Caine had really outdone himself this time. The new “adventure” loaded in with a flash, and Jax found himself standing knee-deep in swaying grass under a dull gray sky. The air felt damp and heavy, smelling faintly of metal and earth. All around them stretched an endless field, broken only by a crooked abandoned house perched on a distant hill.
Its windows were shattered, the door hung off one hinge, and the paint peeled like shedding skin. Further off, Jax could make out a rusty swing set creaking in the wind, a collapsed barn half-eaten by weeds, and an old stone well swallowed by ivy. Caine’s voice had come over the intercom earlier, annoyingly cheerful:
“Welcome to my chilling little game, everyone! The rules are simple — explore, survive, and try to make it through the night! Oh, and, fun twist — when the sun goes down, a little… ‘friend’ comes out to play. Don’t get caught!”
Yeah. Typical Caine. Pomni was already panicking, clinging to Ragatha’s arm like her life depended on it.
Pomni: “W-We’re seriously supposed to… stay here? In this creepy place?!”
Ragatha: “Relax, Pomni… It’s just Caine being Caine. Probably another one of his ‘jump scare’ gimmicks.”
Pomni: “Yeah, well, his ‘gimmicks’ gave me a heart attack last time!”
Kinger was crouched nearby, staring intently at the grass like it held the secrets of the universe.
Kinger: “Mm… deceptive terrain… excellent for ambush predators. Wouldn’t surprise me if something burrows beneath us and—”
Pomni: “KINGER! You’re not helping!”
Zooble kicked at the dirt, arms crossed, clearly unimpressed.
Zooble: “Cool, abandoned house, creepy fields, Cain’s ‘big scary twist.’ Yawn. Can we just, like, trigger whatever nightmare fuel he’s got lined up and get it over with?”
Gangle fidgeted with her comedy mask, her voice soft and shaky.
Gangle: “I-I don’t… like this… I really don’t… What if it’s something real this time…?”
The group started bickering over what to do first, but Jax’s attention drifted to the sinking sun. The sky was bleeding orange and purple, shadows stretching long and sharp. And then… the air changed. The grass stopped swaying. The creaking swing set went silent. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath. From far beyond the abandoned house, a deep, vibrating rumble rolled through the ground, shaking Jax’s legs.
Ragatha: “…Did anyone else feel that?”
Zooble: “Probably Cain messing with the sound design. Don’t buy into it.”
But then came the sound of something moving through the field. Heavy, deliberate steps, crunching the earth like wet paper.
Pomni: “O-Oh no. Oh no no no no, what IS that?!”
Somewhere in the darkness, a screech split the air — shrill, wet, and unnatural. The kind of sound that didn’t belong to anything human. Kinger actually laughed nervously.
Kinger: “Ahaha! See?! Just as I predicted! Apex predator territory! We are done for!”
The abandoned house suddenly didn’t seem so optional anymore. Everyone froze, listening. The footsteps were closer now. Too close. Night had officially begun.