As I stood up, I was met with a flurry of notification screens that obscured my vision. Although I only wanted to escape this cursed cave.
[Titles Earned...]
[Would you like to claim your...]
[Trait has leveled up to...]
[Commencing teleportation..]
I was once again surrounded by a barrage of disorientating colors, feeling myself slightly lifting off the cave floor. The flash of light from the teleportation faded, and I blinked hard, trying to clear my vision. I stumbled slightly, disoriented, as the ground beneath me became solid again. The rush of cold air hit my face, and I realized I was no longer in that strange realm.
I was back.
The familiar smell of damp earth and pine filled my nose. The forest behind my apartment stretched out before me, the trees tall and towering like sentinels. But something was wrong—very wrong. The forest, once a place of calm and peace, felt charged with tension. The air was thick with something ominous, like the calm before a storm.
I stepped closer, eyes narrowing as I scanned the tree line. At first glance, everything looked the same—tall pines swaying gently, the occasional rustle of leaves—but then I noticed it. The trees. They were... bigger. Taller than I remembered, thicker too, their bark darker and tinted with an unnatural bluish hue. I stared up at the leaves, and a cold shiver ran down my spine. The shape was wrong. The familiar needles were gone, replaced by broad, foreign leaves that twisted in ways I couldn't quite place. And then there were the vines—thick, coiling tendrils hanging from the branches, heavy with strange fruit. None of this was here before, the trees had changed.
I glanced down at Rigby, who had landed beside me. His fur bristled, and I could sense his anxiety through our bond. His little eyes darted around, his body tense. I reached out to steady myself against a nearby tree, scanning the area, trying to get a grip on what was happening.
"We're back," I chuckled to myself, still processing the shift. But something wasn't right. I could hear faint sounds in the distance—sirens, shouting, chaos. I stood up straighter, my heart pounding in my chest. I wasn't imagining it, those were blood curdling screams of fear.
Quickly picking up Rigby, I hurried through the familiar path that led out of the forest toward my apartment. My legs felt heavy with every step, my mind racing with a thousand thoughts but I was focused on finding Jon and getting back home. I pushed through the last stretch of trees and stopped dead in my tracks when I finally emerged from the woods.
The street ahead of me was a scene straight out of a nightmare. Cars were overturned, smoke billowed from fires, and the distant echo of screams pierced the air. Bodies—some human, some looking inhuman—littered the ground. My stomach twisted as I took in the carnage. It was chaos, pure and unrelenting.
The world was truly falling apart.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry as I forced myself to keep moving. "We have to get to the apartment," I whispered to Rigby, who chirped in response as I picked him up. The bond between us pulsed with shared anxiety, but I couldn't stop. I needed to make sure Jon was safe—or at least leave him a message if he wasn't there.
After finally exiting the forest, I jogged through the street carefully stepping over the bodies, trying not to look too closely at the destruction around me. I noticed a still body in the corner of my eye. It was our neighbor, Mrs. Jadori, laying face down in a puddle of her own blood. Her body was adorned with bite marks and scratches. I noticed numerous others from my building but no Jon. I felt bile rise in my throat but focused on pushing forward. Mrs. Jadori was a wonderful woman and had been that usual lovely neighbor; always inviting us over for dinner, checking up on us, but not afraid to be blunt and give us the advice we needed to hear. She was like a cool aunt I never had. I inwardly hoped her family hadn't succumbed to the same fate.
My heart pounded in my ears as every noise made me jump, expecting something to leap out at us. Metalic clattering from a distant car forced me to pick up my pace, whatever had done this was still around. The sirens were growing louder, and I could hear the distant wail of emergency vehicles—though they seemed far too late.
I finally reached the apartment building. It was eerily quiet. No lights, no signs of movement. I raced up the stairs, taking two at a time, Rigby chittering in my arms. My mind kept flashing back to the bodies on the street—people I'd passed every day, now reduced to lifeless husks. The chaos that Loki had warned me about was here. I reached the apartment door and flung it open, my heart pounding in my chest. The inside of our shared space was mostly untouched, as if the madness outside hadn't breached these walls—yet.
"Jon?" I called out, my voice hoarse. Silence. I quickly moved through the apartment, checking his room. It was empty—his bed unmade, clothes tossed around haphazardly, but no Jon. I exhaled slowly, a mix of relief and fear coursing through me. He wasn't here, but he also wasn't one of the bodies outside. That had to be a good sign.
Rigby sniffed around the living room, his movements less tense now that we were indoors, but I couldn't let my guard down. Whatever was happening out there wasn't far from reaching us. I had to act quickly.
I grabbed my backpack from my room and began tossing in the essentials—clothes, my laptop, my phone charger. There wasn't much time to think, just enough to grab whatever I'd need to survive. The sirens outside grew louder, but I forced myself to focus.
I scribbled a quick note on a scrap of paper, my handwriting barely legible in my rush.
"Jon, the world's gone to hell. I don't know where you are, but if you're reading this, get out. I'm heading—"
Suddenly, a loud, violent bang echoed through the apartment. My pen skidded across the paper, a sharp line cutting through the unfinished sentence. I froze, heart pounding, as another heavy thud rocked the door. Then came the sound—the unmistakable, deep growl that made my blood run cold.
I didn't need to see it. Whatever was on the other side wasn't human, the same inhuman thing that had left countless bodies in the street.
"Shit." My breath caught in my throat as the growling grew louder, the door trembling under the force of whatever was out there. The snarls became more aggressive, more determined, and my pulse raced. I didn't have time to finish the note. No time to think.
I shoved the half-written message into my pocket, my mind racing through a thousand possibilities, none of them good. If the thing broke through that door, I'd be dead before I could grab anything.
The door groaned under the relentless pounding, but I forced myself to move, grabbing my school backpack and throwing in clothes as fast as I could. Socks, shirts, a jacket—anything I could stuff inside. I zipped the bag shut with shaking hands, my heart racing. My eyes landed on the old family photo sitting on my desk, the one from when we all went to the zoo—me, my parents, my brother, smiling in the sunlight like nothing could touch us.
I snatched it, folding the picture carefully before tucking it into the side pocket of the bag. No way was I leaving it behind. Not now. Another slam rattled the door, the snarling louder, more desperate. My brain screamed at me to leave now, but I forced myself to grab the solar-powered battery pack I used for camping and other necessities. Something told me I'd need it later.
The door cracked.
"Dammit," I whispered, tossing the battery pack into the bag. I slung it over one shoulder and grabbed another smaller duffel bag. I didn't even have time to pack it properly, so I threw it on my back and willed it to float using my telekinesis. The bag hovered beside me, unsteady but in control.
As I reached for my jacket, a sharp chittering sound made me freeze. Rigby had crawled onto my bed, his little form tense and alert. He let out another chitter, eyes locked on me, as if urging me to stop.
"Rigby, what are you—" I began, but before I could finish, Rigby scampered closer, his movements oddly focused. His eyes gleamed, and through the bond, I felt his insistence.
I crouched, frowning, as Rigby approached me. He moved toward my right arm, chittering softly as if guiding me toward something I didn't fully understand. And then, without warning, his body began to shift. A faint white mist formed around him, swirling upward toward my arm like a rising fog.
The mist thickened, and Rigby's form dissolved entirely, his tiny body vanishing into the light. My breath caught in my throat as the mist wrapped around my arm, becoming a soft, glowing tattoo—a white silhouette of Rigby, etched into my skin. The tattoo shimmered faintly, just as it had when I first bonded with him.
I stared at my arm, a sense of calm settling over me. Rigby was still there—merged with me somehow—and I could feel his presence, a steady hum of warmth and awareness. We were connected in a way I couldn't fully explain. This was amazing, I didn't have to worry about my formless companion.
But the moment was shattered by the door splitting apart.
CRACK.
The sound was deafening. The wood splintered as whatever was on the other side slammed into it with full force. My eyes snapped to the door—it wouldn't hold for much longer.
The growls grew louder, and through the small cracks in the door, I caught a glimpse of bloodied, twisted limbs pushing through. I didn't have time to wait for it to break down completely. That thing was coming for me, and if I stayed, I could die.
Without thinking, I bolted for the back porch, sliding open the glass door. The cold night air hit me hard, a sharp contrast to the chaos behind me. I didn't hesitate. I jumped over the railing, two stories up, knowing the fall would be lethal if I didn't act.
"Come on, come on," I muttered, concentrating harder than I ever had before.
I extended my hands, focusing with everything I had. I could feel the strain on my mind, the pressure building as I poured all my energy into forming a platform beneath me. A faint blue light shimmered in the air, flickering like static before solidifying as a purple platform just under my feet.
The shield held. Barely.
I landed hard on the shield platform, the force jarring through my legs as the shield wobbled under the weight. I gritted my teeth as I struggled to keep the platform steady. The pressure was intense—my mind felt like it was splitting, but I couldn't stop.
The ground was still too far away. If I dropped the platform now, the fall would kill me. I had to hold it, just for a few more seconds. I extended the platform forward, inching closer to the ground. My concentration wavered as I tried to maintain the structure, but with a final push, I let the shield dissolve just above the ground, landing with a thud on the grass below.
Pain shot through my legs, but I ignored it. The moment my feet touched the earth, I was moving again. The sounds of the door breaking apart filled the night air, followed by the growls of whatever had been hunting me.
I didn't stop to look back. I didn't want to see it.
With my heart pounding in my chest, I sprinted into the shadows, my floating bag trailing behind me as I ran. The cold air stung my face, but I pushed forward, adrenaline driving me as the apartment—and the snarling beast inside—faded into the distance.
The world outside wasn't any safer. The streets were filled with chaos—fires burning in the distance, distant screams echoing in the night. But it didn't matter. I had to keep moving. I had to survive.
And with Rigby's presence humming through the tattoo on my arm, I felt stronger. Not invincible, but stronger.
I didn't know where I was going yet. I just knew I couldn't stop.
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