Soola's POV
We were actually crawling through this decrepped tunnel. This whole thing was crazy- how on earth were we actually supposed to find anything here? We crawled for what seemed like ages, and marked all of our path with spray paint, in case we had to go back, so we wouldn't get lost. We color coded and took notes. We all agreed to try to stay on only one path, so it would be less likely to risk confusion. After a little while, we slide down a small hole that lead us to a very spacious cave filled with sparkling opal, onyx, opalite and bloodstone crystals, with not a single speck of dirt in sight. The cave was squeaky clean, with the floor, stalactites, and stalagmites made of an odd translucent substance that was very slippery, solid, and seemed to have a layer of clear slime on it.
We weren't sure where to mark our trail from here. Whether or not that dimension book was fact or fiction didn't even matter now. We had made one of the coolest discoveries ever, so I did not miss the opportunity to take pictures, in hopes I could later show this to my friends.
"This is radical!" I exclaimed playfully. "..Is what I would say if I existed back in the 70s or 80s.
"Good thing I'm a Gen Z kid. I cannot wait to show this to my friends!"
"It seems too perfect," Blake said gravely. "Don't you remember which dimension we should be in right now?"
"Considering this is real," Sabri answered rather smugly.
"We might as well get the tools now... for safety reasons."
It then clicked in my brain that we were now in the Vertex Dimension, which was basically just the forest of the Sun Dimension, aka the biggest graveyard of all dimensions. We had no idea how to get out but were now being approached by a whole host of mythological undead beings and creatures. The first group of creatures that approached us were the Jiangshi, which is also known as the Chinese hopping vampires. Unlike regular vampires, you do not get converted to their kind once they suck your blood and drain your life force- you just pass away, drained soulless.
When you first encounter one, it hobbles around, like a cripple. Once it gains enough energy from the life of others, they become unbeatably fast and chase down their victims. The next group were Nachzehrer, which was basically a type of German vampires. They drag the living into the underworld with them, and after they have their victims, nobody knows what becomes of them. It is said to be the souls of recently deceased family members who want to prey on the living.
There were also Baitals, which were half-men and half-bat creatures that were said to usually hang under a mimosa tree. What they were doing in a cave was a mystery to me, my sister, and my boyfriend, but it did make sense to find bats in caves. We were also met with Draugrs, which were known as Norwegian supernatural beings normally found along the coast of Norway, but once again, because of this new, mysterious video game developer, everything was now out of place. These creatures usually would have some sort of connection to burial mounds, and set out to protect their tombs and family. They were harmless as long as you didn't provoke them by threatening things or fellow creatures that they care about. The last three creatures we were met with were ghouls, Gashadokuro, and Banshees.
The original ghouls were known as mythological creatures from Islamic Arabia, described as hideous human-like monsters that would normally be found in the desert or other secluded areas to lure in lonely travelers. Gashadokuro were revived skeleton bones of ghost soldiers who passed in battle but never buried, and are also invisible and basically indestructible. They decapitate lone travelers so they can drink their blood and gain even more power and invincibility. Lastly, the original banshees were female spirits of Irish folklore who would warn people by wailing of an upcoming death in their family. People have twisted them in modern fairytales to be scary and evil, but in the original tales, they were harmless, and rather helpful by telling one of the future in advance.
They were all advancing towards us, some obviously much more threatening than others. It seemed like all of these beasts were coming for us, and there was only one way out. Most people would call it cowardly, but we just called it wise and life preserving.
"RUN!" Sabrina hollered to me and Blake.
"What about you!?!?" I panicked.
"Don't worry about me," she said calmly. "I have a plan. I'm an expert in this stuff. You guys just get to the next dimension and I promise I will meet you there, okay?"
"No way!" I protested. "Are you crazy?!?
"I'm not just going to leave you here!"
Blake and Sabri both grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved me down a slide I wasn't familiar with that made my whole body and mind feel like I was spinning, spinning, spinning.
I accelerated faster and faster, panicking, and trying desperately to get back up or stop myself but gravity was much too strong. My heart kept beating but my whole body felt weak, as my eyelids grew heavier and heavier and suddenly my mind went blank....
