Chapter 2:
??? I
Neomenias
Two meters tall. Hunched, shadowy figure. Long, slim white arms ending in sharp fingers. A pale, cracked mask-like face over a malformed head, framed by stringy strands of dark hair.
It stares with enormous, sunken eyes, head twitching side to side, joints cracking like a marionette as it examines each of us.
“Weeeel-come, my… deeear hu-MANS!” says the creature as it opens its arms with a cheerfully distorted voice. “To-DAY is a glooorious DAAAY—re-JOIIIICE!” it chirps “All… of you… have been chooo-sen… for a GLOR-ious… purrr-pose.”
Its crooked grin of rotten, sharp teeth barely moves. The words come late, out of sync.
What the fuck is going on?!
Wait… what’s this I’m holding?
I look down. A book?
What? Where did it—
Am I… dreaming?
The monster paces slowly around the room, joints cracking with every step.
“Staaarting to-DAY… aaall of you will be puuut to the TEST. To-DAY—”
I chuckle. “Is this a joke?!” I can’t help myself.
Maybe I’m still asleep.
This situation is just…
“Is this… real?”
The creature pauses.
Slowly, it turns and walks back to me.
Its eyes lock onto mine with a manic, unblinking stare.
My chest tightens. My body trembles.
Then, it starts laughing.
“Heee… heee… heee…”
It laughs slowly and guttural as its right-hand drifts toward my face.
“Deeear hu-MAN…” It says as its putrid breath reached my nostrils “I do not en-joy… be-ing in-terrr-upted,” the creature hisses, with a knife-edge tone before driving a finger into my jaw.
“Augh!” I grab my cheek. Blood…
The creature moves away.
For a few seconds my body stiffens, my heart hammering in my chest.
“To-DAY…” it declares “aaall of you… be-come our lit-tle LAB-rats. The faaate of hu-MAN-ity… rests… up-ON youuu”.
It stops.
The room goes silent.
I see the crimson smear on my palm.
“…But why… both-er tell-ing youuu? Most… will be DEAD… be-fore this even be-gins.”
The pain still throbs.
oh shit.
Holy shit!
This is not a dream!
Fuck me!
Adrenaline kicks in. I finally snap out of it.
It all felt so surreal I could barely process it.
I glance around. Maybe thirty people.
Sitting in a square-shaped formation. Strangers. Very different features, different ages.
Most don’t even look like they’re from around here—at all.
I lower my gaze, trying to make sense of it all.
The blood on my hand. It stained the book—the one that came from nowhere…
I hate reading…
Yet, it’s like something is pulling me in.
Not just intrigue, more like it’s calling me.
So, I open it…
But then I see—blank.
All empty pages.
My pulse slows. Why was I even fussing about a blank book?
Then the paper darkens.
Ink seeps through. Letters crawl into place—words, line after line.
Baffled, I start reading, enthralled by its content.
And what I see—
Wait. What?
What the hell?
I glance around, heart racing again.
No… no, this can’t—fuck!
“So leeeet the… FIRST grand TRI-al… be-giiiin!!!” the monster screeches, ripping me out of my thoughts.
A screen flashes before me:
‘Grand Trial I: Only he who taketh a life shall be granted his own.
’And at the front of the room. A timer: 15 minutes.
Everyone sees the same words. But for me, there’s an extra message. One most of them are unlikely to have. And just like that, the screens vanish.
…
“What’s the meaning of this?! What is this shit?!” A well-dressed African-American man next to me shoots up, furious as he stands.
With my eyes still fixed on the book I respond,
“It means we gotta kill someone—or we fucking die.”
A scream erupts in the back. Panic spreads.
The man glares down at me.
“Wha… what? Is this some kind of joke?! Is there a camera somewhere? Some dumb YouTuber shit?!” His head swung around, eyes scanning every corner of the room.
The monster suddenly appears at his side. I didn’t even hear it move.
“Oh, my de-ar hu-MAN,” it croons, “this is… NO joke. It is as he says. So I sug-gest you make DO.”
The man stands tall, defiant, face twisted with rage.
“Fuck off! Like hell I would! This is insane! Let us out, you freak!”
Gotta admit—he has balls.
I would not like to be that close to that creepy thing. Again.
“Heee… heee… heee…”
The creature chuckles again.
“SO BE IT.”
The room freezes.
Not a breath.
Not a sound.
Its jaw unhinges with a brittle, drawn-out creak, stretching down to its neck.
Behind its teeth—eyes. Dozens of them.
In a single motion, it devours the man’s head down to his chest.
Blood erupts.
The body crumples to the floor.
Screams break loose. People surge to the door, pounding, kicking, desperate to escape.
I raise my head. There’s that kid.
Still rooted to his seat.
His blank expression doesn’t hide his heavy breaths. Nor his trembling hands.
I can clearly see—he’s in shock.
I look back at the book.
Fuck.
This kid… he’s going to die.
It stares with enormous, sunken eyes, head twitching side to side, joints cracking like a marionette as it examines each of us.
“Weeeel-come, my… deeear hu-MANS!” says the creature as it opens its arms with a cheerfully distorted voice. “To-DAY is a glooorious DAAAY—re-JOIIIICE!” it chirps “All… of you… have been chooo-sen… for a GLOR-ious… purrr-pose.”
Its crooked grin of rotten, sharp teeth barely moves. The words come late, out of sync.
What the fuck is going on?!
Wait… what’s this I’m holding?
I look down. A book?
What? Where did it—
Am I… dreaming?
The monster paces slowly around the room, joints cracking with every step.
“Staaarting to-DAY… aaall of you will be puuut to the TEST. To-DAY—”
I chuckle. “Is this a joke?!” I can’t help myself.
Maybe I’m still asleep.
This situation is just…
“Is this… real?”
The creature pauses.
Slowly, it turns and walks back to me.
Its eyes lock onto mine with a manic, unblinking stare.
My chest tightens. My body trembles.
Then, it starts laughing.
“Heee… heee… heee…”
It laughs slowly and guttural as its right-hand drifts toward my face.
“Deeear hu-MAN…” It says as its putrid breath reached my nostrils “I do not en-joy… be-ing in-terrr-upted,” the creature hisses, with a knife-edge tone before driving a finger into my jaw.
“Augh!” I grab my cheek. Blood…
The creature moves away.
For a few seconds my body stiffens, my heart hammering in my chest.
“To-DAY…” it declares “aaall of you… be-come our lit-tle LAB-rats. The faaate of hu-MAN-ity… rests… up-ON youuu”.
It stops.
The room goes silent.
I see the crimson smear on my palm.
“…But why… both-er tell-ing youuu? Most… will be DEAD… be-fore this even be-gins.”
The pain still throbs.
oh shit.
Holy shit!
This is not a dream!
Fuck me!
Adrenaline kicks in. I finally snap out of it.
It all felt so surreal I could barely process it.
I glance around. Maybe thirty people.
Sitting in a square-shaped formation. Strangers. Very different features, different ages.
Most don’t even look like they’re from around here—at all.
I lower my gaze, trying to make sense of it all.
The blood on my hand. It stained the book—the one that came from nowhere…
I hate reading…
Yet, it’s like something is pulling me in.
Not just intrigue, more like it’s calling me.
So, I open it…
But then I see—blank.
All empty pages.
My pulse slows. Why was I even fussing about a blank book?
Then the paper darkens.
Ink seeps through. Letters crawl into place—words, line after line.
Baffled, I start reading, enthralled by its content.
And what I see—
Wait. What?
What the hell?
I glance around, heart racing again.
No… no, this can’t—fuck!
“So leeeet the… FIRST grand TRI-al… be-giiiin!!!” the monster screeches, ripping me out of my thoughts.
A screen flashes before me:
‘Grand Trial I: Only he who taketh a life shall be granted his own.
’And at the front of the room. A timer: 15 minutes.
Everyone sees the same words. But for me, there’s an extra message. One most of them are unlikely to have. And just like that, the screens vanish.
…
“What’s the meaning of this?! What is this shit?!” A well-dressed African-American man next to me shoots up, furious as he stands.
With my eyes still fixed on the book I respond,
“It means we gotta kill someone—or we fucking die.”
A scream erupts in the back. Panic spreads.
The man glares down at me.
“Wha… what? Is this some kind of joke?! Is there a camera somewhere? Some dumb YouTuber shit?!” His head swung around, eyes scanning every corner of the room.
The monster suddenly appears at his side. I didn’t even hear it move.
“Oh, my de-ar hu-MAN,” it croons, “this is… NO joke. It is as he says. So I sug-gest you make DO.”
The man stands tall, defiant, face twisted with rage.
“Fuck off! Like hell I would! This is insane! Let us out, you freak!”
Gotta admit—he has balls.
I would not like to be that close to that creepy thing. Again.
“Heee… heee… heee…”
The creature chuckles again.
“SO BE IT.”
The room freezes.
Not a breath.
Not a sound.
Its jaw unhinges with a brittle, drawn-out creak, stretching down to its neck.
Behind its teeth—eyes. Dozens of them.
In a single motion, it devours the man’s head down to his chest.
Blood erupts.
The body crumples to the floor.
Screams break loose. People surge to the door, pounding, kicking, desperate to escape.
I raise my head. There’s that kid.
Still rooted to his seat.
His blank expression doesn’t hide his heavy breaths. Nor his trembling hands.
I can clearly see—he’s in shock.
I look back at the book.
Fuck.
This kid… he’s going to die.
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