Chapter 5
Blinded momentarily by the bright light, I stumble through the doorway. I expect to run into a desk or hear the annoyed voice of a professor any moment. Instead, I hear birds chirping and feel a cool breeze on my skin. My surprise at the unexpected stimuli is interrupted by a stabbing pain lancing through my head. The pain is so intense that I fall to the ground and clutch my head. Slowly, the pain lessens. By the time the pain recedes to a dull ache, my vision has cleared, and I find that I’m not in some moldy basement classroom with a room full of college freshmen staring at me. Instead, I’m surrounded by trees. I spin around, looking for the door I just walked through but only find more forest behind me. I reach for the place where I last recall the door being, just to make sure it’s not just invisible or something. Nope, it’s not there.
Another stiff breeze sends chills up my spine and reminds me that this is not a dream, though I pinch myself just to make sure. Nope, that hurt. Only moments before, I was in the basement of the old college building, walking through the door to what I thought was a class. Now, I’m just somewhere else. Before me is a dirt trail that winds along the ground between purple bushes and tall, bizarre trees whose smooth trunks reach up fifty or sixty feet and end in oddly manicured spherical tops. Peering through the thick canopy of purple leaves, I can make out a green-blue sky.
Ok, this is definitely not anywhere local. Is it possible that I was teleported to another planet? Or maybe I fell through some ‘Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe’ style portal? Unfortunately, a quick scan of the surrounding forest doesn’t reveal a mischievous Satyr guide.
Instinctively, I grab the cell phone from my pants pocket to see if I can get a signal but the moment I touch the sticky object, I remember that the darn thing is broken. I groan in frustration. How am I supposed to find a way out of here if I can’t pull up a GPS based map of my location?
Hoping someone is out there, I cup my hands to my mouth and call out, “Hello? Is anyone out there? I need help.”
Not hearing anyone respond, I think about my options. One, I could stay right here and hope someone notices I’m gone and comes looking for me. I can probably last a couple of days in the forest. I have the sandwich I packed for lunch and a little water left in my water bottle. But, who’s going to come looking for me? My sister might notice that I’m gone when she gets home from school and I’m not there to make her dinner. But what’s she going to do? She’s fourteen, and while smart for her age, she’s not likely to think to look for me in the basement of an old building or wherever I am.
Two, I could follow this conveniently placed trail and see where it takes me. I only hope it doesn’t lead to an abandoned cabin in the woods with a mysterious looking book labeled Necronomicon. That would be the worst. Because I know despite having seen the movies and TV shows, I’d still open it up and read it. Only knowing my luck, Ash won’t appear to save my butt.
Three, I could…uh, what else could I do? Are two things all I can come up with? Good job, college boy. Two choices. Well, if there’s one thing my good for nothing dad taught me when he abandoned us, it’s that I shouldn’t depend on other people. I’ll have to assume that no one is coming to save me. If I want something to happen, I’ll have to do it myself. So, option two it is.
I set off down the dirt path at a brisk walk. However, as I travel I can’t help but feel like somebody's watching me. I call out a few more times, but no one answers. It’s not until I’ve been walking for a half hour that I hear something rustling along the forest floor. I stop walking and search for the source of the sound. The noise is coming from a patch of bushes nearby. I look intently at the bushes, ready to run if some kind of bear comes out. Only, the creature that comes out of the little bush isn’t a bear. It’s…well, to be honest, I’m not sure what the hell it is. It looks like a rolling blob of semi-transparent blue goop. It seems to be rolling around in random directions. Rolling along the forest floor in one direction for a few seconds, then another way a moment later. I’m not sure what it’s doing until a small rodent scurries out from a bushes about three feet from the blue goop. The movement appears to attract the blob’s attention, and it stops rolling. Instead, it gathers its blob body into a compact mass and then whips part of itself at the rodent. There’s a sharp cracking sound as the first strike knocks the rodent onto its back. It never gets a chance to recover. The blob attacks it with more of the goopy whip attacks, hitting it again and again until it stops moving.
While the sight of a Blue Blob killing a rat is disturbing, what’s weirder were the series of red numbers that floated above the rat every time it got hit. Having spent way too many hours at home playing old free RPGs on the internet while my mom was at work, I recognize damage notifications when I see them. The sight of something so familiar, yet so foreign to my real life startles me enough that I mutter, “Holy crap.”
The sound of my voice, though not loud to my ears, is sufficient to catch the attention of the Blue Blob. Its body rotates 180 degrees, and for the first time, I see that it’s not just a blob. It has two white eyes with black pupils and a creepy as hell smile on its face. I recognize the creature as a slime—one of the weakest creatures in many RPGs. As it starts to roll towards me, I start to back away but trip over a fallen tree branch I hadn’t noticed before. I land on my back and feel my backpack beneath me. I begin to scramble backwards but the slime has already gotten too close. I see it condense its form, the precursor to its slime whip attack. I cover my face with my arms just in time to hear the crack of a whip, feel a sharp sting across my forearms, and see a red number 5 float away from me.
Thanks, red number, I’m well aware that I’m being beat up by a slime. There’s another sharp sting across my forearms as the slime attacks me again and I realize that if I don’t do something quick, I’ll end up just like that rat—dead. Rolling to my right, I hear the sound of another slime whip attack but don’t feel any pain. I lower my arms and see the slime turning to face me, its unblinking eyes creepily looking at me. I get to my feet in time to see the slime condense its form for its attack and dive to my left. The attack misses. As I get to my feet, I see the branch that I tripped over and scoop it up. Finally having a weapon in my hands gives me a feeling of power. But that sensation is quickly replaced by pain as a stinging whip attack hits my butt and another red 5 floats away from me.
Well, that’s the last one of those I’ll take. I raise the tree branch above my head and bring it crashing down on the slimes head with as much force as I can muster. The branch doesn’t destroy the blue squishy monster. Instead, it bounces off it. A red number 1 floats from the slime as it jiggles and shakes like a gelatin dessert.
Wait! This guy hits me for 5 damage, and I can only do 1 point of damage? The stats on this branch must be terrible.
I don’t have time for more speculation as I see the slime ready its whip attack. I hop to the right, narrowly avoiding the attack, then retaliate with another blow from the branch in my hands. As another red number 1 floats away from the blue slime, I realize that I can defeat this guy as long as I keep avoiding its attacks.
I repeat the strategy I’ve accidentally discovered: wait for the creature to start its attack, dodge, then counter-attack. I’m not sure how long it takes to defeat the creepy slime creature, but when I do, it’s body sort of melts away like Jello left out in the sun. All that’s left is a blue puddle of liquid on the ground. Then even that disappears in a flash of light, with a small neatly tied bag left in its place.
Before I can reach out to touch the bag, a bright flash of light explodes from my body and another stab of agonizing pain lances through my head. This time, however, it does not abate. Instead, it intensifies. I stumble as the world begins to spin around me and I feel my head hit the soft grass. As the world starts to fade away, a blue box appears.