Kye woke to silence
Not the kind that invited peace - the kind that pressed against his skull like a thick fog, muffling everything except the sound of his heartbeat.
He blinked, eyes adjusting, the sky above him looked the same as when he'd passed out… or died… or whatever that had been. Sunlight painted the trees with long shadows and yet… the shadows hadn't moved. Not even a little.
His back ached. His tongue was dry.
How long was I out?
He sat up slowly. The forest around him was unfamiliar - no signs of campfire, he remembered, no trampled grass, no noise. Not even the wind.
Then he noticed the strangest thing of all.
The sun was in the same spot in the sky.
Not similar- identical.
Kye breathed, hitched. He checked his watch. The second hand was ticking normally, but it didn't line up. It said nearly two hours had passed.
So why did it still feel like the same moment he'd passed out?
'Almost like being overcome by deja vu'
Bewildered about what was going on, Kye inspected the area around him thoroughly.
Clean- abnormally clean, no footprints, no broken branches. No life.
Caught in a spiral of events, he continued searching this time more diligently.
He patted the ground, trying to feel for anything unusual- sniffing like a ravaged dog trying to find treats and even tasted some of the dirt.
He looked like a lunatic, with his dishevelled appearance mixed in with his erratic movements, but this feeling gnawed at him.
A sudden gust tore through the stillness, sharp and unnatural, nearly lifting him from the ground"
Bracing himself, he tripped tightly on the tall grass, praying that it could hold him in place.
Oh, how wrong he was, the bundle snapped under pressure in seconds- flinging him towards a tree.
He banged against it with his head, knocking himself unconscious, or what feels similar.
He could still feel, hear, and smell everything around him; however, he caught a glimpse of something before losing consciousness.
Carved onto a tree was his name, fading slowly - it felt like a warning. For what though
His mind raced trying to piece together any clues or rules, and then it hit him- the hunters every time they changed, they took your…
Everything went blank; his mind felt fried, equivalent to someone dropping an EMP in a tech city, but every time he got close. It reset, although a loud thump would snap him back.
Resetting any conclusions he's made-
He did this over and over, trying the same thing repeatedly, though persistent in his efforts, he was still trapped.
The loud thump binds him, acting as an anchor in this constant loop.
Whilst trapped in his mindless pursuit for clarity, the area around him shifted- day becoming night, forest becoming buildings, distant camps marked by campfires gleamed through the trees, mountains appeared close, other distant- ever shifting back and forth.
Then the sounds changed.
The smells changed.
The air itself shifted.
It was a sensory overload- almost euphoric.
Then the sound of branches snapping echoed throughout the area, then the sound of someone trenching through grass, other times of shoes lumbering on cobble, growing louder the closer they came.
Yes, "they", a swarm of hunters surrounded Kye, gazing at him as if he were one of their own.
The stench hit him first- rot, wet earth and something sweet gone bad. Each step they took made it stronger, until breathing felt like swallowing poison.
Suddenly, they stopped, and with it, the smell.
They all turned to the boy in the middle and smiled-
Like usual, but this time it was different, emotion, true feelings- not that eerily robotic one they use to put up.
In unison, they all got down on their knees, held hands and swayed.
It looked straight out of a horror movie, they swayed side to side, humming an erratic tune-
Worship emanated from them.
A gurgle erupted from one of the hunters-
What's that sound? Why is it so grating, and why is my heart so loud?
His heart kept beating harder, almost banging on his chest- it was begging to be freed, but when it felt like it was ignored.
It decided to pack its bags and leave, understanding it wasn't needed because whatever that was… was not alive.
Kye's body rose, and with it, the hum got louder-
Increasing with every inch he rose soon after it stopped.
A door appeared below- opening to reveal a void.
Kye felt himself rise, then abruptly he descended, but it never stopped- it continued swallowing him whole.
Then it stopped, and he woke up.
Groggily from the strain his mind had to go through, he haphazardly glanced at where he was
It hit him that this place was familiar. "It was a room, wait, my old ro… room" he stuttered.
"No, no, no, no- why here?" he thundered.
He inspected every inch of this room, trying to find a way out.
Suddenly, the white walls felt taller, the room felt smaller than it already seemed, and all there was in the room was a desk, though pretty useless if you didn't have a chair.
That was not a random mistake; it was done with intent because they believed some with a spine had grown under arduous conditions.
Which is funny because my bed was giving out back pains like onanta passes, never helping your team, just costing it.Though it did make sense because now way a sheet, a blanket and a pillow would help
No mattress or frame, in the corner of the room was a wardrobe; however, it remained unused because he only had one set of clothes.
Nothing, no exit anywhere, not even windows existed here- "Why does this place have no exit?" Frustrated, he started thrashing anything he could get his hands on.
He took the desk and just threw it, colliding against the wall. It broke, splitting into pieces, flying to different parts of the room.
One hit his bed, sending it flying against the wall. Then there hidden under the sheet was a door, and wasting no time, he opened it.
Abruptly, it swallowed him whole.