>>201535
At least, that’s what it seems like.
In an instant, the city lights vanish. For the first time since you got to this country, it’s totally silent. Like if the whole city and everyone in it disappeared. Without the ambient lighting, you suddenly can’t see a foot in front of you. It’s like you’re the only person left in the world. But…
But you don’t
feel alone. There’s something like oil dripping down your spine, a feeling of being watched. Whether it’s some kind of sixth sense or an ancient primal instinct, you know for a fact that there is
something else here. You’re frozen in terror, hoping that whatever is out there, it can’t see in the dark any better than you can. That’s when you realize something.
It’s getting darker. As if all light is being drained out of the sky, the forest is gradually getting darker and darker. You regain control of your legs, and without any conscious thought, you break out into a mad dash. You can tell that it’s following you, chasing you easily, without footsteps, without breath. Like a force of nature that’s turned its gaze on you and you alone. Your heart is a drumbeat, thump, thump, thump, your legs have gone numb. Your back itches like crazy. Your hair keeps getting in your face.
By now the darkness has reached its peak, and your eyes are now useless. It’s a miracle you don’t end up running into a tree. The only conscious thought in your head is the need to escape, to get away. Something slimy slides past you, again and again, raking at your body with icy claws. You aren’t sure, but you think that at least your pockets have been totally shredded. Again, and again, and again, the slimy something keeps tripping you up, clawing at you, and the thing that’s chasing you is getting closer, and closer.
Maybe you tripped on a piece of your shredded clothes. Maybe your shoelaces came undone. Maybe whatever’s been trying to trip you up finally sweeps you off your feet. Either way, the inevitable happens: you trip and fall. You brace yourself for hitting the ground, or maybe for the thing behind you to catch up, but neither of those happen.
Instead, you fall into some kind of liquid. It’s oily and slimy, just like the clawed something. You hold your breath, trying to swim up, but it seems intent on keeping you from breaking the surface. Instead it pushes you downwards. You’re forced to let go of your breath as the liquid squeezes you, forcing the content of your lungs out. Your senses dull, your struggles slow, and you just sink further and further and further, deeper and deeper, down down
d
o
w
n
d
o
w
n