None of it made any sense- why were we here? How did we arrive? What presence captivated my mind, snared like a crow in a net? I sought answers and began questioning the girls, yet they had no aiding answers; they knew as much as I had: nothing. It feels as though a few hours had passed with no signs of the fourth member, his disappearance causing suspicions and concerns alike. Where could he have gone?
Coherently, that being I witnessed on the path prior to waking was not a figment of my imagination. Both of my peers had seen its wretched form, the shadowed beast bearing an ax of pure bone and tattered, bloody rags. He towered at nearly seven feet if not further; was this spawn of whatever, or whomever, created this place, or rather was it born of the shadows and haunts these parts for reasons of pure amusement.
Only a few moments of waiting passed, unsettling was a proper term to describe us three. I took initiative and stood to my feet, nodding to the pair before my feet shakily shuffled towards the rustled terrain from where the boy went.
"One way or another, we oughta try and leave. Fuck the kid, he left on his own. We can escape this shit on our own, or at least figure it out."
The black haired maiden laughed, shaking her head as her bangs swept over her eyes. A sense of relief struck upon this, yet faded the instant they were pushed aside.
"Nobody's going to escape, there isn't an escape."
"You talk like you've tried. Well, have you?"
"No, but someone has." Suddenly, a miniature black notebook smacked against my chest as my hands desperately clung to it. A single flick of the cover left the first entry… Then the next, and the next. Each of which fell more dastardly than the last.
"What the hell.. Beings? An entity? What was this guy high on, cause I want some." My own humor slipped through, perhaps it was how I attempted to hide the sinking chances in the sea of despair, only with desperation to hold it afloat.
"Joke all you want, you explain this place, asshole," piped up the quiet one, harsh as ever with yet such a sweet and charming voice.
A single grumble was all I could utter, an exaggerated exhale escaping my esophagus easily as my imagination imaged this mystical entity. Could this be the source of the eerie prods, as if teasing it with my despair? "So this entity sends these killers after us endlessly? What's the point of trying to escape?"
"We could win our freedom. Nobody knows yet." Kyuko held a fair point, even the glare of her daggered eyes stabbed through my doubts of any hope; this girl seemed to be a beacon, an alternative motivation to fight on, yet what else did I have?
"Sitting around won't push us through this; let's go: the plan is to stay together and work as a unit. If you don't know-"
"Nobody knows anything," Violet again interrupted my speech, slight agitation growing within my swelling temples, even a few veins were pulsing; it's quite possibly just from the adrenaline of the situation. No matter, it was answered with a nod from the other woman, and I sent one in return.
"Let's go."
Thus, our trudge began, each of us evaporating into the mist before us, the clearing we once knew fading away into the brush; one final glance back was all I took, my light was fading in the distance merely a few feet away. Again, the chill returned, wreaking havoc across my spine.
Hardly five minutes into our trek, one of our masses collapsed into the coarse earth below, pedals of grass dancing along their unconscious form. Next fell a second, only to leave myself weary; my last sight before plummeting into the black were fiery tendrils scooping up my colleagues.
Was this the entity the journal spoke of? Were the beasts written about and spoken of created by this monstrosity? Did the same fate occur to anyone that passed through, particularly the mysterious missing boy. Was his sealed away into the abyss already- rather, were all of theirs?
