My heart hammered against my ribs like war drums. Each beat threatened to crack them open. My breathing was a wreck—short, ragged gasps that clawed at my throat, nearly choking me.
I tried to fight the fear.
It was useless.
GRRRRRR!
The beast had already found me.
I whipped my head around, desperate for an exit, but there was only the cold, gleaming wall of glass at my back. I was trapped. Cornered like prey.
My eyes locked onto the scarlet predator looming before me. It was a living nightmare: three yellow eyes glowing with raw, insatiable hunger; teeth like jagged blades, eager to tear into flesh; and claws as black and deadly as obsidian daggers. Its body was armored in thousands of razor-sharp red blades forming a sleek, gleaming exoskeleton—brutal, alien, and disturbingly beautiful. Two thick, triangular tails, pointed like burning spears, lashed menacingly behind it.
The monster never broke its gaze.
It stalked sideways with deliberate slowness, studying me as if I were its next meal. A forked tongue flicked out, licking its snout with grotesque pleasure. Low, guttural rumbles escaped its throat, vibrating through the air and freezing the blood in my veins.
It was working.
I was fucking terrified.
Suddenly, the predator swung its spiked tails and slammed them into the blue-tinted crystal floor.
BOOM!
Each impact thundered like a cannon shot, shaking the entire chamber.
With every crash and roar, the bastard inched closer.
My heart pounded so violently I thought it would burst through my chest. My breaths came faster now—shallow, frantic pants that burned my lungs.
A full-blown panic attack was crashing over me.
I sucked in a deep breath and clenched my fists until my knuckles turned white. Calm down. Focus. There was only this scarlet nightmare and me.
No time to shape a weapon from the crystal. If the damn thing hadn't found me so quickly, I could've molded at least a knife.
"Shit!" I shouted, frustration boiling over.
I gripped my head with both hands, mind racing for any way out. Nothing. My thoughts spun uselessly.
…
No other choice.
I snatched the container of miraculous water and hurled it with all my strength, praying it would buy me even a few seconds.
What happened next was unbelievable.
The liquid splashed across the predator. The instant it touched the creature, it hissed like acid. The red blade exoskeleton dissolved instantly, revealing slick, wet black fur underneath.
That "miraculous water" from the river was poison to the monster.
The beast let out an agonized, ear-splitting shriek. Its tails thrashed wildly, whipping the air and shattering crystal shards across the floor.
I seized the chaos and bolted for the narrow exit just meters away.
I was almost there…
I tripped.
At first, I thought nothing of it—just get up, keep moving. But when I tried to push myself forward, something was horribly wrong.
I couldn't feel my legs.
I looked down, and horror slammed into me like a sledgehammer.
My legs had been severed clean above the knees. Only two bloody stumps remained.
"AAAAAHHHH!"
The pain was indescribable—like being burned alive from the inside out, white-hot and endless.
I raised my eyes. The predator stared back with pure fury. Its two triangular tails swayed slowly, now noticeably longer and sharper. One dripped with fresh blood… my blood.
With disturbing slowness, the monster lifted the bloodied tail to its snout and licked it clean, savoring every drop. Its three yellow eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
I watched in disbelief as the melted half of its face—eaten away by the water—began regenerating almost immediately. Bubbling flesh knit itself back together at terrifying speed, as if my final desperate act had barely tickled it.
…
I dragged myself toward the narrow opening, clawing forward with my elbows across the cold blue crystal. Every inch was pure agony.
I didn't get far.
One of the long tails coiled around my torso with brutal force and hoisted me into the air as if I weighed nothing. The monster toyed with me like a rag doll.
It slammed me into the crystal floor again and again. Each impact felt like being hit by a truck. Pain blurred my vision.
In the distorted reflection on the blue crystal, I saw myself: my jaw hanging by a thread of flesh and skin, slowly detaching from my face. My arms were shattered, twisted at impossible angles, bones jutting through torn meat.
Helplessness swallowed me whole.
I couldn't move. Couldn't fight. I could only endure while the thing played with its food.
Through tear-filled eyes, I watched as the scarlet predator ripped both my arms off in one savage yank. The wet rip and sickening crunch of bones echoed in my ears as blinding pain tore through me.
Then, right in front of me, it began to devour them.
My arms quickly became a mangled mess of shredded meat, blood, bone fragments, and thick saliva dripping from its razor teeth.
Hot tears streamed down my ruined face, mixing with the blood that coated everything.
Suddenly, the creature did something strange.
Its mouth split into three separate sections, opening and closing rhythmically as it inhaled and exhaled heavily. A deep, guttural vibration rose from its throat.
…
The sound was oddly familiar.
After a few seconds, it hit me.
The bastard was laughing at me.
Because, in the midst of absolute terror, I had pissed myself like a frightened animal.
A moment later, the laughter stopped.
It opened its maw wide, revealing endless rows of razor teeth and a dark throat that looked like an endless abyss.
It drew me closer, slowly, as if it wanted me to watch my own end in perfect detail.
I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!
The words looped brokenly in my mind like a shattered mantra while my mangled body hung limp.
In the monster's three yellow eyes, I saw my reflection—Jeremy's face.
Disfigured. Bloodied. Jaw dangling. Eyes wide with pure, animal terror.
I wanted to scream with everything I had left, to beg anyone who could hear for help.
I wanted to fight, kick, claw for any chance of escape.
But I couldn't. My voice was gone. My arms no longer existed. My legs were just a bloody memory.
Only one thing remained.
I closed my eyes and prayed, begging any god that might exist in this cursed world:
"Please… help me…"
Suddenly, a blinding white light flooded the chamber.
The surrounding blue crystal reflected the immense glow, multiplying it until the entire space became a sea of pure brilliance.
I squeezed my eyes shut against the searing brightness.
Then came the thunder.
A deafening impact shook the ground.
I felt the scarlet predator stagger violently.
A second later, its tail released me, hurling my broken body several meters across the chamber like a discarded toy. I slammed into the crystal wall.
From a massive hole that had just been blasted through one of the crystal walls, two hooded figures emerged.
The larger, more imposing figure charged straight at the scarlet beast.
The other—one with a slimmer build—rushed to my side.
She pulled off the black mask covering her face.
It was a woman with flowing golden hair that cascaded in soft waves, bright green eyes, and flawless porcelain skin. Her beauty was almost ethereal.
Is… that… an angel? I thought, my voice already shattered.
The world began to fade.
Everything went black.