Update 8/25/18: Fixed the tenses. Should be entirely in past tense now. Tell me if there's something off. Other chapters should be edited to fix this issue later.
Hello everyone, and welcome to Rude Awakening: Redux! Aren't I a creative bastard when it comes to naming something?
Other than a few details, this story will almost be completely different from the last story. I find it to be rather refreshing, to be honest. I'll see how you guys like it.
Oh, and ALSO, pairings, unlike last time, are chiseled in stone with a high-intensity precision laser. No changes EVER when it comes to those. I learned the hard way not to flip-flop on that shit. So don't post who you want the MC to be with in the reviews. You'll waste your time.
Without further ado...
Chapter 1: Familiar Beginnings
You ever have one of those days where you just wish you didn't exist? A day that, when you wake up, you just want to curl up in your bed, pull your covers around you, and disappear from the face of the planet? I was having one of those days.
"Hu- Wai- What the fuuuuuuuuu-!"
I, unfortunately, did not have the common courtesy to wake up in my bed. Instead, I woke up twenty feet in the air, and then gravity did the rest. I fell, caterwauling all the way down, clawing at the air like that would somehow stop me from hitting the cold, unforgiving ground. I hit the ground with a dull thud, and a sharp 'crack!'.
That loud 'crack' was the sound of my arm breaking. I learned that several moments later, when the most pain I had ever felt shot up my right arm. It felt like my veins and bones were dumped in molten metal, and I shouted in agony. The universe, however, did not seem to think that was enough punishment for daring to go to sleep in my bed, and so I suddenly found myself rolling down a moderately steep hill. I felt cold, wet mud plaster itself against my body as I rolled down to the bottom of the hill, causing a shiver to trail up my spine. I hissed through gritted teeth as I finally, mercifully, struck the bottom of the hill.
I laid there for several moments, uncomprehendingly. My mind was completely and utterly blank for those moments. All I could register was the sweat and mud coating my body, and the distinct, throbbing, nearly unbearable pain of my newly broken arm.
It was a pretty crappy start to that day, all around.
Breathing hard, after finally regaining some semblance of consciousness, I tried to lift myself up.
"C-C'mon you- Gah! Shit!" I cursed, falling back to the muddy ground.
Apparently, it was not a smart idea to try and get yourself back up with your dominant hand… which just so happened to be my right arm. I guess the metric ton of pain that flooded my every sense was my body saying to me 'Don't do that, you moron!'.
My face curled into a grimace as I used my other arm to, at the very least, prop myself up so I could get some idea as to where I am. Instead, I noticed something else about my body that I missed while falling twenty feet and then rolling painfully down a hill: I'm covered in burns. And my clothes barely existed.
So, not only had I fallen and broken my arm, but I had also gotten a little too close to a fire. When did that happen? Only God knows.
Shutting my eyes tight and bracing myself for more pain, I maneuvered my legs under me, and stood up, hissing and grunting all the while. When I was able to stand up on my two feet after a couple of seconds, I leaned my back against what felt like a tree and took in my surroundings.
A massive forest, stretching as far as the eye could see, greeted me instead of the usual suburban sprawl I was used to. A few rays of sunshine shone through the thick covering of leaves and branches, casting light on large moss-covered rocks, and a babbling river that I hadn't noticed nor heard until I saw it. It was all quite beautiful, really, but that had left me with one, burning, Titanic-sized question.
"Where the fuck am I!?" I screamed at the air, like the forest itself would give me the answer if I pressed enough. Unfortunately, the only answer was birdsong, which would have comforted me if I wasn't in the middle of a place I'd never seen before.
I opened my mouth and started panting, my heart beating faster by the second as the full gravity of what had happened to me and where I was set in. I wasn't in my comfy bed, in my room, far away from any hint of a forest. I don't know why it took that long before I started panicking, but I damn well was now.
Looking around wildly and taking a step to separate myself from the tree which had supported me, I tried to find a sign, a road, a building, anything that could lead me to civilization. Nothing. Nothing that I could have recognized. Just trees, leaves, grass…
I heard something that sounded like a fallen branch snapping some ways away. My heart fluttered. Maybe someone was there? A hunter, or something? Someone, anyone? Or it could have just been an animal… but if it was, what kind was it? A badger? A mink? God forbid, a bear? None of those were near where I lived… but I obviously am not where I lived… and I was beginning to panic again. I couldn't stop shivering. Or was it twitching? I know when adrenaline is flowing through your veins, you do that-
Gah! Focus, idiot! Stop thinking yourself to death! I have to get out of here. Have to… Have to find someplace to rest, or better, find civilization!
Taking a step, and only lightly grimacing from the burns that covered that portion of my body, I began my search for civilization, or someplace I can rest that isn't completely exposed. I buried my panic, and the snapping branch I heard, in the back of my mind.
I had been searching for what felt like hours, but in reality, it was probably only twenty to thirty minutes, when I realized that the light coming in through the leaves was growing dimmer.
It wasn't sunrise, like my stupid brain had automatically assumed when I had woken up, but sunset. I can tell you, that did nothing to ease the tension I was feeling at that moment. Sweat poured down my face and dripped down my chin from the exhaustion and physical exertion. The constant, throbbing pain in my arm that, in any other situation, would have me collapsed on the floor in pain, had only exacerbated my feeling of this dire situation.
I grew even more panicked when I heard the leaves above and a little to the right of me shake, like something was in them. My mind became flooded with images of abominations hiding in the shadows that the setting sun didn't reach. Waiting, scanning my every movement, waiting for me to falter, to give up, making an easier kill and meal for them-
I really gotta stop reading Stephen King. If I survive and find a way back to my place, that's the first thing I am doing.
Yeah, emphasis on the 'if' part of that sentence. I try to be an optimist, I really do, but even I started to feel a tiny bit hopeless as I wandered aimlessly around the rapidly darkening forest. The shadows cast by the orange light began to take on a more sinister aspect as the time grew late. Again, I couldn't help but grow fearful of what I couldn't see. Monsters in the dark, waiting for the right moment to pounce… Sharp, bloodied claws that can tear me apart without effort, gnashing, crooked teeth that will peel my muscles from the bone…
Damn, I have a morbid as hell mind.
I didn't even realize my mind could come up with something so…
And another snapping branch! I turned around in the direction I thought it came from, and shouted. "Fuck off!"
There, I think I made my point.
…Or I completely screwed up my chances of getting out of here. That could have been someone. Well, if it was, I suppose they would have investigated the sound of a clearly distressed kid cursing at them. Or maybe I am just thinking too deeply into things, just like I always do, because that is what I do when I am stressed and panicking-
I shook my head, patting my forehead lightly with my still functioning hand.
"C'mon! You need to get out of here! Stop messing around here, idiot! Find someplace to go!" I motivated myself (rather poorly) as I continued to trudge through the forest, hissing through gritted teeth every time my broken arm was slightly jostled.
Unfortunately, despite my prayers, the sun continued its inevitable descent, and I quickly found myself walking in what felt like circles, as my mind started to play tricks on me. As I passed a branch, I swear I saw something that looked like a bear in the brush. I could feel it staring at me… I thought I did, at least. I didn't approach it, just in case it was actually a bear, and not a hallucination from my panicked, scared-shitless brain.
I found myself thinking of a haunted house, or a forest, in this case, as I continued on. I began to ignore the tiny rustlings some trees made or the sound of twigs and branches snapping, but I could tell they were getting… somehow closer. Like I was being stalked by something.
That was an avenue of thought that I refused to go down.
Exhaustion began to settle in me. My tired and slightly crispy leg muscles screamed at me to stop, begged for me to stop, it felt like. The pain in my arm grew by the minute, making every step feel like it was being crushed by a twenty-ton boulder. I tried my best to trundle on. I didn't want to be left out there! In the middle of a forest I'd never even seen! Then there's that… thing out there. That thing that I knew was stalking me because I swear I could hear every step it took and it breathes like it smokes-
You're being paranoid.
Of course I am, brain. Thanks for the message.
Maybe I was too exhausted to be frustrated and angry, or even sad for that matter. Too tired and exhausted to care as well, as I finally gave up.
Sighing in defeat, losing hope of finding cover, let alone civilization in this darkness that has now blanketed this forest, I found a nearby tree, and promptly slumped to the ground, with my back propping me up. I was too tired to even groan or hiss at the pain that my arm sent up to my brain.
Trying my best to be an optimist… At least it's wasn't raining? I only had the barest hint of clothing on me, and beyond that, my dirty, sweaty, and burned body was exposed to the elements. I tried try and sleep. Who knows? Maybe I'd die in my sleep… Or maybe someone would find me. Or maybe I'd wake up from this nightmare. Whichever one worked.
My head tilted to the side as I prepared to finally rest, or at the very least, give my eyes a rest. That's when I saw it. The light off in the distance. My eyes opened fully so fast and forcefully that I was surprised my eyelids didn't tear off. Yes! There, just a little ways away, was a light! Not very bright. In fact, it reminds me of candlelight. Soft and inviting.
I had the urge to slap myself. Of course, I thought. Lights, you imbecile! You could have rested until night time and then followed the lights! Only, if there was no civilization in this god-forsaken forest, that plan wouldn't have worked… but I knew then that it clearly would have! I was almost tempted to just continue to lay there and die, as punishment for my own stupidity. Sorry, mom! You gave birth to a moron!
…Okay, that one was a bit harsh on myself. But still!
Grunting, I got up. No small feat, as I almost immediately fell back down. I managed, however. Standing on my feet once more, spurred by the slight hope that this wasn't just another trick of my mind, I limped instead of walked towards the light.
My luck ran out then. In the most horrible way one could imagine.
I was close to the house when it happened. And yes, it was a house. A rather large one. Not quite a mansion, from the vague outline I could make out through the thick trees, but big. The light I had seen earlier, from what I could see, was coming from one of the top floor windows. That's as far as I could see, though, before I heard something, something massive, slam to the forest floor just behind me.
I stopped in my tracks. Was it fear that stopped me? I can't say.
"Yessssssssssss!" A snake-like, dirty sounding voice hissed from behind me. "Mustn't go over there, musssssst we? Yesssssss! Dirty, nassssty devilsss over there!"
Whatever the hell had landed behind me, it was walking on two legs, if I had to guess. The way it talked… it reminds me of Gollum. That particular thought did nothing but make me feel squeamish. What did this creature look like? Had it been hunting me this entire time? Maybe… Maybe I wasn't just being paranoid earlier.
Wait, devils? The hell?
"We have been following, yesssss!" The creature growled."Follow you far! Wander, wander, wander! It'ssssss all you do! But we done following! We hungry now! You smell…"
To my utter horror and disgust, I felt it sniffing the back of my neck. I could smell the creatures scent… it smelled like resurrected roadkill mated with a diseased skunk and then gave birth…
That was a horrifying image all on its own.
"…smell like dragon!" The creature exclaimed, and I heard something that sounded like leather being stretched and contorted. "But you not dragon… No, you human! Tasssty human… with dragon! Strange, strange, strange! Very ssssstrange indeed!
Dragon!? What the fuck was this thing talking about!? …Was he a D&D fan?
It sounds silly, but I suppose that is what finally knocked me out of my fear-induced stupor, as I, with as much strength as I could muster, kicked behind me and tried to run. My foot hit something that felt like snakeskin, and it barely did anything. I only got a few feet before I felt a large, four-fingered hand slam onto my broken arm, causing me to shriek in pain at the jostling of my mangled limb. The creature snarled, said something along the lines of 'Feisssty one, this isss!', and I was slammed harshly into the side of a tree. I now faced the creature in all of its glory.
It almost looked human. Almost. It was more massive than anyone I had ever seen, easily surpassing seven feet. Its eyes were the color of cooling embers, and it stared straight into mine with a kind of animalistic hunger that caused me to shiver. Three long, spider-like appendages burst out from its back, along with a pair of bat-like, black wings that looked comical on its massive form. It didn't have a mouth so much as it had a collection of insectoid mandibles that moved in impossible ways, as drool fell from its mouth in droves. Greasy black hair fell from its head, partially covering what looked like horns on its forehead.
After seeing all that, you bet I shouted again.
However, a fast and solid crushing of my wounded limb quickly shut me up with a pathetic, pained wimper.
"Naughty, naughty, naughty! Mustn't run away, yes? Very, very bad huuuman!" The abomination said angrily. How does it even talk with a mouth like that!? "We… I take good care of you, yessss? We not lie like devilsssss! We eat you, and we tell truth! Can alwaysssss trussst usss!"
I began to struggle again. "Get away from me you- Gkh!"
My heroic defiance was interrupted by blood forcing itself up from my throat and out my mouth, splashing the ground with red.
T-That's… That's my b-blood!
The demon, or whatever it was, had taken one of it's spider limbs on it's back and stabbed me through the side. I didn't even feel the pain until I looked down. A watery scream escaped my mouth as my poor body was wracked with pain it never expected to feel.
"But, mayhaps, we have fun first, yessss? Boss doesn't care that we play with our food firssst! Just a little fun, oh please boss sir? YEEEESSSSSSS!"
Before I could even react – not that I could do much, mind you. This abominations grip felt like my arm was incased in solid, unyielding iron – his hand suddenly slashed at me. His claws easily cut through my flesh. The slash went all the way up to my neck. I coughed more blood, still unbelieving that this was my own blood.
I relaxed my muscles, giving the abomination more room to slash and stab at me. What was even the point? If I gave up, maybe he'd end it quicker. Anything, and I mean anything would have be better than witnessing myself be torn apart. So, like an injured and diseased animal, I gave up.
This final action did not go unnoticed by the abomination. "Whhhhhhat'sss thisss? Giving up already? Allll tuckered out!? Ssssssuch a shame! It's been ssso long ssince we were able to play with our food! Ssstill… it wasss fun while it lasssted!"
Okay, I was not letting him get the last laugh. Let this be my last act of defiance, then.
Lifting my arm slowly, I flipped him off.
I took great satisfaction in the slightly hurt 'expression' that crossed the abominations face.
"That'ssss not nice, huuuman!" The abomination whined, covering his face, and weeping dramatically. "Now our pride issss ruinedddd! Now we have to killll youuuu! Tasty, dragon-smelling human! You make me much stronger, yes!? Yes! You will be delicious!"
The abomination's maw opened, it's mandibles stretched as far as it could go. I could only assume that he would bite my head off, hopefully ending me quickly. I closed my eyes, ready for it to happen.
I never even got to say goodbye to my mom.
Only, nothing ever did happen. The strangest event in my entire life, and one that would be the catalyst for events for many, many years, happened then. For the briefest instant, it felt like the world went still, there was no sound, not even the ambient sound of the forest.
And then the world exploded, and all I saw for several seconds was greenish-blue light. The weight that held me up was torn away violently, and I fell to the ground, limp.
"How bothersome." Said a stern, cold female voice I'd never heard before. "And I had finally finished my work for the night."
She didn't sound pleased.
"The attacks have been getting worse, master." Said another female voice, this one softer, and more mature sounding. "This was an inevitability, if you ask me."
My eyes finally began working again, and I could make out my saviors. Two girls, one tall, and one just a bit shorter, and both of them were wearing nightgowns and slippers. The taller one had blonde hair, but… is there a greenish tint to it? The other had cool brown hair, almost a sorrel color. That's… as much as I could make out. I was really trying to stay conscious…
The tall, blonde-haired one gave a sidelong glance to the brown-haired one. "We will talk about this later, Bafeel. For now-" I guess she spotted my broken form, because she stopped. "Is that-?"
A huge roar emanated from nearby, and I could hear the crashing and tearing of branches and rocks as the abomination ran away. Or at least I thought it was running away. It was getting… hard to tell. Harder to hear, harder to see… It felt like I was going to…
It felt like I was about to go to sleep.
The tall one turned to the sound of the roar. "Bafeel, follow that stray. See if it can lead you to where they are all hiding. I will take care of this."
The other one, Bafeel – such a strange name… - gave the taller one a confused look. "Uh… Do you know this boy? Are you planning on…?" She trailed off.
The tall one shook her head. "No, but I suppose his death is partly my fault. My inaction has caused it. Besides, I do not think someone should die alone. Especially if they are guilty of nothing but being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Go. Before it gets away."
The sorrel-haired girl looked at the blonde-haired girl for a few moments, before she smirked and nodded. "I see. Hopefully it won't take long."
If I was in better condition, I'd probably gape at the bat-like wings that popped out of the Bafeel's back, and then probably sputter as she effortlessly used them to send herself into the air and into the tree line, presumably to follow that abomination. However, I was most certainly not in good condition, so I just watched this with a blank stare, like I was already dead.
I was not far off from that, and I was almost welcoming the encroaching blackness at the corners of my vision. It was comforting, in a way.
I heard a sigh, most likely from the one Bafeel had called 'master'. She was walking towards me, and I could make out more of what she looked like. She wore glasses, and behind said glasses I could see that her eyes were a pinkish color. Contacts, maybe? And, now that you mention it, her hair did have a sort of greenish tint to it. She was very pretty, too. Like, very pretty…
What? I may have been dying, but that didn't mean I couldn't appreciate someone else's good looks.
Okay, maybe it does.
She stopped just in front of me and knelt to my level. I watched this, barely able to comprehend anything anymore. If I listened closely, I think I could hear the sound of my blood flowing out of my body. It sounded like a distant waterfall. Strangely, the young woman in front of me looked at me with what felt like a mixture of pity and remorse. What was her name? I can't even… did that other one say her name…? Was there even another one?
"Can you hear me?" She asked gently, a lot of the coldness in her voice vanishing as she addressed me.
A wet gurgle was her answer. Oh, I had forgotten, my throat had been cut open.
She apparently noticed this. "Ah, yes, I suppose that would be an issue."
You're damn right it's an issue. I am bleeding out. Can't you call an ambulance or something? And maybe animal control? That abomination is still out there, don't ya know…
Not that I think an ambulance would do me much good now.
She reached a hand out. "For what it is worth, I am sorry. I should have been more vigilant."
What was she apologizing for?
Her hand ruffled my hair in a comforting gesture, but when she did, an instant change came over her. Her hand hesitated as it made contact, like she was shocked by something. Her expression turned distant for a couple of seconds before the barest hint of a smile appeared on her lips.
"Ah…" She gasped softly. "I see. So that is how it is. Maybe…"
She stood back up, and I could finally, finally feel myself slipping into the black that had been threatening to swallow me whole. I welcomed it.
Finally, it's over.
Or was it…?
I didn't know why that question entered my mind. Even though I could barely hear, see, or feel, well, anything at that point, I could make out a few words from the one that saved me from having that abomination's gaping maw be my last sight on this planet.
"Yes, I am sure of it… It may be a little hasty to use that piece, but I am unsure if anything else would work… Talk to him…"
What is she talking about now?
That was my last thought before blackness was all I knew.
So, that happened.
Yeah, my beta did say he thinks I have a fetish for torturing my OCs, and after writing this, I think he's right. Does that mean I'm a sadist or a masochist?
Oh, and one more thing before I wrap this up: I won't be responding to reviews anymore. It was basically a way to artificially increase the word count anyway. From now on, PMs!
Either way, hope you enjoyed!
