On top of the headache from earlier, the feeling of hitting one’s head also was an issue. Surprisingly I wasn’t suffering from any cuts or bruises whatsoever when I woke up and decided to look around, mostly worried about the baby.
I took a few deep breaths, realizing that whatever it was that I experienced, it had to have been in my head. I had no injuries whatsoever which meant that it wasn’t real. At least, that’s what I was hoping for.
Struggling to get back to my feet, having to hold on to the swollen stomach that caused me many aches in my back, I got a good glimpse at the land around me and continued my denial of the situation.
I was on a rocky landscape, with patches of yellowish-gray grass here and there. There were atrociously tall mountains, almost cone-shaped, but jagged and irregular in form. The sky was clear, besides the horizons constantly having a red haze, but it appeared to be night and from up top, it was full of crimson stars and those eyeballs that were staring down at the surface of this world. But there was a moon that was taking up a large portion of the sky itself. Though it was currently a crescent form, I could tell that it was extremely close.
I felt something crawl past my foot, and jumped when I saw that it resembled an arthropod. More like roly-polies to be exact. Woodlouse if you’re a scientific mind. They were big compared to the ones on earth. Something that resembles the ones under the ocean.
I quickly walked away, trying to avoid the hundreds of them that were running around. At least they weren’t dangerous.
In the middle of the field, there was a small rock formation with a gaping hole. I figured higher ground would be the best course of action to know where I was, and this was the easiest object to climb. That being said, it still left my knees with a cracking pain and again I felt as if any moment my water might burst. The last thing I need to do is give birth by myself, on a strange, alien planet.
Reaching the top and looking at the deep hole that was about a hundred feet across. How deep it went, I could not say. I looked around the area and much of the landscape was the same. Jagged rock formations stretched unrealistically higher than any mountains that I have ever seen on Earth, blood-red horizons surrounded the edges of the landscape, with a solid black sky above, filled with dots of red stars and creepy eyeballs.
I gave up after about two minutes of really trying my best to see if I could find some semblance of civilization and looked back at the hole. I stared for a long time, my curiosity wondering just what sort of depths it was hiding.
When I looked closer, three eyeballs lined across from one another stared back up at me. This had me stunned and I regretted my peering into the abyss.
Before I even had a chance to climb back down, something touched my feet and I jumped, instantly falling back towards the hole and plummeting into it. But it turns out one of those arthropods rubbed up against me and now I was falling. By now, I was convinced that this would be my end. So I closed my eyes and tried to take deep breaths to prepare myself for the inevitable silence.
Yet that wasn’t the outcome.
I blacked out and woke up in the middle of a dark tunnel with a red light at the other end. There was a cold breeze that was blowing from behind me. Again, my body was unharmed and I took a few more steps forward, instantly realizing I could be hurt here when I scraped my toes up against some of the rocks beneath me. It stung, and it only brought me more encouragement to walk faster toward the light.
I walked into something that resembled a subway station in New York, but without any details. There was a yellowish-red light post hanging from the barren walls which looked like they were made with sandstone.
I was taken aback, wondering if I was having a really bad acid trip at this point.
There was a set of rails for a train, but when I walked to the platform that was too high for me to jump up to, something approached the edge to meet me.
An oily-skinned humanoid looked down at me, its flesh dripping but all splattered drops immediately rushed back to the feet. Two red, alien eyes broke from the head and it bent the knee, reaching its hand out to me.
I hesitated. I actually wanted to scream but no alarms were telling me that it was dangerous. I knew I was on railway tracks and sooner or later, something like a train might show up. I swallowed and reached for its palm. Surprisingly it was sticky but solid.
I got my footing and glanced at the mysterious being. Its glowing eyes stared back and I could only mutter a “thank you,” before leaving as fast as I could.
Running up a flight of stairs, I stepped out into a city. Again, it was barren from details, made of only solid rock like a mountain, black in its entirety, and had empty, red-colored roads with slumped forward bodies walking in long rows down sidewalks, kicking up sandy clouds.
I felt so out of place, my mind spinning with a desperation to make sense of where I was. Again, I wanted to start screaming, but everyone around me started to look at me. That was even more unnerving and I started running. I ran and ran. I can’t tell you for how long I kept going, the aching in my stomach and back. Eventually, it forced me to slow down and I saw an oval-shaped hole that was seven feet in height. I went inside, not exactly expecting to find anyone else.
I found myself walking into what seemed to be a restaurant. Still barren and minimalistic, I found a booth. Sitting on the hard seat, I pondered about what to do next? This had to be fake. I was dreaming that’s all.
I thought it’d be best if I took a few breathing exercises to calm my unsteady heart, but I wouldn’t have much time. Another one of those things approached me, this time with a feminine body form, but still having the oily black flesh.
I straightened up and my eyes were wide open. I couldn’t believe what was going on, and at this point, I was concluding that I had finally snapped being all by myself out there in the woods. But it didn’t even take that long?
The creature made some odd mumbly, grunting noises.
I stuttered, not knowing what to reply with. She was clearly talking to me, but I wasn’t understanding anything. I knew we were in a restaurant so instinctively I said, “Uh— anything is fine,”
She turned back, somehow knowing what I said.
During my whole stay there, I was constantly debating in my head if I should leave. But again, the baby was aggravated from all my running earlier and my legs were too. So I waited there until the “waitress” came back with whatever food. And then it hit me. Do they take money here?
I wouldn’t have any time to think before she came with a plate of red and slightly breathing meat-like substance. I wanted to throw up again because the thought of eating something that was partially alive wasn’t something I was in the mood for.
I looked around and saw that there was another patron nearby. He sat at the far end of the room, but I noticed that he was staring at me.
Unfortunately, I was hungry and I decided to convince myself that maybe one bite wouldn’t hurt. I didn’t have any utensils to use, so I grabbed a piece, hearing the creature squeal a little as I tore off part of the flesh.
Now I was feeling queasier than before, practically ready to just run out and hope that none of them chase after me.
But I was starving, and I took one bite.
For the first few seconds, I was under the impression that I would be instantly chucking it out of my mouth. Surprisingly, it was delicious. Fat-soaked meat that was greasy and easy to swallow.
I was so entranced by my meal that I started chowing down more.
I finished off the entire plate within a few minutes, relieving my hunger. But then I realized I still needed to pay for this. At least I think they demand payment.
When the waitress came back, her purplish, alien eyes stared down at me. She made more of those mumbling sounds and all I could say was how it was a good meal.
Then she placed something like a cube down on the table. A tiny cylinder popped out of the top and a blue light scanned my head.
I didn’t think anything changed and watched as the waitress came back and grabbed the cube, mumbling some more and then walking away.
I got up, confused about the whole situation and how I was able to walk right out as if nothing had happened.
“Okay, what did that cube do to me?”
***
Walking down the sidewalk, passing by the other sludge aliens. I only hoped to find someplace to get away from them until I was at a beach. I had walked for so long that I wasn’t aware that I had arrived at a rocky, instead of sandy, beach.
“Where do I go now?”
“Forward,” an echoing voice spoke.
I sharply turned around, surprised to hear someone speaking English besides myself.
It was that man from earlier. Now I was getting a good look at him. He was bald, but strangely enough wore clothes, draped in a black cloak with gold trimming and strange hieroglyphics symbols that hurt looking at. It was like my brain could not understand any of the strange shapes and refused to pay any more attention to them. But his skin was different. It wasn’t oily like everyone else’s was. It was leathery and his eyes were more akin to a human’s, except they had a red color. Still, his skin was black, but he seemed to have a slight layer of gray around his face and the top of his hands.
“You’re a human, aren’t you?” he acknowledged.
“Yeah, and you know my language.”
“Of course. You’d be surprised about me. Believe it or not, I’m a hybrid. My father was a human, but my mom was one of these beings.”
“What are they?” I asked, desperately needing an answer.
He smiled. “We’re called ‘Far Reachers.’”
“Really? I was expecting something like an alien language type name.” I said rather rudely without thinking.
“Oh, there is. That’s just what their name translates to in English. You wouldn’t understand their actual name.”
“I see,”
I stood there for a few seconds more, before getting down to the actual questions. I asked him why I was here, and how do I get back. He told me that there were few methods to get back to Earth. In fact, there’s always the chance I might end up on another planet in another universe if I’m not specific. This planet doesn’t exist in my universe, but it does exist in the massive hyperverse. A universe fifty times bigger than ours, so big in fact that it eats other universes sometimes every few hundred million years.
He told me to go find the golden man along with instructions on where to find him, he reiterated that he could take me to where I wanted to go.
“Thank you,” I said.
The man’s hands were clasped together and he pulled out a cube. Again, I ended up getting scanned once more.
“Hey, what’s up with that little cube that you guys got?”
“Oh, it’s nothing really. We’re a knowledge base society. The oily ones are the lowest class. The more intelligent “Our Kind” becomes, the more refined we begin to appear. These cubes extract certain knowledge that you know of. You can use that to buy and sell things. Everyone has a little knowledge that the other wants. Those who can attain much, move up. Those with bad spending habits stay around here.”
Then it hit me. That means I forgot two things now. “What did you take from me?”
“Don’t know, the cubes randomly pick whatever knowledge won’t be essential towards survival. So likely something trivial that you know of but it might be of use to me.”
This was hurting my head. I kept trying to think about what it was that he took. I tried to remember everything until it finally struck me. I wouldn’t be able to remember it. It would be as if I’ve never had it in the first place.
I ran as fast as I could, within reason, remembering I’m a pregnant woman. I didn’t like someone taking information out of my head, but I guess this is how it has to be in this world. I could afford to lose three or four bits of knowledge if it meant getting me back home. But I don’t want to be completely helpless by the time I get there.
I was told to go to the other side of the city towards the swamps. When I got there, there was a large body of reflective, orange water with withered, dead trees that all twisted and mangled into one another.
On a lone dock made of stone blocks stacked on top of one another, there was a small boat with the golden man standing close by.
When I approached him, I saw that his skin was way different. It wasn’t oily, and it wasn’t leathery. It was metallic. I thought the gold was just a skin color and not literal.
“I’d like to go home,” is what the leathery man told me to say.
“And where might home be?” his voice was soothing and almost euphoric to hear. I felt an unimaginable amount of calm and even ecstasy from it.
“E— Earth,” I said, before telling him the address of the house.
“Step aboard,” he said calmly.
I did so, in a trance and stared at him the entire time with dreamy eyes. Almost like having a really good acid trip this time around. Everything about this world was disturbing to look at. The lack of details, the barren stone designs, the absurdity of all the other creatures that lived here. And yet this man’s voice was the most wonderful thing in the world.
I looked up at the sky, still seeing those eyes staring down at me. And then I dangled my hand over the edge of the boat, dancing my fingers across the water like an ice skater in the ring. Now I was feeling a magical trip that I didn’t want it to end.
“Heed my warning child of Earth, you must get past Sara-kocasus, the Rebirther, and sacrifice a great knowledge to the Nexus Gate Guardians.”
Maybe if I wasn’t losing my mind over his angelic voice, I would’ve paid more attention to the seriousness of what he was saying.
And then the next moment, I was on the beach on the other side of this lake, looking back as the golden man pushed his oar into the water, slowly receding beyond my sight. The whole event was so strange and I couldn’t remember even getting off the boat. Still, my senses returned and I had to push forward into a great unknown.
***
My next location was a large open field, distant mountains made of red rocks and the scattered remains of pillars and deathly ancient buildings, long forgotten throughout the eons, were the only things to keep me company. I was growing tired, my legs aching again, and my stomach hurting twice as much. I wondered if it was almost time for the baby. I took a moment’s rest and felt the cool air brushing in my hair.
When I was able to get to my two feet again, I rushed over to the closest abandoned structure and hid inside its dusty halls.
Cold, alone, and given vague instructions to avoid some creature and find a group of guardians, I sometimes wondered if I hallucinated all that. Hallucinated everything. Maybe I could snap myself out of my hallucination?
I looked around, wanting to desperately break out of this nightmarish dream that I had found myself in.
But there was no glass, no blade, nothing to give me a shock to wake up. And then I thought for a little while longer. Maybe I wasn’t asleep. I started crying. No, I was sobbing so hard and bitterly throughout this chilly night. I let my life slip. My father took advantage of me and never once did I reach out to anyone for fear that they would reject me. I can’t tell how many times I wanted to end my life. How many times every year, I would contemplate and even attempt.
Now because of my indecision and reluctance to expose what he was doing, I have to carry a child that I never wanted. All I was going to do was put him up for adoption and hope for the best. Now we’re both going to die here in this strange, abhorrent world.
I don’t know how long I was in that hallway crying and thinking about everything that went wrong, but I know one thing. Eventually, my brain was kind enough to knock me out. I slipped into sleep, where no anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem can follow.
***
A rock falling was enough to wake me up, back to reality or whatever I could call this place. I heard the whistle ring of something coming from deep within the building, emerging from the shadows.
I got to my feet as fast as I could, aching my way to the exit before I briefly took a look behind.
A large, rose-colored maw, possessing hundreds of thistle-like teeth stood out of the darkness, revealing solid black eyes. There was no question in my mind that it was looking at me, and three pincers like that of a crab crawled out from behind the creature.
A low growl escaped from it, and I left the building as fast as I could. The creature came rushing out after me, but it was slow moving thankfully. That was good enough for me because I too was in a predicament where I couldn’t move as fast as I used to. My large belly currently inhibiting me.
It didn’t chase me for very long, and it quickly turned back, allowing me to catch a glimpse of its full body. It had eight legs, a long, armored body like a crab, and a stinger at the end that resembled a scorpion.
I believed it was a stealth hunter and wasn’t going to pursue me any further. I guess I escaped that creature that the golden man had warned me about.
Returning to my journey westward, I made sure that I never stopped for anything. I wasn’t sure how many more of these things were hiding in the other buildings, these abandoned, temple-like structures that seemed to have been left in a haste, as if their inhabitants were in the middle of something and quickly forgot about where they lived.
But then I came towards the mountains and there was a narrow crevice that cut right through.
I took a deep breath and slowly navigated down the cliff face into the crevice, wondering if I was going the right way still.
Nothing else too interesting had happened up until I reached a large cavity that cut right down into the middle. Some side paths wrapped around to the other end where I could continue forward, and I tried my best to stay as close to the wall.
“Easy there,” I said to reassure myself.
I probably should’ve kept quiet. When the words had finally left my mouth, from deep within the cavity I heard something erupting with a low moaning.
The ground was quaking and pebbles and rocks were tumbling off the edges and past my face from the wall.
From the darkness, I looked in and saw something rising up above it. In the red light, a creature emerged. Its body was covered in a honeycomb-like surface, each of them covered over by a thin layer of skin and filled with a fluid. There were three large eyes, indescribable and beyond alien. Five, exceedingly long tentacles rose up around it, and whatever it was had become aware of me. I had nowhere else to go and panicked, wondering if I should just throw myself into the abyss below than go through with whatever this thing was going to do.
Before I could come to a decision, I felt one of the tentacles wrap around me. It lifted me up and I kept screaming, trying my best to claw at the slimy appendage.
From inside the many sacks on its skin, I saw other creatures inside. One had a long, tubular body with a starfish-like head. The other had a large, bulbous head with a thin neck. It also had wings and a gadfly-like body.
I was lifted up near the top of the creature where a large mouth with no teeth awaited me.
Again, I tried to fight off my entrapment and then felt the release. It dropped me into its mouth and I fell into a slimy, cramped, and fleshy place.
I couldn’t move around very well but I felt myself being forced down into something. Whatever the slime was, I also could feel my clothes deteriorating rapidly and I was losing my hair all over as well.
Then I felt a sudden pressure as I was pushed up against a soft wall and forced through into a decent-sized space of tissue and a liquid that was filling it.
I didn’t have much air left but I swam to the other side. It was only eight feet from one end to the other, and I could see outside that we were going back down into the pit. I was in one of those sacks of honeycomb skin.
When I tried using my nails to claw out, it was no use. The skin was not going to break.
The last bit of air receded and I was submerged in this strange liquid, trapped in darkness with only a slight red glow from nearby.
What I’m about to say next is mostly from descriptions of what I could feel. I wasn’t able to see any of this stuff, but from feeling around, I was able to get a good idea of what was happening and it may unsettle some people.
I ran out of breath and my body forced me to breathe in. Strangely, there was a brief moment where fire erupted inside my lungs, but after a few more intakes, I felt better. I’m not sure what it was, but it felt soothing. It was like I had been here before and it felt so warm.
Then I felt a slight tickle around my belly button, followed by a sudden sharpness that pierced straight through it, forcing its way into me. I let out a scream from inside that liquid, but still, I saw nothing and I thrashed around before finally, a rush of relaxation hit. I was being paralyzed by this cord.
I kept breathing the liquid in, and whatever this long, ropey thing was that had dug itself into my stomach, I realized there was nothing I could do. But I remembered what all this was. I was in a womb. I was being treated as if I was a baby inside its mother. Which brings me to another level of messed up considering I have a baby already inside me. What will happen to him?
I faded in and out of consciousness. My body relaxed more than it’s ever been in it my entire life as if I was almost entering a death state. I wanted out but I wanted this bliss. This felt so safe, so peaceful. And with that, I went comatose.
***
I reawakened. My mind was racing as I saw my enveloping darkness with the faint red glow nearby. I felt that the umbilical cord was still attached to me and I wondered how long it had been since I lost consciousness. A month, two months, God I don’t know.
There were contractions and I felt myself being forcibly moved toward the thin layer of skin that kept me from the outside world. A whipping, twisting feeling moved about from my stomach and the cord detached itself from me. No pain, only a sudden detachment from something that was motherly and familiar.
I was pushed further toward the thin skin layer, and it felt harder than it was before. It was brittle, like moving through a thin layer of frost.
There was a sudden flapping of flesh that sent me forward, bursting out of my honeycombed-shaped womb.
I fell onto the ground covered in a soft, fleshy substance. Red meat with thousands of strands of veins pulsed as a heartbeat thumped near me.
Getting to my feet, I saw a narrow passage up ahead. Rubbing my eyes and heading towards the light, I squeezed through the cramped, stone space, scraping my skin all over and worrying about my baby the whole time. My feet dragged against sharp rocks beneath me, and it felt like I was trapped in a trance. I wanted to go back.
Whatever that creature was, I could only think of it as my mother. A warm, safe place. But my movements weren’t mine anymore. I marched forward without any control.
Emerging out of the mountains, I looked ahead and saw a thick mist obscuring a cliff face with six pillars of jagged rocks stacked on top of each other, beaten by roaring waves and surrounding a series of large boulders not too different from Stonehenge.
I was covered in cuts, blood dripping thickly to the ground with prints left behind by my feet. Naked but unashamed, I navigated through the pathway towards the coast and stepped out onto the cliff, dragging my feet across the pointed pebbles beneath me. The mist that surrounded the area changed, condensing to form a singular figure on each of the pillars, situating them on top of each one like it was a throne.
“Speak little one,” the largest one who sat in the center, bellowed.
“I… I’m from Earth. I want to go home.”
The one on the far right said, “She smells of Sara-kocasus. She’s gone through the metamorphosis. She could be dangerous for the other humans of her planet.”
The one on the middle left interrupted, “No. It’s not her precisely. It seems like she was already carrying young. It has absorbed most of the DNA rewriting. And this is even more grave. It would seem the child that the Nexus Gate had foretold of has finally been conceived.”
The middle one, draped in large, velvet robes, stroked his chin. His skin was a bright red, but he had one eye and his fingers were long and curling.
The others were of a similar look, but they were smaller than the one in the center, he was nearly three times their size and his pillar was also the largest.
Then the one on the far left said, “Great Master of the Old Ones, what do you think we should do? Should we keep her here, or let her return?”
He looked like he was lost in his own thoughts. But then he stood. “I have decided. Earth of Universe 43-HWK-94-KAPPA is the center point of a great catastrophe that could end this multiverse. But I see no harm in allowing her to return. She is not of any importance anyway. The child, on the other hand, is most significant.”
The one on the middle left said, “Could it be that you see a chance stop this ending of us?”
He turned. “We are not in any danger. But if the Lords of Whispers are influencing this birth, we’d be wise to not involve ourselves, lest they send us to the Scarlet Hawk.”
The other four murmured but nodded in approval.
I stood in the center of the Stonehenge-like structure, wondering what they were talking about and trying not to take offense.
“Wait, what will my child be—”
A thunderous boom and a brief moment of weightlessness struck me and I found myself collapsing onto gravel.
I got to my feet and I was outside my house again on the driveway.
Joy had once again crept into my heart, and I ran towards the foot of the stairs, happy that I was finally back home. When I got inside, I checked my phone and saw that I had a dozen missed calls. It was from my grandparents. Happy that I was back on Earth, right as I was about to call them back, I felt a sudden contraction. And then more pain. And then my water broke.
Letting out some painful cries, I did the best thing that I could do. I called 911.
***
The events that took place after all of that have been some of the worst days of my life. That day, I gave birth to an extremely healthy young boy. The doctor said that they had never seen a child with such strong vitals. I could hardly believe it myself considering that he should have at least had something wrong with him. I drank alcohol and smoked even a few times. His father is also my father and I can’t understand why he is the way he is, but it made me think back about what those five figures said. I wondered if that motherly entity really did change my son into something else.
Regardless, I found out that I had been missing for nearly a month. But I know I was in that other world much longer. Upon further reflection, I would put an estimate of over a year. I think that’s how long I was trapped inside that creature.
I also found out that I forgot a few things. Namely, getting dressed again. It took some time to relearn to wear clothes, and a lot of the doctors believe that I had a psychological breakdown. I also forgot the ability to cook, so I had to rely on others to walk my way back towards doing such simple tasks as those.
But it doesn’t matter. I can’t stand my son. He’s so quiet. He rarely ever cried growing up and now he’s almost five. I named him Arthur, the same name as my grandpa. I thought using such a familiar name might warm me up to him, but he’s so different. He doesn’t even treat me like I’m his mom. He acts as if I’m a caretaker and nothing more. What makes me even more nervous is that he’s a lot smarter than children his age should be.
I would do something drastic like maybe abandon him, but I have my own set of problems. I long to return to that creature that held me in the cradle of the womb again. I can’t live without it.
But I tried to go back. I even returned to the house and said the word. Yet nothing happened.
I begged. I tore out my hair in a blind frenzy. I wept all through the night.
On one particular morning, I laid in the bathtub, hoping that the warm water could simulate the feeling. A vain approach. I realized that there’s no other reason for me to stay alive anymore. I’m finishing this tale as a reminder to any of my relatives. Don’t go stooping around the house. It leads one to a dark, miserable place. I’ve become so distraught that I can’t bare taking another breath in this soon to be destroyed world. I can’t bare to look at my terrible son anymore. It should be him being hung, but that wouldn’t solve my pain.
I’m going to hang myself on one of the trees outside. Finally, I’ll be free of this longing for something unattainable.
One final word, I need the family to keep an eye on Arthur. He’s more dangerous than you can possibly imagine. And it’s only a matter of time before he knows that.