Chapter 1
Kyle ran through the streets of San Fuente, panting heavily but making sure his legs didn’t stop moving. Shrieks like metal scratching metal rang behind him as he quickly turned down the alley. His body filled with terror as he navigated the empty, maze-like terrain. The shrieks grew louder and the wind around him seemed to grow angry and restless, making his curly black hair flap as frantically as he was feeling. It wasn’t long before the alley’s end approached and he reached a 10-foot wall. Kyle grew frantic, searching for another way out or a place to hide or any means of escape that meant he would survive.
Finally, the things were in front of him. Kyle had no idea what they were, though they reminded him of ghosts. The only differences being these were not nearly as translucent, and all had sharp, black claws where their fingers would have been. In unison, all five let out piercing shrieks that rocked through Kyle’s body and froze him on the spot. He screamed as they attacked him all at once.
Kyle jolted awake on the plane, panting heavily, beads of sweat on his forehead. He had never experienced such a vivid dream as this. He looked around, seeing the passenger to his left out cold, snoring up a storm and sounding like a broken lawn mower. Kyle used his shirt to dry off his face before finally getting his breathing under control again. The hum of the airplane calmed his nerves, though he was sure that he wasn’t going back to sleep, the unnerving nightmare haunting him. He looked out the plane window into the night sky, illuminating the lit-up city of San Fuente. The water looked a deep black in the night sky, the stars both above him in space and below him in the water.
“Everyone, fasten your seatbelts. We will be descending into San Fuente shortly,” the pilot said as the seat belt light came on overhead. Kyle could feel the plane dip slightly and began to clean up the area around him. Before long, the plane jumped slightly as it touched down on the tarmac, the hum of the plane being replaced with a low roar that died down as the plane came to a stop at the terminal.
“I hope everyone had a wonderful flight. Thank you for flying Gamma Airlines and welcome to San Fuente,” the pilot said as the lights came on in the plane. Kyle unbuckled himself, standing up straight as much as he could and stretching his limbs. He let out a small yawn as he gathered his bag and waited for the man in front of him to leave. He wanted to get off this plane as quickly as possible.
Kyle turned his phone on and airplane mode off, looking at the various notifications and messages he had received. Kyle wasted no time, calling a taxi as he headed over to baggage claim. He looked around at the busy airport, eyes wandering but not really paying attention to anything.
Suddenly Kyle could sense someone’s presence. Or more correctly someone’s eyes were on him, almost watching him. Kyle spun around quickly, his head swiveling as he looked around the baggage claim area. His eyes landed on a man with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. The man looked straight at Kyle, unsmiling as a group of people walked past him, temporarily blinding Kyle’s view of the stranger. By the time the group had passed, the man had disappeared. Kyle blinked hard and rubbed his eyes, blaming his own state of exhaustion and his jet lag before pushing the moment out of his mind. He watched his bag slowly arrive, grabbing it quickly and heading outside to where a taxi was waiting patiently. The driver got out, helping Kyle put his bag in the trunk and then both of them got into the car.
Kyle popped in his earbuds and hit shuffle on his phone. Minutes passed by with Kyle occasionally looking out the window, letting his brain focus mostly on the music flowing into it. His eyes drifted to the sidewalk, and he almost jumped and hit the roof of the car. It was nothing more than a glimpse, but he could swear he saw something staring directly at him, and it almost appeared transparent. He rubbed his eyes feverishly, though he was unable to see if the figure was still there. Kyle had an unsafe feeling creeping up his spine and touching every hair on his body. He pulled out his phone, getting ready to call the police at any point.
The next time he looked out the window, the unsafe feeling simply grew. His hand reflexively grabbed the handle, making sure the door was unlocked. He wasn’t sure when, but at some point, during the car ride he had lost track of where they were. He didn’t recognize any of the buildings or landmarks near him. He turned his music off, his brain and body becoming alert to his surroundings, which only got more and more unfamiliar as the taxi took multiple turns.
“Sir, I think you may have picked up the wrong passenger. This doesn’t look anywhere close to my destination,” Kyle said. The driver did not respond to his words though, and simply kept driving.
“I don’t know if this is a prank or something, but I would really like for it to stop now. You can just drop me off here and I can find my way home,” Kyle said, trying to grab the driver’s attention while also attempting to mask his growing trepidation. The driver ignored Kyle’s plea once again, his eyes keeping forward though hidden from Kyle with a hat.
“Okay I’m calling the police, because I do not have time to be kidnapped,” Kyle said, opening his phone and dialing 9-1-1.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the driver said. The voice was distorted, his speech both painfully slow and awkwardly fast at the same time. Kyle gasped to himself, realizing just how empty the street had been, and just how dark the night had gotten. His eyes widened as the head of the driver slowly turned to look straight at Kyle, his body facing the road and driving like nothing was wrong, his neck in a complete 180-degree spin. Kyle looked at its face: white empty eyes with a black outline, grayish white skin and a nearly transparent body. He screamed as he threw the door open and tumbled into the street. He scrambled backwards until he felt he had enough distance between him and the taxi, then stood. The driver phased through the car as more beings phased up through the streets until there were five of them in total in front of him.
“S-stay away from me,” Kyle said, walking backwards and looking for help. Though he knew there probably wasn’t any help coming anytime soon.
“This’ll be fun,” one said in the same distorted voice.
“And she said he doesn’t need to be alive, right?” another asked. The thing who appeared to be the leader nodded in agreement, and that was all Kyle needed before he started running. He heard what kind of sounded like a cackle, and it only spurred him to run faster, breaking out into a full-on sprint. He reached an alleyway, turning frantically and entering the maze-like structure. It wasn’t long before he began to recognize his surroundings.
‘These alleyways...they’re like the ones in my dream,’ Kyle thought to himself, letting the realization hit him all too late. Before he knew it, he had reached the dead-end wall and terror flooded his veins as the shrieks of the things behind him sounded closer than they were in the dream. Kyle turned to face his pursuers, unsure of how to defend himself. All five slowly approached him, long black claws sprouting from their gray hands. Kyle’s back was against the wall, the cold cement not doing anything to calm his nerves down.
One of them pounced at Kyle, claws out and aimed straight at Kyle’s heart. He dived out of the way, rolling until he hit another wall. He watched the claw embed itself into the wall before the creature ripped it out with ease, concrete pieces flying everywhere. The two made eye contact, and Kyle could tell it was enjoying itself, much to Kyle’s dismay.
Kyle screamed as one of the creatures raked its claw up Kyle’s leg, blood streaming from the wound. Kyle dodged another attack, attempting to stand but immediately falling to the ground. The group of them cackled as Kyle backed himself into a corner. He didn’t know what to do, but hoped he survived this against all odds.
In an instant, one of them turned to dust. They all swiveled as another turned to dust right after.
“Stay on him!” the leader yelled. Kyle could barely see anything, the pain in his leg and amount of blood loss making him fade in and out of consciousness. Kyle barely managed to look up at his attacker, and he couldn’t make out any features of his defender as his vision blurred. The last thing Kyle saw was a white light before his whole world was consumed with darkness.
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