I sit up. Fast. Too fast.

  The clear blue sky. The birds chirping. The fresh air. None of it makes sense.

  I was just in a hospital bed.

  I get up, breathing hard. My gown is gone. Instead—black boots, black baggy pants. And this… I know this.

  My hoodie. My favorite black one. Fur-lined collar. Slightly worn at the sleeves. I haven’t worn this in—wait.

  I saw mother holding it, didn’t I?

  I try to remember. The thought is there—then it isn’t. Slipping. Like sand through my fingers.

  Huh?

  I was just there. Wasn’t I?

  So why does remembering feel like a battle?

  I shake my head. Questions won’t fix this.

  Answers don’t come from standing still.

  I extend my hand—my strength is back.

  Completely. No fatigue. No weakness. No pain.

  Is this a dream?

  The wind brushes my skin. The sky stretches endlessly. The grass bends, swaying beneath my boots.

  I take a step. My leg holds. No shaking. No hesitation.

  No betrayal.

  Another step. Stronger. My heel presses into the dirt—solid, real.

  A breath escapes me. Clear. Clean. Crisp.

  I forgot what this felt like.

  My body, my form. My very essence, has come back. Better, and damn near stronger too.

  So now, this gives props to the bigger question.

  “Where…where am I…?”

  My voice carries alongside the slight breeze. I can see a few buildings in the distance, but most of them far. I don’t know where I am.

  I’ve already confirmed this isn’t a dream, so how did I get here? What is this place? Am I limbo?

  I check my pockets for anything vital. Nada. There’s nothing I can use here. Which means that I’m starting from the beginning.

  I…I think I have a few ideas of what this could possibly be, but I don’t want to go there. Not yet. Maybe there’s still some thing that could help me.

  I begin my walk. Take in the surroundings. It no longer feels like something intelligible, but it’s also…foreign in a way. I don’t know how to put it.

  The more I walked this dirt path, the more my body adjusted. It felt strong, yes, but oddly. I couldn’t shake off the feeling.

  I don’t know where I’m going, but this path has to lead somewhere. Right?

  Nature, or man, wouldn’t have laid this out for no reason.

  I became lost in my thoughts, my body automatically walking. With no destination in mind but just filling the dirt road.

  I’ve seen no one, nobody, and barely any animals, or anything. Only what was in the horizon.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Barely realizing it, I almost walked right into a ditch. It pulled and halted me to a stop, and before, I saw a barn.

  This must’ve been one of the buildings I’ve seen far away.

  I don’t know how much time transpired, it could’ve been minutes, or even hours. One thing I do know is that I’m there.

  But this wooden fence…especially around the farm. It’s telling me that nobody should enter there.

  I look around for more clues, and find a tin sign on the floor. Great, this is a sign of civilization…or something. I was starting to think this could’ve been worse than I thought.

  Time travel?

  Alternate universe?

  I scoff.

  “Let’s not get ahead now, let me just pick this up and read it.” I say, my hand grasps onto the sign. It’s clear and barely reflective backside.

  It’s probably something like…beware of dog. Or…no trespassing. But with the way the sign was just on the ground, not pinned to the fence.

  Tells me a whole lot.

  I turned it around.

  And my curiosity…was piqued even more.

  I squint. The letters twist. No, not twist—they don’t exist. My brain tries to form words, but nothing sticks.

  I blinked once. Twice. Nothing.

  I wipe my eyes, my pulse quickening. Still nothing.

  It’s not unreadable..it’s just…

  It’s like it was never meant to be read.

  “What…what am I reading?”

  The entire thing was unreadable!

  It was like chicken scratch, and while the main colors of the sign were black and red, which I would infer and assume it’s one of those types…I still can’t figure out the message!

  I thought I became dyslexic for a second, but no, it was still there.

  I threw the sign behind me, and it gave out a metal clang against a rock. Useless. Didn’t tell me much. But, if there’s a barn. There has to be clues.

  I glance back at the dirt path. Should I keep walking?

  No. That sign—whatever it was—proves I’m not alone here.

  The barn is my best shot at answers.

  I hop over the wooden fence and land. Alright. Made my decision. Now, let’s find out more about this place…other than that sign.

  There was tall grass, that reached to my hips. It made it touch to traverse, but difficult hip movement was the last thing I could be plagued by.

  It wasn’t hard, nor long to get through it. There was a corn field on the other side, and it looks like it has been kept there fairly neatly.

  My eyes narrowed instinctively.

  Somebody has been here recently.

  To what extent? I don’t know…but the sign being on the floor made me assume this place had withered away. Just practically another barn.

  It wouldn’t be too long before I saw myself in front of the entrance. Two large red doors. At least the format and shape of it was familiar.

  I push open the door. It doesn’t give. I push with a bit more strength. Still doesn’t.

  There has to be something locked behind it. Which means…I have to find another way around it.

  I back up, and head to the right. I saw something out the corner of my eye when I got here. I didn’t really want to investigate it, hoping the door would just…open sesame for me. But if that’s not the case, then I might as well get—

  My eyes fall down to the ground. The cleared, dirt path was painted with a another color. Dirt? No…

  It looked too fresh, too recent. That had to be…

  It was blood.

  It conveniently hid right here. With the way the sun position behind the barn, it was absorbed into it’s shadow that was casted. It’s darker color looked black.

  But it was blood.

  A long trail. A streak from a nearby opening.

  I step closer, eyes narrowing. The streak is thick. Dragged, not splattered. Something—or someone—was pulled inside.

  I sigh. This couldn’t get any creepier huh?

  I continue, and to the near of the barn was a convenient hole. The wooden planks used to build this barn had broken off. It didn’t look natural. As if someone…or something barged into this barn.

  The moment I entered the barn from the opening, I instantly caught a stench. A foul smell. It smelled horrible, bad. A strong oder. Not the type of oder you would gain after several workouts. I knew that much.

  I pinch the opening of my hoodie to cover it over my noise, to even filter the smell even just for a bit. It still continues to punch me in the face.

  Rotten, heavy. It reminded me of spoiled food, but ten times worse. I grit my teeth with each step I take into the barn. Yanking my hoodie over my nose barely helps.

  My eyes follow the blood trail, but it derives, into multiple paths. I follow them all, but they all get lost in the barn. Blood all over the walls. Over the multiple equipments. It’s like nothing survived here.

  Is this the slaughtering house? Barns aren’t slaughtering houses…but what if this was turned into one?

  Too many probabilities. None of this is making sense. My eyes bounce from each object and clue. Analyzing everything and anything.

  It’s not making sense.

  I look at my shadow being casted onto the ground. The little dim light within the barn giving out the last of it’s energy. I could take this time to explore. Rummage through anything and everything.

  But I don’t.

  My eyes narrow at my shadow. Something… is off. It takes a second to register. My head tilts, my brain catching up.

  My shadow shouldn’t be that big.

  I freeze. The outline stretches unnaturaly long, towering behind me. My pulse spikes. A heavy breath–no, not mine. The floor wooding creaks in pain. The air shifts.

  It’s taller.

  Bigger than me. Bigger than it should be.

  And it’s moving.

  I don’t think—I throw myself forward, hitting the floor just as something swings down behind me.

  It causes a mild gust of wind to conjure, and hay goes flying. My hoodie flutters in the wind as I turn around in time. My hair sways from the side. I barely had time to understand and process what was going on.

  And before my eyes.

  Was nothing I have ever seen before.

  A massive club in hand.

  In such a grotesque form.

  I’ve heard a grunt, or maybe a snort.

  As this…being–no–creature. Towered over me.

  That’s when it clicked in my head.

  This must’ve been the source of the trail of blood.

  And I might’ve just became their next victim.