CHAPTER 1: SUNFLOWERS
BZZZZZzzzzz....
The alarm rang for a few seconds before a hand reached out to turn it off. It was four in the morning. Another day in this man's life.
He was the average human: not so handsome, not so unattractive. He groggily got up, took a shower, and changed his clothes. For breakfast, instant noodles, but this time he felt bold, so he added corn.
After finishing his delicacy of a breakfast, the man put on a bulky red suit padded for the cold, not knowing that today was going to be an eventful day. Then he walked out of the cabin.
[Thomas POV]
As I opened the door, the cold wind hit me right in the mask. Checking that the timer on my watch was set for four hours before heading out was crucial for the job. Other than that, it was just another day in my adventurous life. After struggling to shut the door, I took a look at the view in front of me.
A snowy landscape surrounded by trees and mountains, lit by a blue light that stretched out like a road to follow. Following that light was my job... well, not following the light, but going where the light led: a mountain that housed a small bunker. I was hired for this job just to press a button.
Every day I would set out on the journey to that bunker. Pressing that button had to be done at the same time every single day, no matter what. I didn't know what for, but I was getting paid to do it.
It was a shame that it was a one-man job. No one to enjoy this view with. Worst of all, no technology was allowed on the site. They said something about interfering signals or something like that. I don't remember much.
At least the pay was good: ten million bucks a year. Either way, my time in this frozen hell was about to end; this was my last trip. Just thinking about that much money made me want to jump for joy. After getting out of here, I would take my money and run to a tropical island where I would laze around all day, surrounded by beautiful ladies. Maybe settle down with one, have a family. One could only dream.
Walking four hours to reach the base of the mountain at the end of the light path was exhausting, and even more so today. The wind was rougher than usual. Yet here I was, two hours in, walking over a frozen lake.
"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP," my watch rang.
There it was. Saved by the bell. Time for a break. As I made my way to a nearby cave I'd found months ago, I was already savoring the hot noodles I was going to have. Having used this cave as a checkpoint for months, it was easier to just leave some gear in here rather than carry it all every day. Grabbing a pot and setting up the gas stove was easy. The hard part was boiling water in such cold temperatures, yet here I was, boiling water for instant noodles in the Arctic. After eating my noodles and resting for twenty-five minutes, I put all the gear away, and I was ready to set out again.
I walked out of the cave and stood still, waiting for the watch to beep so I could keep going. BEEP BEEP BEEP. There it was. After the beeping stopped, there was no other sound but the wind and the snow under my feet.
"Come on, halfway there."
On my way back to the frozen lake, I suddenly saw a shadow out of the corner of my eye, along with the sound of snow sliding down.
"Pssssh."
I quickly turned around and was surprised by what I saw. I blinked in disbelief. A bunch of small sunflowers lay on the snow. I stared at them before reaching for them.
"They look fresh, like they were just plucked from the ground. There's no way they could be here naturally. And what the hell was that shadow?"
"Heh heh heh."
A chill ran through my whole body, and I went as stiff as a popsicle. I dropped the flowers onto the snow. I couldn't believe what I'd just heard: a laugh. A fucking laugh.
I slowly turned to the left, toward where the noise came from, and saw nothing but purple dust.
"Hello? Who's there?"
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I thought the cold was getting to my head. Then it came again, this time from my right. I turned just in time to see footprints in the snow and more purple powder in the air. I turned back, wanting to take the flowers with me. The only thing I saw was snow.
"Where did they go?"
Astonished, I stood there for a second, not knowing what to do. I decided not to ask any more questions and get my ass out of there.
I ran back to the main path, in shock at what had just happened. In the year I'd been here, nothing like this had ever happened. Still, instead of going back to the cabin, I decided to keep going and rushed to the bunker. I needed to finish the job.
"For my future and my money. Yes, yes, for my money! No backing out!"
There was no way I would chicken out because of some lousy ghost. Ten million, baby! Ten million, baby! I kept repeating it in my head to drown out the thoughts of turning back. After running, tripping, and getting up to keep running, I finally saw the door. I ran with all the energy I could muster and reached for it. Then I looked at my watch.
It was broken.
For the second time that day, a chill ran through my body. My hand gripped the door handle, and my legs were shaking. I pulled the door open, and... nothing. Everything was normal. No change at all. No red lights flashing, nothing. The button was still there.
"Maybe it's not too late." I heaved a sigh of relief as I closed the door.
In the blink of an eye, I wasn't in the bunker anymore but in a field of sunflowers. I looked around, trying to understand what was going on. Then it came.
"YAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA! I AM FREEEE! YAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA! YAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA..."
Just the laugh was like being hit on the head with a thousand hammers. I couldn't stay on my feet. By the time it stopped laughing, I was already kissing the ground.
"AND YOU, LITTLE HUMAN," the thing said. "LOOK AT ME."
Some unknown force lifted me off the ground until I was floating in front of it. The moment I opened my eyes, I saw it. It was nine feet tall, made of dark goo, with two insect-like eyes and no mouth.
"THAT'S BETTER. YOU, LITTLE HUMAN, HAVE FREED ME FROM MY PRISON, AND AS A REWARD, I SHALL NOT KILL YOU. BUT YOU WILL BE MY MESSENGER TO THIS WORLD: I SHALL BE BACK FOR REVENGE!!!!"
As it finished speaking, blood poured out of every part of my body. I glanced at it one last time, and then it said:
"WAKE UP, LITTLE HUMAN, FOR THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING, AND THIS WORLD SHALL BELONG TO THE TNARYT EMPIRE. YAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA! YAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA! YAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA! YAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA! YAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA! YAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!"
The last thing I saw was a dark fist in front of me.
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