He was trudging through the snow, towards his death, he remembered. Eyes black and skin pale, sweater ripped up and bloody. The biting cold numbed his body, nipping his skin as the snow fell. The fog surrounding him only made it more difficult to see, he forced himself to keep moving, legs dragging through the knee high snow. But the fog only seemed to thicken, swirling around him, brewing with an energy that made it feel almost... alive.
Hyun-Su didn't understand it, but somehow he knew it was trying to take him somewhere. Using all his willpower, he fought with the fog, refusing to let it take him. Was it some kind of monster?
Whatever it was. it erupted from under the snow. A black claw like thing that swiped at the teenager, causing him to fall back into the snow. It was like a spider, spindly and sharp, Hyun-Su could sense it's power. He jumped out of the way as it took another jab, the military preparing to shoot him in the distance long forgotten.
The fog only got thicker and more suffocating the more Hyun-Su struggled with the creature, but it was when the gunshots started to ring in his ears and his body was torn up by bullets that he slipped and the Entity won their battle of wills. As he fought to keep his eyes open, he felt himself be transported from one realm to another.
Next thing he knew he was standing in an empty classroom, destroyed and decaying like it had been abandoned a long time ago. A low siren blared in his ears before cutting off and leaving him in the deafening silence. He was alone in the room but didn't relax just yet. As the fog cleared around him, he waited for the monster to return to try finish him off. Where did it take him? Where was it?
Looking down at himself, he realised his wounds had already healed, pretty much instantly and way too quickly to be his own body's work; even with his newfound abilities.
Standing in the unfamiliar environment, he felt exposed and vulnerable. The feeling of being watched was a constant buzz in the back of his head, this must be what it felt like to be a bug under a microscope. He wanted his spear. Ever since he had first held that flimsy homemade spear, a kitchen knife duct taped to a broom pole, it had given him a sense of security— even if it was small. His attachment had only grown after Mr Han had upgraded it for him.
He couldn't dwell on his lost weapon right now though, (or his lost friends) he needed to find a weapon and fast. He scanned the room for something he could use but was left disappointed. There was nothing he could realistically use to defend himself.
After a bit of hesitation he decided to leave the classroom he was in, he couldn't just stay there and wait for the spider monster to come back for him. The sound of machinery is what lead him down the hallway, towards one of the other wrecked and abandoned classrooms. What was that?
Creeping towards the door, he peeked around to look inside, hoping not to alert anything sinister that could be hiding inside.
On first glance there was no one inside, just another classroom— though there was a machine, the one making all the noise, against the far right wall. It was sparking and clearly broken.
As his brown eyes raked the room for a makeshift weapon he froze, turning his head towards the machine again. He had missed her before, she seemed to just blend in with her surroundings like a chamaeleon.
The girl was small, with dark skin and dreadlocks pulled back messily out of her face. From behind a pair of thick rimmed glasses, she glanced up from the machine that she was tinkering with and gasped, flinching back slightly.
"Oh- I don't think I've seen you before..." she said, voice hushed. "Did you just arrive?"
The woman had a deer in headlights look about her, one Hyun-Su could relate to. By appearance alone the girl seemed rather harmless, sweet even, with round eyes and soft features. But he knew not to judge someone for their appearance, looks could be deceiving after all. From what she had just said it sounded like there where others here, probably also taken by the fog like he was.
"Who are you?" He asked. "Where are we?"
The girl's expression was sympathetic as she wrung her hands, "I'm really sorry..." she said. "I'm Claudette. I'll explain everything later, right now we need to hurry before he finds us. Help me fix these generators so we can open the door."
So they needed to fix the machines— generators so they could power up the exit? Where were they? Why were they there? What was the spider monster? Hyun-Su had a million and one questions but knew now probably wasn't the time, he settled for one instead.
"Who?"
"We're not alone here," Claudette said gravely and Hyun-Su didn't doubt the words passing her lips for a second. "There's a killer after us."
The spider monster? Hyun-Su didn't question it, he still didn't completely understand what was going on but he did know that they needed to get out. If they needed to repair the generators to get out then he would need Claudette to show him what to do. Just as he opened his mouth to ask her to show him, a sound invaded his ears. A loud, thumping heartbeat.
"We need to go!" Claudette cried, grabbing the sleeve of his sweater and pulling him along. "That means he's close, we need to go!'
Hyun-Su, despite being strong enough to escape her hold, didn't, and let himself be dragged along a few steps.
There was was a wheezing cough from behind them and then something was flying over his head, the sound of smashing glass and a pink mist spread through the room.
As his lungs filled with the gas, he groaned through his teeth. Every breath stung and made his head spin. Beside him, Claudette shrieked, stumbling and almost tripping as she ran, her fingers still clutching his sleeve.
The room was no longer solid, the dull colours swirling and merging in a blurry mess. Disoriented and confused, he looked behind him as he followed behind Claudette. Through his distorted eyes, he saw a distinct, colourful shape chasing after them. A crimson grin and dirty red suit.
Hyun-Su was the first to recover from whatever concoction the clown had thrown at them, his vitals stabilising and strength returning. The heartbeat pounded in his skull, as if he needed a reminder of the clown lumbering after them. With clear eyes; the clown was tall and heavy looking, skin sagging and bloated with messy makeup and an ill fitting, tight suit. A rough cough tore up the clown's throat, he sounded sick and unhealthy. He was readying another glass bottle in his hand.
Hyun-Su ushered Claudette ahead of him, secure in the knowledge that he could probably recover from any damage the killer could dish out to him. The short woman seemed to know where to go, leading him through the building with shortcuts and large holes in the walls. Hyun-Su couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the place, parts of the floor collapsed and chunks of wall blown off, it was almost like a giant, very dangerous, soft play area.
The clown chucked more bottles at them, only narrowly missing. He groaned every time he missed, like he really couldn't be bothered with this and they were inconveniencing him.
Claudette and Hyun-Su were nearing a stairwell. As another bottle came soaring towards them, Hyun-Su spun around and jumped towards it, catching it before it could break, and throwing it right back at the clown. The two survivors ran down the stairs, away from the hoarse screaming that echoed through the decaying building as the clown was forced to endure the effects of his own poison.
He recovered quickly though and, before the survivors had even escaped the oppressive heartbeat, was already storming after them, wheezing and coughing as he grumbled to himself.
Hyun-Su and Claudette slipped into a room midway down the hall. It was larger than the other classrooms with a barricade of broken furniture in the centre. They ducked behind the pile of furniture and waited with baited breath, the heavy footsteps getting closer and closer.
Hyun-Su was rigid, muscles tense and shaking in preparation for a fight. He still didn't have a weapon. He eyed one of the chairs nearby, considering breaking off a leg to fight with. No, it would expose their position.
Claudette stuck close enough to him to stay out of the killer's sight, crouching and huddled into his side. As much as Hyun-Su wished she wasn't in such an awful situation, he couldn't help but feel happy she was there with him. It was comforting to know he wasn't alone.
Thump, thump-thump.
Thump, thump-thump.
Thump, thump-thump.
Silhouetted in the flickering florescent lights was the large figure of the clown standing in the doorway. Hyun-Su clenched his shaking fists, teeth grinding with stress.
The grotesque mockery of children's entertainment let out a painful hacking cough, then the footsteps continued on down the hall, taking that erratic heartbeat with him.
Hyun-Su breathed a low sigh of relief, resting his forehead against the broken desk in front of him.
Wide doe eyes turned to him with a look of curiosity and awe. "I've never seen anyone throw a bottle back like that," Claudette said once it was safe to. "How did you do that?"
Hyun-Su tried to will the blush heating his cheeks to cool, he looked away from her and pulled on the sleeves of his sweater. "Good reflexes, I guess," he replied quietly.
"Seriously, it was like the gas didn't even affect you!" Claudette said. "Are you feeling okay?"
The gas had already been completely filtered out of his system by his healing factor, he didn't even feel dizzy. Being cursed had its perks apparently.
"Yeah..." Hyun-Su said. "Are you?"
She nodded a confirmation, carefully adjusting her glasses with dirty, oil stained hands. "Come on, we should go find a generator before he comes back."