Mike had great parents, supportive, steady, and always there when life hit hard. They had given him encouragement during his lowest moments and treated Kelsey with more love than he could have ever asked for.
And yet, the last memory he had before waking up in this hellhole was a stupid argument with his dad.
He was just trying to help. Just giving me advice.
I snapped at him for lecturing me, and I haven't talked to him in over a week. Now I might never get the chance to say I'm sorry for being an asshole.
I have to get out of here. I need to see my family. I will keep pressing forward, looking for clues, anything that might tell me why I'm here.
And I need to keep growing if I want to stay alive.
Mike planned his next move, then tried to sleep, surrounded by forest noises and a mind swarming with regret.
Morning came without incident. No predators. No dreams. Just the cold clarity of survival.
Mike left the cave and moved cautiously through the woods. He encountered no major threats, only a few smaller deer that he managed to kill quickly. After hours of travel, the sea of trees began to thin. He stepped carefully to the edge of a wide clearing.
Peeking from behind a tree, he spotted mountains in the distance, jagged ridgelines dotted with rocky outcrops. Below them, fields of grass swayed in the wind like a living sea.
Off to the right, across a nearby hill, something caught his eye: a half-dome-shaped structure. It looked like a stone formation or maybe a ruined building.
Intrigued, Mike decided to investigate.
As he made his way through the grass, a few grey lizards scattered at the sight of him. He didn't bother chasing them. He wanted to reach the dome as soon as possible.
Reaching the hilltop, he finally got a clear view: the dome was made of old, weathered stone, half-collapsed and overgrown with vines and moss. Fallen columns from what might have once been outer walls lay scattered on the ground. Cracks filled with weeds and creeping plants spread across the worn stone beneath his claws.
Mike approached with caution, watching for any signs of life. When he was sure no creatures were using it as shelter, he stepped inside.
Within the structure, he found a massive ring of statues encircling the inner dome. Some were human. Others looked alien, half-human, half-creature. Strange symbols were carved beneath each figure, but one in particular drew his focus.
Among the tallest statues stood a dragon, majestic, wings folded at its side. Unlike the others, it was flawless. Not chipped, not weathered. Its scales gleamed with immaculate detail, as though carved yesterday.
Why is this one perfect? he wondered. Could this be connected to why I'm here?
He circled the statues, searching for answers, until he found a partially intact room branching off to the side. Narrow beams of light pierced the cracked stone ceiling. The walls were still standing, and the space was large enough to accommodate further growth.
Mike decided to make it his shelter for now. Using his nose, he pushed some loose rocks toward the entrance, reinforcing it as best he could.
Then, without wasting time, he stepped back into the ruins to explore.
He spent the day examining every statue in the dome. Some were so eroded that he couldn't make out their features. Others reminded him of the Greek gods he'd studied back in school.
Nothing here makes sense, he thought.
What do these statues have in common? What connects them?
Always more questions. Never any answers. I have nothing to go on. No direction. No fucking clue why I'm here. Just more mysteries—and more things trying to kill me.
Frustrated, he gave up exploring just before nightfall. He hadn't uncovered any new information, but he had at least found shelter.
Days passed. Mike wandered the temple, trying to decipher the meaning of the symbols and the dragon statue. When he wasn't studying the ruins, he was hunting and killing anything he could to keep growing. Somewhere inside, he hoped that more growth might mean more answers.
But time was becoming his enemy.
He was beginning to wonder how long it would take for his family to give up.
How long before they believed he was dead?