Blood Moon

Chapter 2: He Who Opened His Eyes

What does a normal person do when they, all of a sudden, find themselves in a different world?

We can study human behavior and psychology to try and discern the answer to that or we can just make guesses. But, no one can truly be a 100% sure that they have the correct answer to that since something like that never actually happens.  

At least, that is what I used to think back then. Then, ironically, it happened to me.

"Wh-what the-"

Those words came out of my mouth as a very predictable response to something so bizarre as waking up in a different world.

I had no way of knowing back then but it was my short-sightedness that was responsible for me ending up there. After all, I had all the pieces of the puzzle, all the clues I needed to figure out the mystery behind that murder, but I didn't do it simply because I was too shortsighted to realize that I needed to.

"What the hell is this place!?"

And so, as a result, there I was - lying on the ground like an i***t, asking questions I knew I wouldn't get an answer to just by asking.

"Am I in Hell or something?"

I didn't believe in Heaven or Hell but, for some reason, I wondered something like that anyway. 

The reason? Probably the view.

Sky covered with dark clouds with a crimson light shining through its gaps. Beneath the sky was the land covered with charred black tiles. And on this land, there were buildings; buildings that looked like they had been scraped right out of a horror game. Run-down and depressing; those were the two best words to describe those buildings.

That was the view I had woken up to. And, that was how I had imagined Hell to be when I was a kid.

So, I truly wondered, 'Have I perhaps died and gone to Hell?'

Fortunately or unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to continue that train of thought as in the very next moment, my ears picked up a sound of clomping, a sound of heavy metal hitting the ground again and again; in other words, the sound of footsteps.

I immediately turned my head back to find the originator of the sounds but the only thing I found there was a ragged wall some feet away from me.

'Could the sound be coming from the other side of the wall?' I wondered, and I finally tried to stand. As I did though, I felt a heavy pressure pinning me down. It was like some invisible force preventing me from getting up. 

It was pretty annoying and confusing, to say the least. Yet, for what it's worth, I tried persevering against it and found the capability to stand in the end.

But, that wasn't all either.

As soon as I stood for the first time, the clomping sounds started again. And this time, they didn't stop after a second either. 

'Wh-whose making those sounds?' I clicked my tongue as I wondered.

Just like before, those sounds were coming from behind me but there was no one there, just a wall. 

However, since this time they didn't stop, I was given enough time and opportunity to realize that the sounds weren't coming from beyond the walls. They were coming from somewhere on my side of the wall.

I backed away upon realizing that, maintaining as much caution as I could muster.

I kept spinning my eyes and head around so I don't run into something accidentally. As far as eyes could tell, there wasn't anything around but those run-down buildings but how could I be reassured from just that when I was hearing sounds coming out of nowhere.

In any case, as I kept walking back, the clomping sound continued, but nothing else was happening. 

I didn't know why.

I wasn't sure that I wanted to know why.

So, I kept backing away and away until I ended up coming across a four-way lane. 

It's not like I had an objective or destination that I knew of, so I had no clue as to which direction I should take. In addition, all three lanes looked similar as all of them had buildings on both sides with literally nothing else to speak of. Hence, I decided that I should just keep going back like I was, ignoring the right and the left.

Whether that was the best or the worst decision of my life, I still don't know.

"So you have decided to not stray, I see." I heard a voice I couldn't discern the characteristics of, maybe because of my nervousness or maybe because there was something about that voice.

"Wh-" 

"Let's see how that goes for you, then." The voice said, and since this time I was relatively better prepared, I was at least able to discern that the voice came from somewhere above me. But, even as I looked up, I spotted no one, not even a silhouette of someone.

"Tsk!"

At around that point, the clomping sounds had started to fade away. But, I didn't notice, because I was irritated. I wasn't that scared, but I was incredibly irritated. 

Was it just because I had no idea where to go? 

Or, was it rather because I had no idea how I ended up in that place?

No, neither of those. That irritation I was feeling - it was because I felt the owner of that voice was making fun of me. And despite being the guy who didn't care what people thought of him, that irritated me. It irritated me a lot.

*****

At a different time in a different corner of a different world, there was a rat.

The rat was mischievous. It stole food from people, made a hole in their house to reside in, and even spread diseases to them through its unclean practices.

But, the people still never tried to catch it or chase it away, much less try to kill it. The sole reason for this was that the rat was considered "good luck".

Apparently, a great fortuneteller had said that the rat would bring good luck to the people it was around. And so, even as they suffered because of it, they did nothing to it, all in the hopes that they would be blessed with good luck because of that rat.

But, as time went on, nothing changed.

The rat kept stealing food, burrowing holes, and spreading diseases. The people kept suffering and suffering and suffering more.

And in return, no "good luck" was ever granted to them. In fact, diseases and food spoilage only caused their lives to become more and more miserable with each passing day.

That continued, until one day when a man who had lost his daughter to a disease the rat was responsible for, decided that he had had enough.

At night, he stepped out of his house with the singular goal of ending the rat's miserable life. He brought a shotgun with him to do the deed and had decided that he would not go back to his house for as long as the rat was still alive.

Since it was night, no one was around to stop or support him. That, obviously, was just the way he wanted it to be.

He knew, after all, that most of them would oppose his idea and keep hanging onto the nonsense told by the fortuneteller.

And they did.

*****

It didn't take much walking before I reached another crossroad, or so it looked at first.

In truth, after walking a little in the direction I chose earlier, I ended up at a square that seemed like, in the actual world, it would be used for parking and stuff - like a wide back-alley or something.

That square was a level below me however and the way to reach that level was either of the two identical paths on both my sides.

Naturally, I at least wanted to check the place out since I had ended up there so I went down the level from the right path.

"..."

However, there was nothing to it.

There was nothing new to say about the place from its level and there was nothing much to say about it in the first place. It was what it was - a simple piece of ground covered by buildings on all sides except the one I came from.

But, just as I was about to dismiss coming down there as a pointless activity and go back, the clomping sounds that I had not heard for a while rang in my ears again.

The difference, however, was that they didn't seem to be coming from out of nowhere like before, they came from one very particular spot - they came from the spot I had stopped on when I noticed that that place was a dead end.

'I don't know what's really going on but there's someone out there.' I thought to myself, 'I have to keep my guard up.'

I didn't lose my cool. I didn't know what was going on but I didn't get all flustered and do something stupid. It was like all that creepy and weird stuff had no scare factor for me.

Weird, I must say, but that's how it was.

And then,

"You ... you rat!"

"What!?" 

More surprising than having heard a voice that sounded like it belonged to a middle-aged man was what he said. 

'Rat? What does he mean?' I wondered as I kept bouncing my eyes and ears from one point to another, trying to make sure I sense it if something dangerous came my way.

But,

"You ... are the rat!" In the same voice as before, someone or something said so.

"..." I had no idea what was going on, but I could tell that something was coming.

"Rat! Rat! Rat! You are the rat! You will DIE!"

And with that scream, the one who that voice belonged to showed himself, appearing out of thin air in front of me as he aimed a shotgun at me and looked to be ready to fire any second.

And, in the face of that, uncannily, I felt a strange urge to laugh.