Chapter One – 001
He woke up on the beach.
He didnt even have to open his eyes, just the loud surf and soft crunch of the sand beneath his head was enough. He groaned as he brought his hands to his face, feeling the all too familiar surge of pressure behind his eyes, the dry swollen feeling in his mouth and throat, and the barest hints of heaving nausea.
He must have had a good time last night. He didn't even remember making it to the beach. Just the yacht, and the...his thoughts flinched away from that, his brain still too tender.
A small peek of his eyelids and he decided blindness was preferable to the unbearable light. He reached out his hands, slowly and with excruciating effort flipped himself onto his belly. Sand mushed into his face, and he smelled something weird.
French fries?
Whatever it was, it made that pool of nausea turn into a tidal wave. He poured out all of his bad decisions in two or three heaves, then curled up into a ball and laid there.
Let the beach patrol find me, he pleaded. Let me be their problem.
But no one came to escort him off the beach. No outraged mother shrieked about degenerates in broad daylight. He wasn't even bothered by any vagrants, looking to bum a smoke.
Despite his pain, he was curious. He slowly opened his eyes, ready to endure the blinding sun in order to get his bearings.
This isn't Fort Lauderdale.
The sky was pale, a hazy white that seemed to curve all around him. Small waves of dark green water lapped near his feet, crests murmuring incessantly. He stood on a small spit of gray sand, barely more than three feet wide, that extended into the horizon. The sky was lighter there, as if something was leaching the color out of everything. It was early morning, the sun barely above the horizon, and the moons hadn't yet set.
Wait.
Shit.
He rubbed his palms against his eyes and peered again at the sky. His eyes told him the same thing again. There were four...no, five moons in the sky.
"What the fuck?" He half-laughed, looking around himself for someone to explain the joke. There was no one.
Then it hit him.
The yacht. The fight. His sister.
*THOOM!*
An explosion behind him threw coarse grey sand over his back and pelted his exposed calf, but he didn't turn around. He wasn't sure he'd be able to handle seeing what was behind him. He just kept running, helplessly counting the seconds until he was eaten.
Ten seconds.
Thirty seconds.
Sixty seconds, and suddenly the sounds ceased. It was another half minute before he collapsed on the pale sand of a much larger beach, the tree line dark and green ahead of him. He was exhausted, mentally and physically. He finally managed to turn his head, and saw that the sandy spit was torn to shreds. Whatever had chased him had ripped it apart as it thrashed toward him. Dull horror twinged in his chest, barely registering in his exhaustion. If that thing had caught him....
Something glimmered in the dark green waters, a few hundred feet out. A thick, lashing tentacle swept into the air before diving deep into the now still waters. A sharp trilling noise sounded in his ears, and he twitched in shock. Then a series of bright blue boxes appeared before him.
System Initializing...
Stand By...
Target Analyzed.
Name: The Dread
Type: Blood Beast
Level: ???
HP: ???
MP: ???
Lore: The Dread is all consuming, all powerful, and unstoppable.
"Huh," he breathed.
He passed out.
