A lot of people were interested in seeing the updated versions of the new chapters, so I’ve decided to post the first 3 over the next 3 days!
Here, have Alexis getting hunted down for the first (and certainly not the last) time :]
There was silence where there shouldn’t be. Everything felt painless as the vibration of a force too quick for me to comprehend ricocheted through every part of my being, followed by a brilliant white light that swallowed up my vision and left me blinded. Thoughts, questions and guesses and answers, made it only halfway to tangible ideas before they fizzled out, torn away before I could acknowledge them. Something happened; something was.. Wrong. I don’t remember what.
[Strange Little Details]
The first thing I remember is vertigo, and a long fall downwards. I kept falling. Without a floor beneath my feet, it felt far too long, and the pain was unbearable — scorching through what must’ve been every cell in my body. I felt like screaming, gasping for air, sobbing, something. Nothing moved until my back finally collided with a solid surface.
Every last bit of air compressed from my lungs, I watched black spots dance in my vision until they melted away to form the image of a clear blue sky. As if the sight itself resuscitated me, I gasped in a breath of crisp oxygen and lurched upright. I dazedly stared out at what I assumed would be the room where I’d fallen, a hand raised above my brow to block the sunlight. It flooded a long nearly endless stretch of rich green grass, rippling under the wind like the surface of water. A bush cropped up here, a leafless spindly tree stretched, skeletal, towards the cloudless sky. The day was so bright and clear you could see where the soft white haze in the distance slowly melted into bold blue as the sky stretched higher. Far off, the peaks of a trail of mountains stopped the field from going on forever.
I definitely was not at home, where I fell.
Everything had calmed with the sudden bright sky that replaced what I remembered being a stormy one. I was indoors, something had shattered. I could’ve sworn that’s what happened, yet the empty field I sat in surrounded by unrecognizable wilderness begged to differ.
Once my eyes finally adjusted, I stood. Keeping my hand up to shield the sun, I scanned the horizon, but nothing seemed familiar. I was lost, and I’d only fallen. I’d call out for someone to help; maybe they could tell me what happened — but there wasn’t a soul around. I couldn’t be too far from civilization, though. Surely someone would know something. My home had to be nearby, where else would I be? Deciding that this was the truth, I picked a direction and started walking. Away from the mountain range seemed like the solution since I didn’t feel like scaling a rock wall. Or, more accurately, I didn’t feel like I’d survive scaling a rock wall.
Thankfully my journey was relatively easy, all the grass was cut short and there wasn’t any tangle of plants to block my path. The field was well maintained. In any place wilder, the grass should've grown up to my shins at least, so there had to be someone out here to keep it. Which meant there was someone I could ask.
I followed the cut grass in hopes I might find a house or a park entrance. Twice I had to stop to rest my legs, which spasmed unexpectedly. I had my suspicions that the strange painful fall I endured earlier was behind it. It felt like I was dying, but already the memory was becoming less and less clear in my head. I was starting to doubt I remembered tripping and falling correctly. The whole situation was bizarre.
Determined to find out where I landed, I kept walking towards the forest ahead. However, with each step my perception of it changed. The trees fell shorter and shorter the closer I got to them. What I'd thought was a forest at a distance seemed to shrink before my eyes until the 'trees' I’d seen turned to low bushes that only came to the edges of my knees.
It was all strangely unsettling; a whole field of only small bushes with no actual trees in sight. They went on like that for miles, almost as far as I could see.
I changed course and walked along the edge of the bushes for a while, hoping it would lead me to whoever took care of the place. There were still no other signs of humanity. No fences, no posts to help the plants grow, no structures or pathways or trail markers to use as landmarks. Each little detail only grew more unnerving the longer I thought about them. No one was around; everything felt so oppressively empty.
Anxious ideas sank like stones deep into the bottom of my mind. They weighed on my thoughts, bringing me to a slower and slower pace. I didn't react in time to avoid the real rock sticking out of the ground in front of me. The tip of my shoe hit it at just the right angle so that my leg was thrown from under me. When I fell, I half expected to sail right back to where I’d been before, the first time I’d fallen. Instead, I was met with branches slashing at my face as I landed on a few bushes — the wind knocked from my lungs.
I stared into the underbrush shaken and dazed. My hands drifted to my face to feel for any major cuts. Thankfully, I couldn’t find any. My fingers returned blood-free, though my face still burned in jagged lines that undoubtedly still left a few angry red marks across it. I exhaled an angered huff and glanced around the underbrush, pulling myself up from the ground. It took me a moment to realize — I’d already stood and dusted myself off — but the scenery under there didn't look quite right. It was almost too familiar, like I’d seen it before, almost deja-vu. Some creeping ill feeling leeched off my anxiousness. My heart began to thrum in my ears. Slowly and thoughtlessly I lowered my head all the way down and looked up at the bushes from the ground where I’d fallen.
They were trees. From the ground the bushes looked exactly like trees.
From my new perspective at ground level the grass would be up to my knees, if not higher, with tiny little underbrush and shrubs to match. Each true bush was barely larger than an inch. No wonder I mistook the growth of miniature trees for a real forest. It was a real forest, just not the kind I knew. The sound of a bird call tore my head from the ground. A flock of them scattered off of a bush-sized tree nearby. Each and every one was about the size of a pin. The whole flock combined was still smaller than any real bird I knew, besides maybe a hummingbird.
My eyes seemed to trace every detail in slow motion — time stood still to present clues for the reality of my situation like the dramatic end of a mystery plot. Evidence flashed before the screen. Still, pieces didn't fully align until I heard a scream echo from the edge of the woods. I flinched violently at the well-timed sound. I would have liked to scream myself.
Shuffling on my knees towards the direction the scream had come from, I bent my head lower to see under the treetops. At first I saw nothing, only empty forest. Then some small movement caught my attention as something disappeared behind the trunk of a nearby tree. Only thinking of solving this mystery for certain, I grabbed the tree, or bush, or whatever it was, and pulled. I meant to tug the plant back so I could see behind it, but I ended up pulling it right out of the ground instead, misjudging my strength. Its roots ripped out of the earth with chillingly loud snaps that sent dirt flying, all too easily breaking away from the grip it once had on the ground below.
Another scream pierced the silent air followed by a faint tiny shout that sounded vaguely like "Run!" I watched unmoving and unblinking while a young couple ran deeper into the woods. The taller of the two couldn't have been much larger than the length of my hand.
I sat up, my vision spinning, dark spots popping and scattering through my sight. Everything, the plants, the birds- This wasn't my brain misinterpreting strange things; the whole world was somehow shrunk to an incredibly small scale. Either that, or I was somehow massive. Both sounded ridiculous — too impossible to be true. Yet, I was holding an entire tree in my hand. I’d squeezed it so hard the bark left divots in my palm, and my hand left cracks through the tree.
After I finally snapped out of my daze, the people had long fled. I stood warily and dropped the slightly crushed tree, a fresh sense of fear seizing my mind. It was worse than being alone. I was alone in a place full of people who would fear me.
I felt the same.
I ran back the way I came. This time I had no trouble getting across the field — adrenaline doing most of the hard work for me. I wasn’t sure whether I’d grown or the world had shrunk. Not that the difference would have mattered.
When I arrived at the spot I'd first woken up in, I stooped, panting for breath and desperately looking for any signs of the strange falling feeling, or any familiar thing I could use to get home. I purposefully let myself fall to the ground, trying to mimic how I’d arrived, but the only thing I succeeded in doing was hurting my chest as it collided with the earth. Nothing had changed. I was trapped.
I scanned the horizon in all directions again. The sun was just starting to set, soon it would be pitch-black in the completely empty field, and I was starting to dread the possibility that I'd be sleeping in the grass that night. Tears welled in the corners of my eyes and my vision began to blur. Without an answer and dreading the worst, I sat down in the grass and hoped I could will myself to wake up from the awful nightmare. After what seemed like hours of laying dreary and restless in the empty field, I heard what sounded like machinery rumbling.
I got up in an instant. My head spun from sitting up too quickly as I tried unsuccessfully to pinpoint where the noise was coming from. As the strange sound grew closer at an alarming rate, I could finally tell the source of the noise was behind me, where the forest was. It only got louder while I searched through the dark. I stumbled upright, bracing myself to fight or run. The sound was close enough I could tell it was more of a whirr than a rumble. I held my ground, still unsure what I was up against.
Suddenly, lights flickered on in the sky and I let go of the breath I’d been holding, thinking they must be flashlights held by people my own size. However, as they neared and the noise grew loud enough to hurt, more and more light filled the field in front of me. Dark gleaming metal shone in the spotlights’ paths. My hopes of being rescued were short lived at best.
Helicopters the size of my forearms came barreling up the field faster than I could react. Blinding floodlights suddenly attacked me from all sides, and I could hear faint unintelligible shouting over the cacophony of the helicopter blades. I could just make out a man’s voice yelling: “Take it down!” My brain screamed at me to do something, anything was better than standing around waiting to be caught. There really was only one thing to do.
I ran like my life depended on it, because I was certain it did. The most sheltered place I could find would be my goal. All I could do was push myself forward further faster — half blinded by light and half blinded by darkness at the same time. I shoved my way through a valley, clawing at its stone sides to push me faster. The shrieking of spinning blades got marginally fainter.
Another part of the mountain range loomed ahead. I was giant, but these cliffsides dwarfed me. If I could just get further ahead of the helicopters, I could hide in their ragged shadows. With an extra burst of speed, I was able to put enough distance between me and whoever was chasing me to find a place to hide. A large overhang jutting from the mountain’s cracked face would have to do.
I slid under the rocks and came to a seamless stop beneath them, slicing my leg on something sharp in the process. An awful pain rushed up my shin, but I grit my teeth and kept quiet. Whoever was up there searched the ground thoroughly. They scanned the trees for any sign I’d flattened them, but I was safe under the cover of the rocks. The spotlights from above cast even darker shadows to hide me. My pursuers eventually split off in different directions, giving me a moment to breathe and think.
They’d found me far too easily. I’d only been wandering around for half a day, if that. Only two people had actually seen me, but I hadn’t thought of the planes that might be flying overhead, or even a reader for seismic activity locating any disturbance I’d made. I could hide here for now, under cover and staying still, but once morning came and the sun rose, my dark hiding spot would become an open cliffside again.
There were only two options I could think of: keep running or turn myself in. If I turned myself in, whoever was searching for me up there would probably lock me away just for looking threatening. I hadn’t done anything to upset them, yet they acted like I’d torn through a city.
The only option left was to keep running. I groaned silently at the thought; my legs were tired enough from racing through the field and being hugged up tight to stay under the rock above me, and my right leg still throbbed angrily from the cut I’d given myself earlier.
I couldn’t tell how long I’d been under the overhang for, not even by the moon. It wasn't in the part of the sky I could see in front of me. Everything ached from sitting huddled under the rocks for so long, and the temptation to stretch was getting harder to ignore by the minute. If I moved from beneath my hiding place the helicopters might find something amiss and come for me. Maybe if I stretched quickly, out then back beneath safety, no one would notice.
The noisy churn of an engine reached my ears only a second before headlights flickered through the branches ahead. I quickly tucked myself away even further. A rugged vehicle came barreling down the trail that passed by my overhang, seemingly following the helicopters. It came to a sudden halt as the dirt path abruptly ended with a wall of rock. Someone, presumably a park ranger of some kind, stepped out of the car and slammed the door behind them. "I guess I'll wait out this crazy search party from under here. Don't know what they're looking for, but it can't be good."
I held very still as a figure stepped beneath the ledge I'd been hiding under. Luck had yet to be on my side all day; it certainly wasn’t with me now. Silently, I begged him not to notice me, and for a while he didn't. The man stayed in the front of the overhang, looking out into the dark while I pressed myself into the rocks behind him.
"Ugh, what did I just sit in?" A small light flickered on in front of him, illuminating the rock I'd cut myself on. "Is this.. blood?"
My heart dropped. I felt vomit rise in my throat. The ranger returned to his truck and a fog light suddenly cut through the shadow I desperately clung to. The beam of light traveled agonizingly slowly. Sliding down the bloody trail, to my leg, then all the way up to my face.
With the light pointed at my head, all I could see of the man was his silhouette, outlined by the glow of the searchlight as he slowly backed away from me. "Holy...” I held completely still, a bit shocked at how small his voice sounded, though I knew I shouldn’t be. Step by careful step, the ranger backed away from me until he’d cautiously slid the driver’s seat door open and reached inside. “Fox Den, this is Scout Four, I have a.. I- I don’t know what to call this in as, but-”
"No, wait!" I cried out, "Don't let them know I'm here!" Talking only made it worse. I should've known my voice would draw the helicopters’ attention to me, but I wasn’t thinking. The ranger spoke through his radio in a hurry now, waving his arms wildly at the sky as the helicopters circled back at the sound of my voice. "IT'S OVER HERE!" Two of the spotlights to my left turned and started heading my way. I had to stop him. I didn’t want people searching for me on the ground as well as in the air; they’d find me in no time. In one sudden reflex, my hand shot out and grabbed him, but to my surprise he wiggled free and started screaming louder. The helicopters were closing in, there was no time. Their droning hum beat loudly against the cliffs.
I slammed my fist down on the light and reached for the ranger again, grabbing him as tightly as I could and yanking him back under the ledge. With the floodlight destroyed, the shadows quickly covered any trace that I was there. Similarly, the truck vanished into the dark. A few nerve wracking seconds passed as the spotlights flew by overhead and I breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't spotted me.
"Don't scream," I whispered once I felt it was safe, "and I'll let you go, I promise." I didn't want to scare this poor person any more than I had to to keep myself safe, they were already freaked out enough as it was. The man was silent in my grasp, so I slowly unclenched my fist. Little snaps and crackles crunched in the creases of my fingers as I released him, and his body limply fell into the palm of my hand.
All other concerns completely dropped from my brain, I rushed into the moonlight for a better look, staring in horror as his corpse — mangled beyond recognition — was revealed. A scream tore from my throat before I had the sense to realize that was a bad idea. I just killed someone. I hadn’t even noticed I’d done it.
Terrified tears had barely welled in my eyes before blinding light was thrown into them. "No!" I yelped pleadingly, dropping the body "I didn't mean to kill him! I swear I didn't mean to!" Choking on a sob, I tried to run blindly, but only tripped on my hurt leg and raked my hands over the rocks surrounding me, tearing up my fingers. Blood trickled over the mountainside as I grasped the rocky cliff to right myself. I turned to the helicopters in time to see projectiles launching at me.
I squeezed my eyes tight as tears streamed down my cheeks. I could only hope that my death would be quick. When the projectiles struck, electricity surged through my veins. Another scream was wrenched from my throat, this time in agony.
They weren't trying to kill me, they were trying to subdue me. It would be easier for them to drag me away if I were knocked out. More rounds were fired off as I desperately fought to stay conscious. I refused to be put under. The second round hit its mark and my vision went with it. I just wanted to go home. I could see it so clearly in my memories as everything began to fade.
It was like I’d blinked, but I knew it had been so much longer. It was dark again. I was on the ground again. An onslaught of rain rushed into the room through a hole ripped into the roof by a tree resting on the floor in front of me. One of its branches kept me pinned on my back, surrounded by scattered shards of glass and haphazard toys my younger brother left around. A heavier force than even the tree branch weighed down my eyes until everything blurred into a dark hole in the center of my vision. I remembered nothing else that night.
