“...”

Klaus couldn’t say a thing. His mouth felt sewn shut. His legs were stuck in place, seemingly glued to the rough dirt. His left hand was welded behind him, adhered in a position that looked painful. Red lines began to creep in his still eyes. No matter which way he tried, he couldn’t move. He wouldn’t budge. His body betrayed his every will to think, feel, and see; all of it was gone as if swallowed by a void. At last, a feeling pulled him back to reality—pain. The sharp, stabbing sensation emerging from his arm slowly erupted as his consciousness returned.

“Ah…! Ow, ow, ow!”

First, he looked at his arm; as he did, he realized his vision was blurred and his eyes burned. He instantly shut them and tried to cover his eyes, only screaming. Recoiling from the pain of trying to move his snapped arm, he yelped and extended his other hand to cover both pupils. His breathing was raspy, and he shuddered, confused by what had just happened. He had no time to think, however.

Buzz!

In an instant, a loud buzzing noise came closer. He hurriedly opened his eyes and saw a terrifying sight—-fifteen. Fifteen of the tiny-winged creatures flying towards him.

“Wh-what the hell do they want now?! Don’t disturb me!”

The creatures swayed and flew cautiously as they approached Klaus.

“G-get away you…you bastards!” He yelled, his whole body shaking. Indeed, his earlier thought wouldn’t come true. They wouldn’t consume him, too.

One of them slowly moved towards him, their wings flashing endlessly. Its still expression contorted into a sinister smile, its lack of teeth on display. As that happened, an eerie sludgy tube gradually poked from their mouth. Klaus’s shaking intensified.

“H-hey,” he mumbled. “S-stop, d-don’t get any closer!!” His hand bolted across the air, aiming at the creature, but it swiftly avoided the attack and continued its trajectory.

“Stop-AH!!!”

Klaus let out a blood-curdling scream as the creature’s tube latched onto his arm, draining red liquid from his veins and dissolving his bone. In a panic, he grabbed it and crushed it in his hands. The creature squealed before bursting into a bright orange liquid, splattering his face and chest. Instantly, the other creatures emitted a collective, deep gasp. Panting with broken breaths, he looked at the other creatures and gulped. He glanced at his hand and then back at the crowd. He raised his hands in surrender and stuttered, “H-hey man, he came to me first. If-if you don’t want him to die, then–”

Buzz!

“AHHH!!”

"No mercy"

...was the phrase Klaus thought of at this moment. This moment was when all of the creatures hooked onto him all over his body, five at his limp arm, two on either side of his neck, and the rest scattered around. Needless to say, it was not pleasant. It felt like fire and ice colliding under his skin, a sharp tug pulling at his veins as if draining his strength along with his blood. He felt his skin tighten and loosen as the creatures took breaks, only for the pain to return tenfold. His screeches reverberated across the forest as his very essence was drained. Cold numbness spread through his body, leaving him weak and hollow, his head dizzy from the loss. Finally, the creatures pulled out and hovered above Klaus’s now lying and dry body, his consciousness barely holding on.

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“You can’t say ‘fight’ then do this…” was his final thought as he faded into darkness. Before his eyes fully shut, however, his body lifted into the air, high above the forest, and then after a large gust of wind hit him due to the scene reconstructing, he was lightly placed on the ground.

“B-bah!” He gasped as he sat up and put his hand to his chest. “That was too much you bastard! The hell am I supposed to do against that?!”

No response. After huffing and puffing for a few minutes, Klaus sighed and relaxed.

“That hurt so much…damn it all."

The tingling sensation of being sucked from had stuck in his skin. Every movement felt like tearing through a web of needles, yet he pushed through and tried to ignore it as much as he could.

His motivation was waning once more. How was he supposed to kill that beast? How was he supposed to “fight”? Against that? And just now, he got sucked to death by those creepy flying things. What’s next, dying to the fish? Dying to the squirrels?

“The squirrels?! That's the last thing that'll happen...ah, this is stupid. But Emma…”

The thought of Emma arose in his head again. What was she up to? How was she doing? Was she okay? Was someone doing bad things to her?

“No, don’t think about that…I have to do this then. I have to do this again—for her.”

He took a deep breath and stood up. He ruffled his hair and shook his body, lightly hopping. He didn’t know how to do this, but he had to. There was no choice. Go back? No. Wait? No. Die? Absolutely not. He wasn’t repeating that.

As Klaus punched the air in preparation, he finished his earlier thought:

"And for me. I'm not staying here, pff."

A slight grin crept on his face as he yelled, “I’m gonna hand your ass straight to you!”

“Let’s do this.”

Blow…

The trees eerily welcomed Klaus in, the wind releasing a disgusting fragrance. By now, however, he was indifferent to the scent and continued to walk while he thought of what to do. How was he going to realistically “fight”? Was he supposed to kill that beast?!

“I guess I’ll find out…” he thought, slumping his shoulders.

Squea–crush!

“Dumbass squirrel.”

After crushing the rodent to a pulp and tossing it aside, he began to jog. He remembered how, on his first death, the beast had been watching him the entire time.

“Who’s to say he’ll spare me this time as well? Gotta make distance..”

In no time, the bridge reappeared before Klaus, its appearance identical to what it had been. His pace quickened, and the structure buckled beneath him as he raced across, collapsing into the clear waters below. Standing at the cabin island's edge, he saw the beast at the other edge, its drool creating a pool under it.

Klaus scoffed.

"Weirdo."

As he said that, the beast's eyes suddenly lit up, and its legs straightened.

"I didn't mean that!" He screeched as he ran off to the right corner of the island and jumped over it, not even considering the danger lurking below.

Roar!

"Eek!"

Klaus landed upright and darted forward, not looking back. The ground rumbled loudly as the beast lowered its large build on it and bellowed.

"Wait, aren't I doing the same thing as before?!" Klaus vocalized his thoughts and grimaced. Consumed by fear, he couldn't think to do anything else. All he could hear was his breathing and the beast behind him. The impact on the floor became stronger as the sound of the beast grew louder. It was closing in. Like a predator pursuing prey, it only had its eyes on Klaus.

"Goddamnit!" Klaus shouted, suddenly stopping, and right as the beast opened its jaws, darted to the side. Taking advantage of its mass, he quickly sprinted back to the river again.

"This only buys me a bit of time--I gotta do something."

"Use me." A child-like whisper echoed through Klaus's mind as he ran.

"..."

"The hell was that?"

"Don't ignore me."

"m..g...bah! I don't have time to...play around with whatever...this is!" Klaus spoke rapidly with pauses, occasionally checking to see if the beast was behind him, which it was. It had just regained its speed and glared at Klaus, angrier and eviler than ever.

"Face it."

"I-I can't really do anything else," Klaus thought. Knowing that he was cornered, he rotated and looked at the beast. He cracked his knuckles and pulled his hands to the front of his face.

"Do or die," he whispered.

Roar!

"Huzzah!"

Squelch...

"Huzzah...zzah...what?!?!?!"