"Madness it is to hope that human minds
can ever understand the Infinite
that comprehends Three Persons in One Being.
Be satisfied with quia unexplained,
O Human race! If you knew everything,
no need for Mary to have borne a son."
- Dante Alighieri
The rising and falling of waves splashing below me was the first thing I heard. I felt the sway of the wind on my body as it gently rocked me back and forth, but my eyes didn't open at first. Everything felt sore; I felt like I had been hit by a truck. And then those trucks had been hit by a truck to really nail the coffin shut. When I finally found any strength, I moved my hand only to feel what felt like splintered wood below me. It felt old and weathered, and something I definitely was not used to. My eyes slowly opened, and I looked back at an endless ocean that was swallowed by a horizon of fog. The water was dark and rippled with gray foam. The sky was overcast, giving a monochrome tint to the whole world. Where the hell was I?
I sat up and watched the waves, trying to think of any memories that could have led me here, but there was nothing. In fact, there was nothing on my mind at all, not even a name. I couldn't remember my own name? I must have hit my head and washed up here somehow. I needed to find someone to ask where I was; maybe they knew who I was. Maybe my parents? If I had them at least. I turned around, and my eyes widened. I definitely was not home. Unless my home was a gothic castle the size of a city, built on the side of a mountain, entirely out of what appeared to be some kind of dark stone. I instinctively backed up, pushing my body back with my hands to get a wider view of this place. It felt like no matter how far back I went I couldn't fit the entire scope of this landscape into my view. I only stopped whenever I felt my arm suddenly hit open air and I fell back. I had reached the edge of the dock and I was not looking up at the gray sky with my head spinning even more from the impact.
"Ow..." My voice rasped for the first time since I had awoken. It felt like my throat was made of sandpaper. I pushed myself back up, in some part of my mind almost expecting the castle to have disappeared like it was some sort of hallucination, but there it was. I finally managed to get my feet under me and stood up. My body hurt and my head was light, but I had no obvious injuries, cuts, or bruises. Actually looking over myself I was wearing some sort of tracksuit. I guess I must have been working out before whatever took me here. I tried to think about what brought me here but, not a single thought could come to mind of where I was before this. I tried to push it further, digging into memories that weren't there but it just made my head pulse with pain. I must have had a concussion or something. Whatever, I can't worry about it right now.
I started to walk, heading vaguely in the direction the castle was but something caught my eye. The docks were mostly just a half destroyed wooden boards on the coastline, there weren't even any boats around it. There was however a half destroyed boat house which looked like it had been torn apart in some storm. I took a closer look at it. There was a door but that didn't really matter whenever the entire right half of the building had been ripped off and flung a few dozen yards. I took a closer look at the boathouse and it looked odd. The wood the roof was made of was strange, it was speckled all over with some parts that seemed to be brand new and others that had holes straight through as if someone had dripped acid on it. I took a mental note of it, and went inside the massive opening of the destroyed boathouse.
Inside the entire room was torn up and thrown about. There was a large opening into the water where I guess a boat had once been but it just stood open now. Along the edges of the opening there were old rusted tools, nails and screws, but nothing worthy of note really. I tried to grab a hammer but when I gave it a test swing, the wood of the handle snapped and flew off into the dark water. Hopefully littering wasn't a jailable offense here. I put down the broken handle before looking back at the water. Where the hammer head had hit the water, the surface of the water had begun to bubble. It was an unnatural bubbling as if there was something beneath the water thrashing about and tearing at the hammer. I felt my blood run cold with indecision. Part of me wanted to run but another part of me was to damn curious. I looked around before grabbing a broom that rested against a shelf. I gently began to push the end of the broom down into the water where it continued to bubble...
As soon as the tip of the wood hit the water, I felt a strong jerk as the broom handle was suddenly ripped further down. I didnt see anything touching the broom but the water but it began to spasm around before getting ripped out of my hand. It started to fling about as if the broom had a mind of its own but never leaving the water before eventually the large head of the broom came up and hit me in the head hard.
My ears started to ring as I began to feel disoriented. I stumbled over my own feet as my vision doubled, before finally I felt my foot hit open air and my body started to fall forwards towards the water. I saw my face get closer and closer to the water as I fell. Everything moved in slow motion as I started to get closer and closer to the bubbling water. When my nose nearly touched the water, I felt myself suddenly jolt to a stop. Something was pulling on the back of my jumpsuit as I heard a voice
"I wouldn't swim here if I were you."