Chapter Text
I never thought it would come to this.
And why in the world would I have expected this to happen to me?
I'll bet not even a bona-fide psychic could have predicted it.
I was in my room, minding my own business, at about one o' clock in the morning on a Friday night. I'd been dinking around on my laptop, watching YouTube videos and catching up on my social media hubs, when I remembered that my fingernails were getting too long. So, I rolled off my bed and walked to where my clippers were: in one of the drawers in the attached bathroom. I had it all to myself, more or less, since I am an only child and my parents respect my privacy.
After taking a look at my hands, I had to smile with pride. 'I overcame my habit to bite my nails. And all it took was getting good at nail art... Go figure.' I had the wide array of nail polish colors and more than enough tiny paint tools to vindicate my claim of being good at it.
But then, before I could start trimming, I heard a noise drift up from downstairs. I was home alone-- Mom and Dad were at a party and wouldn't be back until a bit later-- and of course the instant I heard it I got nervous. 'Is there someone down there? Oh, no...'
It sounded like a metallic thumping, which slightly discouraged the idea of footsteps. Still, I couldn't just jump to conclusions; evidence was necessary. With that in mind, I fastened on a bra- wouldn't want to be seen without one, even if it was just nothing- under my pajama shirt and grabbed my old camera off the bedside table.
It was an old Polaroid type, one that printed the picture out after the shot was taken. I loved it, especially since it earned me the somewhat affectionate nickname my entire school gave me: Cam. Most of the newer kids were convinced it was my actual name, even.
Anyway, back to the matter at hand. With the camera poised for a photo opportunity and my slow footsteps all but ghostly silent on the carpeted staircase, I crept down to the ground floor and into the main hallway, passing hung picture frames along the way. The kitchen light was on? I could see its glow from around the corner, at the end of the hall. Were Mom and Dad back and I just didn't hear them come in?
The thought gave my anxiety a little break, and I walked with a little less caution toward the entrance of the kitchen. That confidence vanished when the yellowish light switched suddenly to a sickly green, and the thumping grew louder. Now that I was closer, I could take a guess and say either the oven or the microwave was the cause of the ruckus.
I swallowed down a psychological lump in my throat. 'Should I say something?'
But I didn't, seeing how I was probably alone in the house anyway. 'Still, someone has to be making that noise in there.'
I stood rigidly with my toes all but touching the spot on the floor that divided the carpeted hallway from the linoleum of the kitchen. My first big mistake was milliseconds away, and I didn't even realize it when I crossed over the threshold and took two steps in.
Now I could look to my left and see the source of the green light: the entire oven and stove-top was giving off a sort of radiance that had a funny-feeling heat to it. Out of habit I checked the display for the time and saw that it didn't read anything near one 'o clock in the morning. Instead the numbers were changing rapidly, too fast to make any sense of.
"What?" I wondered, the first thing I'd said aloud in a while; my lips had to unstick from each other.
The thumping was definitely louder now, but it seemed to come from inside the oven rather than the entire appliance. I even saw the door open a centimeter at most and then close again, like something was struggling to get out. Another lump was swallowed, and I crept closer on bare, hesitant feet.
'What do I do, what do I do?' I bit my lower lip nervously and shakily raised my camera up to snap a quick photo of the phenomenon. The picture popped out at the bottom, and I waved it around to help the film develop faster. When it cleared up, I was disappointed to see no green glow or even most of the oven, which was shrouded in nighttime darkness according to the image.
'Why is that?' I asked myself, and raised an eyebrow at the sight before me. 'Clearly it's glowing green. Why won't that show up in the picture?'
Finally, I took a risk. "Uhm... hello? Is somebody there?"
The thumping stopped! The sound of my voice made it pause in its antics, though it started up again after a few seconds of my surprised silence. 'Okay, then. I'll say more.'
"Hello? Is there something in the oven, or am I just going crazy?" I asked, taking another two steps closer. The horizontal handle was only a few feet in front of me.
Again it paused, but this time it didn't start again for a while. Rather, I was shocked to hear a hissing sound emit from within the oven. 'Gas? Is there a gas leak? Oh, no, I should get out of here-'
"Pleasssse... Let me... out..."
'It's... not a gas leak' I concluded, and took another picture from this position just in case it would help. Again, I didn't see anything eerie in the image. "Let you out? Who are you?"
"Pleasssse... Jusssst want to... be free again. Will you help... me?"
The elongated S's immediately brought a snake to mind, but that was ridiculous. What would a snake be doing in my oven- much less one that talked!
"First tell me what you are," I demanded, keeping a tight grip on my camera. Suddenly I was feeling a little under-protected without a weapon of any sort. Well, my emery board was sitting comfortably in the pocket of my sweatpants, but that wouldn't protect me from jack. "And what are you doing here? Am I going crazy?"
"Craaazzzzy?" the voice stretched out contemplatively. "No... Not crazzzy. Jussssst open the door, pleasssse... Let me go free, I beg of you."
"I have no reason to let you out, whatever you are, when you won't answer my questions," I reasoned sternly in response to that.
"I am... a tortured sssoul that wantsss... to go home at lassst," it finally replied.
"Then why do you sound like a snake, of all things?" My curiosity knows no bounds.
"It'sss a lisssp, okay?" By the tone it took with me, I had struck a nerve by accident.
"Oh, sorry." It felt so weird to be apologizing to my oven. My cheeks heated up a bit at the embarrassment. "Why are you in the oven?"
"I'm trapped here... Can't find the way out." Whatever it was, its voice sounded like it was gaining strength through our conversation. "If you open the door... I could leave at long lassst. Pleasssse, child, help me...!"
'This is such a bad idea, Cam... Why are you even considering it?' I demanded to know of myself. 'This is stupid-- you don't know what it is or if you can trust it! Don't even think about doing it!'
"I can sssenssse your... hesssitation," the oven ghost commented. The numbers on the display weren't moving anymore, but they were now telling me it was 3:79, which wasn't even a real time. "I assssssure you, I mean no harm. If you help me, I'll... be on my way promptly. You have my word."
'If I die, I will never forgive myself.'
"... Alright, Mr. Tortured Soul," I said with a decisive huff. "Your word had better be sincere, or you'll regret it."
And then my next big mistake hit me in the face like a wall of fast-moving green fire. Oh, wait-- that isn't even a simile. It's legitimately what happened! I opened the door, which released a huge torrent of flames that sent me stumbling until my lower back struck the edge of the counter behind me. A snake, black-scaled and getting bigger as it vacated the confines of its prison, swept its head around until its slitted eyes fixated on me. I could only stare, idiotically slack-jawed and trembling, as it drifted closer to me and looked me over with its calculating, clever gaze. In its eyes I saw not only my terrified reflection, but every single color imaginable.
"Thhhhank you, foolisssssh girl," it said with an obviously mocking tone of voice. "Hmmm... Yessss, it hassss been a while ssssince I lasssst feassssted."
I don't know where I found the ability, but I spoke in a quaking, high-pitched yelp. "F-F-Feasted?"
"But... perhapssss not yet," it decided, and started to turn away from me. I could hardly breathe from fear, and sweat was breaking out all across my skin. It was a wonder I hadn't dropped my camera or wet myself.
The creature, with its long and fluid body, took up nearly every inch of floor space in the kitchen and was still coming out of the oven, the door to which was snapped off its hinges and hiding among the bends and folds of scaly sinew. I had to force my gag reflex to relax when I felt the slithering across my shins and bare feet.
"Trapped for sssso long," the snake, whose green radiance provided plenty of light to see by, began while I could only shake there, frozen by absolute terror, "I have had a lot of time to think thingssss over. Yesssss... But I would need practicccce firssssst."
Its head had been turned away from me, but with amazing speed it was looking straight at me and baring glowing white fangs that were at least longer than my forearm. I could only flinch and shut my eyes as it flew right at me, its mouth open and emitting a hiss that I felt all the way in my core.
That flinch traveled to my right index finger, which was habitually just a teeny touch from taking a picture of whatever my lens happened to be looking at. This time it was looking right at the gigantic snake spirit, and the flash went off right in its eyes. It didn't do much to save me- that, I know because everything went dark a split second later.
Well... not entirely dark. When I opened my eyes, I found myself standing in what looked like a narrow, twisting river that swirled with sparkling colors. The black water only came up to my waist. It was like wading through the most beautiful night sky .
"Where am I?" I asked no one in particular, but when I tried to turn around and look behind me it felt like my feet were anchored in concrete. I couldn't move! Yet when I tried to take a step forward, I found I could. 'Hmm... I can only go forward... But where am I?'
I couldn't deny a tugging sensation in my willpower, urging me to walk ahead. 'But why? What's out there?'
I took another handful of steps and found it wasn't that difficult to move through the inky, glittery water. It was a lot like wading in a river, if the water was lighter and less dense. 'This doesn't make any sense... What happened to me? How did I even get here?'
There it was again! That urge to keep moving forward thrummed through my mind, and before I realized it I had taken three more steps. My fingers trailed lazily in the water at my sides, making even more swirly patterns appear on the surface.
"No, stop," I said suddenly and planted my feet where they were. At least there wasn't much of a current, right? "I don't want to go that way."
You must...
"But why?" I asked the ancient voice that whispered in my ear. "Answer my questions already! What happened to me? Is this a dream? Am I hallucinating?"
Go forward, on to your next chapter.
"But why?" I asked again. That was my favorite question: why?
Keep walking. Trust your instincts.
"How about no?" I retorted stubbornly. "They're telling me not to listen to you!"
Desperately I looked left and right, but there was only blackness everywhere around me, even up and down. Blackness... and a Polaroid camera.
"My camera!" I gasped, instinctively leaning toward it and stretching out my hand as far as I could. The current was picking up speed and strength, threatening to sweep me off my feet and away from my prized possession. "Wait, I need my camera!"
Go, now! Do not suffer a terrible fate of your own choosing!
'I can almost... reach it...!' It was hovering in the darkness near the water's edge; my fingertips were so close to grabbing the neck strap! 'Come on, come on...!'
My next big mistake came a-knocking. I mustered all the strength in my body and focused on jumping to the side, toward my camera. I could make it if I wasn't nabbed by the undercurrent of the glowing, sparkling water.
You do not know what fate you are resigning yourself to, child.
And I sprang to the side, ignoring the whispered words and latching onto the camera. As soon as I touched it, the river disappeared and only darkness remained in its wake.
It is done...
The next thing I knew, a bolt of thunder rattled my world and forced my eyes open. I flew into a sitting position, gasping for breath and frantically looking all around me. 'What a crazy dream... Wait.'
I was outside and sitting on a grassy hill in the middle of a thunderstorm. I still wore the pajamas I'd changed into back home, and my feet were predictably bare. "But... I thought that I was in my kitchen... And what was with that river?"
That prompted me to check over my camera, which looked just fine against all odds. Rather than take a picture, though, I decided to save my expensive and hard-to-find film for a better photo opportunity. 'Now, I gotta find where I am... Is the crazy ever going to stop?'
~
No, apparently it wasn't going to stop.
A city rose up in the distance from where I'd woken up, so I decided to head toward it and look for the police. They could surely help me, right? 'I mean, I was obviously kidnapped. Or drugged. Or nuts from a gas leak. I guess Dad overlooked something when he went to replace that broken part in our oven...'
It took almost a full hour of walking to reach what could have been considered the edge of the actual city, and that was on top of the storm raging against everything in sight-- including me! I was drenched, soaked to the bone in minutes, and the gusty winds weren't helping anything at all. 'My poor camera probably won't work after this...' I thought forlornly even as I vainly tried to protect it by stuffing it under my thin green camisole.
The first store I came across was of the convenience type, but all the lights were out and the doors were locked. No shelter to be had there.
On to the next location. I could tell that I was slowly making my way toward the busier, more populated districts when I saw a few people scattered around with umbrellas over their heads. They were scurrying to get out of the storm, though.
"Hey, can someone help me?" I called out and got absolutely no answer; not even a reaction or a glance in my direction! "Hmph. Must'a been drowned out by the wind and rain...
"Helloooo~!"
"Somebody?"
"Anybody?"
Finally, out of necessity, I mustered up my courage and stepped in front of a woman who was walking a bit more casually than the others, like she didn't exactly mind being outdoors in these conditions. "Excuse me, but could you please help me?" I asked her. "I don't know where--"
She walked right through me.
That's not a metaphor.
She walked right through me!
I shrieked and stumbled backward, nearly landing on my butt in a puddle. A hand covered my mouth; the other was busy holding up my camera under my shirt.
"H-H... H-How?" I breathed, my voice quivering fearfully. "That's... That's not possible...!"
I whirled around to see her retreating back, and I ran to catch up and stand in front of her again. "Hey, I'm right here! Look at me!"
The same thing happened again, only this time I really did lose my balance and fall on my rear. My Polaroid clattered to the ground in front of me, but I could only stare at it blankly while my mind all but short-circuited in an effort to understand the inconceivable.
"I... I... Oh, God...!" My face went into my palms and the tears followed seconds after, hot against the chilly skin of my cheeks.
'What's going on? Why is this happening to me? Somebody tell me it's all a dream- better yet, wake me up!'