I awoke, still tied to the chair that had been my companion for the last few hours. My hands still felt raw from the rope binding them, tied way too tightly I might add. I kept my eyes closed, trying to fool any guards that might have been watching. A few minutes went by as I listened carefully for any signs of breathing or other sounds of life. It seemed clear, so I relaxed a little and opened my eyes. The first thing to draw my eye was a table. More precisely, the beautiful woman sitting on it. She seemed to be intently watching me; maybe she could help me out! "Hey there, beautiful. Mind lending a helping hand to a man in need? The owners of this place seem to have kidnapped me. I'm Tom, by the way."

"Lying even in death. Cute, if foolish."

What? Dead? But... I'm alive. The smile she made at seeing my confused look made my skin crawl.

"Oh. You haven't even realized it yet. That will make this much. More. Fun."

I think that the smile would be less disturbing if it could reach her eyes. She stood up from the table and walked over, with surprisingly heavy steps for a woman of her size. "Decided to free me?", a hint of hope in my voice. Leaning over me, she replaced her smile with a more fitting frown. "Lying and cheating won't work where you're going." Her face slowly transformed into a mass of twisted, rotting flesh filled with insects. The smell alone almost made me vomit, but vomiting in this things face seemed like a poor choice to me. The pure terror rushing through me also helped."And what those little thugs did to you? You'll be begging for them to come back."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

At that moment, a spindly man threw open the door. "Serath, fuck off."

Her.. it... Serath, I guessed, reared it's head back angrily. "Fuck yourself, Jaren!" Jaren's face contorted into a mocking grin. "As much as you'd like to see that, neither of us gets what we want. The Boss has an interest in this one."

"Uggghhhh. Again? Really? Why this one? He's no different than the last few!"

"The boss says he is. So, Tom Stevens, today is your lucky day. Betcha wish you had more of those in your life, eh?" An awkward silence occurred for the few seconds it took me to realize he was waiting for a response. "Uh, well, yeah? Definitely would have come in handy earlier tonight. Or... yesterday? How long has it been anyway?"

"Unimportant. The Boss has chosen you to be sent down to another world. In this world, Erlandia or some such nonsense, you'll be given a special power. Normally we'd let you choose, but I feel that one in particular would be fitting for someone of your... caliber."

"Okay, okay. This some great joke, but now's about the time you untie me and give up this 'other world' bullshit. Seriously, I don't know how you made her face do that, or who this 'Boss' is, but I'm done playing around." Finishing my perfectly justified tirade, I stood up from the chair. While those two idiots were talking, I had untied my hands. But neither of them look all that surprised, and Jaren even chuckled a bit to himself. "Ah well, it doesn't matter if you believe us or not. Serath, mind doing the honors?"

"My pleasure." Her creepy smile made a comeback. "This will only hurt forever!" She laughed out, grabbing me by the face. I tried to struggle, but I couldn't move my head, and her arm didn't move an inch as I tried to push it away with my own. A numbness spread from where she touched me, enveloping my entire body.

And then came the pain.