Starward Bound

Chapter one: Far From Home

The very first thing I feel as i wake up is pain, specifically my head. "Ugh- fuck!" I grab my head as I sit up. What the hell, I was fine when I went to bed...guess i should have taken some medicine for that. What time is it anyway? Glancing at the direction of my alarm clock yelds nothing but darkness. "I swear to god if the power is out again" i grumble to myself. With my surroundings bathed in darkness I move to the side to get out of my bed, hoping that the light will still work.

Instead of my feet coming down on the soft carpet of my apartment, my face collides with something cold and metallic. "Fucking ow!" I swear and cup my nose. What the- I feel around and slowly my full senses come back to me, I'm not in my apartment...and I'm sure as hell not on a bed, i was only laying on the ground...but where? It's pitch black all around me as I try and feel out my surroundings... "okay, stay calm...don't panic." I mumble.

Truth was I was internally freaking out. Where was I? I was sound asleep in my apartment according to my memory...but I feel like I'm sitting on metal...maybe a building? I manage to slowly get to my feet and wave my arms slowly until I feel the wall...I move to the opposite side and sure enough another metallic wall. Okay...a room of some sort. Or maybe a tunnel? I guess i should walk forwards a bit and see if there's another wall infront of me.

How the hell did i get here? My memory is so fuzzy...i remember entering my apartment after my classes and laying down and then nothing...I use the wall as a guide as I slowly step forwards, it's now apparent i am also lacking any clothes besides my underwear and shorts, which i dont even remember putting on, the cold air bites my skin sending chills all throughout my body. This is so weird...I feel like I'm in a dream...wait, my phone! I reach for my pocket and sigh in relief as i feel the smooth and thin form of my phone nesstled neatly in my pocket. Pulling it out and checking the signal drives a defeated sigh from my chest. Damn...nothing, at least it can still illuminate the area.

Switching the flashlight tool on, It appears as though I am actually in a maintenance tunnel, the wall is full of metal panels and visible wires running all throughout the space behind the panels. With my new light I can also make out my body, there were no bruises or marks that would indicate a kidnapping. Basically naked, in a dark and cold tunnle with no memory of how I got here. What the actual hell is this...

I need to find away out of here, maybe i can find someone who can help...Stepping forward and ignoring the stinging cold against my feet as i walk through the mysterious tunnel. Eventually i come door sized opening in one of the walls next to the right, with a bright white light pouring out of it. I peak out of the opening and find a...white hallway? It's alot bigger than one in a house, and also looks like the walls are made of a polished metal? Honestly it looks alot like something In a sicence lab or a really expensive white wrapping.

On the sides of the walls there are colored lines along the wall trialing off into the distance, a blue one and a yellow one. "What is this place..." I mumble as I creep out of the dark tunnel and the floor feels surprisingly smooth to the touch, it was polished and reflective like the walls but still surprising. Well with something like this being so high tech looking, I bet there are people around here somewhere...hopefully they will believe me when I tell them I don't have a clue how I got here.

Moving forward, I walk down the hallway, hoping to find someone. I'm surprised nobody else is around then again I haven't seen a window. Maybe we are underground? I stop at a four way intersection of corridors and after looking down the left, I spot to figures and from the looks of it they are in conversation. Finally! Maybe these people can help me. I turn down the hall and start making my way towards them. Maybe the can help me get a ride out of here and back home after I explain myself

An Uber would be a pain but it beats walking home from wherever I ended up. Walking closer towards the figures I call out In a relief. "Oh thank God, you have no idea how much of a relief it is to see...someone..." I freeze In place as the details of my supposed saviors become clearer. For one they were massive, i was probably stomach hight at most for them.

They...didnt look like humans...before me were two canine-like creatures, they looked like bipedal wolves except they had no fur. The skin that wasn't coverd up by some sort of uniform they were wearing was an almost crimson red.... If that wasn't enough, I practically shrank in fear when I noticed their mouths hanging open in surprise. They're faces were...like mine? They had human characteristics like eyebrows and lips...but on a wolf's face. the worst part was both of them were now staring directly at me, each with a pair of bright amber eyes that looked like flames.

"Ẉ̴̡͓͆̏̾h̵͓͊͐̑à̵͉̳͖̭̔͊ṫ̸͙̹̃͝ ̶̜̑͒̑̀͂i̶̱̔s̴̢̖̙̒̐ ̸̹̾͑̕ṭ̷͎̺͑̇̓̏͝h̵͈̼̉̋̀͂͝á̷͎̯̥̆̍̂ẗ̷̘̰͎͉́?̸͎̦̼̓̇͆̚" one of them speaks in a gargled noise that i cant even hope to understand. Their voice is like a grinding gear, low and distorted like sandpaper against rock. W-What the fuck! What is going on. I stare at them for a few more seconds before my body finally takes over and I am sprinting as fast as I can the opposite direction. This can't be happening. My mind spins like the blades of a helicopter as it trys to comprehend and rationalize what i just saw. two pairs of much heavier foot steps follow in pursuit behind me as I decided where to go. I turn right at the intersection and continue to sprint.

I can feel my legs starting to ache and my chest getting sore from the rapid breathing. Shit not now! Come on my cardio can't be this ba- as I turn another corner my face collides with yet another hard surface. Falling backwards onto my ass with a yelp of surprise, I look up to see a very dreadful sight. Looming over me is another canine creature, dressed head to toe with bulky black armor that had glowing red liquid flowing in tiny gaps all across it, various pouches and pieces of equipment that looked foreign to me were strapped onto it, and it was far from unarmed, holding what looks like a long rifle with a glass canister containing unstable red lighting where the receiver would be on a normal weapon. Everything looked like it belonged in a Sc-Fi movie, and yet here it was directly infront of me.

Those amber eyes stare back at me just like the two from before. I feel like I'm staring into a void... I just can't pull away. Before I can even react the butt of the rifle swings upwards and strikes me directly in the nose. I feel a crack and wave of recoil throughout my whole body as i stumble, trying to keep my footing. a droplet of something warm drips downward against my mouth and hands as I drop down, everything going black before I remember hitting the ground.