The sky above was a deep, unending blue as the sun set on another ordinary day. Richard "Rick" Matthews, a lanky man with a mop of unruly dark hair and bright blue eyes, sat behind the wheel of his old, beaten-up sedan. The car hummed along the winding country road, the engine's steady purr blending with the low chatter of his two best friends, Mark and Jason, who occupied the back seat. Mark’s wispy brown hair complemented his glowing blue eyes. Jason, the self-proclaimed “funny man,” was clutching the grab handles (which he called the “oh shit grip”) of the sedan. Beside Rick, Mark's younger sister, Emily, tapped away on her phone, her face illuminated by its soft glow.
"You know, Rick, you should really think about getting a new car," Jason teased, leaning forward with a grin. His sandy hair flopped into his eyes, and he brushed it aside with a casual flick of his hand.
Rick chuckled, glancing at Jason in the rearview mirror. "Yeah, well, unless one of you guys wants to fund that, I think I'll stick with ol' Betsy here for a while longer."
Emily looked up from her phone, her green eyes sparkling with amusement. "Betsy? You named your car Betsy?"
"Hey, don't judge," Rick shot back with a grin. "Betsy and I have been through a lot together."
Mark, always the quiet one, simply shook his head with a small smile. His dark eyes, so similar to Emily's, glinted in the dim light. "Just be careful on these roads, Rick. They can be pretty treacherous at night."
Rick waved a hand dismissively. "Shut it, Mark. I've driven this road a hundred times. Besides, you can give me advice when you actually get your license, asshole."
As if in response to his words, a sudden flash of light blinded them all. Rick’s hands jerked on the steering wheel, and the car skidded violently. Tires screeched against the asphalt as the vehicle spun out of control. Emily screamed, clutching her seatbelt, while Jason and Mark braced themselves against the seats. The world outside blurred into a chaotic whirl of color and sound.
[SYSTEM ALERT: DIMENSIONAL RIFT DETECTED]
A notification flashed in Rick's vision, its appearance accompanied by a high-pitched chime that pierced through the chaos.
[ACTION REQUIRED: CONTINUE ESCAPE – OPTION: INVESTIGATE RIFT – REWARD: UNKNOWN]
The car came to a shuddering halt, and an eerie silence descended. Rick's heart pounded in his chest as he gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. Slowly, he turned to check on the others.
"Everyone okay?" he asked, his voice shaking.
Jason groaned, rubbing his head. "Yeah, I think so. What the hell was that?"
Emily's eyes were wide with fear, but she nodded. "I'm okay."
Mark’s expression was grim as he surveyed their surroundings. "Rick, look."
Rick followed Mark's gaze and felt his stomach drop. They were no longer on the familiar country road. Instead, they were surrounded by a dense, dark forest. The trees loomed high above them, their twisted branches clawing at the sky. A thick mist curled around the car, making it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead.
"This... this can't be real," Rick muttered, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing.
Emily's voice trembled. "Where are we?"
Before anyone could answer, a low, guttural growl echoed through the forest. The sound sent a shiver down Rick's spine. He turned to see a pair of glowing red eyes staring at them from the shadows. The creature stepped into the dim light, revealing its horrific form. It was tall and slender, its skin a sickly grey. The stench of copper and burned hair filled the air as it moved closer, its eyes locked onto them with a terrifying intensity.
[SYSTEM ALERT: ENEMY DETECTED – LEVEL: UNKNOWN – THREAT LEVEL: HIGH]
Rick's breath caught in his throat, and he instinctively reached for the door handle. "We need to get the fuck out of here. Now."
Jason, Emily, and Mark scrambled to unbuckle their seatbelts and follow Rick's lead. As they stumbled out of the car, Rick noticed something strange. Hovering above each of their heads was a faint, glowing bar. His own bar was a bright green, nearly full. But as he looked at the others, he saw that their bars were already slightly diminished.
[HUD UPDATE: STAMINA – RICK: 90% – JASON: 75% – EMILY: 60% – MARK: 65%]
"What the hell is that?" Jason exclaimed, pointing at the bar over his head.
"I don't know," Rick replied, his voice tense. "But we need to move. That thing is getting closer."
The creature let out another growl, its eyes never leaving them. With a sudden burst of speed, it lunged forward. The group bolted, their feet pounding against the forest floor as they ran deeper into the unknown woods. The mist thickened, swallowing the forest, and the trees closed in, their branches reaching out like skeletal hands.
As they ran, the bars above their heads began to glow brighter, and Rick noticed that the creature's speed seemed to increase whenever their bars dimmed. It was as if the beast was drawn to their diminishing stamina, growing more relentless with each step.
[SYSTEM ALERT: STAMINA DEPLETION – REDUCE THREAT BY INCREASING STAMINA]
"Keep moving!" Rick shouted, trying to keep his voice steady. "We can't let it catch us!"
Emily stumbled, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."
Mark grabbed her arm, helping her stay on her feet. "Just a little further, Em. We can't stop now."
The forest seemed to stretch on endlessly, but eventually they lost sight of the monster and slowed to a walk.
The group trudged deeper into the mist-laden forest, the oppressive silence broken only by the occasional crackle of leaves beneath their feet. Jason walked a few steps ahead, eyes darting around, his nerves frayed. Mark trailed at the back, his usual chatter silenced by the unsettling gloom that seemed to wrap tighter around them with each step.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The sky, veiled by thick branches, dimmed further as if warning them of an impending storm. A damp chill crept into their bones. Mark wiped the sweat from his brow and glanced back, his breath catching for a second.
Nothing.
"Let’s keep moving," Jason whispered, feeling the strange urge to hurry. He didn’t know why.
Suddenly, an eerie crack echoed from the shadows, like bones snapping. The group froze.
"Did you hear that?" Emily asked, her voice tight with fear. Jason nodded, scanning the dark woods with mounting dread.
Then came a blur of motion.
Without warning, something massive and grotesque erupted from the shadows—a towering creature, all sinew, claws, and jagged teeth. Its mottled skin glistened in the low light, a sickly green-black that blended into the surrounding darkness. It moved too fast to react to, its huge, clawed hand lashing out like a whip.
Before anyone could even scream, the creature's clawed arm crashed through Mark’s chest. The sickening sound of tearing flesh and snapping bones filled the air. Mark's eyes widened in shock, his mouth opening, but no sound came out—just the bubbling, wheezing gasp of someone desperately trying to breathe through shattered ribs.
Blood sprayed in a hot arc, spattering the forest floor in deep red. The rest of the group stood frozen, horror-struck. Emily’s scream caught in her throat, unable to break through the suffocating terror.
The creature lifted Mark, impaled on its claws, dangling him like a broken doll. Mark’s arms twitched involuntarily, his head lolling to the side. His eyes met Jason’s, wide with shock and pain, as blood dribbled from his mouth. For a brief moment, Mark looked confused, as if his mind hadn’t caught up to what had happened to his body.
Then the creature snarled, a low, guttural sound, and with a brutal, jerking motion, it ripped Mark’s body in half. The wet tearing of flesh and the crack of bone echoed in the forest like the splintering of dead wood. His torso dropped to the ground with a dull thud, the remnants of his body twitching for a few horrible moments.
DING!
A system notification flashed across Jason’s vision, the sudden jarring ping like a slap to the face.
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SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
Mark Andrews has been slain.
Cause of Death: Evisceration by [Unknown Beast]
Status: Deceased
Party Status: -1 Member
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Blood pooled beneath Mark’s remains, dark and glistening in the dim light. His lifeless eyes stared up at the canopy above, frozen in that final, terrified moment.
Jason’s heart slammed in his chest, every muscle locked in place. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. All he could do was watch as the monster discarded what was left of Mark and turned its gaze toward the rest of them, licking the blood from its claws with a grotesque tongue.
Another DING sounded in Jason’s ears, but he couldn’t bear to look.
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QUEST UPDATE
Primary Objective: Survive.
Party Members: 3 Remaining.
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The realization hit hard and fast—there was no warning, no fight, no time for goodbyes. Mark was gone, ripped from existence as though he had never mattered at all.
And now the creature wanted more.
With renewed determination, the group pushed forward, their legs burning with effort. The creature’s growls grew louder, closer, but they didn't dare look back. The light grew brighter, and soon they burst into a small clearing. In the center stood a stone structure, ancient and weathered. It looked like a temple of some sort, its entrance open and inviting.
"Get inside!" Rick yelled, ushering the others through the doorway.
The heavy stone doors of the temple groaned as they pushed open, a deep rumbling sound reverberating through the ancient walls. The air inside was cool, but oppressive, weighed down by the age and forgotten history of the place. Faint torches lined the walls, casting flickering shadows that danced across the cold stone floor.
Jason stepped in first, feeling the eerie stillness press down on him. He could still hear the sickening sound of Mark’s body being torn apart echoing in his ears. The coppery smell of blood clung to him, even though they’d left the scene behind. His hands trembled slightly, but he clenched them into fists to stop it.
Emily followed in silence, her face pale, eyes hollow. She hadn’t said a word since the creature’s attack. She kept glancing back toward the door, as if half-expecting Mark to suddenly walk in after them, grinning like he always did. But he wouldn’t. He never would again.
Rick brought up the rear, his jaw clenched, fists tightly balled at his sides. He moved with purpose, but there was an unmistakable tension in his movements, a simmering rage barely contained beneath the surface. The flickering torchlight cast long shadows over his face, accentuating the sharp lines of grief etched there.
They gathered in a small chamber near the entrance, barely able to process the safety of the walls after what they had just endured. For a few moments, no one spoke. The silence was unbearable.
Finally, Jason cleared his throat, but his voice came out hoarse. "We need to... talk about what happened. Mark—"
Emily’s breath hitched, and she shook her head violently, her hands covering her face. "No. Don’t... don’t say it." Her voice was muffled by her hands, but the pain was unmistakable. "He’s... gone. Just like that."
The harsh reality of it made Jason’s throat tighten. He tried again. "We knew things were bad, but that... that wasn’t supposed to happen." His voice cracked slightly, and he hated himself for it. "He didn’t even have a chance."
Emily let out a choked sob, her shoulders trembling. "Why didn’t we stop it? We could’ve—"
"No," Rick interrupted, his voice strained, the anger barely concealed. He stepped forward, his face tight with emotion. "There was nothing we could’ve done, Em. That thing came out of nowhere, too fast. We—" He paused, swallowing hard as if the words burned in his throat. "We didn’t even have time to react."
Emily dropped her hands from her face, looking at Rick with red-rimmed eyes. "But we just stood there," she whispered, her voice thick with grief. "We just watched it kill him. I watched him die, and I couldn’t... I couldn’t help him."
The weight of her words crushed the air from the room, leaving Jason reeling. He wanted to say something—anything—to make it better, to tell her it wasn’t her fault. But the truth was too bitter to ignore. They had stood there, frozen, as Mark was torn apart.
"It wasn’t supposed to be like this," Emily continued, her voice trembling. "We’re supposed to look out for each other, protect each other... and he... he didn’t even get to fight back. He was just... gone."
Jason felt a lump rise in his throat as he remembered the dull DING of the system notification that had followed Mark’s brutal death. The impersonal way it had declared him "deceased," as if Mark had been nothing more than a line of code, a piece of data. But he hadn’t been. He had been their friend.
"It’s not fair," Jason finally muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. "We came here together. We were supposed to make it out together."
Rick’s gaze dropped to the stone floor, his voice low and filled with barely-contained emotion. "We knew it was dangerous, but..." He trailed off, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles had turned white.
The room fell into a suffocating silence, each of them grappling with the horrifying reality of what had just happened. Emily was shaking, her grief overtaking her. "He was my brother," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I should’ve done something. I should’ve protected him."
Rick crossed the room, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Emily, listen to me. There was nothing we could’ve done. It wasn’t your fault, or anyone’s fault. That thing—it was beyond us. It was a monster."
Emily turned toward Rick and Jason, her eyes brimming with tears. "But he was all I had left. How do we... how do we move on after this?"
Jason had no answers. None of them did. Mark’s death had shattered the fragile sense of control they thought they had. The temple’s walls felt like a cage, closing in on them, suffocating them in their grief and helplessness.
All Jason could do was stare at the system notification still hovering faintly in the corner of his vision:
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SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
Mark Andrews has been slain.
Status: Deceased.
Cause of Death: Evisceration by [Unknown Beast].
Party Status: -1 Member.
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