Everything about you screamed in pain.
Your arms and legs felt like lead, knees and elbows too heavy to bend. Your skin felt bruised all over… Your eyes weren’t open and yet your head was spinning. Even your spine seared with pain as you laid there, slumped over.

That was odd… the floor was cool and hard beneath your cheek and you could swear that was a breeze blowing over your body.

Blearily, your eyelids retracted, heavily blinking as you forced the horizontal world to come into focus. You were sprawled on the floor, laid on your side with your limbs at odd angles and body hunched as if you were sleeping.

It wasn’t until you pushed yourself up with a groan, that it dawned on you… Where am I?

You turned, twisting your body as you gazed at your surroundings – tall buildings on either side, at least three storeys high. Other than the sparse scattering of street lights, it was entirely dark and the dusk sky threatened to make things ten times worse.

“Ugh, my head.” You groaned as you straightened up, all the blood rushing to your brain as you wobbled slightly. You looked behind you to find the view almost as exactly identical to the one you had turned from…. Everything looked so similar.

“What… Is this place?” You mumbled to yourself, taking a few cautious steps down the street. It didn’t matter where you went, so long as you found someone, anyone, else that could answer your questions. How did I get here? Is it safe? What’s happening?!

One minute were drawing your curtains to block out the storm… the next you were hunched in the middle of a city you had never visited? It made no sense, there was something missing – something important – and you had no idea what.

You looked around the street once more before sighing dejectedly.

“Gotta start somewhere.” You muttered to yourself and set off at a quick pace in a random direction. Anything was better than nothing after all.

About thirty minutes later, you found yourself on a very distinctive street. There was only one streetlight halfway across it, and beyond that was a bridge that cast it’s shadow on the ground like a large black snake.

How do I get up there…? You thought to yourself as you drew closer to it, looking for where it began. From where you were, you couldn’t see its beginning or ending, just its length that protruded from in between the rows of tall, bland buildings. The amount of boarded up  windows was starting to worry you a little. Did that mean there was no one else here?

“Positivity, Mihyun, don’t forget that.” You told yourself with conviction, your need to get to higher ground pushing past any pessimism that lingered in your mind.

As you drew ever closer to the stone bridge however, you were stopped in your tracks. That couldn’t have been… Could it?
It made no sense but you were sure you saw a shadow dart across the bridge. Was someone there? Why didn’t they see you?

“Hey!” You yelled, following in close pursuit. “Hey wait!”
Right now you had no hope of getting on top of the bridge so you followed its shadow, feet hammering against the stone paved streets. For some reason, this scared you even more than being alone.

“Please! I need your help!” Your breath was getting tighter in your chest and your voice softer as you started to feel the strain. Panic coupled with the condition you were in made running more than exhausting.... You didn’t have to run for long though.

You dropped to your knees as a brick wall blocked your path. The bridge had lead you down an alley way… a dead end. Breathing heavily, you looked up to see that the bridge didn’t continue either – it also stopped at the brick wall… but there was no way to get up there, the bridge just… stopped.

“It makes no sense.” You cried to yourself, exasperated and frustrated. Your one chance was shot.

“Wherever you are, please, help-“ As you shouted out your plea for help, you turned around, only to be silenced immediately.

Crouched low to the floor, ready to pounce, was something that was all too familiar.
You clasped your hands to your mouth to smother your own heavy breathing. Staring right at you was one of the creatures from the storm… Only it wasn’t just staring at you, it was leaping at you.

You screamed, arms thrown over your face in a feeble attempt to protect yourself from the inevitable. You cowered as you waited for something, anything to happen.
Why was nothing happening?
If I’m going to die, can’t it happen quickly?! You thought to yourself.

But nothing happened.

Fear and curiosity fought it out in your head, the latter proving the victor when your eyes hesitantly peeled open. You gasped in shock at what you saw.

A figure - slim, tall and dressed in black, was battling with three of the creatures, deftly dodging and parrying attacks with a thin, midlength blade. With an impressive spin, a kick landed square on the face of one creature, sending it flying, another being torn in two by a slicing blow. The two halves of body disappeared into the air before they even touched the ground. With a series of more quick, precise movements, the two remaining monsters disappeared into less than smoke.

What even….?

Certain that the danger was gone, the figure stretched a little before rounding on you. Terrified of its strength, you scrabbled backwards until you were flush against the brick wall with nowhere else to run, breathing heavily, eyes wide in fear.

“Oh, sorry about this.” It was a woman’s voice, gentle and conversational. She tugged at the mask covering her face before pulling it off and letting her locks of blonde hair fall free. “They tend not to attack you if they can’t you see your face… Guess it looked kinda scary though huh?” She added as she appraised the look of terror on your face through her wide eyes.
You couldn’t believe it… She was just a normal person and yet she’d managed to defeat those things.

She looked down at you for a second before she realised that you were still sat on the floor and extended a hand to you.

“I’m Victoria. Welcome to the city.”