Chapter 2: Monster

Katie ran, her high-speed stat showing as she arrived before the others did to the scene of the commotion. The person who arrived right behind her was actually one of Katie's friends before this whole mess. Her name is Beebee, and she is one of the best players when it comes to fighting. She has an eyepatch over her left eye, long black hair tied into a long ponytail, and her weapon is a cutlass. With her blue outfit and white robe tied around her chest and waist, she looks like a fancy Chinese pirate that Katie had seen some pictures of. Beebee is also one of the fastest players, her build being a swashbuckler...

....whatever that is.

"Hey, you heard it too?" Beebee asked, walking forward and rubbing Katie on the head.

Katie let out a whine and pawed at her hand, which only caused her to chuckle.

"Yeah. It came from there," Katie said, pointing to the outline of trees that acted as the border to this part of the world.

"Well, do you think someone died?" Beebee asked, scanning the treeline.

When players die, our bodies disintegrate into blue dust. They then spawn in ten seconds later, with the only trace of their death being a light blue outline on the ground which fades away in time unless something is done to keep it there.

"Possibly but I kinda doubt it. That cry was more excited than afraid," Katie told her before the two turned around, hearing approaching footsteps.

Running up to them was the thirteen other players, which meant six either didn't hear the cry or were missing...well, five as it was definitely a player that screamed.

"Looks like the backup arrived," Beebee said with a chuckle, placing one of her hands on her hip.

Katie nodded once and watched as the others caught up, or that's what she should have done. Instead, Katie's head turned towards the forest. For some reason she felt two feelings, both contradicting each other. One feeling wanted her to run away and never go near the forest again. The second wanted her to go there.

For some reason, she chose the second one.

"Isn't that right, Katie...Katie?" Beebee asked, turning to face where Katie was only to see her friend at the very border of the forest.

Beebee opened her mouth to yell out Katie's name when she stopped. Katie, right in front of her, had just entered the forest, disappearing from sight.

"B-but that's impossible!" A man named Thomas spoke up, staring at the spot she just disappeared, "That's the edge of the world! H-how could she enter?"

Beebee didn't answer him. Instead, she sprinted towards the forest and towards the opening where Katie disappeared into. Just as she was about to reach the forest her body grew a bright dark blue color. Blinded, Beebee stumbled and tripped, falling to the ground. When she looked up she saw Bruce in front of her.

"Sorry, Beebee, but you need to stay with the rest of the players. Leave this to me."

Beebee raised an eyebrow, not getting what he meant, and tried to get up. Only, she couldn't. No matter how she tried, she couldn't. It was then that she noticed the purple poisoned status on her health bar.

"Y-you li-little-" Beebee got out before her strength left her. Her head fell down and her eyelids felt heavy.

"Take her back," Bruce told Thomas and the other players. Thomas complied and gently lifted Beebee up into the air and put her on his shoulders.

"Hey, are you sure about this?" Jessica asked, stepping forward. Like Katie, Jessica had short pink hair and was on the small side. Though, unlike Katie, she had bright green eyes.

"Yes," Bruce simply replied, "I can't let anything else happen."

"O itu e lua o se tupe e sili atu ona tutusa nai lo le tasi e manaʻo e taʻutino, e oʻo lava ia i latou lava."

Suce_The_Tark, or just Sues, was the first one to find the "glitch". Upon realizing that he can enter the forest, he let out a shout of excitement, causing his friends to come over to investigate. While the glitch within itself isn't that exciting, the fact that the game is actually glitching is groundbreaking. With this, it meant that the Developer's control over the game isn't as perfect as he wants the trapped players to believe.

Needless to say, he and the five players with him, Yaun, Nani, Ben, Yiki, and SeanNotShawn, or just Sean, went into the forest right away. If they could find any way to help the others, they could help end this sadist's plans. They will return to the others as heroes.

"Say, I see something up ahead!" Yiki exclaimed, her skipping becoming faster as she became more and more excited. The little white-haired oni was always the energetic one of the players, acting and, probably is, a little kid.

Yet, when she got trapped inside the game, she helped everyone calm down and address the situation. If she was in some kind of anime, she would definitely deserve to be the protagonist. Even when she lost her sister she remained composed. Though her sister isn't dead, only missing, the fact that she was last seen being killed by a horrible trap probably didn't help little Yiki.

"What is it?" Sues asked, stopping in his tracks. Everyone else did the same, though Yiki seemed to want to go on ahead.

"It looks like a clearing on the top of a cliff," Yiki explained, still jumping up and down in the air.

"Let's be cautious, just in case the Developer put some kind of nasty trick for us," Yaun says, putting a hand on her katana and taking it out.

The other players nodded and took out their weapons. The moment they did so they heard rustling behind them. Alarmed, they spun around, ready for a fight. Instead of an enemy, though, Katie came out.

"Katie?" Sues asked, not expecting to see her.

Katie opened her mouth to say something when Yiki jumped on her, clinging onto her with a squeal of excitement.

"Katie!" The young girl shouted, rubbing her chin against Katie's cheek.

"H-hi, Yiki," Katie got out, struggling to maintain her balance.

Yiki was always a strange one. She acts so much like a child despite the situation, yet she isn't afraid to get things done, which brings into question if she is a child or not.

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She also loves to stick around Katie. If they are around, the two are considered unbreakable, with Yiki always being around Katie and Katie liking her company too much to try and get her to leave her alone, even if she gets on her nerves quite the lot of times. She too was an old player like Katie who would much rather play this game than the new one and, as such, hasn't gotten the game.

"What are you doing here?" Sean asked, lumbering forward and resting his giant kanabo on his shoulders, his dark blue and black studded armor shining in what little light the part of the forest Katie came from had.

"Well, I can ask the same question," Katie replied, though her voice instantly broke, "B-but, I d-did hear one of you scream, so I just wanted to help."

"Went in by yourself then?" Yiki asked, her innocent question and look in her eyes poking a hole through Katie as she realized what she herself had just done.

"Ummm. Th-the o-o-others are c-coming," Katie got out, feeling more insecure by the second. Seeing this, Yiki frowned and brought Katie's head down to meet her own.

"What are you so worried about, Katie?" Yiki asked, her question both concerned yet stern, "There is no one here that is bothered nor making fun of you."

"Now," Yiki said, giving Katie's face a playful little slap, "how long do you think till the others come here?"

"They'll probably be here in six to eight minutes top," Katie replied, gently taking Yiki's hands off her and giving her a warm smile, causing Yiki to blush and quickly turn away.

Unaware of this, Katie wrapped Yiki in a hug. At this point, some of the others started walking forward, continuing up the hill they were on. Hearing this, Yiki seemed to suddenly start panicking and broke free from Katie's embrace.

"We should probably turn back or at least wait for the others," Yiki quickly suggested. However, before anyone could take her suggestion into consideration, Nani called out to them.

"Hey guys! I found something!"

His voice distracted everybody, even Katie, who started walking forward, going where Nani went. Once they went through the bushes, Katie couldn't help but let out a gasp. In front of them looked like a picnic area. Palm trees as well as assortment of other trees, some of them een having snow on them, surrounded the little clearing which was right by the cliff's edge. It wasn't really much of a hill anymore since, going off the view of it, which Katie even saw a dessert in the distance, must be at least more than a thousand miles long.

Taken in by the sight, the group walked closer, only stopping when they heard the small subtle sound of humming. Confused, they looked around until they found the source. Standing at the edge of the cliff was a teen with reddish pink hair, light tan skin, and must be at least six point four feet tall. She is wearing a tan trench coat, black sweats, and black heavy boots, and her hair is tied into a ponytail, though said ponytail was long enough reach past her mid-back. There was an air around her, something off. However, there was no boss or enemy mark on the mini-map nor any signs that she is an enemy. However, she doesn't have a name nor a level and, when Katie tried to see her health bar, it didn't appear.

Despite these oddities, it seems the person was an NPC. Now, Katie was sure she wasn't the only one who thought that she was too strange to approach, nor was she the only one who didn't want to disturb the NPC's peace, yet she also knew the others were curious and, perhaps she even holds a message for them from the Creator who trapped them in here, so they approached while she stayed behind. Surprisingly enough, Yiki stayed behind too, though she stepped in front of her.

Nothing was happening at first, the only sound being the sound of birds humming, the wind blowing, and the NPC's humming, which sounded distorted and barely feminine. So, when Sues stepped on a tiny twig, the very small sound it made when it bent underneath his silent and light steps was audible to everyone here. Of course, it wouldn't be for NPCs, soldiers, and the other players who aren't as close or don't have a high enough detection and awareness skill. Yet, the NPC stiffened, her humming stopping, and she turned her around, showing a massive hollowed and torn-looking black eye outlined red.

If one were to describe the feeling that Katie was feeling when she turned around, it would be a feeling learning that everyone goes to Hell. Well, she has no idea if that was true or not, but all she knew is that she has never felt so much dread before. It was so much that it hurt, yes, hurt physically and mentally, and made her feel like her eyes were bleeding, like they were about to pop in her head.

Then, the feeling stopped. At first, Katie was confused as to why she is clutching her head and crying, as well as why the feeling from before stopped. Yet, when she spotted the wide smile on the thing's face, a wide smile showing perfectly sharp teeth mixed in with a horrifying smugness and glee.

Then, the thing was gone...

....instead holding Sues by his head, lifting him high in the air, and slightly opened her mouth, the twisted sadistic cruelty in her smile growing. Her eyes were no longer empty, instead having a glowing red iris in them, or pupil.

Yiki was the first to react. With a growl, she rushed forward, her white katana appearing in her right hand while her white flintlock gun appeared in her left. She was moving fast, yet Katie saw in slow motion, as if time slowed down, pale sickly-looking arms emerge from the ground, the hands child-like yet deformed. They reached out towards Yiki, yet she saw them coming. Without missing a beat, she jumped over the hands, her weapons at the ready.

...And the thing responded by simply batting her away with her free hand. It was done so casually and without any real force, yet done so quickly and, when it hit Yiki, the audible sound of her ribs breaking filled the air. Then, she was flying, blood in the air as she spat it out, before she hit a palm tree, the tree not moving even an inch, and a loud sickening crunch filled the air as Yiki's back broke. She slid down the tree, blood from her destroyed back leaving a trail of blood.

Katie, as well as Nani and Yaun were the first to turn around, drawing out their own weapons and getting ready to charge, when Sues spoke.

"A-aren't yo-you just a-a r-rumor?" Sues asked the thing, his voice choked.

The thing's smug look went from Yiki to Sues, and her smile widened, though this time it wasn't as smugful but more...excited. Perhaps it was the surprise of Yiki being defeated as easily as she was, and the the question that Sues spoke, but the two didn't attack, instead waiting for a response.

"Oh, I assure you, Sues Darvin," The thing spoke, its voice glitched and deep and changing pitches every now and then, "I am very real."

While everyone was in shock about the thing uttering Sues's real name, a message popped up in the chat box. Ever since they became trapped, they could never use the chat box. It did, however, tel them whenever someone found something or died.

The message was simple. 'Yiki was killed by _. PVP Kill. Yiki's connection has been cut.' But, when Katie looked at where she died, Yiki's body was still there. That message, connection has been cut, and PVP Kill has never appeared ever since they became trapped. Then, there is the fact that Sues knows this monster, and asked if it was just a rumor-

Realization hit Katie like a truck, causing her arms to fall to her side.

"Red?" She got out, shock in her voice. Red, the thing that should not exist, turned their head and stared directly at her, their red eyes widening in glee.

"The one and only!" It exclaimed before, still looking at Katie with a bright and cheery smile, plunged their free hand into Sues's chest, emerging from the other end with a mess of gore and spine. Then, it shoved Sues down, their arm not budging as Sues's body went into it, crushing and tearing through it, ending when Sues's head was split in two against it. The same message that appeared for Yiki appeared for Sues, and just like her, his body wasn't disappearing.

Katie couldn't do anything, shaking as her eyes were glued at Sues's dead body, when Yaun ran forward. Red turned to face her, their body glitching as they did so, and proceeded to laugh. The laugh was actually feminine sounding, but that somehow made it sound worse. When Yaun was within range, she struck, swinging her broadsword with skills only an expert could have. Yet, Red dodged her. It dodged her every strike by just slightly shifting to the side or taking a back step. It was more than clear that it was playing with her, and it was enjoying it too.

Then, after enough time has passed, it grabbed Yaun's wrist and tripped her, causing her to stumble. When she looked up, Red had folded its hand into a spear-like shape, and was about to plunge it into her face. Luckily, Katie broke out of her daze and darted behind Red, throwing her kunai and wrapping it around her wrist as she did so with the rope attached to the end.

Coming to a stop, she activated her spikes on her boots and dug them into the ground. When Red brought her arm down, it moved only a bit yet the pressure she felt was tremendous. Just how strong was Red?

For a second, Red's smile nearly faded away entirely and her eyes widened in surprise. She turned her head to look at Katie, there was some surprise and...respect in their red gleam. Then, its smile came back and their eyes changed, becoming diamond in shape. She wasn't sure but she thinks the black of Red's eyes became even darker.

Katie just had time to go onto the ground, digging using the claws on her gloves to dig into the ground, when Red moved its arm again. Instantly, Katie felt like her own body was tearing itself apart. Due to her armor, the rope she was using to hold Red's arm back was running throughout her body, allowing her to get a better grip on it. Yet, under such pressure, she knew, without a doubt, it was causing her own body harm. Still, she won't give in.

Using her magic, she expelled it out to help boost her own strength and act as jet engines, pushing her into the ground. Yet, Red's arm didn't budge, instead continuing to go forward. As a last effort, she threw all her weight on her, sweating and her flash flushed red, expelling all her built up mana.

Yet, her efforts did nothing to stop Red. It gave her a wink before putting even more effort in, their arm moving closer and closer.

Then, Nani came in, lunging forward and shooting a massive amount of magic energy at Red. Red's head swivels around, facing the incoming mass of bright lights. Instead of moving like Katie and, honestly, everyone else thought they would, Red took the attack head on, even tossing Yaun away. When the lights faded, all that was left was a scorched, yet not nearly destroyed as it should be ground and a perfectly fine monster. Katie felt her limbs weaken, and not just from how tired she is, when she felt herself getting better. Looking down, she spotted a dull yet still effective restoration sigal. Looking to her left, she spotted Sean casting it silently. Seeing her notice him, he gave her a nod before continue his silent watch of Red.

'Wait. Where's Ben?' Katie thought, realizing that they were missing one member. She didn't have time to think about it long, however, since Red's head swiveled around, their red eyes meeting hers, then Sean's.

Sean readied his kanabo, but Red was faster. They appeared in front of him, not teleporting but rather darting, moving so fast that the ground tore up, casting a wind blast that knocked Katie. Red wasted no time and lightly punched Sean in his gut, sending him back, Mercacioulsy, he stayed on his feet. Even more, he got his kanabo into a stance and swung. Instead of dodging it, Red simply caught it with their left hand, raising an eyebrow as Sean. Not falling for its taunt, Sean's gauntlet on his left hand transformed into a minigun-like device and opened, relentlessly penting Red.

At least, that is what it looked like. Instead, Red was gone, having darted to Sean's left. Before he could whip around, and before the magic mines he set up around him, Red opened its mouth incredibly wide. When they did, the mines fizzled, not going off. The next instant a sickly monstrous arm similar to the ones from before shot out of their mouth, grabbing Sean by his head, and squeezed, cracking and crushing Sean's jaw and skull. Sean let out a roar of agony but still kept his composure, his gauntlet now spraying Red. Only, instead of dodging, Red took the bullets, They pelted their chest, so much of it that their chest was nothing but a bunch of bright white lights.

Just as they were about to finish Sean off, Katie was upon them with Yaun. Red eyed her approach, then blinked in surprise when Katie's hybrid sword transformed into some kind of gun with three barrels. The first round of bullets that fired out didn't do much, with only two hitting and only one hitting Red squarely, catching them in the jaw. Red winced at that.

The next set out bullets hit the arm coming out of her mouth, with one of them bouncing off and going right into Red's mouth, hitting one of her sharp teeth. That caused a reaction. Red dropped Sean and growled, closing their eyes before opening them again, glaring at Katie. Completely ignoring Yaun attacking them, even as Yaun's magical attack and her sword hitting them on the head, their red eyes locked onto Katie. Then, gingerly, they raised their left hand to their mouth and softly touched the two sharp teeth that Katie's bullet hit. It didn't do any damage but, even then the feeling it probably caused Red would get such a reaction.

"Good shot," Red remarked, withdrawing their arm back into their mouth. Their voice was no longer deep, instead sounding much more normal, though it was still glitchy.

"T-th-thanks," Katie stuttered a reply, then blinked in surprise upon realizing what she just said.

'Wh-why did I just take that as a genuine compliment? She's...no, they're a monster! They're killing my friends for crying out loud!'

Red frowned a little, but Katie was too busy thinking about what happened to see it. Ignoring her, Red focused on Yaun and lazily tried to bat her away like she did with Yiki. Luckily, Yaun saw it coming and just barely managed to avoid it, though the wind when Red moved somehow became sharp enough to slightly drain Yaun's health bar. Nani was coming in now, running over to Katie to check if she was alright since, from his perspective, she just stopped moving then started clutching her head. Unfortunately, he didn't make it another three steps when Red appeared right in front of him, her arms outstretched.

In an instant, she grabbed his neck and then stuck her left hand in his gut. He gasped in pain and Red took it all in, her red eyes returning back to their normal shape. Then, she ripped her hand out, dropped him, and spun around, raking her claws in one smooth and fast move. When it was done, his throat was torn out, his left shoulder destroyed, and the top of his head raked open. He fell down on the ground face-first, the message coming in the chat confirming he was dead.

With a sigh, Red flexed their claws, getting some of the blood off of them, and spun around joyfully. However, the moment they did, Katie was upon them. Their eyes widened in surprise, then joy as they suddenly propelled forward, reaching out for Katie. Yet, much to their surprise, they missed and Katie's sword cut her right cheek open, with her landing a couple of feet away, landing on all fours and facing Red.

Katie was smiling, an actual smile containing no malice, just joy at having done something. Red saw this from looking over her shoulder before quickly looking back. Yaun and Sean saw the confused and actual slightly regretful look on her face, but Katie did not. After a couple of seconds, just when Katie was about to think of striking again, the area around Red glitched. Then, the glitch expanded. Then, the entire clearing glitched, only this time the odd colors and misplaced objects didn't disappear...

....And Red started laughing. It started off small at first, but then grew more and more. There was no malice in her laugh, but there was something else. Something off that caused Katie to shudder. Just as Red's laughs died down, they turned around. Her eyes were no longer red but now a bright orange, which somehow made them appear much scarier to Katie.

"Strawberries," Red suddenly spoke, confusing Katie. Just as she opened her mouth, about to ask what Red meant, which caused Red's expression to become even more gleeful, Sean and Yaun attacked.

Before Yaun's sword reached Red, they glitched and turned around, smacking her into a tree, breaking her right arm, and let Sean's kanabo hit them square in the face. Instead of hurting them, his kanabo bounced right off, even bending upon contact. Seeing the confusion and fear in his eyes, Red licked their lips.

Katie once again rushed forward, pushing herself harder than anyone should be allowed to push themselves. Red knew this. She could hear the sound of her organs faltering ever so slightly, could smell the sweat on her, and her labored breaths were quite loud, even if no other mortal here could hear it. So, deciding to humor her, she waited until Katie was right behind her. Then, she teleported the girl to her left and gently yet firmly grabbed her wrists while her other hand held Sean in place, and leaned down.

"Now, thrust and rip upwards," Red told Katie, guiding her into stabbing Sean, then forcing Katie to rip upwards, freeing her sword.

Katie's expression was one of pure horror and disbelief, but Red didn't seem to mind. Instead, they patted her on the back, turned her around, and proceeded to uppercut Sean's head off.

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"H-how?"

Red perked up at the voice and spun around on their heels, meeting Yaun's glare.

"How? Why, it's quite simple," Red answered, one finger pointed up in the air, "I am God."

The way they said it made it sound not like a threat or a boast, but just a simple fact. Even the red and orange words that appeared above them saying the same phrase didn't seem all that big.

Then, they disappeared. Yaun blinked, getting up warily, then her eyes widened in surprise when Red appeared behind Katie, their fist bearing down on her. Katie, even in her state of mind, sensed it coming and knowing that she wouldn't be able to dodge in time, Instead, she rolled over and used her sword to block the blow. Even with the sword taking the full force, the punch was so powerful that the impact broke one of Katie's ribs. Fresh tears sprang in her eyes yet, even though her entire body could barely stand, she got to her feet to face Red. Red cocked their head, their eyes back to being red, and smiled even wider, opening her mouth to reveal a black abyss inside.

Then, it was gone. Katie blinked in confusion, then stiffened and cast a glance behind her. Just like she thought, there Red was, their hands somewhat outstretched and their eyes all black, a wide manic smile on its face as it took in Katie's fear.

'I-I'm n-not giving up yet!' Katie thought, a determined spark flashing through her eyes. Seeing it, Red's expression visibly lessened, though whether it was from them being upset or something else isn't clear.

Spinning around, swinging her sword, Katie hoped to catch Red, even if her sword might not work, it was still something. Yet, Red disappeared once again. Katie just had time to realize that they teleported behind her when she felt something hit her harder than she has ever been hit in her life. Even the time she was hit by the Ogre King's club wasn't as hard as this. She felt her armor break and her vision went red. She struggled to stay awake and, by the time her vision cleared enough, she realized she was sent flying by the blow.

After finally getting her body to move, even if it was nothing more than turning around, Katie's heart nearly stopped. Red was holding Yaun above its mouth by many sickly deformed limbs, many of them coming out of their back. Their jaw was wider than any normal jaw should stretch, and they were slowly lowering the struggling Yaun down into their inky black mouth.

With slow movements due to the pain, she managed to summon her revolver with the last of her magic left, and fired it at Red. Somehow, the bullet hit Red, catching them in the head, but the bullet turned into nothing but fine dust upon contact. Red's eyes returned, this time orange, and met Katie's eyes. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds until Red broke it by making one of the sickly arms wave at her. Then, she bit Yaun in half.

......

I dropped my revolver and, even though everything hurt, managed to start backing up from the monster. The arms of said monster went back into their body and it lazily kicked Yaun's lower half before turning towards me.

"Like cotton candy too!" Red stated, confusing me once again, before the world returned to normal.

I looked around but saw no signs of the monster. It was then that I remembered it could teleport. I tilted my head back, trying to see if it was there, but they weren't....

....Instead, they were right in front of me, their hands folded behind their back and their orange eyes bearing down on me.

"Would you believe me if I said I won't hurt you?"

My eyes darted around, looking for anything to help me get out of this predicament. Yet, all I saw were the dead bodies of my friends. Their torn, shredded, bloody bodies. Some of their weapons were nearby but they did nothing to it. In fact, the only thing they were good for was being good to the monster, who stayed still and allowed their weapons to hit it so they can see how ineffective their efforts were. Plus, with my skills, they were practically even more useless!

I turned my attention to the orange glowing eyes of the monster as it leaned above me, a smug and teasing smile on its face, their bloody clawed hands behind its back.

"You know, I can state that my gender is female."

I listened to the words it said but, with my mind in a haze, I failed to understand the threat.

"That means," The monster said, its hand grabbing my chin faster than I could blink, bringing me closer to its piercing orange eyes and the black abyss that took up where the white in its eyes would be, "that you should really refer to me as she in that little under-scaled mind of yours."

Its-Her voice was definitely feminine but had sudden pitch changes and a creepy echo to it, yet her voice always sounded somewhat polite. Despite her seeming mad, her voice never changed. I had no idea if she was actually mad or something else. I can't read her at all. Then again, I don't think it's easy to read a monster.

She chuckled, letting go of my chin, seemingly amused by something.

"About what I said before...you shouldn't believe that. I will hurt you, Katie. You're too sweet to let go."

She leaned even closer to me, going all fours with one of her clawed and bloody hands planted on my chest while the other gently touched my left cheek with her finger. It wasn't until she drew her hand away and I saw the fresh blood on it did I realize that she had cut my cheek open. For some reason, I can't feel the pain from the cut she made.

"You can't run. You can't hide. In many worlds, I am God, with this one being no exception. That means I can play with you to my heart's content. And, do you want to know the best part about this? The best part is that I don't even have to tear into another world to torment you fully."

Her orange eyes changed their shape, becoming cat-like, and started glowing even brighter. A bit of drool escaped from her mouth full of sharp long teeth. I could see the hunger and pleasure in her eyes.

"You're trapped here. Your soul is trapped here, and it's going to be so much fun not tormenting an avatar but an actual person instead!"

She grabbed my left hand and tapped each of my fingers.

"No new body you have to get used to or know. I get to fully torture you...down to every finger, index, bone...and cell of your body."

I felt my body shiver uncontrollably but, since I was pinned down by her, I could barely move. I could only watch, helpless, as she opened her mouth impossibly wide. Out from the darkness of her mouth came many tiny sickly arms and hands that looked like they belonged to children. Her breath smelled of something indescribably, rather on the fruity side yet unnerving.

One of the hands reached down and ran its fingers down my face. Somehow, it reminded me of a baby touching its mother's face for the first time.

Before the hands could reach any further, they went back into her mouth which closed down with a loud snap. She stared at me for a bit, cocking her head, before standing up and walking a couple of steps away from me, her back towards me with her hands locked together behind her back. When she stopped walking she turned her head to look at me, her smile widening before an audible sound that can only be described as glitching filled the air. When it was done her orange eyes were red. Somehow, they were less scary when they were red.

That didn't mean that I wasn't still terrified.

"I'm making a bet that you won't last long without needing help. When you do, I'll be there, waiting to take you in."

She put one finger up to her mouth as if telling me to be quiet.

"And it will be the start of a new kind of fun for both of us."

Her smile widened again, stretching impossible wide for any living thing, showing teeth where there isn't suppose to be teeth. Her pupils flashed orange for a second before they once again settled to their glowing red color.

"Yes...it will be So much fun!"

Then, she disappeared. There was no sound or any sign. She was just gone, almost like she had never been here in the first place.

...Almost. My friends' dead bodies are enough proof.

I felt like curling up into a ball and, seeing no reason not to in my current state of mind, that's what I did. As I did so, I couldn't help but wonder what even brought me here in the first place.