I drifted deeper and deeper into nothingness. The world around me faded, replaced by a darkness that seemed to pulse with malevolent intent.
Then, cutting through the void—
"Kai... Kai... KAI!"
My eyes shot open, heart hammering against my ribcage as Maya's voice pierced through the darkness. I gasped, drawing in a desperate breath. Disoriented, I blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of my surroundings.
I was in the exact same spot in Eldor as before the green mist had appeared. The cobblestone street beneath me felt solid, real. The buildings—old and weathered but familiar—stood silent around us. Maya and Rowan stood next to me, their faces painted with concern.
"Kai, are you okay?" Maya asked gently, her hand warm against my trembling shoulder. Her eyes searched mine, looking for signs of injury or distress.
"I-I..." Words failed me, syllables jumbling in my throat as I struggled to process what had happened. The vision—or was it a dream?—replayed in fragments across my mind. My mother's face contorted in rage, Ms. Clementine's hollow eyes staring through me as water filled my lungs. It had felt so real.
"They drowned me," I whispered, more to myself than to my friends. My mom and Ms. Clementine... they held me underwater. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't—
"Kai?" Rowan's voice broke through my spiraling thoughts "Are you with us?"
Reality snapped back into focus. Whatever had happened to me—to us—would have to wait. The town was still in danger. We were still in danger.
"I-I saw a vision," I managed, pushing myself up to a sitting position. "Or had a dream. I'm not really sure, but I think whatever that green mist was caused it."
Rowan and Maya exchanged a glance, their faces darkening. The silence that followed held an electric tension.
"Yeah, we had them too," Rowan finally said, his voice rough. "They weren't... pleasant."
His words hung in the air, heavy with unspoken horrors. What had they seen? Had their nightmares been as vivid, as personal as mine? I opened my mouth to ask, but Maya spoke first.
"Whatever happened," she said, eyes narrowing with determination, "I can feel that the cause is still in the center of town." she paused and gazed at the corner ahead of us. "I don't know why we woke up when everyone else hasn't, but we can't just leave them here. We have to stop this."
I hesitated, fear curling in my stomach like a cold, heavy stone. Part of me wanted to grab my friends and run—flee Eldor and never look back. But Maya was right. The townspeople were innocent. They didn't deserve whatever fate had befallen them.
"Alright," I nodded, steeling myself. "Let's go, but be careful."
Rowan and maya looked at me exchanging simple nods.
We turned toward the corner that lay between us and the town center—between us and whatever malevolent force had engulfed Eldor in nightmares. Each step felt heavier than the last, the weight of dread pressing down on us.
The street was eerily silent. No birds sang, no dogs barked. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath. As we approached the corner, I found myself forgetting to breathe, my lungs frozen with anticipation.
Sweat dripped down my forehead despite the chill in the air. My heart pounded so loudly I was certain the others could hear it. We paused at the edge of the building, exchanging one last look of resolve before turning the corner.
Nothing could have prepared me for what stood in the middle of the town square.
The creature—if it could even be called that—made every muscle in my body lock with primal terror. Instinct screamed at me to turn and run, to flee and never look back, but I remained rooted to the spot, transfixed by the horror before me.
It stood no more than twenty feet away, towering at least ten feet tall on legs that bent backward at the knees, like some grotesque inversion of human anatomy. The thing was impossibly thin, as if it had been stretched beyond the limits of matter itself—skin pulled taut over a skeletal frame that seemed too angular, too wrong to be natural.
But its torso... God, its torso was the stuff of nightmares. The skin around its abdomen was simply gone, exposing glistening organs and ribs that expanded and contracted with each labored breath. What skin it did possess was a sickly gray, like the flesh of something long dead but refusing to decompose.
And its face... its face was the worst of all.
The head resembled a deformed bat, with a stretched, elongated skull and ears that twitched at odd angles. Beady red eyes glowed with malevolent intelligence, and its mouth—too large for its face—stretched horribly, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth that protruded at jagged angles. The lower part of its jaw was bare bone, gleaming white against the gray skin above.
The monster stood motionless for a moment, as if savoring our presence. Then, with terrifying suddenness, those red eyes locked onto ours.
The fear that washed over me was unlike anything I'd ever experienced—worse than the drowning nightmare, worse than any danger we'd faced before. My hands shook violently, cold sweat running down my fingertips and pooling in my palms. My teeth chattered so loudly I was certain the sound would carry across the square.
Despite the overwhelming urge to vomit, to scream, to collapse, I couldn't look away. Those eyes held me captive, paralyzed with a terror that seemed to seep into my very bones.
After what felt like an eternity—but was likely only seconds—the creature did something that turned my blood to ice.
It smiled.
The already grotesque mouth stretched wider, impossibly wider, until it nearly split its face in two. Thick, viscous drool dripped from between its teeth, sizzling as it hit the cobblestones below. The creature took a single, deliberate step forward, the sound of its foot striking the ground echoing through the silent square.
Despite my terror, despite the paralysis that had gripped me, one thought burned through the fog of fear: I need to protect my friends.
With every ounce of willpower I possessed, I forced my eyes closed and turned away, breaking the creature's hypnotic hold. I grabbed Maya and Rowan, their skin cold and clammy beneath my fingers.
"Guys! Snap out of it!" I hissed, shaking them.
The moment I touched them, something changed. The slow, deliberate pace of the creature ceased. There was a horrible scraping sound, like nails on slate, and I turned back to see the monster had dropped to all fours, its spine contorting in ways that defied anatomy.
For a heartbeat, it remained still, its red eyes gleaming with malicious intent.
Then it charged.
Panic exploded through me, adrenaline finally overriding the paralyzing fear. I grabbed my friends' arms, yanking them backward as I screamed the only thing I could think of:
"RUN!"