[M] 'Hunted' IC

[kagomri]

"D-Don't touch me."

She flinched as if she's been slapped across the cheek.
Immediately, Jason regretted his reaction. He wanted to say 'I'm sorry' but he couldn't find his voice. He doesn't talk to strangers, nonetheless ghosts. His friends tells him he was too soft, too apologetic, too sympathetic. But Sarah says nothing. Instead she kisses him on the cheek, as if words weren't capable of describing his actions. In all honestly he couldn't take the look of helplessness and hurt in anyone. It'd be cruel to let them be. He couldn't help but be a total sweetheart.


“I-… I don’t mean harm…”
Her hands extended out shakily as if she was opening up to him. Fear gripped him.
Slowly and ever so slightly did he reaches out his arm towards her, cringing when their skin sinks mistily into one another. Their touch turns into smoke that drifted into the air, as if evaporating. A chill goes up his spine as he slowly pulls away.


"Christmas is beautiful." Sarah said, entwining her fingers in his. She turned around and
gives him her most cheerful smile, showing perfect content. One came so rarely after her younger brother passed away. It was such a relief to him he leaned his head on her shoulder and sighed. He's been so worried over the past few weeks. She's never smiled and yet never cried. She was just dead inside. The amount of strength needed to lift the heavy stone off her fragile shoulders was enormous. It was a wonder for Sarah to even stay calm.


A soft crescendo of an enchanting melody drifted into the up, uplifting the atmosphere. The choir was singing "Silent Night". The snow blanketed the ground and redecorated the trees beautifully. They stared off in silence, entranced by its beauty.


"Tell me," said Sarah. "Do you like me?"
The question caught him off guard. She's never questioned their relationship before, never even mentioned it. If words couldn't be heard then their lips certainly could. How could she question their love?
"Why would you think that?"
The highest, most heart breaking part of the song broke through his thoughts.
"So you don't?" She said it so indifferently--like stating a fact--that it made him wonder if she loved him at all. How could she doubt his love for her? Did she care at all? He didn't think he could bare it if she didn't.
She turned around, here eyebrows creased with worry, her eyes hurt.


His flashback ended just as an elderly man was hit in the head. The woman in front of him's lips moved, but no sound came out. He cupped his ear. "What?"

[NecroNama]

"You are not alone big bubba."

He heard a little girl say just behind him, startled, he jumped and turned around, nearly slipping and almost falling on his back side once more being taken off guard yet again by the slick ground. As looked at the young child that stood behind him, he was shocked to see that this kid was holding something and was wearing clothes, something that he keyed on since everyone he saw or thought he saw wasn't in clothes. ''Who...are you?" He studdered, his skin getting goose-bumps and all hairs stood on end, something the weather didn't do, this he noticed.

"You forgot already?" The little girl giggled. "Your funny." The young child slowly walked up, smiling, reaching out, touching Shiruba, becoming blinded by a light that wasn't there, not even the loud BOOM was loud, it became more of a whisper to him as he blacked out, falling backwards onto the fine sheet of ice that covered the ground.

---------
A lady screamed and cried at the top of her lungs, sounding as if they were about to explode within her chest as she was being held back by a person wearing light scrubs. "NOOOOOO!" The woman wailed, trying to fight against the one holding her back. "THATS MY BABY! LET ME HOLD MY BABY!" Reaching out, the woman couldn't touch the child as the others that were dressed like the one restraining the crazied woman, wheeled the child out on it's bed, just outside her reach. "Ma'am, please...we are truely sorry..." The man said as he held back the woman, her cries and screams nearly drowned out what he said.

Running up the halls, dodging people and pushing through others, he charged as if he was possesed. "MOVE!" He yelled, making the ones infront of him jump as he turned the corner to hear the cries and screams of his mother coming from a room not to far down the hall. He took off again but only got a few steps in before he froze, dead in his tracks at the sight of his sister being moved out of the room. Sorrow feeled the air as he let out a harsh war-like scream, launching himself at the bed that was now fully in the hall, knocking the ones moving it back. "TIA....WAKE THE FUCK UP!" He cried, puching the bed, causing it to raise off the floor a few inches. "WAKE UP!"

One of the people that was at the bed got back up, grabbed the man over the bed by his shirt, and tried to pull him off. The guy didn't take to kindly to the person that just touched him, as he turned to punch the guy dead in the face, causing him to fly backwards into the wall, taking his shirt with him, ripping it off his body. Everyone jumped back at the sight of the guys heavy yet extremly detailed body art. "Touch me again and you will die!" Truth could be heard in the words as once person could be heard stuttering the words "Yakuza...that guy is Yakuza".

"Shiruba...." He heard from within the room that the older woman was in. The sound of that voice, his mothers voice, was now the only thing that could calm him down since he was now robbed of the only bright light the definded him as a person. He leaned back over the body, trying not to let a tear fall but his eyes watered anyways. "....shiruba...." The voice came again but this time from the doorway as the lady exited and placed both hands on his shoulders, gently standing him back up and embracing him in a hug. The men that were guiding the bed were now doing it once more, leaving the mother and son standing in the hall. He watched until he couldn't see the bed anymore, closing his eyes as a single tear fell from them. 'Tia...I am sorry...'

As he turned to guide his mother out, three men dressed in suits stood at the end of the hall. He knew these men. They were the ones you didn't want to see and if you did, it meant that the Oyabun was looking for you. "Shiruba...the Oyabun is angered since you failed to collect...please come with us...." Everything faded to black like once before.

----------
He awoke in tears as the feeling of sorrow incased his entire being. "See...your not alone...I'm with you..." Is all he heard as he tried to locate the little girl that was talking to him but found nothing. Standing back up, he cleared his face of tears as he faced the old man he passed through earlier. He saw what looked like a woman throw something that nailed a guy in the back of the head. '...I could make out the detail of that object, yet everyone lacks color..why?..' he looked at the old man not in anger but in a determaned way. '...I want to know who brought me here to this strange place and why...' Addressing the elder man in a heavy Japanese accent. "I am sorry for startling you....I guess my name is Shiruba." Giving a bow. '....I will kill whomever is messing with me...'

[V]

Nearby, another of the ghostly transparent blurs came for him. His eyes caught the creature and it receded to the earth once more. Startled, the fear was already breaching his half resolve, he stepped backward and into the other figure once more.

He jumped and spun away instantly, the movement far to much for his older body. His leg buckled instantly and he fell down to his knees. He groaned taking the sudden strain with the rest of his pain.

By the time he rose once more he heard someone speaking nearby, his voice a croak. Almost a whisper but he heard it alright, “You…old man….what’s going on here? Who are you!?”

Even with his eyesight he could tell there was no one else around. Perhaps, the thought came almost unwanted, these ghostly flashing things were like him. He wander, staggered over, to the fallen who'd called out moments ago. Up close he peered downward the ghost, a man shimmered faintly. He could see the earth through him but now he saw the the features. A body naked as his own, blowing hair, eyes....

***

His son waited by the car, in a fresh suit straight from the cleaners. He was looking toward to ground and didn't noticed Howard's arrival until he was but two metres away. Joel looked the worst he'd ever been, with red eyes and a half grown beard. Usually his hair was tied back – to Howard's annoyance – but today it was free and wild. The work of the cleaners put to waste.

Howard didn't scold or comment just nodded toward the car. Didn't speak a word.

They got in and Howard took the wheel, Joel slumped in the seat beside him. And then they were off. To a funeral.

***

“Howard.... I think my name is Howard,” his voice replied in a rasp.

With that, he suddenly felt more grounded. More real - less of a ghost, more than what he'd been moments before.

But the fear remained.

“Does this mean you’re*not*ghosts…?” Someone said nearby, louder than anything before it. Howard turned to her and was about to reply – but hesitated catching the sight of the …. man who'd fallen through his legs earlier.

[Ru]

The world around him was hardly comprehensible to Musho, whom remained tugging at the strands of his jet black hair. Despite all of his efforts no flashbacks returned to him and his being felt empty. The knowledge he had gained throughout this ordeal was horrid and better left unknown, other than his name; the name of a pathetic man surrounded by what appeared to be apparitions. Regret and sorrow welled up in his sad excuse of a chest; only studying herbs would do that to a man, though he was unaware why he recalled that fact at all. Finally, he chose to stop being self-absorbed and examine the area surrounding him.

Returning to a seated position, he listened to what was occurring around him briefly before forcing himself up to his feet. There was a slight pressure against his temples, but whatever was attempting to gain access into his skull was failing miserably. Running a hand through his mangled mop of a head he turned his head to see what was going on, though he still had no idea. This was when the realization hit him: he was stark naked. Heavy blush swept over his face as he immediately went to conceal himself; he knew it was not the best time to care about such trivial matters, but it embarrassed him nonetheless.

“I am not a ghost…” he replied rather meekly, not sure if the woman heard him at all.


Again, Lydia got up and then looked around. Wiping mud from her face, she whipped the wet dirt back onto the ground from whence it came. Turning to face the woman who questioned whether they were ghost, she gave her the most curious look that could only be read as: Are you fuckin’ serious? She took in a deep breath and then let it out slowly, making her entire body face this woman, since, to Lydia, she was the only one really addressing anything she actually cared about.

“I’m not a ghost!” pause. “Or, I don’t think I am… Maybe I am! I could be. That’d be really cool. Maybe I can go through things! That’d be pretty neat-o.” She strolled over to the woman and reached out her hand towards her, poking her forehead only to see it go through her. “Ooo! Cool… Either you’re a ghost or I’m a ghost or we’re all ghosts or none of us are ghosts…”


Musho’s eyes narrowed at Lydia, gritting his teeth. “You solved nothing…” green eyes rolled in annoyance as he crossed his arms over his chest, deciding to no longer care for decency due to the special case at hand. He wiped sweat from the top of his forehead, “Why are you covered in mud? It’s too hot for there to be mud.”


“What do you mean, random stranger guy?” her right brow rose in speculation. “It’s wet here. Don’t you see the mud? It’s all over the place and I got sprinkles falling on my head.”


His nose scrunched up as he thought hard on the situation. “What is going on…” Musho mumbled to himself.

[The Shadow]

He watched as the man he had called to just moments before jumped away from the other ghost-like figure lying behind him, the same one that he had seen fall through him. He landed with a soft thud which seemed to be coming from far away even though there were only a few feet of ground separating them. It was obvious that the older man was scared; it was plastered over his bony features. This did nothing to diminish the fear he had when the man approached him, if anything the fear on display on the ghostly face made it all the more frightening.

The man froze in his tracks, his face blank and his eyes grey. He stayed this way for a couple of second before his features returned to what they had been seconds before

“Howard…I think my name is Howard”

With this his face changed, he seemed…brighter almost. The fear was still there in those eyes that were staring right at him, right through him but there was a slight shine in them that would be easy to miss. This made angrier at not being able to remember his onw name. He wracked his brain, trying to put a name to his own face. Why couldn’t he remember that one simple thing? Slowly images came to him but it wasn’t what he was looking for, not even close. Flashes of buildings, trees and the odd face. One of these faces stuck out but he coulldn’t think why, it didn't strike him as important but there was just something strange about it. It was the face of a woman, not extremely beautiful but not bad looking either. The face stayed with him for a minute before he shook his head and got rid of the image, he didn’t know why but he felt like he didn’t remember it for a good reason.

It was just now he realised he was breathing very quick, short breaths. He steadied his breathing again and after a minute or so he stood up, grunting once, and looked at Howard. He had heard the others around him thinking the other people were ghosts. He didn’t believe in ghosts at all but…could he be wrong? Maybe they did exist. Maybe the man in front of him was a ghost. Heck, maybe he himself was a ghost. Was this what happened when you died? Was this heaven? It couldn’t be, there would be many more dead, wouldn’t there? He looked around at the others before looking back to the man.

“Hello Howard, I’m….well I can’t quite recall my name.”

He had managed to calm down enough to say the greeting with only a minor stutter.

“Are…are we dead?”

He glanced down to the ground as he asked this, afraid of what the answer might be.

[Auki]

The group was disintegrating quickly, a mess of muttered threats and confused whisperings. They spoke over each other, every word the start to a different question, nothing leading to an answer. If anything, the more they looked around, the more obvious their ignorance became. Her hair was tossed by the wind whilst most the others’ remained still; it made them appear disconnected, distant. She still felt as though she should be able to touch them, reach out and feel their ice-white skin but previous experience had proven such instinct as misguided. Those innate urges that she had once put so much faith in now seemed to merely inconvenience her. She gathered her twig from the ground again, clinging to it as though it might offer some protection. As long as she had something to hold onto, everything would be okay. It proved that she was not a spirit. She was real. She had to be.

“That’s a jellyfish, sugar pie. Be sure not to touch it.”

She shook her head. No. No! She would not succumb to this. It felt like someone was allowing her to view these glimpses of what she assumed to be her life. Control had been taken from her and it made her nauseous. They flashed before her eyes, distracting her from the terror that itched at her skin, blinding her vision from the dismal forest she was trapped within. Some might welcome the bliss of escape but she felt like a pet, being comforted by a vet before he put her to sleep.

The Thomas the Tank Engine train set skated around the living room, narrowly avoiding her potted plants and the dog’s tail. She firmly told her son to slow down but he seemed unable. The excitement of a new toy seemed parallel to nothing in his life; she wondered when the joy of simplicities had left her. There was no elegance in the way he had torn the wrapping paper, her hard work in neatness gone to waste as usual. Still, the scream of happiness upon sight had made up for his disregard to patience. It might have been a dig on their finances but she tended to enjoy her children’s birthdays more than her own. Bright colours, loud music, games and cake; to relive such years brought her an endless amusement.

The phone rang upon the tabletop on the other side of the room.

“Daniel, can you get that?”

Silence… He couldn’t hear her. With an irritated sigh, she lifted herself from the couch. Her stomach almost threw her off balance as bloated as it were – It was only a month until the due date now. If she had her way, she wouldn’t need to get up at all. She’d put on a few pounds since the pregnancy, sure, but nothing too dire. She could lose it all once the baby had come.

Of course, she had said that every time to no avail but one couldn’t stress about such things when they were growing a foetus inside of them.

She picked up the phone, “Hello. Caitlin Davies speaking.”

There was a muffled squeak before the caller hung up. She turned around to find her husband at the doorway, nerves obvious in his face.
“No! No! N-”

Her protests were cut off by a bone-chilling howl, a sound that reverberated through the trees almost like an echo. In her gut, she knew its owner was not after her blood. That didn’t prevent it from being any the less terrifying.

They were coming.

“We need to get out of here.” It wasn’t an order; it was a statement. A sentence that had been haunting the back of her mind since she had first awoken. The trees nearest to her seemed thinner than the rest, the light that shined through more visible, like a beacon to follow. She took its advice without hesitation.

“Come on! We need to go!” She shouted back at them, pushing past the first layers of foliage. The sun grew harsher and she whipped her head back to the front. Shock.

The illusion of forest appeared to be another trick of the mind – Looking back, she realised the circle was only one tree thick. Bewilderment overwhelmed all other emotion. She stared out into their surroundings speechless. Colour was still absent, a concoction of black, white and grey. The drab soil ended a few metres before her, the landscape falling into a cliff face. The rock that formed it was flat and smooth, coloured like snow; its surface was broken only by a thin pathway, barely wide enough for two abreast, that hugged the face and led the hundred feet to the bottom. The terrain below was mismatched – Ice, forest, rivers and desert merging in a way that baffled the mind. She glanced to the left and right, finding walls of black rock blocking her sight. There was no sky; just the same dark mineral paving the ceiling of their confinement. She did not even try to work out where the sunlight was coming from in such a cave-like place. Her attention, instead, focused on the far side of cavern where a large set of metal doors could be seen. As far as one could tell, it was their only way out and that meant it was her target.

[DB.]

Andrew stared in complete bewilderment at the space in front of him. Had all those apparitions been there before? Why hadn't he noticed them when he stood up? He tightly shut his eyes before opening them again, hoping they would be gone, hoping that he would be anywhere but there. Yet they persisted, and he was definitely still on the ground, wherever he was.

After listening to all of the chatter going on around him though, Andrew realized that to them he looked exactly the same as they did to him. And apparently they were also in the same predicament he was. In an unknown place, with out any memory of anything whatsoever.

“The room was illuminated with a single bulb that covered the surrounding area with a dull yellow light, nothing strong enough to wash out all of the darkness in it. The area where Aaron was sitting was a complete and utter mess, papers and books were thrown around the floor; the small desk lamp had been smashed against a wall.

Andrew held the only thing still intact in the room, a picture frame, in his hands. It was him and his family, all smiling and posing for the picture. But even then they had already begun to have problems, he and his wife were already starting to drift apart.

She was only living with him because of the children, she didn't even love him anymore. She couldn't bear to look at his face, because it brought up a well of hate and resentment. At least that was what she had screamed at him a few hours ago, right before she took her stuff, the kids, and slammed the door in Andrew's face.

Andrew tightened his knuckles until they were white, and then drove his fist into the frame's glass. He didn't even feel the pain of the gashes on his fist. He just broke down and began crying”

Tears streamed down his cheeks and he buried his hands into his hands, trying the best he could to stifle the crying. A wave of depression ran through him and oddly, he searched for comfort in the people around him. He didn't care that he didn't know them. He just needed someone, anyone, to talk to.

Andrew tried to speak to them, tried to say something, anything, to feel safer, but as soon as he tried he began to have another horrible coughing fit. His throat was drier than he had noticed before. But he noticed someone say something, barely making it out. “Need to go!”

[NecroNama]

Shiruba was a bit angered by all that was going on, he didn't know what was going on, where he was, nor who the heck he truely was. All he wanted to know made his head pound. He held it for a minute to hear several voices pop up all around him, talking about what was going on, who they were and one yelled and took off running. '....well you know they aren't healthy...' So he figured he walk away too, there was nothing really to do but try to figure things out. Knowing he couldn't find things out by asking the "people" around him beacuse they might just be his imagination or stuck like he is but some how different since he recalled that one figure throwing a stick at someone and hitting them. "Ugh....why can't this just be spelled out and explained simply? Who ever is watching better be counting the minutes untill I hurt them for playing this dumb game with me." -BANG- A giant flash light the sky that Shiruba could make out and the loud noise caused him to jump and bump his head into a low hanging branch, knocking him on his back side once more.
-----------------------
"Hey.....hey bubba....you think you could drive me to school....it's raining.... A little girl holding a teddy bear said with a innocent smile. "Please!"
-----------------------

"WHAT THE...." The branch he hit fell and smacked him again in the head, snapping it in two. He got angry and grabbed the biggest piece of the branch and heaved it with all his might in a random direction. "....damn it all...." Getting back to his feet he looked around to pick a random path to go. Getting bored with just trying to pick, he walked off. Head still aching from before the branch decided to attack him. '....stupid piece of junk....' rubbing his head he felt something wet thus he looked at his head and saw a little red. "Great....now I'm bleeding...." Letting out a sigh, he continued to move through the foliage of this forest he was in.

-----------------------
"Shiruba....you know why you are here...." Said the Oyabun who was sitting behind a table surrounded by men, men twice to three times Shiruba's build. Feeling a bit intimidated, he only looked at the Oyabun. "...You disapointed me....yet I find that you can be salvaged...." He's eyes wondered to the table which sat a small blade, a tanto, the smallest of the samurai blades and a white napikin. Shiruba heard of this ceremony. If one did something wrong, they would cut off ones pinky and give it to their Oyabun to show that they are one hundred percent loyal to the family, and to teach the one cutting their own pinky off a lesson. He had to breath. '...quick and clean...quick and clean...do it slow and it will hurt more.....and DON'T LOOK WHEN YOU DO IT!' He thought as he walked slowly up and gripped the blade, placing his hand on the table. "I am sorry Oyabun....I will never do that again..." And in one swift second, Shiruba wrapped up a red object in the white cloth and passed it to the person before him and walked out the room. He could feel the warm liquid run up his hand a wrist, he ignored the pain and kept moving, allowing his blood to drip onto the floor freely. '...all this just because I ran to the hospital and didn't get his dumb money?.....something isn't right....'
------------------------------------

He kept walking until he saw the same person that bursted off like a nut yelling something about running. "HEY!" he said holding his left hand up to see his pinky was gone. '.....you got to be....' then he looked back up to just catch which way the ran off. He shouted once more at the person. "Why are you running? Care to share that information with the stupid person running behind you?" He followed the person, giving chase.

[kagomri]

Jason observed his surroundings, scrutinizing at the spirits. A man perhaps only four years older than him, tugged at his jet black mop of hair who seemed disquiet and uneasy. He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed at his temples as if struggling to make sense of himself and the environment. As if he was trying to recall the past.
“I am not a ghost…” he said, meekly to the stocky woman. It was then Jason knew the question she addressed to the group.

“I’m not a ghost! Or, I don’t think I am… Maybe I am! I could be. That’d be really cool. Maybe I can go through things! That’d be pretty neat-o.” Said, a wondrous, melodic voice.
Sarah.
His heart cried out. In an immediate reaction to her words, he whipped around, held out his hands in an open grasp and waited for Sarah to fall into his arms. Waiting to embrace her and bury his head in her soft wet rose scented hair.

And saw an unfamiliar woman poking the stocky red head in the forehead. Jason went as cold as ice and shattered. Her remarkable voice sounded identical to Sarah's-- both glowed with innocence. However, this strange woman had full red lips and a complexion a shade too pale. Her plump, round face was surrounded by shoulder length wavy blond hair--not gold, not long and not quite naturally tussled.


I love you. I need you. Don't even doubt that.
Jason couldn't meet her stare. He wanted to say it out loud so bad it ached. The truth was, he was scared. Jason was good at sports, good with relationships, and grades, but one thing he couldn't be worse in was announcing the most sentimental lines. They wouldn't leave his mouth. Instead they jumbled up in his body and his stomach caught butterflies. It's the thought that counts, he always say to himself. But he couldn't make himself believe something he stuck to for all the past years. It seemed so stupid now.
If only she knew.
Licking his lips, closing his eyes and breathing in for ten seconds, rehearsing the line in his head.

Alright. I'm ready.

The moment he gazed into Sarah's eyes--he blanked out. Their gaze locked, his mouth opened, but he didn't have to find his voice. It came out on pure instinct.
"I'm sorry." it sounded small and pathetic. "Don't be hurt Sarah. Don't be hurt. Just don't be hurt." The last word was a croak.
His face crumpled as if he was being told someone he loved had just died. The protective walls collapsed, leaving the emotions closest to his heart vulnerable and open.
"W-What did I do Sarah? I'm sorry. I-I, Sarah." His body cracked and gasped for air under the pressure.

Sarah's arms flew around his neck, her lips pressed against his, kissing passionately. It was then he realized just how deep he longed for their love like this.
"Don't cry Jason. Don't cry silly boy." She pleaded softly, her own plump tears gushing from her longing eyes. He reached for her back and pulled her close, dreaming to never let go. Their chests heaved against one another, their arms an entwined mess. With each breath the kiss deepened. Her long fingers tangled in his blond mop of hair, and his, in her lovely golden curls.
No longer afraid nor restricted, he kissed her neck. He breathed in her scent.
"Don't destroy me like that ever again. I love you." he whispered.


“We need to get out of here.” The redhead said getting up and running the opposite direction, suddenly sure of herself. “Come on! We need to go!”
"Go...go where? And what should I call you?" She wasn't far and he was pretty fast. He found himself walking, barely jogging, to keep up. Just after a few steps the face of Earth came to a halt--or so he thought. The smooth yet uneven surface of the humungous rock stood intimidatingly. It towered over the landscape, everything else in comparison not only seemed vulnerable but prosaic and insignificant as well.
Until he took a step forward and carefully peered down the face of the cliff.

Shock surpassed all emotions like it has never before.

Dry and grainy deserts, cold mountains so heavily pregnant with snow an avalanche could collapse, jungles with trees so lush it looked like a bed of evergreens, smooth runny rivers, jagged ice--the entire collection of nature's greatest creations fresh from her green thumb. It merged and united to one. The complexity of the smallest but noteworthy details, such as the rough surface of the limestone cave, made it a great deal more expressive and significant. And no matter how you look at it--it couldn't be any simpler: just a bunch of diverse climates jumbled up together. It was as if the land was loose like a jigsaw puzzle, then a giant shook Earth with his own hands until the land fell on top of each other.

The mismatched environment was.... exceptionally baffling. Though everything was in complete discord, the beauty of this new creation released a new graceful harmony.

[V]

“Are…are we dead?”

He didn't feel dead, he felt very much alive, the pains and aches filling him to real to be considered anything else. Howard didn't think he was a ghost, and the others now didn't seem to act like he thought a ghost might. Perhaps, if it was just one, or two he'd be able to dismiss them. Even though he couldn't see their features too well, there were so many each acting in their own way.

"I don't know, I don't feel dead," he replied. Visions or memories sat at the edge of his mind as he said the words. This man seemed to look similar to the one he saw in his previous vision. They weren't the same but looking at his features seemed to want to bring on new memories.

He felt another coming...

A howl came through the trees, it's dark sound almost an echo. Howard looked about the trees and through the strange red hues. There was nothing he could see, yet, but that worried him more.

A lady broke away first calling, “We need to get out of here.” He saw her figure moving through some of the trees, and others quickly followed. Howard took a few steps forward because he didn't want to be left alone.

"Quickly let's go," he said to the young man before rushing through the trees himself. It struck him instantly in the dim light, before he could see anything else, that there didn't seem to be a sun to accompany the sun-red setting. The sky seemed dark instead.

Howard stopped nearby some others looking outward past where the land broke away. Below his could see the strange landscapes, their unnatural blend doing nothing to ease his mind. There was a narrow path that lead down below which he didn't like the look of, he didn't want to be the one to decide to take it.

But there didn't seem to be another way down, so he said, "we should hurry down, that howl sounded pretty close."