I woke up with a start, gasping for air. My mind was disoriented, caught in a haze. My vision was blurry at first, but it slowly cleared as I focused on my hand pressed against my forehead, trying to ease a splitting headache. The pain, however, began to fade surprisingly quickly, and I gradually took in my surroundings.
I was sitting on the platform of a long-abandoned railway station. There were two platforms on either side, with a pair of tracks running between them. The spot where I sat was scorched in a faint circle, and the roof above me had been partially vaporized—yet somehow, it still hadn't collapsed, despite the severe decay all around. Cracks ran through the structure, and vines and moss had overtaken nearly every surface.
Slowly, I pushed myself to my feet.
"Looks like I was transported somewhere by that sudden light…" I muttered.
My body felt… different. Lighter. Stronger. The ache in my shoulders was completely gone, replaced by an unfamiliar sense of vitality.
Even before it fell into ruin, this place probably wouldn't have qualified as a proper railway station. It had only the bare minimum—something you'd expect in a remote, forgotten area. With no walls to block my view, I could see the outside: endless fields of tall grass stretching in both directions, obscuring any sense of where I actually was.
The entire area seemed abandoned.
Maybe I should follow the tracks—the grass looked thinner there. It might lead me out of here.
"So… left or right?" I muttered under my breath.
As if the world didn't want me standing around confused for long, I suddenly noticed something—movement in the grass on the other side of the platform. From my elevated position, I could see it clearly. The grass rippled violently, as if something—or a lot of things—were rushing toward me.
Fast.
"Let me tell you something, I'm the kind of person who'd survive in a horror story". One experience like this was already more than enough for today—or maybe two days, considering the sun was already high in the sky.
So I didn't wait to find out whether they were friendly.
My instincts screamed at me to run.
And I listened.
I leapt off the platform and plunged into the grass, beginning my escape.
Moving through grass this thick should have slowed me down, but instead, I found myself gliding through it at an unnatural speed. My body felt incredibly light, each step covering more ground than it should.
Behind me, I heard it—heavy thuds, grass rustling violently.
I was being hunted.
"To hell with flashy teleportation…" I muttered. "Couldn't whoever did this make it less dramatic? What are they, an attention seeker?"
Thanks to my speed, I managed to keep a good distance. But a new problem emerged—the ground beneath my feet was getting softer… wetter. The deeper I ran, the more it gave way.
A swamp. Or a marshland.
"No wonder nothing came from this side…"
And just as that thought crossed my mind, the universe decided to flip me off one more time.
I heard it—footsteps ahead of me.
Grass shifting.
Something was coming straight toward me.
"Ah, shit… a stray."
There was no other choice, I had to fight.