The mantis-like eyes looked at me over the edge of the tub. Its pupils, in the expense of white, were like the muzzle of a gun. Long, slim stick fingers gripped at the edges beside the eyes, and the shadow of the familiar top hat was like a monster ready to swallow me and truthfully, it might just do it.
"What in the paranormal activity am I looking at right now?!" I couldn't help cursing wildly in my head while having a staring contest with this demon wannabe. Either way, I just want to pass out and call it a night.
"I finally found you, Black." The Ringleader murmured before laughing crookedly. I couldn't help backing up, making sure he was in my sight as he stepped his hands out one by one and crawled from the tub with predator-like movements that didn't look natural on a human body. I was proven right as I heard his bones cracking and saw them bulge from under his clothes.
Po by me was already growling and let out a loud bark when the Ringleader reached the separation between the front and back space of the room. This caused the eerie eyes to shift to the dog and he probably was going to say something if not for me reaching onto the floor and chucking something dead at the center of his forehead.
I ignored his groan in pain as he collapsed and rolled, (I picked up Zhou Li's herbs dictionary book), as I grabbed my sledgehammer from my bag, turned to open the door, and slammed the toy straight into Zhou Shen's legs, causing him to hiss and tumble, before running with Po right by my side.
There were multiple people in black in the dark hallway trying to grab me but I dodged and flipped around them like an eel. If I couldn't dodge, I slammed my sledgehammer against any weak points I could see. Which was their heads, knees, and a certain place above their knees.
All I have to say is goodbye to your future children.
I was running and dodging while thinking about how to escape the place, as everywhere I looked was covered with people dressed in black when I heard a familiar yell. "Ignis!" I looked up to see a frightened Chen Liang and an enraged Zhou Li on the roof of the household fighting off the intruders.
Flames illuminated the night sky behind them, making everything engraved in my mind as they twisted and turned as they fought either on the ground surface or in the air. Zhou Li's body shifted my way, lifted his spear, and swung, and I felt a cold breeze on my back alongside the screams of my pursuers. I was able to turn and make my way towards them.
Taking this chance, Chen Liang, who was holding a wooden sword, stabbed the intruder and the sight of the person's blood almost made me trip over my feet. I had to shift my eyes to solely focus on her, as after she stabbed the person, she jumped down from her position and sliced through whoever was in her way as she went to me.
I was about to reach Chen Liang, as she was only three feet away from me but all of a sudden I felt weightless, and the image of an alarmed Chen Liang and Zhou Li slowly disappeared as I fell into a black void alongside Po. The shock was too immense, as not even a sound slipped through my lips before the wind blew through my sides, causing my Hanfu to flap. My body spun downward during the flight, causing me to almost throw up from how fast I was spinning.
My hand touched something and instinctively, I held on and dragged it to me. Po's body bundled around me as I wrapped my arms around his body and placed my face against his furry chest. I felt him growl, and before I lessened my hold because I thought I was hurting him, I felt heat start gathering from his body before a blast of fire beamed across the darkness and punctured a hole in the dark space.
Light from the hole spread through the pitch black and I felt something break through Po's back before I felt him bite the back of my Hanfu and throw me up. I gasped at the sudden change of pace before my body slammed against a furry one.
I held on tight to the furry body as it flew straight through the hole. Suddenly, we were under an unnaturally blue sky. My mind couldn't catch up to what just happened as I looked up to see the sun, which should've been a moon.
However, what was more concerning was that the sun wasn't even a sun but a drawing of one. I looked at the big circle with lines coming off of it like how a 6-year-old would draw it. The unnatural fluffy clouds around the sun, which only had one value of white as they moved along the sky at a noticeable speed, added to the oddness of my predicament.
My heart started racing as I watched the unnaturalness of it. However, there was also a displeasure spreading in my chest from watching the unnatural sun and sky. The feeling was like looking at a copy of something and a person telling you it's the real thing even though you know it's fake. The feeling grew to the newly born feeling of being agitated and before it could expand, I looked towards the ground but the sight didn't help at all.
Down below, there was a mass of forest. However, like the sky, the space below was equally unrealistic. The difference, though, was that a 6-year-old wouldn't have drawn it. It felt more like Allan Poe painted it. The trees were pitch black as they stood tall with their skinny and dented trunks. Their branches twirled and curled every other way, even knotting themselves on the other tree's branches. On the branches were red leaves that didn't glow like rubies but were as dark and menacing as dried blood.
Suddenly, I felt a familiar pull of Spiritual Pressure. At first, the powerful wings were keeping us afloat but the longer we stayed in the air, the more pressure we got put on us.
Suddenly we were back to falling as the pressure hit us five times the amount it was putting on us already. The large, furry body fully surrounded me as we crashed onto the ground. I heard the sounds of trees breaking and stones crumbling under our force before we stopped. Breathing rapidly, I felt the pressure being taken off us before the body around me relaxed and shrank.
My knees touched the ground as I now held a very tired Po, who was huffing with his tongue sticking out. If I wasn't in a weird and dangerous situation, I would wonder how a dog suddenly grew, got wings, and breathed fire, but instead, I grabbed the tired Po and started running to not be out in the open.
The trees around all looked strange as they climbed up to the sky as if wanting to grab something. They all looked different from the others around them. The ground under me crunched with each step I made, making me cringe as the noise ranged through the otherwise quietness.
I looked around while running, zig-zagging around each black tree, until something caught my eye. I paused in front of it before looking at the trees around me.
In front of me, the ground showed obvious signs of something being crashed into it and it was something I was familiar with as it was Po and I who crashed to make it. I panted out as I looked at the ground before looking up.
The trees around looked the same as the others, black, unrealistic, and ominous feeling but in confidence, I can say these trees were different from the ones we crashed by.
I looked at the trees but stopped moving altogether. I didn't move and my breath came out to nonexistent whiffs of air. I felt Po become quiet as well, and eventually the forest became once again quiet.
At first, nothing changed, the sky looked the same, the trees stood the same, and everything looked the same until slowly it happened. The trees made no noise as they slowly moved. The ground didn't even rumble.
I watched as the trees shifted, all of them moving from one location to another. Eventually, they all stopped after around five minutes, and the area around them looked like nothing had moved.
I felt my heart speed up a bit, while I looked towards the ground. Crouching, I wrote an arrow before waiting. Around the ten-minute mark, I watched as the arrow which was no longer there on the ground.
I looked towards the crashing site and saw even the ground looked drastically different from what it was before. If I didn't know what was happening I wouldn't even realize this was the same place from the beginning.
Pushing away the unease, I settled Po down and started looking through my bag as quietly as possible. Finding what I was looking for, I pulled it out and opened it up, watching as the magnetic needle orbited around but never stopping.
It spun and spun and the more it did so the more I felt bile strangle my intestines. Watching it as it was about to enter its 20th runaround, I snapped it close and looked up.
The trees once again shifted, and the ground now looked brand new.
Putting the compass away, I stood up with Po and looked around. I looked towards the sky, slowly spun around, and watched as the sky never changed no matter which direction I was looking at,
The sun will always be in the corner of my sight and the clouds will be the same distance apart from one another. Po moved, causing me to look down at him, to see him looking up at me.
He bumped his nose at me before wiggling, and right away I placed him down. He was unsteady for a bit before growing steady and sniffing the air. He walked around sniffing before heading in one direction.
I followed behind him, making sure he was always in my sight, while also paying attention to my surroundings. The trees remain still, pretending as if they could not move. However, the more we walked the more I felt like eyes were looking at me.
The feeling was suffocating, and bone grinding as if I was being observed from the outside out.
Suddenly I felt heat before a tree, not so far from my right, was crashing down, burning from a fireball that was aimed at it. I looked at Po with raised brows while he continued looking at the stilling burning tree.
I also looked over and cautiously got closer. At first, I didn't see it among the ruins of the tree, but then it moved. The feeling of disgust rose in me as the thing, which looked to be a crow, continued moving and reviving but it didn't get far before it was slammed with another wave of fire.
Me and Po, who walked up to my side, watched as the creature burned to ashes, with nothing being left behind.
"Was that a Gu?" I questioned myself. The feeling I got from it was similar to the snake. Both in the realm where it gave me discomfort but also because I barely noticed it.
I looked around and tried to consciously raise my senses however instead I was met with deep pain, and I immediately stopped. I hissed as the center of my frontal lobe burned, and white covered my sight.
A fur body cuddled into my side as I almost toppled down and I hung onto it like a lifeline until the pain went away. I heard a cackle and both Po and I looked over to see a crow.
Its body almost blended into the tree it was standing on, with only its bright eyes signifying that it was there. I felt the disgust and observation of eyes hit me again as the red eyes stared at me.
It felt like a camera.
Po's body started growing hot as he began growling however before a stream fire could be released another cackle was heard behind us. I looked behind and there was another crow identical to the one still behind me.
Then there was another cackle, another crow, another cackle, a different, and so much cackling sounded out as more crows came out. They all cackled and the more they did, the more it sounded like real laughter. Both male and female.
All with one similarity.
They all sounded like adults.
All the cackling was sounding louder and louder until eventually they all stopped and turned to look a certain way.
I started running the opposite way, and Po not far behind me grew bigger and lifted me to place on his back as he ran. The eyes continued to follow us and when I looked up more crows filled the trees, watching as we ran past them.
Honk, honk.
The sudden sound startled me and Po. The sound sounded familiar, and tried to put my finger on it. It didn't sound like a car's horn and sounded similar to a goose's call but this sound started more artificial.
Honk, honk.
The sound came closer.
I looked around, still trying to identify the source.
Honk, honk.
I looked into the trees and I saw a humanoid shadow in the trees.
Po ran past it, not noticing the thing was there. I looked behind me and watched as it stepped out of the shade of the trees. Despite its big body of over 8 feet and the big shoes that looked to cover my whole body, it made no sounds.
The thing was dressed in bright colors, and its red hair spread out like urchins. The skin that was shown was shockingly white making its purple lips and fully black eyes behind its colorful makeup appear so present.
"Why are you watching that?" I looked up at my mom while snacking on some chips.
It was a Saturday morning, and I woke up earlier than everyone else, like always, and like a routine, I put on whatever was on.
"It was the only thing on." I said, already handing her the remote which my mom grabbed from me before changing the channel.
"And you couldn't have watched the weird sponge and his dumbass friend? Why do you have to watch a clown." She asked, dramatically shivering as she changed it to said pink and yellow stupid duo, before heading to the kitchen to start her morning ritual.
I got up and followed her while asking, "You're afraid of clowns Mama?"
"They're dressed-up demons." She muttered.
I laughed while playfully saying, "How can you be scared, all they do is act stupid and make honking noises with their noses."
She pursed her lips and didn't respond until her coffee was made. Taking a sip she said while looking at me from over the edge of her mug, "They ain't so funny when they chase you."
That day I laughed.
Today I want to cry. Mom, why are you jinxing me?
The clown reached his hand up and squeezed his nose. I watched as a liquid squirted out from it while the honk sounded out.
The clown smiled big, its crooked teeth, and broken teeth on full display, before it started running.
At this point, Po realized there was an extra being in our proximity and started running faster. The clown ran in a way where it was almost on all fours.
At first, we kept the same difference, as both running forms didn't seem fazed by the speed and how long they were running. However, it looked like the Clown realized this and reached into his flamboyant costume.
It was a swift motion and quickly he pulled out 10 colorful balls, five in each hand. He smiled at me and started juggling them. A bad feeling rose and I dug through my bag.
He juggled faster to the point where it looked like a wheel. I pulled out a stone right before one of the balls, or more accurately say one of the small cannons came shooting out at high speeds.
I cracked the stone and the barrier rose, meeting head-on with the ball cannon. The barrier instantly broke but it did the job of stopping the ball however it didn't fully stop it as the ball broke apart and dust spread out.
I held my breath but couldn't stop the coughing that burst through my lips as my eyes and lungs felt like fire was poured into my very being.
Even Po was affected as he tripped over his feet before getting back up and returning to running but by then the clown had eaten up a bit of the distance between us. The Clown didn't let up as cannon after cannon came smashing at us, and I didn't understand what was better, the fire dust or getting slammed upon as we couldn't escape the speed of the small balls.
I kept digging through my bag pulling out stone after stone but the clown was clever using the distance to make the attacks less accurate than it already was. Even breaking the balls right before they could even reach us was fruitless as the dust seemed to be an area attack of over a couple of meters.
I felt an attack coming and I was about to pull out another barrier but Po made a low sound, and looked at me from over his shoulder. I stopped my movement and Po's body made a breaking sound, which made my stomach twist as the cannonball slammed into him.
He toppled over and fell to the ground, wrapping his body around me. I hissed at the collusion but I checked up on him immediately.
Pain could be seen through his eyes but he didn't say anything as he looked down at the bag in my hands and I instantly got the message.
I dug through my bag quietly and looked at all my items. Many of them I wanted to use but couldn't in our circumstances.
Honk, honk.
I heard unhurried footsteps approaching and quickly I searched before grabbing a stone that was the size of four of my hands combined. I wanted to grab this a couple of times but I had to hold onto Po, and it was impossible to grab it with just one hand.
Honk, honk.
I broke it and swiftly sat up. My face was blasted with the scent of decay. Lighting sprouted from my hands and slammed into the clown that was two feet behind us and looked about to pounce on us.
The lightning lit up the whole forest and the aftershock pushed Po and me distances away, but Po took advantage of it to grab me and throw me on his back before landing on his feet and starting to run. I looked back at the aftermath and watched as the clown's body lay there on the scorched ground.
His once colorful attire is now completely black, including his very skin. He looked like a dried-out worm left to suffer under the sunlight's intense rays.
My stomach crawled and unwanted memories started to appear in my head.
"You killed him!" Tre's voice made me feel like my soul was punched from my body.
"I killed him because he was going to kill us." I tried to reason with myself but the more I tried the more the opposite effect of comfort was felt through my nervous system.
However, it wasn't long before all mental associations disappeared as I saw the Clown's body twitch and it began to move again. My heart leaped into my throat but before the Clown could even stand up, the trees became vigorous and started moving, once again changing places but this time it was faster than its lazy movement.
The clown was gone and the forest began to transform. Po moved and dodged however even he couldn't escape as the tree's trunks became walls and their branches became the ceiling.
When it was done, Po and I were no longer in a forest but a hallway, lit up by the red eyes of the crows that merged into the exterior.
Po's body shivered and I felt heat but before he even did anything Spiritual Pressure came crashing at us, pushing him onto the ground. This Spiritual Pressure was the strongest I ever felt.
I felt everything get crushed whether it was my muscles, bones, or my very organs. It didn't take long before it went away but even so, it felt like eons. Po got up, with me still on his body.
I slid off as I didn't have a hold and plummeted towards the ground and I could hear him whimper before he entered my view. His eyes looked at me down in worry before he came closer and licked my covered face.
I breathed out through the pain and patted his face. I did a couple more rhythmic breathing before slowly getting up with his help.
I patted him, before once again getting on him. His body became more tense and I couldn't blame him. In this new circumstance, he can't use his powerful weapon.
A screech sounded out, causing both of us to flinch, and slowly beaks broke through the walls. The crow's beaks were longer and sharper than the average one, looking to be used for looks rather than realisticness.
"Welcome Player Black." They all said at the same time. Their voices held many unrecognizable ones but the most prominent one was very distinguishable.
The Ringleader.
"We humbly invite you to this year's 105th event, "Escape the Maze." It is our cult classic and everyone's so excited to see you perform. You're already so popular can't you see?" All around the red eyes glowed brightly and the feeling of observation became stronger.
I felt my hand shake, and I had to hold it down with the other, but nothing could stop my pounding heart.
"We can't wait to see your performance, young Ignis." The voices said fading with each word.
"I hope you don't disappoint." The Ringleader finished off.