🦢𝓑𝓲𝓻𝓭𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓪 𝓕𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 (𝒮𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁𝒶 𝓍 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇)🦢 || ON HOLD

The Descent

Cold wind smacked me in the face. What was happening? Where was I? Last I remember I was in my house... on my couch. Tears welled up in my eyes as my stomach seemed to shoot up in my throat.

Was I... falling?

I opened my eyes despite the force being pushed against them. Tears fell from my eyes as I looked around at the red hellscape before me. The sky was red!

The sky was red, and I was falling. The sky was red and I was falling. Where was I?

I kept falling and falling and falling, the ground coming closer and closer. I began to panic. Was I going to die? Was I already dead?

In a frantic effort to alert anyone to my spontaneous free fall, I started to scream. I screamed and yelled at the top of my lungs, my throat burning as I breathed in smoky, fiery air.

The ground was so close now, I squeezed my eyes shut and braced for impact. I was going to die. I was going to die.

I let out one last blood-curdling scream I landed on something soft. This something soft let out a screech as I collided with it. Although whatever I landed on was soft, my ribs ached, my limbs felt broken, and I was sure I was bleeding somewhere.

After I recovered from the initial shock of whatever the hell just happened, I groaned and lifted my head. It felt ten times heavier than normal.

The ground below me started to move. Actually, it groaned and shifted below me, pushing me off like a sack of potatoes.

I let out a cry of surprise as I rolled onto the hot pavement. A figure started to rise to its full height and I hissed. Where was I?

I briefly turned my attention away from the figure in front of me and to my immediate surroundings. A small cafe was to my right, a pawn shop to my left, and other various buildings all around me. Flashing neon signs and bright billboards littered the streets, along with various piles of garbage. But the worst was the people. 

Demonic creatures of every sort surrounded the commotion I had caused. They were no humans. Some had too many eyes, sharp teeth, animal characteristics, and spindly claws. My brain finally clicked into place as I thought, Am I in hell?

My thoughts were cut short as the figure I had landed on turned to me and came out of the shadows. "Hey!" she barked, her face twisting into a nasty frown. She had a rosy pink beak and pristine white feathers covering her entire body. She looked almost like a swan... If swans had crowns and wore enormous dresses. And talked. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she snapped, clutching her purse in her claws. She brushed off some debris from her poofy skirt and her feathers bristled. I shrunk back onto the pavement as her glowing eyes seemed to pierce into my soul.

"I..." I could barely speak. I hadn't even looked down at my own body, and seeing the strange colors and inhuman patterns, I started to panic again.

"Answer me!" the lady screeched, pulling me up by my collar. She glared at me, and I turned away.

"Please, I don't know where I am! Let me go!" I yelled, panic taking hold of me once more. I wriggled in her grasp, and after a moment of silence, she dropped me. I collapsed on the pavement, my heart hammering. I kicked away from the lady as she frowned at me.

"You're a sinner. Not a jumper," she stated, more to herself than to me. She scoffed at the sight of me on the ground. "Where am I?" I asked quietly as more creatures began to close in on us.

"Follow me, sinner," she said, fixing her crown in a way that said, I am more important than you.

She quickly strode off, her tail features swishing behind her gracefully and confidently. I slowly rose to my feet with shaking knees and shallow breaths. Whatever was happening, I was just glad someone was willing to help me.