The road stretched out like an endless void, the kind that made even the most seasoned drivers shiver with inexplicable dread. They gripped the steering wheel tighter, their knuckles pale against the leather. Rain pounded against the windshield, the rhythmic drumming a stark contrast to the uneasy silence in the car. Their mind raced, preoccupied by thoughts she couldn't quite piece together, a jumble of fractured memories and fragmented worries.

A low rumble vibrated through the air, an ethereal horn was blaring somewhere in the distance. It should've been a warning, but they barely registered it. The railway crossing loomed ahead, the signal lights flashing furiously, the red hue blending with the cascading rain. They slammed on the brakes, but the tires skidded against the slick asphalt, the car refusing to heed his command.

At that moment, time seemed to fragment. There was a searing flash of light, and for a fraction of a second, there was peace.

_____________________________________

She opened her eyes to find herself suspended in a room. It was pitch black here, and it wasn't the comforting blackness of unconsciousness. A being loomed before her. The being, no, the entity, was too vast to fully comprehend. Its form was a shifting amalgamation of eyes, mouths, and limbs, each moving independently of the other until it formed itself a bipedal body.

It spoke, though the words were not sounds but an invasive thought, crawling through her mind and leaving tendrils in its wake. "You have been offered a chance. A gift."

She stared a thousand yards, her voice caught in his throat. The entity's presence bore down on her, suffocating yet oddly enticing. It smiled revealing a perfect white smile, bearing more teeth than a human should.

"A… gift?" she managed to whisper, her words fragile as glass. 

The entity replied, "Power, knowledge, purpose"

She stood in fear, horror displayed on her face. She was paralyzed unable to move, yet she wet herself. Every single fluid in its entirety emptied out of her, vomit, pee, sweat, and feces. She stayed in this suffering state until she finally dry-heaved everything out. She was cold, covered in fluids, and in shock.

The entity's mouth then twisted into grotesque shapes that may have been a deeper grin. "Gifts come with a price, the cost will reveal itself in time. Do you accept?"

The entity then winced and squealed in sounds unheard to the human. It then was lurched back to something behind it and was planted firmly sitting in a chair of a somewhat throne-like design.

Something deep within her screamed to decline, to run, but where could she go? She started violently crying. Her sobs were only interrupted by her mind's resolve, lips moving before her mind could stop them.

"I… accept."

The void convulsed. The entity reached out with a thousand arms of flesh, each one burning cold as they wrapped around her. For a brief, agonizing moment, she felt her humanity being rewritten, reshaped into something.

_____________________________________

She woke to the metallic scent of blood and the vision of her lying in a crimson pool, her body trembling with an energy that felt foreign yet intoxicating. Thoughts raced through her, each one more violent than the last. Images of carnage, of screams, of hands, her hands, tearing through flesh and bone. She clutched his head, trying to push the visions away, but they clawed at the edges of her sanity.

Darkness claimed her once again.

______________________________________

When She came to, the blood was gone. She stood in a circular room, its walls were adorned with carvings that seemed to move when she wasn't looking directly at them. The air was thick with an unnameable scent, something metallic and ancient. She was dressed in a robe that clung to her body as if alive, tightening with every breath she took.

The room's centerpiece was an altar, its surface slick and dark. Around it lay skeletal remains, their forms twisted in unnatural ways. Skulls grinned up at him, their empty sockets seeming to watch his every move. Strange artifacts littered the floor: a dagger encrusted with black gems, a chalice that seemed to pulse with its own heartbeat, and a book whose pages whispered faintly when she neared.

She shuddered but couldn't tear their gazes away. The room pulsed with a presence, a sense of expectation that set her teeth on edge. She moved toward the only visible door, its surface etched with symbols that glowed faintly in the dim light. The door seemed to hum as she approached, a low vibration that resonated deep within her chest.

She reached out, her fingers trembling as they hovered above the cold surface. And then, the door opened.