Entangled in a web of increasingly baseless thoughts, Will continued to search--desperately, restlessly--for a way out of this hellhole of a castle.
It took him a while.
The twisting stone corridors stretched on like a maze carved into the bones of the earth, but eventually, after what felt like hours or perhaps days--time had become strange here--he finally managed to find what looked like a path leading outside.
But the way was far from comforting.
Along his route, Will came across countless corpses. Bodies scattered like discarded puppets across the cold, unforgiving stone. Each time his eyes fell upon another lifeless form, a dry tightness crept up his throat. His mouth, his tongue, even his soul felt parched. Something inside him recoiled with every step.
And yet, something was wrong.
More wrong than the mere presence of death was there nothing, no blood, nor any corpese have any wound.
What unsettled Will the most was that none of the corpses looked like they had resisted. Not a single one had signs of struggle, of fear, of panic etched into their final moments.
They looked… obedient. Willing.
"It's as if someone told them to die," Will murmured to himself, cold dread blossoming in his chest, "and they just… listened."
At first, he had thought he might've been kidnapped by some cult--Illuminati, or one of those faceless, nameless organizations whispered about in conspiracy forums. But now?
Now it felt deeper. Older. Worse.
Eventually, after wandering down winding staircases and across cracked halls lined with statues whose eyes followed him, Will found himself in the courtyard of the castle. And there, standing beneath a massive gate of iron and black stone, he realized he had finally found the exit.
The gate was shut--but not in a way that seemed entirely secure. With a bit of force, some struggle and willpower, it could probably be opened.
But then he noticed a smaller door built into the massive frame--a side gate of sorts.
Without hesitation, Will opted for the easier route and slipped through the small door.
And that's when he saw it.
The world beyond.
The very first thing his eyes fell upon was a lake--an enormous body of water, easily the size of a football field, stretching out just beyond the castle walls. Its still surface shimmered like liquid silver beneath the night sky. Beyond that, only dense forests and darkness awaited. No signs of civilization. No torches, no stars. Just… endless wild.
Will sighed deeply, rubbing his temples.
"Ahead lies the abyss. Behind, the nightmare. What a lovely fate I've found myself in."
He knew, with a certainty born of instinct, that he couldn't go into the forest. Not yet. But he also couldn't bring himself to stay in the haunted ruin of a castle, either.
So, hesitantly, he approached the lake.
The sky above caught his attention--something about it was off. The moon hung unusually large, looming like a silent god, casting a cold silver light across the water's surface. And there were no stars. Not even one. Just that single, watching moon.
The lake, in turn, mirrored the moon perfectly--so precisely that the entire shoreline glowed with a faint silvery hue, like a forgotten realm trapped in reflection.
"Damn it," Will muttered, "if only I had my phone… I'd take a picture of this."
reaching to the shore of the lake he crouched down at the edge of the lake and leaned in to see his reflection.
And froze.
The face staring back at him was not his own.
Not entirely.
It was… too beautiful. Too delicate. Not the rough, worn features he remembered, but the soft, refined face of someone else. A young man--not a boy, but not quite a man either--with strikingly deep blue eyes that looked back at him with confusen.
Startled, Will stumbled backward, his boots catching on uneven stones. He fell hard, landing flat on his back with a grunt.
"What the hell was that?! That's not… that's not my face!"
He scrambled to his knees, pressing trembling hands to his cheeks, tracing the unfamiliar shape of his jaw, his lips, his cheekbones. Everything felt… wrong.
Reaching up, he pulled a lock of his hair into view.
Gone were the coarse black strands he remembered. In their place were silky brown tresses, softer and lighter than they had any right to be.
Panic warred with disbelief as Will slowly returned to the water's edge, this time forcing himself to look.
And there was no doubt.
He had changed.
He had become someone else.
Confuse he babble without thinking "Finding yourself surrounded by dozens of corpses is a terrible way to start a day, So I guess waking up in someone else's body... that qualifies as an even worse one."
But before he could further dwell on his terrifying predicament, something shifted in the lake.
A strange sound rippled through the air--wet, unnatural.
Will felt it before he saw it. The surface of the water stirred, disturbed by something massive rising from its depths.
A silhouette--black, glistening--began to emerge from the lake, fast.
Will's heartbeat exploded in his chest.
No time to think. No time to scream.
He turned and ran.
Ran with everything he had, his legs pounding against the dirt, his breath tearing out of him in sharp, panicked bursts.
Behind him, he heard the splashing of water, followed by the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps--too heavy, too close.
He didn't dare look back.
Will threw himself through the side gate of the castle, barely managing to jump through in time. The moment he did, something massive swept through the air above him, slicing the wind apart.
And then he saw it.
Standing just ahead of him.
A monster.
Not a beast--not merely an animal. But a grotesque fusion of wolf and something far more alien. Its limbs were twisted, its frame unnaturally lean and long, and its eyes… its eyes glowed like dying stars as they locked onto his.
Will swallowed hard, his throat dry like ash, as sweat began to pour from his scalp.
For a long, endless moment, man and monster stared at each other--neither moving.
Both waiting.
Both listening.
For who would make the first move.