Finally, I emerged, gasping for air, and feeling the burn subside to the coolness of the outside temperature.

I kept swimming for a bit longer until I reached shore – or something similar, a cluster of sharp rocks the water didn't flood.

I thought that maybe the basement was connected to a cave system, and this theory was supported when I started getting away from the water and saw the dim moonlight illuminating a small crate on the floor.

I was suspicious of approaching it, but curiosity won out once more. What do they say about curiosity? Ah, never mind. Surely nothing important.

I opened the small wooden crate, nestled near the wall, and found yet another note and a few other items: batteries for my flashlight (AA), some other batteries of no use to me (C, AAA, D, and 9V), and a bottle of clear water.

As I sipped the water – I dared not go back and check on what I was submerged in before – I read the note:

"Where do we run desperately when there's no way out?

We're like little mechanical mice; they feed us and keep us around

until our battery runs out or they get bored and find a new toy.

There's nothing left to do but (illegible)"

The note was hard to read due to numerous grammatical errors, and the letters seemed to float off the lines.

I didn't dwell on it; I was just sad it wasn't from M, as the image of the tortured man haunted my mind.

I'm not going to lie; I didn't expect crazy notes like this scattered around, but I'm hardly surprised. Similarly, I'm unsurprised to find myself outside the cave, surrounded not by the city, but a dark, creepy forest under the dim light of a full moon.

A full moon... I estimated about six hours had passed since this ordeal began, give or take. Then again, nothing made sense.

I charged my batteries and ventured forward. The trees were scattered sparingly, dark and sleek rather than woody and coarse.

I thought of those Crepe-myrtle trees common in North Carolina, but these lacked pink flowers and the typical twisted branches – it was as if they'd grown unnaturally.

I explored the woods, hoping to find something leading me back home. I walked for hours, hearing no wildlife – no squirrels, no birds singing, no leaves falling.

Some trees seemed dead, bare, like it was winter. Luckily, it wasn't. Had it been, I would've frozen to death, still drenched from earlier.

Although my clothes had dried, they stank, probably from whatever was in that water. I didn't want to think about it.

I leaned on a tree, pondering what to do next. I had no food, no water, and no idea where to find them.

Was I going to depend on finding crates like some cheap survival show? One thing was clear: I had to escape this forest.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

I felt something wet on my back – probably sweat. I wanted to rest, but it wasn't the time.

Grabbing the trunk behind me, I climbed back to my feet and continued.

The forest looked indistinct, and despite hours passing, the moon hadn't shifted significantly.

Is this some sort of pocket dimension where physics and time have no effect? How did I end up here?

I scratched my nose and felt something wet. Looking at my hands, they were dyed a dark red.

I touched my back, and seeing the red-black color again, my eyes widened.

The trees loomed over me threateningly, their original straight growth now bent.

Reluctantly, I approached one, scrutinizing its bark. It was coated in the red-black liquid – blood?

The patches of grass near the trees were also wet. I dug, horrified, and found bodies buried underneath.

The trees were feeding on the blood of the cadavers!

I whipped my head in horror. Someone had purposefully planted these trees on top of the dead bodies!

I dug next to another and saw that the body – the man – was still breathing, likely unconscious.

I couldn't begin to imagine the excruciating pain of having roots slowly penetrate your body, break your bones, and drink your blood.

What I thought was a knot suddenly opened and watched me with a crazed, giant eye. I stumbled backward.

From the ground, a mist started coming out, floating at knee level.

Someone – or something – was taking care of these trees.

I heard a loud squealing and thumping of a heavy being approaching.

There, amongst the blood trees with human eyes, in the midst of the body farm, stood an unholy abomination – a mixture of man and pig, towering over me by two heads and twice as thick. I struggled to distinguish where the pig ended and the man began: he had a clear pig-like snout and patches of pink skin, his right arm ended in a trotter, but the rest of his face was mostly human, albeit terribly deformed to fit his animal parts.

He yelled at me for intruding in his territory:

"Get off my garden! Do you think you can steal my blood truffles? You thief!"

The giant chased after me, and once again I was running with all my might, zigzagging through the forest, eluding the tree roots that shot out to stop me.

I could feel their hunger in their eyes, their eagerness to feed on my tender tissue.

I slipped in a patch of blood I missed and saw the creature come closer to me with a wicked smile.

The pig creature smirked and drew a giant machete from his belt – he was preparing to make me part of the farm.

I tried to move, but fear paralyzed me. As the machete came down on me, I barely managed to roll to the side, saving myself from being halved by barely a few inches.

Fighting my fear, I jumped to my feet and scrambled away, moving towards a loud, indistinguishable noise in the distance. The creature was hot on my heels.

While it couldn't outrun me due to its mass, it certainly seemed to have quite the stamina and was perfectly prepared to chase me until I fell from exhaustion.

I turned on the flashlight – how hadn't I realized to switch it on before?! – and shone it on his face. He squealed and reeled, earning me a few moments as I zigzagged past the blood-trees in the direction of what I now knew was some kind of train. Maybe I could hop inside or somehow use the giant steel vehicle to put distance between us – but I had to hurry.

I kept running forward, and the enraged creature, who hadn't seen such bright light since his time as a human, got tired of playing games and started speeding up. The train was in sight, long, rusted, like a ghost of a past era.

I shone my light on it, and it sound its horn loudly, as if it had a life of its own. I drew closer and saw a wagon wide open – there was my chance to escape the gardener. Burning through the little strength I had left after all the ordeal, I ran in parallel to the train and barely managed to catch up and hop inside.

In the distance, I saw the pigman squeal in fury and throw his machete at me, which clanged on the train's hard metal surface. I was safe, for now.