Eating Souls In Another World

I don’t know how I ended up like this.

No, I know precisely how I ended up like this. I just find it hard to believe it happened. 

I had just placed my pen down after finishing my studies and was about to get some well-deserved rest. Since I had already brushed my teeth, I turned off the lights and headed to my bed. 

I was about to close my exhausted, heavy eyelids when I noticed something strange in the corner of my room. A shadow much darker than the darkness of my surroundings. 

By this age, I was no longer afraid of sleeping with the lights off. Even so, I just couldn’t stop it from bothering me and turned on my phone’s flashlight. To my relief, there was nothing.

Thinking it was just my imagination, I let myself sink into the comfort of my bed only to notice that the strange shadow was now by my side, yellow slit-like eyes staring down at me.

Startled by the creepy and horrifying encounter, I reflexively jumped out of bed and tried to rush out however the shadow stretched and got a hold of my arm. 

The room was suddenly engulfed in a pitch-black emptiness. I opened and closed my eyes, afraid that I had lost my sight, but there still was nothing. Fear took over and I began to struggle trying to free myself from the shadow. 

Realizing the shadow had a physical form from the sensation of the hand grabbing my arm, I pushed the fear aside and grabbed onto it then without hesitation punched whoever it belonged to with my free hand.

Feeling the first impact I punched again and again. The shadow didn’t release any sound making me doubt my hits were having any effects. But then the hand holding me suddenly let go and I began to fall downwards.

The speed of the fall accelerated and I found myself in a free fall. The sensation brought forth by a parachuteless skydive almost tore the soul out of my body. By some bizarre miracle, however, I barely felt anything when my body hit a solid surface.

I expected to open my eyes and find that I fell off the bed bringing this nightmare to an end. To my utter dismay, things turned out differently.

The floor beneath me was made of dirt and stone. Dim light painted the surroundings in an orange glow and a strange scent wafted in the humid air. Although wondering where this place was should have been the first thing to do, noticing that I wasn’t alone made it the last of my worries.

Whoever had approached me was covered in black. A hood and a mask hid their face making it impossible to guess if they were male or female. They weren’t alone. More cloaked figures entered my field of view one after the other. Before I knew it, I was surrounded from every direction.

“■■■■■■■■■…?” One of them whispered in a language I couldn’t recognize.

“■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!?” Another began yelling at me, but I could only stare in bewilderment. 

If this was a prank then it’s a really well-crafted one. I was in the midst of what I could only describe as a bunch of cultists. Looking at the high ceiling hanging over our heads I realized we were in a cave.

How I got here was a mystery, unless it’s all a dream, of course. No, this has to be a dream. After all, there is no way I would believe that coming into contact with a shadow monster somehow teleported me to this location.

“■■■■■■■!!?” 

As the horror began creeping on me a loud voice boomed silencing the crowd. The black cloaks turned toward the source of the voice, splitting apart as if to open a path between m and the source.

Standing on a simple altar was another cloaked figure. This one had a crimson color decorated with golden embroidery. It didn’t take a lot of brain power to realize that he was a much higher-ranked individual in this group.

The red cloak pointed at me and shouted something.

“■■■■!!!”

My entire body froze and before I could react four of the black cloaks restrained my arms. My natural attempt to free myself was met with a punch to the gut that forced the air out of my lungs. 

I had always believed that I was tough enough to withstand a few punches in a situation like this. Nevertheless, one hit was enough to make my head spin. I felt the second punch, however my brain didn’t register the third and fourth. 

“■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■.” As my consciousness faded, I heard the red cloak shout again. “■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■.”