Chapter 1

The first sensation I noticed upon regaining a semblance of consciousness was pain. I felt like a million knives were piercing my body, twisting in spiralling patterns to maximize the possible pain. 

Oh, god… Oh god, it hurts so much…

As I regained consciousness, a wave of confusion swept over me. What happened? Where am I…

I smiled as I opened the text I had just received. It was from my boyfriend Jake. 

Hey babe, do you want to grab coffee when you get out of work?

Of course, see u there :) I texted him back. I sighed as I put my phone back in my pocket. My supervisor Mark didn’t like it when I used electronics while on the clock, so I hastily glanced around the room to make sure he didn’t notice me. The grizzled old man was busy re-arranging the bouquets of “all-natural” flowers I swore were made of fabric that were hanging in the front of the store. Robinson’s Convenience: The Store That Has It All: that was the name of the “convenience” store I worked at. Considering that there were hardly any customers and I was the only employee other than Mark, passersby probably found it far more “convenient” to go to the gas station only a few buildings away. Also, there were many shops on the campus of Lonwick State University, and the majority of Lonwick’s residents were just the students. 

A couple of college-age folks, one tall and one short, chatting animatedly to each other, walked into the store. I didn’t recognize them from any of my classes at Lonwick State, and, quite frankly, they didn’t look interesting enough to take note of. There aren’t very many history majors here…

The taller one picked up a packet of N&Ns and plunked it down on the counter. The short one deeply considered the small display of candy for a few moments before grabbing a pack of Rizzlers and slamming it down in front of me. 

“Is that all?” I asked in my best I’m-trying-to-be-friendly voice. 

“Yeah,” they said at practically the same time. 

I rung up the bags of candy and said, “That’ll be $3.09, please.”

“Really?” the short one sighed. “Goddamn inflation.” I didn’t answer as he handed me a five and I counted out the change. He really didn’t seem to be the sort of person I wanted to converse with. 

“Have a nice day,” I said blandly as I looked at the clock. 3:59 PM… My final two classes began at 5:30, so I’d have a scant hour and a half to meet with Jake, get a little bit of that damned paper written, and generally muck about. 

As I was considering the air in front of me, the clock’s hand reached four. I hastily punched out and moved out onto the street, where only a few pedestrians roamed. 

The pain gradually turned into a more comprehensible sensation. It was primarily my abdomen, knees and groin region that were aflare with agony, but my whole body felt funny. Once when I was a kid, I’d accidentally fallen out of a second-story window and wound up on the ground. It was nothing life-threatening, but it took weeks to fully recover from and I had distinct memories of the agony I’d felt before my parents had picked me up. It was also quite hot and humid, I noticed. It was as if I’d been dropped in a sauna.

Slowly, the pressing darkness around me began to lighten. The world grew more distinct, with patches of light and dark splattering the aura of grey around my eyes. Then, sound began to return to my ears. 

I saw Jake scant seconds after I’d begun to walk down the streets of Lonwick towards campus. Upon seeing him, I began to smile and walk a little bit faster. 

“Stella!” he exclaimed as I rushed towards him and gave him a peck on the cheek. 

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Jake!” I laughed. He hugged me and I could feel all the tension and monotony of the afternoon melting away. 

You see, our relationship was definitely not easily categorizable. We’d originally been childhood friends as long as we could remember, then we’d upgraded to “friends with benefits” upon entering college upon the discovery of mutual desire. Lately, our relationship had taken a more romantic turn, going beyond the friendship and sexual attraction that had defined us previously. That’s why I used the term “boyfriend” to describe him, but it was a bond that wasn’t just that. 

“You wanna go to Astrabucks?” he joked. “I know it’s our favorite place.”

“Fuck yes!” I exclaimed sarcastically. “I just love shitty machine-made coffee.”

Jake chuckled. “Carl just brewed some fresh bean juice this morning.” He reached into his backpack and procured two steaming thermoses. “I saved some just for us.”

“Mm, thanks,” I said, accepting the container. I raised it to my lips and took a sip. It was just Bolgers from a can, but the fact that it had been prepared by a close friend and given to me by my boyfriend made it taste so much better. I wasn’t the biggest coffee enthusiast, but it had just the right amount of cream and the temperature was pleasantly hot. 

“Do you want to go to the park?” I asked, referring to the patch of grass in the center of campus. 

“Sure,” Jake said. “I need a break from studying for midterms.” 

“At least your chosen major’ll make sure you’re successful,” I quipped. “World always needs more nurses.”

“It also needs more historians,” Jake said. “Never underestimate the power that education can have upon a populace.”

“Goodness knows how many undereducated people there are in the world, making stupid-ass decisions,” I said. “If we can teach people about the mistakes of the past, then maybe they won’t repeat them.” We linked arms and began to stride down the street towards campus. 

A symphony of roars, screeches and hisses began to play in my ears. My animal brain instantly began to ignore the physical pain wracking my body as a new wave of terror rushed through me. Instinctive, primal images of lions and tigers and bears attacking people flashed through my mind. Oh god, something wants to eat me! Oh, god, I’m gonna die! My confusion didn’t go away. In fact, it almost seemed to get worse. How did I wind up here? I was walking down the street with Jake and now I’m in the fucking zoo or something!

Suddenly, a new sound broke the silence - I could hear someone groaning in pain. There’s a person here! I have to get up… Slowly, I began to force my eyes open. 

Jake and I turned right onto the crosswalk. An elderly lady had already pressed the button and the “go” sign was flashing white. As she pushed intrepidly onto the street, her walker rattling, we followed behind. In the corner of my vision, I was vaguely aware of something massive approaching us, but I didn’t yet notice its significance. 

Upon opening my eyes, a wall of green greeted me. It took a few moments for me to comprehend that what I was seeing were leaves. I was in a forest of some sort. My mind raced. Could I be in the park? Were there drugs in the coffee or something? No, it was mid-November in Lonwick. Autumns in Massachusetts were never this balmy. Also, Jake would never give me something he knew was laced, and Carl was one of the most trustworthy people we knew. 

My head involuntarily turned, beholding the front of a vast, eighteen-wheeler truck heading at highway speeds right towards us. As the elder in front of us reached the curb, my mouth dropped open as a feeling of cold panic took me over. I could vaguely feel Jake grabbing my arm and pulling me away. Unfortunately, we were slow and the truck was fast. It reached me, and everything went black. 

I gasped, my eyes opening fully. A wave of shock overcame me, and I gasped again. I’m dead! I’m dead, and this is the afterlife! There was no way in Hell I could have survived being hit by a semi truck going that fast. Everything hurt. It hurt so much that I could barely move. I turned my head towards the pained groans I had only vaguely noticed before. The motion agitated my neck and spasms of pain shot up to my brain, obscuring my vision. I grunted in pain. 

Wait… That grunt sounded masculine! I grunted again. There was no denying it - it sounded out a baritone that only the most masculine of individuals could produce. 

Unusual… I’m a cis woman, and I didn’t know I could make these sounds. Everything hurts…

As my vision finally cleared, I saw the other person. It was a figure with long blonde hair wearing some sort of white garment that didn’t look like any clothes I recognized. The groans were distinctly feminine-sounding, and the person was writhing on the ground. 

“H… Hello?” I croaked. “Are… You o… okay?”