The whole world seemed to have ceased as I swam through the infinite darkness. Being dragged by the vines, I sank deeper and deeper. I couldn't tell if there was air or some kind of liquid surrounding the void. It was beyond my comprehension where I was. Engulfed by the substance, I held my breath, not testing if I could even do so inside. It probably only had been seconds but shrouded in the darkness, it felt as if time was nonexistent. Suddenly, a light started peering through bubbles from behind where the tentacled grips were taking me. As if I had risen from the surface of an ocean, I was thrown out from the other side. I felt as if splashing, but I wasn't soaked when I was released from the depths of the void. Fumbling, I dropped to the ground, gasping for air since I had forgotten to breathe from holding it in for so long. While I was trying to collect my thoughts and recognize where I was, the tentacles began tying together along the sides of the entrance, implying it was going to eventually close. I noticed what the void was doing, and I jolted in haste. Impulsively, I got up quickly to hopefully grasp onto something, but it disappeared before I was able to touch it. Standing there in shock, I limped my wrist and lowered my hand, trying to process all that had happened. A lot was going through my mind, but I knew for sure that wherever it tossed me into, it wasn't anywhere I should be in. Frustrated, I slammed my fists on the wall, reopening the wound on my palm. The sting caused me to grimace, and I held onto my hand in hopes that the bleeding would stop again. I reached into my bag and took out a couple of bandages. Ironically, keeping bandages just in case of getting hurt in a fight at school was a preparation, which I started feeling thankful for at that moment. Wrapping the bandages around my hand, I ensured it was tight enough to apply the proper pressure. After I was done treating my wound, I snapped myself back into the moment. I had begun to notice the room in which I was in. It was nothing like the basement I had been in where the strange void appeared. Rather than being broken down and dusty, full of wood planks and dirt, the walls were of cobblestone. There were unlit torches on the walls, held by metal stands, and on the floor were many objects I couldn't necessarily see since it was so dark. I took out a box of matches that were in my bag, that I used to use for candles when taking photos of creepy places, and struck one onto the box, causing fire to ignite on the match. I carefully made my way to the torch that was on my left and slowly applied the fire to the end of the stick. It lit up furiously, causing me to back away out of reflex. The fire eventually slowed down and lit up a good portion of the room. Now that I was able to see more clearly, I began observing my surroundings. The room was what appeared to be a long, dark hallway. Midway, there were torn pieces of cloth hanging from the walls; their function seemed to serve as a curtain to cover this side of the room from the rest of the hall, however, there was a section where it had been completely torn off, which allowed me to peer into the darkness of the remaining hall. On the floor were several items that were familiar to me, but odd in placements. There were things like toys, glasses, a pair of crocs, automobile parts, pipes, gears, wire hangers, and many other random objects scattered about. Raising my eyebrow in confusion, I began wondering what the hell all of this junk was doing here. Many odd things have been occurring, so I eventually brushed it off and began looking around the piles of objects, hoping to find things that would be useful to me. As I was digging through a pile of teddy bears and bowls, I found a red baseball bat in between a brown teddy bear that was missing its right arm and a cream-colored teddy missing its left arm. Smirking with confidence at my discovery, I picked up the bat. I began swinging it, trying to get a feel of its composition and weight. It was on the heavier side, entailing that it was made of metal, but it made perfect swings due to the momentum of its density. To give it more of a grip, I used the rest of my bandages to wrap around its hilt. After preparing my weapon of choice, I took a second look at my inventory. Around my neck, I still had my camera, and in my bag, I had a set of matches, five candles, the strange book I took from the study in the abandoned house, a multipack of bandaids with different sizes, a bag of potato chips, a waterbottle, three rolls of film, a journal, a small pouch containing some pen and pencils and a sketchbook. In my pocket, I had a pocket knife, a bag of shiny glass canicas, my wallet, a set of keys, a small notepad, and a red, black ink ballpoint pen. To ensure the safety of my camera, I put its case over it and slipped it into my bag. The items I had weren't exactly survival-worthy, but they were better than nothing. Lastly, I took a couple of wires from the trash pile, and a rope, rolling them both and slipping them into my bag. I dug further into the junk and found a clip that mountain climbers use and hooked it onto my belt loop, in case I needed it if I were to meet with a cliff or a rooftop. Not knowing what would come after I would leave this room, I made sure that everything I held would be important in the future. My only motivation is to survive and to get back home at least in one piece. There was a gut feeling that I was not in the same world I knew, so I needed to expect the unexpected. Who knows what's outside of this building and what is out there that could be a potential threat. After assessing my inventory, I lit one of the candles I had in my bag and made my way down the dark cobblestone hallway.
It seemed to run almost forever. Every part of the walls looked about the same. There were sections of it where I could turn left or right, but to make sure I didn't get lost, I pressed forward, avoiding any changes in direction. The air was putrid, similar to the basement, but with a heavier thickness to it. It felt as if I was in a coffin, suffocating. Uneasy, I had begun sweating from my palms and face, trying not to begin shaking from the spine-tingling feeling. All that had happened up until recently has been like some bad dream or a horror movie on an LSD trip, but despite the irrationality of it, I knew that everything that I had experienced was real. The only way I was going to survive this was to keep moving forward. I needed to get back home, I can't make myself look like I had run away. Especially with the conversation, I had with my mother before leaving the house for the night. I couldn't live with the idea of Mami blaming herself for my disappearance, or thinking I was dead and it was her fault. She doesn't deserve that kind of life, so I needed to find a way back home as fast as I could.
With every step, the pressure in the atmosphere got heavier and heavier, causing me to drip from sweat. Almost as if I was in an enclosed sauna, the intensity crushing my very being, but there wasn't a feeling of heat at all. The feeling could be compared to heat, but my body felt chills all over, despite the overwhelming air. "Fuck," I heaved under my breath, "Why the hell is it so hot…" I began wiping my forehead with my right arm, keeping hold of my bat, as well as the candle with my left hand. My vision had begun to get dizzy and the hallway seemed to swirl and move as if it was alive. Each breath I took was in hopes of taking in what little oxygen there was. The candle wax began melting faster, cutting the life of the fire tenfold. Out of panic, I forced myself to walk faster. As I continued down the endless hall, I had succumbed more and more into exhaustion. My lungs had become sore as if I had been running for miles nonstop. The sounds all around me created a tone unrecognizable, but low and heavy. I couldn't tell if I had begun to hear the rumbles of a distant growl or the creaks of the wooden pillars that had held the roof together. It was as if the building was an organism itself. Humid, warm, and pulsating like entrails. The more I overthought about the hallway, the shakier my body had become. My mind was in shambles, trying to process my surroundings. I need to get out of here, I need to get out of here, I need to get out of here, I kept repeating in my thoughts over and over as the panic surged through me. There was an overwhelming instinct that I wasn't the only living thing standing in the darkness.
From my warped state of mind, my dwindling senses have finally caught something of a more organic nature. Towards the end of the dark abyss, a feint agonizing moan was heard. It sounded as if someone was in pain. Given my guilty need to help others, I pursued it. Pleading, I was wishing that the thing I had heard led to the source of another lost human being like I was. The darkness and isolation had already begun to cause uncertainty that I was in the company of another lost soul, so the noise was distressful evidence to ease my tired mind and to keep it from breaking into insanity. Carefully following the echo, I stayed along the sides of the walls, hoping to at least blend in if there were any corners. From my pursuit, I had finally met the end of the hall, which lead to a turn towards the right side of a new wing. The odd noise was heard from the next hallway, filling the butterflies in my stomach with suspense. Scaling the walls, I crept closer and closer to the corner of the right side of the room. Once I had met the corner, I slowly peered into the other side. Trying to make sense of what I had seen, I squinted into the darkness, eventually noticing a figure standing towards the center of the long hallway. Common sense was out of my heat-exhausted mind, so I made my way slowly towards it. The candle in my hand was almost at its end, and the wax began to drip on my hand. When the hot wax met my skin, it left a quick sting, startling me enough to drop it. Meeting the floor, the flame died out, causing me to panic immediately. In haste, I reached back into my bag for another candle. As I was doing so, I heard a squelching sound get closer and closer. My primal instinct to survive caused my body to shake. Fumbling with my box of matches, I dropped a couple of sticks until I eventually kept a good grip on one, igniting it as quick as I could, then attempted to apply the small flame to the candle. It took a couple of frustrating tries to light it up as I grumbled in anxiety, " Come on, come on!" Finally, I lit the candle. From the grand contrast of pitch-black darkness to a dim, but promising light, I was met with something I had never seen before. A tall figure stood before me, one that was straight from pure nightmare fuel. My eyes widened and as my eyes finally adjusted to the change of lighting, I was finally able to see it much more clearly. The figure before me had a disfigured posture; it slouched over, revealing its protruding spine and bones. Its arms were extremely long and had extra joins, similar to the back legs of a digitigrade animal. Out of place, its fingers were long and slender with yellow claws at the ends of them, with thumbs that were placed lower than a usual hand would have it. There were wires with hooks on its end that stretched from its back to its chest, which pulled open its torso, revealing its rib cage, with a pair of lungs underneath, a beating heart, and entrails that had seemed to almost have the potential to spill out. The mutilation was as if someone had performed a reverse bloody eagle on the poor thing. Its face, if it even had a face, was unrecognizable. A deep gash created an opening in its "face" that was across from the top of the head to its somewhat chin. The gash looked as if someone had tried to cleave its head in two. Dripping in what could be inferred as sweat, its skin seemed very moist, as if it were about to fall off any second now. There was a deep, hollow noise, coming out of the creature like it was struggling to breathe. Where its body had opened, the skin had drooped down, rotting with infection. It was a disgusting sight that had brought terror inside me. I jolted back in an attempt to distance myself from it, accidentally bumping my bat on the wall behind me. The impact made a loud metallic bang, which caught the creature's attention. It twisted its head at a strange angle as if it had the eyes to look at me. The holes of what seemed to be its ears on the side of its head twitched, listening closely for my location. My heartbeat increased even faster, like a rabbit that had laid eyes on its predator before being snatched for the kill. Breathing along with my heart's rhythm, I felt the urge to finally make a break for it. Quickly, I ran further down the hall, not looking back at the monster. From behind, I heard it make a gurgling shriek, and the patters of its claws and flesh hitting the floor became faster and faster with each sound made. Despite my fading mind from the overbearing pressure of the air, the adrenaline that flowed through my veins gave me the strength to keep running for my life. Slightly tripping over myself, my vision was to the floor below me, and I had begun to notice the tracks of blood that it had left from arriving at the section of the hall where I had first encountered the creature. From the evidence, I had decided to follow it, hoping it was some sort of guard for this building. If it was even a guard, then its original post would be at an exit or entrance. I had no other choice or logical thing to go for, so I took that chance and continued running. Behind me, the malformed creature pursued with haste. Out of its gash screamed bloody cries, which spewed out flesh and blood from the infected wound. Because of its rotting and sweaty exterior, it occasionally slipped, running into the sides of the walls like a dog on ice. That only mistake was why it hadn't completely caught up with me. Mishap or not, I couldn't stop, or it had meant my end.
I kept following the bloodied tracks, making every necessary turn in hopes of finding some kind of exit. With each direction taken, I had noticed the structures of the halls had begun to change. The air was still suffocating, but there were additional features such as banners, scratch marks on the walls, and other various decorations around the room. I had been led further down into a possible main lobby of the structure. Entrances of other rooms had begun to make an appearance. Although, from a glance into the rooms, some were similar to the basement lab in the abandoned home; however, what was most concerning were the rooms with floors stained with dried blood, flies and maggots on mysterious piles of unidentifiable goo, along with chains, and other contraptions I couldn't recognize, as well as altars. With a quick guess, my thoughts had come to the same conclusion; the area I had been transported in was a prison or some sort of torture chamber. A place for the damned, and where the truest evils of man were enclosed inside. My imagination created imagery in my thoughts of what had possibly happened to the creature following me, leaving me with a gagging sensation in my throat and stomach, despite having not eaten or drunk recently. Eventually, after I returned my attention to the present, I had reached the end of the room with only two paths to choose from. Behind me, I heard it, getting closer and closer. With haste, I attempted to analyze my surroundings: the hall on my left has several rooms along with another left turn, possibly leading to an endless circle in the structure's layout, and on the right side, there was a dead-end with several barrels that could be used for hiding. The bloodied tracks I had been following led up to nowhere, so I had no further reference but my thoughts and experiences. From my own logic, staying in the barrels was too risky of a bet to make, especially since from that point I would have nowhere to run if I were to be caught. If I took the left hall, whether it would lead me in circles or further down another hall, it gave me more chances to slip away from the wandering creature. Quick with my decision, I took the left hall, hoping that the two pathways would confuse it.
As I made my way westward, several cells lined the walls. From the first entrance of the area, there was a door on the right-hand side. I tried opening the door, but only met with failure for it was locked shut, leaving me the only option of to continue running, or possibly find an item of aid to open the locked door. My gut was instinctively predicting that the door was some form of exit since the whole floor I was in is indeed some form of prison or torture dungeon. From a distance, I could hear the echoes of the creature frustrated of my whereabouts and had begun smashing into the barrels of the right-wing hall. Thankfully its tantrum spared me some time, so I dwelled further into the curled walkway. The majority of the cells were either locked, empty, or had several individuals in them. One contained what seemed to be a person, but was extremely malnourished and mutilated; unfortunately, still alive despite the wounds. Several more entities were spotted, unattentively trapped in their minds. I felt sorry for the poor souls down here and felt a form of regret in my chest that I couldn't save them. Even if I had tried, my ignorance of this world that I was transported in would only result in the death of everyone and including myself. The situation sucked, but I had no other choice. My main concern was not to be caught and to not possibly end up like them. Ensuring my invisibility, I continued quietly, but with much urgency.
As I disembarked further past the many prison cells, I commenced into a wall with a wooden door at its center, decorated with an unlit torch on the right side of the door. Anticipating for a way out, I approached the door and gripped onto its cold, metal knob. With much relief, I had managed to open it but was met with much dismay at the sight of the other side. The room I had discovered was covered with a mixture of dried and fresh adornments of blood on the floor, along with many various torture devices I had recognized, like the classic iron maiden, a brazen bull, stocks, a torture chair, a saw table, etc. Although, there were other devices I have never seen before. There was a corpse on the stone table which was located in the center of the room. Next to the body were saws, a breast ripper, pliers, scalpels, embalming tools, and various other atrocious tools for the sickening deeds that were put upon the prisoners. Oddly enough, on the opposite side of the torture mechanics, the left side of the room had a miniature laboratory containing beakers, burners, test tubes, and various tools of chemistry. The small lab reminded me of the basement of the old abandoned house, but this time there were even devices I couldn't identify. Whatever connection there was to this place, it was certainly a sinister account. There were several pages that were on the table, stained with blood and other bodily fluids. On the surface, the paper reminded me of the same material in the first book I had found in the antique building. Pulling out the book in my bag, I began flipping through the pages. Some sections had been torn out, which aired mystery to their contents. Even if I couldn't understand the language, collecting the missing pages could be clues to how I could get back home. The only features I could recognize were the strange pictures and page numbers written in Roman numerals. Evidence of earthly symbols proved that the book had been written by a human, thus there must have been some way to decode the messages and information it had contained. Despite the disgusting nature of the pages, I took the papers from the lab bench and placed them in their respective places. After my discovery, I heard familiar noises from the hall I had entered the room from. I finally focused on my initial task and looked around to hopefully find some solution to it. There were several places I could hide in like a barrel, inside of a gutted corpse, or in the brazen bull. Considering my stature and considering the least amount of risk of being locked in or stuck, I decided to hide in the barrel. When I removed the lid from the top of it, I noticed its vile contents. Inside was blood and decaying bits and pieces of body parts and flesh. Several flies were buzzing around it, thus proving the evidence of maggots squirming inside a lone arm. I held my hand to my mouth, gagging at the smell and sight of my discovery. The footsteps I had heard earlier got louder and louder, and I had to move fast. Withholding any of the nauseating feeling I felt in my stomach, I stepped into the barrel, covering my body with blood and rotting bits of entrails. I tried so hard not to vomit at the close stench of death, but with survival on the line, I told myself to stop caring for the moment. Eventually, I had the guts to sink deeper into the mush, making sure I had only looked like a severed head floating in the decaying leftovers of a torture experiment. The smell was overwhelming, but I had to keep quiet. I sank to nose level, putting the lid back over on top of me. Forcing my mouth closed, I tried to prevent anything from the goo from entering my mouth, despite a few failed efforts. The maggots drowning in the gore squirmed around me, some even trying to get a grip on me to save its foreshortened life. I could feel some parts of the contents of the barrel were squishy, as well as some bits of bone and parts of limbs here and there that bumped into me. Gagging sensations kept tugging the inside of my throat, yet I had to withstand the intensity so that I could avoid death from the wandering creature.
A couple of minutes passed and I could hear something looking around the room from inside the cask. The banging of tools hitting the ground and papers being shuffled echoed. The slamming of chests and cabinets increased in volume; they were drawing closer and closer. A primal sense of anxiety took over as my beating heart slammed in an intense rhythm. It was already difficult to breathe in the barrel, and my fear made it even more problematic. The stress of my situation caused my mind to cloud. Out of intense thirst and exhaustion, the world had begun to spin. My body couldn't stop shaking. My head was screaming for the thing outside to leave so I could get out of the claustrophobic anxiety my weakened mind had succumbed to. I needed air, I needed water, I needed rest; I needed so much to survive but here I remained in, the gore of a poor, tormented soul. Silence stiffened the atmosphere, despite my unraveling madness. Something wasn't right. My gut clenched as I waited. The only noise I could comprehend was my overwhelming thoughts. I held my breath. It was too quiet for comfort. Had it left? Was it done? Should I make a break for it? I began formulating questions, impulsively needing an answer to the sudden stillness. Suddenly, the lid over my head was lifted, bringing light back inside the cask. I jolted in shock and felt something grab the back collar of my jacket. The intruder lifted me with a shocking amount of strength, pulling me out of the pool of gore. I panicked, letting out a cut-off scream. What had stopped me was noticing the stranger before me. They wore a yellow trenchcoat, a black turtle-neck sweater, and black slacks, hung by a leather belt. When I looked up at their face, they seemed human, with pale-ish olive skin, green eyes, red rounded big glasses, and shaggy, short black hair. Although, they had pointy ears that looked natural to them and were not done by surgery. With a deadpan expression, they let go of my jacket and sighed in apprehension. It seemed as if they had no interest in my discovery, perhaps they were expecting someone else or looking for something. The humanoid stranger began making their way out of the torture room. Impulsively, I blurted out, "Hey, wait a second!" As soon as I uttered words, they had already left the room. Wiping the blood off of my face and guts that were on me, I hurried to follow them, hoping for some answers. They were the only person I had seen since I had appeared in this hell hole, and I needed some form of understanding of where the hell I am. Recalling the creature I had run from, I anxiously caught up to the mysterious individual. "Wait, hold up, there's some kind of freaky ass monster around here, and-" I advised the stranger, but couldn't complete my sentence from my shaking, hoping they at least understood the language I was speaking. Half ignoring me, they responded with a rough voice, "Don't worry, I am aware of the Wanderer." It took me by surprise that they responded, but I felt extremely relieved that they had understood what I had said. This fact would help a lot with being able to communicate with them and any other possible residents of this realm. Hopefully this perplexing stranger could be an ally or at least give a hint on how to get home. They appeared quite relaxed from my presence, well, moreover withdrawn, but there was no hostility in their mannerisms. Breaking the silence between us again, they spoke again, "Look, if there's something you want, speak forward." They turned to look back at me, but with eyes full of an unknown disaffection, "Otherwise, get out of my way." The sudden change of tone made goosebumps form on my skin, despite sweating from the heat of the dungeon. Hostile or not, they were my only opportunity out of the dungeon. From the looks of it, they seemed to have known the place somewhat. My body was screaming from exhaustion and I felt extremely light-headed, so I needed to leave before I would completely collapse. The heat didn't seem to bother the stranger much, especially since they wore a thick sweater with a trench coat and slacks. It was uncertain that this is native climate to this world, or that they simply had more endurance because they weren't completely human. With pointed ears and sharper teeth, they must have been some kind of humanoid species, or the "humans" of this dimension or whatever the hell this place was. Before the stranger completely walked off, I discreetly began following them, hoping that the risk was well worth it.
Following the mysterious person, I tiredly looked around, afraid that the Wanderer would eventually spot us. I held onto my bat firmly, despite it feeling so heavy now that I've grown weaker. The dungeon grew silent, with only creaking and pulsating tones from the hollow to be heard. It was unsettling due to the Wanderer's sudden disappearance. Perhaps it had grown tired of chasing me around, or it was waiting for me, as I am a complete outsider and basically an intruder. The stranger I was following didn't seem to belong here either, despite being an obvious resident of this realm. I began wondering about their origins, or why they're even down here in the first place. Refraining from imposing on their focus, I continued following, quietly. The hallway we explored was much darker than the previous ones. Instead of cobblestone looking as slick as cave walls, they were as if of limestone or sandstone; although given the foreign territory, I doubted they were of that material. There were dust and mold spores in the air, almost making me want to sneeze. Unfortunately, the air pressure was just as dense as the upper locations of the dungeon, yet there was something more off, more sinister that this section gave off. It was as if inside a rotting corpse; covered in all sorts of fungal decay. The smell was horrendous, like death itself was in full presence. Due to the smell of rot and sulfur, I deduced that the level we were in was for sewage and perhaps where they got rid of dead bodies or dismembered parts and gored mush. As we delved deeper, the air grew denser and denser, making it hard for me to breathe. Out of stupid logic, I began asking out of panic, "By the way who are you?" The stranger didn't seem surprised by my question and looked back at me. "My name is Willow, Willow Park, and who might you be?." They answered politely. "Um, nice to meet you I guess," I responded in courtesy, "The name's Luz Noceda."
Willow didn't seem too interested in conversation, but they continued anyway, "Well Luz the human, if I may ask, do you have any idea where you are?" The straightforwardness of her question almost caught me off guard, but I figured it would eventually lead me to some answers in return.
"No, I have no idea where the hell I am to be completely honest," I answered, gasping in between my words, "First I was in some creepy abandoned house and the next thing I know, I get swallowed by this funky gateway that looks like something straight out of an H.P. Lovecraft story and boom, I ended up here in this freaky ass dungeon."
Not surprised by my answer, Willow acknowledged, "Well I hate to break it to you, but you're a long way from home." I already figured out what they had mentioned beforehand, but I couldn't help but feel the shock pulse through my body. That sinking feeling in your gut: fear.
"I can see you have figured that out already, given you ran into the Wanderer before I found you." They said as they adjusted their glasses. Completely facing me, they continued, "Well, first of all, it seems like you've accidentally unlocked a portal to here, did you find anything you humans would find strange like a book, glyphs, sigils, anything?" I quietly pulled out the odd book from my bag and began flipping through its pages. Trying to find the peculiar sigil I encountered in the skin-leather book in the basement of the abandoned home, I scanned each page. Eventually, I came across it and showed Willow, pointing to the symbol. Adjusting their glasses again, out of habit, Willow leaned in closer towards the book and began reading. Her understanding of the language brought me a great deal of relief; I had finally found a source I could possibly rely on. "Where did you even get this…?" Willow interrogated me, with a slight tone of concern in their voice.
Without hesitance, I acknowledged, "I got it from a broken-down house from my world, but this wasn't the book that brought me here."
"From the looks of it, this is pretty much like a textbook; only contents of research, although, what makes me curious is that it's from your world, which means it was written by a human."
"Do you have any idea who it might belong to?"
"Unfortunately no, I recognize the material of its information, yet I've never seen something like this before." Recalling my previous statement, she inquired, "Wait, you mentioned that this wasn't the book that brought you here, what did the other one look like?" The conversation seemed to have driven their curiosity, despite giving me the cold shoulder at first. It was reassuring that she was beginning to take an interest in my situation, rather than responding with hostility. As soon as I was about to answer Willow's question, a sound of wet tapping was heard from the darkness. The hollowed breathe that had escaped reminded me of a previous encounter and I immediately deduced that the Wanderer has returned. I noticed Willow's posture change defensively. Quickly putting the book away, I held my red metal bat firmly. Claws clicking on the cobblestone floor quickened with haste, as a blood-curdling screech released from its gashes. My hands shook out of not only fatigue but out of intense fear. The damned beast was right in front of me, and there's no going back now. Bracing for it to pounce, I moved my arms back, ready to swing. The Wanderer coiled itself and made a great leap in front of us, exposing its hanging entrails and opened ribs. Circling their finger, Willow produced a glowing green circle out of thin air, triggering a vine to pummel the creature, sending it flying back into the depths of the hall. I stiffened in surprise at what Willow had just done. Was that just… Magic…? I thought to myself, in awe. Cutting me off from the daze, she hastily grabbed my collar, pulling me as they darted towards the opposite side of the beast, "Hurry now, while it's stunned!" Fumbling around, I eventually brought myself back to my senses and followed Willow's instructions. I tried keeping up with her, but my body felt like it would collapse any second. Breathing had proven difficult due to the pressure; as if a huge elephant sat on my chest. The only thing keeping me from going was the adrenaline rush and the instinctive desire not to die at the hands of another living being. The Wanderer screeched loudly; it grew angrier and less patient. We made our way to a tunnel that stretched further down but thinned as one got into its depths. The stench was even more putrid than before. For once I felt relief from the awful smell; it meant that we were close to an exit out of this hell. Willow directed me through the gutters of the dungeon, "We're almost out of here, but it's not the end just yet human." I tried swallowing from nervousness, but my mouth was dried to a desert. The only moisture left in me was outside of my body from its production of sweat. Doing my best to ignore it, I continued down the disgusting tunnel of sewage.
The "water" began to become higher and higher, reaching to my knees as we made our way down. Several pieces of body parts and flesh floated around along with other substances I did my best to avoid thinking about or fully identifying. It was at least cooler in temperature compared to the suffocating humidity of the dungeon. Willow and I drudged through the mixed substance further and further. The tunnel grew more and more narrow, signifying some sort of exit for the sewage to leave out of. Luckily, that exit was to be seen right in front of us. It was barred, but there was a metal wheel on the side of it. A massive amount of relief caused me to sigh, despite the fact I had no idea of what the world was like outside. It could be far worse than this massive dungeon, or it could be an improvement. Ignoring the risks, I waded through the sewage and got over to the barred gate along with Willow in front of me. They gripped onto the metal wheel and began turning it, although, slowly due to its stiffness. Willow grunted, using all her strength to turn the rusted wheel, caked with dried substances. The barred gate slowly rose with each turn, and the liquid began seeping through slightly. "Damn this thing is tight." Willow complained, growling in slight frustration. I used the wall as leverage for my tired body. The world had begun spinning again, although ironically, it was nice that the sewage was at least somewhat cold. Unfortunately, the thickness of the air didn't improve at all and it was still difficult to breathe. Willow continued turning the rusted wheel and the gate was at least a quarter of the way from being opened. From the other end of the tunnel, the echos of splashing bounced along its walls, sending a sinking feeling in my gut. It was not done searching for us. Willow tried to make haste with the wheel and my body stiffened with panic. I had no strength left to fight, even with something much stronger than a human. At a distance, the Wanderer was seen crawling down the long and dark tunnel, following the sounds of the scraping metal of the opening gate. As soon as it identified us, it began screaming that god-awful screech and sprinted down the sewer. "Come on…" Willow growled while trying to open the gate. It was already halfway opened, and the Wanderer grew closer and closer, splashing and tripping from the slick sewage. Thankfully the creature was clumsy, buying us at least a little time. I held onto my bat, hoping that there was a least some fire left in me to make at least one good swing. It was at least about 20 feet away from us now, and now slowing down. Time seemed to have slowed, as life and death hung on the balance of fate. It was now 15 feet away from us. Raising my bat, I kept my eyes locked on the creature, despite the fear that overwhelmed me. My muscles spasmed as my body shook. The beating of my heart grew faster and faster, increasing my breath, yet there was barely any air to inhale. My lungs burned with each breath, and the sweat continued to drip from my skin, taking away what little moisture I had left in my system. It was now 10 feet away from us. The gash between its "face" opened up, revealing a disgustingly long tongue and yellowed human teeth that surrounded its throat. Almost screaming Willow shouted aloud, "Now!" I turned around quickly, noticing the door was at least halfway open. She held onto the wheel, proving the mechanism could only stay open as long as someone had a hand on the wheel. Without any hesitation, I slipped away, underneath the gate, making it to the other side while she held the mechanism. It was now 5 feet away from us. I put my bat between the gate and the floor, hoping it would at least hold it up so Willow could slip through. Acknowledging my strategy, she nodded and quickly made her way through the opening of the gate. Within seconds, it was right in front of us, swinging its abnormally long claws right at us, as Willow slipped underneath the gate. Claws met the metal bars, producing sparks. As soon as it noticed the opening, it began diving towards it, opening its jaws like a snake; gaping. With haste, I grabbed my bad and the gate closed onto the head of the Wanderer, crushing its skull with a quick loud crack. The browned liquid began turning more maroon, puddling its blood. I held onto my bat, almost hugging it in fear. This had been the first time I've ever killed anything, especially by my own "hands." The thought of my actions brought more fear into me, causing me to vomit. Willow stood there, watching me empathetically. "I hate to be the one to say it, but you'd better start getting used to that," They advised me in a soft, but harsh tone, "This world is nothing like the world you used to know, and there will be far worse things ahead, for the Boiling Isles isn't kind to humans." Wiping the bile off of my mouth, I looked back at her in despair. Softening her expression, she offered me her hand. Responding with a slight smile, recognizing that I had made a new ally, I grabbed her hand, she pulled me back up to my feet and helped me carry my weakened body as we made our way out of the sewer.