Footsteps Approaching
By evolution-500
Genre: Horror/Tragedy
Disclaimer: "3D Monster Maze" is a property belonging to Malcom Evans. I own neither the characters nor this respective title.
WARNING: This story contains violence and course language. Reader discretion is advised.
Chapter Three: Ascension
"The wise are silent, the foolish speak, and the children are thus led astray, for wisdom is not knowledge, it is a realization of the scheme and of one's own part in it."
- Algernon Blackwood
He was going to die in this place.
The awful certainty of that notion had struck Jeremy deeply, weighing heavily over his weary mind.
He had tried to deny it at first, but with his mind and body straining at the seams, it became increasingly hard for him to maintain whatever optimism or hope that he had of ever escaping this hellhole.
Jeremy stared down the striped monochromatic hallway in dismay as he found himself in yet another identical corridor, his mood black.
He had lost all track of time; minutes blended into hours, which blended into days, which then blended into what felt like weeks, months or years.
No longer was he the cleanshaven university in his twenties; his hair had grown long and grey, draping past his shoulders, his clothing in complete tatters, his body scarred and emaciated. Taking out his long-dead cellphone out from his pocket, Jeremy stared at his own reflection, his wrinkly bearded countenance staring blankly back.
Seeing the unrecognizable person in the makeshift mirror, he palmed his mouth and chin, shaking his head slowly from side to side in dismay.
'What happened to me?' he lamented.
Where had all that time gone? Once upon a time, he used to be a university student, a young man who was about to find his way in the world, only to find him robbed by that opportunity by this evil place, by that evil creature.
Clenching his hand around the phone, he refrained from sniffling as he placed it back into his pocket.
Part of Jeremy wanted to let out a shrill scream of anguish, to curse God for putting him here.
Part of him wanted to hit something.
Part of him desperately wanted to cry.
A greater part of him, however, just couldn't bring himself to fight, let alone care about his own well-being anymore; he felt exhausted beyond comprehension, and it was all beginning to be too much for him to handle.
Black-ringed eyes fluttered as Jeremy struggled to stay awake.
He couldn't even remember the last time that he slept, if at all; it had been one frantic chase after another, a constant, unending cycle of violence and horror that Jeremy loathed with every fiber of his being.
For every step forward, Jeremy would always seem to find himself back at square one, with little to no progress made, if at all.
Part of him wanted to hit something, only he couldn't; his previous efforts at fighting back using improvised bone weapons was a disaster, nearly getting him killed. He had done everything that he could to keep going, but he was running out of time and energy; what little of the latter that he had left was the only thing keeping him upright on his feet. It would only be a matter of time before death came for him, and Jeremy wouldn't be surprised if he were to die standing.
Letting his eyes roam along the monochromatic walls, floor and ceiling, he listened intently for any noise, no matter how quiet, for some indication of his nemesis being near.
With his tracker dead, all that Jeremy had were his own wits, and despite his best efforts, he didn't know how much longer he could last for.
Rex was growing increasingly restless, hunting relentlessly after him with a sadistic relish that would have made Satan himself proud, becoming increasingly more aggressive and cunning. For every encounter, for every narrow escape, it was causing Jeremy to feel nothing but overwhelming sorrow.
The price of continued survival was costing him everything that he had - both his mind and his body, along with his very sanity.
Even the memories of his own family, those most precious and sacred gifts that made life worth living, were being taken from him, piece by piece. Of that life prior to this ordeal, of those wonderful memories that Jeremy had deeply cherished, that had kept him sane and moving forward, only a few remained. He could no longer remember the names of his friends. He could no longer remember the name of the school that he went to. He could not even remember his own mother's name anymore, no matter how hard he tried.
Nothing was either sacred nor safe from this godforsaken place, from Rex; there had never been a single moment, not even a whole minute, when Jeremy hadn't thought about his pursuer.
More and more, memories of happier times, of the smiling faces of his mom and siblings, were being insidiously eroded away, replaced with nothing but terror, and it filled Jeremy with despair.
He was convinced that the creature was toying with him, that it was deliberately prolonging the hunt and keeping him alive for however long, just for its own sick and twisted amusement.
Every effort, every escape was costing Jeremy something, and whenever he used a portal to escape, rather than feeling happy about his continued survival, a feeling of growing dread filled him.
He couldn't help feeling as if some part of him was being consumed. Rex wasn't just consuming his body, much to his growing horror and realization, but also his mind, if not his very soul.
"What do I do now?" he wondered.
Should he...kill himself?
From all indications, Jeremy's chances of escaping were practically nil. Even worse, the odds of him surviving the next encounter were growing against him; Rex has become even more determined and sadistic than he had thought possible, moving faster than normal.
He loathed the idea of travelling through this fucking maze again, trying to find his way out like a fucking rat.
The last few escapes alone have resulted in more than a few cuts and bruises.
Still, at least he was able to get away.
'But for how long?' the cynical part of Jeremy remarked.
Sighing, Jeremy dejectedly reached into his pocket, frowning.
'Looks like I'm out of cigarettes,' he bitterly thought.
Just perfect.
Reaching into his pant pocket with the remaining arm, Jeremy fumbled around as he tried to find a pack of cigarettes, only to feel something hard.
The hell?
Pulling it out, the young man stared blankly at the sight of the black notebook for a few moments before widening in remembrance, his memory coming back to him.
'This was that old guy's journal!' He realized.
Back when he had first entered the portal!
Jeremy had completely forgotten about the man.
Let's see what you have to say, old man.
With his remaining hand, he flipped the journal open, hoping that there could be something in it that would help him understand what was going on, if not indicate a way to get out of this place.
"'From the journal of...'" He squinted at the page, trying to make out the writing, "'...Maple...White.'"
Narrowing his eyes, Jeremy scanned the pages, furrowing his brows in concentration, a frown forming on his face.
Reading the passages was an undertaking in and of itself; not only had the old man's blood had dried, covering much of the writing, which in itself was almost illegible, but it had also caused some of the pages to stick together, much to Jeremy's frustration.
The handwriting was practically chicken scratch, but from what Jeremy was able to discern about its author, White had been an occult specialist and cryptozoologist from the Miskatonic University's Anthropology Department.
A lot of the writing was incoherent and hard to follow, partially due to pages sticking together, and partially because of the blood making it difficult to read and cutting off certain passages. However, a big issue that Jeremy had with White's journal mainly stemmed from the cluttered and nonsensical ramblings of the writer himself, who seemed to be somewhat of an eccentric, if not partially insane himself.
There were bits and pieces that Jeremy could make out here and there, such as "University Ethics Committee" along with what seemed to be references to some type of cult, but none of it was coherent. The journal made note that the cult had been situated someplace, but when or where was made impossible to determine due to the fact that a number of paragraphs were concealed by dried blood, much to Jeremy's frustration. Even White's interest was poorly explained, aside from a vague mention of wanting to investigate Monarch Forest to see if it possessed any supernatural qualities.
There were some words that he was able to make out such as "The Father of All Serpents", "The Black Shadow", "Yig", "Necronomicon", and various others, but they were all meaningless to Jeremy. What the hell did any of them even mean?! Christ, some of these words practically sounded as if they were made up, making Jeremy wonder if White had been a nutjob before ending up in this place, which wouldn't surprise him if that were the case.
A lot of White's writing was complete and utter gobbledygook, with a lot of verbiage and phrases tossed around such as "quantum entanglement", "matter reconstitution, absorption and assimilation", "half-life", "superconducting materials that crystalize light", and other things that made Jeremy's head hurt. Some parts made mention of "dimensions that were connected" and being "part of a whole" and "alive", while another paragraph mentioned something about an "entity that prolonged itself by feeding off of its prey's despair", but it was all incomprehensible.
One part that had made Jeremy laugh was the mentions of "the serpent people".
First time he read that part out loud, he had to double-check in order to make sure that he wasn't reading it incorrectly, but once he had confirmed the writing, he couldn't help himself.
"Christ, he really was a loon, wasn't he?" he chuckled quietly, his laughter practically unrecognizable to his own ears.
He had to admit, it felt good to finally laugh after all this time, but by the same token, though, he hated how it sounded, especially with its rough and scratchy tone.
Letting out a breath, Jeremy continued, his eyes scanning for whatever he could find, be it a map, some information about the creature or what was going on, the clown known simply as "Mister White", or even some hint of an exit out of this shithole.
Later passages were cluttered and practically indecipherable, the writing such that it was showing an evident decline in the writer's mental faculties.
Jeremy carefully scanned the pages, trying to make out the rest of the messy writing and what they had to say, but the journal was in such a poor state that it was for purposes illegible.
Letting out a frustrated roar, Jeremy violently whipped the journal away, not caring if he damaged it.
Great. Just fucking great.
All this time wasted, and he was no better off than how he was earlier.
He was no closer to understanding where he was, let alone what was happening, nor did he know why. Even worse, he wasn't even sure if there was even an exit, nor did the journal indicate any way of dealing with Rex.
As the thought of his pursuer flashed in his mind, Jeremy suddenly snapped to attention, paling as he quickly looked around in all directions with heightened alertness.
Shit, where is he?
It was uncharacteristic for Rex to be gone for so long.
Where did you go-
Titanic jaws smashed upward from the floor just three feet from where he stood, catching Jeremy off-guard as they attempted to snatch him.
Back-pedaling, Jeremy shrilly screamed as he stumbled on his feet, fleeing in the opposite direction as his pursuer pulled his massive black bulk out from the floor, his hingeless white mouth maliciously grinning widely.
'The bastard's fucking with me!' Jeremy began to realize.
He had suspicions that it had been, but seeing Rex's smile alone was confirmation enough. The creature was smart, smarter than Jeremy had originally anticipated, purposefully biding its time in order to get to him.
Mustering every ounce of strength that he could in his aging bones, Jeremy fled once more into the labyrinth in desperation, with Rex close behind as he chased him all the way down through the numerous corridors.
Every part of Jeremy ached as he sensed the creature's presence growing closer, the light of its awful eyes and menacing glowing teeth growing closer and closer with each step.
Letting out a defiant roar of anguish, he ran with everything that he had until he finally reached the portal at the end, once more consumed by the hungry light.
When the light finally cleared from his vision and all feeling finally returned, Jeremy let out a loud yell as he was sent hurtling a few feet downward, crashing indelicately to the floor.
Groaning, he winced, arching his back. "God...damn it!" He swore.
Sitting himself up, Jeremy massaged his sore muscles.
It was then that he became aware of a wrongness, as if something was...missing.
Looking at his hand, Jeremy's eyes widened in alarm.
"Oh no," he whispered. Shooting up from the floor, he looked frantically around on his person, checking his pockets. "No no no no no!"
Brushing away what looked and vaguely felt like branches, the survivor felt around for the device, searching like a madman for his only hope of salvation.
Letting out a loud curse that echoed, Jeremy clutched the sides of his head, feeling overwhelmed.
The bloody tracker was gone. He must have dropped it somewhere, probably back where he had been reading White's journal, though ideally he hoped that he could find it somewhere...around...here...
Jeremy sat completely still as he took in his new surroundings, his heart sinking.
The first thing that he noticed was an entirely sepulchral black "sky" or ceiling, the color unusually thick and oppressively dark. Despite that fact, however, Jeremy noticed that his own form was being illuminated.
Staring at the lighting on his arm, he raised his eyes up and cast his gaze around, searching for its source, only to find himself unable to do so, completely confounded by the strange phenomena; from all indications, there wasn't a single light source anywhere in this place.
No moon, no sun, torch or candle, not even stars of any kind.
He couldn't tell if he were outside, of if he were in some sort of deep underground cavern.
What made it especially unnerving to him, though, was the complete stillness and lack of sound; part of him had expected to hear at least something, whether it be trickling water, crashing waves, maybe the wind's howl, but to Jeremy's growing consternation, he had detected nothing.
This place felt utterly...dead.
Clicking his tongue, Jeremy turned his attention over to the rest of his environment, wondering what else he would find, only to regret his decision.
Staring aghast in horror at the sight that greeted him, Jeremy paled as he took it all in, his stomach tensing up as he felt unease growing with each passing moment, disconcerted by he was seeing, and by the complete lack of sound.
Unlike the other sections of the labyrinth that he had explored previously, which had been simple corridors with the odd open space or two, this area was a marked departure from the norm due to the fact that there weren't any walls whatsoever. Comparatively speaking, it was far more open than all the others, one that generously offered far more terrain to traverse and explore, allowing for far greater maneuverability, even verticality in some instances. In some ways, it was an admittedly refreshing change from the often claustrophobic narrow spaces that he tended to travel on.
In other ways, however, this new area was even worse than what he could have ever imagined, for what he saw brought no comfort whatsoever.
The very ground that Jeremy stood on, he began to realize, was a vast tapestry of horror, an unending carpet and landscape made up entirely of bones.
Getting up to his feet, he stared open-mouthed in awe as his gaze slowly scanned from left to right.
Everywhere Jeremy stepped, everywhere he looked, everywhere he turned - all that Jeremy saw were piles, upon piles, upon piles, upon piles of bones and bodies.
He saw fragments.
He saw parts and pieces that were partially preserved as well as those that were severely damaged.
He saw fingers.
Teeth.
Feet.
Femurs.
Hip bones.
Skulls.
Mandibles.
Ribcages.
The remains of men.
The remains of women.
Adolescents and children.
Christ, he had even spotted what looked disturbing like the remains of infants.
Whole skeletons were piled high on top of one another, forming large mounds, hills, and in some instances, mountains, towering grotesque monuments to death and decay.
Jeremy noticed that many of the skeletons didn't even look human, what looked like bones belonging to a wider array of species.
Cats. Dogs. Horses. Cattle. Birds. Chickens. Raccoons. Elephants. What looked like wolves and some bears, among countless other creatures, some of which looked suspiciously and distinctively like animals that had died out ages ago.
Some of the remained looked as if they had been picked clean, while others looked remarkably fresh, much to Jeremy's surprise and worry.
He saw the remains of things that he had never seen before, things that he was certain had never existed on Earth, if ever.
Turning slowly round and round, Jeremy stared open-mouthed in awe, startled by the sheer bloody carnage around him.
Stretching for miles around was a vast vista of bodies, bones, and blood, while huge columns of vertebrates belonging to some large animals were protruding out from some of the piles like large obscene logs or trees, pointing and curling upward. Blood poured in such thick quantities that they practically formed streams, in some areas rivers.
Every step he made, he heard and felt something crack and crunch underneath him.
Everywhere he looked, Jeremy saw nothing but death.
There had to be more than a dozen bodies here.
More than fifty.
More than even a hundred.
Christ, there had to be thousands, perhaps even millions upon millions of skeletons in this place - the sheer scale alone was such that it made Jeremy numb with overwhelming horror.
But even more chilling, though, had been the fact that each and every single bone bore the tell-tale signs of having been chewed, gnawed, or eaten. Some of them had even been fresh and bloodied, with bits of meat still attached to some parts.
There were no flies or maggots, thankfully, and the meat itself was clearly rotting, carrying a horrible smell that made this whole place stink.
'Fucking hell!' He swore in disbelief, coughing as he wrinkled his nostrils, covering it with his hand.
The smell of this place was loathsome. It was a wonder that he hadn't detected it the moment that he got here.
And the number of bodies...Jesus, the only time that he ever recalled seeing this many bodies was in a class about the Holocaust...but even that seemed to pale in comparison to the number of cadavers here.
As Jeremy stared out at the vast vista of corpses, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
"...How long has this been going on for?' he wondered.
From all indications, this wasn't some single event that just occurred over the course of a a day, let alone a hundred years; from the number of bodies alone, this seemed to have been going on for a very, VERY long time.
What happened here? What caused all this?
Cupping his chin with his remaining hand, Jeremy's lips pursed as he considered all of the things that he had seen and felt.
It was then that he suddenly recalled that strange vision and experience after narrowly escaping Rex, causing his eyes to widen slightly.
Those images...his actions...were those...Rex's memories?
Memories that it had over sixty-five million years ago?
Slowly but surely, a picture was starting to form, though the details were still largely murky.
Jeremy recalled the strange light, how it had been a constant presence and factor in all of his travels.
When the animal had consumed that strange substance, the latter must have caused its host to change, altering its very body in order to make it stronger and smarter while also unnaturally extending its lifespan.
More and more questions started to fill Jeremy's mind as he thought about that strange, shapeless distortion of color and light.
What was it exactly? What was its purpose? Was it some leftover from some long lost higher intergalactic civilization or power, these "serpent people", as Maple White had indicated in his journal?
Was the light some sort of, dare he say, alien presence?
A parasite that drove Rex into becoming the frenzied monster that it ultimately became? What was its connection to this place? Was this all some higher dimensional plane? An alternate universe, or universes? Or, more disturbingly, was this all...part of Rex himself?
Jeremy had always been struck by the jarring monochromatic qualities of both Rex and this maze, and for a long time, he had never given it much thought, if at all, until now, and the idea of him unknowingly traversing the inside of some life-form was disturbing think about.
Discomforted by the thought, Jeremy turned his mind away from that as he tried to consider other possible explanations for what was happening, if only to keep himself from thinking about the horrible implications that it suggested.
Perhaps the object, whether it be alien life-form, consciousness or cosmic anomaly, had merely adopted Rex's image after it had consumed him, in the same way that it had all the other organisms that had crossed its path over the long gulfs of time that it was here.
Jeremy thoughtfully considered the idea, his lips pursing.
If that was so, he, reflected, then it would make Rex every bit the victim like him, which would be ironic, all things considered.
On the other hand, however, the fact that Rex continued to exist in this self-perpetuating limbo as itself rather than live in a different form seemed to suggest some degree of control on its part.
Jeremy clicked his tongue, trying to make sense of it.
So many possibilities and questions assailed his mind that it became almost dizzying to contemplate. One stray thought, however, crept into his mind, causing a slight chill to run through his spine.
Was Rex's transformation an accident caused by some sort of cosmic fluke, or had it been intentional, a dark seed planted by otherworldly forces for some malevolent, yet to be revealed purpose?
As Jeremy considered the question, he exhaled.
Whatever the creature was or had been, whatever the truth may be, what was certain at this time was that the entity known as Rex had become something far more sinister and dangerous than any animal known to Man. With this increased strength, knowledge and lifespan came increased aggression, along with a vicious and sadistic personality, one that had relished the hunt and took joy in tormenting its prey, both physically and psychologically.
Jeremy recalled the various tricks it had played, the awful, almost sneering look on its face in the various encounters that he had with Rex throughout this whole endeavor. How it almost seemed to take personal delight and pleasure from his fear.
One particularly eerie encounter that he recalled was it just silently staring and watching him. It hadn't made any sort of movement, nor had it tried to attack - it had just stood there, its attention fixed on his movements. Then, in a gesture that clearly expressed its contempt for him, it had lifted up its chin and peeled its black lips back, and showed its glowing white teeth, as if somehow it were saying to him "You can't stop me", forcing him to flee.
The survivor pursed his lips, thinking about all that he had seen and heard.
It was possible that Rex was not even the same creature that it once had been anymore. For all Jeremy knew, the light had extinguished the original animal upon consumption and then had reconstructed at the subatomic level a sort of strange interdimensional copy that existed in other realities, possessing the same memories as its predecessor.
A fixed point in the space and time continuum that was destined to walk alone in this plane or planes of existence, trapped in this part of the world, perhaps for all of eternity, feeding on anything that dared entered its territory. And when it was hungry, it would send out copies of those who had been lost in order to lure in more food.
'That could perhaps explain the circus,' Jeremy nodded.
And yet, part of him couldn't help but wonder. If it was some sort of energy being, if not some life-form made from some unknown matter that had allowed it to survive for millions of years, why would it even need to eat at all?
Jeremy considered the question.
It was possible that it wasn't immortal in the strictest sense of the word, that it still needed matter in order to survive. The only possible other explanation that he could think of was that the hunger that it felt was some sort of instinctual leftover or psychological coping mechanism for its condition, as he had no idea how such a creature would even experience sensation, if at all.
Stroking his bearded chin, Jeremy stopped as one detail stood out.
Looking at the vast vista of cadavers, he stared, troubled by the thought.
For all of this death and carnage, it was interesting to note that, despite its unusually long-lived existence, the creature had seemingly not made any efforts at all to expand itself. What was stopping it from consuming the whole of reality? Why only linger in Monarch Forest, if not this plane or planes? Why hadn't it consumed everything on the planet, or, hell, the universe? Why settle for human flesh when in theory the creature could sustain itself with larger astral bodies such as stars or suns?
Furrowing his brows, Jeremy probed for answers, his mind working tirelessly as he sought an answer.
Perhaps the creature just wasn't as powerful as he suspected it to be, a notion that brought some measure of comfort to him. Perhaps the fixed point analogy was a proper way to view Rex-
Jeremy flinched as pain flared in his mind, the whole world around him trembling.
What the hell was that?! What just happened?
Knitting his brows together, Jeremy looked around in all directions.
It was a sensation unlike anything he had ever experienced. As if the whole world and his own being was retaliating against the rebellious thought.
Puzzled by the reaction, Jeremy suddenly heard someone yelling in the distance, "HEY! OVER HERE!"
Turning in its direction, to his surprise, he saw another person waving at him.
Soon he saw more people, over a dozen men, women, and children, and more were still coming.
Jeremy stared, dumbstruck by the sight.
Christ, there were still people here!
He wasn't the only one that was still alive!
Smiling in spite of himself, Jeremy felt relieved, something that he hadn't felt in ages. He wasn't alone anymore.
More people started to appear, the number now over a hundred, and still growing.
As he watched the number of people around him grow, a tear started to trickle down his face as he felt hope for the first time in ages.
I'm not alone anymore.
Maybe with others by his side, they would be able to find a way out of this.
Maybe nothing was as hopeless as it seemed.
As he started to make his way over to greet them, there came sudden change in the atmosphere, causing everyone to freeze where they stood as the whole area started to tremble and quake.
What the hell?
Jeremy saw the people looking around in confusion, while one or two shouted something indiscernible, pointing to the sky.
Turning to where they gestured, Jeremy paused as he spotted a white spiderweb-like crack appear high above in the black sky.
A few moments later, a sprawling, almost blinding column of light formed, reaching all the way down to the floor, causing the other survivors to yell and shout in panic.
At first, nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Looking up at the top of the column, Jeremy froze as he suddenly noticed something in the sky.
Were...were those planets and moons?
Staring at the spherical shapes for a long time, Jeremy watched as one by one they started to drift toward the white light. One by one, the large globes were absorbed, leaving nothing behind.
As he watched the strange vision, a feeling of dread started to form in the pit of his stomach.
It was barely noticeable at first, but one by one, the various cadavers started to stir and float up into the air, as if suspended in zero gravity.
He heard various confused mutters as the other survivors tried to process what was happening.
Mystified, Jeremy watched open-mouthed as countless bodies and skeletal pieces floated and twirled around him before suddenly being pulled into the shaft of light.
Slowly but surely, he felt the air being pulled toward it like some sort of vacuum, the suction growing stronger with each piece absorbed.
The other survivors were starting to flee and panic, doing everything that they can to get away. Straining against it, Jeremy tried to turn around and flee himself, forcing himself onto his knees as he attempted to crawl away, his fingers digging into the fleshy and bony floor, trying to hold onto something.
He heard screaming.
Looking over his shoulder, he watched as all of the men, women, and children were being sucked up into the light, their forms vanishing entirely.
Moments later, Jeremy felt himself lifted off the ground as well, watching as everything was being pulled toward the glowing column, including his own being.
Flailing his arms helplessly in the air, Jeremy let out a frightened scream of terror as he was helplessly dragged toward his doom, and in an instant, Jeremy ceased to exist entirely.
Nothing of Jeremy Rhodes remained as every part of him was harvested, stripped of flesh and muscle down to the very bone and atomized, and what remained of his consciousness was twisted and absorbed into Rex's own being, leaving nothing behind.
It stared into the black gulfs of infinity as it felt content with its latest meal of countless worlds and beings, its ancient mind wandering effortlessly through the dimensional planes as it dreamed of hunting, unburdened by either conscience or remorse.
Billions of years after consuming that strange object, the entity had consumed the entirety of its own realm, and while organisms, suns, worlds, realms, dimensions, universes and realities had died out, only it remained, forever standing, forever wandering across all of space and time.
Casting its gaze into itself, it saw within the trillions of souls that wandered its inner maze-like labyrinths. Sharp teeth pulled into a vicious grin as it savored their despair and suffering, feeling the satisfying crunch of bone as one of its many avatars pulled apart its prey.
Whether they were consumed by Rex directly or not, their lives had been sealed the very moment they decided to enter. Not a single being had ever survived nor escaped, and until the end of time itself, so it shall be.
Lifting its mighty head, Rex let out a mighty roar that echoed all across the cosmos, shattering entire planets, stars, suns and whole solar systems with minimal effort, causing the few minds that were able to detect it melt, while those further beyond its reach couldn't help but unknowingly shiver.
Melissa Cameron sighed as she adjusted her coat and backpack, her long, curly blonde hair fluttering in the cool winter wind.
Another long day, another long walk back home.
"I hope you haven't eaten the remaining box of Chinese food, sis," she muttered.
God, she was absolutely starving!
All she needed to do now was continue on Raven Road, cut through Monarch Forest, and boom, she'd be home in no time.
As she reached the outer edge of Monarch Forest, something white caught her attention.
Stopping, Melissa curiously looked down.
On the ground was some sort of handheld device with a single button.
Looking around in both directions, she picked it up and studied it.
"What's this?" she wondered. "Someone's cellphone?"
Turning it on, Melissa blinked as the screen showed a crude 8-bit depiction of a tree.
She smiled. "COOL!" Melissa exclaimed, watching as it rendered both another tree along with her hand as she waved in front of its lens in a lower resolution.
Must be someone's video camera or something. But where-
It was then that Melissa heard a beep, watching as a message appeared at the bottom of the screen.
'FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING.'
Author Notes: And that concludes this story! So, this story probably comes as a bit of a head-scratcher tbh, and you're probably thinking, "why would anyone want to make a story based off of '3D Monster Maze' out of all the possible games out there?'"
The game as it is barely has any story, just a vague outline about being chased by a Tyrannosaurus in an endless maze at a circus, with no real conclusion. It is a really bizarre premise for a story, and the whole monster in the maze trope in itself is common to find across various video games, going all the way back to Greek mythology with Theseus and the Minotaur.
That being said, however, I couldn't help but think that something potentially interesting could be done with the premise, that it could be expanded upon. It was the first horror game ever made, arguably the first survival horror game since it technically predated both "Alone In The Dark" and "Resident Evil", and because of that, it kind of seemed appropriate that somebody should do a story based on an often overlooked title.
That, plus, for a long time now, I've been wanting to do a dinosaur horror story myself, but I didn't want to repeat a lot of the old tropes and cliches that are commonly used. Typically speaking, the presence of dinosaurs would be attributed to tropes such as radiation, some isolated, Conan Doyle-styled lost world/civilization, genetic engineering ("Jurassic Park"), or more commonly, time travel, but I didn't want to regurgitate that.
Interestingly, there has never been a dinosaur story (at least, as far as I am aware) that involved cosmic horror, let alone gothic horror, and because of that, I wanted to try my hand at something a little bit different.
And since Halloween was coming up, I figured why not?
I hope you all enjoyed this story. If not, my apologies, and hope that somebody uses the ideas here to make something better.
Take care, and stay safe and healthy, everyone! Happy Halloween! :D