We've been walking for like 5 hours straight, just mindlessly following Danyard's lead.
Who even knows if he's still following the light or just wandering aimlessly?
I'm tired of this crap.
And why does Simon breathe so damn loud? Can this dude shut up?
I glare at him, trying to kill him with my eyes.
He takes a glance in my direction and quickly looks away.
That's right. That's what I thought.
I look up at the fog, contemplating what my life has come to.
Not like I don't deserve it though. I smirk.
Then I notice Danyard's shoulder. He still has the camera attached to it.
I think for a moment and ask.
"Can't you contact someone through the camera? Like sign language or something?"
Danyard turns his head and stares at me. Clearly annoyed. Then he glances at Clara and Simon and finally turns his head towards Thea and sighs.
"I lost contact the moment we entered the fog. No help is coming." He looks softly at Thea as he says, "I'll get you out of here."
Wow, so what are we? Just trash?
I roll my eyes. Suicide mission, just like I thought.
My only hope is to stay close to Danyard.
"The pull is getting stronger. Everyone, match my pace," Danyard yells.
We all get into a jog and pace after Danyard. He is carrying Thea on his back now.
I'd kill for a piggyback ride right now.
Just like that, we jog for what feels like an eternity.
I'm gasping for air, wheezing, while stupid loser Simon is making a cacophony of noises the entire jog.
Maybe I should just kill him now.
Surprisingly, we haven't encountered another worm yet.
"Wait, wait, I need a break." Simon wheezes.
Well, we can definitely agree on that.
Though I'm going to kill you anyway.
Danyard simply looks back and says, "Keep up."
Damn this guy.
I quickly catch my breath and hop after him, hoping to leave Simon behind.
....
"STOP!"
I halt at the sound of Danyard's voice.
I see the ball of flesh disappear into the ground.
"You dropped it?" I scream, dumbfounded. "We ran all this way, and you just let it go like that?"
Danyard says nothing. Looking around cautiously.
I suddenly realize we are in a large clearing. For the first time, I can see clearly. There is not much fog here and no trees.
I gasp and hold my breath. All around the clearing, I finally notice what the trees truly look like.
On every single tree, there is a gigantic worm wrapped around its trunk, spiralling up to its peak, its mouth light shining at the top like a Christmas ornament.
Holy shit.
I carefully step backwards, ready to disappear into the forest, only to realize that I don't want to be in there either.
Nowhere feels safe. So, I stand a bit closer to Danyard.
"What do we do?"
Suddenly, I feel the ground beneath my feet disappear, and I'm pulled into the darkness once again.
---------------------------------------------------
"What's up? uhh, Reddick right?"
What the hell?
"Hello?"
"Hell isn't too far off. But not exactly right, either, my friend."
"Ok, what is going on?"
Wait. I can't move.
I can't feel anything.
But I can talk. Am I talking?
What's going on?
"Relax and just listen. Alright, Reddick, you have two choices. But as I see it, you only really have one."
My eyes start working, and I can see my surroundings. Well, not really.
Everything's just black except for this figure moving around the room way too erratically.
"Whoa whoa, I'm just very expressive, ok?"
The figure is clothed in a long robe, yet it has three heads and six arms all facing in different directions.
One set of hands is holding a spinner, one a rod, and one a pair of scissors. The figure constantly glides around the dark room, all 6 hands working in perfect unison to cut measure and spin thread into a beautiful tableau.
"Ok, are you done ogling? Now let's get down to business." The figure tugs on the threads laid out all around the room, and the tableau falls into place. "Focus up. Here are the rules. If you choose to accept the contract."
Its voice is the perfect unison of all 3 heads speaking at once.
"What contract? What the hell is going on?"
"Sorry, let me start from the top. Today is the luckiest day of your short life, my friend. You are now given the chance to obtain a singular wish. Any wish you ever so desire. And all you have to do is get to the lowest floor. A contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more parties that creates enforcea-"
"I know what a contract is."
Any wish, huh? Is this even real?
"Ok, no need to get pissy. And it IS real. Well, making a contract with me will help you get down, but adding a thread requires attaching two points. Everything needs balance. Unless you want to take the risk and go at it alone."
"Floors? What does the contract actually do?"
"Well, it'll alter your fate. Maybe you'll be born with the ability to fly, or maybe you'll be born with the ability to stop asking so many damn questions."
"What if I decide to go at it alone? I took on one of those worm things you got."
"Worms? Oh, the worms at the entrance. Those are like bugs compared to what's down there. You know, like the little ants you see under your feet."
Ant? That thing was an ANT?
"What if I don't want the wish and I want to go home?"
"You can do that. You just gotta get out of this floor."
"How do I do that?"
The monster glides across the darkness and weaves a tableau. On the tableau is a tower that has many floors spanning all the way down.
"MONSTER?" The three heads all glare in my direction. "We are beautiful. An ugly troll like you doesn't know your ass from your face. Anyways, there are 100 floors. You just fell into the first. Every floor has a floormaster who owns and controls that floor. When you kill the floormaster, you become the floormaster. Simple right? A floormaster cannot go up levels, as in they can't go higher than their floor. They can only go lower. If they take another floor or they die on another floor, their original floor will be vacant, and the next visitor will automatically be declared its master. When you leave your floor, your floor becomes null. So any visitor will immediately skip that floor and go to the next as if it doesn't exist. Only the floormaster can control who leaves the floor. There is no other way."
I think for a moment. Wondering if I can take this creature on.
"So are you the floormaster?"
A loud screeching laughter resounds around the room.
"ME? Why would I waste my time doing that? We are in separate realms, my friend. So, what are you going to do?"
"So, if I don't take your contract, I will surely die on this floor. If I do take your contract, I might not die on this floor?"
"You're smarter than you look."
What kind of choice is that? This isn't even a choice.
"Exactly, that's what I told you earlier."
"Okay, how do we make a contract then?"
"I'm glad you asked." The figure glides to another part of the darkness and starts weaving another tableau. "Here are the terms. Your fate will be altered, there are no taksies backsies-"
Taksies Backsies? What the hell?
"Shut up. There is nothing you can do to get out of your contract. But your new string of fate can be reinforced by taking other fates."
"Taking other fates?"
"Yes, for every fate you seal, your new string will become more powerful and more rooted in your life, turning more odds in your favour."
"How do I seal a fate?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"So I have to kill people?"
The three heads wink synchronously. "Exactly. You are already used to that, aren't you?"
I hesitate for a moment as I remember the trial. The entire courtroom looking at me like a monster. They deserved it.
They deserved it.
"So is that it?"
"Yeah, pretty much. It's not a big deal. Maybe we'll see each other again if you live that long." The figure starts erratically spinning thousands of threads that cover the entire darkness. "Well, so long, break a leg."
My entire view is covered by the thread as I start to feel my consciousness fade.
---------------------------------------------------
"Hey!"
I hear a shout coming from somewhere around me.
My eyelids feel so heavy.
A loud whistling in my ears keeps me from going back to sleep.
"HEY!"
I slowly open my eyes and see the clear blue sky.
I feel relief wash over my entire chest. It was all a dream.
I take a look around, and I see the clear blue sky.
Wait.
All around me, I only see the clear blue sky.
Not this again.