Across The Realms

Chapter 15 (Holly Vendetta Chapter 2)

The unknown land above the confines of my colony was filled with surprises at every turn. The scorching orange dot floating in the sky beaming with light, coating my skin with a layer of warmth. If I recall correctly, I think my mother used to refer to it as the sun?

My surroundings around my exit was hidden with large chunks of rubble, probably acting like a form of camouflage. Moving beyond the silly pieces of rocks, I was overcome with a sight that I never knew I could behold.

Buildings, structures built with tough materials reaching to the skies. Roads, black and white patterned layers that stretch out with no clear end in sight. Walkways, placed on both sides of the roads reached out and following alongside them. This must be what my parents called a city.

It was much like what my parents would describe them to be. Of a time before we were made to live underground, while my parents were still in their teens, though still unbeknownst to me as to why we were made to live down under.

My curiosity compelled my feet, pulling me into one of the nearby buildings.

As I walked through the rectangular doorway, stepping onto shards of glass scattered across the floor. I had nothing but more questions.

What happened here?

Absorbed in my amusement, I moved through the building level by level.

I ended up in a room where there were tables made of materials I did not know of and chairs with wheels beneath them. There was a sign at the door that stated "Main Office".

With no clue what that could mean, I continued to stroll through the room.

Suddenly, an ear piercing screech sound could be heard echoing throughout the floor. By reflex, I hid under a table and waited. To my dismay, the screeching not only got louder but closer. Jitters filled my stomach as if something was creeping in closer, next thing I knew I passed out.

What seemed like barely minutes later, I awoke and the noise had stopped. As I took a knee and got out from under the table, I bumped into something with a rubbery surface. Closing my eyes, I brushed my palm against it once more.

As I opened my eyes, what stood before me was the head of a giant black snake with red glowing eyes!

Its head was at least four times bigger than my torso, it looked big enough to swallow me in one gulp. I knew how animals used to look from pictures my parents would show me, but no one told me they would be this big!

Falling back onto the tabletop in fear, the monster bounced back readying itself in an attack stance.

Out of the blue, a unknown woman's voice monotonously stated "Battle Mode Engaged. Tutorial Mode?"

Ermmm... okay?

Just as I responded, my view around me froze. Not even the snake in front of me moved an inch. The womanly voice started going into detail on how to fight and beat it. Once she was done, time resumed to its natural movements and the snake began charging at me. With all this new information pumped into me, adrenaline rushed through my veins. I dropped my backpack, grabbed my slingshot and continuously shot it at the monster causing it to stutter. Pulling back at my sling sturdily and holding it in place with a pebble loaded, it started glowing white. Releasing it from my grip, the pebble flew straight through the snake's forehead. It stood still in its tracks before falling to the ground, causing the floor to rumble.

Standing there looking at the dead snake, my eyelids widened. My heartbeat starts to get louder, as if they were beating right in my ears. The grip on the handle of the slingshot didn't loosen, instead it tightened. Realising what I had just done within barely an hour since my departure from the tunnels, I was in a state of confusion.

Relieving the tension throughout my body, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and let go of my slingshot. As I calmed down, I packed my slingshot back into my backpack. I sat back down staring at the view through the transparent glass at the end of the room. My eyes zoomed from left to right in awe once more, while trying to forget what I had just experienced. As the orange dot in the sky began to disappear, I assumed it was time to head home since I lacked any light source on me at the time.

As I was making my way back to the entrance hatch, I was startled by a woman's scream from afar.

Wasn't that scream pretty close to the hatch?

As I raced towards the epicenter of the sound, I returned to the colony's hatch hidden behind all the rubble. A woman who I was vaguely familiar with was climbing out from the hatch as she sobbed and begged for someone to help her.

As I ran closer, she frantically pleaded "Help me! Please, I don't wanna die!"

Just as I reached out my hand to grab her, her body was pulled back by something inside the tunnels. Clawing onto anything she could to retaliate the force pulling her in, her actions were futile as her nails screeched on the frictionless metal surfaces of the circularly shaped hole. Finally, she was swallowed up by the darkness of the tunnelway down. What followed after were her echoing screams that ended with a splat.