Chapter 03
986 Words
Ada Williams
My head was throbbing so badly it felt like someone was hitting me right in the brain.
I let out a muffled groan before I even opened my eyes.
My whole body ached, from my back and neck all the way down to my arms.
My first thought was: *Did I fall?*
My second was: *That beer was definitely laced.*
I tried to move slowly, feeling something hard and uncomfortable beneath me.
The floor? No... it felt worse than the floor.
I frowned, my eyes still closed.
The silence was weird, too. Incredibly weird.
There was no background traffic. No neighbors, or the annoying sounds from the apartment next door.
Nothing.
My stomach slowly turned to ice.
I opened my eyes by degrees. And froze.
For a few seconds, my brain flat-out refused to process what I was looking at.
The ceiling was dark wood.
So were the walls.
Everything looked... old. Rustic, or rather, ancient. There were no light bulbs or outlets.
Let alone aluminum window frames.
The room looked like it had come straight out of one of those low-budget medieval movies.
My heart was racing.
I sat up so fast I almost fell off the small bed.
“...What the hell is this?!” My voice echoed strangely through the silent house, scaring me even more.
I looked around frantically. An old table. A crooked wardrobe. Candles.
Hanging fabrics, and strange utensils. This definitely wasn't my apartment.
My chest tightened violently. Was I kidnapped? But... how? And why?
That was when I noticed my clothes. Or rather...
The lack of MY clothes.
I was wearing a loose, light-colored dress that resembled an old-fashioned chemise.
The fabric was simple and coarse.
In short, uncomfortable.
It was definitely not something I would wear, not even at gunpoint.
My heart started beating even faster.
"No... no, no, no..." I rubbed my arms, trying to force myself to think rationally.
Maybe it was a prank. A themed event. Hallucinogenic drugs.
Yes.
That made more sense. Way more sense than… A red light flashed in front of me.
I froze. Words materialized slowly in the air like glowing smoke.
[MAIN ROUTE ERROR]
Right below it, another phrase appeared:
[LOADING ALTERNATE ROUTES...]
My whole body went rigid.
I just stared at it.
Blinking.
Unable to breathe properly.
The red smoke drifted slowly through the air, glowing like embers.
"What the hell is this?"
My throat went dry.
Frightened and moving with extreme caution, I stood up and reached a trembling hand toward the message.
My fingers passed right through the smoke.
It rippled. Distorted.
And then snapped back to its original shape.
My stomach plummeted.
"WHAT?!" I clutched my head. It didn't make sense.
None of it made sense.
Had I died?
Was this some kind of dream?
I sat back down on the hard bed.
Or whatever the hell it was. It felt more like a wooden plank covered in old cloth.
I took a deep breath, trying to organize my thoughts.
The last thing I remembered… The laptop. The work documents. The open game tab.
That blinding light, and... that voice.
*Please... help me...*
I went cold.
No.
There was no way. That would be absurd.
I looked around the tiny house again.
Everything felt too real.
Even the scent of the wood.
The dust on the furniture.
The wind whistling through the cracks.
It didn’t feel like a dream at all.
I got up slowly, my legs trembling, and began to walk around the small house.
It was... simple.
Too simple.
A tiny kitchen with no fridge, no microwave, or anything modern.
An old table and cabinets.
Worn, ancient-looking pots.
Firewood.
It looked like the home of someone poor.
Seriously poor.
I felt a tightness in my chest.
Scared, but still curious, I decided to take a look; all I wanted was to find a way out and get out of there as soon as possible.
After a few minutes of looking around, I found a room separated by what looked like a curtain.
Probably a bathroom.
Or the medieval equivalent of one.
There was no shower, no sink.
Just a massive steel basin filled with water—it looked like a makeshift tub.
I approached it slowly, and then I caught my reflection.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
It was me.
But… Not exactly.
My hair was longer, way longer than it should be.
My face looked younger, more delicate.
Softer features.
My skin seemed too clear. Even my body felt... different. Smaller. Lighter.
"..."
My heart began to beat erratically.
"What happened to me? What happened to my body...?" I nearly screamed.
Another light flashed in front of me.
This time, a pale blue.
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
[CHARACTER BACKGROUND]
"Ah!"
I threw my hand over my chest.
"Stop doing that, damn it!"
The floating window remained there.
Glowing calmly.
I took a few deep breaths before slowly reaching out my hand.
And then... a pain shot through my head so violently that my legs buckled.
"Ah...!"
I immediately clutched my temple.
Images flashed, not as thoughts, but as memories.
A vast field swaying in a golden breeze.
The scent of fresh bread.
Calloused hands holding mine.
A woman laughing softly as she sewed near a window.
A tall man lifting a little girl onto his shoulders.
My chest tightened.
I knew those people.
No.
I didn't know them.
But at the same time...
I did.
More fragments of memories flooded in.
Heavy rain.
Then I heard the sound of wood snapping.
Blood spurting.
Then... screams.
A wrecked wagon on a muddy road.
I felt intense pain.
A pain so deep it seemed to penetrate straight into my bones.
Was that... loneliness?
Grief...
My breath caught in my throat.
Tears began to stream down my face before I even realized it; I started to breathe with difficulty.
"...What...?"
- Writer
