Prologue
----------------------------------------
It was such a bright and sunny day. The birds were chirping, and the sounds of the rustling trees were music to my ears. Even the clanking of beers inside the cooler as I hauled them near the campsite brings me that sweet feeling of excitement. Excitement about what was about to come since I and my girlfriend finally got time for ourselves outside my 9-5 job at a small company in one of those cities tucked away in the Arizona desert.
We've been together for 3 years now, living in the same apartment that is too cramped to add more space between our bedroom and "kitchen", which is just a countertop with one sink and enough space for one or two microwaves. But hey? that's just the life of a couple who got it on just after graduating from university.
This trip was actually a suggestion from my girlfriend, Katrine. Which is surprising since I consider myself the outdoorsy, forest-loving kind of guy. I mean, anyone who sees me in my red checkered long-sleeved shirt under the blazing fury of the Arizonian sun would think of me as that guy who sees himself as a lumberjack. Now don't get me wrong, even after sitting at the office for at least 6 hours, I still believe myself as a fit guy, which kind of completes that lumberjack look.
With my height being 6'4, that's saying something. And I mean saying something since that's one of the things my girlfriend likes about me, other than my goofy and gullible personality, and short-shaven facial hair. But, weirdly, she'd suddenly recommended going out on a trip in the middle of January. But hey? At least now I could put on my lumberjack jacket that I've been storing inside the closet for years that I only use for that month of winter. And yeah, go for personal improvement since I've never seen my partner this excited to go out to camp in the middle of nowhere.
I mean, Katrine is the type of girl who likes to stay at home to watch horror movies with too much gore for me to handle, so I didn't expect her to make plans to go outside, even though it was only a week-long trip. She's just that gal who is so introverted that when I mention any word that correlates to exercise, she would look at me with death in her eyes. I mean, she's such a neet that I know what hikikomori means, which is just a Japanese word for shut-in, which is just another word for neet! You can already tell that she's a bonafide shut-in with her pale snow-white skin and eyes that always seem droopy because of her sleeping habits shown under the light. Though she always stays up late till 3 a.m., I don't really mind since I have a talent for sleeping like a log and not heavily snoring, although she did say that I sometimes talk in my sleep. But she is a good gal who wakes her partner up by kicking them off the bed so he doesn't miss a day exercising.
While that does sound good, we oftentimes can't find a good time to just have our moment in bed and satisfy ourselves, but we still get those sweet hours to ourselves sometimes...at least once a month. But hey? At least we could still do it, even if it's not often. And I guess that's why this sudden trip surprised me, though I guess it's a matter of time till we finally could let some steam off and once again get it on and move forward with our relationship.
So with a folding chair under my arm, I got to work fixing up the camp that we'll be spending our week in. After an hour of prep and tidying, we finally got our camp to look good and okay-ish. I mean this is my first time camping in a forest clearing since I was 13 so that's been what? 12 years since? But hey? From what I'm seeing, our camp looks above average.
Our campsite was near a small running river on our left, next to a line of trees that led to the forest on our right. Across the river is another small clearing covered in knee-high river grass with our truck parked beside a boulder covered in wet moss and some bird droppings. Meaning that we'd have to cross a set of rocks to get to this side of our campsite from the river, which is a small price to pay to see a forest-covered mountain to our left with the setting sun to our right. And with the final touch of gathered dry sticks in a stone pit campfire, we have finished our campsite! Katrine got the kindling brought over to me, and after some trial and error, we finally got some fire.
"Why didn't you just use the lighter in your glove box instead of wasting 20 minutes finding flint near the river?" asked my clearly irritated but still beautiful girlfriend.
"So that I could show off my survival skills and dashing attempts of fire-making. I mean, who wouldn't fall for that?". Of course, I knew that there was a lighter and gasoline in our rented truck, but who doesn't like to impress their loved one, more importantly, if it could get them to lead you to a wonderful night in a tent?
Katrine rolled her eyes and snorted, "Yeah, sure. At least it only took you another 28 tries which totals up to another 20 minutes. Surprisingly.".
Even with her irritated voice, she still finds a way to make me chuckle with our banter. But I usually don't give out more jabs since she seems to get angry the more I poke her. It all started 5 months ago when I had to take overtime for a week straight. I usually go home at 7 p.m., but with the new workload handed to me by my lovely boss, I got to our apartment at 11 p.m. instead. And with so low energy, I usually just eat canned food and crash into bed next to my girlfriend. Which is bad since usually, we would talk and I would cook her something, but I just didn't have the energy to even lift a frying pan. Halfway into my hellish week of overtime, I saw my neighbor, Jake, come out from our apartment.
I mean, I didn't really mind, since he usually comes to our place to just chill and play some card games when we have the time, but, weirdly, he would come in the evening. But hey? At least he brought us some pizza that night, and I got a decent meal from him. And that's when the banter started. I don't even know why it suddenly happened, but I only know that it was at that time that it started, although, it doesn't really faze me. At least my girlfriend became more talkative with me, with some minor cursing here and there. But I always let those slide since I've dealt with worse, and it is just banter.
"Yeah. We should bring Jake over some time. Maybe some of my friends too whenever we get another week off.". I imagine being with everyone I've befriended would like to party once in a while in the middle of the woods. It does have that wild vibe to it, which would make it more exciting.
Katrine froze at the mention of Jake though. I think that she will miss that loudmouth in the coming days. He was such a dude, he would bring us some beer and snacks whenever he came over. He is just a little shorter than me, with him being 6'1 and all. And he sometimes joins me at the gym in the morning, so that's nice. He is like a brother to me, even though I never knew what having a brother felt like. I was an only child in a broken family after all. But the dude just got that bro energy coming off of him. He would be at the top of my list to give a call to whenever I got some get-togethers planned, and I wouldn't have regretted it.
"I wish. He'd make this trip a hundred times better. Maybe even make it more interesting. It would be funny if he's actually here now", she said with a bit of snark in her tone. I guess it would make this trip much more interesting if he so graciously provided us with his presence. I chuckled at the thought. Which earned me a weird glare from Katrine. He'd definitely make this trip much more nicer if he was around. Nodding at the idea, I got to our truck and pulled out a box filled with my marinated beef barbeque.
After hearing about my partner's plan to go out, I started preparing some meals for the week outside our small abode. I did most of the work with the marinating and sauce-making. I even prepared some potato wedges for the trip, which seems luxurious, but hey? Who doesn't say no to good food outside the wilderness with only one person to impress? In short, 1/4th of our baggage is food, plastic plates, and utensils. Of course, I also brought over some garbage bags since, you know? Environmental love and all that. And most of those expenses came out of my savings.
Actually, now that I thought about it, almost all of the things here in our campsite came from my money, but oh well. Katrine did help with prepping some of the food and buying all of the soap we'll need to wash ourselves in the river. She even brought a shovel that helped dig the fire pit, so that's some future planning there. Go Katrine! I mean, look at her. She used to be all gloomy and kind of forlorn, but nowadays, she's gotten all cheeky and chatty with me.
My plan for this week is to just relax with my girlfriend. Maybe go fishing downstream, or even go foraging in the nearby forest for food, though I wouldn't expect to get anything in the middle of January.
Since when did I ever take a break from work? And I mean an actual break where I don't have to think about work and responsibilities tomorrow or anything along those lines. Even Katrine seems relaxed, although I can't tell since she keeps tapping her foot whenever we sit near the campfire. It is a habit of hers though, and she usually does that when she's bored or anxious. I mean, who wouldn't be bored when there's no internet or reception in here?
But that's not the case for this trip. We're here to relax and stretch our weary minds and bodies after two years of non-stop working. And we did just that for the next couple of days. Then on the 4th day, we did the deed.
Waking up from the long night of bliss and ecstasy, I started my regular day of exercising. I usually get up first in the morning, but it seems Katrine has gotten up before me. I guess she's just taking her time in the woods. I mean, now that I think about it, I should too. After taking a dump in a ditch deep in the forest, I got to bathing myself in the river, and oh man, is it amazing.
Submerging yourself in the chest-deep water with the slow currents giving you a somewhat light massage just gives this trip the relaxation that I need. If it was summer, then this would have been much much better.
Finishing my wonderful bath, I dried myself and got into a sweatshirt covered by my lumberjack jacket. While walking up to our dead campfire pit to prepare some breakfast, I saw Katrine come out of the woods with a frown on her face. Well, that's not good. I thought. I know that she often times wore a frown on her beautiful face when we were at the apartment, or when I was teasing her, but this was supposed to be our relaxing trip away from anything stressful, so I started to worry.
"Hey. Everything alright?" I called out to her, worry evident in my voice.
She looked up, taking attention to me and my half-tied apron around my waist. "Nah. All's good. Just remembered something unpleasant that I needed to do", she chuckled, and her voice had that tinge of sadness.
Now that's worrying. We just had a wonderful night together last evening, so why is she sad? Did I do something wrong? Is it my cooking? Or was I too boring last night, and I didn't satisfy her at all? I started worrying more and more until I felt a small peck on my cheek.
"Stop worrying about me, and worry about yourself first." She said with a little embarrassment in her tone. "You're just going to dampen the mood more.". Watching her pout a little did lighten my mood a little, but;
"Are you sure?", worry still in my voice.
"Yes, I'm sure. So, what are you cookin' up?"
Sensing that she wanted to change the subject, I happily complied with her question. I was making us an egg and bacon sandwich, starting with actually lighting a fire in our fireplace to start cooking. Katrine helped me scramble the eggs while I started cooking up the bacon that I bought over, courtesy to my man, Jake, for giving us some food for our trip.
After crispin' up the bacon and toasting some bread, I got to cooking some scrambled eggs. Bringing out the thermos, some mugs, and a can of coffee, Katrine made us something hot to drink to stave off the winter cold. Even if this part of the state is filled with deserts and cactuses, there are still some patches that dip down to a chill, and more so when it's nearing February. I think it's actually just about 44 to 46 degrees out here. Still shivering and cold after taking a bath, I took a sip of Katrines' specially made coffee, which is just normal canned coffee but still tasted good. Anything tastes good when you eat, or in this case, drink something made by your significant other.
After a short minute, the eggs were finally done, and we assembled our preferred sandwich, with mine having a small add-on of mayo, which earned me a disgusted glare from Katrine, and hers had some normal ketchup and lettuce. While eating, we talked about some topics like how we were doing while apart, or which friend got a partner or not, which then led to Katrine asking, "How are your parents?"
I...I actually don't know much about them anymore these days. Which, to be honest? I stopped calling back.
It was hell when I was a kid. Born into a broken family, with mom and dad constantly yelling at each other. Which then leads to them venting it out on me when dad goes to his job, or when mom goes to shop for something.
My uncle from my father's side, Uncle Eddie, taught me most of the things that I know now, like how to be a proper man, or where babies come from, which, to be fair, I was already 12 at the time. He was the one who took me camping when I was 13, and that was the time when I learned to be the man I am today. It was just a small incident, but that day changed my life.
After he died during my university days, I went into a spiral of depression. That was when I met Katrine and we ended up together after graduating. After that, I stopped calling back home. Seeing that I was not getting any callbacks or messages from the two of them, I just stopped caring altogether. Of course, I still send them some money back home, but that's about the only interaction I have with them, nothing more, nothing less.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
After a few seconds of silence, I was broken out by Kristine's worried voice.
"Hey. You good?"
"Ah. Yeah. I still send them back some money now and then. So we still doin' good"
"Are you sure? You were kind of out of it a few seconds ago"
"No, it's fine. Just remembered something unpleasant. I guess today is going to be a weird day.", I chuckled, although it was just a fake one, as fake as it can get. But Katrine went along with it, and we finished eating our breakfast.
Going over to throw away our plastic plates and utensils, I noticed that the knife I usually used to cut meat and veggies with when I was cooking outdoors was missing. It got my attention since I was cleaning the table while Katrine got inside the car across the river to turn on the heating. Weird. I'm sure I put it down here somewhere. After searching for nearly five minutes, I finally got to the car and called out to my partner.
"Hey, Katrine. Did you find a knife on the table anywhere? I'm sure I left it there just a moment ago"
After opening her eyes, she answered, "I don't know. Maybe it fell from the table or something?"
"I checked, and nadda. Even looked over near the riverbank to see if it got kicked there."
With knitted eyebrows, Katrine mulled it over. Seeing that she didn't know anything, I started turning back. However, I did catch a small realization coming over her face in my periphery, though that must've been my imagination or my mind playing tricks on me.
Going back over the campfire and foldable table, I started searching again, but still no luck, so I started cleaning the place up. After half an hour of tidying up, I noticed a small patch of grass that had been stepped on by someone, but the foot was a little smaller than mine, and it was obviously a lot bigger than Katrine's. With dread slowly creeping on me, I called out again to Katrine.
"Kat! Are you wearing some of my old shoes?"
Hearing no one answer, my heart started beating faster.
"Hey, Kat?! Did you hear me?"
Looking back across the river, there was still no answer. A sense of horror gripped my heart, and I briskly made my way over to our rented truck. After a few seconds of terror, I finally made it to the vehicle and saw no one in any of the front seats. Not wanting to believe the situation that I'd crafted in my mind, I opened the car door, hoping that she was just lying down to take a nap or something. But when I looked inside, she wasn't there.
The heating was still on, so she might've just taken a small break in the woods, but after thinking about what I'd seen and the things that were playing in my mind, I grew more and more terrified. I wasn't terrified of someone coming to stab me, but I am most definitely terrified to see some fucker stabbing my girlfriend. And with terror comes a small fire of anger and I jogged through the thicket and into the forest.
I called out her name, multiple times, looking everywhere to see a glimpse of her or someone who might be after us, but nothing. My heart sped faster, and my mind grew more frantic by the second. I started running through the forest in a perimeter to search for her. I slipped a few times because of some of the wet moss growing around, but I didn't stop. I need to find her, or else it would be like Uncle all over again. I can't take that, I'd break.
I thought that I'd grown, but now that I'm frantically running through the forest floor, I finally realized that I'd put some mask on when Katrine found me. I thought that I was that outgoing guy who was easy to get along with, no matter who it was, but that was just a front. I wasn't doing it for others, I was doing it because of my insecurities. I was afraid that if I were to be left alone again, I wouldn't be the same man that my Uncle thought me to be. That I wouldn't be me.
And so I prayed. I prayed and prayed to God that Katrine was safe. That she was just in the forest taking a wee or something, and that she wasn't hurt or anything.
After madly dashing across the forest in a wide circle, I finally came back to the clearing to the side of our truck. Seeing that she was still gone, my heart sank, and I almost lost some strength in my legs. But after standing there for what felt like hours but actually just a few minutes, I saw something rustling in the thicket across the river, on the side of our campsite. And after a few seconds, Katrine emerged from the forest with the same frown in the morning.
My knees collapsed behind the truck, relief rushing back to me like a tidal wave. I stayed there to take a few deep breaths to calm myself down and slowly got up. She was definitely just taking a dump. She was probably too embarrassed to say anything to me before she left. With that thought in mind, I made my way back toward the campsite, all battered and dirty after running through the forest. When I finally got to the other side, she called out to me.
"What the hell happened to you?", a small tinge of worry overlayed her condescending tone.
"Oh, you know. Just taking a jog around the forest and trying to find some mushrooms." I said with a raspy voice, parched after running for what felt like hours.
"In late January? Really? I was gone for like half an hour, and you look like you went through a fight with a bear or something"
"Would you fall in love with me again if I did fight a bear?"
"The only bear I see is the one standing in front of me."
I smiled at her, and she seemed to grow more worried by the second. After a few moments of silence, I finally spoke again while slowly making my way to her.
"Sorry, I just-"
"You just what?", worry still in her voice.
"I just thought that someone came here to hurt us... Hurt you"
"Where did that come from?"
I was a few inches away from her, looking down into her green droopy eyes. Seeing that, I chuckled a little bit at myself and my thought process. I mean, how could someone be out here besides us? That was just silly. Seeing me chuckle to myself, Katrine's eyes softened a little. And with her hands holding mine, she said;
"Callum, there's something that you need to kno-"
Before she finished her sentence, I found myself hugging her. Katrine pulled me out of my darkest days after the death of my Uncle. She gave me a new life, and a drive to keep on going. She was my everything, and I'm now a bit regretful that we hadn't gone and made more time to talk to each other. Maybe I should find a more flexible job that suits her time. She is a video editor, so she mostly stays back in our apartment. I should probably go and try the online industry too when I get back home.
"Callum, really. There's somethi-"
"Let's just stay a little bit more like this"
"Are you hurt somewhere?"
"No, not anymore that you're here"
"..."
After what felt like hours of warmth, I could finally feel Katrine pushing me away, but I just held her tighter.
"Callum, please. Listen to me. There'-"
"What? Only the two of us are here" I opened my eyes and looked down into her face. And I saw worry still evident in her eyes. She looked at my back and terror filled her face.
"I am pretty sure that you're still wearing my-" As I was turning to face what was behind me, I felt cold steel dig inside my left upper back.
"CALLUM!" Katrine yelled at me as she looked back up at my face again.
My breathing felt labored like there was something blocking my lungs from breathing properly. Then I felt intense pain following the cold blade digging into my back. I slowly turned around to look at my attacker and saw, Jake?
He was wearing a dark blue hoodie to cover up his head, but I could never forget his brown hazel eyes that were peeking through his covered face. In his hands was the knife that I had been looking for before I ran frantically to find Katrine.
Disbelief, denial, outright rejection. Those were the emotions that I felt when I looked at Jake's face. He was staring at me with cold eyes. Like a robot, unfeeling to my demise. I just couldn't believe it.
Where did I go wrong? What did I do wrong? Was there a mistake? What did I not see? Those were the thoughts that swirled in my mind. Finding faults in my memories. Looking for something, something to make sense of the situation happening to me right now. But I came up blank, and I coughed up blood. But instead of cowering away in fear, I felt determination. Determination to protect Katrine no matter wha-
"THIS WASN'T PART OF THE PLAN!" Katrine's yelling was muffled as she was buried in my arms, but it rang in my ears crystal clear.
"What?" I whispered. The action sent waves of pain in my chest towards my head, and I shivered. Planned? Since when? But why? My head is growing lighter with each passing second, and my body feels like it is heating up as if I am catching a fever.
"What do you mean this wasn't part of the plan?! You made this happen!", Jake yelled, his grip on the knife loosening and finally letting go. I swayed on my feet, catching myself barely, but any second now and I'd be laying on the floor, bleeding from my back.
"What? Why?" I asked. Maybe they made a mistake? I mean, they wouldn't scheme to kill me in the middle of nowhere, right?
"Callum, I'm sorry. But this has to happen." Katrine spoke in sobbing breaths. Her tears soaked my shirt. What did she mean "has to happen"? Surely it wasn't meant to-
"It was meant to be a quick death"
And at those words, I felt my whole mind go blank.
"I was supposed to spike your coffee to make you fall asleep, but I couldn't", Katrine wailed, her cries still muffled as she buried her face into my chest.
"Jake was supposed to make it quick, but there's no time". Her voice was tuned out of my mind as I made sense of the situation but still came blank.
"I really loved you, Callum. I really do. But we are running out of time", out of instinct, if you could call it that, I hugged her tighter and muttered, "I love you too"
We stayed there for a few more seconds before Jake spoke behind me with an irritated voice.
"Can we get this ritual going, or are we going to leave our pal here in this world?" His voice grew distant as I felt my whole body turning cold. My breaths were shallow now, and I couldn't take a proper breath without sending a massive wave of pain through me.
I buckled under my weight, and both Katrine and I stumbled to the ground. Katrine was laying on her back, while I was on top of her, trying to give strength to my arms, afraid that I might crush her. Then, I felt pain in my back again as the knife keeping the bleeding slowed was pulled out of me.
"He doesn't have enough time, Katrina. The ritual might not work anymore", his voice was muffled now, a constant ringing was the only thing that I heard. My eyes grew blurry as I looked at Katrine's... Katrina's face, my blood coming from my mouth dripping down onto her beautiful reddish brown hair. She looked at me with teary eyes, and she leaned in to give me a kiss, but the sensation was numbed as I felt my body freezing over.
My nerves fail to give and receive signals to my body and brain respectively. Then, Katrina pushed me easily onto my back, surprising me for a second with her strength, and then my back proceeded to stain the green grass below.
Now looking at the sky, I feel my mind grow sharp, impending doom suddenly gripped my whole soul, and I thrashed for air, for life, for anything to keep me alive. While I was feeling unspeakable terror, I heard the two perpetrators muttering something, but I couldn't focus as my whole body gave spasm after spasm, fighting off the cold and failing to give my body heat.
After what felt like hours of thrashing, I numbly felt two hands hold me down to keep me from moving. My eyes were droopy, my mind beckoning me to an eternal sleep. Then something was forced down my throat, my sense of taste dulled by the taste of iron. I instinctively swallowed and felt some warmth flow through me again. But as quickly as it came, it was gone in an instant later.
The edges of my vision grew dimmer and dimmer, my focus blurring and showing white, like what people say is the end of the tunnel before they die. Am I going to die? Those were my final thoughts before I saw glowing symbols fly over me. No, not symbols, runes. I saw runes glowing in bright gold, circling me and my body, then searing through my flesh and directly to my bones. The pain was indescribable. It surpasses the pain that I felt when I was stabbed from behind. And without knowing it, I was screaming. Wailing so loud that I couldn't care less that I was tearing my throat apart and gurgling my own blood. My head moved wildly, trying to be free from the torment that I was currently feeling.
An eternity later, the pain subsided, and the pain from before came back like a ripple, not even holding a candle to that soul-wrenching pain that I felt when those runes were seared into my bones. As I thought that it was over, glyphs flew by at an incredible speed, spinning wildly. And then as if time stopped, the glyphs halted their movements altogether, and an earth-shattering roar sounded out from above. The glyphs, as if being awakened by that ungodly roar, brightened more and more, until all I could see was white.
A moment later, I am staring at a different sky. It was reaching afternoon when I was stabbed in the back, but now, the sky is tinged with the red-orange of sunset.
So with my unmoving close-to-dying body, still losing blood and growing colder, I have been transported into a different world.
----------------------------------------