Stepping through the gate I knew something was wrong. The sound of the hounds and enraged screams that had been chasing me were suddenly gone… only to be replaced with something far worse. Looking around the new place I was, I wondered if I had been lied to. I was told that this was the path back to my home… but this place, that didn’t make any sense.
I went from standing in the middle of a dark forest… to suddenly standing in something that looked like a war-torn landscape. The ground was burnt black with deep cracks in the dried out ground. The air was dry and so very hot. Everything looked like multiple bombs had gone off all over the area… like what you’d imagine a nuclear testing ground to look like.
This could not be the path home. What path back to a world I might recognize would go through… well, someplace that looked like every description of Hell, but without any lakes of fire. This had to be the wrong place.
Standing there, trying to catch my breath in the sweltering heat, I turned to go back the way I came… only to discover there was nothing behind me. No path. No gate. No forest… nothing… just an endless hellscape stretching out behind me, same as it did in all other directions.
“This was a trap, this had to have been a trap. Was that even Mike to begin with? I was too trusting? What if he was a fake and this was all some way to get me killed?”
I didn’t know what to do or where to go. There was literally nothing around me.
“Where is the path I was told to take?”
The ground all around me looked exactly the same as everything else. If there was a path at one time, whatever happened here… destroyed the path beyond all hope of finding it.
“Hello!”
I called out as loud as I could, my voice echoing somehow… then winced in regret. I shouldn’t have done that. I had an instant feeling of fear wash over me, along with the feelings of thousands of invisible eyes locking in on my location. The feeling of being prey filled me and I knew I had messed up.
“I… I need to get out of here. Something is going to come for me…”
Panic filled me and I ran blindly straight away from where I was standing. Fear drove my feet and I ran in a random direction as everything looked the same. I just knew I had to get away… before whatever was coming for me showed up.
Running frantically forward, I heard a howl of rage behind me as a dust storm started up. Dust began to choke me as it became harder and harder to breathe. I tried to ignore it and just keep running but slowly the edges of my vision started to go gray.
I knew I was going to pass out, but some primitive animal instinct deep inside me made me keep running. Striving to not die, I kept going even as I could hear someone or something chasing after me.
The sound of running footsteps grew louder and louder as whatever it was began to catch up with me. It sounded like multiple creatures or something running on all fours. Whatever it was, I knew deep down inside that it was going to catch me.
Whatever it was was so close I could feel hot breath wafting over me and the smell of rotting flesh overpowered the smell of the dust swirling around me. I could feel that it was close enough to reach out and grab me and in that final moment… I knew I was going to die.
Just when I thought it was the end, I felt something sharp tear into my back… clawing me from the base of my neck, clean down my back. Crying out in pain, I fell forward and tripped over one of the cracks in the ground.
Falling forward, the ground seemed to vanish and I tumbled out over the edge of a cliff I hadn’t seen. As I fell, my body twisted and writhed in pain… allowing me to look up to where I had been… and what I saw terrified me.
Whatever it was that was chasing me looked completely inhuman. Some twisted, melted cross between a man and a deer… more skeletal than flesh… with glowing blue eyes glared down at me. It made me think of images I’d seen once of a Wendigo in a book of folklore I read as a child. Strangely, the beast somehow managed to keep from chasing me off the edge and was screaming down at me as I fell. Watching it get smaller and smaller, I knew there was no way I’d survive a fall from something this high.
I knew this was my end… but I wanted to face it as bravely as possible so I twisted my body as best I could and blinked in shock at what lay below me. All I could see was a large black expanse. Was it water? Was it land? Was it something else? All I knew was I’d be hitting it soon…
* * * * *
Icy cold enveloped my body as I hit the darkness below me. It surrounded me like water but didn’t feel wet… and didn’t slow me down. Further and further I fell through the darkness until far below me I could see a tiny point of light.
The closer it came to me, the bigger it appeared and I began to hear sound, like rushing wind all around me… only realizing at that moment that it was completely silent before. Had I been deaf or was it something about the darkness that seemed to soak up all the sound around me.
Suddenly all I could hear was the roar of rushing wind all around me… but didn’t feel any of it.
“None of this makes sense. How am I still falling?”
Looking down through the darkness I could see the light getting bigger as it got closer… bigger and bigger until it filled my vision completely. Soon the light was so bright that I couldn’t see anymore and I had to close my eyes… but still I could see the light through my eyelids.
I fell into the light and suddenly I could feel the wind all around me, whipping my hair and my clothing as I fell. The light faded some and I opened my eyes again to see blue sky as far as I could see… and what looked like an ocean far underneath me.
I seemed to be slowing down a little as well and as I saw the water rushing up toward me, I could see what looked like civilization in the distance. I knew I was going to hit the water and if I didn’t slow down even more… it would kill me.
Since I could finally feel the wind, I stretched out my body to try to catch more of the wind and thought that it might be slowing me down… but I wasn’t sure. I’d done all that I could and as the water loomed underneath me, I closed my eyes and raised my hands up to protect my face.
* * * * *
I hit the water like a brick. Pain exploded all throughout my body as I quickly sank down beneath the surface. Deeper and deeper I went until I could final stretch out and start swimming back up to the surface.
Opening my eyes all I could see was dark blue that slowly turned lighter the higher I swam. I was holding my breath but the shock of hitting the water knocked some of my air out of me as I could feel a sharp burning in my chest. My lungs were screaming for oxygen as the surface got closer and closer. I didn’t think I was going to make it… but thankfully, somehow, I managed to break the surface.
Gasping for breath, I tread water and looked all around. To my left, in the distance, I could see what looked like a beach. I didn’t know how far away it was… but I knew I had to get to it. Turning in that direction, I started swimming… going easy so as to conserve what energy I had left.
I swam for what felt like an hour before I could see people standing on the beach. They were staring and pointing and I wonder if someone saw me falling. As I got closer, I saw three people… a man and two women… dive into the water and swim out toward me.
The man reached me first and quickly moved to help my stay up.
“Hang on man… I got ya.”
The two women came up close on either side of me and shoved some orange floating things under my arms.
“How did you survive that? You fell out of the sky!”
Blinking I just stared at them and swallowed hard.
“I don’t know. I should be dead.”
The three of them shared a look and it was then the man noticed my back.
“Holy shit… your back is shredded. Did you hit some coral?”
Shaking my head, I winced as he touched the deep gashes.
“No… the beast clawed me in hell before I escaped…”
One of the women placed her hand on my forehead as we neared the beach.
“He’s burning up. He must be delusional. We need to get him to a hospital fast.”
The man nodded and pulled me up out of the water.
“I called in an ambulance when we were told about his fall. They should be… there.”
An ambulance was parked at the edge of the sand and some EMT’s were rushing toward them.
“He’s alive?! Help us get him on a gurney.”
The male lifeguard turned me as he all but carried me toward the ambulance.
“His back is shredded and Brittany says he’s running a fever. He’s not making much sense either.”
The EMT who spoke to them made a note and they placed me on my stomach on the gurney.
“We’re going to need to close those wounds…”
A hand pushed the skin together and the incoming spike of pain knocked me unconscious.
* * * * *
I came to sometime later feeling something cool blowing across my bare back. Keeping my eyes closed, I listened and could hear a soft beeping sound. I tried to keep my breathing slow and steady and just listen and could make out someone nearby quietly mumbling to themselves.
“… identification on the victim. Hard to gauge his age but physical examination leads me to believe he’s probably somewhere between 20 and 25. Deep lacerations on the back are the most obvious injury along with two broken ribs and a cracked femur…”
The voice sounded like a doctor… so I was taken to a hospital. Whoever it was, was either talking to someone else or to themselves.
“… unknown infection with trace elements of something we haven’t been able to identify yet…”
They found something inside me? My eyes opened a crack and I could see someone dressed in white standing in what looked like a doorway.
“… signs of previous injuries within the last ten years with unusual scars located around the genital region. I’m unable to figure out what they pertain to as of yet but a more thorough examination will be performed once the patient is fully awake and able to…”
Scars where? What did Laura do to me in those years I can’t remember?
“… recommended that a full investigation along with a psych eval be undertaken according to word from the lifeguards that rescued him. Possible delusional state… possibly something worse…”
Hearing those words I felt a cold chill go through me. They thought I might be crazy. This wasn’t good. I watched a lot of TV before Laura took me away. I know how they treat crazy people. I”m not going to some place where they’ll keep me drugged up and beat me into submission; would rather die first.
“… be notifying the local authorities once patient is fully awake.”
The doctor stopped talking and walked away. I could hear his… her… footsteps getting softer until it was quiet once more. I waited a bit longer then opened my eyes fully and looked around.
The room was white with machinery all around me. I was definitely in a hospital but one that looked more advanced than anything I’d seen before. Everything was clean and shiny and there was this strange black rectangle on the wall across from my bed.
Taking a deep breath, I noticed that it didn’t hurt to breathe.
“If I have broken ribs… why doesn’t it hurt?”
Rolling onto my back, I expected to feel pain… but my back felt fine. Sliding a hand behind me, I couldn’t feel any torn skin… just a smooth back… like nothing had happened.
“What’s going on here?”
Bringing my right hand back up to my face, I scratched my cheeks and felt the beginnings of a beard. I was clean shaven when I left the castle. My fingers rubbed all over my face, surprised by how thick the hair was.
“How long have I been unconscious?”
Sitting up higher, I noticed a clear tube running from a metal stand next to the bed… all the way into the back of my hand. Frowning, I pulled the tube out and saw a spurt of blood spray across the bed before it stopped.
“What’s this thing?”
Shrugging I dropped the tube and slowly got to my feet. I could hear the soft beeping noise from before getting louder, but ignored it as I tried to stand. My legs felt weak and I was very wobbly. Looking around, I could see another room off to the side and moving slowly… I hobbled over into it.
It was a bathroom, although an odd looking one, and I was able to finally see myself in a mirror. I looked so old. The last memory I had of myself was being thirteen… but now, I looked so much older. Before I was skinny and small and so pale. Now I was tall, pretty muscular looking and very tan. My hair was long and tangled and I could see the beard on my face.
“I look so weird.”
Reaching up, I brushed my fingers against the mirror and noticed a red streak on the glass. Looking down at my fingers, I saw blood on them and looked back at myself in the mirror.
“What the…”
My reflection was different. Gone was the clean tan face looking back at me, replaced by a gaunt, skeletal bloody thing staring back. I jumped back in shock and felt a stab of pain as I bumped into the wall.
Spinning in place, I saw a bloody spot where I brushed up against it. Reaching back around behind me, I could feel open wounds and blood dripping down my back.
“What’s happening? I thought I was ok.”
I turned back to the mirror and everything was back to what it had been before. The mirror was clean and I looked the same as when I first looked into it. No blood, no skeletal face… just normal healthy skin.
“Am I crazy?”
I turned to head back to the bed and jumped when I saw something out of a horror movie in the room beyond. There was no hospital room. There was no bed or machinery. No… all I could see was a stone altar covered in blood and symbols with bowls filled with, who knows what, nearby. I didn’t want to look closer but they looked like blood and organs. Were they mine?
Grabbing onto the door frame, I closed my eyes and took in a shuddering breath… then opened them to see the room was a hospital room once more.
“… in there?”
A woman dressed in blue appeared in front of me and reached out to take my arm.
“You need to get back in bed, sir. You shouldn’t be up and you shouldn’t have removed your IV. We’re going to have to put in a new one.”
She escorted me back to the bed and helped me back into it, lifting my legs for me, before she began to work on the machine next to me.
“… to see you awake. You’ve been sleeping for a long time since they brought you in.”
Swallowing I looked up at her smiling face and blinked as her face went demonic for a moment… only to return to human seconds later.
“Where am I?”
She smiled at me and slowly inserted a new tube… an IV she called it… back into my arm.
“You’re in the hospital and now that you’re awake, I have a few questions for you if you don’t mind. For starters, could you tell me your name?”
I looked at her eyes and they flashed red for a split second then changed to a soft green.
“Peter… my name is Peter… but where am I, not the hospital?”
The nurse frowned at me and tilted her head.
“What do you mean?”
Sighing at not being able to explain myself, I pointed to the window.
“What is that out there?”
She looked at me and her eyes widened, finally understanding.
“Oh… you’re in Hilo… Hawaii.”
Hawaii?!
My eyes widened in shock and the nurse frowned.
“You didn’t know that? Weren’t you skydiving or something and had an accident with your parachute? That’s what they told us when they brought you in.”
I blinked and shook my head slowly.
“No… the void dropped me into the ocean…”
The nurse frowned even more at me and backed away.
“The void… right… they said you needed a psych evaluation. I forgot that… um… anyway, please don’t pull out your IV again and if you need something…”
She picked up a small device and handed it to me.
“Press this red button if you need something. We don’t want you getting up without one of us here. Oh and these buttons control the TV.”
She pressed a button and the black rectangle suddenly turned on. It was a TV? Since when did they look like that?
“Ok…”
Giving me a smile, she checked the machine once more then turned and walked away. I waited until she was gone then looked at the… IV… again.
“How am I going to get out of here with that thing attached to me. Taking it out made them notice me so they must be able to see me or it from somewhere outside this room.”
Sitting there, I let out a sigh and began to wonder what was going on. Everything kept changing… the nurse, myself and the room. Why would I see different versions of everything around me?
“… news out of Montana as reports have come in saying that Yellowstone National Park has erupted… I repeat, Yellowstone has erupted.”
Turning to look at the TV, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I didn’t know Yellowstone was a volcano and how could something that big even erupt? The TV was showing everything from very high up and it looked like the entire state was nothing but lava, fire and smoke.
“… endangers everything for a 1000 mile radius. Reports are coming in that the death total is in the hundreds of thousands as Montana has virtually been destroyed… with death totals expected to rise as the fallout expands to nearby states. The dead could potentially reach one million…”
Staring at the chaos on the TV, I knew this couldn’t be real. There was no way something like this could happen.
“This is not my home. I’ve gone… somewhere else, somewhere bad. I need to get out of here. I need to get back to that… that place, somehow… and go another direction.”
Getting out of the bed, I started to pull the IV out again, then noticed the machine had wheels and dragged it with me over to the window. Looking outside, I could see I was fairly high up… third floor maybe?
Could I survive falling from that height? I survived falling into the ocean from more than ten times as high… I could survive this too.
I tried to open the window and thankfully it wasn’t locked. The glass slid up to reveal a screen and a slight ledge outside the window. Pushing on the screen, I could see it flex some. Pushing a bit harder, I watched it pop free and drop to the ground below.
I might not have much time before someone came to drag me off to he examined, so if I was going to do this… I had to do it now. Looking out the window I took a deep breath, pulled the IV out, then crawled out into the ledge.
I could hear a loud beeping sound and knew someone would be running in any second now. Looking down at the ground below, I saw some bushed and jumped toward them…
* * * * *
There was a loud snap as my body hit the ground… and with it, a burst of pain from my ankle. I think I broke my right ankle. The pain was intense, but I needed to escape.
“Hey!”
Looking up, I saw the nurse staring down at me from my window. Gone was the kind mask and in clear view now was a very demonic face.
“Come back here!”
Getting to my feet, I hobbled out of the bush while still looking up at her. I wasn’t looking where I was going as I stumbled toward the road and the last thing I heard was a horn as something slammed into me and everything went black.
* * * * *
Gasping for breath, I blinked as my body exploded in pain… and then everything stopped. Nothing hurt anymore and I was… oh god…
I was back in the wasteland. I could see faint footprints heading off to the north… followed by what I’m guessing were the footprints of the Wendigo beast creature. Somehow I was back where I started.
“Am I dead? Is… could this really be Hell?”
Looking around, I knew better this time than to say anything. I didn’t want to draw their attention again.
I knew north was bad… south was where the gate had been and potentially might be bad as well… so I had to choose either west or east. Looking both ways… I knew there really was no choice.
“I’ll just take one of them… until I get home… or die and end up back here.”
Feeling defeated, I turned to the west and started walking… knowing whether is be home or death… at least it was something… and just standing here wasn’t an option. At least this time, I knew to remain silent.
I didn’t want anyone to know I was here…