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She seems taken aback by my abruptness. “Rhile. Where are we?”
“What is the last thing both of you remember? What were you doing before you came here? It’s going to help us figure out what the fuck is going on.” I lean my back against the railing of the bridge and look at both of them. Redness covers her cheeks and I realize she might be embarrassed.
“I got into my bathtub, took a bunch of pills, and cut open my wrists, then I woke up here. So, who wants to share next?” Looking down, I see no scars from what I did, but I know this isn’t Earth, unless I’m in one seriously messed up dream.
No one says anything for what feels like forever. I can vaguely make out large dark shadows in the woods. I don’t know what they are, but fear fills me.
“I wrapped a rope around my neck and walked off the ledge of our barn. I couldn’t deal with the darkness anymore,” Sid whispers.I see what we have in common, and I look to Rhile.
“I took all the pills the doctor gave me. They kept trying to fix me and nothing was working.”
“Alright, so from what I can tell, we are in some sort of space that people go to when they kill themselves. Can anyone else see the twenty-foot black shadow coming out of the forest?” They both look, but I can tell they haven't seen it when they look back at me. They both shake their heads.
Great, we’re in some sort of weird reality with something chasing me. “Let’s keep walking. Maybe we’ll figure out something, or find someone else.” Instinct kicks in, telling me I needed to get out of here.
After what feels like days, we reach a trio of cabins. I’ve heard screaming, yelling, and a lot of crying along the walk, but we are no closer to understanding what is happening.
“I’m going to go knock on the door.” Sid grabs my arm, but I shake out of his grasp. “We need to know what’s going on.”
I stalk towards the door and knock. After a few minutes, it opens and a large man walks out on the stoop. He’s dressed in what looks like a robe, but also jeans. I’m confused as I look into his dark green eyes. I feel at peace for a minute, but fear resumes its place in my heart.
“Hi, I’m Marla. We’re just wondering if you know what this place is?”
He walks back into his cabin, and I think he’s going to close the door, but he reappears. From the corner of my eye, I can see two more people coming from the other cabins dressed the same as him.
“Usually, we don’t do introductions or guides. This isn’t summer camp, but never has someone come to our cabins, either. We’ve tried to give small bits of information, but over time we found our presence caused more harm than good.”
“I’m Berimund, and these are Giso and Tanco. You are in Cavum Terra, you are here because you killed yourself. We don’t like to ruin the surprise, but you aren’t at peace, nor are you alone. Time moves quickly here, and you will have to fight.”
I take in his words. Looking over my shoulder, I realize that the shadows have become more humanoid looking, and that should be my next question. “So, it’s not summer?”
“We don’t have seasons here, but if I check my log.” He pulls out a phone-looking device. “You've been here for six years already compared to Earth.”
My mind explodes. I don’t understand how simply walking this far equates to time moving that quickly.
“I’ve been here for a millennium and time really goes by slowly,” he tells me. I bite my lip.
“Do you know if my mother is here?” I look around.
“No, you killed her. Any more questions?”
“What are the shadow-human things?” Sid pipes up from behind me. I was getting to it, but at least my mother isn't gracing my presence after death.
“It’s already going to be terrifying, just tell them Berimund.” He shakes his head and lifts his shoulders. Giso sighs heavily. She has beautiful golden locks that fall around her shoulders, her face is kind and her violet eyes put me at ease until she talks.
“The shadow-human-things will form into full demons. You won’t be able to see each others. They haunt and fight each one of you. You thought taking your life would end the demons in your mind, but they followed you here. You can never escape them.”
That is fucking terrifying, and before I can ask another question, she smiles lightly and they return to their cabins.
“Well, fucking hell, that’s great. What are we going to do?” Sid asks as he looks behind himself.
“Fight, I guess, but I’m going to rest before we walk more.” I turn away from him to walk to a large thick tree. Leaning my back against it, I sit on the ground.
As I look down the path that we came from I can see three distinct-looking monsters. One is sky-high tall, and thin, darktendrils fall from its form, like long fingers that could wrap around you and never let you go. It is the least formed, which leads me to believe that it will get more frightening with time.
The second demon monster is smaller, but has fangs. It’s not like any vampire I’ve seen in movies. The bold purple skin makes its features stand out, and the orange eyes seem to beat like a heartbeat.
I close my eyes and lean my head on my knees. If I had depression and anxiety in my last life, then these slightly make sense, but I don’t know what the other one is.
