What Do You Desire?

The world felt like it had been turned upside down, like a roller coaster. His stomach twisted, and his head felt all jumbled up. His memory was hazy, as everything from the past few minutes appeared like a foggy dream to Nolan.

Suddenly, his legs gave out, dropping him onto his knees. Trying to balance himself, Nolan placed his hand on the ground, only for it to sink five centimeters deep into the earth.

What... what is this...?

Instead of the hard, flat surface of the college tiles, he found himself on the uneven, loose, and damp mud of a forest.

Where... wasn't I just in the classroom??

His senses, along with some of his strength, began to return, and Nolan tried to stand—but still couldn't. After struggling again, he understood that it would take a minute for him to regain his strength. Until then, there was nothing he could do.

Regaining strength faster, a classmate of his stood up beside him. Taking a look around at the dark and gloomy forest, he muttered to himself, "What... why am I in a forest..."

"What happened..." a girl soon asked as well.

"Ugh! Why are there so many bugs..." Feeling bugs crawling all over her body, she couldn't help but ask.

"Does anyone remember how we got here?"

"Noo.."

"Shit... am I the only one with this headache?" someone asked, looking toward his friend.

"No... it's bothering me as well," his friend replied.

Slowly but surely, everyone was regaining their senses.

'Wait, where is this... A moment ago, there was a ball of light... then... then what happened after that?' While thinking to himself, Gareth looked around at the students and tried to calm everyone. "Everyone, please calm down... let me call someone."

Reaching for his smartphone, he was about to pull it out of his pocket when something moved in the dark, grim shadows of the forest.

Slash!

Something splattered all over Nolan's face as time seemed to slow down. Wiping it off, he brought his hand forward to see what it was.

Red... it was pure, dark red. Something he was all too familiar with.

AHHHHHH!!!!

A scream snapped him back to his senses as Nolan realized what had just happened.

Blood gushed like a fountain, and a classmate—someone he had known for the past year... someone who had been laughing and chatting with him this morning... someone who had been alive and well just minutes ago—dropped dead on the ground, headless.

The head rolled in front of Nolan, its lifeless eyes staring right at his soul, as if unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Seeing this, Nolan choked. A scream built in his throat but died before it could fully form. Suddenly, his breath became ragged, and he could feel his vision getting blurry.

Strength returned to him, but at the same time, he felt as if his chest was being squeezed by a ghostly hand, trapping all the air inside. His heart slammed against his ribs, its wild and chaotic rhythm making it difficult to breathe.

AHHHHH!

Another scream broke out, this time from a different direction altogether.

NOOO!! WHA—

Someone shouted, but their voice was cut short—along with their neck. Something sharp moved, and in just one swift stroke, the head rolled on the ground.

"BLOOD... IMAN IS DEAD...."

"NOOO!"

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

"WHERE ARE WE?!"

"NOOO, DON'T DO IT!"

As the shouting continued, something moved between them.

A look of disgust, horror, and fear overwhelmed the students, but there was nothing they could do. As if the strength they had regained had suddenly left their bodies, their legs went limp again.

Blood gushed like a fountain, and the mud, which had been gray just moments ago, began turning crimson as the blood mixed into it.

Splash!

Like a gale of wind, it moved once again, claiming the life of yet another innocent student.

"EVERYONE, SILENCE... NOBODY MOVE FROM YOUR PLACE!"

A thunderous roar reverberated throughout the forest as Gareth's shout brought some sense to the terrified students.

Without even knowing whether standing still in their place was safe or not, Gareth had to say this—at least to better assess the situation.

No, no... what is happening... who is killing them... we have to take cover... but where? We don't know the direction of the enemy or what weapon they are using... Shit... Fuck... Fucckk... what is this... Calm down... calm... down...

Even though he had shouted a moment ago, it wasn't because he was calm. No, in fact, it was quite the opposite. Having witnessed something like this before, Gareth understood the situation far better than the others.

And understanding it better only made him realize just how bad their position was at the moment.

An unknown enemy. An unknown place. No equipment. No information. Nothing. Every possible disadvantage was stacked against them.

Still, collecting his thoughts within moments, he gulped a mouthful of saliva and was about to say something when he saw movement in front of him.

Splash!!

His previous decision had just taken another life—standing still wasn't the right choice.

"SHIT... DON'T STAY STILL! IT'S A VINE... A VINE IS ATTACKING US??... TRY TO MOVE AWAY FROM YOUR POSITION!" Gareth shouted once again.

It's... It's a vine?? A tree vine??

Confusion took root within him as Gareth finally got a good look at the thing causing the massacre.

Heeding his words, everyone began moving frantically. Some chose random directions, some instinctively formed groups while running, and a large portion of the remaining students ran toward Gareth.

Nolan was one of them... but before he could cover half the distance, the boy in front of him was attacked by the vines. 

Shit...

Gritting his teeth, he stopped and began running in the completely opposite direction from the other students. He hadn't noticed it yet, but he was the only one heading that way.

Shit...

As he was running, the meaning of what had just happened came crashing down on him, and Nolan's body began to shudder. The emotions pent up inside him erupted as tears began to fall from his eyes.

He couldn't understand what was happening... nor did he have any time to.

It was difficult to run in the mud... but still, he ran. Nolan ran with all the strength his body could summon.

Somehow, against all odds, he could see the edge of the forest in front of him.

Seeing hope in the distance, the adrenaline supporting his body faded, and a wave of weakness overwhelmed Nolan. Dropping down, he once again found himself kneeling.

He tried to move his body, but it wouldn't listen to him...

Nooo... Nooo, not here… A sense of dread overwhelmed him as the realization hit—he was about to pass out.

Finally, the last ounce of his energy was exhausted, and Nolan collapsed onto the ground. His eyes were about to close on their own when a light flashed in front of him.

Something whispered in his mind, but he couldn't make sense of what it was saying.

Squeezing out every bit of strength, he looked at the light in front of him and tried to understand it. He realized what had appeared before him. It was a message from someone, and it read...

[Child, What Do You Desire?]