Aurora didn't look back yet. Her eyes were glued to the figure under the glass floor, it was her own reflection. The silent fear was clear on her face. Her reflection's mouth was wide open, her eyes were huge, and it showed a frantic finger which pointed right behind her.
Thump.
The sound was closer now, giving a deep rumble that shook the ground under her boots, making the glass floor tremble like a small earthquake.
Aurora spun around.
The purple fog that had swallowed the car was being ripped apart by two huge, gray hands. They weren't made of flesh, but of moving, fading clumps of static electricity, shaped like claws. They were attached to a body that stretched up into the purple cloud, easily ten feet tall. It had no head, and where its neck was supposed to be, there was only a rough, open mouth filled with what looked like pure TV static.
SCREEEEE.
The noise wasn't from the creature. It came from the air around it. It was a loud, high-pitched feedback sound that made Aurora feel dizzy. She stopped thinking and forgot any plan, she just ran. Her boots slapped against the glass floor, but it was too slippery. It was like trying to sprint on a frozen lake. Her right foot slipped, and she fell hard, her hip hitting the unmoving surface painfully.
Crack.
The sound was sharp and sudden, like a nearby gunshot. Aurora froze, lying flat on her stomach. Below her, a white crack shot out from where she hit, zig-zagging across the deep blue reflection of the sky. The monster stopped, and the static noise instantly died. Silence slammed back down on the world, heavier than before. Aurora held her breath, her chest burning fervently. She watched the creature's reflection on the floor. It had paused, but its huge, twitching body was leaning forward, listening.
'It hunts by sound,' she realized, the thought cutting through her panic. 'And the glass makes it louder.'
Slowly, and carefully, she began to push herself up. She put her weight on her hands, spreading the pressure. The glass didn't break as she moved on her knees, then her feet, moving with the slow, careful movements of a mime. The monster made a wet, gurgling sound and took one step.
'Thump'
Aurora looked ahead. Through the lighter mist, she could see shapes: buildings made of dark, sharp outlines against the purple sky. It was the campus, but completely different. It looked like the university had been twisted and squeezed like a wet cloth. The Chemistry building was leaning over at a sharp angle, and the clock tower was bent in half.
She desperately needed to hide. She took a step; the glass held. She took another. Behind her, the monster groaned again, louder this time. It had lost her rhythm, but it could definitely sense her fear. Or perhaps taste the charged air coming from her skin.
Aurora started to run, but this time she stayed low and forward, sliding her feet instead of stomping. She skimmed across the void, pumping her arms for balance. She aimed for the closest structure, the twisted reflection of the Science Hall. She reached the edge of the glass flatland. Here, the "ground" suddenly changed. The smooth mirror surface broke into sharp pieces of black rock and asphalt, floating in a dark, oily substance that was the new dirt.
She scrambled up the edge, her hands scraping on the black rocks, as she dove behind a broken concrete wall just as the monster burst from the fog. Aurora pressed her back against the cold stone, covering her mouth with her hands. The creature stomped right past her hiding spot. Up close, it smelled like burning plastic and old, dirty water. It paused a few metres away from her, its static-filled neck twitching, listening for a heartbeat or a breath.
Aurora squeezed her eyes shut. 'Wake up,' she begged her mind. 'Just wake up. You fell asleep in the lecture hall. Ben is going to elbow you awake any second.'
But the stone pressing into her back was hard and cold. The pain in her hip felt sharply real. This was not a dream; dreams were soft and blurred. This felt like a sharp, cutting razor. The monster let out a frustrated growl and moved on slowly, finally disappearing toward the ruined library.
Aurora waited until the 'thump-thump' sounds were completely gone before letting out a shaky breath. She sank against the wall, pulling her knees to her chest.
"Ben?" she whispered.
No answer came. Only the sound of the wind howling through the broken frame of the Science Hall. She looked at her wrist, the mark was faintly glowing, giving off a soft, pulsating gold light that lit up the dark dirt around her boots. The cage-like pattern was deeper now, etched into her skin like a tattoo made with a knife, though the lines of veins had stopped spreading.
She was alone. Ben was gone, and Karen was... whatever that thing had become. And she was trapped in a world made of glass and nightmares.
"Okay....." she muttered to herself, her voice trembling but becoming stronger. "...Okay, let's think of this like a video game. Check the logic, figure out the situation, and check my items."
She patted her pockets. Her phone had a cracked screen and 12% battery. A stick of gum, a hair tie, and the clothes she was wearing.
"Great. I'm at level one with no gear," she said flatly, fighting hard not to cry.
She needed to get higher up. She needed to see the layout of this hellish place. Aurora stood up and crept toward the Science Hall. The building was a wreck, the windows were blown out, and the brickwork was floating, literally suspended in the air as if gravity had vanished.
She stepped through the empty entrance. Inside, the surreal feeling grew stronger and stronger. The hallway stretched out endlessly, fading into complete darkness. Lockers were lined up near the walls, but they were breathing, expanding and shrinking with a metallic, rhythmic pulse.
'Whoosh. Clank. Whoosh. Clank.'
"Don't touch the breathing lockers," she whispered. "Rule number two."