Cold. The ever-so-chilling cold.
I didn't know where I was or how much time had passed. I struggled to remember. All my memories were…fuzzy. There was no feeling besides the cold wind pressing against my unmoving body.
Then a whisper disturbed the silence.
"Follow the trail; it should lead you in the right direction."
It was faint, barely audible, but it stirred something in me. My body, steady moments ago, felt a push. Like the world itself got tired of waiting. Finally, I was on my feet. The mud clung to my bare feet like trying to pull me back in. It made moving around a nightmare.
Towering trees loomed on either side, their leafless branches reaching like fingers to grab me. It didn't help that the fog was so dense I could cut it with a knife.
I was hesitant to move forward. The forest felt wrong. Too quiet. Too…still. When i looked ahead, it felt like it wanted to pull me into it.
But what better choice did I have? I had been stuck here for too long. I had to move.
I proceed with caution. The trail was never-ending. Or so it seemed. Everything felt wrong, out of place.
I kept getting the feeling like something was behind me. Watching.
I turned my head around. Nothing. Just fog and trees. A sigh of relief slipped out.
Quickly disturbed by a growl on the back of my neck.
"Oh fuc-"
Before I could finish, the beast lunged, sinking its teeth right into my flesh. I screamed, trying to fight him off by slamming my fist into its snout.
It only pissed it off. It growled louder, its teeth sinking deeper, through bones, not just flesh.
The pain was severe. My vision blurred. As a last attempt, I plunged my fist deep into its eye.
The beast shrieked and let go.
As I hit the ground, I saw it. A hole under the roots of a massive tree. Felt just big enough to crawl into.
Gasping, barely able to feel my legs, I crawled. And crawled…
"Fuck…I barely got myself moving…I ain't dying today!" I weezed, pulling myself in with all my remaining strength.
Everything fell quiet. I finally felt safe.
"I can't believe I made-"
CRACK
"You gotta be kidding me!"
Those were the last words I said before the beast used the tree as a bat to hit me with.
Strangely, the cold was back- same old chilling wind. But something was off. I could feel a light closing the distance.
"Not…It is not yet your time. Take my power and live again." The same whisper echoed.
I opened my eyes to the same suffocating fog, face down into the same muddy place I was standing when I woke up.
The trees, the air, even the same cursed trail.
"What in the deja vù?" I murmured
I was certain that I was dead. Body crushed, kind of dead.
And yet, no pain. No blood. Not even a scratch.
I looked at the trail again. No movement, no sound, just like last time. But I knew the beast was lurking.
I wasn't about to play the same game twice. So I turned. As soon as I stepped out of the trail, another beast attacked, claws first, slamming me into the ground.
"At last, fate has finally brought us together," It declared. Or more like gurgled.
It had no eyes. Instead, Sharp teeth and litches filled the sockets where the eyes should have been. Its skin was redish, thin.
It had no muscles, just bones.
Its claws stretched and wrapped around my arms. Their texture changed into something slimy.
I tried to escape, but it coiled its scaly tail around me.
"Trying to escape? From me!" it gurgled again, like it was trying to mimic human speech but couldn't.
It wrapped itself tighter and tighter around my body. Squeezing me until I could not breathe anymore.
"Now we can always be together."
Those were the last words I heard before everything went black.
The cold hit my body again. I wasted no time in getting up. I already knew where I was.
"What the fuck is going on?" I exclaimed, "It makes no sense. I died…again?"
I sighed, trying to make sense of the situation.
"I can't or that-" I hesitated a bit as the memory of the monster came back into my head. "But I can't move forward either. The other beast would probably rip me apart like tissue paper."
I looked around. "Can't stay here either. That's a death sentence in itself."
I scanned the environment. Only trees, branches, dirt, and stones. No weapon, no shelter.
I was stuck here.
And who knows for how long.