The world returned to Ezra in fragments.
First came the heartbeat — slow, heavy, and far too loud, as if it were pounding inside his skull rather than his chest. Then the metallic scent of blood and wet earth flooded his senses. His eyes fluttered open, vision blurry and stinging. Above him stretched a bruised, blood-red sky, dominated by a swollen crimson moon that bathed everything in an unholy glow.
He gasped and sat up violently, mud clinging to his clothes and skin like a living thing. The ground beneath him was soft and sickeningly warm.
"Is someone there?!" he shouted into the thick fog that swirled around him. His voice sounded hoarse, almost foreign to his own ears. No answer came. Only the distant creak of rotting wood and the faint drip of something wet.
The fog slowly thinned, revealing the nightmare around him.
He was standing in the middle of what had once been a town — now a ghost of one. Dilapidated houses leaned against each other like tired old men, their windows shattered, doors hanging crookedly on rusted hinges. An old saloon sign swung lazily in the stale air, its paint long faded. The stench of decay was overwhelming — rotting flesh mixed with damp soil and something far worse.
Ezra gagged, covering his nose with a muddy sleeve. "What the hell is this place…?"
His legs felt weak, but he forced himself forward. Among the cluster of dead, lightless buildings, only one house still had lights glowing faintly from its windows — a two-story wooden structure that somehow looked both inviting and deeply wrong.
He trudged toward it, each step making disgusting sucking sounds as the thick mud tried to swallow his boots. The closer he got, the stronger the smell of death became.
With a trembling hand, he climbed the creaky porch steps and knocked on the door.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the door creaked open.
An elderly woman with silver hair pulled into a tight bun stood before him, wearing a faded floral dress. Her face was wrinkled but strangely kind, her eyes warm in a way that felt completely out of place in this nightmare.
"Well now… look what the night dragged in," she said softly, her voice carrying the gentle lilt of someone who had lived many quiet years. "You must be freezing, dear. Come inside. You'll catch your death out there."
Ezra hesitated, but the cold and the stench outside pushed him forward. "Thank you… I don't know what's happening. I just… woke up in the mud."
The old woman smiled gently and stepped aside. "We've been expecting you, Ezra. Come, come."
He froze the moment she said his name.
Inside, the house smelled of old wood, cinnamon, and something faintly sour underneath. In the living room, an old man sat motionless in a rocking chair, staring at a television screen that showed nothing but static and grey noise. He didn't turn around. Not even once.
Before Ezra could speak, the world seemed to blink.
One moment he was standing near the entrance. The next, he was seated at a long wooden dining table. Freshly baked bread, golden butter, and several jars of bright jam were laid out neatly before him. The aroma should have been comforting. Instead, it felt suffocating.
A soft whisper floated through the air like smoke:
"I guess you finally came… Ezra."
He tried to stand up, but his body refused to obey. His arms felt nailed to the chair.
The old woman reappeared beside him, placing a glass of clear water on the table. "Drink, child. Don't ask questions. It will help."
"I—I can't move…" Ezra's voice cracked with rising panic.
From the shadows of the room stepped a young woman in a flowing deep-purple gown that clung to her body like liquid night. Her skin was pale, her lips dark, and her eyes held a cruel kind of beauty. She moved with unnatural grace.
Without a word, she picked up the glass of water.
"Open up, good boy," she cooed, tilting his head back with surprising strength. She poured the liquid down his throat slowly, almost lovingly. Ezra tried to resist, but his muscles were locked. The water tasted strangely sweet… and then it burned.
Something foreign slithered into his veins.
The young woman leaned close, her warm breath brushing against his ear as she gently nipped his earlobe with her teeth.
"Such a good boy…" she whispered, her voice dripping with dark amusement.
From the living room, the old lady called out cheerfully, "Let him feel how your tongue feels, dear."
The young woman smiled.
She pushed the heavy table away with ease, exposing Ezra's lower body. Then she gracefully knelt in front of him on the wooden floor. Her fingers — long and elegant — reached for his left foot. The moment she touched the muddy boot, the filth seemed to melt away for a brief second, revealing clean skin underneath.
She removed his shoe and sock with deliberate care, as if unwrapping a gift.
Her hot breath ghosted over his bare foot. Then, without warning, she leaned in and took his big toe into her warm, wet mouth. Her tongue swirled slowly, dragging from his big toe all the way across to his little toe in one long, sensual lick.
Ezra's breath hitched. A strange heat spread through his veins, gathering intensely in his right foot this time.
She stood up elegantly, tore off a piece of bread, and began eating it in front of him, chewing slowly while watching his face with hungry eyes.
Pain suddenly exploded in his veins.
"Ah—!" Ezra gasped, then screamed as the agony intensified.
His clean foot rapidly turned muddy again — but this time the mud moved. It writhed. From between his toes and the sole of his foot, grotesque, pale worms began to emerge, slick with mud and foul fluids. They squirmed and wriggled out of his flesh, dropping onto the floor with wet plops.
Ezra screamed louder, his body still paralyzed, tears streaming down his face.
The young woman in the purple gown smiled sweetly, almost affectionately, as she watched the disgusting scene unfold.
"I am Lady Raven," she said, her voice soft and melodic. "But most people who have the misfortune of meeting me… they call me the Lady of Disgust."
She tilted her head, eyes gleaming with wicked delight.
"And you, my sweet Ezra… are going to learn exactly why."