Chapter 1
Freya
Have you ever felt different from everyone else but also relatable at the same time? Like, you could feel different energies around you, but then start to believe that it was just your imagination. I've always known that I was different. Ever since I was young, I've been able to feel and hear things that others couldn't. It was like there was a whole other world out there that most people are blind to. I remember feeling like someone was watching me, even when I was alone in my room. Sometimes, I could swear that I heard whispers in the air like someone was trying to communicate with me.
As I grew older, the strange occurrences only intensified. I'd often wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat and feeling like someone had just been standing over me, controlling my thoughts even as I lay unconscious. At times, my dreams were so realistic that I'd wake up finding that my pajamas had been replaced by the clothes I was wearing in my dream. It was a sensation that was hard to explain, and it was as if I could sense a presence that others would probably freak out about.
I've never told anyone about these experiences, fearing that they would dismiss me as crazy. But as the years went by, I had learned to ignore things. Why? Because it made it easier to make new friends and live life in general. I didn't have to overthink all the time or find out if what I saw was true or not. This worked for me for my entire high school life, but things took a turn one fateful night at my university campus.
Freya, two nights ago.
As I walked back to my dorm from the school library, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that someone was following me. As I mentioned, this was a regular thing in my life, so I dealt with it the way I always had. I pretended that it was just my paranoia. The night was quiet, and the dimly lit path leading to my dorm felt eerie, so I quickened my pace, hoping to reach the safety of my room as soon as possible.
Just as I turned a corner, I saw two strangely tall and well-built men engaged in a fierce fight in the distance. They moved so fast and fluidly that it seemed as though they were swooshing and gliding across the ground. At one point, it looked like their bodies contorted and swayed as if they didn't have bones. Their movements were almost inhuman, and I couldn’t comprehend how they could be so quick and agile. It was as if they were dancing with deadly intent. I was taken aback by the sight and instinctively ducked behind a nearby bush, my heart pounding in my chest.
"Holy shit," I whispered, as I took another chance to check if I was seeing things correctly.
From my hiding spot, I watched in awe as the two men continued their intense battle. Snarls and the clinking of steel were the only things I could hear from where I was. When one of them seemed to have teleported, right then I was more than convinced that they weren't humans. Thinking that this was not a place safe to be in, I tried to quickly crawl away from the scene only to release a hurdling scream when a severed head landed right in front of me.
"Oh my god!" I screamed, tumbling backward.
Frozen in terror, I gazed at the most frightening sight in front of me. The decapitated head had the face of an ogre or a gargoyle with its tongue hanging out. The sharp angles of its cheekbones and the deep-set eyes gave it an otherworldly appearance that was both fascinating and unsettling. However, things got worse because in an instant, one of the men who was having a death match was now standing motionless behind me, and the sight of him made my blood run cold. His presence seemed to fill the entire place, suffocating me with fear. I could barely make out his features in the darkness, but his eyes... His eyes were unmistakable.
They were devoid of any emotion, and they were pitch black, like two endless voids staring back at me. I felt a chill run down my spine as I locked eyes with him, unable to tear my gaze away. It was as if his gaze peered right through me, sending a wave of terror coursing through my veins. I was paralyzed, unable to move as the full weight of his presence bore down on me.
Gathering courage, I quickly stood and ran in the opposite direction, praying that the creepy man wouldn't follow me, but as soon as I rounded the corner, there he was, holding what looked like an oversized dagger. I skidded to a stop, looking for a means of escape, but before I could find one, he was suddenly right in front of me. The only thing I was able to do was gasp because, in less than a second, he was holding me by the neck and lifting me off the ground.
My eyes grew wide, knowing that I could die at this moment, so I trashed and tried to pull his fingers away from my neck, but I couldn't break free.
"Let me go!" I croaked as tears started streaming from my eyes.
I was losing air fast, so I knew that it was only a matter of time before my lungs gave out. At that moment, my entire life flashed before my eyes. This was it. I was going to die at the age of twenty-one, I thought to myself. I reached out in a futile attempt to break free, but my limbs felt heavy and unresponsive. The world around me began to blur and distort as if I were being pulled into some surreal, otherworldly realm.
Suddenly, a blinding white light appeared out of nowhere, engulfing everything in its path. I could feel its searing intensity piercing through my eyelids, even as I squeezed them shut. It was as if the very essence of light itself had been condensed into this overwhelming brilliance. I struggled to make sense of what was happening, but my mind was reeling, unable to process the sudden onslaught of radiance. The light seemed to pulsate and swirl, casting strange shadows that danced on the edges of my vision.
Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the light vanished, leaving me in a state of bewildered disorientation as I found myself on the ground, coughing furiously and taking in big gulps of air. I struggled to regain my bearings, and when I had established that I was still alive because of how shitty I felt, I realized that I was all alone.
