Neither a dream nor a hallucination.
Thursday.
No.
Saturday.
I think it's Saturday.
It had been a while since I had left the comfort zone of my own room, and to be honest I hadn't felt like leaving it at all. Unfortunately for me, the supply of crisps, sodas and whatever junk I've left in my mini fridge had run out. Sometimes I just stand there at the doorknob, wondering if the whole world outside has been completely ruined and I've been left behind. But then I got worried, since I wouldn't have been able to refresh my supply.
Click.
The door unlocked as I twisted the cold brass knob. It creaked open, echoing through the empty hallway. I peeked a head out. The hallway was empty and dark, save for a ray of moonlight on the window to the left of me. My parents and sibling's doors down the hallway were closed and bore no light under the cracks. I guessed that they were sleeping.
What was the time?
2:40 AM.
My feet tread lightly on the floorboards, avoiding the usual spots that would have creaked. I tiptoed my way down the hallway and down the stairs, having picked up the (regularly) cleaned school sports jacket that I had been wearing ever since I've received it from a birthday. I turned my head from the coat stand to see light coming from the kitchen. Normally I'd assume that it would be a robber, but with my dad's position as a police officer, I doubt they'd come here unless heavily armed.
My curiosity peaked nonetheless, and I shuffle down to the kitchen with my socks sliding across the carpet, making a slight noise.
My head peeked inside, though I winced a little from the bright light. My interest fell as I saw my mom on the table, her face down on the flat surface as her arms covered her eyes from the light. I sighed, hoping that I could have seen something else. My hands edged towards the light switch and flicked them, which covered the large kitchen in darkness, save from the light that bounced off the shiny pans and pots that were left to dry next to the sink.
I moved away, going back to my earlier objective until I heard a quiet mumble.
"Thank you, sweetie."
I didn't reply.
"Buy something healthy for once, alright?"
Of course she knew that it was me. What kind of idiot wandered around the house at two in the morning? Regardless, I wore my jacket, zipped it all up and opened the door, pressing my pockets to check if my phone, wallet and keys were there. Once that was done, I closed the door quietly, with enough noise to let that woman know that I've left.
Everything was so eerily quiet that it made me comfortable. There were no cars that plagued the late night streets, nor were there crickets and other abominations that would pollute the pure atmosphere with their sounds. Everything was just...calm.
I liked it that way.
The moon was especially bright and...larger than before. It seemed far more defined with the round pockmarks littering it's face as the sun's rays shined off of it. The moon glowed with a pale whitish-yellow colour, seemingly pulsing every now and then. Though the latter could be explained due to my deteriorating eyesight that tried to focus on the moon. Days of staring at a bright screen in a dark room, watching a man hack and slash demonic creatures in order to link the first flame can surprisingly damage your cornea.
I walked along an elevated path, reaching a nearby bridge to my right. The road on my left looked cracked and sometimes covered with plastered pot holes. The loudest sound I heard came from my shoes as they stepped on the tarmac. The houses looked empty with no light and the 7/11 from the distance was lit up as a beacon for me.
"Welcome to Seven-Eleven, sir." Came from the dull, baggy-eyed cashier whose eyes seemed to stare forward at nothingness. I passed by, headed for the snack row with my basket, taking in branded crisps and candies alongside fizzy drinks. My stay wasn't particularly long as I got what I neede-
"Buy something healthy for once, alright?"
I hesitated, suddenly moving one of the crisps back at the rows, moving a few feet to the left to pick up a singular pack of breakfast biscuits. You know, those tiny things that you eat instead of having a proper breakfast? It wasn't much, but I guess it still counts as being healthier than Lays at 6 AM.
"Thank you for shopping at Seven-Eleven." The cashier droned. I left the building, headed on the same path back home, my trip now a little noisier as the sound of a rustled plastic bag was heard in rhythm with my footsteps. I was left with my thoughts on the trip back, taking a slight break near the bridge as I stared down at the flowing water. A small sigh escaped my mouth as I stared idly at the shining river, wondering if this quiet life was worth living.
My wandering thoughts eventually stopped as the waters shine unusually bright. I turned away, looking back at the pavement as I quickly noticed my shadow had started to grow longer and creepier, my body becoming thin and stretched. I cast my gaze at the moon, finding it shining brightly, far more than it should have been.
A navy blue, starry mist emanated from the edges of the strange moon before a large shadow casts itself over half of its body.
"What the...." I muttered.
The shadow formed a side of an unbeknownst face, a sharp horn emerging at the top. An eye materialized with a sharp dark slit as a pupil, contracting its irises as if it has awakened from slumber. The being's face was composed of shadow, covering one half of the moon. 'It' looked around briefly, seemingly stopping as it's gaze pierced through my body. The eerily menacing image froze me unwillingly, as though it casted a spell on me.
"A human vessel...?"
A feminine voice rang my eardrums. Regal, yet condescending. It sounded like she was next to me, but I could see nothing within my vision.
"You will have to do."
Her words sent a chill down my spine. Though, that wasn't the only feeling I felt as my frozen body tighten painfully. My eyes wandered frantically, looking for the source of pain as I caught my shadow... rising from the ground to cover me. Pure darkness enveloped my body little by little as I forced a scream through my closed lips. I stare back at the moon, watching it return the stare with a tinge of fascination and sadistic pleasure. It watched me slowly get overwhelmed by my physical shadow, enjoying the sight as I fell on the stony pavement. My vision darkens as I felt the crushing pain of my shadow enveloping me, leaving my eyes for last as the starry sky would be the last thing that I saw.
The pain was unbearable. It felt like my body was being compressed into nothingness, as if I had become one with the shadow that took my body. It felt like an eternity for me, yet in reality it was merely a minute of some random person falling to the floor, disappearing like a magic act. My body couldn't take it anymore, nor could my mind as it began to swim.
...Am I dead?
Of course not. Fate didn't want to grant me sweet release after that much suffering.
I eventually drifted back to a conscious state after a long period of time. My cheeks were hit by cold droplets of rainfall, rousing me as my eyes slowly opened. I was met with wet earth and dense vegetation. Am I in a forest? I don't remember knowing any of those nearby in my area....
My train of thought quickly ended with a flash of lightning, followed in suit with a roar of thunder that vibrated my eardrums. I slowly stood up, having felt a dull ache around every joint of my body. My body forced itself to trudge under some form of cover, standing under a densely covered branch as I collected my bearings. I was in a forest in God-knows-where, that's for sure. There was a downpour and it was still night-time. My body shivered as I wore wet clothing, slowly suffering from the rain as my hands reached for my pockets. I immediately took out my phone to take out the GPS as stood in the cold, hard rain.
No signal, or mobile data.
Fuck.
I clung to the phone, hands having felt the battery in the back to feel some sort of warmth in this environment as the reality of my situation slowly sunk in. I had no knowledge of my whereabouts, alongside dull aches over my body, at a time when most of humanity was asleep. A quick look of my surroundings made me feel as if I wasn't even in my hometown anymore, judging from the strange-looking flora.
Through the rain the moon shone its rays over the forest, letting the light gleam over the patches of uncovered forest floor, highlighting whatever flower or bush it happened to shine upon. Wherever this forest was, it sure felt oddly tranquil, despite the heavy rain that contrasted my opinions.
My movement was limited if I wanted to keep my clothes any more drenched from the rain. The patch of heavy shrubbery on a branch above me was my brief respite as I looked for any source of light, anything that could be a car or a cabin in the distance. I shouldn't be far from civilization...right?
My eyes wandered, eventually reaching a moving source of verdant light, but... it moved in pairs. The green pairs of light came from a distance, now growing bigger as multiple sources surrounded me. Upon quicker inspection, the green pairs of light happened to be stuck around moving pieces of...logs? My body backed up on the tree, now inspecting the light to see that they were actually eyes. Eyes that belonged to a moving log.
Well, a moving log that had the shape of a wolf.
These strange creatures came from a far distance, having surrounded me as I stared in confusion. The emerald eyes they heralded gleamed through the heavy rain, mounting fear through my body as I realized that I had been surrounded by these peculiar creatures. I never remembered seeing wolves having green, glowing eyes, nor them being composed of wood. They moved rather rigidly: as expected from their rough body stature.
They even maintained the appearance of a wooden canine to the last detail...and by that I meant their fangs. Their stubby, pointed fangs under their rotting, wooden muzzles looked oddly sharp. Very sharp.
My thoughts spared one more second before it was interrupted with pain all over my body once more. In an instant, the monsters made of timber jumped on me, digging their wooden fangs into my body as I was mauled indiscriminately. Screams echoed through the forest as the wolves attacked my frail body, cut short as one clamped its muzzle on my throat.
The pain was immense. I was not hallucinating this. My muscles had been ripped to shreds by their primitive fangs. I struggled, my strength having waned in mere seconds as my fists collided against their wooden bodies. My own naivety was punished by the creatures that I observed who attacked me like any cornered prey.
"Not here. No."
Through the sheer pain that wracked my mind, the voice spoke to me once more. The very same voice I heard back at the bridge. Her words came to me clearly through the dulling pain before my consciousness slipped once more, my last sight being the emerald gleam of the timber monsters eyes as they ended my life.
I eventually drifted back to a conscious state after a long period of time. My cheeks were hit by cold droplets of rainfall, rousing me as my eyes slowly opened. I was met with wet earth and dense vegetation. Am I in a forest? I don't remember knowing any of those nearby in my area....
My train of thought quickly ends with a flash of lightning, followed in suit with a roar of thunder that vibrated my eardrums. I slowly stood up, having felt a dull ache around every joint of my body. My body forced itself to trudge under some form of cover, standing under a densely covered branch as I collected my bearings. I was in a forest in God-knows-where, that's for sure. There's a downpour and it's still night-time. My body shivered as I wore wet clothing, slowly suffering from the rain as my hands reached for my pockets. Immediately taking out my phone to take out the GPS as stood in the cold, hard rain.
-Wait, haven't I done this already?
I look around once more, finding myself back in the forest that I had presumably died in. Instinctively, I moved to the dry patch of earth under a densely covered branch. I look around to see the same strange flora of the forest, and the same patch of forest illuminated by the moonlight.
I should be dead, right? Or was that a dream? No, that dream felt too 'real'. I felt those wooden fangs bite into my flesh. I felt those wooden creatures maul me in mere seconds. It all felt too real to be even considered close to lucid dreaming. Was it a vision? Was it a premonition of my incoming doom? Am I just extremely high-
Green lights. No. Green eyes.
They're here. They're in the distance, but they're closing in. A dreadful sensation filled my entire being. I knew what would happen next. I knew. From the dense vegetation those eyes emerged with the familiar timber-canine bodies, slowly closing in on my location.
I booked it, letting my legs run on autopilot as I dashed through the rain, headed in the opposite direction away from the timber wolves. My safety was a priority, and I ran as fast as I could in the rain with little regard to whether I was heading deeper into the forest, or whether I was simply running into bigger threats. In any case, I let my pathetic stamina carry me through the forest for a few minutes before I had to stop at a nearby tree, panting heavily in waterlogged clothing.
I trudged through the forest, feeling the wet soggy earth squelch under my shoes as my sights came across a clearing. It had rained for a long while, but eventually it had lessened to a mere drizzle by the time I reached the outskirts of the forests. I hadn't seen a single pair of green, luminescent eyes in a long while, ensuring my safety as I finally left the forest.
The green plains swayed softly in the gentle wind as I looked around. I was certainly in some kind of countryside, far from a city. The nearest park or forest I knew was in twenty miles of my place, meaning that I must have traveled a long way...that is, if I'm even in the same world as before. I certainly don't remember inanimate logs having green eyes and acting like wolves back in my hometown, nor in reality either. I'm certainly not high, too.
I sit on a rock, sighing as I catch my breath. This is all too much to handle. I don't even know what I should be feeling right now. A few minutes ago I was running from animated logs, and before that I was being crushed by my own shadow on a bridge. If this was a dream, it was a shit one, by my standards. I unzipped my jacket a little, shivering as my wet shirt was exposed to the cold air. My back leaned against the large rock, sitting on the ground as I took a minute to just ponder.
-Oh, there's the howling. I guess wolves made of logs have vocal cords, too.
I chuckled quietly, trying to make light of the bleak situation. The chuckle came a simple laugh, which evolved into a roaring guffaw. I laughed at the absurdity of it all, masking the tears that had formed on my eyes as the reality of the situation seeped in. My forced laughter moved my body to the earthy floor, devolving into pathetic sobbing as I looked at the expansive countryside, feeling a pang of loneliness and despair hit me like a truck.
I only wanted to pick up some snacks for my mini fridge. Hell, I've already lost the grocery bag in the forest or back in the bridge when some lunatic covered on a moon spoke to me. Why the fuck am I sobbing alone in the god-damn countryside?! Who the fuck decided to bring me here? And for what reason?!
After pathetically sobbing, my blurry, bullet-shot eyes saw a blurry building in the blurry distance.
A cottage. Its roof looked like a turf of grass which housed several smaller houses on top of it. It seemed as though there was a small stream separating it from the countryside, with a meager bridge connecting the home to the edge of the forest that I had just got out of.
I sat upright, rubbing my eyes dry as I got a clearer look. It was a house, alright, with a dim light in one of the windows. A small glimmer of hope surged through my cold, freezing body. My hands tucked themselves into my warm armpits as I shivered, standing up as I took small, short steps. The cottage was a fair distance away, but it was better to head there than to die of hypothermia out in the open.
At this rate, that cottage was my last hope in getting help. I decided to walk through the empty clearing than through the outskirts of the forest, for the sake of safety in the case that a timber wolf was idly waiting for a walking piece of meat to accidentally wander back into its territory.
The long walk to the cottage did little to ease my mind of recent events, but it was better than having stayed by the rock, bawling like a child until my body shut down from hypothermia. By the time I had reached the cabin, my shirt and jacket had been removed. The latter was wrapped around my waist, while the former was used like a wet towel in an effort to remove as much moisture from my body.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I stood in front of the door, legs shivering, arms wobbling, head spinning.
And to my amazement, the small door opened, revealing a pony a little over half my size, her pink hair rustled from sleep and her fur shining a soft yellow colour in the moonlight.
"Oh dear, are you alright?" A soft voice spoke.
Did that mare speak?
...I don't know whether I'm extremely high, or already dead from hypothermia.
Maybe both, seeing how absurd this situation is.
