Shane's eyes opened in a dark room. He could hear his heart beating slowly, too slow that he felt he was dying. The room he was in was pitch black and he could not see a thing. The last thing he remembered was being stabbed in the guts multiple times by a rival gangster.
He lost count of how many times he was stabbed as the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. As he fell to the ground, flashes of his life played like a movie in his eyes.
He led a wretched life; joining a gang at the early age of 16, he had caused his widowed mother to worry. She had pleaded with him to quit, but he did not listen. He thought the world was at his feet as he made a lot of money from drugs and robberies.
Everything was going according to plan until that day.
Shane could feel warm blood flowing out of his mouth as his vision faded and his eyes closed. As he passed out, he thought of his unfortunate mother. He wished he could appear before her, even for a second, to tell her how sorry he was.
Shane peered around the dimly lit room, wondering where he was. After a few seconds, he touched his stomach, and he frowned. It felt too comfortable for someone who had been stabbed several times.
Shane tried to get up from where he lay on the ground, but felt no pain. He stood up and pressed his stomach, and other than the mild discomfort of pressing too hard on his tummy, he felt no pain. He looked around the room. It was pitch black, so he could not see an exit. He did not know where the hell he was. It was not a hospital, because he had woken up on the ground.
Was he dead? Was this the afterlife? A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, but he could not find an answer to why he was alone on the floor in a dark room.
Shane tried to find an exit. He walked carefully, extending his hands forward until he touched a wall; tracing it with his hands, he searched for a door or a window that led to the outside. He had not walked for five seconds when a loud crash sent him flying to the other side of the room.
Shane's eyes widened in terror when he opened his eyes and saw a spider the size of an elephant on the ground. It had fallen from the sky, breaking through the roof and crashing against the wall.
Shane was terrified as he lay on the ground, unable to move. The gigantic spider made a croaking sound as its enormous head twisted around and its legs came back to life. Whitish spittle dribbled from its mouth as it turned to face Shane.
Shane could not believe his eyes. Was this a dream? How could a spider be this huge? Shane didn't have the time to consider because, in the next second, the spider dashed towards him.
Shane yelled. He'd never shouted so loud in his life, and he did not know his voice could reach that pitch.
His eyes clenched tightly as he waited to be eaten alive by the massive creature, but instead of a bite, he felt a warm liquid splash across his face. Shane opened his eyes only to see the head of the spider across the floor, and its body curled up, with a bluish green liquid gushing out from its neck. Above its body stood a girl, who he could swear was not taller than five foot four, with black long hair that flowed down to her thighs.
In her hand was a sword, and for a moment, Shane could swear he saw it glow. The girl sheathed her blade, stooped over the spider's body, stuck her hand into it, and pulled out its heart. Shane lay horrified on the ground, his eyes wide open, staring at her. The girl wiped the heart of the spider with a piece of cloth and turned around to leave when she saw the figure lying across the floor.
She frowned as she glanced at him oddly for a few seconds; without saying a word, she left the house. Instantly, Shane leaped up from the ground and ran after her.
''Hey, excuse me,'' he tried to get the girl's attention, but she walked ahead, not giving him an audience. He was at least 6 feet, 2 inches tall, but he practically raced to catch up with the girl.
''I'm lost. I woke up in that house, and I swear, I do not know how I got here. ''
The girl did not respond to him, she just walked to a nearby stream and washed the heart, to rinse off the blood still dripping from it, after which she threw it into the sack she was carrying and continued walking as if Shane was not there.
As Shane followed behind, he looked around him and got more confused.
Where the hell was he? There were no cars or high-rise buildings, and the people he saw wore strange clothing, with strange markings on their bodies. That was when he looked at himself and saw he was putting on the same clothes as them. It was like a different place. They appeared to be people, yet everything looked different and felt different.
Shane nearly collided with the girl when she stopped abruptly. Turning around, she eyed Shane with a deathly glare.
''What are you doing following me?'' Her voice was little, as was her petite physique and face. He had only seen a handful of women that beautiful. She was stunning, but the deathly glare in her eyes didn't let him stare for long.
Shane knew if he wanted to get any help out of her, he needed to speak quickly.
''My name is Shane, and I have no idea how I got here. The last thing I remember was getting stabbed multiple times, but there are no knife marks or scars on my body. I woke up in that house, in this strange place.
I don't know where this is, nor how I got here, and the last time I remember, spiders were never that huge!'' he spoke quickly, trying to fit every vital information into one sentence. He exhaled when the girl's frown softened;
''You're from another district?'' she asked, trying to make sense of what he was saying. Shane shook his head.
''No, I don't know. I don't even know where I am, but if you can help me find a taxi or a train going to Chicago, I would be grateful.''
The girl stared at him weirdly, as if he was mad or something. When Shane noticed the look she gave him, he asked, ''Wait… what year is it? ''
''1320, and Shane, I do not have time for this. If you're having any issues, go to your district elders. I have to get back before the sun goes down.'' ''13… 13 what!!!'' Shane exclaimed.
The worst-case scenario he imagined was that he had gone into a coma and woken up in the future. How the hell was he in the past?
''Wait, is this earth, this planet?'' Shane asked, if he could wake up in the 13th century, he should be sure he was still on earth.
The girl gave him an odd look, ''You really are sick,'' She said shaking her head.
Shane's eyes grew, ''no, no, don't tell me… '' although everything that has happened since he woke up in that room had been strange, he did not expect that he would really be on another planet, but the look on the girl's face said otherwise.
''This is planet Rune. There are four planets in outer space, and I've never heard of Earth, Shane.'' Shane felt like they had just emptied a bucket of water on his head. He had woken up on another planet. A whole other planet and they did not know of earth.
Shane was about to ask another question when a creature jumped out from the nearby bush and lunged toward the girl. As though she had sensed it coming, she swung to the side almost immediately, sending it flying to the other side.
Shane was dumbstruck. Shivers crept up his skin when he saw the monster. The creature was hideous. It had the face of a monstrous sea creature, but the body was that of an ant. Its teeth were pointed and long and dripped with blood as if it had recently killed something.
The girl did not look fazed by the monster, like it was a normal occurrence around here. She unsheathed her sword and moved a few steps back, waiting for it to come for her. The ant's fangs generated a gnashing noise that was painful to the ears. Taking a few steps back, it sprang toward the girl.
With ease, the girl lowered herself and glided beneath the giant ant, slicing through its belly, splitting it in half. Shane stood terrified as he watched the events unfold before him.
Okay, if this was a video game, he was done playing. He wanted to wake up. He was done. Because what in the hell was happening here?!
The girl didn't even look at the dead animal as she cleaned her sword and sheathed her blade. Without saying another word to Shane, she continued on her way.
Shane followed behind, afraid to stay a second alone in that place without her. ''Can I come with you?'' He asked, and the girl scoffed.
''where do you think I'm going to?''
''I don't know, please, can you take me with you? I'm lost. You won't believe me, but I'm from a planet called Earth in the year 2022.''