CHAPTER 1
OLLY
I'm running down a darkened, wooden path filled with large, aged trees, casting sinister shadows all around me with their spindly, menacing branches. The ground is somehow wrong, soft in one step, brittle in the next, crunching like it's filled with dead leaves, even though I can't see a single one. My feet sink deeper the harder I run, as if the earth wants to swallow me whole. The sound of my bare feet thumping harshly against the cold, hard ground, and my breath leaving me in ragged, foggy pants, is distressing and too loud to my panicked ears.
I want to slam my palms against my ears, in an attempt to silence all the sounds and, with it, the terror that is racing through me, but my limbs feel too tight and don’t obey me. Everything about my body feels wrong, as if I'm not in complete control of it, and being led by a power outside of my command.What the fuck is happening to me?
The air is thick, clinging to my skin, choking me with the taste of rot, and forcing my lungs to seize. It tastes sharp, metallic, like I’m breathing rust, but how can that be? Sinister shadows twitch along the edges of my vision, forming shapes that stretch too tall, and bend too far, their limbs contortingwhere no joints should be. Every time I glance straight at them, they vanish… but the sound of something crawling stays.Wet. Hungry. Menacing.
My own breath sounds too loud, a frantic animalistic rasp I can't silence, and every sharp inhale feels like a signal flare to whatever's hunting me. I can't see it, but I can feel it; something is there, just waiting to sink its claws into me. The scent of dirt, pine sap, decaying vegetation, and crisp air mixes and greets my nose. Various other sounds assault me from every direction, including noises of four-legged creatures, scurrying about out of sight in the deep, unlit foliage. Unseen night owls hoot ominously from the dense trees, as predators search for their dinner.
My mind warns me I'm being hunted by one of those predators right now. The ground trembles with the whisper of movement, the scrape of something dragging across stone and hard-packed dirt, the slow, patient pace of a predator that knows I can't escape. My pulse beats even harder in my ears, until my eardrums threaten to explode as they drown out everything, until I hear it, a wet, sucking sound.Too close. Too eager. Fuck, it's coming...
My legs tremble and burn, but I run anyway, stumbling in the blackness, as my arms flail for something solid, and my fingertips snag nothing but air in desperation. There are no walls to brace myself against. Everything is too dark and dense, too slick, and foreign. A thought sinks cold, sharp teeth into my mind, causing my panic to ratchet even higher, until I'm sure my heart will rip right out of my chest.It's behind me.
RUN! RUN NOW!
It screeches at me, causing me to choke on my own breath and stumble, a scream lodged painfully in my throat as I attempt to remain upright. The hair on the back of my neck prickles and stands on end, while a cold, slick sweat coats all of mylimbs. I bite down hard on my bottom lip to stop my teeth from chattering, and giving away my location to whatever is hunting me. Dread is rising within me, and threatening to drown me with its heavy, oppressive weight.
We're going to die here,my mind keeps screaming on repeat, through a terrifying, chilling voice. I stare in desperation around the darkened, shadowy night surrounding me, and see nothing but the reflection of silvery moonlight on my pale, naked flesh. It glows with an otherworldly quality that has me stumbling, and crashing to my knees in the next moment. The immediate feel of the skin on my knee splitting open is sharp, and pulls a gasp from my lips. The pain reassures my frightened mind that I'm alive, and not wandering the afterlife. My heart thunders in my ears, the clamorous sound threatening to drown me under its cumbersome weight. No, nonononono! Get up!Keep moving! It’s coming!
Where am I? What the hell am I doing out in the darkness naked?I try to pull my thoughts back from the edge of rapid insanity. This can't be real. I can't be here, wherever this dark and terrifying place is. The murkiness shifts, a deeper shadow blooming at my back, and the air grows heavy with heat, like a warm breath on my neck. The sharp instinct to scream climbs up the back of my throat, but I bite down hard, swallowing the huge lump forming, knowing that any sound right now can mean death. Every step is a gamble with my life, every heartbeat is a countdown to an ending I can't comprehend. I can almost feel its claws curling around my ankle, its grin pressing against the back of my skull. Death isn't waiting ahead of me; it's breathing in my ear, savoring the chase.
"This is not real. It can't be," I whisper out loud to myself, and my voice sounds younger and filled with terror.
The noise of twigs snapping has me turning my neck frantically, scrutinizing the direction the sound is coming from,but all I see are darkened, bare tree limbs that resemble sinister fingers and shadows, so many creepy shadows looming everywhere, just waiting to trap me in their deep, thick depths. The sound comes again, and I quickly force myself back to my feet, my legs quivering, and almost buckling beneath my weight with trepidation.Fuck, what was that?
“Who’s there?” My voice comes out weak and trembling, as I call out to the solitary night sky, but no one and nothing answers me.There’s nothing there; it’s all in your head, Olly. Get your shit together!
I feel the barest of touches on the back of my bare shoulder, and a shiver races down my limbs, as a scream rips from my lips as I turn around, searching for a branch to use as a weapon, as I prepare to defend myself against whatever creature is hunting me. However, nothing is there. Only darkness greets me. It taunts me with its emptiness, calling me mad.What. The. Fuck.
A small menacing sound, like buzzing or humming, begins to fill the air around me, low at first and rising in tempo, until all of my limbs lock up tight, and my mouth goes dry with panic. It’s the sound right out of one of those horror movies my best friend and I loved to watch, and it usually signifies that some stupid character is about to die. I’m the stupid character right now, I just know it.Fuck, fuck, fuck. I don’t want to die.If this is a nightmare and I die here, do I die in the real world too?The terror assailing me reassures me I don't want to find out the answer to that.
My hands rise and cover my mouth, to stifle the scream that is ready to depart my lips.Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic.I repeat the mantra in my head, hoping it will help calm my racing heart, but it doesn’t. If anything, it causes acidic bile to race up the back of my throat. I’m about to lose my mind, the contents of my stomach, and control over my damn bladder. I don’t thinkI have ever been so scared in my whole life.It's not real. This is not real. It's all in my head.
The sensation comes again, this time trailing down my right bicep, until I jerk it forward like I’ve been burnt, and I take off running again. My long, brown and purple hair gets tangled in low-hanging branches, ripping out strands as I refuse to stop. The pain just adds another level of fear and uncertainty to my overwhelming panic. Whatever is chasing me means me harm. I’m not sure how I know that, but if I stop, it will rip me to shreds and devour me.
“Run, little girl, run,”a ghostly voice whispers in the air, and is followed by the sound of heavy footsteps pounding against the hard ground, strewn with tree roots and dying leaves. Just as I think my heart will give out on me, as a large, dark shadow comes ominously closer and closer, oozing with menace and malcontent, I’m ripped out of the nightmare with a scream.
“NOOOOOOOOO!”
CHAPTER 2
OLLY
Ibolt upright on the soft, plush mattress, tangled in the expensive, foreign thread count sheets with a cold sweat dripping from my body, and my bladder close to releasing. Nothing but silence, and my ragged breathing, greets me, as my clenched fist thrusts out to defend myself from whatever wants to hurt me, and meets nothing but cool air. My chest heaves as I suck in giant gasps of air, and tears slide down from the corners of my eyes. My whole body is trembling fiercely, my teeth are rattling, and I swear I can taste blood in my mouth.
“It was just a fucking dream,” I mumble, trying to get my breathing under control, as I drag my shaking fingers along my face and down my neck, where my pulse is still beating like a hummingbird's wings.
It felt so real.I was positive that I was actually being chased in the woods by some unseen force. I loosen the strangling hold the crisp, white sheets have on me, ripping them quickly off my legs, and stare down at my knee, believing that a bloody gash will be present, but my knee is intact. As my breathing finally begins to calm down, and the terror releases my mind from itsmerciless hold, a loud cackle escapes from my lips. "Jesusfuck. No more cheese before bed."
I drag my sweaty body up and out of the king-size bed, switching on the bedside table lamp, and letting the warm, amber glow instantly vanquish the shadows, further confirming that I'm a lunatic with a vivid, disturbing imagination. My eyes track over every corner of the large, opulent room, confirming I'm indeed alone, not in the woods, and certainly not being chased. I'm just one slightly unhinged, terrified woman in a new, large room, which would have no trouble fitting more than half of her old Muay Thai training team back home. I rake my hands through my sweaty, waist-length hair. The messy bun I went to sleep with must have dislodged sometime during my night terror, and now it's a rat's nest of tangles, that are practically strangling me.Great.With one last look around the room, I make my way to one of the two doors on the farthest wall, and into one of the largest and most opulent bathrooms I have ever seen.
"Unreal.We are definitely not in Kansas anymore,Dorothy. Fucking rich people," I grumble, reaching into the massive glass-enclosed shower, that you could throw a rave inside, and turn it on. As I start to strip out of my sweaty cami and boxer shorts, my eyes quickly glance at the only other door in the room. The door was locked when I came in here earlier to get ready for bed. My hand finds the long stainless steel lever, and I tug on it, reassuring myself that it still is. I'm uneasy in this new space, in this immense, unknown home, and the nightmare still clings to me, making my body shiver at its memory.
A hot shower should help clear my head, and get me back to sleep. I get into the shower, letting the giant, ceiling-mounted rain head, and the various jets protruding from the walls, spray and work out the stress and kinks in my tense muscles. Well, at least this is an enjoyable benefit of living in this monstrosity of ahouse. A moan escapes my lips, as the hot water pelts down on my tight limbs.Fuck, so good. Rich people might not be so bad after all.
My eyes take in all of the various body washes on the stone ledge, all of them expensive brands, except for mine. I bring one to my nose, take a whiff, and am immediately transported back to the woods by the smell of cypress, cedarwood, and hints of musk. Panic rises at the scent, and I launch it onto the ledge with a rattle in my haste, and reach for my own body wash, with the soothing aroma of lavender, blueberries, and lemons.Much better. At least mine doesn't remind me of a serial killer chasing me through the goddamn woods. Fucking cheese, and too many 'Purge'movies. Maybe I should stop watching serial killer documentaries when I'm sad and bored. Even as I think it, I know I never will. They're my guilty pleasure, along with a few other naughty things it's best not to think about, if I want to get back to sleep tonight.
