely to automatically fall asleep.

It was very likely that Johnson had suffered brain damage because of his long-term refusal to sleep, which resulted in his gradually developing delusions. He couldn't accept the nightmares of Maria dying time and time again, which was why he made up a Maria himself.

I thought about how before I left, he smiled at the air and said, Maria, I'm going to sleep again.

Johnson was already calm towards death. When he woke up from that eternal nightmare, the Maria that he had imagined was still by his side.

I don't understand, how can Maria be so cruel to Johnson?

This man loved her so much that even the deepest fear was about her, yet she could scheme his death without emotion, put him in a mental hospital, and take all his possessions.

My thoughts were getting more and more confused, my eyelids more and more heavy.

Can't sleep! I took the key out of my bag and jabbed it into the inside of my thigh so hard that I broke out in a cold sweat.

”Sir, are you alright?” The taxi driver caught a glimpse of what I was doing and jumped.

”No, nothing.” I forced a smile.

The taxi driver was a Mexican with curly black hair and a big beard. Under his sunken eyes was a nose made of alcohol and the smell of cheese on his clothes.

Like taxi drivers all over the world, American drivers also like to hang a few messy security trappings on their rearview mirrors.

In the rearview mirror he had hung a super-pompous gold plastic snake, its body curled into a wavy shape. Unlike ordinary snakes, this one had no tail, but two snake heads with symmetrical heads. Beneath the plastic snake, there were many metallic ornaments shaped like ears of wheat. There were even two pairs of fake green gems pasted on his eyes.

”This pendant of yours looks pretty good.” I had nothing to say.

”Haha, you have good eyes!”

The driver laughed heartily, ”This is a good thing for collecting money!” Anfey Bina has two heads, one going east and one going west! ”

Amphisbaena?

I thought of Vadoma's incomprehensible parable: Anfey Bina has two faces, and lies as many times as the truth. Anfey Bina has two heads, one wants to go east and the other wants to go west...

This was the snake's name.

It has two heads, so it has two faces.

The two snake heads faced each other, so one of them wanted to head east while the other wanted to head west.

”This double-headed snake, what does it say?” I asked.

”Kid, you're asking the right person. Where do you think I am from?”

”... Mexico? ” This was too obvious.

”Yes, I am a genuine Azkis (the most populous people in Mexico). My father, my grandfather's father, my grandfather's father, my grandfather's grandfather, they all live in the northern part of Mexico, but I am the most handsome in our family. They all say that I look like a European!”

”Oh... ”It does have a bit of a resemblance.”

Not at all.

”Amphimbina is the undefeated guardian god of Mexico. He was born with two heads, so he is also known as the double-headed snake god. It could move in two directions at the same time. If they worked together, they would be terrifying hunters, but if they disagreed, they would bring disaster upon themselves. ”Legend has it that whoever looks into the eyes of Anfey Bina, the body will turn to ash and the soul will fall into eternal hell.”

His soul had fallen into eternal hell? I remembered the nightmare that had circulated around Johnson for the past twenty-two years.

”Don't be afraid, young man,” the driver looked at me with a frown, then smiled and said to me, ”The legend of Anfey Bina is already long gone, now he is the symbol of gathering wealth! Did you see that? Its two mouths cannot get in! ”