“Hey guys, how’s it going? It’s me again! This time I thought I’d show you my favorite place for an evening jog. The forest paths here are really lovely. Whenever I’m super stressed about classes, I find being in nature really helps calm me down. We’re coming around the bend now and we’ve almost reached my favorite—ah! Hey, what are you—"

She never finishes her sentence as the phone is knocked to the ground. With the sounds of scuffling and Anna’s muffled cries, the video cuts out.

***

Finished with the deer, I wiped my bloodied hands and face on my clothes. Thankfully, they were dark enough to make bloodstains difficult to see. I returned my attention to Anna’s phone. After spending a lot of time absorbing as much information about this new world as I could, I decided to learn more about Anna. After some trial and error, I managed to navigate to her camera roll. Many of the pictures were of nature: a robin here, a newt there, a short video of a bee hovering around a flower. The remainder were shots of herself making silly faces and poses, often in the company of another human. Several featured her hugging a grinning young boy who bore a striking resemblance to her. Another frequent guest was a tall and thin male, with fair skin, green eyes, and messy light brown hair that stopped just above his brow line. This one often seemed like an unwilling participant in the photos.

There were also a few videos of her speaking excitedly to the camera. She would describe her day, tell an interesting story, or give advice about life in college. They reminded me of the videos I came across while first learning human language. Until I reached the most recent video.

It started out like the others, with a high energy greeting. She was running down a wooded path, speaking to the camera as the sun set behind her, when she was cut off by the thump of her phone hitting the ground. It ended with the sounds of a struggle, her distant, muffled screams, and then eerie silence as a gloved hand reached for the phone and stopped the recording. I felt a chill down my spine and subconsciously placed a hand on my neck, where the strangulation marks used to be. These were Anna’s last moments.

I watched the video again and again, trying to glean any sort of clue about the identity of the culprit. But other than the nondescript black glove, there were no identifying features. I was on my sixth playback when the phone’s battery ran out. It had been foolish of me to ignore the low power warnings, but I was determined to find out more about Anna’s death. Now, I was cut off from my only source of information about Anna or this unfamiliar world, and I was no closer to finding the truth.

I searched my other pockets, finding Anna’s keys and wallet. Like her phone, it was decorated in pastel-colored flowers. Inside were a few bills of currency and several plastic cards. One contained her picture, name, and academic year: Annalise Tran, freshman. Another had a string of numbers, with ‘DEBIT CARD’ printed across the top. I knew humans considered these things valuable, and that some were even willing to violently seize them from others, yet Anna’s belongings were left untouched. This wasn’t a robbery gone wrong. As far as I could tell, only her life had been taken.

Unable to deduce anything further, I put everything away and began walking through the forest, hoping to find a way out. Though I had excellent night vision, I had no idea where to go. Once again, I cursed myself for being careless with the one lifeline I had. Eventually, I came upon a dirt trail and began to follow it. I walked and walked, until the sun began to peek over the horizon. I had stopped for a moment to appreciate the stunning beauty of my first sunrise, when I heard the pounding of feet on the trail ahead of me.

His skin was somewhat pale, and coated with the sheen of sweat. He had an athletic build, with a well-toned abdomen and muscular arms and legs. His short black hair was styled and well-kept, even during a morning run. His cheeks were flushed, though that was probably from the exercise, and he looked quite shocked to see me. Yanking his headphones out and sprinting over to me, he shouted, “Anna?! I really didn’t expect to see you… out here… this early…”

Whoever he was, he clearly knew my body’s former owner. I couldn’t act clueless without raising suspicion.

“Hey there uh… you,” I managed to squeak out. Not an ideal greeting, but I didn’t have much to work with.

“You?” He seemed a bit hurt.

“Sorry… John?” I knew it was common name, but the odds weren’t in my favor.

“It’s uh… Josh actually. Josh Chen, the guy that sits behind you in physics lecture? I figured you at least knew my name…” His eyes darted downward as he scratched the back of his neck. “Anyway, what are you doing all the way out here at 4 AM? You were always complaining about 9 AM classes being too early…”

I had to think fast. “Oh, I uh… couldn’t sleep last night. So…” I thought back to Anna’s last video. “…so I went for a jog to destress. But it got really dark, and I couldn’t find my way back.”

He didn’t buy it so easily. “You got lost? But don’t you have your phone on you? You could’ve just used GPS.”

“Yeah, I was going to use… that, but my phone ran out of battery.” It was the first truth I’d told so far. Well, half-truth. I didn’t actually know what GPS was yet.

He still didn’t look convinced, but he mercifully dropped the matter. “OK, well I guess it’s pretty lucky we ran into each other. I can take you home. You live in Whitmore building, second floor, right?”

“Yes…” I made a mental note of that: Whitmore second floor. Thank you, Josh Chen.

“Cool, I was just finishing my run anyway. Let’s get you home, you look exhausted.”

I was. Social interaction was harder than I expected.