Back in his apartment, Tyler's carefully constructed composure crumbled like a house of cards.
Frustration, raw and potent, consumed him from the inside out.
He paced his room, the small space feeling claustrophobic, mirroring the suffocating weight of his disappointment.
My life is a string of failures. One after another, never ending.
He should not have gone to see Sarah. That encounter had only served to highlight the chasm between their lives.
And Mike, his friend, his roommate, was about to move on to bigger and better things, leaving Tyler alone in this cramped, cheap apartment.
He had come to this city, escaping his mother and his wealthier brothers, believing he could build a life for himself.
A life of independence and success, free from their shadows and judgments.
Instead, he had found only disappointment at every turn.
I am the poor excuse for a son, the one my mother probably wishes she never had.
The thought, bitter and self-deprecating, settled in his mind like poison.
He was a burden to everyone around him, a failure in every sense of the word.
The world would be better off without me.
The idea of death, of simply ceasing to exist, felt less like a terrifying prospect and more like a tempting escape.
An escape from the crushing weight of his inadequacies, from the constant reminders of his failures.
If I died, it would be less trouble for everyone. They could move on, live their lives without having to deal with me.
With a surge of anger that erupted from deep within, Tyler ripped the necklace from his neck.
The gold chain snapped against his skin, leaving a stinging sensation.
He slammed it onto the floor with all his strength, the tiny golden flower pendant splitting in two with a sharp, distinct crack.
He sank to the ground, burying his face in his hands, the frustration a physical ache in his chest.
Then he saw it.
A faint light emanated from the broken pendant, a soft ethereal glow that seemed impossible.
He blinked hard, thinking he was hallucinating, that stress had finally pushed him over the edge.
But the light persisted, growing brighter and more intense with each passing second.
Confusion warred with a rising sense of unease in his gut.
What is happening? This is insane. This cannot be real.
Fear, cold and sharp, pierced through his despair like a blade of ice.
He needed to get out of there, to escape this strange unsettling light that defied all logic.
But as he tried to move, to stand and run, the light intensified exponentially.
It expanded outward, engulfing him in a blinding wave of pure energy that burned his eyes.
The light intensified further, a searing white that filled his entire vision until there was nothing else.
Then, nothingness.
Complete and utter darkness swallowed him whole.
One moment he was in his apartment, surrounded by familiar walls and furniture.
The next moment he was running, his legs pumping frantically beneath him.
His body was propelled forward by residual momentum, as if he had been sprinting for minutes.
Before he could even register his surroundings or understand what was happening, his face collided with something solid and unyielding.
A tree.
The impact knocked the air from his lungs in a painful whoosh.
He tumbled to the ground hard, his body rolling across rough terrain before coming to a stop.
He groaned, pain radiating from his nose and forehead.
He sat up slowly, blinking rapidly, his head throbbing with a dull ache.
Gone was his cramped apartment with its peeling wallpaper and stained carpet.
In its place was a dense forest, the air thick with the scent of damp earth and something acrid and unpleasant he could not identify.
Above him, a brilliant blue sky stretched endlessly, unmarred by pollution or clouds.
There were no buildings anywhere, no signs of civilization, no sounds of traffic or construction.
Just trees, stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction.
Ancient trees with massive trunks and gnarled roots that broke through the forest floor.
He was utterly, completely lost.
Panic, cold and sharp, clawed at the edges of his confusion like icy fingers.
Where am I? How did I get here? This cannot be real. This has to be a dream.
He pinched himself hard, the pain sharp and real.
Not a dream then.
He looked around frantically, searching for anything familiar, any landmark that might give him a clue.
But there was nothing.
Just endless forest in every direction.
The trees towered above him like silent sentinels, their branches creating a canopy that filtered the sunlight into dappled patterns on the ground.
Strange sounds echoed through the forest—animal calls he did not recognize, the rustling of leaves from creatures unseen.
Tyler scrambled to his feet, his heart racing, adrenaline flooding his system.
What is happening to me? Where am I? How do I get back?
He checked his pockets frantically.
His phone was gone. His wallet was gone. Everything was gone except the clothes on his back.
He looked down at his chest.
The necklace was gone too, vanished along with everything else from his world.
A chill ran down his spine despite the warm air.
He was alone in a strange forest with no idea how he got there or how to get back home.
And somewhere in the distance, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.
A roar.
Deep, primal, and far too close for comfort.