A loud sound woke me up. As I picked myself off the ground and began to look around, I noticed a large stone behind me, the same one as before, in the cave. I tried to place my mind and see where exactly I had ended up, but not even the light from the stone brightened the room. I retrieved my phone from my coat, and flicked on the flashlight. There no signal but at least the flashlight still worked. As I tried to find a way out, my mind began swimming with thoughts... am I really in some other world?

I wandered for a while through the darkness, trying to obtain some sense of direction, when I started hearing disturbing voices surround me. Suddenly in the pathway ahead I saw two glowing eyes, emitting a long snarl. I tried backed up a little, but I tripped on the edge of a large gap in the ground. I began falling backward through a long downward tunnel, abruptly stopping at the middle, where it split off into multiple channels. I could see through one of the passageways light pouring through, it seemed to be the only way out. As I began quickly crawling towards the exit, the walls began closing in, the tunnel becoming smaller and smaller. I was glad at that moment I hadn’t decided to eat any junk food recently. I managed to squeeze through the exit, and I fell to the cold, stony ground. The sudden bright sunlight blinded my eyes. I was free from the maze of darkness. As I picked myself up, I noticed that the last fall had been broken by my bow, thus breaking it in half. I cursed with anger but there was nothing I could use to fix it.

I looked around and I saw that the hole was part of a large, ancient temple that seemed to be in the middle of a beautiful forest. I was sure I was somewhere else then; I’d never seen anything like it. I retrieved my broken bow from the ground, and I started down the stony stairs that led to the forest’s edge.

The forest was peaceful and kinda nice, but the pathway was heavily overgrown, as if no one had walked it in ages. I used my knife to cut away a new path, helping my progress through the brambles and bushes. I walked for some time, and the sun began dipping lower in the sky. Night was on its way. I realized that it would be hard to find Shaun here, he could be anywhere in this big world. I tried to keep an eye on where I’d gone already, so I wouldn’t get lost, but the fading sunlight made everything harder to see. The moon here wasn’t like the one at home, and it offered little help cutting through the darkness. It was larger and had a slight red hue to it. Pieces of the moon were broken off, floating in the sky, as if someone had crushed parts of it.

I gathered some sticks and made a small bonfire to keep myself warm through the night. I sat near it, letting my fatigue wash over me. I thought about the plan, where should I start looking, where he could be, how long I will be here? I laid down on the grass, watching the warm, bright colors of the fire dance around. It only took a few moments, and my vision darkened and blurred into restless dreams.

I’ve always had weird dreams, sometimes about my childhood, sometimes other things. Something I couldn’t explain however is that in all my dreams, Shaun was there. Close, yet still far away. This time around I could see nothing. Nothing but black space, no sound, just me in the middle of nowhere. I felt something like a thump on cold concrete. I felt death approaching me. I woke up, scared by the vision, the fire had died, making the night even darker than before. I didn't know how much time had passed, but I felt strong enough to keep going. After some ways, the woods opened, revealing a ruined town in a large clearing. Buildings was falling apart and most of the constructions were overgrown and taken by nature’s embrace. The sun began rising up past the horizon, lighting the way through this new discovery. Walking into the town I noticed a sign that read "Welcome to City of Sandyroler". I began to wonder what could have happened to create this abandoned town. Broken toys laid on the ground, shattered windows, fallen trees on buildings and a lonely, broken fountain at the end of the road right outside of the town limits. Whatever happened here, it happened a long time ago.

Suddenly I heard a scream, somewhere in the forest. Without thinking, I ran towards the noise with my knife ready in my hand. I peeked through a bush to see what caused the noise, and I saw a large black creature covered in large, strange veins. Across from the beast was a little girl trapped by ropes in the trees. She was trying to get out by quick movements but that just caused her to become even more entangled than before. I rushed through the bushes and attacked the creature from behind. As I drove my knife into it’s back, I could tell already that was a bad idea. I had just royally pissed it off. It struck back at me, knocking me backwards into a tree. My knife was still embedded in it’s back, and I was left with nothing to protect myself with. I wanted to get up, but the creature threw itself at me, knocking me back to the ground. I panicked and with my hand I tried to find something on the ground that would help me get up and past the beast, but it kept holding me down, squeezing me against the dirt. Unexpectedly the attacks stopped, and the creature slid off me, lifeless. I sighed with relief. I then noticed a woman standing before me, holding my knife in her hand. I tried to pick myself off the ground, but she rushed towards me and placed the knife to my throat.

- Who are you?! - She asked aggressively.

- I'm Joker... and uh... thanks for the help? – I didn’t know what she might do, or what might set her off, so I kept it to a minimum.

- What are you doing here?! - She was still questioning me while holding my knife dangerously closer on my throat.

- Thea, stop! He tried to help me! - The little girl screamed at her, still trapped in the ropes.

- Help? - She backed off, lifting the knife from my throat. - If he really wanted to help you then he failed... - She looked at me, dropping my knife to the ground.

- Failed? - I asked.

- You would have been eaten alive by him. - She laughed lightly while saying that. - Well... Perhaps if he had eaten you, he would have then left my sister alone. She leaned over me and gave me her hand to help me up. - So, I guess... thanks! - She said with little smile. I grabbed my knife off the ground as she helped her sister to get out from the ropes. I checked the creature, just to make sure it was dead.

- What is that even? - I asked with curiosity.

- That? - She pointed on it. - It's Thomas I think... poor man.

- What? That thing.... was a person before? She looked at me with surprise on her face. She approached me, peering into my eyes. - You are not from here... are you? - She asked quietly. Without waiting for my answer, she grabbed her sister’s hand and started walking away.

- You better go back to where you came from... you won't find anything good here.

- Wait! – I shouted.

I tried stopping her, but she and the little girl disappeared into the forest, leaving me alone with her warning.