Consciousness returned slowly, clawing its way through the thick haze of darkness. The first thing I noticed was the smell—heavy, metallic, and suffocating. The air reeked of blood, sharp and tangy, mingled with the stench of decay, the sickly-sweet odor of rotting flesh festering in the damp. My stomach twisted violently, bile rising in my throat as the horror of the place pressed down on me, even with my eyes still closed.
And then it came back to me.
The monster.
I remembered its claws sinking into my flesh, its jagged teeth tearing me apart. I remembered the wet sound of my own body being devoured, the agony so intense I could feel it even now.
But I was alive.
How?
I didn't dare move. My mind braced for the searing pain, for the horrible sensation of shredded organs and pooling blood.
Slowly, hesitantly, I forced my eyes open.
Darkness surrounded me, oppressive and endless, broken only by the faint, eerie green glow of moss clinging to the jagged cave walls. The light painted the cavern in sickly hues, casting shifting shadows that seemed to writhe like living things.
I took a breath—a mistake.
The stench of iron and rot slammed into me, and I gagged, dry-heaving as my stomach churned violently. My throat burned, raw from the effort, but... there was no pain.
No pain.
My heart pounded as I dragged my trembling hand across the filthy floor, bracing myself for the touch of slick, torn flesh, for the gaping wound I was sure would still be there. My fingers met smooth, unbroken skin.
what?….how?…
But there was nothing. No slick warmth of blood, no raw, open wound. Just smooth, unbroken skin.
I blinked, struggling to process what I was or wasn't–feeling. My stomach was healed. Whole. My fingers trembled as I pressed them harder against the flesh, expecting pain, torn muscles, and a gash that should have been there.
My breath hitched, But there was nothing–only the faint stickiness of dried blood on my skin and the wet, tattered remnants of my clothes clinging to me.
What the hell...?
I forced myself to sit up, leaning against the rough stone wall behind me, my muscles stiff and aching like they hadn't been used in days.
Every movement was slow, and deliberate, as if any sudden shift would bring the pain crashing back. Thankfully the pain never came.
The memory came back in flashes: the claws, the teeth, the cold, wet pull of something being ripped from me.
I should have been dead. I had felt myself dying, my insides torn apart, my life slipping away... And now?
But how? How was I fine when just moments ago–or was it hours? I had been nothing more than a feast for that thing?
My head spun, confusion swirling like fog in my mind. None of this made sense. My memory was fuzzy.
I swallowed, my throat dry and aching, but still, there was no pain. The only thing that burned was the confusion.
What had happened? How did I end up here?
The monster's corpse lay on the ground, flattened in a pool of dried blood beneath it. The monster's corpse lay in a mangled heap, flattened into a pool of dark, congealed blood. Its grotesque frame was crumpled like a broken marionette, its massive jaws slack, still smeared with my blood.
…I did that.
I remembered the rage, the white-hot fury that had surged through me like a firestorm, obliterating everything in its path. The power…Exira had been terrifying, untamed, and all-consuming. I didn't understand it, didn't know how I had summoned it, but it had saved me.
The air was cold and damp, the chill seeping into my bones as I leaned back against the rough stone wall behind me… My heart thudded faster as fragments of memory pushed through the fog. I had killed it. I glanced at my hands, still trembling, the blood–mine or the monster's? drying on my skin.
My thoughts were a whirlwind of confusion and fragments.
I glanced around, taking in the cavernous space. The faint glow of moss cast flickering shadows over jagged rocks and uneven ground. The cave felt alive like it was watching me, the weight of the darkness pressing in, suffocating.
I need to think. To breathe.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, the foul air filling my lungs. It didn't help much, but it was a start. I had to calm down and clear my mind before I lost myself again in confusion and terror. I needed control, or at least the illusion of it.
Without thinking, I shifted into a more comfortable position, back pressed against the cold, damp stone. I crossed my legs–a posture familiar, instinctual. My hands rested on my knees, palms facing upward. I focused on my breathing, drawing in slow, steady breaths.
Meditation.
The thought flickered in my mind, surprising me. I knew how to do this. My body remembered, even if my mind was still swimming in fragments of forgotten memories. Was it muscle memory? instincts? I wasn't sure, but I didn't care.
It was something to hold onto, something to ground me in this nightmare.
haaa….fuu…
As I breathed in and out, the noise of the world around me–the distant drip of water, the hollow silence of the cave–began to fade. My mind, still fractured and chaotic, started to calm. The frantic beat of my heart slowed, and the tension in my muscles loosened.
For the first time since waking, I felt a sense of stillness. I focused on that feeling, letting it wash over me. My thoughts stopped racing.
Maybe I didn't understand what was happening. Maybe I was still lost in the dark, surrounded by death and monsters and memories that didn't make sense. But for these few moments, I had control. I was alive.
I was breathing. I took another breath, feeling the cold air fill my lungs.
The trembling had stopped. My hands were steady now, my heart no longer thundering. The fear was still there, lurking in the back of my mind, but it had lost its grip.
I wasn't helpless. I wasn't lost.
Not anymore…for now I let myself run on my instincts…
I opened my eyes and stared into the dim glow of the cave. The shadows no longer seemed so suffocating, and the oppressive weight of the darkness had lifted, even if only slightly. I had control again. Maybe not over everything, but I had control of myself. And that was something.
I started to piece it together, breaking down events in my mind, step by step, trying to make sense of it all.
I had woken up here, in this cave, and a fucking monster had been feasting on me. I was too weak to even resist. I remembered the pain–or rather, the absence of it–the numbness that had crept in as my life slipped away. But there was something else. Something more important.
I dragged my fingers through my hair, the strands sticky with blood and sweat, and focused on what I did know.
My memories.
They were fragmented, like shards of broken glass, scattered and incomplete. But they were there, just out of reach. As I lay there, dying, I didn't know who I was. No name. No past. It was like a piece of me had been taken, ripped away, leaving me hollow.
I shuddered at the thought. What kind of power could do that? What force could bury someone's entire identity, leave them drifting in the dark without any sense of self?
I almost gave in. Almost let myself go.
That voice... sweet, soft, lulling. It had been so tempting, whispering to me, telling me to stop fighting, to let go. It promised peace, an end to pain, and an end to the struggle. And for a moment, I believed it. I wanted to give in, to stop resisting, to just... disappear.
But then there was the shock.
My name.
I remembered my name.
That was the first piece. Alexis. The word echoed in my mind–a lifeline, something to hold onto as the rest came flooding back. Not everything–just bits and pieces, fragments of memories, disjointed and blurry but enough.
And there were others.
Mom. Aunt Nora. Ari.
Aunt Nora–her sharp smile, the way she laughed, always teasing. Ari... My breath caught at the memory of her. I couldn't see her clearly, but I knew her. I felt her–the warmth, the closeness. Like a sister. Like family.
Their names burned in my mind, each one carrying a weight I couldn't explain. I could see flashes of their faces—blurry, distorted, but still familiar. Still mine.
But there were gaps. So many gaps. My past, my life—it was locked away, sealed behind a wall I couldn't break. Every time I tried to push past it, the memories slipped away, leaving me grasping at smoke.
My fist slammed into the ground, frustration boiling over. The anger was sharp, hot, and familiar, threatening to consume me.
Why couldn't I remember? What had happened to me?
A sudden chill raced up my spine, pulling me from my thoughts. My hand instinctively went to my ear, brushing against the small, cold shape of the earring there. The dragon-shaped metal was smooth under my fingertips, its chill biting against my skin.
And then, like a dam breaking, the memories surged.
It came in flashes, fast and disjointed, like flipping through pages too quickly to grasp details but leaving behind feelings. The emotions hit me first.
Laughter. Joy.
We were sitting on a blanket spread over soft grass, the sun warm on our faces. Alice's smile was radiant, her laughter like music as she sipped wine. Edward was beside me, enjoying his pizza and the sweet lullaby of music from our phones. The three of us together, happy. The kind of happiness that felt endless, eternal.
The memory shifted.
…
And then, another memory.
It came in flashes, fast and disjointed, like flipping through pages too quickly to grasp details but leaving behind feelings. The emotions hit me first.
Laughter. Joy.
We were sitting on a blanket spread over soft grass, the sun warm on our faces. Alice's smile was radiant, her laughter like music as she sipped wine. Edward was beside me, tearing into a loaf of bread with his usual carefree grin, crumbs falling from his mouth. The three of us together, happy. The kind of happiness that felt endless, eternal.
The memory shifted.
…
The earth shook.
I remembered the ground trembling beneath us, cups and plates on the picnic blanket rattling violently as if the world itself were tearing apart. We jumped to our feet, laughter gone in an instant. The sky... the sky was wrong. Dark clouds gathered, swirling violently as thunder cracked overhead. A sound like ripping fabric echoed through the air, followed by a deep, guttural roar.
Something was coming.
The memory shifted.
…
Monsters.
They poured out of the sky like nightmares made flesh, emerging from a tear in the very fabric of the heavens. Horrid creatures with claws and fangs, dripping with malice. We were forced to fight, weapons drawn. I felt the fear, the helplessness against them. No matter how hard we fought, we were losing ground, overwhelmed by sheer numbers and the savage brutality of the creatures.
The memory shifted again.
…
Edward.
I saw him, caught in the grip of something monstrous–a devil-like creature with wings of shadow and a twisted, grotesque smile. Its clawed hand pierced through his chest, fingers wrapping around his heart. I screamed. I tried to move, to reach him, but I couldn't. All I could do was watch as Edward's eyes widened in shock, his mouth opening in a soundless gasp as life drained from him.
The creature ripped his heart from his chest.
Another shift.
…
I was on my knees, sobbing, hands pressed to my face as the world crumbled around me. Thunder crashed in the distance, and the sky continued to tear, reality unraveling. I screamed, voice hoarse, calling out Edward's name, but it was drowned by the deafening roar of the storm and the monstrous wails of creatures swarming around us.
The memory shifted once more.
…
And then, I saw it.
My gaze was drawn upward, past the chaos, past the storm, to the tear in the sky. Through that tear, staring down with malevolent intent was an eye. A titanic eye, impossibly large, gazing from some dark, otherworldly place. It was pure evil, its gaze sending a wave of dread crashing over me, suffocating me in its presence. I couldn't look away. My body froze as that eye bore into my soul, and for a moment, everything stopped.
The world went dark.
The memory slipped away as quickly as it had come, leaving me breathless, and heart pounding. I touched the earring again, fingers trembling as I tried to ground myself, but the weight of the past pressed down like a crushing wave.
Edward.
…
His name echoed in my mind. And that eye... another memory came, this time a poem.
When the sky is torn asunder,
And shadows stretch with growing thunder,
The Eye of Devour peers below,
Bringing forth eternal woe.
Beware the gaze that sees your soul,
For no mercy will it know.
Its hunger vast, its darkness deep,
In its stare, your end shall creep.
Turn away, do not defy,
For beneath its watch, all must die.
A fate far worse than death awaits,
Where hope is lost and time abates.
When the heavens break and tremble,
And the world begins to crumble,
Seek no answers in the skies—
The Eye devours, and never lies.