Chapter 1

• LEONIE
• “Leonie, you’ve been handpicked by the entire team to lead this research team, to unravel the truth surrounding the northern lineage.”
• My eyes widened in shock as the words sank into my head, and I shot to my feet at once.
• “B- but sir, that place is cursed and lack any h-”
• He held up a finger instantly, halting my sentence.
• “Those are just baseless rumors, I expected better from someone like you. Didn’t realize you’re dumb enough to believe something like a curse actually exists.
• I averted my gaze and gulped emptily while replaying all the things I’ve heard about the northern lineage. Some say it’s a land of monsters. Others say it’s a place where so many curses lurk around. I can’t believe my shitty luck would make the leader of the team finally remember my name when it comes to a particular mission no one wants to be on.
• “Can someone else lead instead? Even though the rumors are baseless, I don’t think I’m comfortable enough to lead, sir.” I spoke next, spitting out the last word.
• “I’m afraid that’s impossible, Leonie. If you choose to go against the order, then you can kiss your position in the team goodbye.”
• This used to be my dream job since I was very little. I studied really hard in school and knew how much I fought before getting to where I am today--The Sand and Dunes Archeology Institute. Any sensible person wouldn’t throw that away just because they don’t want to lead a mission, and the leader knows it, cunning bastard that he is.
• “Say what? After this research, I’d definitely give you a boost, and you’d get to lead more researches.”
• “Fine, I’ll do it.”
• ——
• I sighed dejectedly as I walked back to my desk, the day isn’t going as great as I expected it to.
• I was lucky because I was given the grace to choose someone to go with me, I sighed as I thought about who amongst my colleagues would want to go, I needn’t think any further when I remembered Athena and Bayern.
• When I’d broken the news to them, they were overly excited.
• They thought it thrilling to go to research about an abandoned habitat.
• “Cheer up a little, who knows this might turn out to be a really interesting research.” Bayern said in a cheery voice that made me roll my eyes.
• “Yeah, we could encounter a lot of things and a curse? We might get turned into animals as well, it’s definitely worth writing about.” Athena chimed in and I groaned.
• “I’m only going because I don’t want to stay back. I just want to see things for myself.” I lied. I was only going because I had no other choice. It was literally a threat; I go or I lose my job.
• Heavens help me.
• ~~~
• “I have no idea why they want a report on this region.” I muttered beneath my breath as we made our way into the abandoned looking place that reeks of solitude.
• I still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of uncovering what might simply not want to be uncovered.
• I joined my colleagues in Northern Switzerland an hour ago and we got to work immediately because we wanted to exist here as fast as possible.
• “This could be us making a fool of ourselves.” I sighed as my friends stopped walking to look at me, raising an eyebrow. They only did that when they wanted me to stop talking.
• We walked around as everywhere was silent and the only sound that could be heard was our hushed breathing and the rustling of leaves as we stepped on it.
• I soon started getting the hang of it as I didn’t expect to see a lot of interesting creatures.
• The leaves and the trees looked a little different too, I took every detail as I possibly could as I walked around.
• I noticed a deer but at the sight of my light, it ran off, I followed it impulsively out of curiosity and I let out a slight moan of happiness when I saw it with its families.
• There were different species of snakes too that I hadn’t expected to come across. I’d noticed something huge running right past me and I’d wanted to ask if my colleagues did too but they were too busy doing their own research to notice anything.
• I followed it with my small torch that helped me see through the night.
• I followed the snake that I could’ve sworn I saw till I couldn’t find it anymore. I stopped to catch my breath as I panted.
• The only thing I had with me was my torch, backpack, my jotter and a pen. I knew there was no way for me to protect myself if I got into any form of danger.
• “Son of a bitch.” I said through paced breaths, I’d really thought I was on to something when I saw how huge it was.
• After resting for a while and catching my breath, I turned back to join my friends but I couldn’t recognize where I was any longer, the place looked strange and my friends were nowhere to be found.
• “Hello?” I called but the only thing that got back to me was my voice. I looked around in horror as I couldn’t see anything in sight, my torch flickered a little and I silently prayed that it would last long enough to help me get out of here.
• I looked around as I tried to make out where I was, it was not until my legs hit something and I’d almost fell that I noticed that I was in a cave, my hand touched the wall for support and where I was before, there was no wall in sight.
• How did I get into this cave? I had lots of questions running through my mind as I wandered aimlessly in the cave in a bid to find my way out. I saw some strange things and despite being lost, I wasn’t going to let my horror take over me.
• I reached for my pen and paper as I jotted down a few things, from the huge snake that I saw that now seems to have disappeared to being in a strange abode. My torch flickered again but was soon back to working perfectly when I tapped it a few times.
• “I should’ve packed some extra batteries.” I sighed to myself as I continued my long walk but wherever I turned to usually seem to always take me back to where I started.
• After a little while, I started to panic. I had no idea where I am, and my friends are also nowhere to be found. If I’d known, I would’ve stuck with them instead of allowing my curiosity lead me astray.
• I shouldn’t have followed that strange creature without giving my friends a heads up, we should’ve stayed together as a team.
• “Where the hell am I?” I whispered to myself as I lifted my torch to see some words inscribed on the wall. I didn’t care about it as all I wanted to do at the moment was to get the hell out of there.
• “Athena?!” I shouted loud enough that I knew if there was any other creature in this dead looking place, they would hear me but just like the other time, no one answered, just my own voice coming back to me.
• “Bayern?” I shouted again, not giving up.
• I felt the bead of sweat flow down my face as my eyes welled up. If I spent another minute in the cave, I just knew I wouldn’t be the same again.
• I kept walking in the same direction that seemed to be bringing me back to my previous position, only that this time I was in a different place.
• I wasn’t going back to where I started, I was going to different places but they all looked alike. The light that seemed to be coming from the end of the cave made me have a flicker of hope as I made my way happily through it.
• I ran my hands through the wall and just like the other time, I felt something inscribed on it. I switched my torch on to check it and this time the writing inscribed on the wall looked even scarier.
• I didn’t know what it was but it sent chills down my spine. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me as I stepped into the light and it didn’t just look like a familiar place.
• In fact, it looked like a new place entirely. I quickly glanced behind me and a gasp flew past my lips on realizing I couldn’t see the end of the cave which I had just emerged from.
• My fast beating heart has climbed into my throat at this point.
• I slowly glanced around my surroundings, eyes widening even more in shock and surprise, it was as though the moment I stepped out of the cave to where the light was coming from, I had left earth into another planet entirely.
• Which would be an absurd thing to even consider, if it wasn’t currently happening to me right now.
• A quick glance at the sky made one sentence reecho in my head.
• I was definitely in another world.