《After the Fall. (Book 1 of the Shardfall Saga)》 Part 1 Part 1 ¡°No one knows where it came from and why it had to hit our planet out of all the millions of places in the universe, but it did. There was no going back to before. A meteor came crashing into our unprepared Earth and we were suffering for it. When the meteor crashed the world was sent into shock. Tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, blizzards, and thunderstorms. Everywhere was affected by sudden weather changes that destroyed everything in their paths. Global terrain changed entirely. The worst part came later though. As the meteor stayed in the crust, it infected the very environment of the planet. A normal piece of grass soon became capable of doing the extraordinary. Magic. Sadly though, the change wasn¡¯t just limited to everyday objects. It didn¡¯t take long for people, animals, and just about everything to end up being changed down to a molecular level. A normal salaryman turned into an orge. A dog growing two more heads and now capable of breathing fire. Magic went from fantasy novels and tv shows to something of an everyday occurrence. Something in the meteor changed us and there was no choice but to try and live with it, if only to survive another day.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. - A quote from a survivor¡¯s journal PROLOGUE - A Wish so Small PROLOGUE - A Wish so Small High in the air on one of the tallest mountains around, a boy, just barely into the changes of manhood, sat upon a bench. One could tell he was of asian descent by the slant to his eyes as well as the roundness to his cheeks. His pallor of skin porcelain with an almost golden glow shining underneath. His hair and eyes were also a shade of black so deep there was no doubt about his origin. Beside him sat only a single item. A neat box wrapped in bright, shiny green paper with a golden bow fluffed to perfection. Clearly packed with such care and attention a person would only give to someone they love. It¡¯s cheerful appearance in direct contrast to the forlorn expression on the boy¡¯s face. The tilt of his face perfectly angled to the sky in full preparation for the meteor shower he knew was going to happen that night. A single glance not spared to the present beside his thigh. His focus entirely on the sky where a single meteor started its journey across, the start of the shower.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He hadn¡¯t really given much thought to it at the time. Only a flash of light across the sky. A meteor burning through the atmosphere only to be crumbled into nothing as it crashed into the earth¡¯s crust. That¡¯s all a meteor had ever been in his, now, 17 years of life. But then again...At the moment, he hadn¡¯t really thought about much. To him, his world had just ended. There wasn¡¯t much else on his mind but one event. Replaying over and over, like a broken record. Never would he have guessed that more than one thing changed permanently that night. His small wish hidden in his heart fulfilled, even in the twisted form that it had become. ¡°I wish the world would just end.¡± CHAPTER 1 - Dreaming CHAPTER 1 - Dreaming It happened again. He felt the pull of it as it dragged him deeper within himself, to a place he never knew existed. Or wanted to admit could be a part of him. It always caught him at his most vulnerable moments, when he had just started to fall into a deep abyssal sleep. His black of a dream quickly changed into something more. Something almost primal.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The sensation almost foreign to him as he had not felt anything similiar to it since before the fall. Not since everything turned to shit. Feelings he was unable to describe took over and rewrote his whole being, which bubbled through his bleak and monochromatic self coloring it shades of color not there before. And try as he might to fight it, nothing helped. He had become someone else entirely, someone leagues away. His only solace being in the fact he knew he¡¯d wake up. That an end would come and he wouldn¡¯t have to be her much longer. CHAPTER 2 - Massacre at the Mountain鈥檚 Base CHAPTER 2 - Massacre at the Mountain¡¯s Base A shriek rang out and resounded within everyone¡¯s minds. A demented cross between a newborn babe and a horse¡¯s neigh. Even as the echoes slowly died out, they all could tell what it meant. It meant they were screwed, big time. Somehow the beasts had found them. The original group of over a hundred had been whittled down to just twenty strong just to meet their end today. At the base of the once Appalachian Mountains, death would come to them in the form of grotesque monsters. The monsters stood a good two heads taller than even the tallest in the group, who had hit six foot five. Rough, mangy fur covered every inch of the creatures that only split where jagged spikes jutted out like swords. Eight legs covered in a bug¡¯s exoskeleton met the body of the almost horse torsos. The worst part of the creatures though were their eyes. A kaleidoscope of hexagons that shined from within. A dark essence seeped through and fogged around their faces. One terrible look from the beasts caused stiff legs and an immediate seizing up of limbs. Of course none of this affected her. In fact, the looks of fear upon everyone¡¯s faces actually brought a smile to her own. She almost couldn¡¯t hold back the laughter which threatened to explode out. Her grin about to break her small oval shaped face. Even the purple within her hair seemed to glow just a bit more than it had a minute ago. Was this her chance? But no, she couldn¡¯t help but think the scene before her was too sad. The group composed of well traveled men and women shaking in their boots, and all it took was a measly pairing of grotesques to show up.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Couldn¡¯t they remember that the low number of beasts was the exact reason they had chosen to go this path at night? They¡¯d all heard the horrors of swarms of horned creatures which attacked from the sky in the morning. Unicorns, they called them. The thought too hilarious to really believe. Of course they also knew full well that even if they wanted to go in the morning the vast majority of them would die doing so. Even she would be included in that number, not by choice but by consequence. The damned makeup of her new body. It wasn¡¯t all bad especially considering- Ugh, how irritating. Can¡¯t these guys do anything but scream? If they don¡¯t shut up soon it¡¯ll be their fault if I end up unable to hold myself back. A good minute of screaming continued on as the grotesques bit into the flesh of the nearest vict- travelers. The group losing more and more of their numbers until eventually, Oh well, it can¡¯t be helped. If. I. Just. Let. Loose. Right? A small head tilt rolled as the last word went through her mind. Before the word even finished, a large weapon appeared out of nowhere into her hands. Upon one side was a large warhammer which was impossibly balanced out by a scythe on the other end. Where the two parts came together was a spears head. The weapon¡¯s grip perfectly fit within the nooks of her hands. It¡¯s weight fell just in time with each swing as she then proceeded to ¡®let loose¡¯ upon the crowd. She never stopped moving for even a second as flashes of red splattered around her. A swing of her arms here. A thrust there. And when she was feeling especially ¡®loose¡¯, a smash. And then another. And another. And another, until eventually she was fully immersed in the feeling. A laughter eventually woke her from her stupor. ¡°Who dares to laugh in my presence?¡± she hissed out. Only noticing that after she asked the coward stopped. In the end, she walked off without a single glance at the mess she left behind. All in order to find the disrespectful voice from before, not once thinking the voice might have been her own. CHAPTER 3 - Just a Dream? CHAPTER 3 - Just a Dream? Her laughter, it built up like a wave until it eventually crashed down to the shore, cascading within the surroundings. The terrible surroundings. Blood. Thrown limbs. Hacked bits everywhere. By the time she was done there was nothing left alive. Nothing at all. How such a thin frame had the power to swing such a massive weapon, he could never figure out. He had his suspicions, but would rather not confirm them. By the time he woke up, the smell of the gore permanently cemented itself into his soul. A cold sweat fevered his body. Nothing good ever came of sleeping out here in the open and no good ever came of dreaming about her, but that never stopped him, now did it? It¡¯s just how the world had become. Ridge hated when he dreamt about her. The feel of her. Being touched by the emotions she had. He could never understand them. Even after months of watching her from within. In fact, it just strengthened the almost instinctive dislike. Which for all he knew, could actually be instinctive. Ridge really didn¡¯t know much about his new race at all. In fact, he knew next to nothing. He could feel, more than tell, that his amber eyes were a sign of his race along with the purple tips on his otherwise snow white head of hair. Even his dreams felt natural, no matter how much he thought it should be odd that he dreamt every single day of her. Always her, without fail. Feeling anger, disgust, and loathe as he was to admit it, wholeness. Otherwise, he seemed almost the same as a regular human. Minus his odd coloring and the heat which radiated from his skin, melting the snow that fell upon him almost immediately. And his ability to form objects out of thin air, but truly that was nothing. Especially when you took into account the two he traveled with. Originally they had been two innocent children, but now their appearances showed just what this apocalypse did. Corrupt. They had become what old folktales and legends had described as harpies. Winged arms. Talons for feet. Hair composed of feathers. Sharp jagged teeth hidden in a wide set jaw. Gone were their previous appearances. All that was left was a body designed to be a weapon. His ability to poof things into existence paled in comparison to the tornadoes the two could conjure. Something within the Meteor that had crashed into the Earth caused everything to change. From the sky to the ground beneath their feet. Morphing all kinds of beings from the once normal living things of the world. Not a blade of grass wasn¡¯t affected. Every human and animal changed. Whether it was a minute detail or a total reworking of their biology. It was at this moment that a rustling caught his attention. The older of the two, Sef, began to awaken. His tea green eyes opened to the morning light. ¡°Good Morning!¡± He chirped happily when he noticed that he didn¡¯t wake up alone. His happiness quickly faded when he spotted the furrow of eyebrows pushed together upon Ridge¡¯s face. ¡°Had another bad dream?¡± A sigh the only reply until Sef¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡®A proper response or else¡¯, it said. ¡°I guess you could call it that.¡± ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± For someone who had yet to even turn 15, he sure knew how to give ¡®the look¡¯. Of course it had almost been four whole months since the world changed forever. Meteor be damned. ¡°Do I ever?¡± Of course Sef knew that he never talked about his dreams with anyone. But that never seemed to stop his ever persistent askings. ¡°It could help, you know that, Ridge.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Of course the talking stopped immediately once they noticed the breathing of their third companion shifting. It seemed that the youngest of their trio had attempted to spy on their conversation. ¡°Awwww. You guys are no fun! Couldn¡¯t you have pretended a little bit longer! I was really curious as to where the conversation would go!¡± ¡°Phenna. You know that it''s rude to try and listen in on other people¡¯s conversations.¡± ¡°Meanie brother! I can¡¯t help it when you¡¯re talking about such juicy stuff.¡± Juicy? Since when had nightmares turn into a juicy topic to discuss? Ridge couldn¡¯t help but let out a little exasperated sigh at the weird thoughts of the twelve year old. ¡°And you too Ridge! Why won¡¯t you just tell us what you keep dreaming about! Come on! Just tell us already! We haven¡¯t been traveling together for the last month and a half for nothing you know. I almost consider you more a brother than this dweeb!¡± ¡°That¡¯s rude!¡± Both Ridge and Sef couldn¡¯t help but let out together. ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s right! But it¡¯s true! So tell us! Pwease~¡± At the end, she pulled out her trump card. Her already wide eyes bubbling up and glistening around the edges. Lips pulled up into a small pout. Her hands then tipped the breaking point as they reached out and tugged the edge of his hoodie as she aimed her puppy eyes at him.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. How can a little girl possibly be this cute. Almost as cute as- No. Girls were existences that held terrible thoughts beneath their sugar coated appearances. He wouldn¡¯t let himself be deceived by her sculpted actions. He reached down and gently peeled her fingers from his hoodie. ¡°Phenna. Stop. You know by now I won¡¯t tell you, so stop playing such tricks on me.¡± This time real tears started to spill out of her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away before they ever had a chance to fall. She then turned on her back claw, racing off into the distance. She then stopped only once to yell back, ¡°Come on guys lets get going! We still have a long way to go!¡± With that the two could only pass a look between each other as they both also started their way forward. Sef ran forward and matched pace with his sister as Ridge fell into place at the rear.
They kept walking until they hit a nice spot by a small creek around noon. By this point Phenna cheered up enough, seemingly having forgotten the morning''s incident. When she came upon the creek, her eyes sparkled from the joy. It had been a while since they had last come upon such a clear stream. Most of the water they had come across seemed to flash different lights depending on how the sun hit them, ranging from a cool aqua to an almost radioactive yellow. This never bode well with the group after they had once tried drinking from one that only looked a light blue near the beginning of their trip. Both Phenna and Sef having fallen ill for at least a week. It took them a few more days to even build back up their strength and have their walking speed come back. Even looking at this seemingly normal creek caused the two males to remember the incident. Only Phenna looked on with childlike wonder, linking it to better days. Of playing by a stream and peering in at the little fishies below with her mother and father just a few feet away. And of days when she didn¡¯t have to fear for her life. But of course that was all in the past, and even Phenna wouldn¡¯t risk getting too close to the creek before Ridge checked to make sure it was safe to drink. Ridge was the only one who didn¡¯t get sick from the water. None of them really knew why, but the nauseous vomiting and odd color the two turned never touched him, let alone a stomachache. That being said, Ridge inched closer to the water. Sef ready to throw some wind if anything nasty were to pop up. Almost anticlimactically, nothing happened. Ridge bent down and cupped his hand down near the bottom of the water. One long gulp, rolling the liquid lightly on his tongue. After a good gurgle, he confirmed that the water didn¡¯t seem to have any of the unusual tastes they associated with poisoned water. Of course, they gave it a good 10 minutes to see if even their most hearty formed a stomachache. Once nothing happened, the other two then came to the creek and drank their full. Only stopping to fill the contents of their water bottles. ¡°Pwaahhh. This water tastes delicious~¡± ¡°Calm down Phenna. Though I do have to agree, it¡¯s rare nowadays to find such nice water. I wonder how such a stream stayed so clean, especially so far in the wild.¡± Once he said that, Sef looked toward Ridge. ¡°Can you possibly think of any reasons as to why?¡± After trying to come up with a reason for a while, ¡°No, I really can¡¯t think of one. Maybe we should stay here a little longer to try and find out? I mean it would be kind of convenient to be able to drink actually good for you water without having to use me as a guinea pig to ¡®test the waters¡¯ every time. But then again none of us are really very, how should I put it, um fit for the job. Because I know none of us were any scientists or something like that before the fall.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re definitely right about that!¡± Sef can¡¯t help but laugh at the concept of any of them being a scientist. How would an twelve, fourteen, or seventeen year old manage to even become one? ¡°Maybe it¡¯s cause we¡¯re in Canada?¡± Phenna couldn¡¯t help but say. Everyone laughed at that. A good round of giggles and snickers at the concept of the water being in good ole Canada that made the water drinkable. ¡°Cause even the water in Canada is nicer than in America.¡± Phenna finished. A wry smile comes upon Ridge¡¯s at the response. ¡°Well enough of that, let¡¯s get back on our way then. It¡¯s still a few weeks more travel until we get to the Sanctuary.¡± Phenna complained out loud at that. ¡°Really? It¡¯s still that long? It feels like we¡¯ve walked enough to have made it there and back to- well there and back.¡± Her pout from this morning came back in full shine. ¡°Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well if someone didn¡¯t get sick we might have possibly been able to see it within this week.¡± He knew it was a little cheap to be calling it her fault. If anything, the responsibility fell more on him as the group looked to him as the leader. When he saw the off kilter color of the water, he should have stopped either one from drinking it. But none of them by that point had experienced anything of the like as they never left the compound on their own. And even when they did, it was never too far or for too long. So truly it was his fault. He was the one who had traveled before, but then again¡­ when he drank the water, he never got sick. So he never really had to think about whether water could make someone sick or not. Maybe it couldn¡¯t really be called any of their faults. The damn meteor is what¡¯s really at fault. He especially felt bad when he saw that his comment brought tears once more to her once dry eyes. ¡°Damn it. You know I didn¡¯t mean that. I¡¯m just being my normal grumpy self, so just ignore anything that happens to come out of these lips. It wasn''t anyone''s fault but the meteor that caused all this. Don¡¯t let anyone say otherwise, including my insensitive self.¡± The tears in her eyes stopped at that and he swore he saw them retract in like they never even happened. ¡°Hmph. That¡¯s what I thought. Meanie~¡± The girl trilled off the last e, causing the word to sound more like birdsong than speech. It¡¯s note bouncing off the water and into the trees lining the surrounding area. ¡°Yes. Yes. I¡¯m a meanie and don¡¯t I know it.¡± He couldn¡¯t help but agree to her point. Their journey together didn¡¯t speak of much else. Social etiquette, a skill he could not claim as his own. Everything he said seemed to either be interpreted as irritated or actually was. Even when he apologized, it sounded like he spoke it without really meaning it. Anything that came out had a sort of deadpan, not interested tone. He wouldn¡¯t change his ways though, it was just who he was now. Nothing would change that, he¡¯d never go back to his former self. Even if he could. No matter how little he knew about this new self. But hey at least there was one positive thing, he had the rest of his life to figure out what he could do. Though what really mattered right now was to start back up on their journey. There¡¯s still a long way to go. CHAPTER 4 - A Long Way to Go CHAPTER 4 - A Long Way to Go By the time night rolled around, miles had passed beneath their feet. Luckily before the sun set they found their way into the streets of what once was a town. They could tell that before everything went to hell, the streets might have even been considered nice to look at with its houses laying by the river and red roofs glowing in the last of the day¡¯s light. Sure some houses looked better than the others and reverse, but that was the standard from before. After months of abandon though, all the houses took on a more worn down look. Plants grew through many of the buildings, covering everything with a green so large it seemed almost impossible. Some of the plants more trees as they broke through the very bricks composing the houses, seizing entire buildings in some places and leaving very few places alone. But for their purposes, just finding one ¡®good¡¯ house was enough. It took them a few streets, but they found one decent enough for their not so high standards. They haven¡¯t been ¡®roughing it¡¯ in the wild for the past few months only to be picky over their choice of cover for the night. At the end of the street, they had a view of the entire street and could use one of the windows from the second floor to watch anything coming from the street. Even better, the house had its back against the river, so that took care of one of the angles they had to worry about. As the river was deep enough that only the strongest of swimmer could make it through and even then they would probably need assistance either through magic or superior strength coming from their race. The house itself happened to be mostly held together with very few plants breaking any of the previous contents of the building. Out of habit, it became his job to be the first to have first watch so Ridge let his thoughts wander to the state of the current world and their luck. In fact, the house, even with its holes in the roof and partly rotten floorboards, would rank quite high on the list of places they¡¯ve had to spend the night. Especially when you took into account that they travelled through some of the worst hit places on the west coast. New York being hit by raids of centaur like beings except instead of being horses; they seemed to be more composed of a haphazard amount of creatures. Rumours saying they were formed from the mixture of both the people visiting the zoos and the animals living there. Boston became a tundra where the sea creatures became able to walk the earth. They didn¡¯t travel through Philadelphia but they did witness some of the survivors who looked no more than empty shells walking more by instinct to get away than anything. No matter how much they tried to ask, they never answered their questions as to what happened. Plus even some of the more ¡®small¡¯ cities such as Reading were hit. As the group actually came from that area, that fact hit them the hardest. Especially when you took into account what happened. No one wanted to become the next City of the Silent. Of course not every city was destroyed in the aftermath of the Fall. Some were destroyed by bandits or crumbled because they couldn¡¯t handle the amount of refugees. A few though thrived. The turmoil actually brought people together, what did it matter that our races changed? In fact that made it easier to tell who was truly your friend. If they still stayed your friend even after you transformed into a two ton ogre when they were a pint sized fairy, what better proved that? And in this day and age having that was what really mattered. You never knew when a monster might pop out ready to eat you to survive another day and having someone you could truly trust with your back helped your chances of seeing tomorrow. And even a thousandth of an increase of survival was greatly appreciated. And while Ridge refused to voice it out loud, he was happy to have Sef and Phenna by his side. Even if they could be annoying at times, he enjoyed everyday with them. It really was more amusing and entertaining than the days he spent alone with only his thoughts and dreams to keep him company. Of course, at the moment his thoughts turned soft, both because of the later hours in the day and affection for the siblings, he could feel himself falling asleep. A draw to go to bed that blanketed him in tiredness. He willed himself to stay awake for the rest of the time of his watch, his eyes growing heavier with the passing minutes. Trying to make plans for the next day or goals for the future but even that didn¡¯t help in keeping him awake. Thankfully his replacement was skilled in waking up with impeccable timing. Ridge barely kept standing as he looked through the windows, only to feel a tap on him shoulder from the slightly shorter young man. ¡°It¡¯s my turn to watch, go to sleep Ridge.¡± As he rubbed his eyes, Sef shoved Ridge in the direction of where he had just gotten up from. Ridge didn¡¯t put too much protest in the act and raised his hand slightly in acknowledgement to Sef¡¯s comment. It didn¡¯t take long for his exhausted body to succumb to the throes of sleep. As he fell deeper and deeper, he soon felt the familiar tug that brought him to her, letting it come and hoping it wouldn¡¯t last long this time. (After this point the gore starts to come into play. Ifyou have a weak stomach start back reading after the next horizontal line.)
Ugh! Finally it was time for the moon to rise and for night to come out. She only ever truly felt comfortable with sunlight when it was reflected off on the moon. Maybe that had something to do with her new race? She couldn¡¯t help but let the thought slip. It was probably true though, a lot had changed with her new body. And not much about it she could say she actually really disliked. In fact, most of it, she loved. She only hated a little bit but she didn¡¯t like to think about those parts much so she decided to throw it from her mind.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Her new self was just so interesting! Ever since she found out she could do things she couldn¡¯t in her old body, she spent most of the time experimenting with it. except when she was letting loose of course. She¡¯s tried a lot of things in the few months time she¡¯s had with her new body. Drowned herself by tying huge rocks to her legs and jumping into a lake. Chopped off her own head. Bled herself out like a pig. Walked into a large pyre that she used fuel to accelerate. Jumped off a several story building and splatted herself all over the pavement. She¡¯s even tried poisoning herself with both an overdose of medication and plants like hemlock or nightshade. It¡¯s been both a busy and interesting time. Her more recent experiment had been going good as well she thought. She hadn¡¯t consumed a single drop of water or ounce of food for several weeks now. It gave a slight bit of discomfort in her stomach but that really didn¡¯t affect her much. If she didn¡¯t know any better, she¡¯d fancy herself immortal. But then again, not being able to die by natural means is a form of it right? The thought almost made her giggle. Her immortal. That didn¡¯t sound too bad. For her at least, the rest of the world might not like it. Especially because she planned to use all her personal experience. Just the thought gave her a tingle. Her favorite past time other that experimenting on herself was experimenting on other people you know? She couldn¡¯t help but think that the best way to tell how to inflict pain on others was to experience it herself, right? Yeah. And that¡¯s why she couldn¡¯t help but hurt herself in all different kinds of fun and exciting ways. Really how else would you know what it felt like to rip out someone¡¯s intestines and then force feed it to them? Torture isn¡¯t torture unless it lasting and incredible. It¡¯s got to be impressionable so that the person would never forget it, even after they reincarnate. Too bad she never stayed too long in one place. Then she¡¯d really be able to have fun. Oh well, she¡¯s just going to have to satisfy herself with her latest ¡®experiment¡¯. She had caught the little bugger after leaving the party of travelers yesterday. She gave him extra special care, he was the one who must have been laughing at her right? No one else had been anywhere near the site after all, not in a several mile radius at least. So she made her knife appear only to make small, almost miniscule, cuts on the boy¡¯s flesh. Paper thin pieces of skin flaking off as she cut more and more. She went layer by layer of the boy¡¯s skin, almost peeling it back like an onion. A giant bleeding onion that can talk, well more like yell. The best part of it though came in his screams which almost mirrored the sound of his previous laughter. Sadly, it did start to sound more hoarse as her slicing continued. By the time his skin came entirely off, she let him have a small break. Where she poured water down his throat and even force feed him. It wouldn¡¯t do to have him die on us now would it? After giving him his food and water, she grabbed a few nearby creatures and flowed their lifeforce into her current experiment. His blood stopped its flow almost completely and a tiny little bit of skin regrew. Ah. Ever since I found out I could do this, my experiments have been lasting a lot longer. Hmmm now where should be the next place to hurt? Ahh, yes. There. With that she brought the blade to behind one of the boy¡¯s eyes and just shimmied the blade a little which caused it pop right out. After the first one left his eye socket, the second one followed shortly after. The optic nerve still completely attached and left to dangle from his head. She decided that moving anywhere was completely less important than having fun with her experiment. She didn¡¯t have a destination to get to anyway, so she couldn¡¯t help but prioritize her own enjoyment. And that¡¯s why, she spent the entire rest of the night playing around with young blonde haired boy. No other possible reasons could possibly come to her mind of course, other than the whole ¡®laughing at her¡¯ thing. She couldn¡¯t help but smile the entire time as she laid out her knife on the poor boy. Leaving him alone only after she finally had enough ¡®fun¡¯ and let him die out.
(Quick, my child run here to safety. The gore is over, it''ll be okay. Anyways if you skipped it read this spoiler afterword and I''ll give you a quick summary of what happened.) Spoiler : So, do you remember that crazy chick from chapter 2? She''s back because our nice protaganist Ridge started to dream about her again. In this dream, she talks about how she experimented during the few months she''s been around by trying to kill herself, as she puts it, in ''fun and exciting'' ways. She also explains that her favorite past time is to take these experiments and then force them on unsuspecting bystanders. In other words, she enjoys torturing people. She then proceeds to ''experiment'' on a poor young blonde boy she found nearby (blaming him for the laughter at the end of chapter 2) until the sun comes up. Oh and yes, she''s good at the whole torture thing but to ''make them last'' she uses her ability to transfer lifeforce from other creatures into her victims. That just about summarizes the whole thing. Hope it didn''t cause you to vom. It was at the moment that the sun passed over the horizon, Ridge opened his eyes again. Bleary with tears that he quickly wiped away to prevent the two from seeing. It wouldn''t do to have them see him cry, then they¡¯d ask him what happened and he¡¯d rather not share that part of his life. Afterall, who would want to travel with someone who dreamed about being a homicidal freak? He certainly wouldn¡¯t. He straightened himself up by flattening his clothes out and ruffling his hair a little. Once he got himself at least presentable by his standards, which wasn¡¯t much, he went over to check his companions only to find them gone. They didn¡¯t figure it out right? I didn¡¯t talk in my sleep or something? Please. The last word more a plea in his mind than anything. He only relaxed when he heard movement off in the room to the right of the one they slept in. Which once he looked in, he saw him companions as they were preparing their daily meals. He happily noted the fact of there being three meals. Only once he noticed that they didn¡¯t move to greet him, did he notice something as wrong.