Running With the Devil (SCP Fanfic)

Chapter 34: Six Feet Down

A bright light enveloped his eyesight and like a deer in headlights, he stood there, completely still. His body was still there, he could feel it, but what he saw was only a soft warm light that radiated in every direction except at one point where it seemed to glow more brightly, and when it hit the eyes at a certain angle, a flash of rainbow appeared like concentrated light passing through a glass prism.

Suddenly, the light spoke in a delicate, almost pitiful voice but in a way that felt like a mother consoling her child with loving kindness, "Don't be afraid, I was sent by Him to help you. I am a friend."

"What is your name?" Jame's thought echoed across his mind in silence.

"My name- I will tell you soon," the tone of the voice became slightly strained, as if hurried suddenly by something unexpected. "I will be with you, to guide you as I've been asked to do by the Shepherd."

In a daze, James stood as the light that blinded him slowly eased up. A curtain of light was withdrawn and his eyes dilated as the warm light became cold and he could see his own hands.

Standing in a field of snow next to a wooden fence of smooth branches stripped of their bark, he looked up at a twisted oak tree, black with dampness from the snow that had melted in the sun overhead. Its body spun round and round as it twisted like a rope made of wood. Its branches reached into the sky and gave the impression that it had split the heavens open, creating black cracks across the pale blue sky.

The tree disturbed him for some unknown reason; it left a hole in his stomach where there should be none. It irked him and in the back of his mind, it dwelled as if it had always been there.

He couldn't swallow the saliva that had built up in his mouth as he stared, he hadn't even breathed this whole time and never realized. Fear overtook him and he began to panic. The tree filled his mind as if it began to take root within his brain.

Then a calmness washed over his skin amidst the cold sweat covering his body.

"Don't be afraid," echoed like a friend who hadn't been seen for a while.

James opened his eyes and saw a tree again, nothing more, nothing less. Then suddenly, a crunch of snow made him whip around, he saw the flash of something black run, but when he fully turned around, nothing was there except for a trail of holes left in the snow that crossed over the fence and into a large field of snow.

Stepping closer to the track, nothing really stood out about them, there was no tread or anything, just holes left in the quiet blanket of white. They did however come from nowhere, starting not so far away.

Deciding to follow them out of blind curiosity, he hopped the fence and traced them deep into the field where there was nothing except for himself within its whole radius.

Snow began to fall lightly and then it soon became heavy as a shroud of gray made him lose direction. The gray turned to black and then he was taken back to another dream he had not so long ago. His two dreams were made into one like pieces of a puzzle he was meant to put together to create something he needed to see.

Like the dream he had before, two snowflakes never fell, but hovered in the black void that surrounded him. A smile formed under them of shattered glass and a harsh voice spoke, "No longer ssshall you run, fate hasss caught up..."

James woke up and he was finally able to breathe. He caught a large breath and began to cough. Holding a hand over his mouth to muffle the sound, it eventually died down.

Eyeing the rear-view mirror, he aimed it down to look in the backseat at Malo. Worried he had woken her up, he was relieved to see her sound asleep.

Pulling out his phone, he looked at the time. It was early in the morning, and they should be moving while it was still dark, so he grabbed the keys and braced himself for the noise of the engine starting with a sleeping passenger he didn't want to wake.